It's THURSDAY!

I love Thursdays. Thursdays are the best! It is close to the weekend. I usually only have the 3 little ones to take care of, the 3 older girls are elsewhere. We typically get a carry-out for dinner. My daughter and granddaughter have a weekly activity on Thursday nights, which means I have the house to myself for 3 1/2 hours. Can it get any better? YES!!!!!!  Thursday night is GREY'S ANATOMY!!!!  I don't watch TV during the day or night, except for Thursday nights at 9:00 pm. Anyone who knows me knows NOT to call between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm on Thursday nights. If you have an emergency, call someone else, I won't be answering my phone.  Tonight is a little bittersweet. It is the season finale for Grey's Anatomy. It is suppose to be SO exciting. I can't wait!!! Sad thing, no more Grey's until next fall. Guess I can pack up the TV until September.


I feel bad, this is suppose to be a knitting blog and I have nothing to show you. I have been working on my hexagon blanket, making progress, but no photos to show you. I think I will attach the first 19 hexagons and see if they are the right length for my daughter's bed. Not to mention, I better start attaching them or I will have a hundred to do and that will make me crazier than usual. I will get photos posted soon. Also, I forgot that I haven't finished my Elephant from the pattern by Mamma4earth. I need to work on him.


My cousin, my uncle, and I are having a contest. We all bought the same variety of tomato, Bonnie Best, and the race is on to see who eats the first red tomato, who grows the biggest tomato, and who's plant bears the most tomatoes. So far my cousin has the first flower on her plant. I have 4 buds, but no flower. 

I couldn't leave you with showing you my precious baby turtles. They are about 2-3 months old. They are Abbie, Avery, Greenie, and Poppy. Poppy is camera shy, but here are the other 3.

Wishing you early, a GREAT WEEKEND!  For those of you in the Detroit area, this Saturday is Flower Day at Eastern Market. It is suppose to be a beautiful weekend. I will be helping my son and daughter-in-love move into their new house. We are so close, we can ride bikes to each others house. 

FRIDAY!!!!!

If you haven't discovered by now, I am an animal lover. Between my 23 year old African Ringnecked Parakeet, my 22 year old Cockatiel, my 14 year old and 11 year old Yorkshire Terriers, my 9 year old Great Dane, and my 5 turtles, that I can only guess their ages. I do know that the 4 baby turtles I just got are approximately 2 months old. Thats right, FOUR new turtles. I mentioned triplets in my last post, that I was going to share with you. However, 2 of my little turtles died. I had only had them a week. I felt terribe, one little guy left in a big tank, all by himself. His name is Percival, Percy for short. So, yesterday I purchased 3 more babies. These guys look SO healthy, not like the last ones. We haven't named these 3 yet. Waiting to find out if they are boys or girls. They are so scared of people, it may be awhile until I can check out their nails. And, they won't let me photograph them either. Take my word for it, they are darling. 


Crazy thing happened this morning. My daughter was passing by the big turtle tank and what do you think she saw? SIX EGGS laying on the bottom of the tank. REALLY???!!!!  SERIOUSLY??!!  I really don't need to be the caretaker of eggs. And I really don't need 6 more turtles. Even though I am addicted to turtles, 15 would be TOO many. Actually, I don't think the eggs will hatch. They were delivered on the rocks, underwater. They need to be in dirt/sand and dry. 40 days from now, time will tell. Here is a picture of the eggs sitting next to a chicken egg.

I also mentioned in my last post that I would be plugging along, making the hexagons for the blanket I am crocheting. Here is the latest photo, 19 down, no idea how many to go.

Going to close for now. I am getting up early tomorrow to head to Eastern Market to get all my produce and some tomato plants. Have a wonderful weekend. 

Tough Days

It has been awhile since I have chatted with you. I apologize. This past month was a tough one. My daughter's Great Dane, Quinn, has been in poor health for about a year. However, April really took its toll on him. He had cancer on his toe a year ago. We had the tumor removed in November, but we knew the cancer would most likely strike again. It did, in April. We probably could have dealt with that, but Quinn also had spinal stenosis. He weighed in at 180 lbs. and getting up was very painful and sleeping was horrible. So, a week ago I made the very difficult decision to let Quinnie, "cross over". It has been a sad time in our house. Quinn's litter brother, Eli, is lost without him. He stands at the window waiting for him to return. I don't care what people say, I will never be convinced that animals don't mourn the loss of their own. We are very grateful that Quinn was with us for almost 10 years. That is HUGE for a Great Dane. Most Danes have a lifespan of 7 years. 

