Tuesday, September 30, 2008

It's better to give!

Last Thursday was the birthday of a very dear friend of mine. As it is with all good friends, I wanted to find something special to give her. I know that my friend Becky is an avid gardener and loves plants. I found this HUGE mum plant. I have looked at them often over the last few weeks and thought I didn't really want to spend that kind of money on myself, but I didn't think twice buying it for her.


I thought the colors of this plant were so beautiful!! I know how lovely it will look against her house that is painted a pretty shade of blue.

I also found this book that I had picked up several times (again for myself) but didn't want to spend the money. It seemed like the kind of book she might like too, so without hesitation I bought this for my friend.


We have worked together for the last 15 years and have become very close. She means the world to me and I would do anything for her. She is a true example of the kind of person who
I would want for a friend if I was only allowed one!
Do you have a special friend or friends that you would do anything for?
take care,
Dawn

Monday, September 29, 2008

Blue Monday ~ Place mat

Sally of Smiling Sally is hosting a Blue Monday event. She has invited anyone who would like to join in to do so! Go on over to her blog and see who is playing today!

When Tim was in kindergarten one of his "homework" assignments was to make a place mat about his family. He and I picked out the pictures he wanted and went through my scrapbook supplies to make his place mat. When he brought it to school it was laminated and he used it at snack time. When he brought it home from school he used it at meal times. We still have it but it is a bit tattered after all of these years. Some of his favorite things were playing with his trucks, the Red Sox (they won the world series that year....first time in 86 years!), camping with Dad (Tim called he and Rich the "camping brothers"), his superheroes, his stuff dog he got when he was sick and in the hospital, riding the dirt bike with dad (the "dirt bike brothers") and fishing with dad (the "fishing brothers"). He still likes all of these things and more.

You can click on the pictures to see a better view of his place mat.


take care,
Dawn

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Princess Scargo


I posted this story a couple of years ago. I am reposting it in an attempt to share some of my hometown with those unfamiliar with Cape Cod. The pictures are ones I took one very cold day when we visited Scargo Tower. I remember going there as a child and climbing the stairs to get to the top of the tower. Somehow it seemed much higher back then LOL! I'm sure Tim thought it was pretty high that day too. From the top of the tower I took the picture of the lake. It is hard to see the fish shape from the photo, but it is indeed shaped like a fish!

Once, the beautiful Princess Scargo, lived along the Dennis shores. She was part of the Bobuset tribe, lead by her father Sagem. One day, a brave young runner from a faraway tribe happened to espy the Princess. At once, the two fell madly in love.
To show his devotion, the brave gave the Princess a beautifully carved pumpkin, which he had hollowed out and filled with water. Four small silvery fish were inside. He promised to return to the Princess before the fish had fully grown.
The Princess adored her gift. She hollowed out a small pond in a clearing and returned every day. As the fish grew, the time apart from her beloved diminished.
The summer was long and dry, though. One morning, when she arrived at the pond, she found it dry. Three of the fish were dead. As she wept uncontrollably, her tears kept the one remaining fish alive.

Her grief greatly distressed her father. Sagem called a meeting at which it was decided a lake was needed for Princesses' fish. The strongest and most skilled brave was instructed to shoot an arrow. When it fell, the spot was marked. The brave shot 3 more arrows to mark the remaining boundaries for the lake. Then, squaws, using clamshells as shovels, dug a hole within the boundaries, which was then filled by fall rains.
The fish thrived in the lake and Princess Scargo resumed her wait for her lover. As promised, he returned before the fish had matured, and they were married soon after. They continued to live along the shore of Scargo Lake, where the descendants of the silvery fish-a token of love-still swim.

(from capecodtravel.com)

take care,
Dawn

Saturday, September 27, 2008

The time's they are a changin'

Thank goodness. Take a look at these!

