Friday, October 31, 2014

Happy Halloween and a birthday


I know you have seen it before but this is my favorite Halloween decoration ever.  We have lots planned for today.  Little Buddy has a parade and activities at school.  He has physical therapy and then after a much deserved nap he will trick or treat at the houses right next to us.  I bet he will have fun running around with his walker outside with the big kids visiting.  What is he going to be?  Well you will just have to wait and see.

Also a very Happy Birthday to my oldest son who for the next year will be known as Mr.21!  A big day to celebrate his birth and of course him reaching a legal drinking age.  Hopefully he won't get to carried away with all the festivities.  He has made me so proud.  He works hard to swim at a high college level.  He is maturing and adores his littlest brother.  There is something to say about a young man who welcomes a special needs child into the family with such an open heart.  Yes he still needs to cook a bit before we can let him out into the wild world, but he is on his way to becoming a very good man.  Isn't that what you want for your son, for him to grow up to become a respectful, hard working, trustworthy, good man?

Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Happy Halloween!


Wednesday, October 29, 2014

More decorations and a visit to the pumpkin patch

My decoration tour continues if you don't mind.  I have actually weaned down some of the things I had in the house in the last few years, so the things I have I really love.  






I have had all of these decorations for years.  I am not adding anything new although it can be tempting.  I really have so much, I am trying to declutter and let go of so many things and that includes decorations.  So while it looks like there is a lot here it is much less than it used to be.



My very good friend Lynda has been visiting this week from her home in North Carolina.  I went up to visit her this past summer for her husband's memorial service.  Lynda is currently fighting breast cancer and I am have to tell you I am in awe of her spirit and her fight.  She drove all this way between treatments so she could see family and friends and of course to meet this guy.  Little Buddy has not been on his best behavior, he has a snuffy nose and a tiny cough.  Nothing big but just enough to make him tired and cranky.  We took him to the pumpkin patch anyway and bought a tiny pumpkin.  Pumpkins in Florida are so expensive!!!!  A big one was selling for $45, big by our standards that is.  We were not going to carve it so we settled for the little one so he could touch it and learn about it.  He managed to smile for this picture but other than that he has been a grump, not showing Lynda his best side that is for sure. 

Hope you are having a good week.  I will be checking in on Halloween to show you my favorite decoration ever.  You have all seen it before, but who cares?   I promise to catch up on your happenings this weekend.  Have a great day.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Fall Farm Festival



Yesterday we went to a fun Fall Festival at a local horse farm.  It was a fundraiser for the work they do with Autistic children and adults.   I know I just had a post about Little Buddy and the farm, can you stand another one so soon?  This time we took Dad along for the fun. Little Buddy had two horse rides.  This horse was much bigger than the miniature horse Little Buddy rode on last Monday.  You could tell it required a bit more postural adjustment for him as he sat forward and his legs were so wide.  He loved it.  He is saying, "Go, go go!" in the picture.
 
We saw three prairie dogs running across this tunnel suspended above our heads.


They had a tractor all fixed up to look like Thomas the Train.  Little Buddy was beside himself excited.   While we waited in line he kept saying, "All aboard!  The train is going to go fast.  Chugga chugga choo choo!"  Much to the amusement of the other people in line.


Little Buddy and Dad had a great time.  The train went around a small lake and back to the start.  The ride wasn't long enough for Little One, but the line was much too long to wait in again.


We met this gorgeous alpaca named Big Boy.

Big Boy wanted to nibble Little Buddy's shoe, and of course my little one didn't even notice, he was looking at the train.

Big Boy was really only interested in food.  He kept stealing the little cups of food people held out to him.  I think he was having a grand time.

We went on another hayride.  Little Buddy started singing Old McDonald's Farm on the ride all by himself.
 

We met a huge pot bellied pig.  I swear when I saw this pig a few years ago, when I visited the farm with some of the medical foster children I work with, this pig was in the exact same place.


We even saw several cute sheep.


There were a few areas with a somewhat smooth surface where Little Buddy could walk around all by himself, just like the other kids.  We were at the farm for 2 hours which was just enough time to enjoy it without getting overwhelmed and overtired.  When we got home we scrubbed up (including those crocs)  ate lunch and he went down for a long nap.

