Logic can't be applied to some decisions. Like bringing a new dog home. But we do it anyway.
Penny came home with me after a somewhat random stop at the Humane Society last week. We've been talking about getting a "little dog" and she fits the bill at three whole pounds. The picture is a crazy blur taken with the MacBook within minutes of the kids meeting her.
Her cuteness cannot be put into words...letters maybe...like ooxxooXoXXx.
I love November. I love November except for two things; leaf blowers and holiday ads. They each bring me to the brink of insanity.
How are you supposed to keep things in perspective and not be marketed to...especially with kids? It's hard. One of the best things that works for me is to plan. Take a few days to look through magazines and books. Gather a few ideas I'd like to try and put them in a folder. Then, before December, I put all of the "idea" sources away so I'm not tempted to try "just one more thing". One of my favorite bloggers is bitter betty and she has a very wise post that I'm going to print and stick on my "to do" list.
November. The weather here is gorgeous. The trees and streets in our neighborhood are a mess of pretty colors. My blog anniversary is today (really!). My birthday is in a few weeks. I love Thanksgiving. I love November.
Now, about the picture. Have you ever seen such tiny flower frogs? They are only about an inch in diameter...today I'm going to make a tiny bouquet with stuff from my yard.
My son is on his school's soccer team and I've traveled to just about every high school in St. Louis over the last few months. This, combined with a major highway closed for construction, has sent me down roads that I don't usually travel. I've worn a path down one road in particular...but it's kind of fun because I spotted the house featured in one of my favorite Mary Engelbreit books. The house is unmistakable...it somehow manages to be the prettiest house on a street full of pretty houses. The many eyes-off-the-road passes inspired me to look at the book again. And you know what? There's still something new to see each time.
Do you have a favorite book? Revisit it...maybe see something new.
Every once in a while I feel like I have to do a blog inventory. It usually goes along with getting my house and craft stuff in order. Just like a facebook update, I've made a rambling list:
Julie Thompson...
At about this time last year I bought a sewing machine and, unfortunately, a washing machine...on the same day. It was clearly a case of bad appliance kharma. Fair or not, these type of purchases are considered "mine". As in, "but you just bought a brand new washing machine". If bigger purchases come in groups of three, I was primed for a third buying opportunity. It came the next day at our church garage sale; and I had to show remarkable restraint.
I don't have a lot of useful talents but one of them is immediately spotting the good stuff at a sale. I walked into the church basement and saw a jadite place setting. The place setting had a sign that said "We have many more dish sets; $10/set". I looked at the set and it was the real thing...Fire-King...dinner plate + cup and saucer. I asked our head garage-sale-guy. They had well over 50 sets that came from the cafeteria of a church that had merged with ours. Talk about bad timing; there was simply no way I could come home from the church garage sale with $500 worth of jadite saying "I can explain" to my husband (well, really, I could (and have done so many, many times) but you know what I mean). I asked Sister to set aside 5 place settings for me and I'd be back to pay for them when the garage sale opened. I was back bright and early...followed quickly by a dealer that snatched up every remaining place setting.
It's all good. Our church and the St. Vincent DePaul Society did very well with the sale and we've used our 5 place settings on several occasions including breakfast on Christmas morning...a tradition I'm keeping for many more to come. Plus, I get to look at it everyday.
I'm off to help set up for the garage sale this weekend. I have no idea what I might find but I haven't made any big purchases this week just in case.
I wasn't kidding about the goofing off...came home Friday with a stack of fabric, thread, yarn, and an almost free weekend. Colleen at not-quite-vintage recently shared a lacey scarf that she made. She said it was simple and it really was. I read the pattern, looked on youtube to see how to do a double-crochet and a slip stitch...and I was set to go. I worked on it mostly Saturday while watching football and finished it up Sunday (while watching more football). My husband asked something like "don't you have some studying to do?". Nope.
I lost the yarn label but it's a pretty golden-green and it had Vanna White on it. I used the whole skein and the scarf is well-over 5 feet long. The pattern is called Queen Anne's Lace. I'm always full if ideas that never turn into reality but I think this pattern would look really, really pretty with just three motifs, maybe some vintage buttons, or scraps...attached to a sweater or coat. It would be very Anthropologie...just much less expensive.
Any recommendations for crochet books?, soft yarn in pretty colors?, that I can order online?
I took the second test for my teaching certificate yesterday and did very well on the multiple choice portion. Now I have to wait for the results of the essay. I did OK...but just OK is a little worrisome. I wish I was the type of person that could wait patiently but I'm not; I'm doomed to worry about it endlessly until I know the results (in about a month). So...until then?
I'm going to goof off. Goof off in epic proportions. I've learned from Facebook that "ima" means "I'm going to". I'll start the goofing off by making a list: ima stitch, ima crochet, ima sew, ima paint, ima listen to my kids when their stories go on a tad too long, ima read silly stuff (see "The Witches Guide to Cooking With Children" above).
Before I run off for a day of mindless activities, I want to thank everybody for the nice comments on my previous post. I also have to point out that there is an advertisement comment right in the middle of all the others. Seriously?
The pale blue and deep purple flowers, the green on the leaves, the dark brown pattern, and the big bright yellow flower...the colors on my new plate are so dang pretty. The kind of colors that you could design a whole room around. The kind of colors that could make you change your whole idea of "fall" colors. The kind of colors that make me want to take the same colors and make something from them.
I'm a big Johnson Brothers fan and have collected lots of different pieces at thrift stores and estate sales. They are so pretty to me and, no matter what the pattern, they seem to "go" together. I found this square plate in the garage at an estate sale in my neighborhood last weekend...it's called "Fairwood" and it's my new muse.
Can I ask an is-it-just-me question? I love getting and reading comments on my posts...like a letter from a friend, they are the best kind of mail. But...lately most of the comments are just links to business sites. Not exactly spam-worthy but still. Is it just me? Is it something that others are seeing with the new typepad? Have I gotten myself on some list by accident?
I've read a few blog posts recently about how easy it is to bring fall and Halloween into your home...without buying anything. I like it...shaking my head yes and saying "it is easy". And even easier when you participate in a swap and receive some of the coolest handmade Halloween-ness ever.
My swap partner for the Sweet & Sinister Swap was Elise from bird nests & paper. Elise sent a beautiful mix of items (including a pretty apron) and I am excited to show two of my favorites. The collage says "birds in the night"...proving that something can be scary and pretty at the same time...love that combo. And the garland? It has surpassed all others to become my new favorite. Elise made the garland by stacking pretty papers (tissue, book pages, doilies, etc) and threading them with seam binding and other pretty bits. It's awesome...it's handmade...it's got serious style. Way, way better than anything you'll buy at the store and you can make it...with things that you already have in your crafty-girl stash.
My best decorating tip (other than adding tea lights to milk glass containers) involves only two things; packing tape and ribbon. I hang stuff from frames I already have. Thread the item on a ribbon and tape the ribbon to the back of the frame.