1923 Elementary School Teacher Requirements


1. Teacher is not to get married. This contract becomes null and void if teacher marries.
2. Teacher is not to keep the company of men.
3. Teacher must be home between the hours of 8 P.M. and 6 A.M. unless in attendance at a school function.
4. Teacher may not loiter downtown in ice cream parlors.
5. Teacher may not leave town at any time without permission of the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
6. Teacher is not to smoke cigarettes or drink wine, beer or whiskey.
7. Teacher may not ride in a carriage with any man except her brother or father.
8. Teacher is not to dress in bright colors.
9. Teacher may not dye her hair.
10. Teacher will not wear dresses more than two inches above the ankle.
11. Teacher is to wear at least two petticoats.
12. Teacher is to bring a bucket to school to clean and scrub the building every week.

from the Utah County Journal, Payson City, Utah


I'm glad I didn't get hired in 1926!!! I surely would have been fired by now!





If you get a chance stop by and wish Nola a happy birthday today!!! A little birdie told me it was her birthday!!

take care,
Dawn

Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday's Favorite Family Fotos

Deborah of Pictures Pots and Pens is hosting Friday's Favorite Family Fotos. I think she is still on vacation this week but I am still playing.

When I was about 7 years old my Uncle John married my Aunt Martha. They were only married for about three or four years (?) when my Uncle died in a car accident. My uncle was my mother's only sibling. After my uncle died my aunt moved on with her life, remarried and had children. We stayed in touch through notes and Christmas cards. That last time I saw my aunt was when Rich and I got married 13 years ago. She came to our wedding. When I got home last Friday I had a card from her in the mail saying she was coming to the Cape this past weekend and was hoping we could get together for a visit. I told my husband. His reply was "you have an aunt?" I told my son. His reply was "you have an aunt?" I told my daughter. Her reply was "you have an aunt?"

Yes, my dear family. I have an aunt and I got to visit with her this past Sunday. It was very nice to see her and I enjoyed talking about family with her. I hope it's not the last time we get to visit!

take care,
Dawn

Thursday, September 25, 2008

I taking a little time to rest!

Hello my friends. I just wanted to let you know that I am still not feeling well and will be using my time to rest! It feels like I have a head cold and a chest cold combined. There are a family of frogs in my throat. I going to just get through work today and come home and go to bed! That was my plan last night as well.

I'll be back to visiting as soon as I am feeling better.

take care,
Dawn

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Finally!!!!!!

My daughter Brittainy has inherited my dislike for washing dishes. When I was little my sister and I would have to share dishes duty. One would wash, the other would dry. I guess that was too much to ask of us because we would always argue. My mother stopped that by having us each do it a day at a time by ourselves. Then, if we got in trouble we would have to do the dishes all by ourselves for a week and even a month at a time.

I knew how busy Britt was with two young children. The house she rented didn't have a dishwasher. To make things easier for her I bought her a (used but in good condition) portable dishwasher. The house she just bought has a dishwasher so I got the portable one. We had it for almost a week waiting to have enough dirty dishes to run the dishwasher. When we bought our house twelve years ago it didn't have a dishwasher. I foolishly gave the portable one I had away when we moved in. Someday (*sigh*) I hope to have one installed under the counter.



Speaking of washing dishes, the only dish detergent I buy is DAWN (something about the name appeals to me!!!!). When I bought dishwasher detergent I bought some Cascade that has DAWN in it. It's hard to mess with tradition!

If I don't get to your blog I promise to catch up soon. Last night was Open House and I didn't get home until late. I was so stuffed up I couldn't breathe and the NyQuil just knocked me out.

take care,
Dawn

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

20 Little Things to Treasure in Autumn

Frame from Pink Peacock designs
I've noticed that a few blogging friends have been posting their twenty favorite things about fall. I thought I would play along as well. This is being hosted by Melissa at The Inspired Room. This is a picture that I took in my back yard two years ago. I thought it would be an appropriate picture for this post.
Here are my 20 Little Things to Treasure in Autumn
1. The smell of fall air!
2. Pumpkin pie
3. Apple pie
4. Apple crisp
5. Crock pot soups
6. Thanksgiving
7. Mums
8. Cornstalks
9. Scarecrows
10. The smell of cinnamon
11. Sweaters
12. My hand knit socks
13. Halloween
14. Hot apple cider
15. New season of T.V. shows
16. Sneaking some Christmas music into my days!
17. Pumpkins
18. Hot coffee (sometimes sprinkled with cinnamon
19. Beef Stew (homemade of course)
20. Logs burring in the fire place
I could go on and on, but I'll keep to the twenty!
take care,
Dawn

Monday, September 22, 2008

Blue Monday ~ Dreams

Sally of Smiling Sally is hosting a Blue Monday event. She has invited anyone who would like to join in to do so! Go on over to her blog and see who is playing today!

