Wednesday, March 15, 2006

BLOG MOVING


webshots photo

My blog is moving to greener pastures. This one is getting cluttered and it is time for a change. Come visit me at my new location:

MY NEW BLOG CLICK HERE

Monday, March 13, 2006

MOOving Along


Webshots Photo

Just giving an update on our progress with the house and moving to the country. We have decided to back out of the house that we put an offer down on. We met with a contractor to discuss remodeling and fixing up the old house that was on the property. It was turning out to be a major project. We decided to keep looking to find something more move in ready. Sometimes you need to write out a list of all the good things and all the bad things and if the list of bad things is much longer than it is time to move on.


Knitting Update


Here is my progress on the table runner. This is a very addictive pattern. I have neglected my other projects on the needles and keep picking this one up to work on. I just started my second skein and think I’m about at the half way mark.

Skirt News
Thanks everyone for all the positive comments on the skirt that went wrong. I think I am going to try putting in elastic to see if I can make it smaller. If not I might try the darts. It can’t hurt to try.

Blog News
I am currently working on setting up a new blog. Once it is presentable I will put the link for you guys to go see it.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Cosmo's Birthday



Cosmo turns 3 years old today.
He is celebrating with some yummy treats and a can of Fancy Feast’s Gourmet seafood dinner. That boy can not get enough seafood.



Cosmo is so precious to me. I would like to dedicate the song “How Sweet It Is” on his birthday. This is a great song and it has been sung by many artists. A few of my favorite versions have been sung by: Michael McDonald, Marvin Gaye, James Taylor, & Michael Buble’.

I will write the lyrics accompanied with some photos I took of Cosmo yesterday to mark his 3rd birthday.



How sweet it is to be loved by you
How sweet it is to be loved by you
I needed the shelter of someone's arms
And there you were
With sweet love and devotion
Gently touching my emotion



I want to stop - to thank you baby
How sweet it is to be loved by you
How sweet it is to be loved by you



Open my eyes at night
I wonder what I would be without you in my life
Everything was just a bore
All the things I've done
You know I've done them before
But you brightened up all of my days
With your love so sweet and in so may ways



I want to stop - to thank you baby
How sweet it is to be loved by you
How sweet it is to be loved by you
Sweeter than the honey from the bees, baby

Monday, March 06, 2006

Skirt Gone Wrong



Well I sewed up the pieces of the skirt. I did not have enough fabric for the last tier of the skirt. It was Ok and it turned out long enough. Even sewing the zipper went very well. Unfortunately after putting the zipper in I tried on the skirt, and it was way too big. In the picture above the skirt is folded on the sides to fit into the hanger clips. Also it is very see through and I would need to sew a lining inside. It was a great learning experience and I think I will attempt to make the skirt again with the white summery fabric I purchased just make it in a smaller size. While sewing the skirt this weekend darling Hubby asked if I was making a costume. I sarcastically remarked “Yes! It is for mardi gras”. He said “really”. Gotta love’em, or do I? I am over this skirt and I have thrown it in the fabric stash pile.


Plants and Gardening


This is my favorite plant pot in my house. I have other plants in my house that I like more but this is my absolute favorite pot. I got it from the Disney website last year when it was on clearance and out of season. It is a large teacup with a saucer. It has an illustration of Alice in wonderland with the Rabbit. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

Many of the outdoor plants are coming out of dormancy. Here are a couple of my Irises getting ready to bloom




Here are some Daffodils popping out of the ground.

I have my fingers crossed that we do not have a late frost.


Diet Crunch Time


"Stretch Kelley" by Lowell Herrero

Unfortunately for the month of February I did not loose any weight. I did keep off the 5 pounds lost in January but no progress since. It is officially Go Time. We are going on a family cruise to Hawaii in May with my in-laws. That gives me two months to get into shape for a bathing suite. I am horrified at the thought of trying on bathing suites at my current body state. I definitely want to enjoy my vacation and not worry about how I look while on it. So with that motivation I plan to stick to the diet and plan to exercise regularly.

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Home Sweet Sunshine



We are back from the Alpaca seminar. It was a long weekend. It is tiring to fly out for the weekend and be back to work on Monday. We almost did not make it due to flight delays. Every single flight we took this weekend was delayed. But get this the last flight although we were also delayed leaving we arrived 12 minutes early.



The seminar was very long and very educational. It started Friday night at 5:30. We got out at 9:00. Saturday it was from 8:00am to 9:00pm. Then we were there Sunday morning till 1pm before running to airport to catch the plane. The seminar was mostly about the business of alpacas and how to make a business out of owning them. This is smart because if you plan to quit your day job you need to have a plan as to how to provide for your self with out that income. We learned so much and also learned that some of the information we had already got from farms we visited were incorrect.



