Happy First Day of Spring

Spring is finally here, though you wouldn’t really know it by looking outside.  It’s very dark and dreary with a fine rain falling on the layer of sleet that fell yesterday.  Hopefully, the weather will start improving, the buds will start popping up and Mother Nature will show her true beauty in all the flowers and green leaves.  I’m looking forward to the snow going away!

I’m also hoping that I won’t need all the winter woolies anymore.  Though, that will make me kinda sad as I just finished a pair of fingered gloves for myself.  I’m loving the colors (black, red, green with a hint of white and blue) and they match my winter coat and hat perfectly (well, the black and bright green do anyway), but I’m kinda sad that while I made them to fit me perfectly, they have stretched a bit with wearing them a few times and now feel like they are floating on my hands.  They are still warm, though and I’ll either keep them or give them to Darling Hubby if he’d like them.  I was considering making them with a mitten flap to go over the fingers, but I don’t think I have enough yardage leftover to do both flaps…Oh well.

I haven’t been spinning since the Ravellenics ended in February (geeze, that was a month ago almost!).  I went to Open Spinning at the LYS last night and finished up the 2nd skein of my X’s and O’s worsted weight Navajo plied yarn.  It felt good to finish something.  I finally washed the first skein of X’s and O’s and the skein of Ten and Tardis singles that I spun.  Now I’ve got 3 skeins of yarn drying.  I’m hoping the weather improves so I can get out on the porch to photograph.  The dark and dreary light of today isn’t great for photography…and my attempt at making my own light box was a failure.  😦  Sometimes I’m crafty, but this wasn’t one of those times!

Oh, and I have added one new project to my WIP list.  Little Fidget will be turning 4 in May and along with that he has the opportunity to go to pre-k.  I’ve already put his application in for the district pre-k lottery which will be drawn on 4-11-14.  We should hear if he got into our chosen school by the following week.  We’re really hoping that he gets into the same school his brother currently attends.  It would make life so much easier!  lol  Anyway, since school starts in 6 months I figured that would give me plenty of time to work on a “nap blanket” like I made for Bug when he went to Pre-k.  Fidget decided that he wanted something simpler than the Wheels on the Bus blanket I’d made for Bug.  In a way I’m grateful that he chose something simpler.  While the Wheels on the Bus was a cute blanket it was a lot of work and after a school year of weekly washing it didn’t hold up as well as I’d have liked. Plus, sewing all those 2 inch squares together was a right royal pain!  lol

Fidget chose a red blanket at first, then chose a red and black blanket.  I fell in love with the Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting so we scoured Ravelry together to find red and black blankets to give us ideas for 2 more colors.  We settled on black, red, white and dark grey.  So far I’m on block 6 and only messed up once, putting block 4 in the wrong place, but it will work out in the end I think with a bit of fudging.

Sadly, I don’t have any new photos.  Hopefully I’ll get something this week to share.  It’s weird, but I don’t like talking about my craft projects without photos to share!  Better get back to knitting.  Happy Spring, Everyone!

Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival 2012

Yesterday was an adventure into all things fibery!  A couple members from the Frequent Fibers Club at my local library went for a drive to Rhinebeck, NY for the annual Sheep and Wool Festival.

Let me tell you there was so much to see, touch and even smell!  There were over 260 vendors, not counting the food.  That’s barns and barns full of yarn, wool, animals,  needles & hooks, spindles, hats, scarves, shawls, patterns, books and of course people…OMG I could go on and on…It was serious sensory overload.

This is just a sample of  the yarn.,  Every where you turned there were walls, baskets, bins, and tables full of yarns in all colors of the rainbow and every size you could think of.

We arrived at opening and immediately started shopping.   I decided before going that I wanted to try my hand at spinning my own yarn.  My friend Barbara who spins yarn for her online shop Kitty Mine Crafts makes awesome things and because of that I was bitten by the bug!   Rather than shell out a ton of money on a spinning wheel, I decided to try a drop spindle…I’d been advised to look for a top whirl one, but I’d viewed a video on Knit Picks with someone using a funky looking crossed one, so I’d already had that in mind.  In the first building, I ran across this kilted guy using that same funky looking drop spindle I’d seen in the video.

He told me it was a Jenkins brand drop spindle and that I might find one a couple barns over.  Another pro to this particular spindle, which I later learned is called a Turkish drop spindle, is that if you wrap the newly spun yarn around the tines a certain way you can create a center pull ball!  Sweet!  My search was on.

