De-Tree-ing and Photo Ops

So Sunday, I got up and made 30 Banana Chocolate Chip muffins from scratch. My house was a smell-o-rama, but I didn't eat any of them. Des and Tony took me and Tony's mother (my friend and ex-boss Cheryl) out to brunch at Wild Wings. Nothing like starting your gastronomical day with HOT. LoL.

Des made me a GORGEOUS handbag, with "loose" pockets inside, large enough to hold a couple diapers stood on end (or a paperback book), and a bottle of water (or Mtn Dew), and a zipper pocket big enough to hold my reading glasses, a lipstick, and my DL/Debit card. Wonderful!

Then they came to my house and hung out. Tony got hold of the chain saw and started making short work of our deceased tree.


Understatement of the Weekend: He grinned and said, "I like chainsaws."

We have thought of lots of things to make of the tree, now just have to get them done before the wood gets too dry or hard to work it.

The little girls spent time dancing in the living room, and bouncing on the "damp-een," as Beverly calls it. Des put pics of that one on her blog.

Beverly took camera in hand and snapped some pictures for us...
Des! And Tony! She was very excited to "help" in this manner. I love seeing the world from her 2 yo eye-view. Everyone seems very, very... tall. LOL!

IN OTHER NEWS...
Today (ooops, yesterday, sometimes being a night-owl can be SO confusing) two of the girls had 4-H sub-regional presentations in Crossville, TN, about an hour's drive away. Made me glad to live in our beautiful little town, close to beautiful Knoxville.

Diantha did a tabletop exhibit on Fiber Processing and Spinning. She won 1st place in the Clothing and Textiles category for Jr. High. Veronica did an oral demonstration/explanation of Spinning and Knitting, also. She took a high-score 1st place in Clothing and Textiles for 5th grade. I am proud of the girls and their efforts! They will go on to the Regionals. Don't know the date or place yet. Here they are with their blue ribbons!

By the time we were done there, drove back, drove 40 minutes the OTHER way to drop Diantha off at Des' to help her (since she is still feeling lousy), and got home tonight, we had been gone more than 12 hours. I have some new yarns done, but too tired to list them. Tomorrow is another day!

Sad Tree Day, and Mom, You're So WEIRD

This morning about 8 AM we started to have a lightning storm. For the first little while, maybe half an hour, it was "dry" lightning. It wasn't raining, but the lightning was fierce and very close, as there was no delay to the thunderclap, and you could hear the thunder echoing through the hills and valleys around here.

Then the rains came. I grew up just 22 miles from Xenia, Ohio, and stayed 2 days in the basement when the tornadoes went through that leveled that town (in what, 1972?). Then lived 22 years in FL, just above Tampa, the lightning capital of the country. So I have lived through some storms! But this was seriously the worst wind I have ever heard. When it was over, I started to leave the house... and this sight greeted me from the front porch.

Our front yard has (had) three large Bradford Pear trees. They don't bear fruit, but are gorgeous in Spring, totally covered in white blossoms... great shade in summer, and fiery red in Fall. The center tree (in front of the porch), is ailing... the crown is spreading and we are probably going to have to take that tree out. The one nearest the driveway (pictured) was our favorite. We sit under that tree often. We park motorcycles and cars under its shade to work on them. And the storm killed it.

Three little bright spots: one, I can make a LOT of pearwood, handmade, chunky, double-pointed knitting needles like these in my My7kids Recycled Yarn Shop if I cut and peel the branches while they are still wick. The second is, the tree missed our 450 Suzuki that was parked under it, by like 3 feet. And the last is, the kids didn't know what to get me for Mother's day, and I have been wanting an apple or peach tree. So today we went out, found one of each cheap, and they got them for me.
Oh and a Basil plant for my garden.

Still, it is a shame such a beautiful tree bit the dust. I have been a little sad about that. It isn't a big sadness thing like the loss of a spouse, marriage, child, or house. But sad still. And, those new little trees won't give good shade for quite a few years! ~~ sigh ~~

OK! A couple more pics! One is Veronica's feet, happily nestled in her mom-knit sox. Now that the cuff is fixed, she likes them. In fact, she had to have new sneakers to wear them with. (Just kidding, she was overdue for new sneakers. LOL)

Here is a little sneak peek at the Fuzzy Yellow Thing that I got from UFO Project Administration Service. This is the re-make that people voted for on my blog last week. I had a few people say they didn't think the lace pattern would show in that fuzzy yellow yarn, but it looks so far, so good. Yes, my carpet is purple.

Today Des said she thinks I might be on the cutting-edge of weird. What in the world might prompt a good daughter to say something like that to her mother?

Last night I was counting stitches in a knitting project that Diantha is doing. I needed a marker in the middle of a dpn, and instead of slipping the stitches off the needle to the marker point, I took out my left earring (a handmade sterling and garnet with a hook on the back for the wire) and slipped it on the needle and hooked it. I might add that I have my left ear pierced twice, and in the extra hole I had a long, turquoise and sterling earring that I lost the mate of last week.

Later on, Veronica was sweeping the floor in the kitchen and found my other turquoise earring. Without thinking, I stuck it in the only empty hole.

I promptly forgot about it and went out today, looking like this:

Des said, "You know, Mom, most people would have switched that top turquoise earring to the other side, so they had a pair and an extra." So I told her I never much cared for doing things the way Most People do them. LOL!

I got a special order yarn done after our errands today, and made homemade pizzas for dinner. But I did NOT get more knitting done, or the carding done that I needed to do, or folding laundry. On the other hand, I am not asleep yet!