I was looking through my past posts the other day, and realized that I have done a little improving on my bedroom since you last saw it.
A lot of the decor came from redecorating my living room for summer (and putting spring stuff away, or in our bedroom...), but I am certainly enjoying it in my room. And that dome??? It makes a great snake catcher!! :)
And as for painting my accent wall? THIS is as much as I have done.
(Sorry for the blurry picture....) Well, it's progress, right?? :) I think I'd actually better go just a tad lighter than that chip. It will look so much darker on the wall.
It's been a while since I shared an actual knitting project. I haven't been knitting much recently. I haven't had quite as much time and the main project that I have been working on took so much concentration I couldn't do anything while knitting.
My mom and my aunt both have birthdays in May. So my cousin, Jennifer and I, while she and her family were down visiting this spring, decided to knit the same pattern as birthday gifts for our moms. Jennifer is way ahead of me, and actually finished her project around the birthday time. I however, got stuck. It's a doily, knit with teeny tiny yarn. (think thread almost)
It's really hard to see the pattern scrunched up on my circular needles. It's very pretty - but getting all those yarn overs can be kindof tricky. I haven't done much lace knitting. You can see my Ravelry project page here. Here is a link to the pattern.
But here's why I'm stuck now. The pattern as written is HUGE! Jennifer sent me a picture of her finished doily, and her little girl is sitting in the middle with LOTS of room around her. :) Mom didn't want her's quite that big, so I'm ready to stop. The problem is, I don't know how to finish it off. I'm not real good at improvising the pattern. Fellow knitters, HELP! :)
My other current project is quite a bit easier, and much more relaxing. :) As you can see, there's not much to it yet. Oh, well. It's a cowl. Kindof lacy, but very repetitive and an easy pattern to memorize. I love the color too. :) Here's my Rav page and the pattern link. The pattern link has pictures of the finished pattern, so you can see what it's supposed to be! :)
I hope you've enjoyed seeing my projects! What have you been working on recently?
I told you yesterday that I had a crazy week... well, here's my story. :)
Tuesday morning I was working around the house, minding my own business... laundry etc... I walked into our bedroom and saw something (besides laundry...) on the floor. My first thought was "how did a worm get in here?" Then I saw the head! A Snake! After screaming, I started looking about wildly for something to put over it. My (empty) coffee mug was kind of small so I grabbed the next best thing - one of my glass domes. I then proceeded to have a meltdown while calling Mark, Dad and Mom (in that order). Dad came over and killed it for me. Whew!! Thanks again, Dad! :)
Tuesday evening, I got the chance to repay Dad, as his truck wouldn't start and he needed a ride home from work. Later, that evening Mark came inside from spreading "Snake Away" around the house, he said that there was a cat stuck in our tree outside. Of course, I had to go look. :) It was a kitten that someone had dropped off, and his brother wasn't too far away. Poor things!
I brought them inside and made a safe temporary home in our old pet taxi. (They were so glad to be in a secure spot.) They were a little wild, but by Wednesday night they had calmed quite a bit and I had even got both their purrs going. :)
Dad put out an email at his office and one of his coworkers decided to adopt them. (There was no way I could keep them... I have no good place for them, and some of our frequent guests are allergic.) But I enjoyed being a foster mom for a little while, for the most part. I am glad they have a good home! :)
Well, I hope you've enjoyed my little tale. :) The ending is better than the beginning - but that's what makes a good story, right? :) I hope you have a great weekend!! (free of all unwanted tails!)
I have had quite an eventful week! (Thus the unplanned bloggy break.) :) I had some posts planned out in my mind to share but life kindof got in the way! I will tell the tail tale later. But for now my (almost finished) finished object Friday! :)
As I've said before, I work at a local church library and bookstore. Sometimes product will come in that have minor defects - like a chip, a scratch or dent... They don't want to sell these in the store, so the manager gets credit for it and it goes in "the cabinet." Sometimes these almost perfect things come home with me for free! :) (can't argue with free, right!?) Did I mention I love my job? ...for more reasons than that of course... it's just one of the perks.
