Been a long time

So slowly I will catch up on whats happened lately. For today friends and family that we went to go see months ago! I am a total slacker!!!
Corney fake smiles seem to run in the family lol!


Henry, the huge lap dog that belongs to our friends Brian and Missy
See beautiful fake smile like uncle like niece I guess

W.I.P. wednesday

The love of my life fixed my computer! Going to try to get back to regular posts.
Here's a project I just started, I have a few new babies coming into my life so I'm not sure which one this is for, guess it will depend on when I finish it ;o). When I do finish it I think I might be ready to move on to knitting. We visited some friends and family over the labor day weekend and our friend M. was teaching herself and her daughter how to knit and I think I caught the fever!

Please Hold

We are experiencing some technical difficulty due to my computer crashing. Hopefully the wonderful husband can fix it soon.

Please stand by

This Moment

A single moment, inspired by http://www.soulemama.com/. No words just a time to pause. (And perhaps think before you leap)

This week I'm thankful for:
- A husband who can communicate
-People in the blog world answering my questions
-Early mornings (crazy right?)
-Long walks with my best furry friend


(Inspired by Shelley over at http://waldorfmama.typepad.com)

Thrift Share Monday

I picked this up a few weeks ago and I'm not sure what it is? I has writing around the edges that is hard to decipher except of one part that says King Aurther. It's really cool though and just sits on a table with some other Autherian themed things.
More Thrift Share Monday over @ http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/

weekend camping

New Bike!

Thrift Share Moday

Thrift Share Monday is going on over at Apron Thrift Girl ( link at right). My treasures are not exactly thrifted but finds from a garage sale that my mother in law was helping with this weekend.


First a few yards of some lovely wool fabric that will make some warm backings for winter quilts.

I really got lucky with storage jars, these on top will store the herbs from our garden when they're ready to dry and put up for the winter. The ones on the bottom will go good use though I'm not sure what they will store yet.
The book may have been the best find of the trip, full of useful information on throwing parties and good recopies for potlucks and informal dinners.

Check out Apron Thrift Girl for more links to other peoples lovely thrift finds!

A Finished Project

I finally finished a project! It always seems like I have over a dozen in progress and they never get finished... This one is a child size messenger bag, I used the pattern found in "One Yard Wonders" by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Haskins. I have a feeling I will be using this book to make a lot of presents over the next year. It was easier then I thought it would be and I am very happy at the way it turned out. ( I filled it with pirate books)



Every pirate needs a treasure chest right? I picked this one up at Michels and burned his name into it with my handy wood burner tool, then finished it with some natural beeswax polish that I purchased from Just Hatched @ Etsy.com. The gems are also form an Etsy seller, Glimmering Gems. Going to drop them off tomorrow hope he likes them.

If only the weather would cooperate!

We've been working on the garden a bit lately(by "we've" I mostly mean J.). We had some plants in the ground a while back, but it proved to be too early for the unpredictable Nevada weather. Though we lost a few plants to a late frost he didn't lose enthusiasm and put some more into the earth this morning, before scumming to the stomach flu... sorry think one was my fault. I really do feel bad, he nursed me and everything and this is his payment, really not fair! So I'll sing his praise a little and show what a wonderful job he is doing trying to cultivate our little patch of earth.
The last post was when we had just started so here's a bit of a progression:




There's been a lot of progress made and more to come if it would just stop snowing randomly!

spring/summer project #1

This is how it all starts... mild insanity to insue... The begginings of our garden
J.'s mom's birthday was this past weekend, I really got lucky in the mother in law department, she's amazing!
Happy spring! (finally!)

weekending

Weekend's go by way too fast. Oh, how I wish I could pull a 4 ten work week, wouldn't that be nice. So here's this weekend:
1. dryer fire, no actual flames but a lot of smoke, now residing outside until I can get a repair man to look at it.
2. lots of time on the couch with the hubby watching Firefly (again) and other various movies
3. A bunny for baby D.'s Easter basket
4. Rice crispy treats for J.'s work and cookies for mine
5. Dinner with V. on Sunday chicken for the boys and yummy tofu for me
Seems like a pretty productive weekend except for the fact that I have a midterm on Wednesday and I didn't crack my book once!

To Do:
1. Study for midterm!
2. New drivers license
3. Finish bunny facial expressions
4. Write g-pa about change in plans
5. Make D.'s letter wrap so she has no excuse not to keep in touch
6. Finish Pride and Prejudice

addiction

I I think I might have a bit of a problem...