In the second barn we found it filled with llamas, alpacas, sheep, their owners, and respective shops.  Here are some pictures of the more interesting specimens.

This guy was not happy about being the center of attention…no siree bob!  He gave everyone who got near his stall the stink eye.  I was just waiting for the spit to fly.

This guy was pretty unusual.  He has a wicked under bite.  It just goes to show that you don’t have to have a pretty face to have pretty fleece!

These little sheep were playing shy.  They wouldn’t let me get a good shot of them.  I think the little brown one was too embarrassed to his his picture taken.

In one of the later rows of vendors we stumbled across a shop called Still River Mill.  They sold interesting yarns like yakaboo (combination of yak and bamboo yarn) and dog hair yarn.  I contemplated the yakaboo yarn, but decided it was too thin to make a hat (I was thinking something for Darling Hubby since it was a nice gray color) and ended up picking up a dark blue skein of the Seven Sammy’s dog hair yarn.  It’s made from the hair from a Samoyed sled dog team from Cambridge, VT.  It has a beautiful halo effect after handling and I’m partial to Samoyeds having had a big white one named Sheba growing up.  Her long hair would have been perfect for spinning.

Also around that area we came across this cute little knitted monster.  I couldn’t resist taking a picture of him.

Eventually I did find the spindle I was looking for.  It was indeed a Jenkins brand (hand made by Ed Jenkins) Turkish drop spindle, made from purpleheart at 2.22 oz.  I’m excited to give it a try.  I know I’m not going to be perfect right out of the gate, but a girl can hope!  Maybe I’ll take to it like I did to knitting.  The best thing about that purchase was the other customers there that I spoke with.  One was adamant about using a bottom or turkish spindle while her friend was all about the top.  They both were really helpful in giving me pros and cons about the different spindles and I think I made the right choice.  The one woman, Elizabeth, even gave me her card and told me to shoot her an email if I got stuck.

Now, before I could even think about trying out my new purchase, I had to get some fiber to practice with.  Having not purchased fiber before it was a bit overwhelming, to be honest.  There were so many different colors, feels, and blends…I really didn’t know where to start.  Barbara told me to look for something with a long fiber and I did my best…I ended up getting a 2oz bag of a mix of merino from Loop Fiber Studio in a gorgeous sea treasure colorway.  It’s got lots of greens and blues and a bit of sparkle.  I also found a merino and silk mix, from another shop that sadly I missed the name of, that is so soft!  I do remember they also had adorable 8 week old bunnies for sale.  They were so sweet!…Not that I need a rabbit!  lol  I fell in love with the black, blues and silver of this 2oz of dyed wool.  I know this will be rather difficult to work with out of the gate, but I’m holding on to it for when I get better.  It was just too beautiful to resist.  I think it will make a gorgeous yarn!

Aside from knitted monsters we came across a knitted critter that looked like Eeyore and a knitted moose. Both were too cute to resist taking a picture of.

 

Other things we saw were a demonstration of needle felting and of someone using a circular sock knitting machine.  Personally, I think hand knitting is more fun!  lol

There was even this funky contraption below.  It was a spinning wheel created by this woman’s husband.  It was called a pendulum spinning wheel…it was a crazy looking thing.  Basically it had this super long arm that had a spindle at the very end that was spun around by the wheel.  It seemed to me to be a version of a drop spindle laid on its side.  Personally it seemed like there were many easier methods of spinning…and the amount of room that was needed was enormous…I don’t even think it would have fit in my living room!

Later in the afternoon was the drop spindle contest.  There were approximately a dozen people signed up to see how much yarn they could spin in 10 minutes.

It was interesting to see each person’s method of spinning.  Some preferred to sit, while other preferred to stand.

Some preferred to drape their roving over their hands and others over their shoulders.  A few, along the back wall, were able to continue a full conversation while spinning…they didn’t even seem under pressure.  lol

Some gave their spindle a quick flick with their hand to get momentum while other preferred to spin it down their leg.  I was a bit disappointed to only see top whirl spindles as I was hoping to see all the different kinds in action, but it did give me an appreciation for both types of spindles.  The winner of the contest was able to spin 16 yards of yarn in 10 minutes and there was a tie for 2nd place with I think about 13 yards.  I hope that I can one day be that good.  I also got to see this thing called the niddy noddy in action.  Apparently that is how you can wind your spun yarn into a skein and know how many yards you made.  I may have to get one in the future…lol

And the day wouldn’t be complete without a picture of me wearing a big fluffy, fuzzy wool hat.  I think it suits me!  lol

Here are a couple pictures of some of the other random animals that really had nothing to do with fiber arts…they were just there to keep the kids entertained in the kids zone  🙂  The red kangaroo seemed to be posing…He was sexy and he knew it…lol

This was a ginormous bunny.  I think it was a Flemmish Giant.  He was also in with a big tortoise.

