My new Fall wardrobe....................from the Thrift Store! LOL!

A nice corduroy blouse....I LOVE me some corduroy!  And flowers too....looks like those wonderful English flower prints.  I paid no more than $3.00 each for all the clothes I am showing you....a total of $27.00 for my Fall wardrobe!  Below is a soft flannel blouse............love the red!

2 pairs of soft knit slacks with pockets (I have to have pockets!)

These are more summery but it will be warm for awhile yet....they're cotton...

These are 2 blouses that need to be ironed and then a knit one on the top.....

There you have it!  It may not be glamorous but for $27.00 it works for me! LOL!  Hope you had a great Monday!

Once more with feeling.........or should I say pictures! LOL!

I missed last weeks update because I ran out of Google storage and by the time I figured it out and had to "pay the piper" for more storage it was Monday and I figured I would just skip last week and wait until today.  I haven't gotten  much done anyway this week as it was "catch up" from all the time spent watching the Olympics and also it has cooled off and I 'm able to get outside finally and get some chores done out there.  Plus, I am really moving forward on my "moving" project and I've been spending time going through audio tapes, vcr tapes and dvd's and cd's and except for the cd's they are all cleaned and packed away in plastic bins which has left me bookcase real estate which I can always use!  So, yes, the cleaning and organizing bug has hit and I have run with it as it doesn't affect me very often! LOL!
But I did mange to get a few things accomplished on the YOP list and with football looming on the horizon I will be getting more done soon. 
Ok, the table runner is finished...I'm sure your tired of hearing about it and looking at it....I know, I'm slow.

Next up is my felted wool applique quilt blocks which was a WIP when I joined the YOP so I thought I would catch you up to date..........these are the blocks that are done so far.......

There they are...10 blocks done....2 more to go plus the border which is all appliqued too and embroidered.
I did get the next block prepped and cut out.........leaves....just in time for Fall!

I also started and almost finished  (I need to measure and weave in ends but I'm pretty sure it's done) potholder of the double thick variety.  I love this pattern and will be using it again.  It is nice and thick and easy to crochet once you get the gist of it.  After that no pattern needed but the pattern does have plenty of pictures to get you started.

It really is more square than it looks in the picture....honest! LOL!
As for my knitted bathmat,  I haven't worked on it but need to and hopefully this week and also I need to start up the socks again but with the weather so great and so many outdoor projects they may have to wait until Winter....we'll see.  Now, I'm off to see what you all have been accomplishing and also to get re-motivated for the week ahead!  Have a great week everyone!  For the rest of my blogging friends, I'll talk to you again tomorrow!  Enjoy this day of R' n R'!

Finished a couple books this week...................

 

I was really looking forward to this book as I was under the impression it was about "women" farmers but although interesting,  it was all farmers out West (I should have known as the forward was by Mary Jane' s Farm founder and she lives out West).  It was good but most of these women were married so they had a partner and I was really looking to read about women doing it on their own not to take away from the fact that I'm sure they work hard!  There were a couple single gals but I really felt like with the high percentage of women farming these days that it wouldn't have been that hard to find "women" farmers doing it on their own without a man in the background.  I know there have been several in MJ's magazine.  But it was interesting never the less just not what I expected.

The book below was a joke!  I can't remember where I heard about it but it sounded great...a life reinvented as that's what mine is since I retired and it was about a woman who retired from being a librarian for years.

   First of all I thought it was non-fiction but it was fiction but there was no plot, no story just this woman talking about her day-to-day life of travel and arrogance and throwing names around in foreign languages.  She even thought we would be interested what she had to eat at each meal.  It was by far the strangest book I have ever read but I kept thinking it would "kick in" any minute and then it was over and I was sitting in shock that any publisher would touch it with a 10 foot pole!  I thought, it must have been self-published and sure enough......it was!  How did I get a hold of it?  I bought it but I do remember reading something about it or seeing it and again having a totally different impression and certainly didn't expect a self-published book and fiction which means there should be a basic story line of some sort?  I will be sure from now on to see recommendations from some major reviewers before I plunk my money down from now on!  No fool like an old fool! LOL! 
I hope you had a great week and a wonderful weekend ahead!  It's pre-season but it's football and I'm grateful especially having withdrawals from the Olympics....I'm a sports gal can you tell?

It must be my magnetic personality!