I bought this jar several years ago at a discount store. This jar stays in my bedroom on my bookcase. I keep in it change that I take out of my pocket. Every now and then when I find a couple of loose one dollar bills I through them in there too! It's my "in a pinch" money. You know the kind of money when you need to send your child to school with field trip money and all you have are $20's in your wallet.

This jar reminds me of when my sisters and I were young. My sister Cindy made a clay container shaped like a die with the top open. My mother used to keep loose change in it for lunch money. We would just take what we needed. Remember when lunch only cost 25 cents in school?

Do you keep spare change in anything for "just in case"?

take care,
Dawn

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Tim's Birthday Party

Yesterday was Tim's birthday party. It was a long day. Actually it was a long start to the weekend. After school on Friday we went to see Britt's new house. Boy does she have some unpacking ahead of her. I came home so tired and was in bed early. No Saturday post for me.

I woke up tired! Poor Tim is really feeling under the weather (me too, but not as badly as he is). He spent all of Friday night and Saturday with a runny nose and dry throat. I'm not sure it if is allergies or a cold. It seems like everyone is going through the same thing. I know more people with symptoms than I do without!

Anyway, we managed to get through his birthday party. Since his birthday is usually the first couple of days of school, I plan his party for about two to three weeks after so he gets a chance to meet his classmates and invite them to a party. I have always had his parties at home, but the older the boys get the harder it is to entertain them (and save my house!). We opted for a local bowling alley.

Tim picked out this Indiana Jones cake. While traveling to the bowling alley the ball rolled off the cake and on to his name. All that was left was the M. :)

Most of his gifts were star wars related. He loves Star Wars. I listen to him talk to his friends about it and it sounds like they are speaking a foreign language!! This is Tim giving the "YES" to one of his gifts. (Obviously his friends have faces but I don't have permission to post them!)
After the boy bowled for about half an hour or so they were given tokens to go into the game room. The "birthday" child gets to go into this chamber and catch as many tickets as they can. Tim got 2005! He ended up with quite a few tickets by the end of the party and was running out of things to trade them for. He ended up with some toy guns (not my favorite kind of toy...I held off on allowing them for as long as I could!). He also got a bag full of dinosaur skeletons. Last night he was covering them with clay to make the dinosaur as it originally look. Maybe forensic science is in his future!

It's over for another year!

take care,
Dawn

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Awards

I have not been a polite recipient of awards lately. For those friends who have sent them my way, my most heartfelt thanks. My only excuse for not acknowledging them sooner is that I have been so darn tired with the start of school.

So, on to my thank yous!

Karen of A Scrapbook of Inspiration passed this on. I am to tell you 6 things that make me happy.

1. A good night's sleep.
2. The fact that my daughter just moved into her own house.
3. A clean house (I'm only half happy tonight!)
4. Music!
5. Children
6. Friends


Beverly at How Sweet the Sound passed these two onto me.




And I have been TRIPLY blessed to receive this award from one of my oldest blogging friends Debi of Nothing of Importance (not that Debi is old, she's just been a visitor to my blog since the beginning!) Angel of Keeping Up with John and Angel and Judi of Cranberry Blossom all have shared this award with me.


Angie of Madam Zelda's Present, Past and Future shared the You are my Sunshine Award with me. Thank you Angie.

I've said this before. I can't pick just a few. It's like picking a favorite child. I just can't do it. (although Britt if you are reading this you are my favorite daughter !....and Tim if you are reading this you are my favorite son!)

