8/17/09

Happy 81st B'day Daddy!!! ;-)

He is doing well currently. Hopefully it will stay that way for quite some time. My uncle, Daddy's brother died the 25th of July. He had such a rough last week, that it was a blessing. He would have been 83 the 15th of August, had he made it that long.

This is my second Classic Cardigan. It is mindless knitting and it fits me well. I have the third one underway. It is teal. You will be seeing it soon.




This Nonna's Garden, the kit came from Knitpicks. it was NOT a mindless knit. I love it. It feels so good. I have to get a backing for it. And, of course, block it. I have a stack of about 10 things that need blocking. Guess that is why I like socks, I don't block them, I just wear them!!!

I started the first block of the Lollypop Tree quilt. I have reduced it by 25% in size. I started it the weekend that my uncle died. It got laid aside and it is still "resting". I LOVED this when I saw the picture online. But when I got it the blocks were HUGE. I fell out of love, so I reduced the size. The love hasn't returned yet. I need to work on it more, now that things have calmed back down, so see if I can rekindle the romance.

I have been doing a lot of reading. I joined the Sookie Stackhouse challenge. You are supposed to read the 9 books between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. I read all in about 3 weeks. They are written by Charlaine Harris. The are quite good. They are vampire books, but not scary vampires. And somewhat tongue in cheek. You have to read them, just to find out who "Bubba" is!!! ;-)

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire #1)
Living Dead in Dallas (Southern Vampire #2)
Club Dead (Southern Vampire #3)
Dead to the World (Southern Vampire #4)
Dead as a Doornail (Southern Vampire #5)
Definitely Dead (Southern Vampire #6)
All Together Dead (Southern Vampire #7)
From Dead to Worse (Southen Vampire #8)
Dead and Gone (Southern Vampire #9)

Now I have started a Lisa Jackson challenge. I have started her "New Orleans" series. So far I have read

Hot Blooded
Cold Blooded
The Night Before

So far Hot Blooded is my favorite. Cold Blooded was a little predictable, but I still enjoyed it very much. The Night Before is very different. It is actually the start of a separate series of her books, as well as #3 in the New Orleans series. I would recommend these. They are mostly murder mysteries (serial killers, all, so far) with a little romance thrown in!! So there is something for everyone in these books.

I also read Snowbound by Larissa Ione. It was good, but not nearly as good as her Demonica series.

Also, Jackie and Bobby by C David Heymann. The premise of the book is that Jackie and Bobby Kennedy had an affair from the time Jack was shot until Bobby was shot. Rehash of a lot of things we had heard before.

At this point, I am reading books 60 and 61 for the year. My goal was 52, so I am somewhat ahead of target. Course, if I would quit reading so much, I could get some other things done!!! But the weather so so nice to sit on the porch with my nose in a book!!

I have also made Watermelon Rind Pickle and Dill Pickle. It is my first attempt at pickle, so in a couple of weeks I can find out how I did. I am "crocking" the dill pickles, so they have to sit in the brine for 3 weeks. I didn't have a crock big enough, so they are in the punchbowl!! It looks pretty funny sitting on the kitchen counter full of pickle.



This is who is sitting next to me while I type this!! They have to keep me company!!

Chat later
Susan

7/21/09

Where have I been for a month? Well, it is July, so that would be the Tour de France. I am not a big sports person, but I do love the Tour. I sit and stitch for HOURS on end while it is on.

Here is the Baltimore Halloween quilt top finished. YIPPEE!!! This is such a fun quilt. Now for the quilting.... That is a lot like blocking knitting. Something to be done, someday. ;-)





Here is another pair of my 2 at once toe up, K3P1 socks. These were knit at swim meets. Not sure of the yarn, I lost the ball band. But is was from one one's sock club.

My plan was to finish Nonna's Garden (from KnitPicks) during the Tour, BUT I ran out of 2 colors of yarn. That really slows you down. Now I am waiting for more yarn. ;-( So this challenge will not be meet.


I have been doing some reading. I finish Vampire Diaries: Return: Night Fall. This is the sequel written recently. It was quite disappointing after the earlier books. I loved the first 4, doubt I will even read any additional ones.

Then I read SweetGum Knit Lit Society. This is good light reading. A lot like the Blossom Street books. There is a second book in this series and it is in my near future.

Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure. This was fairly light reading and quite eye opening. How far the President has come since Truman. At that time, they were paid no retirement and no help for their offices. He lived on just his military retirement in his post Presidential days. This book covers a car trip the Truman's took in their retirement. Quite entertaining and educational.