But can you ever really have too many hats?

emma

It's going to be a busy week, overtime at work and a paper due in geology. The paper is on the Naica caves, goggle it, the pictures are amazing! Most of you out there already know that PBS is remaking Jane Austin's Emma, in preparation for this I have been listening to the audio book at work. I love Jane Austin's writings, but in all fairness this book isn't exactly keeping me awake. I love the language and setting, and the plot is a good one, just not the riveting adventure needed to keep me productive for 10+ hours. Never the less I will persevere. I started watching the PBS version last night and am totally in love with it! The acting is wonderful and has some of my favorite actors in it. As long as I don't get ahead of myself and watch further then I have read then it's not cheating right? You can find Emma on audio free @ librivox.org

extended weekend fun

Some Valentine's Treats

My love took us to our favorite restaurant to celebrate

And this little fellow stopped by for a visit and to poke a few holes in our trees

weekending

This weekend's to do list:

1. First attempt at home made bread

2. Two W.I.P's ( more pictures to follow)
3. Lots of geology homework and a quiz
4. Work on J.'s valentines present
5. Dinner with my brother and his family
6. "Big Game" party with friends

The wind...

(mmcullen@ etsy)

In the Willows...

Been listing to this on audio book at work so it's inspired this post.

Here's a few etsy finds inspired by the book:

Map of mole's travels

(Pinkpainter @ etsy)

Beautiful Badger

(makeit @ etsy)

Would love to have a pair of these beautiful earings

(Terrakengo @ etsy)

I can imagin Mole running into these cuties while staying with Badger

(imaginationkids @ etsy)

Valentines cookies

I've been experimenting with some sugar cookie recipes this weekend and finally found one that suites my needs perfectly.

(check out my cool new notebook in the back!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
  
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• FROSTING:
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon milk
• Food coloring

Cream together sugar and butter until combined then add milk, egg, and almond extract. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture slowly, mixing between each addition. Form into a ball with your hands and kneed until thoroughly mixed. Roll out between two sheets of waxed paper. Dip cookie cutters in flour and cut out desired shapes. Bake at 375 for about 5 minutes per batch. Let cool on wire rack. For the icing sift the powder sugar into a bowl and whisk all other ingredients in with the powder sugar, add more powder sugar or milk to get the desired consistency. Dip cookies into icing and dust with sprinkles or colored sugar and place on wax paper until icing sets. Enjoy!

false spring

Is it spring already?






The weather is fooling with us in these parts. If you remember from one of my recent posts we received a lot of snow in the past weeks, today though you would never have guessed that it was nearly a white out just a few days ago. It looks like spring, a very early spring, has come round. Don't believe it though, Nevada weather is know for it's unpredictability and I wouldn't be suprised if we get two feet of snow next week.

Book Review #2

So I do read more then one book a year and listen to a plethora of audio books while at work, I just forget to post them.

The book I read last week came to me via the book donation shelf at my work, located in the cafeteria, this shelf has saved me from many a dull lunch period!


This one sucked me in from chapter 1. Written by Alexander McCall Smith, this book is the first in a series of six describes the life of Precious Ramotswe. It tells of her father and what led her to become the only lady detective in Botswana. You follow her as she solves crimes that range from an unfaithful husband to a kidnapped boy! I found this book to be a quick read and because of the way it's set up it would be great for an airplane flight or a lunch hour.



Right now I'm listening to the 5th book in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series. All of the books so far in this set have been wonderful and really helpful in passing the time at work. If you're a fantasy-suspence lover these would be right up you're alley. I don't think I'll write a real review on these books becuse I would have to start from the begening and I read the frist book severel years ago. Take my word for it though they are well worth the read and if you get a chance to listen to them on audio the readers have the most wonderful voices ( I believe Mr. King even narates a few of them himself).

A little late W.I.P.

I get the pleasure of attending a baby shower this sunday. The lucky new mom to be is my friend and coworker. I felt like getting a little creative and here's what I came up with:

My first crayon roll! I've been wanting to make one of these for a while and I got the instructions from: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2008/09/09/keep-on-rollin/
The little felt block is actually a rattle, I got the idea form Amanda Soule's book: The Creative Family.



These embroidery patterns where too cute to pass on and I've been looking for a way to use them for a while. Patterns: http://www.sublimestitching.com/

And the end product some stuff for baby and some stuff for big sis as well. It feels good to be crafting!