I happily invite and encourage all of my friends to accept each of these awards.

take care,
Dawn

Friday, September 19, 2008

Favorite Family Foto Friday

Deborah of Pictures Pots and Pens is hosting Friday's Favorite Family Fotos. She is on vacation this week but I am still playing.

Today is my granddaughter, Mackenzie's birthday. She is three years old today. I am sharing a couple of photos of her today because, well I can! I am very proud of her and just LOVE her to pieces.

This is a picture I took of her when she was only a couple of weeks old. I love how the sun was shining on her head that day.

I took this picture of her one day in January of '07 when I was watching her. I loved the little headband bandanna she was wearing!

This one was one spring playing in my yard. What smile she has...and she has the most beautiful eyes!

Britt sent me this picture about two weeks ago. Look how grown up she is!!!


Happy Birthday to my dear sweet Mackenzie!! Grandma loves you!!

take care,
Dawn

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Not exactly the pretty fall decorations out in BlogLand

Oh how lovely every one's fall decorations are looking. I love seeing how beautiful every one's house is. Sadly, to please the ten year old at my house these are the creepy things that are making their way into my home!!! What boy wouldn't like eyeballs that light up and strange moaning to decorate their home!





Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books



I did manage to pick up a couple of things that I liked this past weekend. A.C. Moore was having a nice sale. This scarecrow (which will eventually find a home outside) was on sale for $3.39 (regularly priced $7.99)

This scarecrow was $5.99 (regularly $12.99)

I haven't really gotten too many fall decorations out yet. This is it so far. I'll probably start pulling things down from the attic in October.

take care,
Dawn

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Late to the party!

Sometimes I feel like I am always late to the party with TV shows. For the last couple of years I've seen a few episodes of Bones. Then, this summer I found that I could watch episodes online for free so I watched the entire first season. I am addicted to this show!!! I just ordered season 2 on DVD and season 3 won't be out until November. I can't wait to watch the new episodes each week.


Bones is an American drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is a forensics and police procedural in which each episode focuses on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth to the forensic anthropology team of Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan. from wikipedia.org


Then just this past week a new show began, also on FOX called Fringe. I watched the first episode last weekend and was hooked right away. I don't like science fiction shows that are overly political but this one is easy enough for me to follow ....so far. I hope this is one show I won't be behind the times with.

The plot deals with a research scientist named Walter Bishop (who Orci describes as "Frankenstein mixed with Albert Einstein"), his son, and a female FBI agent who brings them back together. The show is described as a cross between The X-Files, Altered States, and The Twilight Zone. wikipedia.org



Last year I discovered the joys of LOST and watched all three previous seasons on line before the new season (as short lived as it was) began.

I'm also a big fan of CSI (Las Vegas), NCIS, and Criminal Minds.

What shows have you hooked?

take care,
Dawn

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A trip down memory lane

Tim was born in September of 1998. In May of that year before he was born I had a Level 2 ultrasound done and found out that he would be born with clubbed feet. I didn't take too many pictures of his feet but this is one I have that show his feet were turned in and up! When he was two weeks old we took him to Children's Hospital in Boston. After his first exam we were told that they would try casting to see how that would work. (I was hoping he wouldn't need surgery!). I was not expecting them to take by 2 week old baby into the casting room and begin that day. They casted his feet by over compensating and turning them in the opposite direction. Let me tell you, not only was he crying but I was a WRECK!!! I cried the whole ride home from Boston and for days.



This picture in one of his first nights with the casts. He had new ones put on every 2 weeks for 6 months. He never needed surgery and I think he has a lovely set of feet now. :)


When he was about two/three years old I took these pictures of him and made a scrapbook page of his feet!
This is what I wrote:

I remember when you were born with clubfeet. I wondered how it would effect your life. When you were two weeks old and got your first casts I cried! I cried because I thought that there would be so much that you would miss out on. I cried because you were so little to be in the discomfort that you would have to endure. I cried because you were going to be different. Now as I look at those sweet little feet of yours I cry again. I am a bit ashamed of myself for putting so much emphasis on your outside appearance. You have helped me to understand unconditional love. I marvel at you! I marvel at your spirit and how it has touched my life. You, my little boy, are a REMARKABLE FEAT!

