Ying and Yang Kitties

Ying and Yang Kitties

My kitties could not be more opposite. (Unless one was female.)

 The dark one, Rocket loves to be outside, killing squirrels, birds and lizards.

The orange one, Frisky loves to be inside curled up at your feet, purring his heart out and would run and hide if a lizard jumped out at him.


Rocket is very vocal and Frisky rarely has anything to say.

Rocket loves my husband and Frisky loves everybody.

Rocket thinks you have to put fresh food in his bowl every time he walks in the door and Frisky will eat whatever is in the bowl.

Rocket is the mighty hunter but will run like a scared cat (ha ha) if you wad up a plastic bag any where in his vicinity.
Frisky will not hunt anything, he's a lover not a fighter, and plastic mashtic.

So there's my kitty babies in a nut shell.

Merry Christmas Stockings

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I made these stockings this week for my Mom and StepDad.

This one is for my Mom. I made them out of materials that I had on hand and they only took a couple of hours each. That is after I figured out how to make them. The pattern is copied from a stocking we use every year.

This one is for my StepDad. He's a real joker so....  Actually he's a really sweet man and I love him dearly.
I just used the same pattern and added a curly toe.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

Deer

I went to let my little girl dog Bonnet out to do her business

and this little lady was having her dinner.

 She stayed out there for quite a while, always cautious but enjoying her feast. As she was leaving I saw her buddy in the trees. I think they pretty much always travel in groups. At least around here.

Kitchen Remodel before and after

My friend wanted a before and after from the same position.
Before

After from the same position

Big difference!

Dining Room Remodel

We finished the dining room remodel! At least the part that is part of the kitchen. If you look closely in this picture you can see that the little nook with the china cabinet in it is not finished. That is next on the long list of projects.

 

We had to remove all the wallpaper and wainscoting then float out all the various imperfections, which took forever.

But we finally got it done. It's not perfect but neither are we.

 We widened both the doorways and had to patch the floors in those areas. Probably the easiest of everything.
We installed the new light which matches the lights in the kitchen.

At the moment it is my favorite room

in the house. But then that changes weekly.

It was a lot of work but well worth it.

Dining Room Remodel

We started remodeling the dining room a couple of weeks ago.

This is what it looked like when we moved in.
Then we remodeled the kitchen and took down those half walls.

We finally got all that ugly wallpaper off the walls! Yea!

We made the door openings bigger.

We have put joint compound on the walls to make them flat and even, next is to sand and float them out.

Here is my camera shy sweetie.

Burgandy afghan

I've been working on this afghan off and on (mostly off) for a couple of weeks now. I just have not been that into it for some reason.

It's about 2/3rds done.
I think it's turning out pretty good. It is a real simple stitch and design.
Now I'm off to work on it, maybe I can finish it up in another week.

Nothing inparticular

Okay if absence makes the heart grow fonder you guys must be head over heels fond of this blog. I have been kinda blah about my blog lately. Then this morning I read Pioneer Woman's "Ten Important Things I've Learned About Blogging" and she inspired me to, if nothing else say Hi.

So HI!

I love her blog if you have not taken a look over there you need to right now. She is funny, inspiring, talented and helpful.
She's more than that but words are not my thing.

Crocheting is my thing. I am working on a new lap afghan and will post pictures maybe tonight or tomorrow.



Remodeling is also my thing at the moment and we have started on the dining room. YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The new kitchen just didn't look right with that ugly blue flowered ribbon intwined wallpaper. That word doesn't look right. "Intwined" spell check is having a hissy fit.
Anyway the wallpaper is gone. In its place is splotchy sheetrock. I don't care because I know that soon it will be smooth and painted a beautiful orangy gold color. That is not the color swatch name but I am at work and can't remember the name.


I think this is the most I've written ever.
So take care everyone.

Needlework Giveaway!

Lindamade is having a giveaway, really cool stuff for crochet and knitting projects. So git on over there and put your name in the pot.

http://www.lindamade.com/wordpress/2010/08/giveaway-time/


Good Luck to you and to me!

Button Pin

My Mom's best friend Bonnie made her a pin like this one. I thought it was so cute I had to have one too.

It's really simple to make. I found using a material that doesn't have a lot of give to it works best. You just make a heart or whatever shape you choose, stuff it until you can't stuff it anymore then stuff it some more. It needs to be very tightly stuffed. Did I say that already?
Sew up the opening, then sew the beads all along the edge.
First I  picked out some plain buttons and then picked out some fancy buttons. I started with the plain buttons first because the fancy ones are the ones you want to show. Of course you knew that already.
 I just winged it on the placement of the buttons, but you can plan it all out if that's your thing. After I got all the buttons on then I filled any open spots with beads.

You need to sew the buttons on going all the way through the heart, pull the thread as tight as you can, that makes the back flat so that it will lay flat on your jacket. Then sew the pin on and your done.

