Thrift Store Finds, and Apple Pie

I went to the Salvation Army a couple days ago. I went there specifically to find some cheap t-shirts to make into tank tops like ones I saw on Pinterest. :D I pinned it, but thats the link to the website. It's starting to get super hot here; and I wanted some new tops (inexpensive), just for everyday..

I thought I would look at dresses, too. I have been trying to dress more *girly* lately. Dresses seem to be in this year. I almost didn't get this one, because it's purple. Not my favorite color. But, it was half off. So.

But I really like this one. So I got it. :D It may be my new favorite dress. I paid "full price" for this one, $8. Still not bad; when  you think how much it would be at the store it came from (I think it is a Target brand).

Then while I was waiting for Eon to look at stuff, I got this photo album - which looks brand new, for $1.50. And seven cards and envelopes for 10 cents each. Boo Yah. :P  I got the Thank You card for Evan, to send to someone for a wedding present they sent him. (That's a long story..) It was my husbands' Aunt. She lives in Canada at a monastery (sp?). She is a little strange...  Anyway. She sent them (Evan and Jayce) a wedding present (to me, since I didn't know his address, since he had moved again). She sent two pictures of Jesus. Not the wedding present a new (super young) bride and groom are probably looking to get.. But...  I still think he (they) should send a thank you card. And, she keeps asking me about it. So. That's the story behind the Thank You card. (I know you were wondering, and weren't going to be able to sleep tonight unless I told you. Lol..)

Then after I paid, on the way out, Eon said "Mom, look."  It was a skateboard. I said :O. Do you want it?! He has been wanting a skateboard for a long time. I didn't want to buy him one (cuz I worry myself to death..) But I promised him I would get him one if he brought up his grade in math. (An F, on his progress report.. Ahem..)  And, he *did* bring it up. To a C. :/  Thing is, though; all of his other grades dropped. To a C or B. :/  I won't get into that.  I asked him if he wanted it still. He said no, since I had already checked out. I said "Too bad, I'm buying it for you." ;)  I think he really likes it. (He;s actually smiling, big clue there..)  :D  I just hope we don't end up in the ER... (Sigh.)  He *will* be wearing his helmet, knee pads and elbow pads when riding it. And bubble wrap. Lol!

These are the apples from our tree this year. (Sigh...) But. Last year our apple tree only got ONE apple. So...  I was actually happy it got apples this year. I saw the rotten one, and I picked it off. Then I started looking at the other apples, and picked them. I had been wanting to make a pie with apples from our own apple tree. So...

I did.  I didn't use that rotten apple though. (Yuck.) A couple of them, I had to cut pieces off that were starting to go, too. And, I had to use two apples from the store to get enough. But... There's my pie. It's long gone. :P  I don't think I've ever made an apple pie before. I've made all kinds of other pies. Pumpkin (my favorite), Key Lime, rhubarb, custard (pumpkin pie in that post, too)..  Now apple.  Oh, and I saved the seeds from all the apples. I'm going to try and grow more apple trees. :D

I don't know if I ever posted this yarn that Sue (one of my pen pals from NM) sent me? She sent me five skeins. I LOVE this yarn!! The reason I have three pictured is because in the other two skeins, the "coral" color is more of a light pink. So I am going to try and see if three will be enough, to crochet the Grove Park Tank by Robyn Chacula.   

I tried to wind one of the skeins previously. I didn't know how it got to be such a tangled mess. (I had it in a special place, it wasn't getting moved around..)  So I unwound another skein and thought I would try again. Well as careful as I was, that one got all tangled up, too.

It took me two hours to wind it, but... I did it. :P    I started on the first one again, too. That one still isn't finished. I realized that it still had some of the ties in it. It's knotted and tied in a few places, and I hadn't taken those off. That was one of the reasons it might have been so hard to wind. (Duh... :P)   I actually started a tank, in a size medium. Had to frog it and am going to start with a size E hook and make the small, I think. (I was using an E hook, and it still came out way too big.) I will need to get a contrasting color for the collar. But I still wanted to start it. 
I have the fabric ironed and ready to cut out for the purse lining for my Mom's bag. I need to work on that. (Sigh..) 

I got another hanging pot of flowers last week. I was thinking about getting a pot of red, a pot of white, and seeing if I could find any blue ones. For the 4th of July. But I couldn't find hardly any. Then I saw the red, white, and blue beads on this one. So I decided to get it. (And, its a third of the cost of what I was thinking... Lol. Which would have been way too much money, anyway.) 

