Fun Day, Hooray!

Today we took the day off and went to Gatlinburg. This is a tiny little touristy town at the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains. It is about 45 miles from our house to go the slow way, through Maryville, Townsend, and Wears Valley... or about 60 miles from our house to go the "fast" way, through Knoxville on the interstate. Which takes the same amount of time. We took the slow way.

We got donuts for breakfast at The Donut Friar in The Village, and just above here you see us smiling because our tummies are full of donuts. (Back row: Richard, Artemas behind a bunny, Allen WAY far away, and Diantha. Front row: Josiah, Beverly on wheels, and Veronica.)

Then we walked around. And walked, and walked. The entire town is basically one long walking mall with a few little offshoots, all handcraft stores and tourist trap crap and motels, and places to eat. Oh and handmade candy, fudge, jewelry,
woodworking, etc. etc. The girls and Josiah and I rode the ski lift. Never did that with any of the kids before, because it isn't that cheap. But it was a nice breezy ride, on a sunny day. Can't complain. On the way up and down, we cross the Roaring Fork River. Here is a shot of it, and on the left you can see a 3-story building of 6 time-share condo units, called Club Chalet. Richard and I stayed there for part of our honeymoon 26 years ago. I am happy to report that we get along better now than we did then. Back then, we had a HUGE fight and I threw his *last* can of beverage in the river. And he stayed married to me. Gotta admire fortitude like that. LOL.

Speaking of getting along or not, we went in the infamous Pancake Pantry to use the potties, because they were painting the ones in The Village. (The man told us they would be open Tomorrow, LOL) My mom and dad love to eat there (the Pancake Pantry, not The Village restrooms) but it's too rich for my blood, and my pocketbook. But I digress.

Anyway, the restrooms are upstairs and there is a balcony overlooking most of the dining area and the 2-story windows to the outside. There was a couple sitting down there, had to be man and wife because they were about the same age (older than dirt) and both wearing wedding rings. Also the wife had this long-suffering air about her, like this guy has been a drag for 60 years. So there they sit, and the whole time our large family was taking turns using the potties, they never ONCE looked at each other or spoke to each other. Since the situation nearly defies description (at least to me), I have drawn a little diagram.

The wife was LONG done with her meal (waiting on that cheapskate husband of hers to eke every penny worth of his breakfast). The husband was taking his good ol' time deliberately cutting and eating that last 1/3 of his omelet. Probably didn't even want it, but by Golly he paid good money for it, so he is going to get every last bite of it down if it chokes him, and maybe he won't eat again today because he wants to puke because he shouldn't have eaten all that omelet. See, sometimes I make up little stories about people in my head. Anyway it was sad, sad, sad. Can't imagine being like that. My dh and I can hardly wait to get home, get the kiddies all in bed and have sex. Sheeeesh!

Ok one last parting shot of Gatlinburg. Well maybe two. These are views taken from the lift. One is about half the downtown strip (Parkway), and one is looking past
the town to the beautiful mountains with snow still on them. This morning we foothillers had 40 degrees and by lunch time it was 80. But the top of the mountain didn't get the memo.

In other news, I started knitting a basket today out of some lumpy handspun Montadale like the Candylcious yarn in Diantha's Shop. I am going to felt it for B for an Easter Basket. I got it about half done, which isn't bad considering I spent most of the day walking G-burg (and yes, I am eccentric and knitted while I walked. LoL). This pic isn't the right color (the yarn I am using is red) but I wanted to show the texture. If I show you the rest... well, you know.

Such An Uneventful Life

Ok, so I have recovered from all the sandwich-making and running over the weekend. Or almost recovered.

My dh is on vacation this week, so this is what we have gotten accomplished: Nothing.

Oh, of course I am kidding. Yesterday my parents, who are down from Ohio, came over and Dad and Richard and any other Army Corps of Engineers volunteers they could commandeer (oh don't we LOVE alliteration?) worked on our electricity. I put together a lasagna to make for dinner, but along about 7PM when they decided that the only outlet they hadn't checked was the one behind the stove, that the electronic ignition for my oven plugs in... I made a trip to the local big-box store and then to Taco Bell, where I dazzled the associates with my ability to order random food for a dozen people, to go.

They actually got my order right (which dazzled ME)... but probably only because I went IN to get it (instead of driving all the way home to find out they forgot the order of nachos) and stood there and counted it all before I left.