Doomsday Key by James Rollins. This was the first book I had read of his. It was a very slow start. He spent the first half of the book setting up all the players. Then the story really started. By the last third, I couldn't put it down.

I joined the Sookie Stackhouse Read along. You are supposed to read all the books, 9 I think, by next June 30. I had read book 1, Dead until Dark, but decided to read it again before reading the others. I have read the second book also, so far Living Dead in Dallas. They are both very good, quick reads. Sookie is a telepath dating a vampire, working for a shapeshifter. So there are plenty of paranormal "folks" to keep things interesting. I recommend this series. It is what HBO's First Blood is based on.

Daddy is doing much better, still weak, but getting around some. Uncle has taken a turn for the worse, so we just can't get them all on their feet at the same time.




Unusual to get the Pups together for a picture. Chelsea (scotty) will be 10 on the 31st of July. Macklin (Westie) will be digging a hole to celebrate!!!

Have a weekend stitching event this weekend. I hope to get Lollipop Trees quilt started, but I decided to resize the entire thing, so that is slowing me down on getting started.

Chat later.
Susan

6/25/09

Another blog post in less than a month!!! I really should do better.

Daddy continues to not be well. He has improved significantly but still extremely weak. He has fallen twice, which worries us greatly.

This is the Shipwreak Shawl from Knitty. It is a fun and not overwhelming knit. I love the ruffly edging. Now I just need to block it.




This is a class I took at Beadworkz in Portsmouth. It is called All Crossed Up. I finished it in class and wore it home, so it is a quickie.











This is the Classic Lines Cardigan from KnitPicks knit with the recommended yarn. This was a mindless knit. It has some waist shaping which makes it fit well. It also has finished edges. Knit in the round and steeked so not much finishing. I am working on a second one of these in purples. This one also needs blocking. I need to have a "block party" ;-).







Two pair of socks. The one on the left is a simple lace pattern in Scout Swag yarn, I believe. The pair on the right is from Poem yarn. Plain old K3, P1 rib. Both are knit toe up. Thanks to Wendy Knits wonderful and free pattern.










Another Beadworkz class. They are both Flat Spiral. The necklace is single, the bracelet is double. Done with pearls.











Another Flat Spiral Bracelet. Again double. Made with crystals. This isn't as comfortable to wear as the pearl one, but goes with a lot of my summer clothes, so has actually gotten more wear.


We had a UFO weekend in June. I worked mostly on the purple Classic Lines Cardigan. But also finished the Flat Spiral necklace and worked on the socks. We have another one planned for July. In July, most of us are starting the Lollypop Tree Quilt. If you haven't seen this beauty, you need to go to Glorious Colors website and look at it. You have to smile. It isn't hard applique, almost no points, but LOTS of circles.

I have the Baltimore Halloween quilt top together and am appliquing the bat border. I hope to have a picture of it finished next post.

Reading has been progressing nicely. The weather has been good to spend a lot of time sitting in the swing.

Hair of the Dog - Laurien Berenson. Another in the dog mystery series. They are fun cozy murder mysteries. They really are fun, especially if you are a dog lover. They revolve around dog shows mostly.

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand This is an oldie, but a goodie. It is a very good 1,200 page book, it would be an excellent 700 page book. It is so like our government/business relationships today, but was written in the 1950's. I will certainly read other of her books.

Ripping the Bodice - Inara Lavey - This was a free download from Ravenous Romance. It was ok. Not great.

Then I read the Larissa Ione series about Demons. There are three books:
Pleasure Unbound
Desire Unchained
Passion Unleashed
This is 3 demon brothers. One is half vampire, one is half werewolf. Each book covers one of the brothers stories. They were quite interesting reads. I look forward to the new novel do later in the year. The first book was a free Kindle download from Amazon.

Vampire Diaries - L. J. Smith - I have read the first 4 of this series. It is to be a TV series in the Fall. Not as good as the Twilight books, but still good. These 4 books were written in the early 1990's. There are new books just published recently, I am reading those next.

Common Sense - Glenn Beck - I was somewhat disappointed in this book. I have read his other books and feel that this one was written quickly to ride a newscycle. I wish it had been fleshed out more. I hadn't read Thomas Paines Common Sense since school, so it got me to read that again, so that was good.

I have now read 42 books this year. My goal is 52, so I should be able to reach that with no problem at all.

