katia maria and nate

and a yet to be named forth one

I am not complaining

after having watched the news this morning

there is nothing for me to complain about

it's raining

in fact it's pouring

it's all going towards the lake

which is at the bottom of a small slope

if you look closely you can see the ducks on the dock

they aren't happy either

!!!

the water is beginning to pool in areas

but it's all below us

and there isn't enough water in the sky to fill the lake to our level

she said boldly and confidently

never!!!

 I will not complain

and I'm not

I'm grateful we live at the top of a slope

that we don't have a basement

or a river running beside us

my children don't either

so they are safe

but they have to go out in this weather and contend

with the torrential downpours

I wish you could hear it right this moment

like a  thousand drummers on the roof

all those people who have finally finished with Irene and that mess

now have this

and those that just got their power back

yes some have been without it for so long

the lights went out again last evening

some are wondering

 if this is the chickens coming home to roost

if the cows are coming home

if what went around is coming around

if this is indeed

Karma

we all know what we say about

Karma

...

it's a bitch and there isn't much we can do about it

!!!!!

so that's it

 it's raining and there isn't a damn thing we can do

 ......................................................................................................................

well, we can go out in it and buy some supplies

can't we?

we can hope that all the biscuits have gone

that the juice is in need of replenishing

and there is only one tea bag left

we can hope the cat has eaten all her food

and needs fresh water

(she drinks distilled so we have to buy it!!)

we can hope that the husband needs something

yesterday

and he is willing to drive through puddles and downpours

with a smile on his face

we can hope that can't we

and

and

and

when he tells you he needs to go and look for some shoes

you can just pretend that all the hoping and scheming was never done

and you can get your shoes and socks on in record time

and with brolly in hand

actually two brollies in two hands

run to the car

quick as a bunny

and

 feel happy to be skipping through the puddles on your way to the useless craft store

that just happens to be right next door to the

shoe store

!!!!

and they have new colours that make all gloomy thoughts of the rain go away

and when you get to the shoe store

they have no shoes fit to wear

heels as high as an elephant's eye

or so heavy you's need an elephant to help you pick up your feet

(who in the hell makes shoes these days...someone who doesn't wear them no doubt!!!)

and then the husband decides he needs new

"delicates"

so off you go to the

more for less store

 which is also right there

and what do you see

that you can't live without one second more

a little stack of bumpy dotty plates on a little plate stacker

and you pick them up and go and find the man who

kneeds knickers

but there are no knickers to be found

why you ask

it's back to school time is the answer

 and all the knickers have been bought up

and the

socks and t-shirts too

well who knew

we didn't

all the chillun have new knickers but the men have to make do?

oh no not this man

there is one more store that sells these necessaries

so we go there too

this was turning out to be quite the little

outing

and not a can of cat food had been bought yet

 :) :) :)

so one more store

high hopes

as we slid and tripped on the too- shiny- for- wet- shoes- floor

they had knickers and shirts and socks

oh my

and they also

more importantly

had these

on sale

50% off

look how they match the table mat

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and the berries on the pots

:) :) :)

 so ......................

with a very pretty table in the immediate future

if I do say so myself

cans of cat food

knew knickers

and some

happy colours

home I came

feeling much better

(see retail therapy strikes again)

and within no time I had a couple more

pretty coasters

with different edges

now to make something sweet and cute to put on

a little stack of bumpy dotty plates on a little plate stacker

oh goody it's time for tea so I'm off people

hope you are all  dry

and that if you aren't you are safe and with those you love

and if you are in the dry places

maybe some of the water will fall on you soon

here's hoping

:)

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

and

 to someone really

special

and

sweet

today is

Andi's

Birthday

so those of you who know her

go say

Happy Happy

and to those of you who don't

go anyway

you'll love it

have a merry old time

love

and hope the water comes soon

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥



another toot...

heeelloooo  peoples

(I wish I could remember who said that

 I thought it was cute so I annoyingly use it now)

how are you?

don't ask

I'm grumpy 'cause it's friggin' raining again and it's not going to stop for a few days

so I feel like I have an elephant sitting on my head and that makes me grumpy

:) :) :)

but I'm good

as they say

I'm well too

:) :) :)

so what to do

nothing

can't do anything about it

I've been trying to catch up on things

and then I remembered someone asked for the pattern for the cotton coasters I made in the

SPRING

remember that

when we had all those plans

and all that

enthusiasm

now it's a distant memory

and

AUTUMN

is staring us in the face

time

flies

did you have fun

hope so!!!!

so if you want to know how to do the coasters
maybe in fall colours now
it's at the top of the page
hope it works and that you can try them
I found them on
Pinterest and thought it a
hoot
:) :) :)

thought I would show you that those little flowers can be made into

hex's

if you add on to them

love taking close ups of the stitches

there is something magical

 the way a long piece of "string"

can be manipulated like this

sorry it's the elephant on my head talking

:) :) :) :) 

if joined together they can be a pillow top
a bag
or a blanket
or the edge of a blanket as I think a whole blanket of these would be rather too much
but each to her own...
it's a good stash buster too as those popcorns take a lot of yarn
so if you need to get rid of
make popcorns
lots and lots of them


mmmmmmmmmmmmm
popcorn
!!!!!!!

forbidden flower!!!