My BIL came also, with my little niece, and brought us a 36-in. television that he got for free and fixed for a little bitty part. Just in case you couldn't see the TV screen from anywhere in the 24' x 30' main great room of our house BEFORE. NOW YOU CAN.

I am slacking on putting new yarns up to my my7kids etsy store. But we have listed quite a few new items in Diantha's shop... including a HUGE furry purple and aqua 2-ply handspun, a carded batt in cranberry Corriedale and white llama, and some washed Corriedale and llama fleeces.

I got a main Treasury, which has expired. But Diantha has a current one, called She Loves Wild Colors. Here on the left is a screen shot! And I got a T West from my HeartFeltFun Boutique, called Hip To Be Square. So here is a shot of that one.

Tomorrow I get to go to a local farm and get some natural black, gray, and brown sheep wools. More on that later! And, we get to make Diantha's skirt for Easter. AND, my folks will be back over for the much-longed-for Lasagne. I better get some sleep!

ETSYKNITTERS Spring Scavenger Hunt!!

I am on Etsyknitters Street Team. Basically we are Etsians with shops that sell knitted items or supplies for knitting. And we are a "Street Team" because we are out there, among you. (Beware! We have sharp pointy things in our hands and know how to use them! LOL!)

Anyway just for fun, we are having a Spring Scavenger Hunt. There are 31 shops, each of which submitted a pic of one of their items. You match up the item with the shop. Do at least 10 of them and you get a code good for a discount or free shipping this month from those shops! What fun!

So come play with us! You get to browse some great shops, see new things you wouldn't have seen otherwise, and get a lil' bonus for your trouble. Can't go wrong!

To visit the Scavenger Hunt page, just click below (or in my sidebar to the left).

A New Spinner

Thursday Des was down at our house and decided to spin something. She was spinning up a batt I got from ArtemisArtemis at Etsy. Beverly was sitting in her chair, hollering at Desiree and Diantha. They tried offering her something to eat, offering her something to drink, asking her if she wanted to watch a video... nothing helped. So they handed her a spindle and a piece of green Merino wool, and that did the trick. She just wanted to spin something!

The batt in question was a mix of just about everything: Merino, mohair locks, assorted wools, bamboo, and sari silk... and was only 1.95 oz. But Des got about 98 yards of this beautiful yarn, which she said was Heffalumps And Woozles on Parade. We put it up in Diantha's shop.

Yesterday we dyed some Corriedale a nice turquoise color, and some Montadale a fuchsia purple. I had wanted to duplicate a batt that Diantha has in her shop, but the purple came out more like Prince purple. Diantha and I spun the turquoise with a little white bamboo thrown in for shimmer, into a sock weight single. Now we are spinning the purple (also with a little bamboo thrown in) into a heavy worsted. The idea is to ply them together. We shall see.

We have a short day today. Have to package some orders for mailing, before noon. Then we have to make cookies and Krispy treats and take them to our church by 3:30. Drama performance services are at 3, 5, and 7. We are helping feed the cast and crew... then attending the 5 PM service/performance and working the nurseries for the 7 PM one.

I got the mini quilt in the mail from the 4 Seasons Monochromatic Mini Quilt Swap. Here in the left is a pic... it is RED. I did say my favorite colors were purple and red, and favorite season Fall. So this is my quilt partner's interpretation of that. It is beautifully done in little miniature pieced blocks, and bound in solid red. It does give an impression of falling leaves. I like it.

I got a main Treasury this morning, called Larry, Moe, and Curly... but it's not what you think! Here is a screen shot!

Geez, April Fools, and I am Late

Actually I wrote this last night, and only needed to add pics. But one of my sons decided to monopolize the computer the pics were in, and I couldn't get signed into messenger for him to send them, so I ended up waiting until 1:30 AM and going to bed with my blog not done. ~~ sigh ~~

A friend if mine (I won't say who but her initials are Marion) got me with this one. FeLon yarn.

Diantha got a T West this morning, called Don't Wear Patent Leather Shoes. TOOOooo Funny!

