Thrifty finds

Yesterday I had to leave work early for Jessie's recorder/choir concert. And I had to drive almost to my favorite junk store to drop some papers off at somebody's house. So I had to stop in there.

Nothing really caught my eye until I saw this (which will be turned upside down to make a table out of):


And then I saw this:

And thought they would be perfect on our deck. I'm putting up the gazebo tomorrow (it is supposed to be in the high 50's and sunny, so I'm ignoring all that white stuff for the moment) so that we will be all ready to enjoy the warm weather. In years past I've put a table and chairs out there so we can eat, but it's rather cramped. So this year, I'm putting out chairs and a glider just to sit. Of course, I need to find another chair and the glider but.....I will. And if the chair is $12.00, I cannot leave it sit, right?

Then, as I was getting ready to walk out the door, I saw the most PERFECT thing for me. And it only had a price tag on it of $15.00. It has a couple small tears but nothing that can't be fixed. And the binding is rather frayed. But I'm thinking to set out on the deck - it's just perfect.

Jessie already tried to hijack the quilt for her bed. Which may still happen. If I'm feeling generous. Maybe.

It was the best $32.00 I've spent in a looonnnngggggggggg time.

And I've decided I'm going back there today or tomorrow. When you see a wooden medicine cabinet (with a mirrored front) and don't think anything of it, even though the price tag is only $5.00, and the sucker is HEAVY, and then you have a dream about that medicine cabinet in your bathroom, that is a sign, right????????

Hope everyone has a sunny weekend
Kris

This and that

I think spring is battling with winter right now. It was glorious out last week (60's and low 70's) and then now? It's been 40's with rain. Today looks like it is going to be high 50's and sun finally!

Barlie is doing fantastic. Last night it seemed like the entire neighborhood was over playing outside, and when the kids all went out the door, she laid by the door waiting for Jessie and Tyler for a good while (they would have taken her with them, but 2 of the kids brought their dog back, and I didn't want her getting hurt). They've been keeping her pretty busy so it was good that she had some time to entertain herself!

I just thought she looked so sad laying there all curled up on the floor.

We are working out in the barn every chance we get. Jessie's 4-H steer really needs to come in and we need to start working with him again, and her pigs will be arriving in another 6-7 weeks. So we ordered new gates for all the animal pens and have been busy hanging them and cleaning up the barn.

And I'm thinking about a major overhaul on my flower beds and my garden for the year. I do know I want the garden closer to the house (as it is right now, I have to turn off the electric fence and go into the pasture, also remembering to turn back on the fence when I'm done). As for my flowerbeds, I want some new stuff for this year and I want to fill it up so that hopefully the weeds do not take over:)

And I'm down to just 1 horse now. Who will hopefully go somewhere in the next few weeks.

Hope you all have a sunny day!
Kris

Meet Barlie

It was a wonderful drive, but llllloooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggggggg!

The mom and dad of our puppy.

Add to the fact, I had to do some driving, means I didn't get a whole lot of crafty time. Which is OK, as my neck and back would have rioted if I had tried to do any more.

And yes, her name is now Barlie, which in german means "little bear." So she fits right into our Bair (pronounced just like the animal) family. Thanks Mary for the reminder to post what breed she is - she is a German Wirehair Pointer, and will hopefully be a good little pheasant/bird hunting dog here later on this summer/fall.

I didn't take any pictures of scenery. 1 - I drove through all of Indiana and most all of Wisconsin and I didn't think Todd would appreciate my skills driving down the road at 75 mph and taking pictures; and 2 - as we went through Chicago on Friday, I was just praying that some of the idiots would avoid us. The rest of the time? I was knitting or it was dark.

However, I did get quite a bit done in the two days - most of the back of a sweater I am test knitting for Thea Coleman - Calvados:

I just have 2 more inches to do on the sleeves and the back is done and I will move onto the fronts. It was hard to get a good picture of the yarn color wise, but think varigated green, brown, beige and grey and you'll get the idea:)

While we were involved in some marathon driving, the kids went to my parents house and Jessie made candy with Grandma. Homemade peanut butter cups. Which were so good, the ones that I brought home when I picked them up were gone in....about 10 minutes after walking in the door. So last night, rather than cook dinner, I made these:

You can find the recipe here. Although I did BIG ones, and used crunchy peanut butter. And out of the 24 that I made (I had to triple the recipe), I think we may have 13 or 14 left.

