. . . . . . . . . .Ice Cream

Last night we took the kids for ice cream after dinner. Actually it was my sis-in-laws idea and I said okay. LOL! It sure was good! Here are Terry and Skylar enjoying their treats.

Another Soaker

I found another wool soaker pattern to make for my friend. I saw the main part of it on the blog I found it on but there wasn't a picture of it completed as a skirter soaker. I think it turned out quite cute. Here is the link: http://withatangledskein.blogspot.com/2008/02/little-fire-crochet-soaker-pattern.html. They are SO cute! I appreciate the fact she wrote a pattern and shares it for free!

I don't have any wool yet so again, this was made with cotton yarn. So, here is a photo of the progress on the one I've made with the exception of a photo with the drawstring tie in it. I still need to take that picture and upload it to the computer.

By the way, if you want to see the photos larger, just click on them. You can get a really good look that way!

Almost completed - still needs the cuff on one leg.

And here is the cuff close up (sorry it's a bit blurry).










Here we go - completed soaker with the exception of a drawstring.
This is the front...










Here is the waist band area a little closer up...

Here I had started the "skirt" portion of the pattern.
It simply says to repeat until it's the length you want.
I wasn't sure so I asked my 11yo who said this was too short.

And so I added 2 more rows and got this...










Then I crocheted the drawstring and threaded it through.
Here is a close up of how it looks when threaded...










And last but not least, the photo with the edging on the skirt

and the drawstring tied at the front.

I think my friend will love it for her daughter. 8-)

Soakers and Saxophones

Well, it's been a few days and I'm still really busy so this will probably be short. It's been pouring rain here for 3 days and I feel like I need to build a boat. HA! However, it should be done now so maybe we won't mildew too much.

A friend asked me on Tuesday evening if I could make "wool soakers." Hmmm... I'm sure I could if I knew what they were. She explained and I came home and did a search for patterns. I even joined a Yahoo group for people who make them and found some free patterns and photos in their files. WOO HOO! I finally settled on a fairly simple pattern (I think by Anita - will have to post that detail later) and made it in cotton. Took about 6 hours I guess but I finished and must say they look cute. Now I'll work on a revision of sorts because I feel the area between the legs is just too wide. Guess I'll try them on baby before I made any adjustments to the pattern though. Here is a photo of the finished product.

Saturday I spent the day where the girls take band and choir. Sandi had a saxophone solo, saxophone trio and a woodwind trio to play in before a judge. We don't have all the scores just yet but we do know she did pretty well.

I need to finish putting our dinner casserole together and get it in the oven. I'm making it from memory so I hope it turns out to be a delicious as I remember. LOL! Mexican Cornbread Casserole - if you know what I'm talking about and have a recipe to share, send it on!

I said this would be short so I'm going to close for now.

Snow! Smoke! Can I exchange a day?

So, this week was a bit exciting for us. Down here in the south we rarely see snow. We got a good one last Sunday. Depending on where you were around here there was anywhere from 1/2" to several inches. Where my daughter takes saxophone lessons there was still snow around the flowers and on the steps on Wednesday and it was at least 3" deep still. It's only a few minutes drive from where we are and I think we only got a good inch or maybe 2 at the most.

Monday schools were closed for snow that had pretty much melted - at least off the roads. However, it was nice to have an excuse not to get out of the house. Terry went to work and had no problems and it only took him 35 minutes instead of 65.

So, the rest of the week was pretty normal except Thursday. I'd like to back up and just not have this past Thursday. My day started when someone contacted me to ask if the rumor they heard was true. I hadn't heard it from anywhere until that point. Ummm... NOT that I'm aware of currently. Maybe it isn't true. Find out sort of the line of the grapevine and decide I'll wait and find out when I see the people this involves later in the week. I go on with my day.

We attended The Irish Music in the Glen. It was fun to listen to Irish music and learn about the instruments. There was a girl dancing some Irish dances and they taught us how to do an Irish Jig. Well worth the $1 each we paid to watch. Then we headed to lunch with friends and had a great time at Pizza Hut. LOL!

Got home and had Sarah start boiling chicken for the casserole we were having for dinner. We needed to boil chicken and noodles and then put it together so it can bake while we are at the dentist. I was in the back of the house when I smelled smoke, the lights flickered and Skylar yelled all about the same instant and I heard the smoke detector going off. Well, the eye of the stove was on 10 and there was a fire under the burner.

