Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Words and Projects for the New Year

I've been reading Ali Edwards blog off and on. Her blog was the whole reason I did the December Daily Album which was quite fun and available for viewing on flickr.


She has had a few posts about picking a word for the New Year. Not a word about what is happening in the world, but a word just for yoursef. One to focus on, meditate on, aspire to be.


When I chanced upon Ali's post today over 90 people had told her what their personal word for the year will be in her comments. Amazing.  I just checked again and over 300 people have told her what word they have chosen for the Year ahead.  Maybe it is because she is having a give away too. 

Check it out and then hit the links to the artists that make the charming necklaces she is giving away.

So,
I've been thinking about words when I haven't been thinking about patterns and yarn.
I'm full of words.  Possibilities include: 

Possibility.
Nourish or nurture.
Thrive, blossom, flourish.
Zeal-enthusiasm, fire, passion.
Strength
Do
Enjoy.

Lots of Great words.
Which one will I choose.  I have a hard time making up my mind.  I think it is because as a child I was not given choices.  

What project will I choose to start on this evening?
It will not be lace.
It might be socks.
It might be a simple sweater or an interesting circle vest.
What yarn?  Oh the possibilities when you are indecisive. 

Viki

Monday, December 29, 2008

Naughty or Nice?


I must have been very nice.  Dave gifted me with a Kindle!!!
My brother came through as usual.  I have new tools for bookbinding and a gift certificate to Knit Picks.

Seriously we all had a wonderful Christmas.  I even finished mom's socks!

Jordan, Mariah and I spent the day after watching movies and eating pizza and popcorn, then we gathered to finish up leftover's at Mom's house.  A bit of knitting was done while watching movies.

I have been looking through old magazines, oogling patterns and pictures on Ravelery and searching the web for ideas of just what I want to knit in the new year.  Planning, that's what I'm doing.  I wouldn't call it wasting my time.

I usually do actually ... knit in the New Year as opposed to ringing it in.  I wonder what I'll start this year.  In the past it has been lace.  It may be a hat.  I haven't knit a hat in ages.  It will not be a cowl.  I've knit 3 of those in the last 2 weeks.  Anita will of course chime in and tell me to finish "The FLAK".  

It won't be New Year's knitting, but now that I've got mom's socks knit and the toes knit 2x, I may just pull out that sweater.  It would be nice to finally finish.

For an interesting insight about sock yarns check out Claudia's blog.  Pretty hand dyed cushy sock yarns vs. hard wearing sock yarns like opal and trekking.  My favorite commercial sock yarn is trekking.  I haven't kept a pair of opal yet.  Maybe those will be the next socks on the needles.

Viki
thinking gansey for the next sweater...maybe.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

A day late on this post


Yesterday was the 23rd.  A special day at our house.  Mariah's Birthday!
Now she is 15.  Although, she did inform me this morning that this is her 16th Christmas Eve.
She was up before I was yesterday, took a shower and was ready for gifts.

I spread the gifts out over the day and we even braved the holiday traffic to go out running around.  

We went out to dinner at Olive Garden in the rain.  Last year it was in the snow.

Jordan was in rare form.  All of us laughed all evening at her stories.  Even Mariah.
It was a good day.

Today I need to clean and wrap gifts.  I still haven't made cookies...I may have to do that After Christmas.

Viki

Monday, December 22, 2008

Soup and stew tales

I have had a request for the recipe for Bean Potato Kale stew.
I have to admit I got the idea from Vegandad's blog: http://vegandad.blogspot.com/2008/03/creamy-kale-and-potato-stew.html

I was looking for good soup and stew recipes that include kale, since I had a huge bag of those greens sitting in my fridge. I am not a vegan or even a vegetarian at this time. However we do eat several veggie meals a week.

I did change it up a bit.
I admit I only ever follow baking recipes exactly.

I used regular baking potato's, 2 med. onions, white beans and vegetable broth. I thickened the whole thing with flour and water that I put in an old sippy cup and shook it up. I keep that sippy cup for just this purpose. Much easier than trying to whisk it together as far as I'm concerned.

Another fantastic soup/stew is this one at http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/soup-stew-choup-recipes/white-bean-sausage-and-kale-stew/article.html

I use turkey smoked sausage instead of pork kielbasa. (allergy) Also, I usually saute an onion for that one too. We use lots of onions and garlic at our house. I also use more kale than called for in either of these recipes. The killer on the RR stew is the grated cheese. I usually use Romano instead of Parmesan. How ever it is freshly grated. Even when we were really poor and the kids were little we used good cheese, not shaker cheese. It wasn't until Jordan was a teen and started making some of her own food that there was a "blue box" in the house.

