Why oh why...

...do some people who sell things online NOT list that their items come from a SMOKING environment, if they are smoking around their goods? I've ordered two things now, that smell like they were dug up from the bottom of a bus station ashtray. If you're going to smoke, whatever, it's your lungs, just please don't sell me your shit!! And shit is what I equate something to, when it is rendered useless by odor...Arrgggg!! Can you tell I'm mad? Ooh...I swore... ;P

Quiet moments

Everyday, Eli and I go out for a walk in the afternoon and he's always collecting feathers, rocks, nuts and such, but yesterday was especially exciting! Look at the beautiful snail shell he found. It's a pretty good sized shell, being about two inches across. Yes, I get excited over the little things...I'm thinking of cleaning it out (don't worry, the snail is long gone) and painting some kind of woad colored blue design on it...




Seeing what he collects and what is important in his world, always brings a smile to my face :)


Due to our long walks and no naps for two days in a row...arrrgggg...the wee one crashed out early on the couch with his daddy...





I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Would you like to see...

...just how fantastic my mama is? She booked us a night here, while we're over in Ireland next month. We may be sleeping in the Great Hall or maybe even the basement, but do we care? haha!!

...sigh...

Can life get any better than this?

My cowl and some garden gnomes...sigh...

Tag...You're It!!

Wow!! I've been tagged!! My very first tag courtesy of a very special someone, Debbie in sunny Ohio, who I'm so very glad to have met :) ...

Well, here you have it folks.

Seven Things To Do Before I Die
1. Go sky-diving with a parachute that opens!
2. Buy my very own spinning wheel and learn to spin well.
3. Go to Eli's graduation from Harvard...sigh...no pressure or anything...
4. Learn to speak Gaelic, because I hear that's going to be the new 2nd language in America :)
5. See a glacier...better be quick about that one...
6. Visit a redwood forest in the Pacific NW...better be quick about that too...
7. Make a quilt and actually finish it.

Seven Things I Cannot Do:
1. Watch zombie movies
2. Stop using my stupid credit cards...though I am trying...
3. Understand why I am living in Miami
4. Let someone cry alone
5. Refill the ice trays
6. Make a pom-pom with-out a pom-pom maker
7. Not question medical science...

Seven Things That Attract Me to…...Tennessee
1. My family is there
2. The Smoky Mountains
3. The fantastic hiking
4. Genuinely nice people...so unlike Miami
5. ...it's not Miami
6. It's peaceful there.
7. I love the local history

Seven Things I Say
1. Eli, that's not for you...
2. Hold on, I'm counting...
3. I'm almost at the end of my row...
4. Hold on, I'm working on a tricky lace pattern...
5. "shit."....while working on that tricky lace pattern...
6. Do you know how much I love you, Eli?
7. I'll call you right back...

Seven Good Books
1. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
2. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
3. Love is in the Earth. Not sure of the author.
4. Snowflower and the Secret Fan. Lisa See
5. Alice In Wonderland
6. Le Morte de Arthur
7. Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman

Seven Good Movies:

1) Alice In Wonderland
2) The Dark Crystal
3) Amelie
4) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
5) Singles
6) Legends of the Fall
7) James and the Giant Peach

Seven Blogs to Tag
ok, now I have had several of you who asked me just HOW do you know if you have been tagged *laughing evil,wicked, shrills* THIS IS HOW YOU KNOW IT::::

1) knattyknitter.blogspot.com The fabulous Miss Parisa...my favorite Irishwoman...representing Boston

2) neighborknitter.blogspot.com Representing Tennessee via North Carolina...Em...the best co-host a girl could ever have...who is currently gambling away her life's savings in Las Vegas.

3) winemegup.blogspot.com Representing Texas and hosting a mysterious contest right now...the gorgeous Miss Meg

4) ifitsfiber.blogspot.com Representing new mom's everywhere! Not sure if she'll have the time for this, but couldn't leave her out, because I luvs her :)

5) knitwitties.blogspot.com Representing New Jersey and also my fabulous wonderful Secret Pal, season 9 :)

6) dharmafey.blogspot.com Representing New York and also a fellow Sock-ret Pal and Mists KAL'r whose son had THE coolest mohawk!

7) ablossomknits.com A fellow Floridian and Mists KAL'r with a well developed sense of humor, which I just love about her!

haha!! Tag, you're it!!

OK...Am I Missing Something Here?

I am a member of the local freecycle.org group, which is a site allows you to post things that you are giving away or let others know what you're looking for, in an effort to keep things out of the landfill. Sooo, I was reading through the posts, and this is what I came across:

" We're having a bird problem! The doves have taken over our back yard
and our patio. I have young kids so... bird droppings all over their
toys are far from healthy! If anyone has an owl to scare them away that
they are no longer using, we'd be glad take it off your hands. Will
pick up at your convenience.
THANKS"

What the...?! Do YOU know of anyone with an extra owl on their hands... *schnort!*

Pictures For Grandma :)

I took these pictures yesterday of Eli enjoying his cocoa.




