Cyndee Su Borck-Frayer

This is my oldest Golden Retriever, Cyndee Su, out at the pond with one of Kayleen's many Dachshunds.  I think this might be Nickel when he was a baby and of course checking out the blue gill as it came out of the pond.  Cyndee Su will be 12 on May 22nd.  We found out this past Tuesday that her lungs and body are full of cancer and we set for a few days with broken hearts.  Her Daddy called me last night to let me know that her breathing has worsened and it's time to help her cross the Rainbow Bridge.  I will take my love to start the journey to wait for us on the otherside.  My heart just hurts so badly.  Love you Cyndee Su, you have brought so many happy and loving times to our lives over the last 12 years.  Find Barney and run like the wind with him!

Neat finds!

Found some very kewl tutorials I wanted to pass on to everyone just because they are awesomeness!
This kewl accessory bag from Petite Purls can be used for anything and everything,,,lunch money, makeup, etc.

I totally love this sprocket motif from Speckless,,,,I can see these all over the house as coasters or put together as a blanket,,,just all kinds of ideas!

Treasure Beach, Chapter 3, Part IV is up for your reading pleasure!

Knitting Project Progress!

I can't believe with as busy as I was all weekend, (Friday lunch and shopping with Krissy, Saturday a baby shower and of course Sunday an Easter celebration), that I actually made great progress on my knitting.
The RacerBack Tee from Knitty I'm making for Krissy is coming along, started the upper front.  I love working in the round rather than flat with seams.  I'm so not brave enough for that! LOL

I also finished sock one for the Fun in the Sun KAL with Knitters Brewing Company.  The pattern looks a lot more complicated than it is, even the pattern pages make you say "huh" til you start and then it whips right up for you!  Love that.

Happy, Hoppy, Happy, Hoppy Easter!

"Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals.  ~Charles M. Crowe"

old shoe woman flickr

I hope you all have a wonder Easter with family, friends, and good food!  The menu for today here in the house is:
*Crock pot beef stew over biscuits
*Green bean casserole
*Mac and Cheese
*Ham roll ups (both pickle and onion)
*Deviled Eggs

Easter Egg Eye Candy!

Now wouldn't you love to get a bouquet of these Easter Eggs!  I so love this tutorial from 100 Billion Stars!  What great fun it would be to make with a group of young girls to take home as center pieces for their Easter dinner table!

Happy Hoppy Happy Hoppy Easter everyone!

Hang Ten, Fun in the Sun Sock KAL!

Knitters Brewings latest KAL starts today!  Hang Ten is the pattern, aren't they just the kewlest socks ever!  I'm doing mine in Sweet Ruby, love the color and the yarn!  Come on and join us for some fun in the sun!

Treasure Beach, Chapter 3, Part III is ready!

Can you believe it's time for the next installment of the Novellini already!  WOWSER, can't wait to read more  Treasure Beach!
Check out new reads from Emilie as well:

"What a Novel Idea" Blog Hop!

Novelty print fabrics are so much fun to play with and collect. One of my favorites are baseball prints.  I really don't know why, I absolutely love the game but not all the uniforms are to die for,,,know what I mean.  But I do love all the stripes and a lot of red/white/blue themes.  The retro uniforms are the bomb dot com to me so maybe that is why I migrate toward the baseball themed prints.
Check out the "What a Novel Idea" blog hop going on this week with Pat Sloan and gang!  Lots and lots of fun and prizes to be had!

Shipshewana and Projects!

Sunday Krissy and I went to our first ever Shipshewana on the Road and really enjoyed it.  I still call it a super huge flea market no matter the fancy name you put on it! LOL  Krissy got a real bug (beetle) necklace and I scooped up more beads for my Pandora style bracelet, as well as some fresh baked breads!  YUMMO

I made great progress on my Racerback Tee for Krissy.  I am pleasantly surprised at how fast this works up!  Also started my Hang Ten socks for the upcoming Fun in the Sun KAL with Knitters Brewing Company!  Man I love long weekends!

Friday evening I had a 21st bday bash to attend for one of my girls.  So hard to believe Camie Jo is now officially 21.  She loves the wings at Hooters so of course that is where we started out at.  I had their Lots of Tots (oh my word, to die for goodness) and fried dill pickles!  YUMMO!

No Socks!

Can you believe it?  I'm making something other than socks!  Well OK, technically I have a pair of socks on the needles too but wanted to make this racerback tee for Krissy too and have a bit of a break from socks!  So I casted on for the tee and it's going really well!  Very easy, very quick construction!  Pattern is from Knitty.com

I want to make Julia too!  LOVE IT!

New Favs at Bath & BodyWorks!

I should never be allowed in Bath & BodyWorks.  I never get out of that place without a ton of money gone!  Thank goodness it lasts and I only go a couple times a year! LOL  My new favorite things there:

The new signature collection, Country Chic, is amazing.  It's a spin off of Twilight Woods fragrance and it is amazing.  I totally love Twilight Woods and now Country Chic.

Scent Eggs!  Oh my word, these are the bomb dot com!  Kute and fragrant!  LOVE THEM A BUNCH!

Pocketbac Holder!  OK these are just too klever.  Holds BBWs mini hand sanitizers but also the trial size from other brands as well.  Wrap it around your purse handle, belt loop, wherever and you've got your hand sanitizer easily accessible.  Love it!