Tonight we are having another vegetarian meal. Chili. I use Morning Star meal starters fake ground beef in it. Onion, garlic, celery, carrot, tomato's blenderized, about 6 oz of tomato paste, pinto beans & great northern beans. In the past I've used black beans too and mushrooms and corn and green chili peppers. ( I don't use red and green peppers because someone wont eat them.) We garnish at the table with more chili powder and sharp cheddar cheese.
Some people in this area also add pasta. Not me. You'll notice I didn't give measurements or what spices. That is because I didn't measure.

I'll also make cornbread again. those ingredients I'll measure.

Keep your fingers crossed that Everyone will eat this chili tonight.

Happy Eating!

Viki

hand knit socks


hand knit socks
Originally uploaded by cobweb1st
Friday, I washed socks. Just in time for it to get really cold.
I have many pairs of handknit socks, but I wear these the most. The ones on the far right are handspun and thicker than the others. I believe I will wear those today.
The temp says it is 13 degrees outside right now. It was 8 degrees at 7 this morning.
It is bright and Very Sunny.

Viki

Friday, December 19, 2008

It was a chilly, wet evening


Last night was wet and chilly so I made something warm and comforting for dinner.  Potato, white bean and kale stew.  Spider cornbread on the side.  Spider is the old name for a cast iron skillet.  I use this skillet almost exclusively for cornbread.  This was Wonderful.  It was the first time I'd made this stew and I will be making it again.  Even Mariah ate the kale.

Today started off very wet and turned very windy, but the temp is at least 60 degrees.  It is balmy.  Almost feels like tornado weather.  I went by Grinny Possum this afternoon and bought myself some presents.

Viki
feeling a little guilty for that.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Swaps and That Wintery Mix

Finally finished and Mailed yesterday!  I glued bits of music paper and puzzle paper and even the test paper that you fill in the little circles on to wooden stars.  Then I used modge podge to put a holly tissue paper on the stars.  Glued the little girl image and buttons on last.  I think they turned out rather well.

Today we are having what the weather people call a Wintery mix.  sleet, freezing rain, rain, and some snow.  
Hopefully it will not cancel out the party tonight.
We always have great food and lots of laughs.
Viki

Friday, December 12, 2008

Breathe


Breathe!


Take a deep breath.


It's the Weekend!


This week has been so full, I feel tired.

Just the idea that I can sleep longer than 6 tomorrow morning makes me happy.


Hopefully the weekend will give me the time I need.

The time to knit.

The time to craft.

The time to clean.

The time to put up the Christmas tree.


I've been putting little bits and pieces of decorations up on a daily basis.

Some of the snowmen are out.

The Nativity scene is out.

The Candy dishes are out, one even has candy in it.


I have been documenting lots of these daily "joys" in my December Daily Album.

You can find pictures of the album on my flickr account.

Viki

Saturday, December 06, 2008

Time keeps on...










This first week of December has just whooshed by so fast.  This is a picture heavy blog post.

I got my hair cut on Tuesday.  It had been a VERY long time since my last hair cut.

Then Dave and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary on the 3rd.  We went out to eat with Jordan and Mariah and they didn't fight at all.  It was a nice evening.  Dave wasn't supposed to get me anything, but of course he couldn't help himself.  So I have a certificate for a body massage at Elements.  He also gave me white gold hoop earrings.  They were the "gift" from Norton Hospital that he picked for having been there 20 years. LOL.  There weren't many items for men to pick and almost all of the items had the Norton logo on them.  The earrings didn't and are quite nice.

Friday, Mom had me meet her at an Estate sale before I'd even had coffee.  I bought too much.  The woman who used to live there was in Mom's quilt group.  Sue did lots of different crafts and taught a lot of people.  I picked up some hand made lace and lots of steel double pointed needles and some other lace tools that I have no clue about.  If you know what some of the stuff is in the pictures, please let me know.  I also bought 2 lace books that I didn't have for $1 each.
The one not pictured is a Walker book.

After I finally ate breakfast I dropped Bailey off to be groomed.  He looks so handsome now.  I also went to my friend Sally's house for some show and tell and crafting.  We made little seasonal necklaces with a kit she had from Artchix.  Too cute!  I also gave her a Christmas present and a binder book I'd made.  She plans on using the binder book as a Christmas present for her husband.  She is going to make it into a garden journal for him.