On to happier news. My son graduated from the Detroit Police Academy and the official ceremony was fantastic. There were 33 graduates. My son was the class president, so he gave the speech. Made me cry. Took the breath away from the city big wigs. Police Chief Godbee was so taken with Joe's speech, that he kept referring to it during his speech. Also, my son received the Award for Outstanding Performance. This is only given to one graduate in a class and not every class has someone who receives this award. Again, I cried. He is now officially a Detroit Police Officer and his first duty, WALKING the beat. He was assigned to a very dangerous area and he and his partner patrol this large area on foot. The neighbors were all coming out asking what they were doing? They said there hasn't been police on foot in Detroit since 1980. The people were thrilled. 

  

Another milestone in our family, my granddaughter learned to ride her bike without training wheels. For 3 days straight, my daughter and I tried to teach her to ride. We ran along side her bike, holding on to her seat, trying to give her the reassurance she needed. It didn't work. She was SO frustrated. Finally, we said she will have to walk to the ice cream store this summer while all of us ride our bikes. Guess What?  YEP! She tells us she is going to go outside for a little bit. About 20 minutes later as I look up from my knitting on the porch, who goes flying by but Luiza, riding her bike like she has been doing it her whole life. Kids are amazing.

I have been knitting some of the animals from Mamma4earth. I am  so taken with these patterns. Most make up in a few hours. 

This week I am working on hexagons for the afghan for my daughter's room. I will post photos of the first row in a day or two. 


AND......I will be posting pictures of 3 new members of the family. Since I have no children who have had triplets, you can pretty much guess the photo will be of my new TURTLES!  Check back.                                                                                                                            

End of a BUSY Week.

I REALLY wish I could say that this week has been filled with hours of knitting and crocheting. That I have finished many WIP's (works in progress). I'd like to tell you I started many projects from my "New Projects" list. Better yet, I wish I had actually compiled a "New Projects" list. I would love to show you photos of spring cleaning jobs that I started and/or completed. Since I have no pictures to show you, I would love to tell you that is because my camera didn't work. That would be a lie. The truth is, I didn't work, ON ANYTHING! With all 6 little ones here everyday this week, my goal was to survive each day and send 6 happy children home with their parents each night. IT WORKED!


The worst part of daycare, to me, is the food. The children arrive between 8:00 am and 9:00 am. Breakfast begins at 9:15 am, followed by 8 hours of requests for treats, EVERY 30 minutes. No wonder I can't get my weight under control. So, for this spring break, I decided to get 5 pails, one for each of the older kids, and stock them each morning with treats. Once they have eaten their breakfast, the pails are theirs. They can't start nibbling until after 10:00 am. After that, they don't have to ask. If they eat everything by 10:15 am, then they won't have anymore snacks the rest of the day.
I posted the lunch menu on a board every morning. The girls LOVED to see what was on the menu. It really is amazing, when children who are taught to eat healthy and are given the opportunity to eat what and when they want, they seem to make good choices. Even Nolan, who is 2, never went for the sweet treats first. 

The reason I am able to post on my blog in the middle of the morning......

the kids are watching it, as I type.


I did complete a few hexagons for the blanket I am making for my daughter, LAST week.

I had planned on making Hare Finger Puppets for all the children. Only made one for David. Since he was too little for a snack pail, he got the entertainment. This sweet little puppet can be made in less than an hour. It is a free pattern on Ravelry. The designer is Ala Ela and her company is Twins.

I bought my daughter this cookbook, "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier", by Ree Drummond. My Sarah is a great cook. She has been on a cooking frenzy lately and no one is complaining. 

I am a vegetarian, so, I am thoroughly enjoying the side dishes, desserts, and MACARONI AND CHEESE!!!  It is to die for. There are roasted mushrooms in it. Oh My Goodness! For those of you with a sweet tooth, the brownie is layered with caramel. 

I received this beautiful lily and YUMMY Easter basket, from my little David, for Easter. What a special family. So thoughtful.

Last week when I was at my favorite Saturday morning stomping ground, Srodek's Polish Market, I found these beautiful hand painted eggs. Love them!

Can't resist showing you what my 7 year old granddaughter, Ella, brings with her when she spends the night. Lambie and her I-pod. Don't you just love that children want to grow up so fast, but can't give up their lifelong "friend".

Last but not least, I am leaving you with a picture of our little finches. 

I AM ADDICTED TO HEXAGONS!!

Before I start talking about knitting/crocheting, I must tell you all, today I became the proud mother of a Detroit Police Officer. My son passed the final test at the academy, as did his ENTIRE class, and officially became a police officer. Not only was he the president of his class from the beginning (which is huge), but he received the Outstanding Top Performance Award. I am SO proud of him.   