Watching Tim grow up (I'm not supposed to call him Timmy any more according to him!) I can honestly say it has not made a difference in anything he wants to do. I am very proud of the boy he has become.

take care,
Dawn

Monday, September 15, 2008

Blue Monday ~my bird house

Sally of Smiling Sally is hosting a Blue Monday event. She has invited anyone who would like to join in to do so! Go on over to her blog and see who is playing today! Today I am re posting a picture and post from last year.

A few years ago I went to a craft fair and found this bird house. I bought it for my garden because I liked the apple on it! Parts of the house are blue too, hence my choice for today!







This is what I wrote last year:
I was out in the back yard with Tim and Mackenzie trying to weed my little garden. While I was weeding I kept hearing swooshing by my head. When I finally stepped away I saw a bird flying back and forth. After the bird left I got a flashlight and looked into the bird house and saw at least two little babies. All day long the bird would fly to the bird house and bring worms! I don't even know what kind of bird it is. I'm awful that way! Tim and I have been watching the birds and they are still alive and, I hope, protected in the home they have.

take care,
Dawn

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Do you remember these?


Do you remember the Smurfs? I got my first Smurf figurine right before Britt was born in 1980. I had quite a collection of these. I still have many of them down in my basement among all of the TOYS!!! down there. They were very popular in the 80's. I remember the TV show with Papa Smurf!! I even still have my Smurf Christmas record.
Do you have anything you collected back in the day that you might still have?
Yesterday was such an uneventful day for me. I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. Then I did a few errands. I was so tired that when I got home I fell asleep. Tim was at a friends all day yesterday. Rich and I even got to go out to dinner by ourselves. That never happens.
I checked my pedometer before I went to bed last night. I only had 3,021 steps for the entire day. At school I have that much by 9 AM. I did meet my goal of 50,000 steps for the week and beyond! I hope I can keep it up next week.
take care,
Dawn

Saturday, September 13, 2008

My deal of the day!


Last night I did my grocery shopping and while I was in the aisle with the plastic storage containers (*SMILE*) I notice that box fans were on sale for 75% off. I bought two. They were five dollars each. I thought I would keep them for JUST IN CASE but ended up giving one to my mother and one to my daughter. I still have one I bought a couple of years ago in the box down in my basement. I might go back and look and see if there are more.


About 26 years ago I lived in a "four plex" I don't know the technical name but it was one building with four apartments. I am such a light sleeper that all the noised from the other apartments would wake me up!! I could be woken up by a cabinet door closing.


I started sleeping with a fan on and have done so every night since! I even told my husband before we got married that there would be NO compromising on that! I need my fan.


I am glad that the first week of kindergarten is over! I can't begin to tell you how tired I am. The kids were just fine, but they have never been in public school before and they have to learn everything. It takes a lot of time to get them down pat.


Today I have to go to the dentist for a cleaning. Not exactly how I want to spend my Saturday but it will have to do. Tim was invited to a friend's house so I just may go to the big "city" (not really but to me it is!) and get some party decorations for his birthday party next Saturday.


take care,
Dawn

Friday, September 12, 2008

Favorite Family Foto Friday

Deborah of Pictures Pots and Pens is hosting Friday's Favorite Family Fotos. She is on vacation this week but I am still playing.

This picture is of the house I spent most of my life in. My great grandmother's parents lived in this house and 6 generations of my family lived here. Looking at the picture fills me with so many memories and makes me sad that it is no longer in our family. I am typing this getting very emotional thinking about strangers living in "our house".

My great great grandparents were the first in our family (that I know of) that lived here. The part of the house on the right was shipped from Nantucket over to this part of the Cape and it served as a store. The part of the house that is on the left was moved from a couple of streets away to the spot that I always knew it to be. The back of the house had a barn that my great great grandfather used for his cooper business. I remember being told that he would roll the barrels he made down the street to the ocean for the boats that needed them. (The house was walking distance to the ocean).