I went back this morning to the Estate sale to pick up some of the tatted lace, as after the sale I feel some of this stuff would be thrown out.  At least with me I can admire them and give them to friends who would care about them. 

Dave has guard this weekend and a couple of Christmas parties, that I'm not going to.  It is snowing a bit too.  I think I'll stay home and knit on Christmas presents.  I'll also catch up on the December Daily album.

Viki

Monday, December 01, 2008

December Day one



Earlier I told about the album I had started to record what happens daily in December.  It is really worth it to check out the Flickr site with over 300 different books.

The whole project has reminded me of a book by Madeline Le'Engle called "The 24 Days Before Christmas".  In this children's book the family does something small but special every day to celebrate the season.

What a Great way to decorate and celebrate.  To do something everyday.  To Mindfully do something to celebrate everyday.  It doesn't have to be about Christmas.  My family celebrates several special days in December.

Today is December 1st so Today, I started small.  I hung the wreaths on our doors.  I also gave Owen, my little friend across the street, an Advent Calendar.

We have had what the weathermen call "a wintery mix" all day.  Rain, sleet & snow.  None of it really stuck so there are just a few places in the yard with a bit of white.

On the knitting front.  I think I am over scarves for a bit.  I received some yarn from my secret pal at work.  Two balls each a different color.  What to do?  Knit scarves.  I am almost done with the second Yarn Harlot One Row Scarf and believe me I am ready to be done.  
The pattern is *K2, K1 through the back loop, P1.... repeat from the * end row with K2.  So cast on a multiple of 4 + 2.  

Now do I try to trick my secret pal into wearing one of the scarves?

Viki

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Mr. Greenjeans AKA Sophia Smith Finished!


Finished! Except for a button.  The knitting is done, I've blocked the sweater and now I need a button.  A big button.  I took a picture with it "buttoned" with a large pin, but I'm having trouble uploading the sharper picture.  This picture with me in the mirror is a bit blurry. 

The pattern is Mr. Greenjeans from Knitty.   Click to find the link.  The hand dyed yarn is named Sophia Smith... so this sweater is a hybrid.  I did lengthen the sleeves and the body a bit.
While knitting this sweater I thought it would be too short.  It grew during blocking.

I bought an extra hank of yarn just in case, but I used all but a few yards of 4 hanks, so I didn't need the fifth.  I'll have to find something wonderful to make with it.

I was going to have someone take a photo of me wearing the sweater at Odd Tuesday knit/spin night this evening, but it looks like I will be alone if I go to the bookstore.  Everyone is either sick or busy with Turkey day prep.

I have an friend who is trying to learn to knit.  Unfortunately we live several hours away from each other.  She went to a knitting club last night for a lesson.  The woman teaching was frustrated.  My friend was the only adult there to learn, everyone else was between the ages of 12 and 15.  IT was Not a good experience for her.  I understand the teens being pleased with themselves for getting it quicker than an adult, but If the person teaching can't be helpful, well... why teach?  

If anyone has any online video's that they think would help please post them in my comments and I'll be sure to let Michelle know the sites.  She really wants to learn and would like to knit for charity too!  She is refusing to give up, but help would be appreciated.

TIA
Viki


Saturday, November 22, 2008

SNOW!




So it isn't a lot of snow, but we have had snow 3 times in the past week.  I tried to get a shot of where you can really see it coming down, but the snow was hard to see.  The little white flakes just didn't show up.  So I settled for the little bit on the chair on the front porch.

This is quite early for snow here in Kentucky.  

Have you noticed that November cold is harder to get used to... it is really a transition month here in KY.  By January I'll be a bit more used to the cold and it wont bother me as much.  One thing I am thankful for is the remote starter on my car.  I can sit in the warmth sipping my coffee and turn the car on to defrost.

Of course this is the car that is in the shop.  I thought dealerships were supposed to be able to hook up a computer to find out what the flashing "service engine soon!" light is talking about.
Evidently it isn't that easy.

Viki 




Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Apple cake


The other day I made an apple cake.  
I used to make this cake on Halloween when the kids were little.
They'd eat cake while we checked out the candy in their bags to make sure it was safe.  

I was a little late this year.

The recipe comes from a House of White Birches booklet from 1991.
Title is Cooking with Apples.

