Preparing For Three Weeks Away

I leave tomorrow for Spokane for a three week stay.  My newest grandchild is due any day and I'm going to be there to help in any way I can.  I'll be taking care of Riley (now 15 months old),  cooking, cleaning,  fixing up a new nursery, and anything else that I can do.   I also found out today that Brandon is getting his wisdom teeth pulled next week and thought it would be a good time because as he told Diana, "My mom will be here to take care of me".   I'm looking forward to it all.  The hardest part for me is being away from my own home for that long.  I love to be in my home.  I have a feeling, though, that after three weeks with my son and his family it will feel like home there.  My Bob will come out to us on September 11 and then we'll fly back together on the 15th.

Tomorrow we actually just drive to Pittsburgh to the airport.  We live 2-1/2 hours from the airport and since I leave at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, Bob and I like to go down the night before to have a nice dinner and a good sleep at the Holiday Inn.  It also will break up the drive for Bob, instead of five hours in one day.

I've been very busy getting ready to leave.  As with any trip no matter how far or how long, I have to clean my house before I leave.  Being gone for this long, there is no way it is going to stay clean until I get back, but I have to leave it as best I can.

Last weekend, my older son, Austin, and his two dogs spent the weekend with us.  His wife and three children were in New York visiting her family, so it was very nice to spend some time with Austin without the interruption and distraction of the kids. 

Isn't he cute?  It's been a long time since we've spent time with just him.  I so enjoyed it!

Next weekend, Bob is going to Cincinnati to pick up his 23 year old nephew to stay with us for a month or so.  He needs some big time help and guidance in making a decent life for himself.  His home life has not been great and I give him credit for at least realizing there is a better life for him out there.  Bob is going to try to help him get into the military, but we'll see what happens with that.  The selfish me is not looking forward to raising a 23 year old for an indefinite period of time.  The caring and nurturing me really wants to show him what a good home and life and job can be like. 

So, I needed to clean the guest room for Kyle, not that he'll know the difference, but I will.  Of course, I'm laundering every sheet, towel and piece of clothing in the house.  I have two more shirts of Bob's to iron so he has at least a couple of weeks without having to launder or iron his own.

Yesterday we had new carpeting installed in our bedroom.  It looks so nice, but that sure makes a lot of work.  While all the furniture was still out of the room, I gave it a good cleaning from top to bottom.  Then I did a slight re-arrange and junk clean up.  Very slight, but enough so that it feels like a brand new room.  We also got a new bench for the foot of the bed.  I've been looking for a bench for quite a while and we found this one in a small furniture store on sale last week.   This is it with my suitcase on top as I have been packing all day today.

I'm only taking one carry on suitcase and a carry on duffel bag.  I don't need to take anything other than T-shirts, shorts, some sweats and a pair of jeans.  If I need anything else I'll get it there.  Now I just need to throw in about three different colors of flip flops and I'm ready to go.

I finally finished sewing the second curtain for Riley's bedroom.  I'm ironing it right now.

This matches the first curtain and the quilt I made for her nursery. 

Then about three days ago, I decided I needed a bag/tote/purse that would be easier and more convenient for traveling.  I wanted a cross-over bag with lots of pockets that would work double duty as a purse and would also hold a small knitting project and a book.  I knew exactly what I wanted and how I wanted it to look, so I dug through my stash of fabrics and found an old pattern that I altered to my specifications and Voila!, here's my new  bag.

Perfect!  Don't you just love my artistic manequin?  My artistic son, Austin, gave it to me.  It's come in very handy in taking pictures of scarves, neckwarmers, etc. for my Etsy shop.

Here's a closer-up of the bag.

It has four pockets on the outside with velcro closures, and four pockets on the inside.  Then, of course, I had to embellish with lace, buttons, ribbon and charms.

This is the cell phone pocket. 

OK, my break is over and I need to finish my ironing and packing.  I'll be three weeks away from my computer and the break from high level communication probably isn't such a bad thing.  I did get a new cell phone, though, that I can e-mail and facebook from if I can figure it out! 

I'll be back in about three weeks with plenty new baby pictures!

New Stuff of Mine

I've been busy knitting.  Some for myself, some for my grandbabies, and maybe one or two new items for my Etsy shop:  http://charmingbynina.etsy.com/   I go in phases with the things I  make because I tend to get tired of doing the same thing for too long.  So more quilts, miniature quilts, and pincushions will be coming when I get in the mood.  In fact, I'm starting to feel a mini quilt urge coming on as soon as I have the time. 
Knitting works well for me when I'm busier because it's so portable.  I can pick it up easily and knit a few rows or take it with me in the car if someone else is driving, of course.  And it's great to take to a hair appointment or to sit and wait in a dentist or doctor's office.

I just listed this cable knit purse for my Etsy shop.