He has had a busy week, Monday's farm visit, all his therapies and school, a police officer visit at school where he got to sit in the police car, a great party Friday evening with his Medical Foster Family and the farm yesterday.  I think he needs a rest.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Halloween Happenings and a fun hat

Halloween is my favorite holiday.  It is all about fun and not all about decorating, cards, presents, shopping, wrapping and shipping and all the money that goes into that.  I feel like I am always running around with my head cut off at Christmas.  Actually I am usually so tired when it comes to the actual day I don't even appreciate it.  Yes I know Christmas is about so much more than presents, but with a family that is unfortunately a big part of it.  Halloween is just about fun, plain and simple fun.  I love to decorate at this time of year.  Even though the temperature is still in the mid 80's I can pretend it is more Autumnish (is that even a word?) when I look around my decorated home.
 Want a peek?


In my living room there are spiders crawling up my railing, and a spooky black cat sitting on my antique piano stool. 




The mantle in my family room, from left to right looks like the above photos.  There are more things dispersed around my house which I will show you next week, including my very favorite holiday decoration that I put up every year.  If you have read my blog for very long I bet you will remember it. 


Do you remember the brown crochet blob I posted about a few days ago?  Little Buddy's Medical Foster Mom asked me if I could crochet her a baby turkey hat for a friend having a baby right before Thanksgiving.  She found this Crochet Turkey Hat pattern on Pinterest and I said I would give it a go.  This hat is very fun to make and can be whipped up in an evening.  I think it might be a little big but who cares?  I had the yarn in my stash from the Milk Chocolate Yarn Eating Blanket I made my teenager a few years ago.  I had the golden color in a tiny little ball waiting to be used up, and I had the filling, so it was free, fast and fun.


Of course I could not make just one Little Buddy needed one too! He has a strangely shaped head not unlike many preterm babies.  His head is small and a little flat on the sides so the hat I made him did not fit perfectly.  If he wears it for two seconds on Thanksgiving I will be happy.


Actually he was not a cooperative model at all, the rest of the photos from this photo shoot were a compete blur as he was rapidly swinging his head from side to side.   He loved the beanie part of the hat which he put on and off his head a million times while I made up the turkey legs.   He liked the hat so much I decided to make him a beanie with extra yarn I had on hand.  Just a hat to play with. 



He looks like a little boy from an exotic, foreign land.  The beanie is funny don't you think?  The beanie pattern for the turkey hat and for the one above can be found here and the pattern is free.

Thank you for all your lovely comments on Little Buddy's trip to the farm.  Today he sat in a police car at school with the police officer!  Lets hope this is the only time that happens in his life, well at least after the age of 10!


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Little Buddy at the farm

Little Buddy had the day off school yesterday.  His vision teacher invited him to attend and event held in the morning at a local farm.  Well sort of a local farm.  He loved it, so just in case you need an almost mid week happy fix here are some cute photos of him at the farm.


 He rode on a miniature horse named Missy.


He held on tight all by himself.   I walked alongside him just in case he got nervous or decided he wanted to slide off.  But he was a trooper and had a big smile on his face the whole ride.


Missy wasn't much bigger than Little Buddy, I think they were a match made in Heaven.  If only he could have ridden more than the few minutes allowed.  This little trip made me want to get him into Hippotherapy, where children with different special needs get to ride on and take care of horses.  It would do wonders for his balance and trunk stability, as well as help to relax his legs.  I believe he will be discharged from vision services soon as he is really doing fantastically with his vision.  When that happens we will have one free afternoon a week, so Hippotherapy might be perfect in that slot.


We met a pig although he/she did not oink for us.
 

We saw bunnies, goats, chickens and my favorite this beautiful little lady, Miss Donkey.
 

He got to go on a hayride with his vision teacher who also snuck him on the tractor that pulled the hayride trailer around.  


While they were off on their adventure I walked around and could not take my eyes off this old boat house.  It is part of an old campground that can be rented out and is still in use for boyscout retreats.  Can't you imagine all the squeals of delight this old boat house has heard over the years.  Frankly the water looks gorgeous but I wouldn't venture in it.  Fresh water in Florida houses water moccasins and alligators.  People say they stay out of the way of swimmers, but would you take a chance?  I took about a million pictures of this boat house as I walked around, it was so beautiful and almost haunting if you know what I mean.

 
On our way home we spotted this!  Seriously 30 minutes from my house is a 75 acre alpaca farm I did not know about.  We will visit next time they have an open house.