Here are my flowers I had already. And our wind chime we bought in Colorado for summer vacation last year. And Jubba. :P

I don't know if I ever posted a picture of the latest bloom on my prickly pear cactus? It had a flower when I bought it. Then it got another one just recently. It only lasted about one day. It was so pretty, though. I think I finally decided where to plant this. In the back yard, in between the two yucca plants. Out a ways, though. Since they get really big.. 

Bloomin' Bag Progress

I took this picture last night. I actually have one strap almost finished, too. :D  Hopefully it won't take me forever to do the lining. I already have the bottom "pattern" piece cut out.  I have the fabric washed and dried, just need to iron it and cut it out..  It's a different size from my Bloomin' Bag, so the measurements I have written down aren't any good. :(  I'll have to figure this one out from square one.   I haven't been feeling well the last two days (stomach, like usual...)  I feel a little better today than I did yesterday.  We went and looked at a house for rent last night. It had almost all the things I want in a house: 3 bedrom, 2 bath. Fenced in back yard (for Jetta)..   But.. we weren't impressed. (Tiles in the kitchen were cracked, a lot of stuff is outdated.) I told my husband, "If we're going to move again, I want to upgrade." (Not have some of the same problems we already have in this house..)  :/   I doubt we will ever find a decent house in this town. Unless we build it ourselves. (But I don't want to stay here, so... Not going to invest in that..) 

Fathers Day

I hope everyone had a nice Fathers Day. We didn't do much. I made French Toast Bake the night before, for Fathers Day breakfast. I was thinking about making Blueberry Stuffed French Toast, which I made last Fathers Day. But I didn't want to make the blueberry syrup. Plus it is really sweet, and really rich. My husband said he likes this kind better. I think I do, too.

Lookie what I got in the mail a few days ago!! Home roasted coffee beans from one of my pen pals, Linda. :D They smell soo good. My husband kept asking me where I got it, where can we buy it?..  I said you can't. Someone roasted them for us. :)    We have two coffee bean grinders. I think I got them both from my SIL, when we were first married. And we have three coffee pot/makers, but none of them work very well. Actually we only have two. My husband was trying to fix the one we were using, yesterday. I noticed it was leaking. He finally figured out where it was leaking from and tried to soder it. But it didn't work. :/ So now we have two. Trying to keep them going..  :P   Save a few bucks. I also cut my own bangs this morning. Didn't do too bad. It's summer time, so..  :)   
I have been working on my Mom's Everbloom Bag (the last picture of this post). I am on the last few rows. I think I want to crochet myself another bag, when I'm done. For Fourth of July.

Newborn Sweater Set

Finally, some crocheting! :D  I feel like I am always crocheting, but I never get anything done. But I actually finished something, this morning while waiting on the phone scheduling annual doctors appointments for the kids. (Scheduled my mammogram, and Eons' cardiologist appointment too. Glad that's done.) I have been watching "Call The Midwife", recently; on Netflix, and online. :P One of my penpals got me hooked on it. :)  Somehow I found myself wanting to crochet and knit baby things. (Hmmm..)   This set is a bunch of different patterns, the sweater is the Little Darling Newborn Cardigan pattern by Laura Tegg. It's a free Ravelry download. The hat is the SLK baby hat by Susan L Kraus. And the booties are the Roll-Tops bootie pattern by Hayley Missingham, also a free Ravelry download. I put this in my pile of stuff to send to the hospital on Pine Ridge (when the weather starts getting cooler). I figure I will have a good collection by then, if I keep watching Call the Midwife. :P

It's Summer Vacation

And, I'm still baking... Will I ever learn? (Especially since it is over 100* outside?..) O.o I have been wanting to make these for a while. Another mom brought some in one Popcorn Friday, for Teacher Appreciation Week. I meant to try one, and for some reason I forgot. :/  I was so bummed when I realized I forgot to try one. I had never heard of them before. So I googled when I got home, and found a yummy recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars; that I finally tried a couple days ago. They are better than I thought they would be. They are really rich. I didn't use a mixer, I cut the butter in with two knives (like for biscuit dough, you know).

My prickly pear cactus is blooming (again)! It had a flower on it when I first bought it. Then I noticed a couple days ago, a different looking "bud" (?) on it. It opened up today. So pretty. I need to plant that somewhere. I know it's going to get big, so that's why I haven't planted it. Don't really know where to put it.. In the front yard, we back into the yard to turn around to pull out of the driveway. In the back yard, there aren't very many options because Jetta would destroy it with her tie out chain..  I kind of want a little "garden" (desert garden?) area. Maybe I'll do it over by the bird feeder.  I could just plant it right where it is. But I'm not sure if it would get too big. There's only so much space there, too..