Today I couldn't find the digicam. I looked where I usually put it, and on the table (I should make not here that right now our table is a MOUNTAIN of pulled fabrics,
non-used fabrics, and scraps of fabric as 3 of us scurry to the W/U deadline), and on the kitchen island. On top of the computer stack. On the ironing board, just in case. Couldn't find my brain, er, the digicam anywhere. I remembered it being in the car with us last night and thought maybe it was still there... so I went out to look. And in the THIRTY SECONDS I was out of the house...

Beverly found a Sharpie marked behind the computer keyboard (where *I* did NOT leave it) and gave herself tattoos on both arms, her leg, and put "makeups" on. She was so proud, she had to come out on the porch and show me! Complete with PBJ sandwich on her face, too!

Today was the DAY for kids to mark up their faces I guess, Des sent me this pic of my grandson Jeremiah, with PBJ face and blue rubberstamp "makeup" also. ~~ SIGH ~~

I folded the five loads of laundry. No, really, I folded the FIVE loads of laundry. And while I did so, they bred two more loads. Same reason I *used* to have a rule about not leaving 2 items in the sink at night, which somehow my kids have drifted away from. Maybe why we *always* have dishes in the sink. That or the dishwasher is as old as Methuselah and doesn't work right. ~~ sigh ~~

We did Veronica's entire Weird and Ugly quilt today, and are working on Artemas' right now. Hers is so cute! She says she thinks she might sell it when the challenge is over! I would buy it! Oh wait...

I also got a T West today, called Baaa, I'm Feelin' a Little Sheepish. It has SHE team and Etsyknitters in it, including one of Diantha's yarns.

And I have one more pic to share for the day, I call it, "Sharpie Marker is Not Quite Enough Decoration."
Dinner was supposed to be roast chicken with stuffing. But due to some fluke, there is a short in the circuit to the kids' bedrooms and because the guy who wired this house was a total nah-nah, that circuit also includes the refrigerator and the plug-in for the gas stove's electric oven ignition. No glow bar, no gas. No gas, no oven. So the Roast Chicken became Barbecue Chicken on the Grill and the stuffing became cheesy noodles with broccoli. And Betsy became a mess. The end.

It's Been a WEEK?!?

Where did the time go? What do I have to show for it?

Well, I don't have a new motorcycle. We looked into getting a 900 v-twin last weekend but someone just beat us to it. His buddy might have a 650 Honda, will get back to us. Hmmm.

Beverly has done some more Photography. Again, from a 2 yr. old's eye view, here is An Evening In With Mom. Also titled, B's Eye View 2. Wow, dust on the laptop. Who would think?

I have 5 loads of laundry in my living room to fold. We are in the throes of the Weird and Ugly Fabric Challenge #15 deadline-approach. It is actually tonight at midnight. So not much else is getting done right now.

That isn't the only reason things are really piling up. We decided to open a shop at Etsy for fleece, carded fiber batts, and handspun yarns and let 14 yod Diantha run it as part of her high school curriculum. So we have spent the last several days washing raw fleece, dyeing, carding, spinning, etc. Her shop is up and running, with over a dozen shop hearts, item hearts, and one sale already... in 3 days. She applied and was accepted to SHEteam... but we haven't heard back from Etsyknitters. Stop on over and take a look... Fluff4Ewe.etsy.com.

On the left just above here you can see one of the handspun yarns we put up in the shop... Candylicious! This is 100% Montadale lamb that we processed from raw fleece. We dyed it and spun it into a lumpy, bumpy, fun self-striping yarn with just a tiny trace of the lanolin still in it.

On the right is her first sale... a carded batt of hand dyed pink Corriedale, black Alpaca, and green Merino, called What A Melon. Yum!

We've managed to nab a couple Treasury Wests, including this one on the left from Richard's Rossoaps shop, called Leather Up, Guys! and featuring all leather items. Most were made by men on Etsy. I think a lot of people think of Etsy as a ladies' marketplace, but that isn't necessarily so. Once in a while it is nice for the guys to have the spotlight.

Diantha got a T West right off the bat (savvy, or what?) She called hers Fluff n Stuff, in honor of her new shop.

She is, at this writing, in THREE treasuries that our own family did not make: Isn't SHE lovely (with the Candylicious yarn above), and SHE is Diverse and SHE Loves Her Jeans, both featuring her Oceana yarn.

My My7kids shop is an alternate in the SHE Loves Her Jeans treasury, and my HeartFeltFun shop has an item in a T called Song Sung Blue.

