Welcome Fall

Every fall when I start to feel that first chill in the air I get an overwhelming desire to make an afghan. I'm not sure why I get this urge, but I've learned to just roll with it, embrace it. :)
There's just something so comforting and relaxing about snuggling up on my sofa with a cup of coffee and working on a lap afghan.

I decided on a block pattern afghan this time. As with all block type quilts every square has to be made individually and it has to be perfectly square stitch for stitch. The slightest miscount or miscalculation will throw the whole afghan off.
It's a pattern that I tried when I was younger and less experienced. I tried to make an afghan like this only to find out that the squares would not line up when I went to stitch them together.
This time I've got experience on my side and all of my squares are coming out perfectly. YAY


One thing I absolutely love about this design is that I can make it larger later on if I decide to.
So, maybe it will be a lap size this year and next fall I have the option to make it even larger.

The pictures here are just a sampling. I'm nowhere near finished. At this point it is only 4 squares wide and about 4 ft. long, and it is so very much prettier in real life.
The manufacturer calls these colors natural and true taupe. I call them coffee and creamer. :) I'm enjoying ever minute of it. Just thought I'd share what I'm up to lately.

Shabby Chic Torn Layered Flowers

Aren't they adorable? I made these shabby chic flowers tonight with my Basic Grey papers that I had left over. I love turning scraps into new, beautiful, usable items.

They look easy to make but they take patience and an eye for design. There is a bit more to it than just torn papers. lol
I found that I prefer them to graduate in size because is it visually more appealing, and if used on a layout they will work better being different sizes. I thought the coordinating tags were sweet too.

If you want them you know where to find'em! :)

Come see me.

I'm back home and before I mess with unpacking I thought I'd get my stocking tags listed in my etsy shop. They'd be great for gift tags but also as garland, for card makers, scrapbook embellishments, and Christmas tree ornaments. I raised the cuffs of the stockings and they are too cute! Eighteen to a set!

If you want a set and mention you saw them here on my blog I'll cut the price to $5 a set from the $5.25 listing price. (Convo me before you add them to your cart so that I can edit the price for you first.)

Now to get busy unpacking. :)

Day 9...

in Roxboro.

We've pretty much settled into a schedule of sorts but it isn't easy with Chris having to sleep during the day. We usually have some reason to go to town, (food, buy more TP, laundromat, etc.) so that is good and gives Chris a quiet room for a while. The kids have spent so much time in the pool that I think they are finally burned out on water. lol

I laughed when I typed (go) to town. We only have to cross the street to go to Walmart, Radio Shack, Arby's , and a few other places. It's going to be hard to go back home where the drive to town takes half an hour and it soo curvy! It's an exhausting drive. So much so that one trip to town a week is about it. You keep lists of what you really need and you best not forget anything. Too far and too expensive (fuel) to go back once you are home. But, I do love my big yard and my privacy. Like everything else in life there are pros and cons to both.

As for me, I've been working on a block style patch work afghan. It's turning out so beautiful but I have hit a dead halt until I get back home. I've run out of the yarn I was using (natural and true taupe) and the Walmart here doesn't have any. The next closest WM is over 30 miles away. I can't wait to take a picture and show you what it looks like so far. It's about to kill me not to be able to work on it any more. I had sewn all my squares together and it was really coming together nicely.

I can tell that the kids are starting to get a little tired of being here but I have commited to staying until at least Sunday. That's 4 more nights. Hopefully they can find things to passify themselves and not get whiney. Viv is the one that has been mentioning leaving the most, and inquiring, "What day did you say you want to leave?" Little hints like that. But in my defense I told her beforehand that this wasn't going to be a thrill or an adventure. She knew what she was getting in to.