My great grandmother and her sister were raised here. My grandmother was raised here. My mother and uncle were raised here. I spent most of my childhood/teenage years here. My daughter also lived here for a while.

I learned to play the guitar when I was twelve years old sitting on the porch. I would strum away for hours. Thirty five years later I still have the same guitar!

When I look at this picture I can remember the smells of my great grandmother's cooking. I can remember the feel of the doors opening. I remember sharing a room with my sister and then finally being allowed to move to the upstairs. My great grandmother wasn't too sure of the safety of the upstairs so I was only allowed to have a cot up there to sleep on. I didn't care, it was my own room!! I remember one winter it was so cold and windy that when the wind blew the window it left enough room for the snow to creep in!

I remember when we lost that big tree in the front yard during a hurricane I cried! I remember playing under that tree and the ones in the back yard thinking how wonderful it was that my great grandfather had planted them.

I remember sitting in the front room on Sunday's after church watching Shirley Temple movies while my great grandmother prepared the big Sunday meal. I remember the pies she made would sit on top of the kerosene stove in the front room. By the time our meal was over it would be nice and warm. I still like to make a big Sunday dinner to this day. I think it is a feeling of comfort I get remembering how special I thought they were as a child.

Oh, I have so many memories I could go on and on but I don't want to bore you all.

This house feels like a part of the family to me and I still can't drive by it knowing it's not ours anymore. I dream about this house ALL THE TIME. I dream that there are secret rooms with treasures I never knew about. I guess all the treasures are my memories.

take care,
Dawn

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Sometimes I think it is a sickness

I read a lot of blogs about all the yard sales and thrift shops all you ladies are making it to. I read about the love of spray paint! I also read about how you are all decorating for fall.

What I haven't read about is an aisle I just can't walk by without buying something. I wonder if I am the only one with this sickness!!!

I like ......are you ready......to buy, hoard and yes even use plastic storage containers. On Tuesday I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some salsa and left many dollars later because I saw some plastic storage containers on sale!!!

This is my favorite. It is a photo storage box by IRIS.





It comes with six containers inside of it. I would love to go back and buy about 100 more of these!!! I love them!!! Seriously, I love these containers!!!

One of the things that really makes this a sickness is with the hundreds of storage containers that I have, whenever I find something new that I like I want to replace all of my old containers so they match!!!!

This morning at 3:30 my hubby woke me up tugging on the covers. At 4:45 when I was still awake I decided to just get up. I walked on my treadmill for 30 minutes this morning already. I know by the end of the day I will be too tired to try to make up the 10,000 steps. Yesterday I got in over 11,000! I've decided to keep track on the side of my blog. I hope to get 10,000 in four days a week. Any thing beyond that will be a bonus!!!


take care,
Dawn

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Oh, the dread!

Several years ago I joined weight watchers online and really did so well. All on my own I lost 53 pounds...then somehow it found its way home again! While I was being so diligent I would walk on my treadmill all the time. I got up to about 60 minutes five days a week.

Over the course of a couple of years it has become a clothes hanger. Tim hangs his clothes for school the next day on the handle. (Those are his Lego's on the floor!) Every now and then I turn it on and walk on it. Certainly not enough to make a difference. I want to get back into the habit. My goal is 15-20 minutes four days a week just to get started. That is really not a huge commitment to start.


I'm looking for some cheerleaders to keep me motivated. What do you say? Are you ready to help me out? I would really like to get 10,000 steps in a day between school and my treadmill. I will be wearing my pedometer to school and trying to make up the difference when I get home.

I had 10,979 on Monday and 10, 190 on Tuesday.


take care,
Dawn

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Like Father Like Son



I first met my hubby about 28 years ago. A couple of years later we ran into each other again and he had just broken his leg. He fell 25 feet off staging while he was repairing a chimney. It was a pretty bad break and he was laid up for a while. I remember that his mother called me to see if I would invite him over. I cooked him a turkey dinner with all the fixing's. While he was unable to do much he started taking up model building. Most of his models are old cars and trucks. I think he has a lifetime supply of models to make in our basement. Rich is a real outdoorsy kind of guy and goes crazy in the winter being stuck in the house. He keeps himself occupied by working on his models.