I am taking part in the Sookie Stackhouse reading Challenge. It starts July 1st, so hopefully I can finish the Vampire Diary books before then. Shouldn't be a problem. I have read book 1 of the Sookie books, but plan to reread it as part of the challenge.

I also have to plan my Tour de France project. I think this year instead of starting a special project for the TdF, I will have a UFO finishup. It is supposed to be knitting, but I am stretching it a little for me. I plan to finish the bats on the Baltimore Halloween quilt, finish the purple Classic Lines Cardigan, and finish the Nonna's Garden shawl. If I get those things done, then I can start something new!!! Let's see how that works out!!! ;-)

Doggies are doing well. Time for new bloodwork, but the vet is on vacation this week so have to wait until next week to make the appointment.

Exercise doing quite well even with some foot problems tormenting me!!! Bad right foot!!!

Chat Later
Susan

5/29/09

Ok, I have been in a major blog funk. Don't know what the problem is, but I just feel pulled in too many directions at once and this was one that I could easily ignore. I actually had done better than I thought. I was thinking the March month end update was the last one I had done, but I had done April.

This is rosewood wooden beads. Pearl knotted. Obviously I am not a purist that thinks only pearls should be knotted. A matching bracelet.










Think this stone was called soapstone. They are denim blue. Great with jeans. Again pearl knotted.



















Pink coral, again pearl knotted.



















This is a scissor case necklace that is bead embroidered. front and back.
























































Navy Blue bicone crystals, pearl knotted. Did I mention that I am not a purist when it comes to knotting? ;-)


















This is a black and white stone bead mixed with penguin beads. Sorry for the miserable picture. The penguins must have moved as I took it. Wish I had saved a penguin for the bracelet, but if I can get another penguin I will redo the bracelet. They came from the Outer Banks so I will have to wait until I go back down there.













Two different size/shape garnet beads knotted together. Do you see a theme here?




















This is a two drop peyote stitch amulet bag. Front and back.














































Haven't touched applique for months. Have done some knitting, but nothing finished. I have 2 pair of socks, Nonna's Garden (Knitpicks) and a Classic Lines Cardigan going, but none finished.

Have done a lot of reading while my boob surgery was healing. That didnt' require a lot of moving of the arm. So I read some more old James Patterson.
The Midnight Club
Hide and Seek
Beach House
Honeymoon
Judge and Jury
Cross
The Quickie (LOVED THIS ONE)

Then his newest one, 8th Confession. This is a Women's Murder Club book. I love that series. This one didn't disappoint.

Also the new Andrew Gross book, Don't Look Twice. He has co-written with Patterson and his style is very similar. Love those short chapters, makes for a quick read.

I am currently reading:
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Very good book. Scarily similar to todays events in this country, but written in the 1950's.

Hair of the Dog by Laurien Berenson, this is another cozy murder mystery with lots of dogs. I think it is 4th or 5th in the series. This is my treadmill book. Atlas Shrugged is too heavy to hold while I walk.

Ripping the Bodice by Inara Lavey. This is a free download for the Kindle and is my secret pleasure read. Not far enough to really know how it is yet.

Boob is finally healed. I didn't think it would ever get "not sore". It took about 6 weeks. ;-( Course I managed to gain 10 pounds while I sat on my butt because movement made my boob hurt!!! ;-(

I spent about 5 days at Nags Head. Got a lot of knitting done on Nonna's Garden, because it rained most of the time I was there. I may have to go back to get back to Nonna. She requires attention and I dont' get much time at home to pay attention!!!



We finally have Mack's meds adjusted to he feels pretty good most of the time. Hopefully his liver levels are improving. He has to have blood work soon, then we will know.

They have both had haircuts and look quite dapper. I will try to get a picture of them for the next update.

I'll try to do better about updating.


Chat later
Susan

End of March Goals Update

Food
Still doing well. Need to be more consistant with my protein first!!

Exercise
At a complete halt because of surgery

Quilts
Charming Leaves - top done

Dear Jane - not touched in March

Expressions of Morris - not touched in March

Baltimore Halloween - blocks done, needs embroidery and border

Beading
Took a Loom Class, a Pearl Knotting class and a beaded scissor case class. More new classes coming up

Knitting/Crocheting
Finished a pair of socks, started 2 more pairs.

Working on Shipwreaked Shawl from Knitty.

Reading
18.5 books of my 52 book goal, so I am doing great.

I continue to be pleased with the goal progress.