I have been in an incredible lot of pain with a kidney stone that seems to not want to pass. Almost 3 weeks now, and it is wearing me down. Well maybe tomorrow will be a better day!

Getting Just a Little Done

Today I got the binding cut and done around 9 potholders. They were Diantha's, and she cut 5" charms for the swap for me while I did her bindings. My machine was messing up so I took a break in the middle of it so my head wouldn't pop off. I would post a pic, but they are for the Weird and Ugly Fabric Challenge so... you just have to wait!

I also got a handbag made for my HeartFeltFun Boutique at Etsy. I called it "O My Handbag"... it is pale pea-green felted wool/angora from a recycled sweater, it has a cotton webbing and leather recycled belt in green, cream, and tan for a strap, and it is lined in deep pea-green with white polka dots. It has 2 inner pockets and zips shut at the top. A nice roomy 12" wide by 9" high by 3" deep too!

Diantha spun up one of her lavender wool/cashmere, orange corriedale, teal merino batts today. I don't know how much yarn she got but it is every bit as fun as what she spun yesterday. See?

I got a Treasury West tonight, called Much Ado About... Nothing? or is it Zero? Or is it an O? Here on the left is a screen shot. Be sure to stop by and click around!

And, ADustyFrame from SHEteam generously included my Daffodils recycled yarn in her main Treasury, Daffodown Dilly. Be sure to visit hers and click around too. The She team members all homeschool their kids, so being able to maintain an Etsy shop on top of it is a real feat!

I was JUST reminded that we not only have 4-H in the morning, one of the kids was supposed to submit a tabletop exhibit on processing fiber. I have all the caption labels and fibers, but used the exhibit board last week on gardening. Even if I ran up and got one, it would take til 2 AM to put it together. Then be up at 7 to make the meeting in the next town over, by 8:30. I just can't. So GREAT, I just got the 2nd Bad Mom award in a week. Must be a record.

But, on a happy note, it means picking up donuts for breakfast.

Heck, for donuts, I would just about stay up glueing fiber to cardboard.

Dude, Someone Blogged Me

Today I went to the firing range with my friend (and my daughter's MIL) Cheryl. We had a nice time shooting. My Lorcin .380 misloaded every time I tried to fire it, so I put it away. I don't get it; Richard thoroughly cleaned and oiled it before I went. oh well... Afterward we went to Wild Wings for lunch, which was more fun than shooting guns together. She didn't want to take home the targets, because ex-hubby-slash-SO, a retired Highway Patrolman, gets nervous about guns. She sent them home with me. I said I was going to Blog about them so the whole internet could see them. She just laughed and said, "Don't BLOG me!" So for tonight, I didn't post the pics. Tonight. Muahahaha...

On the way home my little old Suzuki was misfiring also, like one of the spark plugs is fouled or something. A project for tomorrow, maybe. So I have had a Bad Mechanical Day.

Someone did Blog me today! She wrote about recycled yarns on Etsy and included me! Thanks!

I snagged a main Treasury last night in Richards' Rossoaps shop at Etsy. Here on the left is a screen shot... it is called Cardinal Sins. What fun!

EmptyNestEgg also included my Blue Bell flower pin in her main Treasury, called She Stopped to Smell, which is all items from the SHE team. Thank you!

On to something we actually did. LoL. For Diantha's birthday last week, I gave her some random lavender and purple wool balls (I spun my felted slippers from them, passed some on to another knitter, sent some carded with other fibers to Japan, and gave Diantha the rest with some lavender Cashmere yarn bits mixed in), some cleaned and dyed orange Corriedale fleece, and some teal Merino. Yesterday she carded them together. She didn't divide the merino quite evenly, so ended up with a little extra purple and orange. She spun them up together last night and got 28 yards of the coolest, funky yarn! It will be great trim on something.

Yesterday we made Great Grass soap. It has hemp oil in it, and minced alfalfa... and the soap is actually colored with grass! We used lavender, cedarwood, and spruce essential oils for a deep, herbal fragrance. Wonderful!

2 Pink Ladies

Des kept Artemas last night so sometime today we had to go get him. But first (I have that syndrome a LOT)I did some yarns for my my7kids yarn shop at Etsy. Here is a peek at a couple of them... on the left we have Size Doesn't Matter, Baby (a mini skein of course, LoL) and on the right we have Date the Smart Girl. There are a couple more, but you will just have to go see!