Anyway... this clock was one of those freebies:
What's wrong with it, you ask? Well, it was mounted crooked. I wouldn't have minded so much, it was a really cute clock, but in the original style, I had nowhere to put it. (It is too loud for a bedroom.) Where I really needed a clock was in our family room. Time really flies when you are having fun! So the little clock got a makeover. I took it off the stand and removed the hands, surronded the outside with painters tape (as well as covered the gears in the middle) and sprayed away! A beautiful cherry red (leftover from this project, and this one...) :)
I am probably going to add something for the "numbers" - painted dots or diamonds... I bought a black paint pen for that purpose, but haven't gotten that far. I'm still enjoying the simplicity. And it goes great in my family room.
What about you? Have you improved anything recently? Or been hard at work on a project and want to share the progress? If you're new to FOF, be sure to read this intro post! :)
I want a principle within Of watchful, godly fear, A sensibility of sin, A pain to feel it near. I want the first approach to feel Of pride or wrong desire, To catch the wandering of my will, And quench the kindling fire.
From thee that I no more may stray, No more thy goodness grieve, Grant me the filial awe, I pray, The tender conscience give. Quick as the apple of an eye, O God, my conscience make; Awake my soul when sin is nigh, And keep it still awake.
Almighty God of truth and love, To me thy power impart; The mountain from my soul remove, The hardness from my heart. O may the least omission pain My reawakened soul, And drive me to that blood again, Which makes the wounded whole.
As most of you know, our church had vacation Bible school last week. We had a great time with great kids! And at least one kiddo we know for sure asked Jesus into his heart. That's what it's all about! It's worth all the work if even just one person makes it to heaven!
This was our photo background: How fun is that? I loved the barn wall! Those scene setters are great!!
Ahhh what a cute cowboy!! I think Mark felt a little funny all week... let's just say that "cowboy" isn't the normal look for that computer techie! :) (I love my "geek!!") :)
We started out each evening with prayer, songs, offering (boys vs. girls) and the Bible story told by Lorie - but I didn't end up with a picture of her telling the story... Then we would break the kids into groups for their special prayer time and memory verse work, crafts and snacks. Then at the end we would come back together for my cowboy/Christian armor lesson and more singing before we dismissed.
Our musicians:
Angie teaching her 'Lil Buckaroos their memory verse:
Mom teaching her Lone Rangers:
Dad wranglin' the littlest cowpoke: (She loves "Ackie" which is great because both her older sisters were a little frightened of him at that age. He finally got a friend!!)
Saturday was our chuckwagon picnic and rodeo. We had some yummy food and played some fun games - like roping the horse (a stick horse attached to a sawhorse, and they threw a hula hoop over it), sack races, stomping the rattlers (balloons) and lots of chalk fun.
We even had a juggler!
Sunday evening was our program and awards. There were some "rustlers" loose sometimes during the week - this one showed up at the program! If the kids were "roped" they had to say a memory verse to get free! :)
Awarding prizes:
A little comic relief after all the hard work:
It was a great week, but it's nice to be back to a "normal" schedule again! We are looking forward to how we can continue to help the kids that came.
I picked up this pretty vase at our local Salvation Army on Friday. Mom and I had to do some last minute shopping for VBS, and that included a trip to a thrift store - bummer huh? ;)
I love the design! Especially how it is scalloped at the top:
I filled it with crepe myrtle from our front yard. Such a feminine flower - and they are so pretty all around town right now!!
Wow. Surprised you, huh? Ok. That is not a secret, especially if you've been following my blog long. So when I saw that the Dishing It topic for this month (over at Serenity Now) was on books, I couldn't pass it up!
So here goes....
~Give us your list of top 5 picks for summer reading. Wow. Where do I start?? The Bible is a given, of course. But that goes for anytime. For summer fun reads...1. Pride and Prejudice (or Emma) 2.The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen 3. Weddings by Bella series by Janice Thompson 4. Any of the Sister Chick books by Robin Jones Gunn 5. The Lauren Holbrook series by Erynn Mangum
~What genre of literature makes you want to pick up a book and read (biographies, chick lit, Christian fiction, historical fiction, etc.)? I love Christian fiction. It's basically the only fiction I do read. Within that, I basically switch from reading historical fiction to chick lit depending on my mood. I also like to read encouraging nonfiction that help me grow as a Christian.
~What are your favorite magazines? Hmm... My long time favorite magazine is Reminisce. I also enjoy Southern Living and Better Homes and Gardens.