Well, it has been quite a week!  It started on Sunday when I couldn't load pictures because I ran out of storage for my blog.  I now pay $2.50 a month to blog so that's fixed.  Then we had a storm....1/4 inch of rain but the lightening hit my t.v. and now that's broke but no fires so that's good.  Then I had problems with my Dish satellite so I spent a day on the phone with them (ok, so not all day...but it felt like it!) then the next day they came out and installed a new Dish Satellite which took the afternoon.  By then, I needed to go to Walmart and get groceries and I've been behind ever since!  The storm woke me up the one night and so I was tired anyway....it was just one of those weeks or 3 days where I could not get anything done.  But hopefully, I'm back on track now and can blog and watch t.v. and get some needlework done too.  I haven't even touched it! BTW....yesterday they said it was cooler so I went outside and started doing some heavy duty landscaping and I thought I was going to have heat stroke!  I came in and it was 97!  They call that "cooler"?  Whoa Nellie!
  Below is my ugly landscaping!   I tried landscape fabric and that did NOT work so I am using newspaper which is more natural and hopefully by the time it "rots" I will have established a "no weed" zone.....most notable Bermuda Grass...one of the Top Ten most noxious weeds known to gardeners!  I would have never started this project had I known that....live and learn!  

 

Below is what I am dealing with......at least some of it died out with the drought.

 But I did manage to take 3 boxes of things to the Thrift Store and I picked up a few things too but not 3 boxes worth.  Mostly, it was my Fall wardrobe! LOL!
 This heavy duty basket.............I can always use good baskets!

 This wallpaper is vinyl and pre-pasted and only .99 a roll....I bought all they had as even if I don't use it as wallpaper it is great for lining drawers or even on table tops as it is vinyl and washable.  It looks like green ticking cloth. 

  I also got this cute little bowl/dish but after I got it home I could read the bottom and it had come with a candle in it at one time so I probably won't use it for baking or eating but it is cute for holding a candle.

That's all for now but I have lots to catch up on in telling you and also visiting and seeing what you all have been up too!  Have a great Thursday!

YOP Sunday Update..............

 

Well, the Olympics are ending tonight and maybe I'll get more done.  I thought I could get a lot of needlework done but I forgot I used up all my multi-tasking abilities when I was younger and now it seems I can only focus on one thing at a time else I mess up! LOL!

I do have an FO..........finally!  My crocheted table runner!

Well...I just got a message from Google that I have used my 1 GB of storage and I have to pay for more.  I went into Picasa and "deleted" a bunch or so I thought
but if I delete too much then there is no blog archive right?  Hmmmm.   I worked on deleting a bunch and kept logging off and back in but it still says I have no storage.  Does anyone know anything about this?  Have you other bloggers paid for storage or how did you manage this "turn of events"?  Until I figure this out I guess there won't be any pictures....sorry.  I hope you're having a better Sunday than I! LOL!

P.S.  I have Google blogspot blogger.

Nancy Jo gets the Gold in Gifting!!!!

Yes she does and here's why!  She even wrapped them!  And it's not my birthday or anything!

and wrote me a really sweet card...............(I'm the one on the right with the blonde hair and the walking stick because I have RA! LOL!)

 

I couldn't have said it better myself, Nancy Jo!

And look what all she sent me.....................a lavender sachet and BUTTONS!  Don't we love us some buttons!

A crochet book that has everything in it........pictures of all kinds of stitches with instructions (no excuses now!), edgings like I want to make and doilies..........it's a great book!

and 2 pamphlets with more patterns....which means more options!

 

yarn for my stash...boucle....I don't have any of this...it's gorgeous................

And 3 fantastic Crochet Today magazines...where have I been?  I've never seen these before....but they have the greatest projects in them....wonderful!

Thank you, Nancy Jo!  You get the Gold Medal in friendship and thoughtfulness too!  I'm going to try and be as good a friend so watch your mailbox!  Also, for the rest of you.....I will be having a drawing when I reach 100 followers and I think I have 91 so it won't be long now!  I'm excited!  Hope you're having a Super Saturday!

Oh, I am such a BAD BLOGGER!!!!