How about a CAL?

Anyone up for doing a CAL with me or a crochet challenge or a support system to get this done!?!?!  I've wanted to do a granny square afghan for a while now but one with a twist on the traditional and this one has captured my attention!  Red Hearts Tiles Granny Afghan!  Anyone up for it!

Treasure Beach, Chapter 3, part II is ready!

Here's the next installment of the absolutely wonderful Treasure Beach from Emilie Richards.  If you're new to Emilie's writing, hop on over to her site and pick a series.  I love them all and I'm pretty sure have read them all!  WOOT WOOT!

iPad Roll!

Totally and completely in love with this for my iPad.  I think it will work perfect for when I'm in bed reading or on a plane or wherever and I get tired of holding it!  Find all the instructions for the Quilted, Rollable iPad Case at Instructables!

Fat Sunday Deliciousness!

Pierogi Casserole!  This is definitely a keeper recipe, get all the goodness of Pierogies without all the work,,,makes up like a lasagna!  That's what I'm talking about!  Fried up some Polish Kielbasa to have with it and yummmmmola!

Straight Up!

I still can't believe how much faster a pair of socks get done when doing them two at a time (TAAT)!  I finished two pair of Straight Up socks and have one sock of another pair to finish.  That will be 3 pair of socks in a month.  Usually it's one pair in a month if I'm lucky! LOL  So here are the orange and blue pair.  Love them, love this pattern!  Here is a great series of videos from Cat Bordhi for learning the technique as well!

Kindle Case Tutorial!

How kewl is this case that you can whip up for your Kindle or Sony Reader or iPad.  I bet with a little tweaking on the size you could get your iPad in this kutie pouch!  Tutorial from 100 Billion Stars blog!

Strippy Charm Pouch!

Oh this is the kutest bag I've seen lately!  Love it and it's a free tutorial on Moda Bake Shop!  Gotta love that!

Tribute and Valor!

Pat Sloan has done it again!  She's made me swoon, swish coffee over the edge of the mug, and saw stars - why you ask - just take a gander at her new Tribute fabric line and free Valor pattern!  I love paisley and this line has awesome paisley,,,,,ohhhhhh swwwwwwooooooooonnnn!  Yup those stars are back too! LOL

Treasure Beach, Chapter 3, part I is ready!

Are you ready for the next read!  And check out Pat's pattern to go with, Part 3 is out and ready!

First Fat Sunday in a Month!

WOW were the kids happy this past Sunday!  Yummos from the Mumma were on the table once again! LOL

This Lemon Pepper Ranch Chicken was a big, big hit at our house!  Really fast to make and so very, very yummy.  I didn't have the Lemon Pepper Progresso bread crumbs just plain crumbs so I added 1 tsp of Lemon Pepper seasoning to it.  YUMMO.

To compliment the chicken, Roasted Parmesan Potato Wedges.  Recipe calls for 4 potatoes, I did 8 and so glad I did because they went fast, fast, fast.
And to top it all off, a nice warm loaf of Bisquick banana bread!

An excellent read!

As I posted last week, I've become a reading machine since the first of the year.  I think a lot of it has to do with our "extended" winter, it is suppose to be spring but mmmm, Mother Nature isn't playing along.  Examples of what she did to us Sunday below.
I'm not one to read "romance" types of novels but hey, "A Darker Dream" by Amanda Ashley has vampyres so I'm there!  WOOT WOOT!  I love the twists and turns in this one as well as the surprise ending.  I'm thinking I've not read one with this twist at the end before!  Love it.
And now for Mother Nature, who really needs to get over it as my crocuses are blossoming and they aren't real thrilled with the snow!
This was going on during Fat Sunday dinner which was amazing as usual and flipping between the Tigers game and the NASCAR race!

The Bow Tie Cause

Read the who, what, when, why and here on this great foundation.  What a unique way to bring support and light to many causes!  I'm in!

 The Bow Tie Cause

Eagle Nest Cams!

Every year I am simply amazed at the American Bald Eagle nest cams, they just mesmerize and fascinate me!  Here they are for your viewing pleasure as well!




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March was a pretty busy month!

I was reviewing some of the accomplishments for the month of March and was quite surprised at exactly how much I got done especially with a week in the New England states for work, working 10 to 12 hours a day, and a St. Patty's day party mixed in there.

Reading wise:
Bite Me, Parker Blue
Grave Illusions, Lina Gardiner
The Accidental Exorcist, Joshua Graham
Dirty Sexy Knitting, Christie Ridgway
Needles and Pearls, Gil McNeil
Treasure Beach novellini, Emilie Richards

Knitting wise:
Taught myself Two At A Time (TAAT) sock knitting with the Straight Up sock pattern so I can finish a pair of socks at one time.

Sock 1 of Stashbuster socks (in anklet length), great way to use up leftover sock yarn,,,,these two little balls turned into an awesome sock!

Sock 1 in orange self striping of Straight Up socks
Sock 1 in blue self striping of Straight Up socks

Sock 1 in green variegated of Straight Up socks

Finished a variegated pair of Family Jewels socks

Finished Dreamsicle Family Jewels socks

Taught my self to cable without a cable needle on a pair of guy socks, Elementary Watson socks

Wow, I think I just figured out why I'm so tired LOL  I think I might need to finally get some sleep and get Spring and Summer here so I can get outside and put that much energy into the yard work!