Turns out there was some grease that had spilled under the burner that I wasn't aware of since I'd recently cleaned it. We were out of baking soda and the fire extinguisher needs to be charged. I dumped a box of kosher salt (doesn't work NEARLY as well as baking soda) and then dumped a cup of water which did the trick. Having an attic fan and open windows does a world of good for getting the smoke out of the house!

Now, to figure out how to make dinner when we are needing to leave for the dentist. Thought about dropping a child off at grandma's to boil chicken and noodles and be picked up on the way home. Checked the chicken and the water had gotten hot enough for long enough that the little pieces of chicken were actually done. So, told them to boil the noodles using the microwave. It worked.

Sarah and I head to the dentist for our 6month check up and cleaning. On the way, a phone call from another friend regarding the same rumor from earlier in the day. UGH! Different grapevine totally so I think it over and decide I need to find out sooner than later. I need to look up the number for those it actually concerns and get it from them. No time now... it will have to wait until I get back home. And I wonder, why people are contacting me about it since it has nothing to do with me personally. LOL!

Good visit at the dentist, head home to start putting the casserole together and make a phone call. Turns out rumor is true (we find out from an email that showed up about that time). We are losing our AWESOME choir/band director and his wife who plays piano and teaches the elementary choirs after the end of this school year. BOO HOO! We at HMV are all very sad!

So, my sis-in-law took the casserole to her house and baked it for us while we cleaned up the mess in the kitchen. We made tea and had things ready to eat once she got back with the casserole. Had a good discussion over dinner as usual - which included Skylar's guest who had been there through it all.

Skylar and her guest had a great afternoon riding bicycles and playing in the beautiful 70 degree weather. They were worn out so they got their showers and were in bed at a decent time and sound asleep.

What a week and what a day we had!! Can I send last Thursday back and exchange it for another one? LOL!

BRrrrrr! Baby it's COLD outside!

Savannah enjoying the snowfall yesterday.

So, here in Georgia where I live south of Atlanta, I think it's been a good 7 or 8 years since we've seen more than a flurry or two. So yesterday on the way to church I saw a few "flakes" on the windshield mixed in with the rain. I had a child at home not feeling well so I stayed through breakfast, Sunday school and most of the church service. Savannah was speaking about her upcoming trip to China and when she was done the girls and I left in a flurry of HUGE flakes to get home and check on Sandi.

Sandi was feeling better so we headed to meet the in-laws for lunch and Terry was meeting us there after a short deacon meeting after church. Well, the parking lot was already getting slushy and still HUGE flakes of snow coming down. It was beautiful. On the way home I even took a tiny detour so we could get a few snapshots with a camera one of the girls had with them. I know it's not a lot of snow by most people's standards but we are loving it! And here it is 7 hours later (when I was typing thins) and it is still snowing, though the flakes are a lot smaller now.

Can you find our dog, Amber and our bunny, Thumper in the photos here? They weren't too fond of the white stuff. Here is also our front yard and some trees around our place.

Watkins Burn Cream

I must tell you that I am singing it's praises today.

Yesterday I had a "stupid" moment and burned both my index fingers. I ran to the bathroom and ran cold water over them for several minutes to try and relieve the pain. I had my oldest come open the jar of burn cream and I coated the burns with it. Then I took 800 mg. of ibuprofen and lay across the bed. About 90 minutes after the initial burn I could doze off a bit.


I decided later I could stand band-aids and put them on. Not too bad a job for putting them on without index fingers. Typing has been difficult though - MANY mistakes for this touch typist. That has been the toughest. LOL!

So this morning I took the bandages off and while the burns are tender to the touch and I can't do much with them, they aren't hurting too much. I know I'll have scarring, but at the moment no huge water blisters or anything.


If you don't have some of this burn cream, I'd suggest you get a small jar to keep on hand! I don't sell Watkins and had never really purchased anything except their vanilla extract. However, we were at Buckner's several months ago and I picked this little jar up. I just thought it was a good idea to have it on hand. I'm really happy I did!

Now, about the ham... LOL!
Man, it was delicious! Just baked it for 25 minutes per pound in the oven, tightly covered in foil with about a cup of water poured in the pan. YUMMY!