I apologize for not blogging the last couple days.  I am out of sync and it's because I keep thinking I can "do it all" but alas......as you can tell.........I cannot.  I've been preoccupied with the Olympics and when I wasn't I was doing mundane housekeeping that I really didn't think anyone would be very interested in.  But here's a posting which is still not very glamorous..........I'll get back on track once the Olympics are over....won't I???? 
I finally used some beautiful Crab Tree and Evelyn scented drawer paper I've had for years.  I was saving it....for what?  Lining my casket? LOL!  I've been cleaning while keeping my eyes on the t.v. and got to my Mother's dresser which I use for out of season clothes.  It's an old dresser and the drawers stick so I don't use it for every day....too much of a struggle but for out of season clothes it's perfect! 

 

  Isn't this the prettiest print?  Plus, it's scented with their "Summer" scent.  The box it came in is covered in the same paper....it's like 2 presents in one!  You betcha I saved the box! 

 I finally got my next block pattern traced and ironed onto the wool for the appliques.........

 

 Other than that I really haven't gotten anything "fun or glamorous" done.  

But.........I did get a wonderful present(s) in the mail from my blogging buddy Nancy Jo  which I will post about tomorrow!  You won't believe all the lovely things she sent me!  And I didn't even win a drawing!  she's just sweet and generous and I am blessed that she is my friend!  So, I promise to be a better blogger and tune in tomorrow to see what Nancy Jo sent me!  Woo Hoo!  Hope you had a great Friday!

 

An ode to cotton..........or at least praise!

These are dish towels....the ones on the left are over 30 years old and I'm still using them!  One has a little  hole but that's about it.  The ones on the right are about 6 months old and I found them at the Dollar General store for $2.00 each.  What do they have in common?  They're both made of 100% cotton!  The new ones are bigger than the older ones and I also bought dish cloths to match.  I buy a lot of things made with this wonderful fiber.  I have bath towels too that are very old.  The edges are frayed but the majority of the towel is still good.  If I was really fussy I guess I could hem the frayed edges but it doesn't bother me.
This a brief post from me today as this morning I had the annual termite inspection (not me personally but the house) and then I had to take Nitty for an allergy shot she was suffering terribly and the Benadryl just wasn't doing the trick.  The nice thing is that the shot lasts for 6-8 weeks.  I did manage to keep working on my bedroom this afernoon, did some laundry and got to see some Olympics.  I hope you had a great day!  Tomorrow is Wally World and Farmer's Market....busy, busy, busy!

Motivated Monday and the U.K. gets gold in equestrian and I got to see it!!!!!

I might as well just move to the U.K.   they seem to have everything I love....we have so much in common!  They have lovely places to walk everywhere it seems....they encourage and accommodate walking and hiking and they are very "equestrian oriented"!  In fact, I bet they got to see all the Olympic equestrian events!  Plus they have the perfect gardening weather there and I like tea and quaint and cozy.  I'm thinking the U.K. was made for me and my personality.  Hmmm.....I'll have to think about this....I have options!

Meanwhile, back here in the U.S., it was more cleaning and clearing events  and I'm not talking about horse jumps! LOL!

This quilt was on it's way to the Thrift Store when I happened to stop by a friends.  I unloaded her whole car into mine and saved her a trip! LOL!

It's too small for my bed so it must be a twin but it's okay for now but eventually it will be a chair cover.  It's a store quilt, nothing handmade or handed down which makes it more comfortable to use it in whatever way I wish...tablecloth, chair cover, picnic blanket....whatever.  It's colorful and I love it!  I changed all the linens and started dusting and cleaning counter-clockwise around my bedroom. 

Below is an appliqued tea towel that same friend made for me several years back for my birthday.  I use tea towels as dresser scarves, curtains...you name it.  The same goes for cloth napkins. 

I washed windows and hung clean curtains....cloth napkins that I bought at a sale for cheap.  The one thing I like about my Pella crank style windows is that the screens clip in and out from the inside and once I take the screen down and open the window full out, I can wash both sides of the window from inside the house!  Pretty convenient and it's so convenient I tend to wash my windows more often than I ever have with other windows. In addition, I use Invisible Glass window cleaner....no streaks!   I got those clip curtain rings at Target years ago and I use tension rods so no hardware to install and I can adjust the height depending on the cloth I am hanging....easy, peasy!   I'm moving so I am not doing much permanent other than important stuff like the new roof, ac and furnace etc.   