It was a good day :)




He also went on his Ostara egg hunt and did quite well for himself! He found all of his eggs!

Dishcloth Swap

I'm so happy!! My package from Parisa just arrived yesterday :) We're both in the Monthly Dishcloth KAL, and they were doing a swap, but we were too new to join, so we did our own! Isn't the dishcloth she knit too cool? I looooove the color of the yarn and am dying to find out where she got it. She also included the most fabulous bar of soap from Lush, called Snowcake soap. If you've never tried anything from Lush, you're so missing out. This stuff leaves you smelling so good- this soap smells like Almond Mousse...yummy! She also included a mug and cocoa (which Eli has been eyeing, mind you), and a butterfly notebook and pen, which has become my designated carry along pad of paper to keep track of my life in. Thank you so much Parisa :) It is all much appreciated and made my day a little bit brighter...no, a lot bit brighter :)





Before I go, Happy Ostara to everyone and don't forget to stop in at Dunkin Donuts for your free cup of iced coffee today! Woo-hoo for free coffee!

It's Coming Along Nicely :)

I'm in love with this yarn!! It is such a pleasure to work with. :) Not much to post about, just wanted to share some photos :)

St. Patrick's Day Lore- Kidnapped by Pirates!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I just wanted to share a little history behind the day with you. I thought this was pretty interesting! Excerpted from "The Apple Branch" by Alexei Kondratiev:

"There is no arguing that St. Patrick has become the preeminent Irish saint, to the point of eclipsing the achievements of all other Irish saints in history. Yet, this is a fairly recent development. Starting in the late seventh century, the Roman church, eager to reestablish it's hold over Irish Christian communities, began to strongly promote veneration of Patrick, who saw it as one of it's own, a bishop of Roman lineage representing Roman authority. Ironically, the historical Patrick who evangelized Ireland in the 5th century had not been highly thought of by his Roman superiors. A native of Cumbria, kidnapped by pirates and kept as a slave in Ireland, he eventually escaped to the Continent and pursued his ecclesiastical career in Gaul. When the fiery soldier-bishop Germanus of Auxerre was dispatched to Britain to deal with the Pelagian movement there, Patrick accompanied him as part of his entourage. Clearly he was thought to be lukewarm in his opposition to Pelagianism when Christians in Ireland requested that a bishop be sent to them, he was only the Church's second choice, despite his unique Irish experience, and was sent to Ireland only after the departure of his predecessor Palladius. He did not, as modern popular tradition suggests, singlehandedly bring Ireland to Christianity; he found many well-rooted Christian communities already there, and probably did not cover all of Ireland in his missionizing. Once the writers Muirchu and Tirechan had, by conflating the events recounted in Patrick's own "Confessio" with a variety of unrelated saint-legends, established the outline for the saint's official biography, the stage was set for the spectacular growth of his reputation throughout the Middle Ages. Paradoxically, however, despite his having been the chosen vehicle for Roman authority, Patrick developed into an idealized model of native Celtic spirituality- heroic, adventurous, and filled with faith- simply because he had absorbed the stories of so many other saints who had exhibited those traits. And because those saints had absorbed the roles of many local deities, aspects of the older pagan heritage also came to be associated with Patrick's persona- as when, echoing the Lord of the Harvest who subdues the Fomorian Dragon of the Land, he became, in some traditions, a dragon-slayer. This is certainly the origin of the bowdlerized modern story, which has him " driving the snakes out of Ireland" (the version according to which the "snakes" are really druids is, of course, a recent Neo-Pagan development)."

...and there you have it! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Mists of Avalon Project

I thought it was about time I posted some knitting related stuff, so I whipped out the camera last night for an impromptu photo shoot of the WIP for the Mists of Avalon KAL. I've decided to use the yarn that Cary sent me, because I wanted to go natural, no dyes, and this stuff is right off the sheep and rabbit's back! No animals were harmed while making this yarn :) I've decided to make a cowl, and I've also decided to make it without a pattern...could get interesting... This is my first shot at designing, so I'm not so sure what it's going to turn out like, but I am enjoying the creative process and going into the unknown. For the upper edge, I'm doing a simple lace pattern with the tan Shetland Wool. When that's done, I'm putting in a few rows of eyelets, so that I can weave ribbon in and out of it, then I'll switch to the white angora/corriedale mix for the body of the cowl. I'll work in another lace pattern there. I'm not sure about the bottom of it just yet. I'll have to see when I get there!