This is Jetta... doing what she does best (bring me her ball... constantly..)  "Play with me, Mama..." Excuse my mess on the table. I have been going through pictures to put in an album. (Sigh...)  I have way too many pictures. I'm trying to put an album together for our oldest son, Evan. I don't like the album I bought, it has three slots to put pictures in. Well I don't know where to put all his school pictures? I might have to get a different album...  One of my things on my list to do for summer vacation.

A picture of the sunset the other night.  Of course I didn't capture it, it was so pretty.

Baking... It's No Wonder I Can't Lose Weight :(

I have been baking quite a bit lately. I saw a yummy looking Chocolate Banana Bread Recipe and had to try it. I have actually made this twice (I get one of these loaves, plus a mini one out of the recipe). And I made regular banana bread one day, too.

Last week I made two pumpkin pies. The crusts came out really good; probably the best I've ever made. I don't know what I did right. Because I used the same recipe and did everything the same with my custard pie, and it didn't turn out so well. :(

My sad, sad custard pie...  :(  I did everything the recipe said to do. I par-baked the crust for 10 minutes, then put an egg wash on it (to seal it), then baked it for five minutes more. Stuck it in the fridge. Made the filling. Everything seemed perfect until it was done baking. :(  I think maybe I baked it too long. But it wouldn't cook and looked like soup to me. So I baked it for an hour. I've done that with pumpkin pies and they come out perfect.

It looked yummy; and it tastes all right, but it's a bit "eggy". The kids and I didn't really like it too much. I asked them what they thought. The teenager just shrugged his shoulders. The ten year old said it tasted weird.  My husband said he liked it. (He's just being nice..) ;)   Well there's only two pieces left, so they must have liked it enough to eat it. :P

I burned my hand, too. :(  I try to be super careful every time. But.. I failed. It doesn't hurt anymore. It hurt for a couple/few hours and that was it. I put Vitamin E on it right away. Maybe that helped. This morning it looked the worst, had a big blister on it. But it didn't hurt. And it looks better now. Will probably leave a scar, though.

I Guess I Didn't Get It Out Of My System Yet...

I crocheted another CO state flag/Broncos hat, this time. :P  I like this one even better, I think. (So did Eon~ and he tried to take it, the second he saw it.)  I was thinking about trying to sell this one... I don't know.

I also tweaked my "Piggy Bank" pattern, and made a Colorado Fund bank, out of a 28 ounce tomato sauce can. I told my husband "It's my Colorado fund, to save money to move back there." ;)  (I am definitely going to need a bigger can!! Lol)

I am crocheting a U of M hat now. Since I am from Michigan. Let's Go Blue! This might turn into a thing, making state/team hats. :P

In Case You Didn't Know...

I love Colorado. It's been over five years (almost six) since we lived there. I really miss it. Most of the time I try not to obsess about it. But... Sometimes it's hard. So I've been googling and pinning pictures of Colorado. Eon had a state project to do in class, for Social Studies. Each student picked five of their favorite states. Eon picked Colorado as his number one choice. (That's the reason they each had to choose five, in case someone else picked their favorite state first.) Well guess what?!! Eon got to pick first, somehow! So he got to do Colorado. I think I was about 200% more excited than he was. (Until we started to do the project.. But.. More about the project later.)  Anyway. I started googling more Colorado images...

I love this one. A little twist on the Colorado state flag, "I love Colorado".  :D  While I was googling images for Colorado state flag; I saw something someone had crocheted like the Colorado state flag. "WHAT?!... That's awesome!" (Why didn't I think of that?)  :)  And then I started looking on Ravelry, thinking there had to be more out there. :D And there is!! (Duh..)  rswanson's Colorado beanie. kmikwilliams' Colorado earflap hat. What? A knitted one, too? Denver Broncos hat, too. :D And so many other hats I have pinned.. 

I actually crocheted one myself, too. :D  Eon claimed it for himself as soon as he saw it. It would be cool if he could wear it while he was giving his Colorado presentation, but... I doubt the school will let him wear a hat.

Here's his state project. I had a hard time "letting" him do it himself. (Especially since he wasn't doing any of the work himself...) BUT. I had to back off. I had an idea to make it somehow look like a Colorado license plate. But...  I couldn't find any green poster board. :(  Then I thought, "The old license plates were red - so maybe it could still work."  I traced an outline of the mountain range, and tried to enlarge it..  But.... I somehow got it upside down and all mixed up. :(  I still think it came out all right. I let Eon do all the other stuff himself. I did help a lot, though. It was due Friday. But he ended up not doing his presentation, because they didn't have enough time. So he'll probably do his sometime this week.

