Tea & photos

During the Knitter's Tea Swap, I got an interesting "Jasmine Bloom" from Adagio Tea. It really just looks like a bunch of tea leaves.
Then, you put it into the water.
And it blooms. Nice tea and it is really pretty.
Fully opened.
Hmm...is this something that might be fun to knit? I have seen it before but after a big Christmas purchase (and a really big car bill today), small and fun are the order of the day. Gotta dig through my yarn stash.
Ok, and me on the rock wall. Thank you to the lady next to my Dad who recommended a better angle that straight on directly behind my bum. ;) I can totally see how this could be a fun activity. I am not sure I have the guts to do it without a safety cord but definitely on a rock wall.

Schnepf Farms

We visited a local "working" farm that pays many of its bills holding different events throughout the year for their Pumpkin & Chili Party.

There was scary face painting.

An old carousel bought from a man that had it in his barn loft in Elk River. Elk River is about 15 miles from where I grew up in Minnesota.
Rock wall climbing. I also climbed the rock wall and almost made it to the top but....I stopped and my crappy upper body strength gave up on me. Dad has photos and depending on how bad they are you may or may not see them.
We also met up with some friends that live quite a ways from us. Hannah & Reece (the older girl in pink) went to a home childcare together from when Reece was a baby.

My Dad also came with us so it was nice to have a photo of the 4 of us together.
The kids rode on swings...those made me sick the first time around so I did not go again. ;)
The big finale was the corn maze.
This is what it looked like from above. They do a celebrity every year and this year it was Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns.
We got home late in the afternoon and we were POOPED. I fell asleep at 7:30 pm after putting Simon to bed and waiting for Hannah to come up. It was a really nice day!

Knitter's Tea Swap Swag

Wow, I am in shock. I got a great package from Kelley in MA.

I joined the Knitter's Tea Swap for the current round. It is kind of like Secret Pal but only 1 swap and you actually end up swapping with the person that gets your package.

There was a lovely box on my front step this afternoon and the insides looked like this! Nicely packaged and wrapped.

I love the card.
And all the lovely items.

King Arthur Scone mix, Adagio tea sampler (definitely tea in the morning for me), Lindt dark chocolate, a polar fleece hat from her hubby's work, Marshmallow fluff (for making fudge), hand made stitch markers (sterling & jasper made by Kelley), tea lites with a holder, a mug (how did she know I only had 3 mugs in the house?), maple candies, handmade soap, lavender sachet and a a framed picture made by her brother in law of Mt. Ararat AND YARN. The yarn is Classic Elite Wings yarn that is alpaca, silk & wool.

Thank you so much Kelley. This was an amazing gift!

Early Halloween

Yesterday was the Halloween party at the kids school because it was a 1/2 day. You see Hannah Montana and my little Pirate below.
They had a "parade" for the K-3 grades.
There were quite a few of those disco girls and also Hannah Montana.
The dancing hippo is their principal leading the parade.
Here are the 3 of us at the "Harvest Scream" where they had games & food.
I promise knitting photos!

Yarn & Food

There was food....lots of it.
And yarn...lots of that too. This is table 1.

And table 2. I was tempted by the cone in the middle but didn't want to futz with putting it into hanks to dye it. Lazy, Lazy, I know.
And, there was knitting! We had a nice few hours and then I had to stop at Fiber Factory to pick up some goodies for my Knitter's Tea Swap partner. I'd show you photos but, that would spoil the surprise.
I did buy a misc. bag of yarn for some dyeing but it was already hanked and ready to go!!! It is dk-ish weight yarn.

Saturday

It was a busy day without my winkies who are visiting their Dad this weekend.

I went to a Stitch N Bitch out in Mesa where a yarn company brought in some of their yarns and we all brought food so it was a bit of a potluck/sale/SnB. I am hoping Dad got some good photos and is going to send them to me later today.