I will just say it, "I LOVE HEXAGONS"!!!  I always feel like my granny squares are a bit misshapen, but hexagons, they seem to turn out the way they are suppose to. I made 3 sample ones, out of the scraps from the "Ugly" blanket. GREAT!  Now I am going to have Ugly 1 and Ugly 2. Oh well, at least the little girlies love them. Wait, 4 girlies. I will need Ugly 3 and 4, so they all have one.

The real reason for the hexagons, my daughter fell in love with Lucy's, from Attic 24, Hexagon afghan. My Sarah normally doesn't care for crocheting, she prefers the look of something knitted, but loved Lucy's afghan. So, I ordered all that yarn I posted, and I am going to start it tonight. 


I am going to pick an "itty bitty" toy to begin this week, as well. I am leaning toward the Hippo, which is my favorite animal, but with Easter coming up, I might have to go with the Bunny. I REALLY want to make the Sheep, but the yarn is stopping me. I am not finding what I need. I love Susan Anderson's sheep.


I MUST show you what the 3 granddaughters built last night. While waiting for dinner, Sarah made Chicken Picata with Wild Rice and Raspberry Bars, the girls decided to build a shelter for the sidewalk ants. I was hoping they would move OUT of the neighborhood and the girls constructed a condo and FED THEM LICORICE! I think I saw 30,000 more ants moving in today. Wonderful!

See what looks like dirt? THATS ANTS!  Oh, and let me just say, Sarah's Raspberry Bars, you could serve them to royalty. My son and daughter-in-love LOVE the Chicken Picata. I am a vegetarian, so I ate roasted asparagus, but the smells coming from the kitchen, made me wish I could sample something.


Here are a few pictures of spring at my house....

"Ugly" is done!!!!

I am so excited. I have finished my first full size afghan. I have been working on my UGLY Granny Striped Afghan for a little under a month.  I would not have picked these colors to combine, but, these were in my yarn stash. I am bound and determined to get rid of all my misfit skeins of yarn. As far as the ends of skeins, GRANNY SQUARES! Back to the afghan, it reminds me of my hippie days in the late 60's, early 70's. As a matter of fact, my first refrigerator was Avocado Green. My other choices where Harvest Gold or Burnt Orange. Anyway, I am very pleased with the afghan, despite the colors.

This has been a crazy weather week in my area. We should be enjoying temperatures in the high 40's, which I love, but we are already in the 70's. They just showed the next 8 days weather forcast on TV, 5 days of 76 degrees. Since summer is my LEAST favorite season, this is not looking good to me. If we are at 76 in March, what pray tell will it be like in July, 110? Not to mention, our winter was very mild. We didn't have any snow storms and our temperatures hardly ever hit the teens. Needless to say, right now the germs are running rampant. 3 of my little ones are sick. One with a horrible ear infection and two with colds. 3 down, 3 to go. My one granddaugther, the little Russian, never gets sick. She has great Siberian genes. 


I was up at 2:30 a.m. the other morning, letting one of the old dogs outside. When I opened the door, it was so bright outside. I love looking up and seeing this:

I am hoping tomorrow will be a quiet day. I will be minus one granddaughter, the 3 year old who has the ear infection. I have already cleaned the family room, the turtle tank, the 4 dog's feeding stations, and the bathroom. Tomorrow will be the easy stuff, if the little ones are healthy. Then, I am going to finish the 4 Happy Flower decorations from Attic 24. The 3 girls beg for everything I make. I can tell you right now where Mia, the 5 year old's will be. In the bottom of her backpack with all the other things she couldn't live without. Luiza & Ella might actually hang their's in their rooms. I just hope their moms don't mind them sticking holes in their bedroom walls. Knowing those girls, they will move the Happy Flower a dozen times each.  



Tomorrow night is Scrapbooking/Knitting night at the Salvation Army. I think I will start making the hexagon squares (now that doesn't make sense, hexagon squares) for the Hexagon Afghan, again by Attic 24.


Well, I have a 170 pound Great Dane breathing down my neck, literally. He knows there is pizza in the kitchen and he is NOT going to go to bed until there isn't one piece left. He is so old and stubborn. I would like to say I will win this battle, but, I know the outcome of this story. Just look at this face, staring at the pizza.

I will leave you tonight with one last picture. This is 2 year old Nolan, playing dress-up. He loves his ladies vintage velvet hat with his bowtie. To see this everyday, is my life great or what?

