Tuesday Question

Once again it is time for the Tuesday Question:

There are so many different Needles for Crocheting and Knitting out on the market. They are made from many different materials, like Bamboo, Plastic, Metal or Wood. Which one do you use for what and why? Do you have a preference or do you just use what most people I personally know use, the ones made out of Metal?

Once again life has been rather busy over the last few days. Over the weekend I helped a friend move from Missouri to Mississippi. As you can see on the following picture, packing up the truck wasn't to much fun, as it was a very steep driveway. Oh what joy.......

The trip to Missouri took three hours one way. We left at 4 in the morning and didn't get back to Mississippi until 8 that evening. We let the unpacking of the truck wait for Sunday. It is amazing how much faster we can unpack such a truck than pack. We were lucky so, as we had a helper that used to work for one of those furniture movers and he knew how to pack up well. Without him I don't think we would have managed to get everything in the truck. One never realizes how much stuff we really have until we make such a move.

I did find a new book at a trip to a small store in our area, that was having a sale. I got lucky and only had to pay about 1/8 th of the price it used to cost. In it I found a blanket I just LOVE, love Love. You all know that I am very fond of bright colors these days and this one certainly fits the bill. Now all I have to do is order the right kind of yarn to go with it and off I will go. Here is a looksy at the afghan and the book:

Someone also brought me a little present over the last few days. It's a beautiful Hyathine plant and I tell you all, it smells just absolutely wonderful. Who needs air freshners when you have a plant like that around?

Just one last looksy at a tree that is in front of our house. Isn't it just beautiful. There is just nothing like Spring.  (I know, I know......I'm repeating myself)

Well until next time I bit you all Farewell. Always keep on smiling. It brightens peoples days!!!

A Quick "Hallo"

Good Afternoon my Dear Friends! Hope your day is going well so far.

This morning I took the big Mastiff mommy for a walk, or should we say......I think she took me for a walk. She was just so excited to see everything and of course had to sniff on every bush and every piece of grass she passed. The good thing about it is, that this kind of quick walking is good exercise for me and might help me loose those treated extra pounds I've put on over the winter month. Even so it stormed last night quite a bit and the rain clouds were still overhead, I really enjoyed it. I saw a woodpecker just pecking away on a tree. I tried to get a picture of him, but my camera just wouldn't get close enough. But how I enjoyed seeing all the pretty flowers and bushes.

Magnolia trees....oooh how I love them. Especially at this time of year when they flower in all their pink beauty. During the summer month I enjoy their fragrant flowers.

Isn't that just beautiful. I could look at them all day.

Yesterday I cut the grass in our backyard for the first time. When I was done, I just pulled a chair into the yard and played fetch with the dogs for a while. They so loved this ourdoor activity after the long winter. It is amazing how they can always make me smile or laugh at them. They sure do the funniest things. I also love the smell of the grass after it has been cut for the first time of the year. It has a scent of its own, like freshness itself. 

I also repotted a few of my indoor plants and potted a butterflybush. I don't know know about you but I just loveeee to dig in the dirt and get my hands dirty. It won't be much longer and I get to dig up a veggie garden, with fresh Tomatoes, Beans and Herbs. Ohhh the joys of summer. Nothing can keep me in the house during those month. What do you enjoy doing in the summertime?

Well lets end todays post with a crafty note. Here are two pictures of a pattern I thought some of you might enjoy and I thought I would share them with you. Until the next time, take care of yourself......

Monday, Monday......

You all remember that song? It often goes around my head on that particular day and I sing it in my head or out loud if alone (you don't want to hear me sing.....I would crack a mirror). So Monday it is and with that a start to a new week. Hopefully a good one for everyone!

Spring....oh yes SPRING has finally sprung around here and even so it has been cooler again the last couple of days and raining, I am so so excited about it. Just love this time of year with all the trees budding and starting to flower in all these beautiful colors, yellow, white and pink, and the flowers showing their little tiny heads out of the ground. Been looking forward to a nice long walk on a sunny day to just take pictures and enjoy it all. With any luck that will be tomorrow, as they are predicting a nice warm day. Oh Joy....can hardly wait. I did take a picture of the sky and these puffy little clouds the other day. They look like soft lucsious puffs you just want to snuggle into.