I think that's all for now. The natives are getting hungry... :)

Hello Again, Roxboro

Before you go thinking my screws are loose just remember I told you in an earlier entry that we might be making the trip - Again. And well, we did.
It isn't often that we are allowed to do this. It's normally against company policy BUT the company wasn't able to give Chris his requested vacation time so this is the deal they cut. Family allowed to accompany him this time. They pay for the room.
Anyway,...
We've been here 4 days and 3 nights so far, and we could be here as long as two weeks. We're just playing it by ear. If the kids get too bored and whiney I'll have to head homeward. lol

The sky is completely cloudy and rained a lot the past couple of days. Luckily it was clear for the most part today so I took Alex, Caleb, and Vivian out to drive around town and get a feel for where we are and what's around us.
We found one totally AWESOME place that has bowling, roller skating, a huge arcade area, a diner, billiards (with a small pub off to one side for the adults), and a movie theater, all under one roof. I wish we had something like that in our town.
The only down side is that nothing opens until after 4pm and everything closes by 10pm. The hours for each place are different for different days and that makes it even more confusing. Besides that there is absolutely nothing else to do in this town. The Walmart even closes at 8pm! And yes, it's a Super WM. I think that's strange but...

The kids have been taking advantage of the pool (when it's not raining and cold outside), and we bought UNO cards, some dice and other stuff for them to play with. That has helped them not be too bored while Chris sleeps during the day. (He works 3rd shift here.)
And me, well I've been surfing the net because it's about all I can do in a dark room. LOL

The mini fridge and drawers are stuffed with snacks and drinks. Thankfully this motel keeps cookies, fruits, and all kinds of drinks available throughout the day so, that also helps. I've eaten more bananas, apples, oranges, and pears in the past four days than I've had all year. I'm glad I am hot chocolate intolerant because I am sure I would have drank a gallon of that by now. It's also available 24/7 in the dinning area.

I guess that's all the rambling for now. I think I will go sit by the pool just to see a bit more sunlight before it gets dark again. Tah tah for now.

Sweet decor for your home.

Primitive "Chocolates"

Then there's boutique style "chocolates."

Both listed in my shop.

Can I Keep You?

It's after 5AM and I can not sleep. I head toward the bathroom off the master suite, flip on the light as usual, and then I turned to look back at my sleeping hubby. Normally I wouldn't have given this a second glance but something told me to look longer, look deeper. To "smell the roses" so to speak.

So... I stood there looking at Chris. I was looking at the curve of his chin, the "farmers tan" on his arms. The color of his dark brown hair when it hits me that this is a site I used to take for granted.
My beloved husband occupies his side of the bed tonight but he will be gone tomorrow.

Yes, I'll be just fine. Yes, I can and do manage without him here. No, I don't get weepy when he isn't here. Life goes on. He does what he must to be a provider, and I do what I must to keep the house running smoothly for me and the boys. But even so, I couldn't help but think to myself as I watched Chris sleeping...

Can I keep you?

In a perfect world the answer would be yes. This however is reality. My reality.
No, sadly I can not keep you. So I must remember not to take these moments for granted. I'll keep your side of the bed warm for you until you come back this way again. XOXO ~Kristie

I am back home...I think.

Turns out I didn't need to be gone as long as I thought. I went to NC fully prepared to stay at least two weeks because that is what hubby told me. After only 3 days he says to me, "Surprise, we get to go home." He did not know beforehand that he would be sent back that soon, and neither did I. Obviously I wouldn't have bothered with that awful drive in that nasty weather if I would have known.

He does have to go back this Friday though and says he will for sure be there two weeks. They are redoing a floor of a Wal-Mart that is a 30 day project. Just so happens that they are rotating the workers back and forth so that no one employee gets burned out working the same location too long. Seems more logical to me to just leave the crew there, the same crew, and get the job done and move on. But instead a lot of them are doing the same as Chris had to do. Make the trip more that once. Different crews each week. What a mess!

Back in the hotel room we turned the TV on for all of 5 minutes as we were getting ready to out for dinner. Turned it off and started smelling this burning electrical stench. Looked over and there was smoke rolling out from the television like crazy! For two of the three nights that we were there we didn't have TV to watch. It was SO boring. There was absolutely nothing to do in that town. At least not in the part where we were, and I wasn't about to venture out off the main path and get myself lost.

And the kicker of this is...
The kids want to go back. That is to say DS Alex, DS Caleb, and my niece Vivian. Alex even told them how utterly BORING it was going to be but once they heard that there is a swimming pool there was no changing their minds. Now I have to think long and hard, do I really want to go back and do that again. Possibly for two weeks? Chris leaves Friday. I've got to come to a decision pretty fast. Oh boy, here we go again- MAYBE.