CHINA CABINET ALL CLEAN

Remember the post about the cluttered and dirty china cabinet? No, then click here to find out. Anyway, it got a good de-cluttering, we took 5 boxes of "stuff" out of there. How anyone can collect so much "stuff" that isn't useable. Well, it's gone out the door. Kept what I wanted, took it to the kitchen sink for a good cleaning, and cleaned the china cabinet shelves and windows. This is what it looked like before.

My china, well it's not really china, can't afford that. It's as close as I'll ever get to china. It's on the first shelf. My Christmas dinnerware is on the second shelf.

Some special pieces are on the third shelf and the fourth shelf holds my brown glassware.

The fifth shelf has my collection of Avon red glassware.

After all the cleaning and re-arranging this is what it looks like now.

So much better don't you think? If you want to join Sandra over at Cherry Heart for Making a Pretty Crafty Home, head over and check it out.

PROJECT 52 - WEEK #6

In the fields behind our place is water. Why? We had lots of rain and snow in January and the water is standing in the fields. The geese have decided to take up residence there.

BOOKING THROUGH THURSDAY

Booking Though Thursday has a question today, can you answer it?

A while ago, I interviewed my readers for a change, and my final question was, “What question have I NOT asked at BTT that you’d love me to ask?” I got some great responses and will be picking out some of the questions from time to time to ask the rest of you. Like now.

shelovestoread asks:

If you had to pick only 5 books to read ever again, what would they be and why?’

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Keeper by Kathi Applet

Two Old Women by Velma Wallis

The Help by Katheryn Stockett

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kid

As for why I would re-read them? They were all written well and the characters in the books were easy to follow. The authors in their own way in each book wove a story and picture in my head as I was reading. I could feel and see the story come to life. Which to me makes a great Awesome book. When the book ended I wanted to read more, I didn't want it to end.

BOOKS AND CROCHETING

What am I working on? I'm crocheting a new blanket. It's called Granny Got Color and you can find the pattern over at Caron International. Here is their version:

I've got the first four blocks done, but haven't put it together yet. The pattern says to sew the squares together, but I think I'm going to crochet them together.

As for what I'm reading. My book clubs pick this month is Queen Hereafter by Susan Fraser King. I haven't actually started this one yet. But it sounds fascinating. The other book I'm reading is The End of the World and other stories by Alexander Lurikov. It's a book of short stories. So far it's pretty good. I've linked these books to Amazon.com if you want to take a peek.

SOMEONE ELSE'S COOKING

Doesn't food always taste better when someone else cooks it? I think so. My son put a roast in the oven the other day. It made the house smell so good. And there is Luke thinking really hard about getting in the dog bowls.

But then he sees his daddy doing something, so he stops to have a look. Adding some spices to the roast and a little more water.

Then Luke heads over to the stove to see what's going on. Back in the oven for the roast to cook some more.

The heat from the oven made the house toasty warm as it was cold outside. And as for the roast, it was yummy. With potatoes and carrots and mac and cheese. And of course my favorite homemade cole slaw. Awesome meal!

PROJECT 366 REWIND - WK. #5

It was kind of a lazy week here. Full of play and fun for the twins and reading and crocheting for me. The weather was cold most of the week but the last 2 days it's been in the 50's and 60's. Weird for February, we should be below zero and snow on the ground. Here's my week.

My weary picture. Bubber is wore out and taking a nap.

Luke standing in front of the fridge. "What should I grab first."

Our internet connection. The black box on the left.

Bella "reading" one of her favorite books, Corduroy.

Sweets anyone, Pecan Spins and Mountain Dew.

Luke throwing the bag of baby wipes. Love his expression.

Bella sitting at the desk playing with the keyboard, which she's not suppose to do. I cropped, put a frame around it and added some sepia tone.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

Ashly over at Ramblings and Photos is the host for Scavenger Hunt Sunday. Want to see some great pictures? Head over to Ashley's place and check out all the people who are sharing their pictures.

The rules are simple:
1. Anyone can participate.
2. You're encouraged to take five new photos this week for the challenge. Creativity is also encouraged!
3. If you get stumped, you may use one photo from your archive (although I'm not too strict about it - I do my best to take fresh shots).
4. Link up here on Sunday (or Tuesday at the latest) - you can use the button above.
5. Leave comments for at least five entries around yours (we have so many new participants each week, this is the only way I know to be inclusive).
Have fun!