I've tried several of the recipes but the one I'm giving you now uses the most apple and that is important when you have lots of apples that aren't at their best and need to be used not thrown away.

It is called Cinnamon Apple Cake and the person who sent the recipe in to White Birches is Sheryle Rolfe of Neb.

It is a very moist cake and gets more moist the longer it sits.

Cinnamon Apple Cake
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 t. cinnamon
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt 
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 t. vanilla
4 cups chopped apples
1/2 cup nuts (optional)  I use pecans Sheryle calls for walnuts.

Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon, soda and salt.
Beat eggs and oil until light and foamy.  Add Vanilla.
Gradually blend in dry ingredients.(I do this by hand)
  The batter will be extremely thick.
Stir in apples and nuts.
Pour batter into greased 13x9 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees
for 1 hour or until done.  Cool in pan.

This cake has never taken an hour to cook in my oven.
more like 35 minutes, so check it with a toothpick at about 30 minutes and every few there after until done to your liking.

I usually use a bit more than 4 cups.
I have a 6 cup pitcher and I peel and core the apples and chop them into pieces(not slices)
into the pitcher until it hits about 4 1/2 or so.

Enjoy!

Viki

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

"It's been a hard days night"


Wow!
What a Week so far.
Last Thursday we started the destruction and reconstruction of the bathrooms.  Not pretty... yet.
Then on Friday afternoon I got a migraine.  I went to bed at 4 in the afternoon and pretty much didn't get out except to go to the bathroom.  Evidently I had a virus on top of the migraine.  If there had been food in my stomach it would have been worse.  Sunday I was actually able to get out of bed and eat again.  Not a great way to loose weight.

This meant I missed my Mom's birthday on Saturday.  Dave and the girls and Jordan's fiancee Chris went over to celebrate with her, but not out to dinner.  I told her we still owe her a birthday dinner.  Mariah was official photographer while I was sick.

Monday the guys came to work on the bathrooms.
The hall bathroom was demolished.  The awful tub is gone and it died a horrible death being hacked to bits.  The new tub looks great. 
 
Tuesday morning I woke up to Mariah running through my room to the half bath to get sick.
So she was off school again.

Tuesday evening was Odd Tuesday at B&N where I get together with knitting/spinning friends.
It was lots of fun, wish we all lived closer so we could get together more often. 
 
When I got home Mariah was already in bed and Dave said she still hadn't eaten anything.
Which means she is home today too.

The "worker guys" were almost afraid to come to work, no one wants to get sick, but she hasn't thrown up since yesterday afternoon and there is banging and clanging in the hall bathroom so work is progressing.

With all the illness and construction, I haven't gotten to the store and I'm a bit worried about dinner, but not much.  I just wonder if there is something we can carry out that Mariah could stomach.  I take after my dad and Always want something spicy after a stomach bug.  Perhaps chicken soup would be a better option for Mariah.  Costco deli has a chicken soup that is almost homemade, Really worth $10.

What have I been up to while the "Worker guys" have been here?
Well I've printed out and cut some of the print outs for the Jessica Sprague Stories in Hand class I'm doing on line.  I've spent a lot of time looking for things that I've put somewhere safe and can't find too.  I'm now almost out of light colored card stock and have resorted to going through the free samples of paper Dave got from someone online a few years ago.
Oh and Knitting.  Anita doesn't think I'm fast enough at knitting.

Next: Lunch for the sick one and rushing to Mom's to give her dog Sasha her meds.

Viki
the picture at the top is Mom on her birthday.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

pretty Random today

This bare corner of the room is not filled with a dog and a child today, but with the contents of my closet.  
It has already been a long day.
I woke up at 4 this morning sneezing my head off and blowing my nose.
Allergies.
I probably raised too much dust yesterday evening when I was totally clearing out the small half bathroom.  It has a full sized closet.  I found evidence that at one point my oldest "liked" my youngest.  I read the "book" to Jordan over the phone.  She laughed and said "this I've got to see!"

Anyway, the guys scraping and redoing my bathrooms are supposed to start today.
It is almost 10:00 and they haven't shown up, but I called they are on the way.  I'm waiting for the dog to bark to let me know they have arrived.

I've already done dishes, vacuumed the whole house and washed the kitchen floor.

I plan on watching some tutorials on the mac today.  I want to learn how to get more than one picture on a contact sheet.  Is there anyway to print a photo smaller than 4x6?  I don't know if I can justify spending all that money to buy photoshop, does the mac version do as much?

