A gift from Amy and getting real with myself....................

Before I get all crazy I want you all to see what my lovely friend Amy sent me in the mail this week.  She had a little giveaway and I was the very fortunate and excited winner.  

Have a look.

Look at the wonderful things that landed in my mailbox.  These adorable cards, each featuring a dog or two, well you know how much I love my Max.  And this incredible cherry broach that she made and designed.

Isn't this broach the best?  Amy made some for fellow blogging friends she met up with a few weeks back, then she had a giveaway so we could all be included and have one too!  I am sorry for all of you who entered and did not win, but I have to say I am thrilled for myself!  I want you all to visit Amy at Love Made My Home, she is warm, caring and oh so funny.  She is also the creator of Five on Friday.  Pop in and say Hello!

Now for my reality check.  This love of yarn of mine has gotten out of hand.  I think I have a real problem here and I haven't even bought any yarn this year.  I decided to write down all the yarn I have, well all the yarn that in a singular amount could make a project.  I came up with 53 different types of yarn, with different amounts of yardage in each type ranging from enough to make a sweater all the way down to a nice scarf.  That amount does not included anything in the flat brown basket on the right side of the third shelf that is filled with all different amounts of cotton yarn.

It does include all of this, but not the bins of leftovers or odd balls I have in my closet.  This reality check also included messy shelves that need to be dusted and organized.

And it does not include these mini balls of yarn left over from lots of things I have made.  I knew I would be surprised by the sheer amount of yarn I own, but boy was I really surprised.  There is no way I am adding up the yardage, I might choke if I realized how many miles of yarn I actually have.  But writing it down has made me realize even more that I need to stick to my guns and not buy anymore yarn for a while.  I might even make it a whole year without a yarn purchase, wouldn't that be amazing!  I am going to try and pick projects for the yarn I have, not a project that is going to increase my stash.  Now to be honest, a lot of this yarn was on sale or was a gift, but still I need to get a handle on this before more is allowed in my house.  

This weekend I also plan to get a handle on my patterns.  Before Pinterest and Ravelry hit it big I was a huge printer of patterns.  I still love to do that but I need to be better about printing only those that I really, really think I am going to make.  I think it would be better for my house and the environment.  I have four days off this weekend including today, now you know I can't sit still for very long so I will be attempting to clear some things out of my house and off my list.  Today was spent running errands and getting clothes for my son to wear to his graduation and senior breakfast.  He is not one to dress up at all so he is hard to shop for and will not go out to shop for anything.  I managed two trips out and two trips back to return certain items.  He looks so handsome in nice pants and a nice shirt, don't tell him I told you that!

My container garden is looking great.  I have a huge cucumber plant growing on the right and a cantaloupe on the left.  The leaves look surprisingly similar.  The plants love the new spot I moved them to, they like having a little bit more time in the sun.

This is the remainder of my one surviving tomato plant.  We have already eaten several ripe tomatoes and there are a few more ripening right now.  Yum!  I can't wait to eat some more with a little basil and balsamic vinegar. 

I hear Little Buddy waking up from his late nap so I am going to sign off.  Hope you all enjoy your weekend.