Tim for the last couple of years has wanted to build models with his dad but just wasn't able to do all that was involved. In the past few months the two of them have been busy building models together. While Rich enjoys building cars and trucks. Tim's interest are a bit different. For his birthday last week he got an alien model and a area 51 spaceship model. He bought a couple of Star Wars models too! Now, Tim's work isn't quite as perfect as Rich's but he'll get there with time. I love that the two of them enjoy doing that so much together....plus it gives me time to myself LOL!

Oh, by the way, it was years later (after that turkey dinner) before Rich and I ran into each other again and the rest they say is history!!!

take care,
Dawn

Monday, September 08, 2008

Blue Monday

Today for Blue Monday I am sharing my BLUE JEANS purse that I knitted. Sometimes I find a pattern that I think would be a challenge and try it just to see if I can! I saw this kit at a local yarn shop and bought it. The pattern and yarn were included. I altered the pattern a bit to add the flap and the button. I feel more secure knowing that I can close it.

I think one of the reasons I like to knit for other people is that I hope they will use what I make. I, for some reason, don't like to use what I make. I want it to stay looking nice. I have made a promise to myself that I will use this purse this fall!!! You can all hold me to it. One of my friends that I knit with liked it so I made her one for her birthday last summer. She told me she uses hers. I should follow her lead.




Sally of Smiling Sally is hosting a Blue Monday event. She has invited anyone who would like to join in to do so! Go on over to her blog and see who is playing today!
take care,
Dawn

Sunday, September 07, 2008

An overnight guest and rambling thoughts




I am writing my post on Saturday night for Sunday morning and tonight we are expecting Tropical Storm Hannah to pay a visit. It seems like we are mostly going to get lots of rain and wind. My hope is that we don't loose power or trees!

Edited to add a picture of our backyard this morning. We lost a dead tree. I guess that's not so bad. In case you are wondering about that white piece of wood, it was nailed to the tree when we bought our house. There used to be two (we lost one a while back) and there was a swing between the two trees.



I spent all of Saturday resting. I can't believe how tired I was. Do you ever take naps? I took one yesterday and it was the kind of nap that I knew I needed to wake up and try as I may I just couldn't make myself do it!! I watched three Lifetime movies yesterday but I did get some ironing done while I was watching TV.



Last weekend I bought a new battery for my pedometer. I wore it at school this week. Friday night I added up the miles I had walked in school the last four days and it was 20 miles. No wonder my feet hurt!!



Monday will be the first full day of kindergarten with all the children. They will be so anxious to play and I need to help them learn some of our routines...just a few at a time. It's too overwhelming when you are five! I have an easy day planned for them. Me, well that's another story. The first week is the hardest. If you don't hear from me I have plopped myself in bed!!


I'm wishing you all a wonderful week!



take care,

Dawn



Saturday, September 06, 2008

And the winner is.........

....to be announced later in this post! :)

It feels funny not doing a Pink Saturday post. I just know I can't spend 5 hours posting to all that are playing along. I hope all my Pink Saturday friends understand. Maybe when I get back into the swing of things it will be easier.

After school yesterday I printed all the names of the people who have posted this week and place them in my pink heart bowl (hey does that count?).


I had Tim reach in and pull out a winner. Unfortunately he had to pick the one that I spelled wrong in my haste to get the names printed. Darlene, I apologize for the misspelling of your name. That's right. Darlene of Darlene's Days has won the green market bag that I knitted. Also, I should apologize for Tim's filthy hands! BOYS!!!


I really, really, really wish I could have given all you the bag. You make my day when you comment. It's like checking in with an old friend! I felt badly that I couldn't send out 25 bags LOL! I did, however, decide to have a runner up prize for two dishcloths that I have knitted.

The first runner up was Alaura of Cottage Rose


The next was Dana of The Stone Rabbit.


If you ladies would email me with your addresses I will mail your goodies out to you next week sometime.

Thanks for playing!!!

take care,
Dawn