Did You Ever Crochet Something Goofy?

I am currently working on a project that is a bit off the beaten track for me. I just wanted to make something fun so I am. I'm not going to spoil it and tell you what it is but I'll let you know that I had to crochet 30 round motifs as part of it. I think I have about a 1/2 hour or so of actual crocheting left then there is the loathed assembly and weaving in of the fearsome ends. I hope to have this project finished in a day or 2 and then I'll do the grand reveal;-).

Had a nice Valentine Day. It was son #1's usual day to do laundry but he made brownies while he was here too. Son #2 came over on his dinner break at work and had his meal here. DH gave me a stash of chocolate--a heart full of peanut butter cups and an assortment of other chocolate. We had pizza from one of our favorite places--Papa Murphy's. For those of you who don't know about Papa Murphy's, you buy a pizza from them but then you have to bake it at home. They assemble the pizza as you watch. Our favorite is loaded with all the meats, pineapple and extra cheese. It is so Yummy!

Much to my little girl's distress, I dressed her up in honor of the holiday but she ran right to her dad to be undressed.

Later on, both "kids" cuddled up with their dad in the recliner amid a pile of throws--

Take care everyone...

DH and His Man Cave--2 WIPs

DH is going through some changes. He's decided to "retire" at the age of 49--I hope it's a temporary thing. Anyway, he, a few buddies and one of our sons have been puttering around in the garage for probably a couple months now making it into a man cave. Here's a few pictures of the status of one of these projects as of today:

Mixing Paint

New Walls

Ooops! Painters Tape Falling Down!

1 of 2 New Ceiling Fans

Son Hard at Work Painting above Garage Door

Son Painting. Really Need to Do Something Where the Opener Connects to Wall.

DH Taking His Turn Painting

The Garage Door Spring Was Painted Too.

Some Trim to Go Somewhere

Our house is an older one--built ca 1959. The attached garage was built in 1969. Up until 2 years ago, there was no way to go from the house to the garage. We got rid of a few closets and built a hallway that led to a new door into the garage.  There was no drywall, nor was there a ceiling in the garage previous to dh's middle-age crisis. With a house this old, there is always something to do but it has good solid "bones" to work with. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy the holiday....

 Search Amazon.com for garage door opener

Happy Fathers' Day

Happy Fathers' Day to my dh. You were there when Matt and Justin needed you. We love you. Hugs....

Spring Things...

I love spring--warmer weather, sunny skies and beautiful flowers. Here is a climbing rose bush that will replace one that didn't make it through the winter. We're going to plant it in the backyard.

And here is dh sweeping out the garage like a good husband. He's doing having done some construction work there. When he's the work is done, the garage will be insulated and have drywall on the ceiling and walls.

Here is one planter that I put some wave petunias in; I have 3 identical planters sitting on the edge of the porch.  I fell in love with the yellow petunias and grabbed them quick at WalMart because only a few were left. I'm looking forward to enjoying them when they're filled out and full of blooms. I hope we don't have another freeze.

Hoping everyone had a great weekend and that your week is nice too. Hugs... S

Did You Notice...?

Did you notice that under my blog's header not only do I have a link for a listing of free round(ish) afghan patterns but also for miscellaneous dog items? Under the dog items I also included some free patterns that are for sewing. I need to get off the Internet and stop looking at patterns and MAKE a few of them!

A bit off-topic but since I mentioned that dh hasn't been feeling too well I thought I'd do a quick update. He went to the doctor yesterday and when he complained of chronic headaches with neck pain and that a few days before it was so bad he had wanted to eject his dinner, they prescribed him antibiotics and told him that he had an upper respiratory infection. I don't know that I agree with that since he hasn't had runny nose or sinus congestion. He's back at work today so that is very good.

 Hope your week is going ok.

It's One of Those Blah Kind of Days...

Last night I finished one slipper (not pair, just one). I tried to fancy it up a bit by using some fun fur yarn but this extra yarn made the ankle snug so I'll finish the other slipper and set this pair aside to give to my adopted ggranddaughter because she is on the petite side. It looks pretty though.

DH hasn't been feeling well since Thursday and he stayed home from work Friday and came home in the middle of the day today. He's been "headachy" and that is strange for him because he NEVER gets headaches. It's off to the doc tomorrow for him. I've been moping today, although I did cook a relatively inexpensive, delicious dinner hoping to tempt DH to eat. It's round steak. I cut it in pieces, browned it and simmered it in tomato sauce with oregano, basil, garlic, small can of mushroom pieces and some dehydrated onions for about 2 hours. Every now and then I had to add a tad bit of water so it didn't cook down too far. I served it on noodles and topped it with Parmesan cheese. It's one of those things I came up with years ago when I had little money for good cuts of beef. I call it "Round Steak Italiano." I don't have exact measurements because most of the time I throw a little of this and a little of that in the pot. The downside of making this dish is that it has to simmer for a long time so that the meat gets tender; the upside is that it is delicious. I was going to take a picture for you but with son #1 over  it got devoured pdq! Hope everyone is having a great week.