Overall we had a fun day with beautiful fall weather.  We couldn’t have asked for a better day, especially at the end of October.  The sun was shining, the weather was warm and not too humid.  There was a ton to see and by the end of the day we were all a little overwhelmed and a lot tired from all the walking.  I’m looking forward to maybe going again next year.  Maybe by then I’ll be an accomplished spinner and can broaden my horizons even further!  One can hope, right!

FO Friday And A WIP Sneak Peek!

Considering at the beginning of this week I was shocked that it was only Tuesday I can’t believe that it’s already Friday!  I think it helped that Wednesday we got some snow.  We’ve had a very mild winter this year and I’m loving it!  The snow was predicted to start after noon, but it started a little after 11 while I was out buying yarn, of course..  We only got about 5 inches in our area.  It’s funny that this is only like the 2nd storm we’ve had since Halloween last year.  The first one, in January, we only got a couple inches and it didn’t last that long.  The weather is supposed to get warmer by Saturday (near 50*F), so our recent bit of snow probably won’t last long (and I’m actually ok with that!  lol)  My boys, however are gonna be kinda bummed.  We had a snow day today for Bug and after breakfast we bundled up and went out to play.  Fidget loved being dragged around in the sled.  I will say that snow is a good workout for me.  Before 8am I had the front walk, side walk and the bottom of the driveway shoveled out and all the running around in circles pulling both boys in the sled gave me some cardio!

Anyway, like I mentioned in my last post, I finished my Grey Hooded Cardigan.  Here are a couple pictures of it.  I really do love it!  It’s my new favorite!

And here’s one with the hood up.  I mentioned previously that with the first sweater I made with this pattern I had trouble with getting the front panel of the hood on easily and without a slight twist.  I felt it was unnecessarily difficult to sew on the extra piece.  Following the suggestions of fellow ravelers who endeavored to make this sweater, I picked up the stitches along the front of the hood (the same number as the final amount of rows for the front panel) and knit it to the width of the 20 stitch button area.  Then I inserted the cord and folded it over.  It doesn’t twist like the first one and gives it a slight flair, which is unique.

I don’t have a close up of the buttons, but they are a silver metal button that has what appears at first glance to be a Celtic design.  They really suit me and the sweater nicely!

I mentioned buying yarn, too.  I picked up some Caron One Pound skeins at Joann’s on Wednesday (Lavender Blue, Deep Violet, White, Sage Green, and Petal Pink) and I’m using some Rose and Cream from my stash.  I’ve started working on a Twin Sized Spring Flowers blanket for my friend Pammi’s daughter.  I’m really excited about it.  Here’s a sneak peek.  The pattern can be found here on Ravelry.

So far (in 2 days) I’ve made 7 white ringed hexagons and 7 cream ringed hexagons (only the white are pictured).  I really like how the cream looks…I’m leaving it up to Pammi whether we omit the white and go with the cream only or if we use both.  It would probably end up with diagonal stripes if we go with both, though that’s not a bad thing.

WIPS and FO’s – Sweaters

So, I’m still working on Fidget’s sweater.  I have only worked on it a bit here and there after posting last Wednesday.  I did manage to sew the one neck seam and pick up the stitches around the neckband and knit that for an inch or so, but other than that it’s just sat in the work bag.  I was hoping to get to it today (maybe during Fidget’s nap while watching Breaking Dawn part 1 that Darling Hubby bought me yesterday) but it’s looking like it might be tomorrow or this weekend.  lol  I’m hoping for a snow day tomorrow for Bug since we are supposed to get our first big snow of the season…I can’t believe that tomorrow will be the 1st of March and we are just now getting some snow that will last more than a few hours!    At least if March comes in like a LION it will go out like a LAMB, right?