I stopped by the dollar tree yesterday.  6 ring journal measuring 6x6, some really cool Christmas cards and a mini kit.  Pretty good.

I knit on my "Greenjeans" cardigan last night.  Only 2 inches or so until the body is done and I can do the sleeves.  

No Anita the FLAK isn't finished.  4 inches on the body to go.  

Viki

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

December Daily album/journal/minibook



A few weeks ago I was visiting blogs I like and ran across Ali Edwards talking about making a small Album that was part Journal, part photo album and all about life.  I was smitten.
so I gathered all my Holiday themed paper and old cards, hate to say it but I even shopped for some papers.
I made a 6x6 inch book to journal in the month of December.  A lot happens in December and the hope is that if the book is already made you will actually use it.  
I will probably add some more embellishments to the pages and may even add more pages during December.
There is even a flickr group where people are posting pictures of their little books.
I only put 3 pictures on the group, but if you click on cobweb1st under the pictures you can see every page on my flickr.

Viki

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

VOTE!

It is Election Day here in the USA.
No matter who you want to win, 
Exercise your constitutional rights,
Get out and VOTE!

So I took my mother to the polls and we voted.
It wasn't crowded at 9:30.  We planned on getting there after rush hour so we wouldn't have to wait.  However, I didn't expect to just be able to walk in and vote.  I took a sock along to knit of in case I had to wait.  There was no wait.

Dave voted at around 6 this morning and for the first time EVER he had to stand in line for 20 minutes.

The rest of the day... well, Mariah has been off school for a week now, between being sick and the schools were closed yesterday and today.
I think we'll go to the grocery for milk, bread and lunch.
I'm stewing chicken for soup for dinner.  Dave is on call, so don't know when he'll get home.
The rest of the time I'll work on my December Daily and clear my clothes out of the master bathroom closet, as they are going to start tearing it apart on Thursday! Yea!

Viki
p.s. A HUGE Thank you to everyone who commented on the dream about my father.
He would have been out early to vote today.  Believe it.


Sunday, November 02, 2008

Remembering...


Today is a day for remembering loved ones who have passed away.
Remembering the joyful times, the positive times what made these souls special.

Today I will be remembering.
As I cook and knit and read and craft, I will be thinking of those special ones.
Dad, Mary, Grandma Beulah, Grandmother Clara, Uncle Kenny, and even Chutney and Lancer and Tinker.

A memory, a dream.  After my Dad died I had a dream of him. 
 We were in an airport, it was quite warm but Dad was wearing my favorite Marlboro man jacket, My feet hurt, I was in old tennis shoes(blue chucks), I was searching, frantic, afraid I'd miss my flight.  I saw my Dad and I ran to him to give him a hug and he hugged me back and I could smell his special Dad smell.  He said to me, "it's okay, I'm alright."  He told me goodbye and I got on my plane. 

I rarely fly.
I don't wear chucks anymore.
I could smell him.
I could feel his hug and the leather of the jacket.
It was so very Real.

If you want to see how others are honoring their family go to Dia de Bloglandia to start your adventure.

The card above is my representation of a candy skull.
I really wanted to join in on the festivities of Dia de Bloglandia but couldn't get a post ready in time.  

Take time today to remember.

Viki

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Hope



Hope Everyone had a "Joyful" Halloween!

We did.
IT was a busy and even Exciting day!

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year.
I went to Archivers to buy some Christmas paper for a daily journal/album for December. (ala Ali Edwards For even more pictures there is of course a Flickr group)
BUT
Everything Halloween was at least 25% off.  I had a hard time not filling up my basket.
I did pretty good.  I used my 30% off coupon on a book.

Then I went to Whole Foods for pumpkin beer.
Tis the season and I wanted to try it.

After Lunch Jordan and her "boyfriend" came over.  It was their 2 year anniversary.  Yes they started dating on Halloween.
So
He 
Proposed
on 
Halloween 
too.

They came over to show off her ring.
I don't know when I've seen her so happy!
(She still wont let me take pictures of her though...grr)

Then I cleaned the guts out of the white pumpkin and got out the power drill and drilled holes in it.  We called it the Holy Pumpkin, not the Great Pumpkin.  It did look nice shining out last night.