It's lined with a cotton fabric and then I crocheted and felted the flower on the front.  The yarn is Baby Alpaca.  I know my things are maybe a little more expensive than others you may find on Etsy, but I use very expensive luxury quality yarn.  You can really tell the difference once you start working with the better yarn.

I made this little baby set a while back for my granddaughter, Riley.  I'm now almost finished with another set just like it that my dog groomer ordered from me for her granddaughter.  She ordered a size 3 mos., but it looks awfully small to me.  If I have to make her a larger size that's fine because I'll give the one I'm making to my newest granddaughter, Leanna. 

 I made this little hat and bootie set for Leanna

 This set I just finished for my newest grandson that's due on September 6. 
Side note:  I leave for Spokane next Thursday to be there for the new baby.  I'll be staying three weeks.

This set I made for a girlfriend of my DIL's as she had a baby girl 3 weeks ago.  She saw the set I made for Leanna and asked if I could make a set for her baby.  She loved it and actually had professional newborn pictures taken of her baby wearing this. 

I finished this sweater for myself a few months ago and I love it.  It's perfect to throw over a tank top if it cools down at night or to go into a freezing grocery store or restaurant. 

Oh, and this is my new "natural" hair color and my new pink and purple glasses.  I'm embracing  a much more Bohemian look ever since I retired from the insurance business and don't have to look conservative anymore. 

And since I finally figured out how to set the self timer on my camera I thought I'd show the necklace my kids got me on Mother's Day.  It has become one of my favorite things.  It's Brighton, and the two charms on the left are the birthstones of my two sons next to a charm that says "mother" and the four birthstones on the right are my grandchildren with a "grandmother" charm.  One more will be added very soon.  It's actually becoming quite heavy, but isn't it beautiful!  I just love it!

As you've probably noticed, my blog background and header is also new, but I don't know if I'm satisfied with it.  It may change a few more times in the near future before I find something to stick with for a while.  I enjoy making the changes when I have the time to fool with it.  I've also updated  "My Charming Creations" page (click on the tab at the top).  I've sort of neglected that page for a while, so take a look if you'd like.

That's it for now.  More to come.

My Cozy Little Sewing Room

Today is Monday, which means it's time to show off your cottage.  This is hosted by Cielo at The house in the roses.  Follow this link to see all the beautiful rooms and cottages:

Show off Your Cottage Monday

This is the door to my cozy little sewing room.  This picture I found in an antique store just reminded me of how I feel in my room.  Like a little girl playing with her toys!

This is where you will find me almost every night, sitting in my favorite chair with knitting or sewing in my hands.  I had this chair and ottoman made a few years ago.  I had been wanting this chair with these fabrics I picked out for a long time.  I also ordered extra fabric and was able to make some throw pillows to match.  The pillow on the left is one I made doing a faux chenille sewing technique made of flannel.  And if you can notice the crocheted doily on the back of the chair, that was made many years ago by my great grandfather.

My dogs hang out on the couch as long as I'm in that room.  The couch is quite old.  It was my grandmother's and my boys used to take naps on it at her house when they were little boys.  It's in excellent condition and has so many memories for me and I also like the small size of it.  I had a white slipcover on it but I just got tired of messing with it.  The quilt on the back was the very first full size quilt that I ever made about ten years ago, and a few more throw pillows that I made for the dogs to cozy up with.  The little end table was found at Cracker Barrel by my mother about five years ago.  I should have taken a close up picture of it because it has the prettiest roses and ribbons decorating it. 

My little TV sits on top of a repurposed old sewing machine bottom made into a stand.  The top was brown but I painted it white, as I did with every piece of furniture and trim in the room.  The scarf under the TV is a gift from Germany given to me by my mother when she was living there for a while.  The table under the mirror was a credenza in my old dining room and it was also a light oak wood.  My husband put the legs on for me to make it the right height for me to stand at and cut fabric and iron.  Again, I painted with a white wash, then stenciled lace on the drawers and glued on cloth covered buttons and hearts.  This little room is so jam packed that it's hard to even point out every little thing in there.  I made most of the wall hangings, the collection of pin cushions on the TV stand, and the framed mini quilt on top of the TV.  All the baskets on the floor are filled with either yarn or fabric.  The closet is also filled, but I won't even go there!  I try to keep it as organized as I can, but this is all stuff I need.  And I love just sitting there amongst it all.  Uh Oh! does this sound like a hoarding issue?

 

The sewing machine is from 1970 and was my grandmother's.  It also started out brown, sort of Early American style and came with a Singer sewing machine.  I used this old machine of hers until just a few years ago when I finally got a new Janome.  Here's the original owner's manual that came with the cabinet and machine and this is exactly what it looked like.

And you guessed it!  I painted it white with pink and green trim.  Then I sanded spots to give it a more shabby look.  The cover on the chair came from Sure-Fit slipcovers.

I just didn't know when to stop and stenciled the roses on top of the cabinet. 