Chris and I are still very interested in alpacas and now we know where to start & what to do next. We plan to buy some soon. I was disappointed that they did not have any yarn for sale. The farm the seminar was at sells all their fleece to a buyer in California. The farm had 2 to 300 alpacas.



Blue Skies

While visiting the Northwest Chris and I could not get use to the grey skies. You can not tell what time of day it is. All day the same grey sky, so depressing. On Monday back home in New Mexico the sun came up and the blue sky was there. Even Chris said on Monday he was working on a patient and looked up and out the window and saw the blue sky, he could have cried seeing that blue sky and how happy it made him.



New Mexico gets over 300 days of sunshine, and I love every single one of them. Above is a picture of my sky this morning at 8:30am.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Heading to the Northwest

Thought I would give a last minute update before leaving for the seminar. The seminar is in Oregon. I will need to say good bye to the sun for a couple of days. Maybe we will bring it with us.

Felted Rose purse


This is turning out great. I would probably be much further along but I have been working on other things.


Surf & Turf Table Runner


I decided to make a table runner out of the TLC yarn. I am using a pattern out of my little box of scarves. It is the Chevron and Feather scarf pattern. I am just making it wider. I think it shows off the color nicely. I think this is the project I will take with me this weekend. I originally was going to bring my cashmere scarf to work on but I just can’t bring that wonderful cashmere onto such a contaminated airplane. If the ball of yarn were to fall and roll across the floor I might have a heart attack. 8)


Skirt Bad News

I ran into the fabric store to grab some more of the multi green fabric that I had run out of. Of course it was all gone. CRAP! My legs are short so I might see what it looks like with out the bottom tier.

I did find this fabric as an alternative just in case. This was on sale 40% off, can’t beat the price. I might make another one in this if the green one does not work out.


Have a great weekend.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Pointy Kitty



I thought I would warm up my sewing skills by making the Pointy Kitty. Hillary over at Wee Wonderfuls has made this wonderful pattern and has it free on her website. She makes the coolest things and I was so happy that she has offered us one of her patterns to try and make something ourselves. It took me a couple hours Sunday to make this Pointy Kitty. The hardest part I think is turning it inside out after it is sewn. I used a pencil eraser and also a knitting needle. I am pleased with my results.




Sew I Knit progress

After finishing the kitty, I tackled my skirt that I am making for the along. I am really challenging myself with this one. By choosing the multi colored stripe fabric it is making it much harder to cut out the pattern. I have managed to cut out all the pieces except for the last tier of the skirt. I ran out of the dark green stripe. I will need to go buy more fabric. I could start sewing the top but I think I will let it rest a bit. My brain is fried at the moment with sewing.

Surf & Turf Acrylic


I picked up this TLC 100% acrylic yarn in color Surf & Turf at the craft store when I was looking for felt to put on the pointy kitty. I am not taking the blame for this one.
I blame Amy over at Good to be a Girl. I don’t care for acrylic but I saw her Feb 17th post were she is making the bag from Holiday knits using this yarn. I love the color way and when I passed it at the craft store it was cheaply priced. Fortunately it is a very soft acrylic yarn. I thought it would make a great hand purse. But then I thought I was turning into a regular bag lady and have a ton of bags on my list and have made many. So I think I might make a table runner instead. Since it is acrylic, it will be easy to wash if it gets dirty.

Life Update


Since I let the cat out of the bag about Chris and me wanting to move to the country and live a more rewarding lifestyle, everyone has been so supportive. I want to thank everyone for their kind comments and e-mails. It means a lot to me. To tell you the truth I was nervous after I wrote the post. It is kind of like turning yourself inside out and letting everyone take a look.

We have been looking at houses the last couple of weekends and think we have found the perfect one. It is up in the Sacramento Mountains of New Mexico. It is only a 40 minute drive down to our dental office which will be a better commute than what we are making now to the office. It is an old Victorian Farm House on 5.5 acres of land. The property backs up to the Lincoln National Forest. The house was originally built in 1905. It has since been remodeled in the 80’s. Unfortunately the people that remodeled the home had horrible taste. The house will need to be gutted and remodeled adding central air & heat. The price is low enough to be able to remodel, thank goodness. Right now we are in the process of getting financing and getting the house inspected. If all goes well we might be looking at a closing at the end of March.

Weekend Seminar

webshots photo

Chris and I are heading to the Northwest this weekend for an Alpaca seminar. We have visited a couple of the alpaca ranches around here and think they might be great for our new lifestyle. So we signed up for a seminar to learn more about how to care for them and to provide a good home for them. The alpacas were actually Chris’s idea. He came home from work one day and he said one of his patients had just gotten a couple of alpacas. Of course I was completely interested, (tumbles of alpaca fiber dancing around in my head. Lets out a giggle while rubbing hands together MINE ALL MINE, Pulling self together as to not alarm darling husband of true nature and love of fiber). We are excited to check out the seminar and I will let you know how it goes.