Pool Is Opened on Memorial Day

During Memorial Day weekend, we put up a pool in our backyard. We had one of these before and really missed not having one last year hence our decision to put one up again. Ray couldn't wait for the pool to fill completely so he "opened" it on the traditional day for pool openings. See how cold he looks? Just gotta love that guy. Hope you enjoy and find your own way to beat the heat this summer.

Round Afghan Links--New Added

Round afghans have become very popular lately. A while back, I compiled a list of free patterns for them found on the Internet. I put them in a post and have updated it as I found new ones. I started thinking that not many people would be digging back to the old pages in my blog so I'm putting a link here for anyone who is interested.

Our Wildlife Diner

I am notorious for feeding the squirrels and birds. I toss out stale bread to the animals all the time. I also put out seed for the birds and corn for the squirrels. Here is a picture of a squirrel dining at the "picnic table" my son constructed for the squirrels' diner located on a tree in the front yard. Hope you enjoy the picture. Hugs....

Blooming Yard

Our yard has "bloomed" recently. I love flowers and I had to take pictures of some of the beautiful blooms there. I missed out on getting pictures of my snowball bush and lilacs so you'll just have to take my word for it that they were pretty too. Anyway, here are my other blooms for your pleasure.

The new azaleas.
I don't know what kind of bush this is but it is pretty.
This is a climbing rose bush. What is so unusual about it is that the roses on it are red and they are supposed to be ORANGE. Even odder, my next door neighbor has a RED rosebush and all his flowers are ORANGE!

The petunias are planted in the flower boxes. They'll really look great in a couple weeks when they fill out. The purple is a wave petunia.

Some of the purple irises in the front yard.

One of the peonies. Last year they didn't do well at all and I didn't even have one bloom. This year they're doing great.

Another one of the purple irises out front.

Some of the yellow irises by the pond in the backyard.

Some hen and chicks. We have so many of them that I often have to thin them out and toss them if no one wants them.

Garden 2009 Started

Started our garden this weekend. In the top picture you can see the entire garden and the other 2 pictures show the tomato plants. So far I've planted tomatoes, carrots, two types of green beans, and 2 kinds of green peppers. I have more plants and seeds to go--onions, garlic, zucchini, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, radishes more tomatoes and several types of peas. We learned last year that a small home garden isn't large enough to grow corn in so we're going to buy a couple bushels of corn to freeze. After planting what I have so far, dh and I decided that we're going to have to enlarge the garden. I have put a few pictures here of our garden. It will be interesting to see it progress during the growing season. Here's hugs for all...

More Gardening Helps

Using a Butterfly Loom

I found a good deal on a butterfly loom a couple years ago. I haven't used it yet. This video has me ready to break it out and start making some pretty scarves or perhaps throws with it. Dh has fits when I buy something like the butterfly loom and then don't use it so perhaps I need to get busy with it. Has anyone made anything with a butterfly loom? What was your experience with it? Was it easy? Did you like what you made? Let me know. Ok, that's it for now. Hope you enjoy the video.

On 21 April 1689 William III and Mary II Become King & Queen

On April 21,1689 William III & Mary Stuart were proclaimed king & queen of England. Their marriage was largely a political alliance. William III and Mary were first cousins and Mary was 12 years younger than William. Willliam was not faithful--he maintained a long affair with one of Mary's ladies in waiting Elizabeth Villiers. William arrive in England with troops and took over the rule after the abdication of Mary's father James II. James abdicated under pressure because he had tried to make alliances with Catholic countries and this was not popular with Parliament and landowners in England. To read a fairly detailed although short article about William III aka William of Orange go to this page. You may a read a short article about Mary II here.
More about William of Orange

Crochet WIP

OK, I know I said I wasn't going to post a picture of this rr afghan I'm making until it was finished. Well, my ds posted this picture on his myspace and I snagged it and here it is lol! This is Aggie May's pattern from crochetville.org. My addiction for these afghans continues... Anyway, this afghan will be for my uncle. It is the 2nd afghan for him. The first afghan I made him was granny squares and boy did it take a looooong time to make. I hope he likes this one. I have to get back to work on it. Hugs to all...

A Look at Dating in Mid-20th Century

According to Planned Parenthood, about 10 percent of teenage girls in the U.S. become pregnant before age 20 (see article here). That's a pretty scary statistic. Do you wonder what it was like when our parents or perhaps grandparents were teens? The video here is an educational video about dating from 1949. WOW! Things have changed tremendously since then. Remember, you can turn my blog's music off so it will be easier to listen to this video. Hugs to all...
Teenage Dating

Not so Sedentary Lately

I've been working this temp. job for the Census Bureau. I go door-to-door and put dots on a map for where the addresses for residences are. Not too difficult but rather exhausting for an old sedentary lady like me. I'd rather spend my day doing one of three things: reading, crocheting or surfing the Internet. Honestly, I actually enjoy the walking especially when the houses are close together otherwise I have to hop in and out of my car and that's not so much fun. Anyway, things on the home front are starting to fall apart--ok, not starting but have already! I saw this picture and thought it very appropriate lol! Hugs to all...

