of pumpkins, brooms, & black cats

*

funny isn't it- how you only see things in photos when looking at them later? i had the camera in the yard with me this morning, in case elfling did something adorable. thehobbit was with us as well, but he is a teenager. teens are not known for being adorable. angsty, yes. adorable, not so much.

anyway, i remembered that a friend had asked to see the scarf i was working on, so snapped a photo of that. then the neighbor's kitten, ivy, came to visit, so i snapped a few of her antics. & so on.

when i transferred the photographs to the computer, i noticed the timely goings-on: the pumpkin colored ball of yarn, the tattered broom, & the black cat. & none of it planned! i don't normally have brooms on my lawn, by the way; elfling had been sweeping up the dirt clods he'd tossed onto the patio.

don't you love serendipity?

when witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near halloween.
~author unknown

~peace.

today's theme :: books

we have officially run out of room. every bookcase is filled, & i've resorted to stacking books here & there, pretending they are artful arrangements. soon the stacks shall be large enough to use as furniture. yet i cannot stop getting more - i love books so.

here is last night's purchase!

i bought it for $1 at the library's sale room!!! the photos are wonderful, & there is a large section that teaches all of the embroidery stitches. i cannot explain how happy this treasure makes me. & no old book stink either.

we also purchased this book a few weeks ago, as well as this other book. i've borrowed them a few times from the library, but i thought it was time we finally owned them. about half the activities we'll never do; like hunting; but that still leaves a great many things we can try. if you're interested in getting the books, don't limit yourself to whichever sex child you have. there is much in them that would appeal to either.

bringing our theme to a close, i want to tell you about a fun series that teaches history. the official website has the full list of books in this series, as well as a few web books. check those out to get an idea what the actual books are like. in the uk they go by a different name.

we've been a fan for a few years now, & cannot get enough. happily our library carries most of the titles. right now we're borrowing all those dealing with ancient cultures, to recap what we studied this year with the history club. sorry if you're local, & needed one! i'll try to get them back to the library soon. soonish. before they're over due.

having nothing to do with a book in anyway, but i just have to share.... i am knitting with ribbon! thehobbit wanted a funky bag to wear on a long strap, so i thought i'd try knitting one. the ribbon is about a quarter inch wide, matte, & multi-colored. i didn't think i would like how it looked, but it's really funky, & fun to knit.

that's all for today. go buy some books, or go to the library. or both!

~peace.

** edited to add:: seriously... why does blogger keep removing my spaces between paragraphs? **

now even i miss my photos

it's come to pass my sweet & only reader. i am officially sick of having to choose between clip art, & no photos. i need to sit down with elvie, & figure out once & for all what is going on. i've done all i know how to do, & consulted with those who know more than where the on/off switch is located. now i think i need to do the uninstall-reinstall tango.

unfortunately i haven't the time today. nor the next few days, but definitely this week. i swear it upon a stack of historical romance novels! ooooh she's serious now.

today was all about crafting. well errands, cooking, & mamahood too, but the rest... that was all about crafting.

i am two rows away from completing my first knitted dishcloth! it looks nothing like it's supposed to, but i am quite proud of it. i did a double moss (or double seed) stitch on #7s, using sage green cotton yarn. see me using actual knitting jargon? i want to make a bunch more; using an unbleached cotton color; but i think i'll stick with a garter stitch for those.
** edited to add - i finished it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **

i designed a knitting bag! this one is longer horizontally, than it is tall. i really like the way it turned out; & i wish i could share it with you. i used a lightweight, funky fabric for the outside, and a soft sweater-y(?) material for the lining. i want one now; this was made for another; but with damask on the outside, & a linen lining. or perhaps i have some patchwork left?

there was also loads of rifling through fabric bins; for inspiration; but i ran out of time to craft more. i hope to finish the dishcloth tonight. then i'll frame it! no nasty filth for my masterpiece.

have a great night sweet reader... i'm off to put the kettle on.
~peace.

colllld aaaas iiiiiice...

