I Have a Chair!!

For the last fourteen years,I have lived without a living room chair. In my previous house I had a sectional sofa so I really didn't need a chair. In this house however, I only have a regular size sofa and no chairs. I don't get much company since I moved away from everyone, but when I do, I have to bring kitchen chairs into the living room. Well, after receiving my tax refund last month, I decided it's time to buy a chair. I picked out a rocker, recliner Lazy Boy. It's one of their smaller models, but it fits me perfectly! It's a deep green and goes well with my "greenish, brownish" sofa. I can sit and crochet while the afternoon sun filters in through my window. I watch the birds flitting back and forth from the tall evergreen tree right outside my window to the feeder. It's so cozy and relaxing rocking and crocheting the afternoon away. Here are the "before" and "after" pictures.

New Afghan

Here's my latest ongoing project. It's a fun pattern to work. You basically just crochet single, half, double, treble, double, half, single stitches over and over to make the waves. Each colored row is separated by a single crochet row. You use the same color for this row to separate the "wave" colors. It's done as a scrap afghan, but I didn't have enough leftover yarns to do it that way, so I bought colors that I thought would be fun to work with. These bright colors match absolutely nothing in my house, but it will still be nice and warm to curl up under. That's the nice thing about crocheting an afghan in the winter, it keeps you warm while you're working on it. I have three almost full skeins of the colored yarns left, so I'll just keep working on it until I use up all the yarn. It will be interesting to see how big it turns out. Besides, anything that keeps my hands busy also keeps me from eating!!

Hooray! Valentine's Day is Over

Don't get me wrong, I love Valentine's Day if I'm not working in a grocery floral department. But the build-up months before with wondering if I'm ordering enough or too much, wondering how sales will be in this economy, where will I put everything when it comes in...and so on, that's not fun. Although I was surprised that sales were up this year. I guess people still are romantic or maybe the men know that if they don't splurge at least once a year, they'll pay for it the rest of the year. I didn't see Jim this Valentine's Day. I worked late and was too tired to do anything so I didn't even get to have any of the fun of the holiday. I like to have a special day of the year to celebrate love...oh well, there's always next year. He's coming over to spend the day tomorrow, I'll make a big pot of chili...does chili say "love"?

Shopping Trip

With last Sunday being the Super Bowl, I decided it would be the best day to go into town to do some shopping. I figured people would be busy getting ready for Super Bowl parties and such. Well, I was wrong, the stores were packed! I went to Michaels, Joann Fabrics, and Barnes and Nobel. I had a gift certificate for Barnes and Nobel that I had gotten from Jim. I knew it would take me a long time to pick out books, so I made it known that I was going alone. That was another reason I went on Super Bowl Sunday, I knew I could go by myself. I bought this stitching encyclopedia. I was so glad Barnes and Nobel had one because I've seen it before but I never would have thought of it if I wouldn't have seen it there. I like to have reference books on hand for different crafts. This one has just about every embroidery stitch imaginable plus needlepoint and cross stitch. The diagrams are easy to follow and there are also projects included. No excuses now, although I don't think even this book could make me enjoy counted cross stitch. Too much counting...not enough stitching! I'll stick to embroidery.

Starry Night

Jim came over last night. We were going to go out for supper, but ended up staying here and eating big bowls of chili, whole wheat bread, and a salad made with a spring mix of baby greens, red grapes and a tarragon vinegar dressing....yummy! Afterwards we went outside. The night was very still and quiet, the stars were bright with not a cloud in the sky. We set up my binoculars on their tripod outside to star gaze for awhile. I have Celestron binoculars made especially for astronomy, not the huge ones, these are 10x50. We saw the craters on the moon and the nebulae in Orion. Then the most wonderful sound came from deep in the woods, off in the distance. A wolf cry. Just one wolf howling into the night, then came an answer from another wolf. Soon there were more wolfs joining in. Then the coyote wanted to get into the act and soon there was quite a chorus going on. That set the neighbors dogs down the road barking. Whoever said the country was peaceful!

Farmgirl Barbie

Ok, due to popular demand, well at least one person asked, Barbie is modeling her new apron. Yes, she's a little overdressed, but Barbie lives a different lifestyle than the average farmgirl...she's farmgirl plus! Although, we do have Julia Hayes on page 55 of MaryJane's "Stitching Room" book on her tractor wearing a black evening gown with long black gloves, so maybe Barbie's not too far off. Also, I included the pattern packet to show the other styles.

Mini Apron

Well, now that my workroom is done, no excuse for not working! I finished this cute mini apron a couple of days ago. It's a Simplicity pattern #2748. The finished size just about fits a Barbie; a little too big in the waist though. Barbie and her tiny waist!! By the time I finish all of them, I'll be a master at bias tape. Don't know yet what I'll do with them, but I'll figure that out later.

An Unexpected Visitor

Last night about 9:00 as I was working on the computer, I suddenly heard what I thought was someone trying to get in my kitchen patio door. It sounded like someone was trying to pry the door open. I immediatly logged off so I would free up the phone line. I grabbed the phone, ready to call 911 if necessary. I turned on the lights in the kitchen and listened, my heart pounding. Then I realized it sounded more as if an animal was scratching at the door. My first thought was "Cuddles" my resident black bear. Then I realized he's down for the winter. I turned on the outside light and was able to see the culprit scurrying around the side of the garage. It was a porcupine! I looked for damage this morning, but didn't see any. I have no idea what he thought he was going to do once he got in. He could have at least left me a few quills to make up for scaring me half to death!!

Workroom is Finished

I have finally painted my workroom; it only took 2 years! I wanted a nice bright, sunny, energetic room. I first painted all the walls what looked to be on the color chart, a medium yellow. Once it was on all four walls, it just about knocked my socks off when I walked in the room. I bought the next lighter color and painted two of the walls with it. That toned down the room enough that I didn't have to repaint the rest of the walls. Thank goodness!! Once I put up the ivory colored sheers, that softened everything even more. Now everything is finished. The only problem is that it's the coldest room in the house which doesn't make me want to spend hours in it. I have a space heater that I'll have to put in there when I need to work. That doesn't leave me with any excuses now to get things done.

View of The Wisconsin River

This is my winter view of the Wisconsin River on my way to work.

Jumping Right In

Well, the time has come to start a blog. The purpose of this endeavor is to be able to stay connected to friends and family; sharing pictures and the events of my everyday life. I can't promise anything grand because my day to day life is definitely not filled with big adventures, just the small things and observations that make up life. Since moving to the Northwoods of Wisconsin two winters ago, life has changed dramatically and very much so for the better. I have never looked back and missed the city. I am thankful everyday that I live where I do and still cannot believe how blessed I am to be here. Oh, yes, the temperature gets down to -25 in the wintertime with wind chills of -40, but the beauty of the landscape makes up for it. Everything is farther away...work is now 25-30min away instead of the 5min it was before the move, but I follow the Wisconsin River on the way to work through the county forest. It's a beautiful drive in any season. I will include as many pictures as I can on this site (even though it takes about 10min per picture with dial-up to download). No high speed available here, too rural. The picture next to my profile was taken last year from my driveway. I captured the full moon peeking between the evergreens to the east of my house. It was a beautiful night. I hope you all enjoy my ramblings. Feel free to leave comments.