Crazy!!!

Nothing finished last week, and no time to type since it is CARNIVAL WEEK!  YAY!!!

What is it about phones??

As soon as you are the phone, the kids need you for everything! LOL...and you really can't do much while you are on the phone!  There were lots of phone meetings for the school carnival this week, which let to lots of starts and stops. But I did finish a couple of things.  First, the table mats I had left off with last week.  Done!  I only took a photo of one, since they are so similar.  Stitching down the binding is a little tricky when taking notes and holding the phone, but definitely doable.  As long as you don't lose the needle!

 These eyeballs were a pattern in my knitting magazine.  The kids saw them started making color requests.  DH said get the yarn, and even drove me to the yarn store! So I think he likes them as well.  The purple and orange were made following the yarn and needle instructions.  The big red one was crocheted, and the little red one followed the magazine pattern, but with a much smaller yarn yarn and needle.  the kids are hoping for more, but we'll see. Not exactly a have to do kind of thing.

I do think the jar needs an "eye of newt" label, even if the eyes are too big.  Or, if I make enough, an eyeball garland along the windows!

Next week, school carnival.  So there maybe nothing posted or finished.  We'll see how much phone time I get!

Can it be holiday season yet?

With a birthday and Halloween still 3 weeks away, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas, and New Years, I am ready to start my holiday preparations.  I AWLAYS seem to bite of more than I can chew.  There is so much fun stuff to do, as well as the actual work, like winterizing the house, and getting everything cleaned up outside.  The past week has been busy, between popcorn sales for Scouts, canning blackberry jam, working on the Halloween projects.  The good news is boys are making good progress on their popcorn goals, I shouldn't have to buy jam for awhile and, I am almost ready to break out the the Thanksgiving stuff!  

These are my finished sewing projects from last week.  Three out of five table mats done.  One is for me, one is for a silent auction/drawing basket, and one is for etsy.  I'll probably finish the other two today and tomorrow.  Then I only have 4 more Halloween projects to finish.   I think.

Here is a close up of one of them.  the thing I really liked was how 1) I have no more Halloween fabric to use. (YAY!!! New fabric next year!) and 2) even though they use the same fabrics, some are brighter and some are darker, depending on fabric placement. My favorite fabric is the black and white "cartoon" fabric.  It reminds me of some of the book illustrations when I was younger.  

We canned 25 jars of blackberry jam, and the kids are hoping for more.  We'll see if we get more berries.  They are coming really late this year, so I might be able to get at least 2 more batches done.  We also have green beans to make dilly beans with.  Half the family loves them, and the other half not so much.  My sewing goals are all over the place.  I have so much I want to do and only so much time!! 

Last week was a flurry of activity.  On top of my sewing projects, we got two sides of the house primed, and one side painted.  We only have one left!  This has been a project that has taken way to long.  We didn't have to money to rent a scaffold, so DH has been using a ladder.  Which made it go so slow.  My dad brought scaffolding up for a day, and we knocked out as much as we could between the morning burnoff and sundown.  If we can get one more day like that, we'll be done! 


As for sewing, I finished 4 more Halloween buntings.  The top three are for my etsy shop, and the bottom one is mine for Halloween.  Not that there is any difference, but it helps to plan it out so I know where to put it when they are done! :) 

I have a few more to do, one of which will be used for hot lunch on Halloween, and one that will go into a silent auction at the Halloween carnival.   Those are on the agenda for this week.  As well as finishing up some the little projects laying around!  I need to leave in some room for making jam this week, as all the berries are sitting in my freezer.  And since the kids picked them, I need to do something soon! Maybe I'll do that on DH's day off this week.

Fall is here!

I love the colors of fall, but I really hate the temperatures!  There hasn't been frost yet, and after the morning cover burns off,  it has been beautiful.  But really cold!! 

I've finished all but 2 of the boards for the closet down stairs.  Guess what I get to do shortly?  Wednesday DH will finish installing them, as well as some of the trim we are replacing in the kids' rooms. 

Popcorn sales have started for Scouts.  I love watching as the boys learn how to handle the various situations that come up, but it is exhausting!!!  There is something about watching them try, try, and try again, with the results being they made no sales that time, and learn to handle that with grace. Or that they made more sales than they realized and asking "how did that happen?"  Even the older boys are still learning, the difference is that their goals are bigger.

