Happy Halloween

Duke wants you all to be careful out there tonight. It's looking pretty spooky around here and it probably is in your neighborhood too

Wassup

Just in case anyone was wondering I thought I would let you know my lame excuses for not posting the last several days.
Friday I got home from work not feeling very good and proceeded to sleep the evening away. Saturday I was feeling better and we did some errands that took all morning and part of the afternoon. By the time I got home it was hit the couch veg in front of the tv for the rest of the weekend.

The work continues in my back yard and the mess just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Monday I come home from work to find that my driveway is blocked by the construction vehicles and there is a truck parked in my driveway. I had to park up the street in front of my neighbors house. I was a bit ticked to say the least.

Any way as you can tell from my lack of original photographs I'm not much in the blogging mood but I wanted to at least say a hardy hello to everyone.

You decide

Something fun for Friday.
This picture came in an email the other day.

Whether it was the power of suggestion or just that funny I found it completely true because the longer I looked at it the more I laughed.

I hope you find it funny and start you weekend off laughing

Beware the claws of the cat

Before that cat showed up this is what the back yard looked like

It ran back and forth through the back yard carrying big drain pipe and leaving lots of muddy tracks

Right in the middle of their path through the yard was a tree. Notice I said was.

If you look at the first picture, the only tree now standing in the back yard is the big one in the middle. The pear tree on the right (you may remember me complaining about it) is no more. Funny story with this. They knocked on the door Monday and talked to Wade. He said they asked about taking out the trees and he told them go ahead. Tuesday evening I was looking out the back door and I said to Wade that it didn't make sense that they had to take out the pear tree but not a tree in my neighbors yard that is even closer to where they are working. Wade gets a big grin and he says well they didn't have to take the pear tree out. They asked about the other one and I said sure but too bad you don't have to take the pear tree. The guy offered to pull that one out too and Wade took him up on it.

So you are probably wondering what all this is about. I've shown you the flooding we get in our back yard when it rains. The borough is finally taking care of it. Hopefully when this project is all done I will never have to go on flood watch again

Did somebody order a cat?

I'm about to tell you a story that you just won't believe. Honestly this is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Look at this face, would I lie?

So Monday morning mom and dad went off to work like they always do and I got busy catching up on my napping. I heard people outside but I couldn't reach the window to see what was going on. It wasn't until mom got home from work that I discovered that someone had the nerve to drop a cat off in our yard. They left if right there and took off.  I don't want no cat around here. No one consulted me on this.

Just wait till you see what that darn cat did with those claws. Mom is not going to be happy

Pumpkin pile

I've got a quick craft today that I did a couple weeks ago.

I bought the glittery foam pumpkins at Wal-mart and I think they were under a dollar but I can't remember.
After I wrapped some scrapbook paper around a tin can I glued the pumpkins on top of it and that's all there was to it.
Chances are at the end of the season this one will just get trashed but for now it sits and decorates my mantle

Monday Monday

We all know how I feel about Mondays so I won't even go in to it.
Instead I give you Duke

Seasonal things

I've never been very good at decorating. Some people can arrange things on a wall or a table and it looks like a masterpiece. I do it and it looks like a bunch of junk. I've gotten a tad bit better but I still just do not have a flair for it.

I do like to add some season decorations here and there though. Last weekend, or it may have been the weekend before, I lose track of time, I pulled out a few things and made a fall arrangement for my coffee table.

I love the glow of candle light

Everything I used for this I already had except for the glass vase.

We're supposed to have a cold and rainy weekend. I can't decide if I want to hide out in my craft room or huddle under a blanket on the couch. Maybe a little of both

Fat free candy corn

It's candy corn season and everywhere you look you'll see the little yellow, orange and white confections. Wade absolutely loves candy corn and I'm always picking up a container of it at the dollar store for him. I'm not real crazy about it but I do like all the candy corn crafts I see.
I recently made a fat free version of the little cuties

A little bit of fabric a little bit of stuffing and a little bit of time playing on the sewing machine.

Chicken parfait

Have you ever had a chicken parfait? Have you ever even heard of a chicken parfait? I would like to show you one but the picture I thought I took wasn't on my phone.  Any way, walking around the woods can make a person hungry so on our trip to Shaker Woods we found the food vendors and had lunch. There was they typical food choices and then we saw either a pulled pork or a chicken parfait. I chose the chicken parfait. Imagine chicken with BBQ sauce layered in a parfait cup with mashed potatoes and topped with a cherry tomato. Not only original but yummy.
I did manage to take one good picture on my phone while walking around. Throughout the woods you'll find trees with faces carved in them. I snagged a picture of this one

To blog or not to blog, that is the question

And the second question would be if I do, then what the heck do I blog about.
 I suppose I could tell you about my trip to Shaker Woods on Saturday but there really isn't anything to tell. We went, it was fun, I spent money.
I could show you pictures of the latest completed projects, or any number of unfinished ones but I don't have pictures of them.
I could tell you how I've been incredibly busy cleaning my house top to bottom but my parents taught me not to lie.
I believe I will ponder these question for another day and maybe by tomorrow I will have the answer.

The nerve

Some humans have a lot of nerve. What's up with going off on a Saturday to have fun and leaving me home. That is just not right.

Mom is headed to Shaker Woods with her friend Debbie today. I don't get it, they just went a year ago why do they need to go again? She will pay for this if it's the last thing I do.

