Crafting & Recycling

Well, I've gotten a few projects done this last week or so. I thought I would share them with you.

First, I finally finished some mystery knit fingerless mitts that I had started in November 2009. I did finished the original mystery KAL, as you can see on my ravelry page, but I had a much larger gauge then what was "supposed to be" and so I turned that first one into a neck scarf/muffler, and adjusted my gauge to make matching fingerless mitts, which I just finished this past week. What do you think?


Also last week, I finally got out my crochet thread and made a soap sliver holder. I actually made two little bags, as you can see here:

The one on the left is made from a white crochet thread, and the one on the right is made from Louet Euroflax Wet Spun Linen yarn which I bought from Knitted Together in West Des Moines, IA a while ago. You can see the first project I made from this yarn on one of my ravelry pages as well. It was a water bottle tote.

One thing that I am really kind of proud of is this bottle.



I saw one like it on a blog yesterday morning. This blog Textiles4You is a kewl blog with all sorts of different projects and ideas. I thought it was very neat to use the bottom of a plastic bottle to make a cute bag. I used mine yesterday at homeschool group to carry a bunch of scissors that I needed for a project and the plastic kept the scissors from poking into the rest of the items in the bag. I am going to save my next larger juice bottle to make another one. It only took me a hour or two to complete the first one using a 32oz powerade bottle, so they don't take much time.

What other uses can you think of for these types of bags? One thing I know for sure, I'm not going to be using a carpet needle for the holes next time, I will be trying out a power drill! lol. It can be done with a sturdy needle, but it's hard on the hands. I think a drill and the right size bit will work much better, and shorten the amount of time that they take!

Birdwatching

Well, Seth and I went out to Marywood area to the pond there, survived the heavy winds, and did a bit of birdwatching. We were blessed with sitings of...

American Coots


Common Merganser


Pigeons


Herring Gull (I think)


A Duck that I am unsure of what it is . . . Post a comment if you know! :)


And, Seth noticed this by the side of the road when we stopped one time.

I think he was more interested in the caterpillar then it was in the ducks and other birds.

I also saw a Kestral on the way out, but didn't get a photo of him.

God Bless This Mess

One of my favorite songs . . .

Deck - getting closer to finished ! :)

Well, yesterday afternoon I finished all the railing and the steps we don't use much, and the vertical of the step in the main part of the deck. I also finished the first jug of sealer !

Rob is thinking we'll need two more jugs, but I think just 1 more will do it. There's a lot more surface area to rails then you might think at first glance. We'll just have to see I guess... who's going to be right?

Another Sew Tara / Wild Olive Giveaway!

Sew Tara & Wild Olive have teamed up for another giveaway ... you can read about it here.

Deck Saga continued.....

So, we are attempting to get the deck cleaned and put on a layer of sealer before the freezing weather hits.

We do have the deck entirely empty and spray washed! yeah!

And, we have almost all of the deck railings sealed. The last two days we've been working on that. When it gets to 60 today I will go out and finish the railing, and do the steps that we don't use much.

The rain's been holding off, it's been dry, but the temps at night are getting well below 50F, which I'm sure will slow down the drying time considerably, but that's life. We put this off for so long, now we are trying to rush to get it done.

It WILL get done, just give us a couple more days of 60-70 deg F weather, and we'll be finished!

Rob has a new toy.

So my hubby Rob has a new toy. He was having quite an enjoyable time with it this week. He bought a .. get ready ... a power washer! lol.

He's been thinking about it for awhile, but finally caved in and bought one. I was a little amazed actually, usually he takes much longer to purchase something.

Anyway, he got it,and immediately had to try it out, and so now we have two clean squares on our driveway! I didn't realize that it was so dirty, but after he used the power washer, you can certainly tell the difference!

After that test, he decided it was past time to give the deck a wash. We haven't washed or sealed it in probably 10 years, so it was definitely time.

Here's some before and after pictures. See if you can tell where he washed and where he hasn't yet!







We haven't finished yet, as you can see, but you can sure tell where he's worked already! Hopefully he'll get some time when it's above 50 deg F so that he can put the sealant on as well.

Picket Fence Creamery

Our homeschool group had a field trip to Picket Fence Creamery in Woodward, IA. I took both my boys and we had a great time. (Joel & I more then Seth, but I think Seth enjoyed it a little bit too.)









I encourage anyone to go and visit them. Their chocolate milk is delicious, the ice cream is also wonderful. Friendly people. :)

After our time at the creamery, we met up with Rob at Applebee's in West Des Moines. I tried their new stuffed meatballs and fettuccine, and it was good, but the meatballs were a bit spicy for me. Seth had the fried chicken salad which he enjoyed, Rob had chicken fingers & fries, and Joel had shrimp as usual.

1st day back to school (2nd quarter)

Well, today the boys got back in the school mode. Joel went off to his 2nd quarter for 5th grade, and Seth got going in the 2nd quarter of 8th grade at home.

Rob & I hadn't walked in the morning since before fall break, so it was nice to once again start the day with a short walk with Joel to the crossing guard. We then continue around the block. It's nice to be able to start the day together like that. I'll miss it when it gets too cold to be walking in the morning.

Seth & I did well today. We had one small bump first thing, but we'll he did great and got all of his assignments done. Also got his Pre-algebra text book in the mail today. I now have an extra teacher's key, but I've listed it on the homeschoolclassifieds.com site, so hopefully it will be sold soon. :)