While I made dinner, Mariah got ready to give out candy.  We made her into Abby from NCIS, with black clothing, black fingernail polish, eyeliner and bright lipstick(it looked way better than the black lipstick).  Not as many tats though.  We even had a microscope for a prop.  She wants to do it again next year but says we need to set up a lab on the front porch.  My little "goth" geek.  By 10 pm she had finished Unit 3 on the online Geometry course.  It took her less than two days for that whole unit.  One more unit to complete before she can take the final.

After DH finally got home from work and we ate the wonderful white bean sausage and kale stew I made, DD1 came back over to show Daddy her ring.

What a day.

The dog went nuts over trick or treating children...he only scared 2 very small ones.  He is quite large and I heard little screams.  DD2 chased them down with candy and apologized to their parents.  

What a day!

Viki

p.s. pumpkin beer is okay, not great but okay.



Wednesday, October 29, 2008

What I did on my day off.

Yesterday was Tuesday and I have Tuesday's off work.  I had been promising my friend Sally D. that I would make her a Halloween bracelet.  So here it is.  She loved it and wore it all day today.  Click the picture to make it bigger.

I also spent a bit of time finding my Pumpkin beanbag game to take to school today. My father cut the hole in the board and I painted it when Jordan was about 5 years old.  We used it at almost every grade school Autumn party for 12 years.(2 girls, 6 years apart)  Now I take it into the preschool/MDO every year.  I use it to decorate the house sometimes too.  Every once in awhile I make new beanbags using Halloween print fabric.
Which I found very amusing.

Mariah stayed home sick today.  Mom is about where I was last Thursday.  All runny nosed.
I just feel stuffy in the head.  That is a technical term.

Leftover soup for dinner and I'll make a Thank you card tonight.

Viki




Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The Winner is.....



dianne!

dianne, please email me your address so I can mail the pin to you!!

Viki

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Soul Journal Blog Party!!








Happy Halloween!
Halloween is my favorite time of the year!
As you can see in a few posts below, I have been decorating!










 I also am having a give away.  So if you visit my blog for the Soul Journal Halloween Blog Party
please leave a comment and one lucky person will win this cute "ride a shooting star" Halloween pin!

I worked with mixed feelings on my Soul Journal pages for Halloween on Saturday. After all the feelings I worked out, I realized that what is really important at this time of year is to make Halloween Fun again.  

Also I finished and actually hung my "All Hallows Eve" banner.  I am working on another Halloween bracelet for a friend.  The jewelry I'll be wearing this week is in one of the above pictures.

Wish I had some cookies to offer, alas I haven't had the time to make our favorite pumpkin cookies, but I'll give you the link to the recipe ;-) 

The best news of the day is that I've found my skull!  YEA!

Thanks for stopping by!

Viki

Thanks To Christy

I now have the party image for the Soul Journal Halloween Blog Party on the blog!
Sometimes I just need to have my hand held to get this blog stuff into my head.

In case you haven't heard about this party click on the blog party icon and it will take you to CollageDiva's site where you can learn more.

Off to prep for the party.

I've got my Party Banner hanging and some art work to do.

Viki

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Halloween and I've lost my skull!






Last year I didn't pull out very many of my Halloween things.
This year is different.  This is really my favorite time of the year and I really love to decorate for Halloween.  I have made and collected things over the years that I pull out every year.  The only thing I haven't been able to find (yet) this year is the skull.  
When you walk in my door there is a set of shelves that I use to decorate each season.  
Here is what you see right now, and on the wall above the piano my ghost quilt.  Pinned to the edge is a little pin I made with printed cloth and watercolor paper.  I've made more of these this year for gifts.

I have a few other art projects in the works to decorate too.
I'll post if I actually get them done.

I do miss the skull, I'll keep looking.
Viki

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Experimenting

I'm playing on iMac this morning.  We uploaded some pictures the other day and I thought I'd try to actually upload one to the blog.  It WORKS!

This is one of my 6x6 pages from the rainbow swap.  I think Caty claimed this one.  My color was blue.  we were allowed accent colors.  The lower left hand corner has a picture of the synapses in the brain.  The words say: Stay calm even when your losing it.  

Now that I've figured one thing out about using the iMac, it is time to move forward.  I'm all about making this exciting!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

On the edge of something New!

I am writing this on the kitchen computer.
We will soon turn one of the bedrooms into a new home for the NEW computer that isn't even out of the box yet...an iMac!

I can't wait to try something NEW!

Meanwhile, I can't post pictures, because, I can't upload them.
I have tons of pictures: Art, Nashville, my new classes at the preschool...

This has been an extremely busy week. Have you noticed that when the kids have a few days off of school the rest of the week seems overly busy?