I use US terms because I don't know anything else

use whatever yarn you choose and the hook that goes with it

I used a big hook so the stitches showed up

sorry about the lousy lighting

but we don't have any today

ok here we go

this is not my design or invention or creation

it is a flower made with the

popcorn stitch

plain and simple

if you want to add petals you can

just make more sc in the beginning

this is for a

6 petal flower

:)

make a magic loop

or ch 4 and make a loop

make 6 sc in loop

if keeping same colour don't

fasten off

if not

fasten off!!

join new colour

ch 3 counts as first dc and make 4 more dc in same place

you will have 5 dc

(first petal)

take the hook out of the yarn

and put the hook in the top of the first dc

put the hook back in the loop of the last stitch made

and

pull the yarn through

and the stitches will scrunch up together

and you have your first

popcorn

!!!

ch 1

and in the next sc in the beginning loop

make 5 dc again

repeat

take out the hook put it in the top of the first dc and pull the loop through

do this in all the sc in the centre

you should have 6 popcorn's at the end!!

and soon you will have

a popcorn flower of you very own

if you make trebles instead of the doubles

your flower will be a little bigger and floppier

you can even add stitches to the petals if you want and make them bigger

 it's fun and easy  to make them

use them for embellishments or join them all together and make something cute

like a necklace or on the end of a plain scarf

or in a pattern as on a pillow

I'm going to try that

some day

:)

this is the wrong side and you can see it's quite a thick little thing

squishy and squashy and puffy too

hope you try it and if there is something wrong with the pattern

please say so and I'll fix it

enjoy

:)

xxx

watcha doin' wednesday?!!!

I am still looking

with chin on table

at the photos and videos of the destruction

caused by that

storm

now to add insult to injury

I got an e-mail from a friend

whose husband is a linesman

(he works on the power lines)

who has come up to the area to help get the power back on

and he and his co-workers are running into trouble with the locals

and having to stay in flea bag motels and pay the tolls on the way up

and now the men are

not sending them out on jobs or being very co-operative

the unions are stopping the jobs from being shared or given out

and the power isn't being turned on

I don't know what state he is in

or I would say

so if you were there you'd know

and maybe do something about it

what a way to treat people who have come to help

the power companies here are the pits

not ours...ours is the best ever

but the big ones further north

always down always making excuses and always late

it's a shame and a disgrace

:{

I had all those plans to make doilies while the wind roared

but it didn't turn out that way

something was off and I coudn't do it

one of them was tiny and completely useless so

it got frogged

and the other one I showed you

maybe had a mistake in the pattern because no matter how many times I tried a certain row

it was off

 so I

frogged it

and turned to this  new block that  I showed  the link to

much easier

faster

and

prettier

:)

and I found some extra balls of white cotton

so I whipped up a new table mat

like one I made a while ago and sent to someone

which I had forgotten about

 and searched hi and lo for

isn't it nice to be able to just make something you want

and not have to wait to go out to buy it

or order it online and wait

I think it is!!!

:}

and this is to say that I got a note from someone today asking me to stop identifying them or saying how they are made

as this person wants to sell a pattern for them

I don't understand this

 as this is a stitch

that has existed for a long time and no one knows the first maker of it

and if you make it in a certain way

you get a

flower

we all know this

we all can make this

and if you string them all together

all sorts of things can be made with them

so why should I not say what they are

it's still a matter of who owns what I guess and I don't want to get into a mess over it

so the fact that my description was removed

is all that I'll say about it

but I can show you them and tell you what they are

here

on my blog

if I want to

and if you want to know what they are and know how to make them

ask me

and I'll tell you and show you

for free.

:)x

don't you find this pattern interesting and think it would make a great pillow or blanket or hat

?????

:) :) :)

I do and I bought it because I saw the pattern in yarn

wonder how one would go about figuring it out

neat huh!!!???

I cleaned the kitchen yesterday and sorted things out and washed them all

some by hand and some in the

dishwasher...I changed the table cloth and djzzujjed up the planter

found the fake berries and stuck them in there

love

djzzujjing

sister how do you spell it?

:)

while I was browsing through

pinterest

and yes wasting time because I didn't want to put the big mess I had made back

and I was waiting for the dryer to finish and the dishwasher

you know the feeling

anyway

I came across a beautiful turquoise lamp base that has been

drawn on so I just happened to have my sharpie's handy because the husband needed one the other day

and grabbed a jar

and doodled

I didn't know you could draw on glass with

sharpies

did you 

?

well now we do

so if you have a sharpie and an old jar hanging around

give it a try

it's really neat

useless

but

neat

all the same

link to the real one



I'm trying...

BUT...

link

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

also shouldn't look at this either

omg

I'll be around

trying really hard to do what needs to be done

but

.........................................................