Susan Boyle--"Cry Me a River"

This lady is fantastic! Her style is reminiscent of the 1940s. What a wonderful talent. To listen to this song, you may want to go to the other column on this page and turn off the sound to my music player. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I did. Hugs to all...

My Take-Out from Taco Bell--Mighty Skimpy

I suppose most of you have seen sizes of many products shrink. Cereal and ice cream are two that immediately come to mind. Fast food places have jumped on the bandwagon. Today, I brought home a bag of tacos from Taco Bell. Well, if I didn't have my glasses on I would have been hard-pressed to see the meat. Here's a picture of the delightful taco that one could almost say was "meat-flavored" instead of having meat. Does anyone else have a similar story to relate?

My GGranddaughter--American Idol

My ggranddaughter is a great songstress. She's a regular diva! Before you play this go to the other column and turn off the old-fogey music.

Thomas Jefferson's Thoughts on National Debt

Thomas Jefferson wrote to William Plumer on July 21, 1816;

"I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared."

To see a copy of this letter in Jefferson's handwriting visit this page at the Library of Congress online. William Plumer was a politician in the new country of the United States. You may read a short article on him at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

Thomas Jefferson Store

OCD kicks in

Guess my OCD kicked 'cause I'm making another round ripple afghan. This time I'm making one in gold, black and white. I started it not knowing who was going to receive it. After talking to my uncle, he told me that he was seriously considering getting a place in Florida. So, I decided that this would be a housewarming present for him. You're probably wondering why I said my OCD kicked in. Well, I don't really have OCD, I just get hooked on certain things and do them over and over again like make the rr afghan and this one pair of slippers. For a while there I was hooked (no pun intended) on making dishcloths. I have gotten a bit slower on cranking out the round ripples so I'm not going to post a picture quite yet and leave you hanging waiting to see the final result. Take care everyone and hugs to all...

On 06 April 774, Charles the Great Affirms Promise of Quiercy

On this day in 774 Charles the Great affirms Pepin the Short's promise of Quiercy. OK, that's nice but who the heck is Charles the Great and what is Pepin's promise of Quiercy??? You may have heard of Charles the Great by his other moniker--Charlemagne. The Medieval Sourcebook gives a little more information about him that you may be interested in. Pepin (also spelled Pippin) was Charles the Great's father. Anyway, Pepin's promise of Quiercy was to restore to the Catholic church some lands in Central Italy. Pepin did not have these lands, they had to be taken from their conquerors before this could be done. The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia has a good article about this. Scroll down the page to "Intervention of the Franks Formation of the States of the Church" to read about this event.

Granny Square Baby Blankie--Finished!

I had a ufo (unfinished object) for sometime that I was kind of frustrated with. Was it hard to do???? Nope, not at all. I was frustrated because I didn't notice the yarn was to be hand washed only. Dang, that's not practical for a baby blanket. I finished it this morning (see the above pics) and after I wash some "necessaries" I'm going to try machine washing it and see how it turns out. I'll let you know how my "laundry experiment" ends up. I didn't have a plan to give this to a baby, I was just making it because the yarn is so "pettable" and I thought it would be great for a special baby sometime in the future. As for the pattern, I started making a big granny square and just kept at it. I edged it with ww yarn in complementary colors. If you are interested in making something like this (you'll probably make a smarter yarn choice than I did lol)-- there are numerous granny square patterns available for free on the Internet and by googling you should be able to find one. Hugs...

Dishcloth Made from Afghan Square

Here is a dishcloth I finished making today. It was one of those carry-in-my-purse projects. I used a pattern for an afghan square to do this. The colors are kinda blah, but they'll do to wash dishes with. The following video will show you how to make this square; the difference in what I did is that I made my final round sc instead of dc. Why don't you try this and let me know how yours turned out? Best wishes and hugs....

"Chocolate Mint" RR Afghan Finished at Last!

At last I finally finished this afghan. It is wider than my 6'1" husband is tall! I wanted to use up some yarn I had been hoarding and I did use almost all but a little ball of the green, but I do have enough brown and tan to make several pairs of slippers. It is really hard for me to judge how much yarn I need so I often over-buy. I bought the tan specifically for this project but I think it looks better with 3 colors instead of 2 anyway. I have a cute picture of one of my chis posing on it but he wanted that picture posted on his blog so you'll have to go there to see it lol! Hugs to all...

Lapghan for Charity--Finished!

I'm finally getting some projects completed so I can post them. Here for your enjoyment is a completed lapghan made by using "magic ball" yarn with another strand (I used black) and basically double crocheting it the desired size. I got the idea from this blog. I liked the idea of using my little "leftover") yarn balls. I think it is better than using the granny square technique because granny squares are (for me) a tedious process of weaving and sewing after the squares are made. UPDATE: My round ripple afghan has only 4 more rounds to go! I hope to have it completed and a picture posted soon. Hugs to all...