Chat later
Susan

4/15/09

I'm back. After almost 3 weeks without a router, life is good. We have an old printer that we love, it works great, prints fast, and a lot on one ink cartridge. BUT, it is an old plug printer, not USB, finding a router that will work with it proved challenging to say the least. Ended up buying one, guaranteed not to work on Ebay. It worked!!! ;-)

My "boob rock" has been removed. Surgery went well and the report came back good. But the nurse says I will be achy at night for 3 weeks, if I continue to do too much. ;-( I am tired of this "doing too much stuff".

Here is Macklin, my poor little sick baby. He has hepititus. He was fine from all appearances until we put him on all the meds, now he is sick. I am taking him off some of the meds to see if he improves. Vet is closed this week for Spring Break, so I am doing it all on my own, but he deserves QUALITY of life. Will keep you posted.



Chelsea with her usual Eeyore look. She always looks like she is about to be beat. Don't know why she does this, but she has since we got her at 8 weeks old. But she is my sweet girl. She has a bad gall bladder. Who ever heard of a dog with a bad gall bladder??? Here she is!!!








The blocks of Baltimore Halloween are done. Here are the balance of them. I have to do the embroidery, put it together and do the bat border. But I can't handle the big piece right now with the "boob" surgery, so I am putting off doing the embroidery. It is called procratination!!!


































































Here is my ONE border triangle for the Dear Jane quilt. The center 169 blocks took one year. This ONE border triangle has taken 10 months. I really do need to focus on this a little sometime.









Toe Up K3,P1 rib socks from Wollmeise sock club yarn. First time I have knit with Wollmeise. I love it. I need more. Hope she does the club again next year.











I took a Pearl Knotting class. So now I am knotting everything that holds still long enough for me to hold on to!!! It is great fun.

This is a green/blue agate.













This is the Swaroski (I am sure that is not spelled right) Tahitian Pearl, necklace and bracelet. I wanted the necklace when we were in Hawaii and it was $7,000. So I made my own for about $25!!! Plus I got the bracelet for that too!!!

On the reading front:

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritson - EXCELLENT this was a free download from Amazon to my beloved Kindle. It was marvelous. I will certainly be reading more of her books.

I read all 5 books in the House of Night series. It is another vampire romance series. I really enjoyed it. It is written by a Mother/Daughter team named Cast. It is listed as a Young Adult series. I was a little taken aback by the amount of sex in a YA series. But it was very good. Hopefully they will write many more.

Now I am on a James Patterson kick. Reading some of his old stuff. Pop Goes the Weasel and Season of the Machete. Pop was very good, it is an Alex Cross book, and I loved it. Season as very good, but it isn't Alex Cross, so not one of my favs. I am currently reading Black Market. It is a little dated after 9-11, but very good, again not Alex Cross.

Exercise is completely out of the picture with the surgery. Eating doing good.

Sorry for the long catchup. I have another pile of necklaces to take a picture of, but that will have to be another post. This one has enough pics.

Chat later
Susan

4/3/09

No I haven't forgotten that I have a blog, but our router got blown out with a power failure a week and a half ago so I am using an aircard to get to the internet. Great for reading e-mail, but miserable for uploading pics. And I have a TON of pics!!!! ;-)

Hopefully DH can find a router that works with our printers soon. We don't want to have to buy two new printers as well as a new router!!! ;-(

Hopefully,
Chat soon
Susan

3/2/09 Part II

I know this is 3 posts in the same day, but I needed to share one more picture. This is my kitchen floor. Not just one spot, the WHOLE thing looks like this!!! The dogs have a doggie door, so they wonder in and out at will. Of course, NO ONE wipes their feet!!!

No point in cleaning it now, I might as well wait until the ground it dry again!!! ;-(

Chat later (no more today, I promise)

Susan

3/2/09

YIPPEE We finally got snow. A whole INCH!!! The area is shut down. The schools are closed, my vet is even closed, I tried to reschedule an appointment. But the yard looks pretty!!!

Here is side block 4 of the Baltimore Halloween. Still need to do all the embroidery, but I'll do that all before I put the blocks together.

And side block 5....

Here is my handknit sock drawer!!

And my handknit sock dirty clothes basket. I haven't ever counted how many pairs I have, but here they are.

I finished Inkspell. It isn't as good as Inkheart, but very readable. I have started Inkdeath. That will finish the trilogy. It is, overall, very good. It is a book about booklovers, so I feel at home in this world.

Mack's girlfriend Annie, is doing much better. Hopefully this trend continues. Keep praying for her. If you need to catch up on her story, check out (http://pennysanford.typepad.com/penny_sanford_porcelains_/).