Hope your week is going well.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Scattered thoughts on a Saturday


I am feeling scattered today.  So I guess you are getting a scattered post.   Here are the beautiful sunflowers on my kitchen table.  I love sunflowers in Autumn.  The ghosts Little Buddy made with his babysitter with tissues, cotton balls, string and markers.


My beautiful Mum is flowering so nicely.  See the little surprise flower behind it?

This basket that has been refilled several times with yarn is near empty because................

Thirty-five dishcloths have been completed.  I think I might be done with this project, well at least for now.  I think I should celebrate!


Little Buddy leaves a cute mess everywhere he goes.  Firefighters and a firetruck came for a visit at his school this week, he loved it.  He got this Elmo coloring book that discusses the old favorite, "stop, drop and roll."  He is also in LOVE with his fake money.  He says, "I love money," all the time in this weird deep voice, sort of like a deranged accountant or banker!  We might have a problem on our hands as he gets older!!!!!


I made something cute last night, more on that later.

I hope to be sitting my behind right here in a few minutes listening to Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld.  I am really enjoying this book so much.  I was listening to The Rope Walk by Carrie Brown but I returned it to the library early as it frankly was driving me crazy.  There were way, and I mean way to many similes in this book.  I am not a literature Queen but I swear I was ready to scream at the author if she had one more sentence with, "like" or "as if," in it.  The main character was 10, and there is just no way a ten year old has these types of thoughts.   And it also took place in current times but it should  have taken place in the 70's, it felt wrong when the author mentioned 9/11 or cell phones, sort of jarring in fact.  I finally put myself out of the misery I was in and returned the audiobook early.  I looked up the book on goodreads and frankly might be the only one who did not love it.  

Listening to a book while driving, going for a walk or playing with yarn is my new favorite thing to do.  I get double the "reading" time and can get other things done at the same time.  I am re-reading the Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani in the evenings before bed.  I have missed the main character Ave Maria, she feels like a good old friend.  I am enjoying them even more than the first time I read them.  That is the wonderful thing about a good book, you can re-read it many times and get different things from it each time you read it.

This morning I spent pressure washing my driveway.  I never even knew something like this had to be done until I moved to Florida, the mold and mildew capitol of the world.  The pressure washer stopped working about 3/4 of the way through the job.  I think I overheated it.  I will try to finish it tomorrow, boy I have such an exciting life!  

I have been decorated for Halloween for a couple of weeks.  I love this holiday.  I will show you more this week.

Is Blogger slow today or is it just me?

Hope you are having a slightly less scattered day than I am. 

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Babies, a prize and the dreaded dishcloths

This weekend I took a tiny break from my Christmas creating to make some cute little baby things.  My neighbor across the street had a baby girl a couple of weeks ago.  She has a 14 month old and a new baby, bless her heart.  Last year when her first was born I made little booties and a hat for her.  I really don't think these were all that well received.  You know as well as I do that not everyone appreciates a handmade gift.  Did that stop me from making daughter number two the same thing?  No, it absolutely did not.  I had fun making them, they are a creative gift and if they are not used or even thought of nicely, then oh well who cares.


This hat pattern came from the lovely Olga at Lacy Crochet.  I made it with a size G hook and stash yarn I had from a baby  blanket I made my great niece. 


These little booties were an idea I got from the sweet Lisa at Needles and Wool on her Friday Favs.  Lisa is adorable and just had a birthday, pop on over and wish her a Happy Birthday for me.  The original pattern for these booties was from canalblog.com, but I could not find the exact source.  They have been reworded by Small and Friendly and are called the Bitty Baby Booties.


I think they are cute and I had fun taking a break from dishcloths to make them.  Ah, babies what could be cuter?
 

Because big sister's (even if they are still little) need a little something special too, I bought these little finger puppets at the alpaca store when I was there visiting this past Saturday.  Just a little something she can play with that might be fun and different.


Carla of the gorgeous blog The River had a giveaway and I was the very happy winner.  Carla and her husband make these gorgeous cards.  You can find them on her blog and also at her etsy store located here.  Carla has a beautiful blog, she lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two boys.  You all know I have a soft spot for Wisconsin, so visiting her blog makes me feel like a little bit of me is still there.  She has a kind soul, I hope you will visit her.  And for any of you thinking you are getting one of these in the mail from me you are wrong, they are much to lovely to use.   I am going to put them up on my bulletin board so I can be reminded of the beautiful Autumn in Wisconsin.