Monday and Tuesday we had fun in Nashville. We visited the Country Music Hall of Fame, The Lane Motor Museum, and Andrew Jackson's home called The Hermitage. All were way cool. The Motor Museum was my favorite though. Check it out online at http://lanemotormuseum.org/

The rest of the week blurs it goes so fast and was so full. So in the evenings I would colapse in front of the computer. When I sat down a few days ago and was surfing I found this http://rodrigvitzstyle.typepad.com/rodrigvitz_style/2008/10/dia-de-los-muertos-in-bloglandia.html
Seriously check this out. Tis the season for dia de los muertos and this looks like a lot of fun.

Last night I checked out Ali Edwards blog http://aliedwards.typepad.com/
to check out the latest in the Week in the Life type of project. She had great pictures up and an ad for this FREE class called Stories in Hand. http://www.jessicasprague.com/
ANYONE can take this free class it isn't just for scrapbook people. We all have stories to tell and I Will take this class.

AND I've been looking into scrapbooking because I have 25 years worth of pictures sitting in boxes and baskets. They are not in order because little hands have sifted through them over the years. Jordan in particular has always loved to go through pictures. I'd love to get my pictures organized so each of the girls has their Story. It is daunting and if I think too hard, it will never get done.
Of course, first I have to get the new computer room set up...so wish me luck on clearing that room today!
Viki

Sunday, September 21, 2008

We Have POWER!

It was a Windy day last Sunday (Sept. 14, 2008) In fact it we had gusts clocked at over 80 miles per hour. They are saying the high winds were the remains of IKE.

The Electricity went out before noon. I was on the phone with my DH at the time. Since we use cordless and the base is connected to the wall outlet...I lost contact with DH. When you only get one phone call from him a week, lets say it was a bad time.

We spent the afternoon watching the HUGE Water Maple in the yard behind us break up. Many limbs went flying. The Biggest of course landed in our yard and hit our house. I was moving cars with DD1 at the time. It was like a hail storm of wood and leaves came over the house and hit us in the cars! DD2 was in the house at the time and heard and saw the impact. Scary. Lucky for us it didn't punch a hole in the roof. No shingles came off and we only have a bent gutter.

The girl who owns the house behind us is dating a guy who does landscaping and lawns. He is a Vol. firefighter too. She was in West VA. when the storm blew through and hurried back home.
She and her boyfriend arrived at 10:30 in the evening. He grabbed a headlamp and his chainsaw and had the honkin big limb off our roof and the other limbs out of both yards by 11:30 and by midnight it was all in the next county.

I really expected to have power the next day. Not so fast saith the electric company. So we spent our week cranking the crank radio to listen to the news and playing cards and other games by candlelight and cooking on the grill.

Here are some of the yummies I made on the grill this week. Remember I had to use stuff up from the freezer. Salmon, Tuna steaks, lots of chicken, cauliflower, broccoli, frozen pizza, sweet potatoes, Fennel...we ate lots of carrot sticks and celery. We made sandwiches with the chicken for lunch and I of course boiled water on the grill to make coffee in my press pot for breakfast. I also used the boiled water for oatmeal too. We really ate well. Unfortunately we lost everything in mom's deep freeze. Including the peach cobbler she had made for when DH returned from Qatar. I did feed mom all week too. It was easier on her. We only ate dinner out once and lunch twice. Yes the fast food places had electricity, which really makes you wonder doesn't it.

We were lucky that the temps stayed in the 70's and low 80's for the week.
We were lucky in that we had hot water for showers and for washing dishes.
We were lucky that I keep several flashlights, 2 battery powered lanterns, 2 headlamps and extra batteries on hand, that DH filled both gas tanks for the grill before he left and that the guy across the street gave me a regular phone to plug into the wall.

The next grill I buy WILL have a gas burner on the side. That will make coffee easier and allow for rice and pasta too.

I did knit, even on some beaded lace. I didn't spin and very little art was made. I spent most of my days figuring out meals and picking up sticks and cleaning out the fridges.

DD2 and I did start a book and we read out loud to each other until we couldn't see well in the evenings. The open windows didn't aggravate our allergies overly much because it was dry and the molds were down. When it got dark the dog would sleep. He was confused the first few days because with the windows open he heard all kinds of noises that are usually masked by the AC and the TV.

DD2 missed the TV most and since school was canceled for the week, she missed a field trip to see Dracula too. When things got too tough, I'd send her out to DH's car with the portable DVD player and a phone to charge.

