12-1-2012 Galena

DH & I both had the day off work today

so we took a road trip to Galena!

I know someone who would be envious

that I shopped at Poopsies today!

You know who you are!

11-30-2012 Crocodile

I'm trying to learn how to do the 

so I can make these fingerless gloves !

11-29-2012 On Its Way...

This pumpkin/Jack-O-Lantern

is on its way

to the Mississippi River...

...seen on my walk this morning.

I bet he never thought his life 

would end this way!

11-28-2012 Deck Finished

11-27-2012 Adrenaline Rush

11-26-2012 For JP

...finished up these projects for JP today...

11-25-2012 Christ the King

Today is "Christ the King" Sunday at our church.

I found the above "Christ the King" icon at

Monastery Icons

and this beautiful icon at

Christ the King Russian Icon

and here is a picture of the 

oldest surviving icon panel of Christ

c. 6th century.

and another beautiful icon !

and you can find this

magnificent icon here .

For more information about icons,

visit this informative site.

Is Christ your King?

10-24-2012 Santa's Elf

The night B4 Thanksgiving

my son texted me from Chicago with this pix

and asked if I thought I could make this hat

(that they had seen on the www)

for his baby son...

 Using yarns I already had at home

(a kelly green instead of a lime green)

and no pattern but my imagination

I think I came pretty close

(just by looking at the above pix

that son texted to me)...

 We tried it on the baby

when they arrived for Thanksgiving

and it fit him nicely!  YAY!

I love it when that happens!

Now, with his new elf hat

to go with his "Santa's Elf" costume

he will be ready for his Christmas pictures!

11-23-2012 A Nice Surprise

 My dear sister

sent this beautiful flower arrangement

and six pack of wines

for our Thanksgiving celebration yesterday.

Thank you so much, dear one!

11-22-2012 Happy Thanksgiving!

I love my family!!!!!!

I'm so thankful that each one of you 

is in my life.

11-21-2012 Getting Ready

Dinner Rolls and Pumpkin Pies are baked...

Table is set...

Turkey is in the brine...

and side dishes are mixed and ready to go!

Now all we need is family to arrive

and we are all set for a happy Thanksgiving!

We wish those of you in our extended family, and friends,

a happy Thanksgiving as well.

11-20-2012 I'm In A FOG

(...in more ways than one!!!)

11-19-2012 Railings

Railings for the deck

went up today.

11-18-2012 Every Stitch with Love...

Friends will soon be receiving 

these latest handmade items...

every stitch with love!

...and this friend got her's last Friday night!

11-17-2012 Switching

DH & I are switching back to satellite TV...

we have not been happy with Mediacom's cable service...

it went out at least once every two weeks

taking us offline

and giving us pixel-ly TV every day.

We never had those problems before

when we had DirecTV...

so we are switching back!

11-16-2012 Helper and Friend

Barucha is my 'helper' when I knit...

and her neighbor/friend 'Patches'

is wondering what the heck is up with our deck?!?!?

It is her favorite place to sun in the mornings!

11-15-2012 Murphy's Law

"Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".

Today the decking company began resurfacing our back deck.

 First, the drills gave out...

  Then the nail gun broke...

So instead of finishing the deck today

they only got a few boards down.

They have to buy a new nail gun

and plan to have it shipped overnight

if that's possible.

I'm guessing that Murphy's Law

will kick in for the shipping too!

11-14-2012 Love

Love this pix of my two girls...

baby just got up from her nap

and had cute 'bed head'

11-13-2012 Happy 4 Month Birthday!

 Happy 4 month birthday

to my precious grandson!

And many thanks to my wonderful D-I-L

for sending me regular photo updates!!!

I love you all.

11-12-2012 Out with the Old...

 So, here is what the old deck surface looks like...

Today began the process of

"Out With the Old"...

deck top...

It is cracked and split and splintered 

and coming apart at the seams,

so we are having the deck top replaced.

 

11-11-2012 He's on Cloud 9 !

 Using our turn by turn navigation on our iPhones...

DH & I went on a road trip yesterday in search of

a wood working store in Peoria, IL...

(he has looked all over Iowa to no avail)

 He's now in woodworkers' heaven...

soooooooooooo happy

he found a place to buy lumber!!!

And my DH, being the sweetheart that he is...

also looked up several yarn stores in Peoria

and took me along to check them out!

 Do I have the best husband ever, or what?!?!?!?

 After shopping, he took me to lunch at "Beignet's On The Corner"

...a quaint New Orleans style restaurant...

where we enjoyed some Cajun gumbo

and a po'boy sandwich.

The side of their building was painted with a Mardi Gras mural...