On the other hand, I did pick up my hooded cardigan a couple times over the week.  I finished sewing the button holes Monday night and last night at Craft Night I sewed on the buttons.  It’s a bit bigger than the last hooded cardigan I made using the same pattern.  Mostly because I used heavier yarn and I didn’t do a proper “washed and hung” gauge swatch.  I just went with the needles called for on the pattern and my quickly knitted up, measured, and then frogged swatch.  It’s fine as I prefer my sweaters to be a little baggy.  It’s not like the sleeves are too long or anything!  lol

Hopefully by next week I’ll have another WIP to write about.  One of my fellow January Jubilee mommies approached me asking if I’d make a blanket for her 7 year old daughter.  I’m looking forward to the task.  I have to take some measurements of Bug’s twin bed and calculate dimensions and figure out how much yarn I’ll need.  I also have to find a pattern.  I’m thinking flowery hexagon granny squares in purples, pinks and white with some light green.  I’m excited to start it!

Photo Challenge – June 11-15

I feel behind a bit because we went away for Father’s day weekend and this week was busy with the end of school, but I’m catching back up!  Here are the 5 newest pictures for the June Photo Challenge

June 11th – Silhouette – This was taken on Christmas Eve 2006 after coming home from visiting family for the Holiday.  It’s one of my favorites.

June 12th – Sun Flare

June 13th – Childhood Reminder – This was once my tree house that my parents built me when I was around 7 or 8.  It was called Cratewood Manor because it was built from old wooden crates. It hung in a big tree in the woods for many years until I grew up and moved away.  My parents took it down and transported it down near the house so my mom could house chickens in it.  The chickens may be gone now and replaced with tools and random things, but I’ll always remember all the fun times my friends and I had in that old tree house whenever I look at it.

June 14th – Someone You Love – My Dad – he was burning the garbage and didn’t know I was taking pictures.

June 15th – Action – Doing 65mph on the highway.

Photo Challenge – June 6-10

Here are the 5 newest pictures for the June Photo Challenge

June 6th – Books.  Since I couldn’t choose just a few books, I took a picture of my favorite spot in our office.  This is my bookshelf with all my favorite books and knick-knacks.  There are 3 more in the room with more books and knick-knacks, but all of those aren’t mine!  We love books in our family!

June 6 - Books

 June 7th -High Angle – I trapped my cute little model in his playpen and stood on my coffee table for this shot.  I’m sure he was trying to figure out why I’m standing on the furniture like and idjit!  lol

June 7 - High Angle

 June 8th – Sunset – This was a Wednesday night and it was just me and the boys.  We had some terrible thunderstorms roll through our area, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get a sunset shot being alone with the 2 kids and the storms.  This was taken after I got both kids bathed and into bed, after the 2nd storm blew through (the first was complete with hail!)  Our house location doesn’t lend itself well to good sunset pictures, but I quickly snapped this shot as the sun was sinking below our neighbor’s garage.

June 8th - Sunset

June 9th – Fresh Fruit – Fruit doesn’t tend to last long in our house. I haven’t been shopping in nearly a week and there was only 1 kiwi, 2 strawberries and a few apples left in the fridge.

June 9th - Fresh Fruit

June 10th – This is a woodpecker in our ornamental cherry tree in our front yard.  I have fond memories of this bird.  It’s not a real bird, you see. Our former neighbors hung this bird in a big tree in their backyard, one that I could see from my kitchen window.  I spent a good long time attempting to take a good photograph of it before it flew away…when it didn’t move for over an hour…it dawned on me it was fake.  We had a good laugh over it.  Well, our neighbors moved to a new house a few weeks ago and gave me the bird.  We hung it in the cherry tree and now when I see it, I think of them.  They were awesome neighbors, but I have high hopes that the new neighbors will be just as nice. A bonus is that they have a little girl who is only 3 days younger that Fidget!

June 10th - Animal

Photo Challenge – June 4 & 5

Here are the newest two photos in the June Challenge.

June 4th – Clouds – The sky was mostly blue for much of the day until the clouds started rolling in during the afternoon.  I love how they are both puffy and windswept.  Everyone tells me the trees at the bottom are a nice touch.

June 4th - Clouds

 June 5th – Breakfast – Sunday mornings we usually have sausage and eggs, but Darling Hubby wasn’t in the mood for sausage, so I just snagged a blueberry bagel with some cream cheese and some Dark Naturals Cranberry Pomegranate Raspberry juice.

June 5th - Breakfast

What’s on the Needles?

Today is the first snow day of the 2010-11 school year for Bug.  We are getting quite a bit of snow and as of 6:30 this morning had about 4 inches on the ground with the possibility of 9-15 total by this afternoon.  Darling Hubby braved the snowy roads and drove into work (they never close!) and I’m hoping that they send them home early…but I won’t hold my breath.  It has been coming down pretty steadily, so who knows what’s on the ground…I do know that the snowplow went through twice, so the end of the driveway will need to be cleared.  Not sure if I’ll attempt to do it before Darling Hubby gets home or if I’ll just wait and let him do it…I have to see how Fidget is this afternoon.