Annie probably never has a nose that looks like this. She is a prissy little girl who wears dresses. But Mack has been out in the snow digging. Check the mud caked on his snow white fur.

And then there are his toes!!!!!!!!!!

Off to enjoy the snowfall.

Chat later

Susan

End of February Goals Update

Food
Doing a little better, but this goal of eating better still needs a lot of work. Life has been crazy so it gives me a lame excuse for snacking.

Exercise
I have been being fairly consistant in my walking on the treadmill. Being able to read while I walk really helps because it allows me to work on 2 goals all at the same time. I have even been told that it does more good if you are exercising your body and your brain at the same time.

Quilts
Charming Leaves - top completed

Dear Jane Border - I have a whopping ONE triangle done. At this rate it will take about 5 years!!

Expressing of Morris - haven't touched

Baltimore Halloween - Center block and 5 side blocks done, so good progress here since I didn't start it until the last weekend in January.

Beading
Took the Beaded Button class. Signed up for 2 more classes in March.

Knitting/Crocheting
Just a knitted cap for my nephew, been to busy working on Balitmore Halloween

Reading
10.5 of the 52 books read. I have only read half of Liberal Fascism, but it is very serious and I needed a break. I will get back to it. But am very much on track for this goal. I have to find some books I want to read that are less than 1,000 pages. They are hard to read in a week, for me anyway.

Well, I am pleased with progress. I just need to keep it up.

Chat later
Susan

2/25/09

Wow, I got more comments on yesterday's post on the Baltimore Halloween quilt then any other post I have made. I didn't go back and confirm this, but I am pretty sure that is true. I love the comments, now if I could just figure out how to respond to them!!!

I finished another block last night, so thought I would post it. It really is a fun quilt to work on, and the side blocks are pretty quick.

I bought the kit from Amidon Quiltworks. I have been very pleased with the fabrics and the quantity of fabric so far. If you want a kit, I would recommend them. I have seen a kit from another shop (which shall remain nameless) that I would not have used the fabrics they sent. Amidon also has it as just the pattern and as a block a month. I have no affiliation with them, just a satisfied customer. Here is the link: http://www.amidonquiltworks.com/baltimoreHalloween.php

Those of you who have followed my blog for sometime know that Mack (the Westie) has a virtual girlfriend in Mississippi named Annie. Well, Annie is very sick. They really don't know what is wrong with her, but she is not well. If you want to catch up on her condition, checkhttp://pennysanford.typepad.com/penny_sanford_porcelains_/ Even if you don't want to read about Annie, Penny writes a very interesting blog about her porcelain, history of her area and family, quilting, and of course, her puppies. Check her out.

Chat later

Susan

2/24/09

Still no snow. I am still hoping. It used to be that when the circus was in town, we got our biggest snow. This year the circus isn't coming until April, so maybe I should just give up hope for this year!!! ;-(

These are the first couple of blocks of the Baltimore Halloween quilt. They are fun blocks because of the subject. The center block took forever. The smaller side blocks are going faster. So far I have 3 blocks done, just 10 and the borders to go!!! Almost done!!! ;-) NOT!!!


I love this little owls expression!!!


























These are my alpaca socks. They are so soft and warm. Just plain K3 P1 rib socks.














There is a cat up the tree. The one that is upright in the center of the picture. But the main thing to look at is the silly Westie dog up the leaning trunk. He is about 8 feet in the air. he was up twice that high when I saw him, but by the time I grabed the camera he was on the way down. Sorry the picture isn't better, but it was a point and shoot NOW, or miss the picture completely.




I am still reading Liberal Facism. It is very dense vocabulary. Wish it was on the Kindle so I could easily look things up, but it was bought pre-Kindle. I will finish it one day, but it isn't a fun read.

I finished Slobbering Love Affair. It is a very good review on how the liberal mainstream press elected/appointed the President they wanted. It shows how little choice the press actually gave to the public in this election.

I read Inkheart. It is a good fantasy book. When the father reads outloud, the characters in the book actually come to life. It is very good. I hope the movie does it justice. I am now reading the second in the trilogy, Inkspell. In the second one, they readers are "read" into the book. Also very good. The third book is Inkdeath. I have that one on the bedside table waiting.




These are puppy dogs that wouldn't get near each other without growling when I had 3 dogs. Now that it is just the two of them. They are together much more. They are even playing some. It is so interesting to watch the dynamic change between them, with Chad gone.

Well off to read Inkspell!!! Hope to finish it tomorrow.

Chat later
Susan