I have more to do but the catalog below came in the mail and I think I may need to take a break now and take a peek! LOL!  Have you ever gotten this catalog?  It's The Stitchery  It is mostly cross stitch and needlepoint and embroidery but lovely, lovely things!  They even have a few clothes and jewelry and now, paint-by-number.  Paint-by-number paintings are really popular in vintage collecting and decorating right now.

They have a website where you can shop online and/or request a catalog just click on the link/name above to check it out.  

I hope you're having a great Monday and I apologize for not visiting and getting around like I usually do.  Hopefully, I'll improve after the Olympics....plus I really do need to get this house on the market!  Once it's sold and I'm moved I will be a better blog friend...I promise! 

Ravelry YOP Update...........

 

Below is my bathmat which is nearly done as the center is finished and I am now working on the edge which will only be about 4 or 5 inches more of knitting.  I shouldn't say "only" as a lot could go wrong between now and then! LOL!  

 

  I did a few more rows of crochet on my Granny Stripe table runner and of course I try not to let the "ends" get away from me so I only do a few rows and then I weave in the ends.  

 The most I did on my wool applique  was to gather the wool for the next block! LOL!  Only 2 blocks to go and then the appliqued and embroidered binding/edging that goes all around it.  

Hope you're having a great Sunday and guess what????  I FINALLY got to see some equestrian on the Olympics today!  YES!!!!!   

Does she get a spot on the housecleaning podium? YES!!!!!

First, I promised you the English Melting Biscuit recipe and I'm sorry I didn't have it out there yesterday.

English Melting Biscuits
---------------------------
yield: 24 biscuits

1/2 cup soft butter
3/8 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tbs corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375, grease cookie sheets (I use parchment paper)
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg yolk and vanilla extract.  Sift together flour, cornstarch, and salt; stir into butter mixture.  Shape dough into 20 to 24 balls about 1/2 inch in diameter.  Roll each ball in the oats and place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool on wire rack.  Store in airtight container.

Now, onto the present.   I spent the day in my bathroom.  No, I wasn't sick, thank goodness!  I was cleaning...Olympic style!  I scrubbed everything!  I even washed the windows and hung some clean curtains, wiped down cobwebs (yes, there were some).  Washed everything in my little hutch which means taking everything out of it...little bottles and supplies and put it all back.  I vacuumed and scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees and I think I qualified for the final heat which is my bedroom! LOL!

 See the little embroidery of a squirrel hanging above the heater?  Nancy Jo  sent that to me a few years ago.  she was one of my first "blogging buddies" and still is.  I have yet to return the favor but I am going to!  I have ideas brewing in my head!  Nancy Jo does beautiful embroidery work.  I love that little squirrel!

  I know...I need a shower curtain but I never take showers only baths so there it sits....naked!  This bathroom is my bathroom and is in my bedroom. 

There is the Queen's throne! LOL!

There we go...all nice and clean!  I'm not sure it should have taken me all day but it is REALLY clean....top to bottom!

I think watching all the Olympics really motivated me!  Watching all those people being physical I just couldn't sit and watch t.v. anymore.  I had to get up and participate but I kept the t.v. on in my bedroom so I didn't really miss anything.  I hope you had a great Saturday!

What's in your wallet? I mean closet...........

Today I finished the center of my knitted bath mat...................

 Loaded up the "clean" closet in the guest room with a container of pictures, rugs, lampshades, ironing in the basket and a container of videos. 

On the other side the shelf has my canning equipment and some canning jars and more rugs......

This may not be their permanent residence but for now it's a good place for them.  I now have 3 boxes in the car for the Thrift Store and a garbage bag full that went out today.   What a great feeling!  I think I get a gold medal for that don't I?
On the floor of the closet are 2 bed frames, that I can't hook up by myself but are going with me when I  move and 2 mirrors that I may still hang but probably will not go with me.

I also made another Olympic dessert.........English Melting Biscuits with U.S.A. colors on them! LOL!  You're supposed to roll them in oats but I did the red, white and blue stars instead......

until I ran out of them...........then I used oats

I might have gotten them a little brown but I taste tested them and they were DELISH!!!!

I know why they call them melting biscuits now.....they melt in your mouth they're so good! 
I'll post the recipe tomorrow....the Olympics are on now!   Gotta run...okay, gotta go sit in my easy chair! LOL!  Go team U.S.A.!  Best of luck to all Olympians....even the armchair ones.  Hope you had a great Thursday!