to market

We headed over to the farmer’s market this morning. There isn’t much in the way of veggies yet but lots of plants and even some pretty flowers. I did get to use my new market bag to hold a few things. I have knitted this pattern a few times, I can usually knit up a bag in about 2 days. This one has taken almost a month to knit as I’ve been so busy in the sewing room. I plan to knit one more, remember this yarn?

Today I brought home a couple of cucumbers for Ethan who has been asking for some all week, and some goat cheese from a local goat dairy – so yummy, I love their cheese.

Still a bit of snow around here and I hear there is more on the way.

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PS – please see this post for yarn/pattern info.

a busy weekend

Friday night we headed up to Fort Collins with Amber, she let me browse through her JA knitting magazine on the drive. Lovely projects. We met her boyfriend at The Cupboard where I got to pick out a mixer, my first Kitchen Aid! I used Amber’s for a while and my sister-in-law’s in Michigan but I’ve wanted my own for ages. Thanks to an unexpected bonus Jerry received, I now have my own!  Isn’t it pretty?  It was sort of hard to choose a color. I told Jerry that under no circumstances was I allowed to choose purple – just in case I panicked.  In the end the final choice came down to Apple Green (Evan’s vote) and Majestic Yellow, which you can see was my choice in the end.

I love seeing it in my kitchen, I still can’t believe I have my own big girl mixer! Haven’t used it yet…also I’m really excited that it matches the little touch of yellow in this favorite photo of mine, I bought it from a college girl who was trying to earn some money by selling photos of her trip to Ireland.  It’s a wonderful picture and I had it on the wall in my kitchen next door too.

Other things from the weekend….Jerry, Ethan, and I took a drive up to the Alpine Visitor’s Center on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday morning. It could really close for the season due to snow anytime now. We stopped in the gift shop for some chocolate, here’s the view from the window inside.

Church last night, Tyler and Ethan heading in the door.

And the only personal crafting I’ve done lately is a bit of knitting in the mom taxi. My scarf is coming along nicely, not sure I will use all this yarn up, it’s getting quite long already. This is the yarn (Impressionist) and this is the pattern.

The boys have a full day of football viewing planned today. I’m about to cook up 2 pounds of bacon for lunch sandwiches and think of something to mix up and bake. I also need to get back to the sewing room.

Have a great week!

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ready for Autumn

There is a slight feeling that Summer is ending, not based on the thermostat however. It’s been plenty warm! The tree that keeps my living room shady is still very green although some trees in the neighborhood are starting to show a change.

I’ve added some more things to the Boutique today and I’m having a sale! 15% off Boutique Items, Clearance Items (which are already priced very low) and some Moda pre-cuts. Pop over to the webshop and have a peek! Also, there are less than 10 Pumpkin 4 Sale Workbooks left at this time, I’ll be showing off the 2nd edition later this week.

I’m feeling like getting some Autumn crafting done here, when I have some time. I’d love stitch up this Little House thread pack. I want to use this yummy Paprika thread, it comes with a skein of equally yummy Cinnamon Stick but I’m planning to use that for a project that features reindeer. I also have a bit of Autumn knitting on the needles.

The sale ends Wednesday!

Have a great extra long weekend (at least here in the USA)

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other projects

I’ve been working on a few projects using up crafting supplies I have on hand. I started to knit myself a market bag. I knitted a bag for Amber last summer (the peach one) and always intended to make one for myself. I started out using the natural yarn but decided the bottom would get grubby looking fast in that color. I remembered I had a partial skein of wood violet, so I started over and made a purple bottom for my bag which is coming along nicely. This is the pattern, and this is the yarn (I love this yarn) I’m using.

I’m making a bit of progress on the Great Granny Along as well. Only 2 more blocks to go. I do have some stitching in the works as well but it’s super secret stitching so no pictures.

This is the sunset I stopped to watch on the way home from the grocery store Friday night – it was lovely!

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fair friends

Ethan and I spent a little time at the county fair this week. Just long enough to enjoy the animals and peek at the exhibits. The pigs get a little extra time here because they are ‘so beautiful’ according to Ethan. The bunnies are my favorite.

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coming this week!

It’s time for the county fair! The fair starts Wednesday but they were setting up the midway along side the farmer’s market today. A few cucumbers and squash are all that came home with me, Amber bought some pasta and enjoyed a brat with peppers of which I had a bite – delish! I love to see this vendor’s flowers, always a highlight of the market for me.