Lookie what I made. A center pull ball of yarn. I have been wanting to wind my own yarn forever. But I never got around to doing it. (One of those things..)  I watched this video. :D (I love you tube..)  This yarn is for another Colorado hat I have in mind. :D

Happy Memorial Day!

What I Have Been Up To..

..besides not blogging. :P  I have just been so busy lately. I don't even have anything to show for it. But.. RL. You know? :) I made some homemade dog treats for Jetta. I have been baking more lately. I wasn't sure if I should even bother making homemade treats for her. Our last dog, (well, our last dog we had for any length of time) Sunny; didn't like homemade treats that well. But... Jetta likes almost anything if I give it to her. :P So.. I thought I would try. I *tested* to see if she liked peanut butter. (Sunny didn't, if I remember right..) She liked it. :P  So, I made some Peanut Butter Puppy Poppers. :D She likes them.  In fact, I think she might even love them. A couple days ago I had been gone for a while. When I came back, I asked her if she wanted a cookie. I got them out of the fridge and when I went to give it to her, she was smiling the biggest I have ever seen her smile. It was so cute.  This is the site I got that recipe off of: Bullwrinkle Recipes.  

The finished dog treats. I got a "dog bone" cookie cutter a few years ago (for Sunny when I made her treats). So it came in handy for these. Who's a spoiled puppy?..  :P 

I have started doing more volunteering in Eons' school again. I used to at his old school. But... I really got burned out. I didn't feel appreciated at all there. Long story. But, a couple months ago Eons' teacher called me and asked if I would like to go on a field trip with them. I had been thinking about getting back into volunteering, but I wasn't sure. Well, this decided it for me, I guess. :P  We went to a Children's Museum.  I think the kids had fun. (I was busy chasing four boys around all day..) This is a (cartoon) picture of Eon and his BF on the bus ride there. (It was a long ride.)

I think Eon had way more fun than he let on. :) 

Then, that Friday was "Bring Your Parent to Lunch Day".  Only I went this year. (My husband and I both went last year).

Some artwork was hung in the hallways. They made masks in Art Class. Eons' mask is on the right. :)

...And, now I am an "official" volunteer. I do Popcorn Fridays. Yesterday was the last Friday of the year (well, for Popcorn Fridays, it was.)  The other volunteer is moving out of the school district, so now it will be me and one other volunteer (Friday was her first time), and maybe one other person. I don't know for sure. I keep hoping (kind of?) that maybe this will lead to a real job...  :D  I've been thinking about going back to work. I would like to just part time, but..  I think a job at a school would be perfect, then I wouldn't have to worry about finding a babysitter during the summer months, or school breaks.  There hasn't been any job listings (I would qualify for) yet. But.  Who knows.

I have also been doing a little crocheting. I dug my Mom's purse out that I had started for her. It's the Bloomin Bag, by Cathy Phillips (it's a free Ravelry download). I don't know why, but it is taking me forever. I'm actually farther along than this, but still..  Maybe I will get to work on it some more over the three day weekend.
 

A Boring Blog Post About Fixing Zippers...

... and some other stuff, too. Like this card I made yesterday.  I saw the cutest idea on Pinterest for a Paint Strip Sample thank you card made with a dragonfly punch. Well, I don't have a dragonfly punch, so I used a small butterfly one I have. And I just kept adding to it..  I think it came out cute. The original site for the pin is from an instagram picture: Dragonfly Paint Strip Sample card.  I have; since I made this card, ordered a dragonfly punch. Because I have been wanting one, anyway. I think this is a really cute card you could do a lot of different things with, too; so...  :)

And I folded my note into a heart. :P  I'm feeling so crafty lately.. Tee hee. I found a video on You Tube and had to try it: How to fold a note into a heart. I think it came out cute.