As for sewing, the only thing I finished was a bunting to hang in the entry way!

This piece has S2's favorite fall fabric in it.   The patch on the upper left.  It has the "helicopters" or "spinners" seed. I have no idea what tree they come from, I just know ALL my kids were fascinated by them.  Nothing says fall like those do!

The desk Daddy brought up has been amazing!  The kids are fighting over who gets to do homework first!  And it gave me an excuse to do another purge of the house.  I have no idea where everything comes from. I go grocery shopping once a week, and household/project shopping once a month.  With the budget being what it is, I don't spend much and I don't stray from the list.  I'm starting wonder if little stuff-bunnies are breeding in closets and drawers! 

This week is full of nothing.  Just trying to get through everything and get it out of my house!!  I do have quilts for D2 and S2 to finish, maybe I'll get one of those done!

Life just got a little bit easier!

Last week DH got the remaining pieces cut for the closet, only to have the last three ONE QUARTER inch too short!!  He isn't sure what happened, but he was able to fix it, but I had to wait until yesterday when he had a day off.  So my lining isn't all the way in like I wanted, but we are still making progress.  I think he left me pieces to seal today, which I'll do when it warms up a little. 

Also, S1 has been doing his schoolwork wherever he plants himself for the day, which has not been helping him actually getting it done.  So yesterday morning my dad called to see if we wanted a roll top desk.  S1 said he would love to have a nice desk to work at, so we had to rearrange the whole living room yesterday before Daddy got here, so they could just walk it in and set it down.  It looks amazing, and hold all of the homeschool books and supplies. 

I finished all of the canning as of last night, although blackberries are just coming in.  But all of zucchini relish is finished and they will be put away tonight.  WOO HOO!  I get my kitchen back!! Actually, I would rather can than cook any day, but we have a really small galley kitchen, so anything we do completely takes over.  And for some reason, the after canning clean up leaves my kitchen extra sparkly clean. 

I didn't get any sewing done, since I spent most of my time either in the kitchen, or working on the closet.  We'll see what this week brings.  I have a few things I would like to get sewn up, as well as putting things away after moving the desk in.

And lastly......

 this is a picture DH took last week while walking to the corner grocery.  This is a CORNSTALK growing out of the gutter drain.  It's taller this week.  We are wondering how long it will last before the wind knocks it down or the street sweepers get it.  It makes us smile every time we drive past it!

And another thing almost accomplished!

Last week, we did some some more canning, plum conserves. My goal was 25 jars, and we got it done.  We always give a jar to the neighbors that let the kids pick the plums, plus 2 jars a month til next year. 

We also got started on a house project that I have been wanting to do for years.  But it always seemed too big for our DIY skills.  Now that we are working on it, it is disgustingly simple.  Here is a photo of the space that we had.  We have no idea what it was for.  To small for coats or linens, but in the wrong part of the house to be a broom closet.  It was just a space where it was. 

 

This is what the bottom half looks like now.   We used cedar tongue in groove planks to line the back, although my hubby has to go get more because I am lousy at math!  The sides will be lined in cedar as well, and we will be spacing the shelves every other plank.  The perfect height for our DVDs to be in!  There should be plenty of room for all the movies we have, but I have already told the children and husband that if they don't all fit, something has to go.  My goal this week is to finish lining it while I look for what shelving I want. 

This is the one sewing project I finished.  It is the trial and error version of our teacher appreciation gift for Halloween.  I'll be making each teacher a set of two, as well as baking some treats to go into the staff lounge on the day of Halloween.  I figure even our single male staff need kitchen towels!  I hate getting stupid useless gifts. I can appreciate the though without appreciating the gift.  LOL, I've had a few of those in my life.  I tend to lean towards things are useful as well as attractive.  Although everyone has a different view of attractive. I haven't had any complaints yet, so I think I'm on the right track!

 
This week should see some progress on the closet, hopefully all of the lining in, and a few of these towels done.  I'm starting early, just in case life gets in the way!  With school starting up, so is everything else!!