Farmer Chicky??

Today was a really good day. Went to some garage sales with PB (hubby), went out to lunch, came home and took a little nap.

We then went and dinked in the yard a bit. Now gardening and growing things really isn't my forte'. I've joked that if there's a plant I cannot kill - then that's the plant for me! All joking aside, it's the truth. My aunt had given me some hostas a couple years ago. I left them in the pots and watered them when I thought about (let me tell you - that wasn't often!). They stayed out all winter and in MI those things should have been dead by the time spring rolled around. They lived!! So after PB moved in and we got the back yard looking better than a weed haven I cut the hostas and planted them. Again, they lived!!


Before.....

After....

See that little terra cotta looking pot?? That thing was 2 leaves and a root. I "planted" and and figured if it died - it died, but if it lived - cool. It lived!! That was the hosta I cut up and planted today. AND I cut up some more pieced of it and got 4 more experiments and a pot with dirt and roots. Hey, if it grows - cool and if not than I've just been watering a pot with dirt.

The neighbors have a tree in their back yard that make those helicopters in the spring. Last year they ended up growing in the garage gutters. So as a joke I said that we should water the 'gutter trees'. Well PB picked up and ran with that idea and now we have 2 year old 'gutter trees'. I pulled some out from under the so called deck and planted those. Now my only question is how do I dig the other trees out of the gutters??

All hooked up

As I was looking over my stash tonight and rearranging my needles into a new tote purchased for just that reason, my husband looks over at me. I show him how nicely all my needles and such fit nicely in this new tote and how everything is now nicely organized. (This of course does not include the needles on various projects or those still sitting on the coffee table.) He comments on how I've got a few hundred dollars in knitting stuff. So?!? Is it really so bad to have most of the needles you may ever need for projects yet undetermined? Or to have yarn for projects that you think you want to make but don't have time to start because you should probably finish one of you (many) UFO's?

I was never a boy scout but I bet they'd be impressed with my ability to be prepared for nearly any knitting project that may arise.

**Disclaimer: However, said prepared-ness does not negate the need for further stash enhancement.

Sanity - what's that??

Now some would say that I've lost a little bit of rational thinking or that I've struck gold. My husband would fall into the laugh-at-me-while-shaking-his-head-saying-"That's my Chicky" category.

Here's the story -
I went to Meijers (a local supermarket) after work to get groceries and whatever else they had on sale this week that we needed. You see I'm one of those people who reads the Sunday paper for the ads as much as the paper-paper.

As it turns out they were having a sale of an additional 25% off their clearance stuff - including yarn. Hmmm.... now what's a good bargain loving chicky to do? Of course I headed over there to check it out! : )

I walked out of there with 6 skeins of Patons Classic Merino in Aran @ $2.02 a skein (that's for 223 yards each, folks!), 3 skeins of Bernats Denim Style in Batik@ $ .97 a skein (under a dollar!!), and 2 skeins of Lion Brand Landscapes in Rose Garden @ $2.25 a skein.

So you be the judge; yarn bargain genius or just plain wacko??

One of those....

Ever have one of those days?

Those days that you have a long list of things you have to do and even to some extent want to do. But as the day wears on.... and your mind wonders.... and your thoughts scatter.... It ends up that all you really want to do is find a good glass of wine, bad tv, and some needles and settle in to that comfy spot on the couch?

Well I'm there folks!

Have a good night....

Mom's Day or the day the rains left....

Happy mom's day to all out there.

I live in this town where our biggest claim to fame is the tulip. So this past week has been a blur of parades (yes, even in the rain), flowers, Dutch dancing, fair food and tourists. Generally, I try to avoid downtown during the week just because I've lived here all my life and I've seen enough of the lovely tulip to last me for a while. However, there is usually one night that I must venture out and savor all that is so not good for you - the fair food.

When I was a kid I had a summer job working in those same concession stands. So I am a more discerning connoisseur of the food. I absolutely hate cotton candy - after washing spun sugar out of my stiff hair (rivaling the "gel" in There's Something about Mary) I just can no longer stomach the stuff. Now the popcorn, caramel corn and occasional elephant ear - those are good eatin'!

This year it was just too cold, wet, rainy and generally icky to get out of the car to run to the booth and get the yearly treat. That just means when the fair is in town or during Coast Guard Festival I'll have an excuse to go!

Knitting is going well. My KoolAde dyeing experiment is turning into an adaptation of Crazy Aunt Purl's magic scarf - except mine is a Magic 8 Ball scarf (8 knit, 8 purl, on size 8 needles by 6 'blocks'). I'm afraid though I should have dyed a couple more skeins in order to make a longer scarf. Now if that doesn't sound like the perfect excuse (not that one is ever needed) to buy more yarn and dye some more - I don't know what does!

Off and running....

What better to do on an early Friday evening but have a glass of wine and join the world of blogs. After reading so many - mainly knitting - blogs and having the craving to share my sometimes muddled soul with whoever may be interested..... Here I am!

Looking out into the back yard at my first experiment of dyeing yarn (with Kool-Aid in a crockpot) I'm pretty proud of myself. But I've also got a new question... When dyeing with Kool-Aid, does the yarn usually dry a bit crunchy? Or did I just not rinse it out enough?

Well I'm off for now - it's my Dad's birthday and I just have to go give him a hug!