THE YARN HAS LANDED!!!!!

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly we receive packages from out of the country. I ordered this delicious yarn from Deramores, in England, and 5 days later it was sitting on my porch waiting for me.  I have to tell you, it arrived last Saturday, but I didn't open the packages for 2 days. I wanted to make sure the house was cleaned first. Once I got my hands on all the yarn, I might not lift a dust cloth or put a dish into water. I haven't started knitting/crocheting with this Stylecraft Special DK yarn yet, but it looks wonderful.


The other thing that arrived on Saturday, the book, "200 Crochet blocks" by Jan Eaton. I LOVE IT!!!!  Great granny squares and many other blocks. I can't wait to start making some.

I know I have mentioned before about this GREAT blog, Natural Suburbia. You must check out the wonderful giveaway that is going on until March 10th. Linda is giving away wonderful things to celebrate her 4th anniversary as a blogger. Also, check out her Etsy shop, Mamma4earth . Her patterns are so unique. 


I don't know if any of you have been watching the British show, Downton Abbey? In the USA it is being aired on the PBS channel. I had been hearing so much about it from so many people, I decided to buy season one. WOW! It was worth it. I am home all weekend with my 8 year old granddaughter and NO VEHICLE, so, I think I better go out and buy season two, just in case I need to unwind. I should probably buy chocolate and potato chips, too. 

I am SO excited, my son is almost done with his police academy. He is having a party at the academy tomorrow, to celebrate the accomplishments of his class. My daughter and I have been cooking for 2 days, a delicious recipe for this feast. I am a vegetarian, so, I have never tasted it. It is one of Sarah's specialties. You cook a chuck roast with pepperoncinis for 6 hours. Then you shred it and pile it on a crusty roll. Apparently, it is fantastic.  My son was voted president of his class back in September, when they started. Usually the position changes hands many times during the course of the training. However, he has held the presidency the entire time. I am so proud of him. Next month at his graduation ceremony, I will be pinning his badge on him (hopefully not sticking him while I am crying), and then he will officially be a Detroit Police Officer. Wow! My baby boy.


I have decided to set a goal for the next week, projects to complete by Monday, March 12, 2012: 
1.  My "ugly" Granny Striped afghan. It should be completed by Saturday.
2.  My 4 Happy Flower Decorations, by Lucy of Attic 24.
3.  My little Cat, by Mamma4earth. 

Can't Wait For The Mail Carrier To Arrive

I am sitting here, anxiously waiting for the mail carrier to get here. I am hoping that the 2 books I ordered about Granny Squares, come today. I am still waiting for the Stylecraft yarn from England, but, I am not thinking it will arrive for another week. I have a VERY obsessive personality, so lets just say,  I am really teaching my little ones about patience today. WAIT!!!!!  I hear the mail carrier........ ONE BOOK IS HERE!

Have any of you been watching the British TV series, Downton Abbey? It is being shown on the PBS channel. I have heard from so many people how good it is. Another obsession, I am trying to find season 1 in the stores, but, it has been sold out. 


I have been working steadily on my Granny Stripe Blanket. It is coming along, slowly. If I hadn't made it so long, I would have been done long ago. One nice thing, it will be so long that it will easily cover 2 people sitting at opposite ends of the couch. I am making this afghan with the group on Ravelry, "One A Day", and I am ahead of schedule. I committed to one row a day, but have surpassed that. Woo Hoo!

I have mentioned the Etsy shop, Mamma4earth, in a past. I love Linda's creations. She designed the loveliest Swan last week, along with a beautiful Daffodil. Couldn't resist them. Had to buy the patterns. Then yesterday, she posts on her blog, another new pattern, Glider the Whale. Check them out. ADORABLE. I am in the process of knitting her Cat. It is so easy to knit. I made 2 sets of body parts in 2 hours. My only challenge at the moment, my yarn is a bit finer than what she used and my stuffing is showing through the stitches. I was disappointed, but not frustrated. Tonight I meet with my scrapbooking/knitting group. I will work on the Cat tonight. I will show you what I mean about my stitches. Also, I haven't put on the eyes or nose, yet. Don't judge Mamma4earth's patterns by my little cat. The yarn is SO wrong. 

And finally, I saved the best till last. We have a new member in our family. She joined us last Sunday. She is a big girl. About 1.5 lbs.

Introducing Shirlie Girlie, my Red Eared Slider turtle. I went to buy turtle food for Shellie, Shamus, Sheldon, & Sherman. I happened to look over at the turtle tank and there she was, BEGGING me to take her home. How could I say no to that face?


Have a GREAT weekend.