 
Seventeen of these babies have made it into the Christmas bin.  I have made a few more and already given them away so they don't count.  I have just a few more to do and I think I am at the point where this project might be over.  I bet you will be as happy about the finish as I will be.

Have a great Wednesday.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

A visit to the alpaca store and a gift

Well, well, well I see that all of your were excited for me to visit the alpaca store, and many of you thought I could not make it out of there without a yarn purchase.  Oh my friends, you do not have much faith in me do you?  Let us take a visit the store shall we?

You have been here with me before, actually it was about a year ago.  This is where I purchased the alpaca nesting balls and had the idea to make Max's fur/yarn nesting balls.   The Store is called Criativity and is located in Largo Florida.  They do not have a website but do have a Facebook page if you are interested.  For my fellow Floridians, or those of you who travel down this way this store is worth the visit.


When you walk in there is a big showroom full of alpaca clothing and lots of Free Trade gifts from soaps, toys to those beautiful felted birdhouse I bought for Christmas gifts last year. Everywhere you look there is something wonderful to see.


Birdhouses, baskets, shawls, mittens, hats and sweaters, oh my!

Around the back of the store is the yarn/workroom.  They used to just have a portion of this wall filled with yarn.  Now they have gorgeous yarn located in three different areas of the room.  
 

They have two large worktables, chairs, projects and looms are everywhere.  And the staff, oh my goodness they are just the nicest people in the world.   They are kind and helpful, ask your name and feel like they have been your best friend for ages.  The yarn they have is gorgeous and I felt it was very reasonably priced.   Did I succumb?  No I did not, but Cathy bought interchangeable needles and my friend Joy bought yarn.  I did make a teeny, tiny purchase which I will share with you another time.


This masterpiece was in the corner, it is spectacular.  This was a 4th grade class project.  Each 4th grader got to felt their own flower, once placed together and adhered to a painted frame it made this gorgeous piece.  I swear I thought it had been completed by a fiber artist.   Well I guess it was created by many young fiber artists.

Seriously if you are near the area you have to visit this shop.  And I seriously need to remember to come back sooner than a year from now.  Maybe when I take myself off my yarn diet I will venture over and have a look at all of the beautiful yarn. 

You can find Criativity here:

Criativity
720 9th Ave SW
Largo, Fl 33770
(727) 584-4191
Tuesday-Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am -4pm
Closed Sunday & Monday

Onto other very happy news.  I was one of the very happy winners of a giveaway hosted by Chris of Chrissie's Knit Times.  We had to identify a very interesting piece of well, piece of something she had posted on her blog.  It was fun to see the guesses, and although I did not come near to being right she took pity on a few of us and allowed us to win anyways.  Now is there anything better than getting a gift in the mail from a blog friend?  I think not!  Especially such a kind blog friend that really took the time to think about what would be perfect.  


Look at this!!!!  I swear I squealed in delight when I pulled this beautiful shawl pin and gorgeous yarn from the envelope.  Chrissy said she thought the yarn reminded her of me and Florida.  I think she is right on both accounts.  The color reminds me of the sun setting on the water with clouds near by.  The hues are gorgeous, can you tell I am excited?  Chrissy, a thousand thank you's for your kindness and generosity.  Pop on by and give Chrissy a hello for me.  You will love her I just know it.

My friend Ellen has returned to blogging recently.  She took time off to rehab a very bad back.  I hope you will pop in and tell her hi and wish her the best on her return into the blogging world.  You can find Ellen at Growing Gills. 

Gillian from Hookin A Yarn,  asked me if I like using Sugar n' Cream yarn for my dishcloths.  I do because the cotton yarn is perfect for that type of project although it is a bit rough on your hands and wrists.  I also get a weird little skins sensitivity on my yarn exposed fingers when I use this yarn.  I am not sure if it is the cotton, the texture or the dye.  When I take a break from the yarn it gets better.  They also make a version that has a scent to it, watch out for that it will knock you socks off.  I accidentally bought some and put it outside for a week and it still smelled much to sweet and smelly for me.  I ended up donating it because I couldn't stand it. Go visit Gillian, she lives in Northern Ireland, and it is beautiful. 

Oh and Pat from the Sew We Quilt blog.  I am using Berroco Boboli Lace in the color 4312 for the table runner on my loom.  Hopefully we will have a finish on that sometime in the near future.

Okay I think I am all finished.  Hope you had a fun weekend.