This morning I caught Beverly with the camera. She took a 2-yr.-old's eye view of... something. When I asked her, I think she said Feet. I don't take pics of my own feet, but it seemed important to her. I can see a real artist emerging here, can't you?

Richard and I also made a new soap... it has chlorophyl for color, finely minced alfalfa, and is fragranced with essential oils of Lavender, Cedarwood, and Spruce. Very herbal and deep! And since it also has a little bit of hemp oil in it, we are calling it Great Grass.

I have been working on a TOP SECRET project... my Weird and Ugly Fabric Challenge Quilt. My online group has this challenge twice a year, and it is really fun! We have to sign up for the challenge and receive the fabric without knowing what the HECK it is going to look like. Then we have about 5 months to make anything we can out of it (one lady even duct-taped hers to cardboard once). You would not believe the artistic quilts that come out of this! We get menial prizes for arbitrary categories. It isn't the prize that matters, it is the stretching of our quilting muscles! Well anyway, it has taken the place of the block-a-days for the time being, since I have 3 other burgeoning quilters to help out with this... and it is due Apr. 1st. I am not allowed to show my quilt until after the voting, but here are 2 sneak peeks. LoL!

This evening at Des' house, we had homemade waffles and sausage for dinner. The two babies (my Betsy at age 2 and Des' Hannah who will be 1 on the 10th of April) happened to be wearing the same color pink, along with pink cheeks from being out in the sun Friday. Beverly was playing under the table, to be close to big sister Des, who was sewing at the table. Not to be outdone, Hannah had to venture under also. So I took pics of the two Pink Ladies.

And if that weren't enough fun for everyone, Des decided that Jeremiah and Hannah should have a bath, and naturally Betsy would NOT be left out of that one. So last of all, here are the Three Redneck Babies in a Tub. Gooooooood night, everybody!

Sometimes Your Kids Make You Proud

Tony has been buggin' me for at least 2 years to draw him a scorpion to get tattooed on the inside of his right arm. So Friday I did it. Here (on the left) is my drawing. I couldn't find a good, black and white rendered picture of a scorpion so I wasn't real sure about the face. The tail says, Luke 10 19... which is,

"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions, and to overcome all the power of the enemy. Nothing shall harm you."


And here is that drawing translated into ink, fresh off the press, "in the flesh," so to speak. The tattoo was done this evening by John Goad of Alter Ego in Knoxville. He reworked the face but left the tail, with its meaning, intact.

We watched Jeremiah while they went. When they got back, Beverly thought she had to have a tattoo too. So here is hers. And, then Jeremiah wanted one. Nana drew him a "guppion" of his very own. And he wanted a LOOONG tail, like his daddy's. I didn't ask how long. There are some things a Nana doesn't need to know.

Desiree also got her nose pierced. She has a nice nose for it, and I think it looks fine. Tony likes it too. We all had steaks with mushrooms and onions on them and pasta salad with dill and veggies and good 9-grain bread when they got back.

Getting the grill out, I got SO mad at my dh. He is a packrat of apocalyptic proportions. No joke, one time we had to clean out a 1-car garage in order to build a bedroom, bath, and laundry area in it, to shoehorn our growing family into our first, tiny, 2 bedroom house. We filled a 20-cubic-yard pull-car dumpster 2/3 full from that garage. Well Tony built us a new cube a while back (a whole other sore spot with him, Richard thought he would "improve" the design), and R has already proceeded to fill it disorganizedly with stuff. Took me 35 minutes to get the grill out. After 26 years of his stuff packed everywhere, he is lucky I don't divorce him. Don't think I haven't weighed the option. One thing is for sure, I would have this junk out of here before the ink was dry.

Speaking of which, I have wanted a little tattoo for years, and he won't let me. Says he doesn't want me to go through any "Pain." ?!? This from the man to whom I have borne 7 live babies. I told the kids, when he dies, I will get a tattoo on the way to the wake (actually I think my words were, before his body is cold.) LoL. Maybe I am even kidding!

I listed ONE new item today in my HeartFeltFun shop at Etsy. Here it is... a poncho from mohair, LOTS of glitz, and turquoise fun fur. This is one of the 100% charity donation listings. Gorgeous!