Nellie is Kickin' Back with Dad...

Just thought I'd share this cute picture of Nellie Belle. This is the position you'll see her in most nights as she cuddles in the recliner by her "daddy" and gets her belly tickled... :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Search Amazon.com for chihuahua calendar 2011 (several versions/prices are available)

Nellie Braved the Cold to Greet Her Daddy

I couldn't resist sharing this photo of Nellie Belle and Ray with you. There are a couple more pictures of the chi kids, ready to greet Ray after work, on their blog.

Look--Ray brought in the mail too--An Annie's Attic Catalog!

Search Amazon.com for annies attic mysteries

Yesterday Ray and I Celebrated Our Anniversary

24 years ago yesterday, Ray and I were married. We didn't have a big to-do, we were both in the navy. I was stationed on a ship, the USS Ajax, and Ray's ship, the USS New Orleans, was temporarily in the yards in San Francisco. He flew to San Diego for the weekend, we got married and he went back to Frisco the next day. The following weekend he came back to San Diego and we rented an apartment and set up housekeeping although in the beginning neither of us spent much time at home. It was nice to have a home to go to away from our ships when we were able to get there. Here's a picture of us on our wedding day (couldn't find the original only this one I played around with). See, I told you it wasn't a big to-do. :)

Tonight Ray came home with these beautiful roses--

Next year we'll have our silver anniversary. Where has the time gone?

Happy Birthday Ray!!!

Today is dh's birthday.  He's 4 1/2 years younger than me--sshhh don't tell anyone!  Here he is coming home from work today and Opi and Nellie Belle are greeting him with balloons. I made him a cake and brought home some KFC--one of his favorites. I told him that we'd go this weekend and he should pick out something for himself. I never know what to get him. I said he should get whatever he wanted as long as it didn't have wheels because he's been talking about Camaros, Harleys and Ford 4x4s.  Men and male menopause geez... ;)

Hope y'all are having a great day too.  Hugs...

Search Amazon.com for male menopause

Backyard Fun Memorial Day Weekend!

We got the pool filled with water and the hot tub too in time for Saturday's cookout on Memorial Day Weekend.  DH and Son #1 (aka Matthew or Matt) opened the pool and the hot tub.  Opi enjoyed the time just relaxing on the outdoor furniture.  Here's a hint that may help you save money.  In our community, we can checkout  a meter that measures the amount of water we use outdoors.  This is water that doesn't go in the sewer and that way we don't have to pay for sewer costs on the water that goes through the meter!  With a pool, pond, hot tub and garden we use more than a few bucketfuls outside.  At the end of summer, we will return the meter to the water company and they will do a reading on it and we'll get a credit on our water/sewer bill.  Pretty nifty huh?

My Closet Remodel Is Complete

On the 11th of October I posted some before pictures of my sad closet. The wire shelves were falling down and it was awful! My very talented younger son Justin designed and built the new cabinetry. He is a talented guy as you can see. Here is a video I put together showing how it progressed. I am so proud of my talented son. Ray and our good friend Phillip "supervised" and lent an extra hand when required; Justin did the bulk of the work. The little girl on one of the slides is my ggranddaughter. She is helping me make homemade beef-vegetable-barley soup and corn muffins for supper that night. Oh yeah, I should probably let you know that if my music player starts, you can scroll down the right column and mute it. Hugs...

Catching Up

I know I haven't posted lately but I do have a ummm reason, er excuse uhhh laziness. Anyway, here are some pictures to show a little bit of what I have been doing.

This is a pair of men's slippers I made. These are tucked away into my gift drawer for a future gift.

Here's another completed "purse project"-- a dishcloth in Christmas colors.

Here is Ray with a Fathers' Day gift from me. It is a German beer stein. To go with the stein, I gave him a really good bottle of beer--Dad's Root Beer!



I made these slippers to give to a friend and her grown children when I visit with them in Illinois. I gave my friend a pair once and the kids always wore them and she never had a chance so now they'll each have their own pair.



We've been enjoying the pool too. Here are our son Justin and ggd Leslie cooling off.

We spent several hours a few days ago cleaning out the pond. It is really nice to be able to see the fish. These fish were originally meant to be feeder fish for other critters but they have survived for several years in the pond at a fraction of the cost of koi. We actually put a real water lily in the pond. The fish like the shade it generates.

FYI the pattern I used for the slippers is found here. The first picture shows a modified version of the pattern.

I hope you have enjoyed today's post. Happy Fathers' Day and hugs to all!