(song now stuck in your head too? you're welcome.) i had to go outside to save potted plants from the high winds, & discovered we'd been blown to alaska whilst we slept! i've been back indoors for over an hour now, & am still not warm. i may never be warm again!!!!

things have been very busy around the belfry: r&s meeting, hogwarts, homeschooling, & trying to get caught up. i've not gotten caught up, but neither have i fallen farther behind. ok i have fallen farther behind, but not dreafully so. ok i have fallen dreadfully farther behind, but there is booze.

here is pom's scarf. the ridges aren't as noticeable when it's on. the lacey effect of the loopy yarn combined with the big needles is lovely. i couldn't photograph it that way because i couldn't get an angle with enough light to see it, nor without so much light to see it. does that make sense?


here is an art case i sewed for a neice. i suppose i should have ironed it before i took these photos.

i included a small pad of drawing paper, & colored pencils from the japanese store. just any auntie could send paper & pencils from china america, but this auntie sends the fun stuff.

the lone pencil was to show how the slots work. those newly 6 prefer to put in their own pencils, so the worldly 10yo hobbit tells me.

kats in the belfry is up & running again. i received an email order for a kiddie market tote, & friday sold 3 drink slings! yay me!

i wasn't sure i was ready to get back into the bizzie swing of things, but i feel pretty good about it now that the decision's been made. since our recent escape from the dark ages - aka no more dialup - i can fill my etsy shop with goodies for sale! which brings me to...... drumroll please..... sweet oddsox has sold her first item on etsy!!!!!!!!!! congrats my friend, and a huge woohoo to youhoo!

i'm off to brave the wilds of alaska.
~peace.

contrary to popular belief...

i am not a bag lady. to prove that point i have designed a... well... a bag actually. i suppose that proves no such thing then. but! i am not a bag lady! i just like bags, & wish to share my bag joy with others. i am not a bag lady.

my darling soap gave me bamboo knitting needles for my birthday, & the 19s are long! i had to take thehobbit to the doc yesterday for his well-child, so wanted to take my current wip with me. none of my many totes worked well, so having time to spare (hahaha) i set about sewing one!

i used scraps from other projects, & love the result! i shall have to make more to sell.

i hadn't time to line it, but wish that i had. the fabric is stiff, but i think a liner would give it just that bit of extra stiffness it needs.

this fabric was purposely wrinkled... please no comments that my dislike of manlyman's iron has gone too far.

an inside view; complete with new 19s, & the yarn for pom's scarf!

in addition to lining the knitting bags, i shall make them 2 inches wider. my bag worked wonderfully, but it needs to be wider to allow for lining, & if someone is working on something larger than a scarf. perhaps there should be two sizes? hmmm...

that's all today! we are going to the nursery with our book-craft friends... plants for the secret garden. & blueberries for mine? maybe?

~peace.

drinks for everyone!

not only was i able to upload photos for you, i was able to do so at the speed of light!!!!!
how is that possible? is elvie (pc) not slower than dirt? well yes. & no. poor elvie had been blamed time & again for being the cause of slower than dirtness (real word,) when it was the dial-up all the while. i'm not sure who was the wretch that blamed my sweet elvie... moving on.
here is where i explain & praise the generosity of friends...
my friend rubelin lives next door, & has wireless. she is letting me use it practically for free! she insisted on free, but i felt i couldn't call her at 2am to complain if i weren't paying her something.
enter my other friend fryingpanman; he had a wireless box he wasn't using, so gave to me!
what generous friends! welcome to the 21st century to me :-)

show & tell time.

these are the scarves! the taupe is with a chunky wool/acrylic blend, using size 15. the green is a wavy acrylic, using size 19. *pom, i'll have your scarf soon.*

another prezzie from my paper! she made a joke about me needing more fiber in my diet. hahaha. except thehobbit was listening, & 10yos are not known for their gift of knowing when something is no longer funny.

brussels sprouts! my first attempt at growing them. already we can see little bumps where the sprouts will be. yum.
sugar snap peas! these are my favorite to grow, because they are so beautiful. the plants are over 6ft tall.
fennel bulbs to the rear, with rainbow chard in front. barely in the shot is a row of turnips. by row i mean 4 plants. i don't know why the others never popped up.

your turn! what are you making, & what is growing in your garden???