Just 2 bucks

I can't believe I was actually browsing through all the Christmas stuff they have out in the dollar store already but I confess I was.
I bought one two dollar item that really isn't just for Christmas.
I found some battery operated  LED candles. They take two AA batteries and they stay lit for 8 hours and go out for 16. So long as they batteries are in it, it will continue it's cycle of 8 on and 16 off.
I only bought one and now I'm wishing I would have bought a couple more.
I put this one in my kitchen window

One bad apple

One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch. As a matter of fact even that one bad apple is useful sometimes. I purchased some apples and maybe it was just me, but I didn't think they tasted all that great. I didn't want to throw them away so I sliced them up and threw them in the dehydrator.

I'm not a real fan of apple chips but dried apple slices can be quite useful in crafting. I haven't decided what to do with them yet though

Just hanging there

My daughter Amanda commented the other day that I needed to post about the wreath she made me for my front door. Apparently she has become my official door decorator. The wreath that was hanging there was one she had made also. It was time for a fall look and this is what she made me

I also finished the stick wreath and here it is with it's fall dressing

With hope the odds don't matter

Yesterday I received an email from a woman named Heather. She made a request that I simply could not refuse.
This is the email

Hi there!

The reason I have reached out to you is because of your blog! My name is Heather and I am a wife, mother, and a mesothelioma survivor. When my daughter was 3 ½ months old, I was diagnosed with this rare and deadly cancer, and given 15 months to live.  My prognosis was grim but I knew that I needed to beat the odds for my newborn daughter, Lily.  It’s been 7 years now and I feel that it is my duty to pay it forward and inspire others.

I clung on to hope throughout my whole journey with mesothelioma. When you have hope, it makes the battle easier.  I want people to be inspired by me, I want to make them fight; give them something to hold on to when all else fails. That is why I do it.  If I inspire one person, I've done my job.

I'm using my personal story to help raise awareness of this little known cancer, and to provide a sense of hope for others facing life’s difficult challenges.

Here is a video of my story that I am hoping to use as a tool to raise awareness. I would love it if you would be willing to share it on your blog with your readers!

Here is the link: www.mesothelioma.com/heather

More information on mesothelioma: www.mesothelioma.com

Let me know what you think!

Heather

and here is her video

Crocheted cowl

I guess I've been in a bit of a crocheting mood lately. Maybe it's the cooler weather that has me thinking about warm scarves and cozy blankets. Since it takes me forever to crochet a whole blanket scarves, cowls and other little projects satisfy my craving to create something quick.
After doing the infinity scarves I decided to try a pattern for a cowl. When the wind blows I like to have something extra warm around my neck to keep the chill off.
The pattern comes from Fiber Flux and is called Meringue Cowl

Instead of the yarn called for in the pattern I used what I had. I used two strands, one was Red Heart super saver and the other was a homespun yarn.

 This picture cracks me up because obviously I was confused as to where the camera was. I don't know what the heck I was looking at.

While this cowl is perfect size for an adult, it should be noted that the size may not be suitable for everyone.

To infinity and beyond.

I've seen lots and lots of infinity scarves and have been wanting to make one for quite some time. It's when I saw Lorraine's post for her crochet braided scarf that I was inspired to give it a try. You can find the pattern on her blog.

Pardon the bad pictures but this is what I got.

Duke helped me out and modeled my first scarf. This one I did following the pattern exactly

I liked it but maybe because of the yarn I used or the fact that I tend to crochet a little on the tight side, it turned out just a bit stiff.  That doesn't mean it's not a perfectly good scarf but it was a perfectly good excuse to try again and make an adjustment.

For the second one I used a larger hook and started with a shorter chain. It ended up coming out almost exactly the same length but looser than the first one.

After I finished these two my next project was a crocheted cowl. I'll show you that one tomorrow.

a tiny little pumpkin patch

First I want to tell you that no matter how old your kids get they still need to be told not to play with your toys. When they do they take pictures like this

Actually they take pictures even worse than this one but I'll use this as a lead in to what I was working on.

I found the cutest little crocheted pumpkin applique on Ravelry. I started small as you'll see from the top left in the picture. I didn't even bother weaving in the ends on that one.  The next one I used a little bit bigger crochet hook and then the largest I used 2 strands of yarn and I think an N hook.

These work up really quick and then to finish off the largest I added a  little felt leaf, a twisted wire and put a pin back on it.
I have some more crochet projects to show you if I can manage to get some pictures of them.

Thanks for sticking it out

You may be happy to hear that today is the last of the stick projects. At least for right now. I'm sure that I'll be doing more of them in the future.

This one is my favorite but it's actually not done yet.

I broke all my sticks into 6" lengths. I've made two of these so far and the first one I cut a wreath form out of a cereal box and wrapped it with sisal twine. The second one I decided that I wanted a sturdier form so I purchased a foam wreath form at the dollar store and sliced it in half so that I would get two wreaths out of it. The foam I wrapped in burlap strips because it was a lot quicker than wrapping it in twine. Then I just started hot gluing the sticks around until it was all filled up.

I'm still debating on what I want to put on this to finish it off. I think it would look ok just as it is but I've also got some fall picks that I picked up at Michaels that would look really nice on it too.

Still sticking around

Can you believe I still have more stick projects? My trees provided me with plenty of craft material and I'm ever so grateful. I bet if I went back out there I would find even more laying on the ground.

Todays project is a framed piece.

The frame was purchased at a thrift store. I took out the glass and covered the cardboard backing that was in the frame with scrapbook paper. I broke sticks into various lengths and used a thicker one for the trunk. I painted a wood star yellow and glued it all down to the scrapbook paper. The bottom is a piece of batting that I tucked into the frame and glued down to look like snow. I printed out the saying and attached it to the side and then glued on some little snowflake beads

Another very cheap project that used up a lot of items I had in my craft stash.