Have a good one,

Kris

We have our puppy and are headed for home...and i will never complain about the drive to pa again

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6 inches

Sometimes, 6 inches in length makes all the difference in the world.

I finished this sweater last September. And was never really happy with the length. I've worn it a couple times, and each time was just a little uncomfortable. And, there is only so much length that can be added with blocking.

So I sat down one evening a few weeks ago and proceed to rip it out at the bottom. Lace is a pain to rip out. But I did it, and added an extra 6" of lace pattern. I've learned a lot while knitting myself sweaters - when I think they may be long enough, go an extra 3-4 inches and I will be happy.

I haven't blocked this yet, I wanted to make sure I wouldn't be ripping it back again. I'm happy to say that after wearing it twice, it's darned near perfect. I still have almost 2 skiens left of this yarn, I'm wondering if that is enough for a little summer cardi for Jessie. Have to think on that one!

I'll try and get some better pictures either tonight or Sunday when my 10 year old photographer is around:) And if I work really hard, I will hopefully have another knit finish to show you on Sunday. But I'm not holding my breath.....it will all depend on how my neck and back hold up on this drive.

I'm going to JoAnn's this afternoon. My Mom had knit this bag years ago and I felted it, and I want to find some sort of handles for it. The directions said to knit and felt the handles, but I want something sturdy. I still need to sew the gold felted star on it.

I'm not sure that I will get this done before we leave bright and early tomorrow morning (well, if you count 8:30 as bright and early once the kids get on the bus). But....it's one step closer to being done, right?

And, I really need to stop at the gift store and buy some more fake eggs. I thought I had more than this - but I know the cat likes to play with them so who knows where they have gone to! Last time I was at the little antique/gift shop, they were 25 cents a piece.

We are off tomorrow - almost 14 hours one way. I have 2 knitting projects to take along, and a appliqued wall hanging to work on as well.

Later,

Kris

Better

Thanks for all the get better wishes. I'm getting better and ready or not, in 48 hours we will be on the road.

THis weekend was a rainy one! LOTS of mud here round the place.

But one horse is now gone. They came and spent about 2 hours riding her on Sunday afternoon (in the rain) and like I figured, the little girl fell in love with her. Which makes it all that much better. Todd delivered Shamy Monday night (I stayed home with the kids due to my neck pain and both kids having homework), which worked out good as Todd was over there until after 11:00 as they had a sow having a litter of baby pigs when he got there. Todd talked to Carl yesterday, they were already riding her and loving on her. So that is a very good thing.

We did build a leprechaun trap for Tyler to take into kindergarten as his March project.

I wonder if the leprechaun's visited - I'll find out when I go into his class party this afternoon:)

I'm off to another chiropractor visit later on this morning. Then I have to go this afternoon to deliver the rest of the girl scout cookies that Jessie sold and buy puppy chow, a leash and a smaller kennel.

Later,
Kris

Ugh

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I bent over and twisted to the side. And felt agonizing pain unlike I had ever felt before in my neck and shoulder. Pain bad enough to make me nauseous and dizzy. Hard to see, hard to drive, hard to concentrate on anything kind of pain.

I can now say, after a trip to the chiropractor plus my workout at the gym this afternoon (scaled down to relatively easy as more of a stress reliever and loosen up the muscles kinda workout) I think I would prefer to go through childbirth without medication than to deal with this ever again.


This has happened before, and usually happens every 3-4 months on average. But nothing with pain EVER this bad before.

The good news? The chiropractor thinks he can put my neck and back into proper alignment, and I will be seeing a massage therapist to keep the muscles from tensing up again and forcing everything out of alignment.

The bad news? I'll have to deal with some pain for the next few days. Just what I want with a 13 hour drive one way ahead of us.....

The really good news? It was not arthritis that was causing my hip to ache like mad every morning to the point it was hard to walk in the mornings. It was simply my back being out of alignment.

I'll be back with some pictures of the happenings that went on over the weekend - nothing exciting, but we are delivering 1 horse to her new owner tonight. Hopefully I don't have to do anything invovling driving to get her over there...... or turning my head.....or lifting anything.....

Kris