I've also been working on a bunch of sock project knitting bags and this is my latest. I LOVE this fabric. I think I'll keep one of these for myself :)

Miami-Dade County Fair

Eli and I made a little field trip to the fair today. It was really cool, because we got in for free with a Stay-At-Home Mommie group. If it's free, it's for me!! :P

Out of all of the rides, games, kids, exhibits, etc., Eli had the best time with the soda vending machine buttons and working on his extensive leaf collection...




He also enjoyed his $20.00 bottle of water..just kidding. It wasn't that bad, only $2.00.





We did manage to get him on a ride. He was crazy for the cars that go around in a circle ride. The pictures may not look like he's enjoying himself, but trust me, he was! Note the intense tongue of concentration. He didn't want to get off!




This is my favorite picture of the day. I love how his shaggy little head of hair is blowing in the breeze. I'm not sure if anyone has seen the movie High Spirits, but his hair is reminding me so much of Liam Neeson's character in the movie! If you haven't seen the movie, put it on your list- it's a classic ghost movie from the 80's with Darryl Hannah, Liam Neeson, Peter O'Toole and Steve Gutenberg...remember Steve Gutenburg anyone? I just totally dated myself...

Sweater Made From Cat Hair...

...now how cool is that? While working this morning, I was glancing occasionally at The Today Show, and they had this lady on who made a sweater out of her cat's fur!! She collected it for over 6 years!! I found the link- if you have time, check it out... you'll need to scroll down to the Pet Health Video section and it should be at the top. The cat's name is Smokey...


Cat hair sweater :)


Now she would be the perfect candidate for the 2007 Stash-A-Long with Renee... *grin*
I wonder what else she has in her closets?

Birthday Pics from La Casa La Raton...

Please forgive my horrible Spanish...I try...here's some photos from yesterday's adventure to Chuck E. Cheese's for Eli's birthday celebration. I tried sooo very hard to get him to pose, to sit still for one millisecond...but alas, he is 2 and that equals energy in motion...Kinetic...

Wooly Woolness

Hooray for March! I'm loving this month so far. Things are getting back on track and I'm knitting again! I'm diligently working my way through my dishcloth for Parisa, and can't wait to finish it for her and put her package in the mail. We decided to do our own dishcloth swap, because we fell under the membership deadline for the Monthly Dishcloth KAL swap, so we went out on our own :) I'm also getting back to my shawl and finishing up the socks for my Sock-ret Pal.

I also need to say thank you to Cary, my Sock-ret Pal, for sending me the most divine assortment/sampler of her yarn...from her very own sheep at Serenity Farms. The brown is 100% Corriedale, the pale tan is Shetland, the grey is Corriedale and Angora and the white is also Corriedale and Angora. It is GORGEOUS! I'm thinking of making some sort of Fair Isle tam/beret out of it. I love the natural tones- so very pretty. Thank you again Cary. *BIG smile*




Tomorrow is Eli's 2nd birthday...OMG...where does the time go? I'm thinking we'll be making our pilgrimage to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate...we must love him, to take him there on a Saturday!!

Welll, I'm off to make some more bags- I've become addicted to sewing lately...love the sound of that little engine whirring right along with me...

Happy Birthday Mom and Holy Crapola, Thank God It's March.

Today is my mom's 29th birthday and she is off celebrating in Vegas for the rest of the week. I hope she's having a fabulous time and winning at the slots :) She called me last night to report on the outrageous cost of everything out there. She found THE perfect t-shirt for me, went in the shop to buy it, and it was priced at $180.00...what the....?!

I'm so happy to see March. It's a new month, a fresh start. The past few weeks have been trying, including a short stay in the hospital with Eli for his esophagus problems. It started with a trip to the ER and ended a few days later with another scope and dilation. They still haven't found the problem, but think it's extra cartilage at the top of his esophagus. We're now waiting on a scheduled CAT-scan (sp?) followed by another surgery, and we're all hoping that will solve the problem.

Then, not even 2 days after we were discharged from the hospital, I had to take him to the Urgent Care Center for stitches above his left eyebrow. He slipped in the bathtub and caught his eye on a sharp edge...OUCH!!! Stitches are no fun obviously, but having to help the doctor give your two year old stitches has got to be up there on the Worst Things To Do In Life list.

I'm trying to get back to normal now, do some work, knit, etc., but am having a hard time finding the groove again. Lately all I want to do is lie around on the couch, and that simply won't do.

Promises to self:

1) Knit at least once a day (isn't horrible that I have to make myself do it?!)

2) Get back to my work.

3) Get off the damn couch!!!

4) Stay focused.

Hmmmm...OK. Here's to a new month!