~peace.

into the shorty realm

i love how shorties see things. lately thehobbit has been obsessed with spaceships, & droids; drawing them, buidling them, & so on. this morning he said, "i'll see you later mama. i have to fly to planet faeryopolis, to take my droid to visit some faery friends."

my mind doesn't work like that... worlds don't mix. i would play faeries, or i would play spaceship. it would not occur to me to combine the realms. how restrictive the adult mind is.

i feel like monica on friends: the episode where she shows off her perfectly victorian dollhouse, & phoebe builds her own, adding a dinosaur, bubbles, & so on. adult minds are monicas, & shorty minds are phoebes. can one be a monica & a phoebe? if so, i should like to try.

speaking of the world of shorties... some have asked for the latest news regarding the too-small shirt. thehobbit has not worn it in the past week. we don't know if it's because he can no longer squeeze into it, or if he's simply moved on. manlyman & i do not want to ask, for fear he'll take to wearing it again. lately the outfit has been black slacks, long sleeved tshirt, short sleeved dress shirt, bright red crocs. there has been a myriad of accessories: hp glasses, neckties, cloak, sword, dagger, hats (including a bowl, & a box,) badge, adventure belt... you get the picture.

what fun to be a child.

now on to something fabulous..... pictures! not! from! clipart!!!

this bucket was a prezzie my darling paper made just for me!


isn't she talented?! it's thick, & sturdy, & i love it so! manlyman keeps suggesting we fill it with water "just to see if it's water-tight." ah... no.

& what is this? well my one & only reader... this is the scarf i am currently knitting!

i wish the photo could show you how lush the yarn is. i cannot wait to wrap this around my neck, & snuggle my face down into it! i did a few k-rows at the start, then alternated k-row, p-row. i'm sure that is not the official ways to describe what i did, but if you knit you know what i mean. if you don't, then the official explanation would make no sense either.

now i'm off. it's time for lunch, & thehobbit is sure he's on the very brink of starvation. have a glorious day!
~peace.

*check out paper's new blog, & what sweet oddsox posted for my birthday!*

oh what a circus, oh what a show..

that's a song from evita, & it's stuck in my head.

some days i feel like i live in the middle of cirque du soleil, without the amazing music. look at this short clip! practically a home video.
today was one of those days; complete with little clowns everywhere i turned, & chickens constantly trying to get into the house big top.
i know you think that's the pestilence talking, but you are wrong... actual chickens. soap has a bunch of them, & they kept sneaking in.

today's circus was brought to you by hogwarts charter school (for the exceptionally silly.) they really are. silly from here to there, and back again. i don't mean that in a negative way in the least. i think thehobbit, & his two bestest girlies are amazing. they are also a perfect fit... loons the lot of them.

fortunately i had no classes to teach today, so i could just sit with a hot tea & knit. they worked more on their faery houses, then had their first knitting lesson. they are dinky, so you know they picked it up more quickly than i. no month-long cursing festival either.

just after dinner we heard a loud, muffled bang! thehobbit came running from the other room to tell us he could see fireworks in the sky.


isn't that beautiful?! simply breathtaking. the photo isn't mine - clipart yet again. i did try, but they came out fuzzy, & looking very unlike fireworks.
i don't know what or where this show was, but it was great fun to stand on our front porch, & watch! manlyman suspects it was for chinese new year... you know, to celebrate the year of the pestilence. it's possible, as there is a large park not far from here. whatever the occasion, we were able to see the whole show quite well. it was a lovely surprise.