Since coming back here to Mississippi, my life has been busy, busy and busier. Not that I don't enjoy it, I do. Life has circled around horses, dogs, the vet clinic where I will be working a couple of days a week and fixing up my new home. Plus daily normal things that come up as we go along. My life sure isn't boring anymore.

The other night, my girlfriend who breeds dogs and I helped her Mastiff give birth to 9 little ones. We were up until three in the morning and seemed to take foreer for her to have them all. But they are ohhhh so cute. Thought I would let you see them as well.

Would you believe I actually picked up a hook this last week? Yes, I know it is hard to believe, but I did. Maybe that is a sign that some things are going back to normal a little bit. Well I had bought this book at the Yarn Store a couple of weeks back, called "63 Easy-To-Crochet Pattern Stitches". They made an Heirloom Afghan out of it, but I wanted it more for the stitches itself.

So with one of the stitches from this book, I first just wanted to make a square patch for an afghan, but than as I went along I decided I would rather use it to make a scarf. Maybe not the right time of year, but as we all know, winter will come around again and why not crochet or knit a few scarves during the summer month. Here is a looksy at what I have accomplished so far. It is about 3/4 done and I hope to finish it still this evening while watching one of my favorite shows on TV.

So what you think? And don't you just love love love the colors in this yarn? Well I sure do. It makes me think of spring and it is bright and cheery the way I like it. 

Take a look below. That is the way the pattern patch looked in the book. If you interested in the pattern, let me know and I could either post it here or send in e-mail.

 

Well I shall come to an end here and will get back to doing some more work around the house, like washing dishes or something mundane like that. "Happy Crafting" to you all out there and have a wonderful evening.

MIA and Farewell to a Friend

Hallo Friends!  I know I have been M.I.A. over the last week. Sorry to say it has been for a rather sad reason  and one I would rather have done without. Remember me telling you about celebrating my girlfriend M's birthday last monday? Well, to everyone's great shock, M. had a massive stroke on Tuesday and passed away on Saturday. Her funeral was on Tuesday. As you can imagine, it has been a very long week with her being in the hospital and than the after. I still can't believe that I have lost one of my Best Friends in Life and it is sinking in slowly. It also makes you realize that you have to treasure each moment you have with loved ones and those close to you. We have to make each moment count for something and try to laugh as much as possible. Those are the moments we remember the most.

Good Bye my very Special Friend M. You will always be Loved and so very much Missed!

It has now been decided, that her husband and I will continue her company and make the river runs from now on. We had one on monday, even so it was a short one. I would like to share a couple of pictures with you here. The first one is from the old bridge that goes across the Mississippi from Memphis to Arkansas. I just love the old steel bridges. 

The second one is of a barge going north towards Illinois. It always amazes me how much cargo these barges push up and down the river. It is harder to push a barge north, as it is against the flow of water and can take triple the time it takes to go south. It also amazes me, how the pilots of these barges stir these large bodies of a barge around small and tight bends. 

This is our cat named MARMELADE. Isn't that just a funny name for a cat? Over the last few days she has been known to terrorize all the dogs in the house, by jumping on their backs, swiping at them from under furniture and just plain chasing them throughout the house. The dogs are getting a bit fed up with her. Personally I think she has Spring Fever, like the rest of us.

This is LULU, the Bulldog. Isn't she cute? I always say, she has one of those faces only a Mama could love. She looks like she is smiling in this picture. She is a very sturdy dog and not really liteweight, but she always wants to sit in your lap. You just gotta love her.

As the weather was really nice yesterday and so wonderfully sunny, I decided to take a small drive by myself around the area I used to live. Since coming back to Mississippi I hadn't had a chance with all the other stuff going on. I am so glad I did. Not only to see and remember everything, but it also gave me time to take a deep breath and relax for a while. Very much needed. Things have changed quite a bit around here in the last five years that I was gone, but so much has also stayed the same. It feels good coming home.

This is the little country store I used to help out at right across the street from my former house in the country. Except the cooler they built on, it has not changed at all. After all these years it is still the same people going in and out as back than. There is something rather nice about the familiar surroundings. The next pictures shows you a pond on which I have caught many a fish over the years. Looking forward to doing some of that again in the near future.