If you make this Button Pin I would love to see it.
Have fun, see ya next time.

Patchwork afghan

Just finished this patchwork afghan. My Crochet magazine has  instructions on different stitches to try and I used 7 of them and 2 of my own to create this afghan.

Red and White Afghan

I made this red and white afghan a couple of weeks ago.

Where have you been?

It has been forever since I posted! I bet you thought I got lost.

Well I kinda did, first I went here...

With these guys.

Everyone may I have your attention please?
I would like you to meet my future daughter-in-law Regina.
Regina...  Everybody.

This is her first time in the ocean. She took to it like a duck to water.



Then my husband and I went here.

This is outside the Egyptian Museum in San Jose California. Very cool place.
My husband was there on business but I got to play. I've been to San Francisco several times so I stayed south of the bay. I went to the Winchester House if you ever get the chance to go tour this place, it is awesome.
You can read more about it here.
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

That's all for now.
I will try not to be away so long next time.

Baby deer

I went to let my dog out and notice something odd in the yard. At first I thought it was a broken tree limb with brown leaves on it, then I thought maybe its a bird. Then I took a closer look.

I crept slowly towards it.  And this is what I found.

 Isn't he beautiful? My husband touched it to see if maybe it was hurt and he jumped up and took off toward the woods. He got hung up in the fence but Edwin freed him. I hope that he finds his momma.

Kitchen Remodel

I have not been posting about the kitchen remodel because most of what was left was the small things.
So to refresh your memory this is what my kitchen looked like before the remodel.

From the dining room.

 From the laundry room.

The island.

Now for the afters.

From the dining room.

From the laundry room.

The island.

Viola!

Crocheted vest

I found the pattern for this vest in my "Crochet" magazine May 2010 issue.
I wasn't sure it would turn out very well but I think I did okay.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is almost upon us. I usually give her flowers of some kind or other. So this year I made her a wrist corsage. I got the idea from Ruffles and Stuff. You can find the tutorial here
http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2010/04/rose-cuff-bracelet.html

Kitchen remodel day off

We are taking the day off from remodeling today.
The refrigerator was delivered today! Yea! I love it, it has water in the door. I have never had a fridge this fancy before. Until now I never wanted one. Too many things to break on fancy stuff. But with a husband as handy as mine I am not going to worry about it.
I have been wanting one of these french door fridges for a while, then my mom got one and I was green with envy.
And now TA DA!

Palm Tree Afghan

I know you thought I hadn't done anything crafty in a long time, but this actually took me a long time to make.

 I fell in love with this pattern when I saw it online. Amazingly enough it really looks like the pattern picture! See for yourself @ freepatterns.com, you have to register but it's free.
My next crochet piece is a cute little vest. You may or may not see it, depends on how it looks. I'm not very good at crocheting clothes.
Wish me luck!

Kitchen remodel days 18 & 19

This light was actually installed the day the granite was installed but I forgot to post it.

The island light we installed on Day 18. This is not a very good picture. I will try to get a better one later.

Day 19


Today Edwin installed the rest of the flooring, I had started it last week. I couldn't help much but to tell him he was cutting it wrong. That's my job these days, I hurt my shoulder so I have to take it easy for a while. Tough for me to do, I like to be in the thick of it.

It is so nice to walk on my finished floor instead of cement board.
This tile is really easy to put down, we got it at Home Depot. It's 36" x 5" wide planks. Really looks like wood.

Kitchen remodel days 16 & 17

Day 16

After two trips to Home Depot, Edwin installed the kitchen faucet. It took almost all day, plumbing is not fun or easy, but look at the results. We've got water in the kitchen again! YEA!

After 2 days of cleaning and working I still don't have all the granite dust cleaned up.

Day 17

We put the doors on the island. The glass looks kinda funny because it has bubbles in it.

 

When we were finished with that, Edwin put mortar on the floor to make the transition from the dining room to the kitchen smoother.

 

After all that Edwin decided to fix the light above the island. It was not centered, he had to move it over 3 inches.

Next weekend the island light goes up.

Kitchen countertops

My kitchen countertops were delivered and installed today. I am still very excited about them. I know, I know Connie get a life!

The island piece was the first to be installed. It took three men to carry it in and lay it on top.

Then they brought in the wall counter and put it in place.

They cut out for the stove and then the for the sink. Then drilled the holes for the faucet.

The wall counter had to be in two pieces, with the joint in the middle of the sink.

I love the look of movement in the granite. If you click on the picture you can see the silver flecks in it. Very cool looking. Edwin says it looks like a riverbed.
It took these guys 6 and 1/2 hours to install everything. Now I have a lot of cleaning to do because there is granite dust everywhere. They had to cut it in place because they were afraid it would break if they cut it outside and tried to bring it in. They put up plastic but the dust is so fine it still gets out.