We survived the week really fairly easily.
Not that I want to do it again anytime soon.
AND
DH should be home sometime on Tuesday!! Yahoo!!!

Viki

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

It is time to Bento again!

School has started. The MDO/Preschool has the meet and greet next week.

I am trying to get stuff together for my little packet of lunch information. I don't expect the mom's to make wonderful little bento for their 3 yr olds, although I did have two such creative mothers last year, but I would like to see more nutrition and less sugar. Have you ever looked at how much sugar is in a juice box? Also, some parents pack HUGE amounts of food for a 3 yr old.
I advocate small amounts of several good foods. Chances are their kids will eat more of the smaller portions of food.



I took a really good Brain Development class at the beginning of the Summer and the information blew me away. The biggie was that High Fructose Corn Syrup is in EVERYTHING and it is NOT good for Anyone's brain. If it says High Fructose it is bad for you. If it says hydrogenate, or partially hydrogenated on a package don't eat it. These trans fatty acids affect brain function, the nerves inthe brain don't function as they were designed to do.



I have a list of brain builders and brain drainers to give the parents. I also have an article from the local paper from last year and a list of interesting web sites. Like this one: http://www.foodfun4kids.com/

Where you can buy a deck of cards that the 4 suits are: FRUITS, VEGETABLES, GRAINS and PROTEINS. Each nutrition card is unique and has nutrition facts listed for fresh fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods that don’t have food labels.



The WholeFoods web site has a good kids section with ideas for snacks and lunches.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/kids/. Just keep clicking on the links.



LapTop lunchbox has a good site about kids lunches too. http://www.laptoplunches.com/ideas.html#nutrition



Lap Top Lunch is an American Bento box. I don't have one, but I've been tempted.
Another cool American Bento type set up is http://www.lunchsense.com/home/lun/smartlist_7/buylunchboxes.html


I do have some Lock Lock boxes, some inexpensive 2 tier Hello Kitty bento boxes from the Dollar Tree and a Sigg bottle to carry my water. I put it all in a regular zippered insulated lunchbox. Usually the children can't wait to see what I have in my lunch, the Sigg bottle has odd creatures on it and everyone wants to look at it. I carry water to drink and pack healthy food for my lunch. The rule at school is growing food before treats. I love the mothers who don't pack sweet treats at all.

If you would like to see what some mom's send to school with their kids, yes people actually take pictures and post them on the internet, google bento. Or go to this site http://www.flickr.com/groups/kideats/
Not everyone packs healthy though.

Have fun looking!

Viki

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Just a peek


Baggie swap
Originally uploaded by cobweb1st
Two posts in one day, I doubt that will happen very often.
This is just a peek at the baggie swap project. On Artistic Divas we were matched up with a partner. We sent each other a baggie of goodies and each person was supposed to use any amount of the baggie goodies as well as some of their own stash to create something for their partner. I added the beads, slide mounts and a few pictures. It really is a little treasure and I hope Eileen likes it as much as I do.
As usual, more pictures on my flickr acct. http://www.flickr.com/photos/16932110@N04/

Viki

Catching up




The Soul Journal "class" with Sarah W. continues on, and I am behind. I thought I'd go ahead and post a few pictures of pages I've completed. On two pages we wrote and then used tape to cover up the writing. Then we painted over the tape. I thought it looked very dull so I pulled out a page of 12x12 lace cardstock that I bought to experiment with and used it as a stencil with Raspberry spraypaint. Much better. I've used gel pens and some bronze Lumiere paint on it too although I believe these pictures were taken before I added the bronze.

The Hands pages were lots of fun and they are very bright. Hopefully I can play catch up with this journal and other projects this weekend. The Olympics do draw me away from the table though and I either knit or spin while I watch them.


I also want to thank everyone who has stopped by and commented on my progress! Makes me feel good!
As always these pictures are also on my flickr acct. and they look very nice if you view them as a slide show. http://www.flickr.com/photos/16932110@N04/


Viki

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Soul Journal stencil pages


Here are 2 stencil pages in my Soul Journal. I think the next time I do this technique I'll use darker colors and a smaller tip pen. I used magenta paint and to darken the pages I used some distress ink. Last I used a frost white which smeared a bit when I sealed the pages with gel medium. I'm not completely pleased with these pages. The techniques I used to tone down the stencil images made the pages look a little dull to me.

Viki