I made the curtain, but they did not originally start out at curtains.  It was a quilt top that I had never made into a quilt and I needed curtains, so I cut the quilt in half, sewed a backing to them, made a rod pocket and they worked out perfect.  But then after I hung them I thought they didn't quite look frilly enough, so I hung lace behind them that hangs down beneath.  

Everything on the little white shelf is stuff I've made.  More pincushions and miniature pillows.  I also made that mini little quilt hanging under the clock.  It's a quilt of a sewing machine.  Oh, and notice the lamp shade on the right.  I made that, too.

These are some miniature quilts that I have made.  I  have thought about selling them, but I would have to ask so much for them that I doubt anyone would buy.  Besides that, they take me so long to make that I hate the though of parting with them.  I'll have to show more on these in a different post.

My mother and I also do counted cross stitching and she made this for me.  Isn't it just perfect?

I made this wreath many years ago, incorporating things I like into it.  It's maybe a little cheesy, but I love how I feel when I look at it.

So that's my cozy little sewing room.  It's not very big, and there's a lot crammed in there, but when I'm in there I just feel like I'm wrapped up in one big comfy quilt.  I hope you enjoyed seeing it as much as I enjoy being in it!

Elvis Was in the Building!

I'm sorry this isn't a better picture.  The lighting was terrible in our old lodge where Elvis was performing last night.  His name is Bill Barnhart.  He is an Elvis impersonator, of course, and he actually was pretty good. 

At the Lakeview Lodge, which is right across the little lake where we live, they had a dinner and a show with "Elvis" as the headliner.  What really made it fun was the audience.  We live in a very small community and so we knew just about everyone there.  The show started out a little slow, but after the crowd had a few drinks in them, especially the women, the audience participation and dancing was fun to watch on its own. We went with my parents and the majority of the people there were closer to my parents' age than my husband and mine, but those women, now in their 70's, got up there and danced like they were on American Bandstand.  Old Elvis just took them right back to their teen years.  It really was more fun than I was expecting.  I wish now I had my picture taken with Elvis.  Darn! too late.  Elvis has left the building!

Trying To Do It All

I just can't get it all done!  Too much to do, so little time!  I know, I say it all the time.  Most of us say it all the time.  Why?  How does this happen?  What to do about it?  It's not just the "Have" to do, there is also the long list of "Want" to do's.  Then comes in the issues of prioritizing, organizing and scheduling.  A big problem I have is feeling guilty if I put a "Want to" ahead of "Have to".  I feel like I can't do something I want to do until I have everything on my "have to do" list finished first.   At almost 53 years old, should I still be feeling like this? 
Now, sometimes the "want to's" and the "have to's" are on the same list.  Such as cleaning the house, which I really do sort of like to to, and cooking, which I like to do if I'm not rushed.  Outside work and gardening I like to do, but it is very time consuming and by this time of year I'm really almost tired of this job.  By the way, the last couple of days here have almost felt a little Autumn like and it feels good.  I think I'm almost ready for it.
If I could have a whole day of "wants", I would do a half hour of yoga or some sort of exercise in the morning, have my yogurt and coffee, then sit on the deck for a while and knit, then start a new miniature quilt that I've been wanting to do, have a quick and easy bite of a small dinner, watch the television shows that I like to watch while I knit some more.  All of this without an interruption or a request being made of me.  Dream on!! 
When the grandkids come to visit, both lists are pretty much set aside.  Some of the "have to's" still get done to a very limited degree.  And now with almost five grandchildren, the time spent with them is priority whenever possible.  Last weekend we took the two grandsons to the county fair.  We had just as much fun as they did.

The following day was Logan's 6th birthday party.  Bob and I and the GG's (my parents, the Great Grandparents) travelled the one and a half hours to my son and DIL's house for his little party.  It was a fun time and it also gave me the opportunity to hold my new little Leanna, now 6 weeks old.

Here's Little GG (my mother) holding Leanna. 

Anyway, I got a little off my topic there, but I just had to share about the grandkids. 
This week, the kids weren't around since they are in New York with their mother visiting her family.  I also spent a whole day catching up on the computer bookkeeping for our business.  I mean, a whole day!  I sat at this computer from 9 am until 5 pm.  My butt was sore.  I shouldn't let it get so behind like that in the first place. 
So now where does all that leave my knitting, sewing and blogging?  Yep, way down on the list. 
Here's the problem with a husband that works out of the house with a wife that works for him part time and also has a lot of other interests.  This is what I constantly hear all day long:  "What are you doing now?  What are you doing that for?  Shouldn't you be doing this, that or the other?  That's not necessary!  Do that later!"
You get the idea.  Don't get me wrong.  I love him dearly and I need and want to carry my end of the load, but every so often I need some alone time! 
So now on this beautiful summer/fall like day I'm going to take the dogs for a walk and ponder my "have to's", "want to's", and priorities and make some mental notes of adjustments that need to be made.  Then this evening my home alone son, my parents, Bob and I are going to see "Elvis".  Yep, that's right!  I'll take pictures.