I also went to a Silpada jewelry party at Lizette's house. They sell only sterling silver jewelry and it is gorgeous. If anyone is interested in doing buying a pieces, let me know and I could have an online book party. I didn't buy too much, just one really pretty ring. I love rings.

In the evening to a fundraiser for the Children's Action Alliance. Work had purchased a table and I went with my co-worker, Lizette.

Normally at these functions, you never see anyone you know. I got lucky because I got to see Susan & Chris! Susan and I met 8-9 years ago when she was working with David.

It was such a pleasant surprise to see her & Chris!!!

Yarn photos next...I hope.

More....house photos

I am knitting but forget to take photos!

Anyway, this is Hannah this morning all rolled up like a burrito in her bedspread. I guess she was cold.
Now, it took me a little awhile to figure out why this one wall upstairs was SO DIRTY around the outlet.
Then one day I see this.......
And then I saw this...and realized that this is where Simon stands to drop stuff from upstairs to the bottom of the stairs below.
Darned kids! ;)

Saturday Morning

Well, I am trying to put together my TV table. Um, the directions aren't quite right but I am can reason my way through the pieces. The best part for the kids?? The box.

I am trying the new video feature on blogger....let's see how it works.

I LOVE the fact that this box will keep Hannah & Simon busy for the next hour.

Week in Review

Last weekend the kids & I went to visit some friends who also happen to own a carnival business. First...there was the pool.
Hannah found a friend to play with....
Then there was competition on the bungee cord game. They hooked two kids up to bungee cords and then they see how far they can pull it.
On Tuesday, Simon walked into a pole at school and got 7 stitches! They come out tomorrow.
Last night, while at Target I happened to go through the furniture section because I need some storage & a tv table in the family room. I found the two small shelf units and the TV table in the picture one clearance for 1/4 of their original price. The boxes are in the house but, they probably won't get put together until next weekend. The house is still. Slowly but surely, things are finding home or getting new ones.

Lights...

I did get some lights hung in the kids rooms. I had hoped that the flower & the moon light would save me from having to sleep with the hall light on...give the kids enough light without too much. Um, not so much.

Surprisingly, these lights give off much more light than you would think. They are cute none the less so they are staying.
I also installed by the bed lights for both Hannah & Simon.
We used Simon's last night while reading his bedtime story.
Knitting...I have a plan. I bought yarn from Morehouse Farms to make the Barbizon Jacket. Um, it wasn't going well since I now see, I got the wrong yarn for that pattern. It called for sport weight and I got worsted.

Anyway, still love the yarn but I am going to repurpose it to Greenjeans from Knitty.
I just have to find my ball winder so I can frog the 5 inches from the Barbizon and wind the hanks into balls. Oh yeah, and find my needles.

IKEA & Home Depot

IKEA & Home Depot are my new favorite places to shop.

Some of the spoils from my second trip to IKEA in a week. I can tell you that going on a late Saturday afternoon is a much better time that Sunday around lunch time.

A drill, rechargable batteries and drill bits. I have LOTS of stuff to hang.
Some bowls from IKEA. I HATE when I can't get the stickers off after buying something. In the past, I have used a paper towel soaked in vegetable oil. However, I saw a better technique on the BBC show, How Clean is Your House? If I ever thought mine was bad..these take the cake.

Back to the tip....mayonnaise instead of the oil. Same idea but the mayo stays on the tag and soaks in much better.

Before... After....peeled right off with nothing more than my fingernail lifting the edge!

More photos of the "after" hanging shots.

House Photos

There is no knitting photos but I will show photos of the house. There are still boxes everywhere but I am working through them, slowly but surely.

In the spare room, there are two small windows that needed something but I didn't want blinds since they were so small so....I bought some window film at Home Depot and this is what I have.....lets in light but covers the window.
I bought patio furniture last night and put it together.
The sun rising as I sit on the patio this morning. The kids are at David's and yet, I can't sleep past 5:45 am!
I am unpacking and organizing today. Should be fun!