Here is my interpretation of the list.

Strike a Pose - Luke throwing the baby wipes. Those are pretty heavy for a little guy and he makes a really cute face afterwards.

Footwear - is me wearing socks with my flip flops. Why, because my feet get cold. But I love wearing flip flops so I steal a pair of my hubby's socks, they are big enough that they allow me to wear my flip flops.

Hobby - is my crocheting, it relaxes me. I usually crochet while watching t.v. programs on my computer. CSI, Body of Proof, Person of Interest are just a few programs I watch. If not crocheting, then I'm reading.

Shiny - is my set of stainless steel mixing bowls. My son gave them to me for Christmas a few years ago and I love them.

Color me Green - this one stumped me, but I took this picture of the backyard. There is a mix of green grass, snow and mud. Which do you prefer?

There you have my interpretation. Here is the list for next week. Start hunting for the perfect picture. And don't forget to head over to Ashley's place.

1. Facial Feature (Sacha's suggestion)
2. Shadow (Sacha's suggestion)
3. Spicy (Kat's suggestion)
4. Gold (Kat's suggestion)
5. Fabric (Christian's suggestion)

PRETTY CRAFTY HOME PROJECT

You may remember me saying I was going to join Sandra over at Cherry Heart for her Pretty Crafty Home project. Want to know more? Here's some info:

Just follow these simple steps:
1. Leave a comment on this post to say you want to join in and leave a link to your webpage (Don't have a blog of your own - no problem, you can jump to step 3.)
2. Grab one of the buttons from here (scroll down a bit) and pop it on your side bar or use it in a post or something. Once I get your comment, I'll come and visit your blog, leave a nice message or two, hope to see my bloggy button and then I'll add your link to my sidebar.
3. Come and join the 'Pretty Crafty Home' Flickr group, so we can share photos, tips and have a chat!

Well, here is my first mission. It's been bugging me for awhile. This China Cabinet is full of "stuff" we don't use and I can't get to the "stuff" we do use. So it's getting a cleaning, as soon as I get some boxes that is. So for now you just get to see the before shots.

Well, that's it for now. I'm off to shop for some yarn. Don't forget to go visit Sandra.

PLAYING WITH GRANDPA

Luke and grandpa playing with the cars and trucks.

FOLLOWERS

Have you ever had anyone follow you to the bathroom? And come in? I have 2 such people that do this every time. Yep, you guessed it. Bella and Luke, they follow me in there most every time.

HEXAGON AFGHAN

I've missed January unless you want to count my Hexagon Blanket, it kind of looks like stepping stones in a garden, right!

For February, I'm going go work on a crochet bag. I've always wanted to make one of these, but have never attempted it. Lucy over at Attic 24 has an awesome tutorial for making one. That's where my pattern for the Hexagon Blanket came from. Lucy does an excellent job of writing up and having pictures for her tutorial's. You should check out her place. Lucy has lots of hooky stuff to see and admire. And speaking of Lucy, she has a tutorial for a crochet bag. I can't wait to get started on it. Can you tell I like Lucy's hooky stuff? Yea, she's my favorite designer. Love her stuff!

ONE A DAY PROJECT - TUESDAY'S TALLIES

I have a TA-DAH..................
Got my Hexagon Blanket done. Thanks a lot Lucy for the tutorial.

I put a simple double crochet around the edge.

Now on to the next project. Granny Squares, again. I found this pattern over at Crochet Pattern Central which led me to Caron International. The afghan is called Granny Got Color. This is what it looks like at Caron.

It's comprised of one large and 4 small granny squares. Then you hook the two together.
Large square-make 32

Small Squares-make 124.

Joined together

I'm going to make mine from my stash, but I'm not sure what the main color will be. I have to think about this one. That's it for me this week. What are you working on?

LIFE IS A JOURNEY

Went to check out the new sketch over at Creative Scrappers and the new word over at Bird is the Word....Journey. So I combined the sketch and the word. Here is the sketch from Creative Scrappers...

Here is my version...

Life is a Journey - When Heather had her sonagram it was a shock that their were two babies. Bella and Luke was born July 10 and have grown on their journey through life so far. They are 18 months old now and still learning lots.