I’ve been looking at the fair schedule wondering if we should catch the Goat Show or the Hand-spun Yarn judging. Choices, choices! Ethan loves to visit the animals so we’ll be there are few times just to soak in all the beauty, pigs are his favorite. Personally I don’t want to miss the ‘Pet a Bunny’ event.

A new favorite of mine…yes I’m hooked on Doctor Who. Yea Netflix!! Found out Amber has just become hooked as well. She’s a few episodes ahead of me so she is the all-knowing one on that subject. Although neither of us have seen it yet, we both are a little nervous about the ‘Blink’ episode. The one with the gas mask monsters about did for me!

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PS – I started with the 9th Doctor (2005)

a very different post than I planned

The view this morning from the breakfast balcony. I didn’t imagine as late as 10:00 last night that I’d be waking up in Colorado Springs today. Here is my facebook update as an explanation-

Due to mechanical difficulties I had to hop in the car at 10:30 last night for a 2.5 hour drive to Colorado Springs where I became horribly lost at 1am. Two very nice CS policemen came to my rescue and drove across town to my destination so that I could follow them there – so thankful!

I’ll be here a few days. Everyone is fine, it’s just highly inconvenient but lovely all the same. We enjoyed breakfast buffet on the balcony at the hotel Jerry is staying at for work and it is always good to have more time with him.

I had planned to post about an upcoming webshop event. Impie, Hattie & Bea items will be on sale as well as several great one of a kind Summer Clearance items. I’m also needing to find homes for some of my finished stitched items so I’ll be listing lots of pillows, stockings and other finished pieces. I need to earn my keep and this unexpected mishap will be punching a big hole in the budget.

Watch this space!

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quick visit to Colorado Springs

Like the President I paid a quick visit to Colorado Springs on Friday. I didn’t shake anybody’s hand however.

Jerry has been working in the Springs which is about a 3 hour drive from here. He got home for dinner Friday but had to turn around and go right back for the night so Ethan and I went along. He worked all night but we hung out at the hotel. We were home again by late afternoon yesterday.

This has been his view all week though mostly obscured by smoke and flames. This fire came over the ridge so fast that it was scary. It is very sad to see. I didn’t take any burned home pictures, that’s a little too private for me.

He also had a nice view of Pike’s Peak, which I always think looks better with snow on it, and the Air Force Academy. There were still lots of fire fighters on the ground and in the air and actually after dark you could still see some small flaming spots on the mountains here and there. Many of the insurance companies were working out of the hotel we were at, they were very busy. I’m glad the worst of this one seems to be over.

Hoping July is good to you!

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cool in the pool

Went to my friend Jan’s house today. She has air, and a pool, and pizza. Even her dogs went swimming.

Back at my house….the cherry tomatoes are getting ripe and Yzma is doing the laundry.

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PS – Ethan loves that life jacket. We bought it last summer on the lake. He plans to save it for his own children. He thinks he should wear it all summer because it’s getting small. I convinced him to only wear it when he goes swimming.

High Park Fire

Thank you for the sweet compliments on my last post!

We have a fire not too far away from here, close to Fort Collins. We can smell smoke and there’s a pretty good haze in the sky, the wind brings stronger whiffs of smoke every few minutes. Not a good day for allergies or asthma! Tanker planes fly over every few hours. So far little progress has been made in containing the fire and more people have had to evacuate their homes. It must be very hard for them to wait to see if their home will be spared.

Yesterday we were in Fort Collins and I took these pictures, except the for the one with the plane. I went to FoCo use my gift card at The Cupboard. I ended up getting a very nice deep dish pizza pan and a few other kitcheny odds and ends. Somehow I no longer have cookie sheets, they were lost or tossed during the move. I took the ‘in town’ picture of the smoke from the sidewalk in front of Stuft Burger if you know Fort Collins. Yesterday morning Jerry, Amber, Ethan and I went to the local farmer’s market. All I brought home were some of these yummy carrots and an additional basil plant since I have been over-picking the one I have for lunches. I’ll put the carrots in the chicken and dumplings I plan to make for dinner tonight.

I picked up a few more petunia plants at good old Home Depot for my front steps, I’m off to transplant those and then stitch for a bit.

Stay safe!

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