~If you had to be stuck on a desert island with any fictional character, who would you choose? Probable Anne Shirley. I don't think that she would run out of interesting things to imagine!
~How do you make time to escape into a good book? I usually read for a little while before I go to bed. Theoretically, this is supposed to help me relax and go to sleep. However, when I'm really into a book this practice really pushes back my bedtime! oops.
~What's your favorite place to get your books? Oh, that's an easy one!! I work at a wonderful church bookstore/library. We get most of the new Christian fiction put in the library. Since I am usually the one entering books, I also end up being the first to read the books I want to read! And I get to help pick out some of the books we get in. Yay!
~What's next on your "to-read" list? Wow. What's next? Reflecting Beauty by Valorie Quesenberry Match Point by Erynn Mangum (as soon as it's back in the library - I'm on the edge of my seat!!) :) Honey for a Woman's Heart by Gladys M. Hunt ...and many more!!
Thanks for stopping by! I am excited to read other Dishing It posts. Maybe I'll find more treasures! :) So what are your favorite summer reads?
I was not happy when I went outside today and realized what had happened to my tomato plants. But first a pretty picture of what I picked from my garden... Yummy!!!
Someone else thought my garden itself looked yummy - in fact, they helped themselves to this:
My poor tomato plants!
Here is one of the culprits: He is a mean one - see that stinger on the right? I used my garden tools to remove him and his friend and drowned them in hot soapy water. (I wasn't ABOUT to actually touch him - even with gloves on.)
So now my garden is dusted white, which I am not particularly happy about. But I also wasn't thrilled at the prospect of picking off worms all the time. I use Dipel Dust which I bought when my broccoli was attacked by cabbage worms. Where do all these guys come from anyway?? :)
Our church is currently doing Vacation Bible School. Our theme is cowboys and "Paradise Trail Ranch." We have been having a lot of fun with the kiddos.
For my "story" I have been talking about the cowboys outfit using the armor of God as a basis for application. (Ephesians 6:10-18) So each day the cowboy has been getting more of his "duds" on. :) I found a great paper doll website that has all kids of doll figures and clothes for all different careers - including cowboys! I just projected these onto my wall (with our projector connected to the laptop) and traced them onto poster board. I then colored them with chalk and Angie cut them out for me. (because I ran out of time - Thanks, Sis!) :)
Here is my guy before we start getting his stuff on:
And here are all his "duds:"
In progress: (I love how all the cloths fit him - great site!!) :)
and all done!
So my week has been rather full of VBS... I can't wait to see what you have been up to! :) If you are new to FOF, check out this intro post first. Happy sharing!!!
in my garden!! (an Unidentified Fruitful Object!!) :) I know, another gardening post so soon... please excuse me. We've been very busy with VBS this week. It's been going great! So exciting to see kiddos having fun and learning about Jesus. :)
So on to my UFO...
So what is this? A Cuke-a-lope? Cant-a-melon? Punk-a-lope? Mel-a-cuke? Or just something simple like a watermelon? (I've never grown one you see.)
It looks most like a watermelon to me, except the leaves... and yes, this is still my mystery vine. I haven't got it figured out yet. :) This is the first fruit I spotted. And believe me... it has been difficult to spot anything - even red tomatoes - because this is my garden now:
For reference... this is what I started with:
Thanks, Grandma!! I think maybe a little of your green thumb rubbed off on me!! :)
Sooo.... Come back tomorrow for Finished Object Friday - VBS edition!! :)
I'm so glad to finally harvest a couple of cucumbers from my garden. Even though I have plenty of vines this year, it seems to be taking forever to see some fruit! These are beautiful though... My cherry tomatoes are still very prolific! And isn't that basil great? It had a rough start this year. I'm not sure how many seedlings I killed before two or three plants finally survived!!
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand Between their loved home and the war's desolation! Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust." And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
from The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The picture above is of my inlaw's front porch (a couple of years ago). My MIL is a queen in decorating!!
Between work and getting ready for vbs, I haven't had much time to spruce up for the holiday. However, I did pull this little centerpiece together: It's not fancy... but it's fun! :) "Have a Coke and a smile!"
And I made this cake for our church dinner tomorrow: You can find the recipe here. I don't have a regular bundt pan, so the "cathedral" will have to do! :)