did i tell you i completed my first scarf?!?! i am beyond thrilled, & oh so proud of myself. i desperately wanted to wear it today; so i could show off; but it was in the low 70s! in february!! i know we live in southern california, but that is just silly. silly & i had a scarf to wear. today i knit a thinner version of my scarf to send to my mom. knitting is addictive. i do need to stop the scarf factory before it gets into full-swing, or i shall never complete my chickens. yes another teaser, i'm just bad that way.

that's all the babble i have today. the pestilence is taking all my energy. have a great night!
~peace.

beauty in the beast

the other day we were driving through the city, when we came across a field of wildflowers! i didn't have my camera, but thehobbit had his, so i was able to take a few photos. i wish i'd had mine, with super zoom action... sigh. click the pics to blow them up. maybe then you can see the mass of gorgeous blooms!



i most often get stressed driving through cities. the smells, sounds, sights, & the traffic. it's all too much for me. seeing this field made me so happy! usually it's dirt & weeds. i suppose the heavy rains are to thank for the beauty.

leave it to mother nature!

i began my scarf last night. soap loaned me her freakybig knitting needles, so the scarf will be more loose. it was difficult to get the hang of, but quite fun once i found my groove. i should like a set of every size needle please santa. oh wait, that won't do! christmas is much too far away. my birthday is less than a month away, but i've already asked for things. drat! i like the feel of wooden needles. the others are too slippery for me. i suppose i could make more. i'll figure it out.

eeek! i just noticed the time. we have to leave for the museum (going to check out the pterasaurs, & discuss whether they were in fact dragons... heeheehee) in one hour, & i've not yet gotten one thing ready!

~peace.

yeah, yeah, oh yeah!

oh solo reader... what a day this has been!

this morning i bought my first pretty yarns! i had been practicing with yarn my mom sent years ago, during the great learning to crochet debacle. i'm sure you've heard of it; it was in all the papers. anyway, this was inexpensive yarn she found at a thrift shop. it's wonderful for making a tree garland, & for owl blankets, but not for all the amazing things i long to create. the ones i chose are soft, & oh so beautiful. i got an odd green (a scarf for moi,) a brown, & a mottled oatmeal (both for chickens - more on that later.)

back at home, manlyman & thehobbit played outside; allowing me a bit of peace in which to poke through tutorials. i found this amazing one, watched it over & over, & now can cast off! i believe this - combined with being able to make a square & a rectangle using a garter stitch; qualifies me as an actual knitter. officially one able to knit. a person not just capable of bitching, but of stitching whilst doing so. anything square or rectangular that is.

just as i completed knitting genius, paper called to tell me that her home away from home was selling their chairs for $5 each! the sad part of this deal is that the shop is actually closing. my poor friend!! oh but the chairs... i did behave, & bought just 4. they're sturdy, really cute, & solid wood! they even go well with my 'rustic country, married shabby chic in a thrift shop' decor. lovely.

thehobbit & i rushed over to purchase my new pretties, & stayed for a bit so he could play with minipaper. when we returned home, i found an email that about blew my mind! i dare not give the details yet; i don't want to jinx anything. i will say that this april my sweet little r&s group may have a booth at two huge earthday events! for the price of one! oh think good thoughts for us please. this would be so wonderful for our kids. also think good money thoughts, as we still need to come up with the cost of the one booth.

that's it for now. i'm off to sit on my new chairs, & fondle yarn. pics soon. i promise. no really i do.
~peace.

one long week

wow. that's it really... wow. manlyman is due home tonight, & not a moment too soon. i adore my little hobbity boy, but wow. he's a really easy kid, so i don't feel overwhelmed having no second parent all week. what's driving me to drink is how much he misses his daddyo. it's been like living with a wee manic-depressive. one moment he's having a grand time, & the next he's seriously pissy or sad. just boom! wild.