Eon's zipper on his (otherwise almost brand new) back pack broke a few months ago. The zipper was okay, the pull part had just come off (and I have no idea where it went to..). So he wasn't able to zip it up at all. He had been using his old back pack until we could get him a new one (which only had one strap, and the back part was ripped). Well I hot glued that together, so the only thing wrong with it was it only had one strap (and was really old/beat up). But... he said it was falling apart, and had been complaining about it. And, since I really didn't want to waste money on a new back pack, when his red one was just fine (except the zipper); I kept thinking maybe I could fix the zipper. Or at least try..  So after googling how to fix zippers, and watching some You Tube videos (I love You Tube, Lol..) on how to fix zippers, (that was the first one I watched) and different zipper types, etc, and how to reattach your zipper pull (these last two were the most helpful); I eventually tried cutting the zipper part out of the old back pack and hubby got the pull off. Both back packs have similar sized (I couldn't tell for sure, because I could't find any numbers, and I didn't measure them; but they looked similar in size) zippers. I was hoping they were the same... So I ripped the very end off of the zipper (I could sew it back in later) and sat there for 45 minutes trying to get that pull back on. Well when I asked my husband (maybe I just wasn't strong enough to yank it up?- I was using needle nosed pliers and everything..), he got it on in less than three minutes. :(  I was actually happy, but bummed that my husband is better at it than I am. After weeks of watching you tube videos, and finally trying to do it.. Turned out I was trying to put the pull on upside down. Lol! But.. between both of us, we were able to fix the zipper. I told my husband, "Thank you for fixing it for me, now I don't have to go waste your money on a new back pack for Eon." :P

...Ta da..    You can barely tell (except the zipper pull has a blue string on it :P). I sewed the ziper back down into the back pack, and changed the thread to sew it into the grey part, too.  I just told Eon, "Don't zip it all the way down."  (Sigh... He will probably forget.)

I also patched up this bottom area. It had a couple little rips. So I ironed on a patch into the bottom of the back pack. Yay... This will definitely last him until the end of the school year. Who knows, maybe even all of next year. :D 

For my little business man, Eon..Another office supply item. :P  He had been looking at similar ones. I got him this one (because it was cheaper than the one he had been looking at), and  because it has the clip on the top for a notebook.

Pillowcases and Baby Quilts I Never Finished... :(

A friend of mine from high school (we "found" each other on facebook via another mutual friend) is a Foster Mom. She is doing a pillowcase project for all the foster kids they get in. She posted on fb for help. Since I recently got into making pillowcases, I said I will make some. :D  I tried a new pattern, using only two fabrics. It's so much easier. I used the pattern/tutorial from the Missouri Quilt Company for the three fabric pillowcases, and then found the two fabric pattern after going to the all people quitl one million pillowcase website. I think they are sisters. ?  Anyway, that reminds me I need to enter these on that site. Lol.  I wanted to do more pillowcases, but...  All that cute fabric starts adding up. And I could tell my hubby was wondering what I kept spending money on. :/  I might do some more, but maybe not ten. (Shipping was expensive, too.)   :(  Eon helped me pick out some of the fabric. The Toy Story and Cars pillowcase fabric, he said "You should use this one. Little kids would like it." ;P  ("Little kids", lol...)

When I was going through my tubs of fabric looking for more fabric I might possibly be able to use, I found two baby quilts I had started; and I got them out. This one I actually started for Eon. :(  He's ten years old now... (sigh..)  I didn't have much selection for fabric back then. I think I might have run out of variety, or something. I see one of my husbands' old work shirts. (The striped fabric on the very bottom of the bottom square.) A piece of fabric I used from a little kids rocking chair I "refinished" for Evan when he was two years old- painted and re"upholstered" the seat. :P   I was using the pattern from the book that is next to it..

Can you tell a little better now?... (The one in the crib.) I did Eons' room in a sage green and butter cup yellow.

It was in this book, "P.S. I Love You Two".

And I found all these pieces that I am almost positive I started when Evan was little, or maybe even before he was born? I know I used fabric from a quilt I made for my cousins' baby (who is a year older than Evan), in some of these pieces. I also know I sent a BUNCH of these to someone I read about in a magazine. (I never got a thank you, or even found out if they got to her, either.. :/  Kind of sorry I even sent them.) Oh well...   I have no idea who I could finish these for, except to send to Pine Ridge.   I don't remember where I got the pattern for this, probably from one of my quilting books. I will have to look. I think it's called "Flying Geese", though. :)      I finally got a window bird feeder, I am so happy. I put it on my window outside my craft room. And I love to see the birds come to it while I sew. :)  I can't really see them very well on the feeder in the backyard. Which reminds me, I need more bird seed.. :P   

Okay, it was bugging me... so I went to look through my books, and it is called "Wild Goose Chase" in the book- "Quilts, Quilts, Quilts".  Look a sample of it is on the cover of that book. (It isn't on mine.)  :) That was one of the first quilting books I got. I think it was THE first one.  I sewed a log cabin quilt for Eli (I started it for Evan, though..) from that book. I'll have to dig it out and take a picture of it. He ripped a hole in it and gave it to me to fix. I will fix it... someday.