The next picture is of a tree I just absolutely love. Those big roots amaze me. I have spend many a sunny day under the tree reading a good book or just enjoying a sunny day in the shade.

As for crafting, I must admit, not much has been happening. I guess so much is going on here every day, that I have not found that quiet moment yet in which to relax and sit back and getting back to the business of crafting. I keep telling myself it will come and I am sure it will, but the moment has not come as of yet. I decided not to pressure myself on this and just to take it one day at a time and than it will come by itself, as it has always in the past.

Before I go for today, I thought I would share two pictures of a rare white moose with you, that a friend send me yesterday. They couldn't believe their eyes when they saw it and luckily had a camera on hand to take these pictures.

Are they not amazing? Such Beauty!

For today I bit you all farewell I we will talk to each other again soon. Have a wonderful and sunny day and most of all enjoy Life!

Tuesday Question

Good Morning and "Happy Tuesday" everybody. Much to my dislike we are having a rainy day and it is still rather cold out with temps in the lower 30's. Where has my sunshine gone? We had such a nice weekend, with temps in the lower 50's. It made me think of spring and my heart went skippy skip because of it.

The last few days have been busy for me, but it was all good. On Saturday I went on a River-run with my girlfriend M. You all wondering what a River-run is, right? Well it is my girlfriends business. She drives people from the airport or home to their destination on the river, where they get on their perspective boats or better said, Barges. Or she goes and picks them up and takes them the other way. Sometimes they are just short trips, but there are times she takes them from Memphis to Little Rock, or Kentucky, Illinois or other places. Those are the drives I love to go on with her. That is when I get to see new and exciting things and new places. This was my first trip with her again, after coming back to this area and it was something I missed when I was gone and in Alabama. This time it was only a short ride from Memphis airport to Arkansas and back, but it was nice to get out and see the mighty Mississippi River again. Here are a couple of pictures I took and I would like to share with you:

 

  

  

  

 

This last one is a view of Memphis from a moving vehicle

In the future I will most likely share more pictures with you of my little trips and hope that you will enjoy my sharing them with you.

Sunday was a beautiful warm and sunny day around here. It felt like spring was just around the corner, with temps inching up to 60F. We enjoyed the day by doing some work in the yard and letting the dogs run around, play and enjoy themselves. The evening was spend with watching the end of another olympic game and by my actually finally picking up my hook and yarn again, and actually doing some work on one of my afghans that I have been working on. Here a little preview:

 

  

It is made from the rounded ripple pattern, that you can find at Attic24 . I must say that this has become one of my favorite patterns for such an afghan. It is so easy to follow and works up quickly.

I also pulled some sock yarn from my own store inventory and am contemplating starting a pair of socks, which I have been planning on for some time. How you like the colors?

 

 

Monday was also a busy day. First of it was my girlfriend M's. birthday and I took her out for breakfast at IHOP (International House of Pancakes) and a place she likes. After that we decided to check out the new Yarn shop in town, called Hank of Yarn. This is the first such store in the area and I am excited to finally see such a store here. Before you could only find your yarn at Wal-Mart and as most of you know, they don't have much of a selection and than mostly only Red Heart yarn (Super Saver). It was fun to go browsing through all the different yarns and ohhhh they had such lovely patterns books and magazines. I could have probably spend a whole day there, just browsing and meeting the nice ladies sitting around  a big table knitting and crocheting away. But that will also happen in time. I found out they have a knitting / crocheting group every Thursday night, where anybody can come and join in the fun. I already know that I will spend some of my free time doing just that. Here a few pictures of that:

 

 

  

  

Wow....have I had something to tell today? All in all I guess I am just plain happy and exciting of being back here in MS. and feeling back at home. The days have become exciting and fun again.

Ok, now it is time for our "Tuesday Question":

What is your all-time favorite yarn and why? Also a second question: Do you belong to a knitting or crochet group and what do you enjoy the most or the least with it?

Ok, this is me winding down and coming to the end of my little long report, lol. Please enjoy the rest of your day and we will see each other real soon.