hahahaha! the lunatic in question just walked through the room wearing jams, non-matching socks, winter coat with the hood up, harry potter glasses, & using a baton as a cane. he was mumbling something in an aussie accent that i didn't catch. at least this aspect of his personality is still intact.

the potions corner of thehobbit's nook:


last night i finally mastered the first knitting stitch! i wish you could have seen me... sitting alone, watching my brit-coms, & grinning like a loon. each time i completed another row, i stopped to admire my work. i only have 7 whatchamacallits per row, so i haven't a clue what i shall do with it. if i don't frame it; which is entirely possible; it will most likely end up a scarf for one of thehobbit's many dolls/animals.

speaking of knitting... yesterday at hogwarts, the kids made knitting needles. that morning thehobbit announced that he did not want to make needles, because he had no intention of learning to knit. after a few hours knitting imaginary things with minipaper, he announced he wanted to knit, so i should let him know when auntiesoap's class was to be. funny kid. btw, when i say announce, i really do mean just that. he'll walk into the room, say his bit, then walk out again.

another glimpse into the world of hobbit fashion:


have i shown that pic already? most likely. i'm afraid my swisscheese brain is in full cheese-mode these days.

time for me to get cleaning. it's amazing how messy a house can get when one person is away on holiday, & the other two aren't picking up after themselves. i should like to ignore the mess, & spend the day outside instead, but i keep tripping over things, & have run out of clean bowls. by bowls i mean all dishes. it's not pretty.

have a happy saturday!

fred, fred, & fred

years ago we lived in a sweet little apartment. our windows all faced a row of beautiful, old trees... & that is where we first met fred the squirrel. he would play in the trees daily, & nick all the avocadoes that we wished were close enough for us to reach. we grew to love fred.
when we moved to our house; almost 3 years ago; he moved with us. we didn't bring him, we merely saw a squirrel in our new backyard that thehobbit swore was fred. miracle number one! he managed to follow the moving truck across town!
fred has brought thehobbit much joy since the move... running atop the fence to climb to our roof, chasing crows up our giant pine, & racing around the trunk of the huge pecan with his friend 'the other squirrel.'
two weeks ago we had a small storm that brought fierce winds up here on our little hill. the next day i found fred at the base of the pecan. it was a very sad day for our family. we wanted to believe it was the other squirrel, but the sadness at finding the creature made us all sure it was fred. we still haven't removed him, neither manlyman nor i have the heart to go back there.
so this morning thehobbit looked out his playroom window, & saw the other squirrel in my seedling pots! rats & fleas! the one who was destroying the farm wasn't the one who died. in the excitement of chasing the squirrel out of the pots, thehobbit decided this was fred. sorry? haven't we been mourning fred's passing for two weeks now? yes, but he is sure this is fred behaving so badly. who am i to argue with such logic? so another miracle... fred back from the dead.

some friends have reunited their old knitting group, & i decided to join them! no, i cannot knit. i'm not one to let mere details stand in my way - i made myself a pair of needles, sat myself down in their circle, & asked to be taught. thus far the needles themselves are my only knitting success. still...

i am quite proud of myself!

did you know that if you shut a cupboard door without checking to see if the faery lights are clear of the opening, the teeny light shall shatter into bazillions of minute glass shards?

well i'm here to tell you it's true. adam & eve have gotten into the holiday spirit! actually those lights are always wrapped around their metal home, but i only ever remember they are when i'm plugging in holiday faery lights elsewhere. do you see that jar? that's one of two pet black widows. don't eww me! they belong to manlyman... the original doctor doolittle. i should love to squash them.

countdown, day 15: today we shall have a spa day! review: i had a date with a circle of knitting mamas, so manlyman agreed to have a spa with thehobbit. they played make believe instead. great fun, but today thehobbit is bummed to have missed having his feet soak in warm, scented water. sigh. no time today as we have to bake, & grammie is coming to visit. perhaps tomorrow.

have a wonderful sunday! if you see fred at your place, tell him 'hi' for me ;-) ~peace.