I’m not sure what today will bring for me, Bug and Fidget, but I plan to stay warm, whatever we do.  We’ll probably play a little on the Kinect and I hope to get some more knitting done while Fidget naps later.  Fidget is officially crawling now.  He started on New Years Day and once he really figured out what he was doing he just took right off.  He’s also started pulling himself up on the coffee table…not to standing, but he gets himself upright on his knees.  I keep telling him he needs to master crawling better before he starts pulling up and walking!  Speaking of Fidget, he’s nearly 8 months old now and is just starting to get his bottom 2 teeth…Bug had at least 4 teeth by this point, probably more.  It’s true when they say each kid is different.

Anyway, I wanted to write about my crafting projects.  I’m still been working on Bella’s New Moon Hooded Cardigan since December 5th and I’m happy to report that I’m almost done!  I’ve been doing a couple rows here and there each day and last night I managed about 10 rows at craft night.  I’m about 30 rows away from starting the hood and then I have to make the pocket tops and do some finishing up.  I’m really happy with how it’s coming out.  The only thing that I’m upset about is that one of the stitch holders I used was red and some of the paint wore off onto the sleeve (underarm specifically)  I’m hoping that it will wash out.  To me it’s a rather obvious pink spot on a cream colored sweater.  😦

Here’s a picture of the cardigan in it’s half way done state. If you look to the left hand side of the picture (under the right arm), you can sorta see the pink spots. 😦 Otherwise, I love it!

I’m hoping that I’ll finish it in the next couple weeks so I can start on a couple new projects (I have start-itis and want to start something new, but I’m being good!)  Things that need to be completed by the beginning of April.  The first thing is I’m going to finish the dress that I started over 2 years ago for the wedding that never was.

It’s really sad that it has been over 2 years and I’m still pretty pissed off and hurt by what happened with those dresses.  I still feel like I was taken advantage of and wasted my time doing something for someone who didn’t even say thank you for all that I did to help her out.  She told me to just be thankful she didn’t pick $125 dresses from the bridal store and be happy I was only out $50…no mention of the weeks I spent cutting out fabric, pinning, and sewing I did to make 4 dresses for her!  Oh, and she didn’t even have the courtesy to tell me in person that the wedding was postponed (I got a generic card in the mail like all the other guests.)  Yeah, I’m still pretty bitter about the whole thing…but, I digress.

My plan is to move past all that and do what I originally intended…finish my dress and wear it to a wedding!  My friend Leana from Craft Night is getting married in April and rather than go out and buy a new dress (I already have to buy a suit for Bug since he’s her ring bearer) I’m going to wear something I already have.  With a little modification (I’m thinking going knee length rather than floor), I think the dress can be appropriate for an early spring wedding.  I really just need to find a zipper, which will only cost a couple bucks.  The 2nd project goes along with the first.  I’m going to knit myself a wrap/scarf to wear with the dress.  I’m thinking the Clapotis (rav link).  It seems that everyone is making one (there are over 16,800 projects on Ravelry!) and while I’m not usually one to jump on the bandwagon it looks like it will be a quick knit and functional for both wearing to the wedding and for wearing later on in a casual setting.  I’m just debating about what color to make.  I’m thinking maybe I’ll make it in a cream color (the same color as my Bella Cardigan) as it would be a nice color to go with the light purple satin in the dress.  I’ll have to see what yarn is out there when I finish the dress.

Off to shovel out a spot so I can walk the dogs and assess the driveway situation while Bug is playing on the kinect.  Hopefully I’ll get a row or 2 done before Fidget wakes from his nap.  Happy snow day everyone!

28 Weeks & Various Updates

Well, I turn 28 weeks today (7 months).  I’m guessing I’ve got about 10 more weeks to go! (give or take).  I’m feeling pretty good aside from a bit of heartburn that plagued me Monday night this week and the fact that I can’t always get comfortable in bed, with or without a body pillow.  It does take me a little longer to get out of bed or off the couch these days (which worries me since I’m not that huge right now!)  I took my one hour glucose test last Wednesday and I’m guessing I passed because they said I would be called if I’d have to do the 3 hour test and it’s been a week and nothing.  That makes me very happy!  I haven’t weighed myself today, yet, so I don’t know where I stand for total weight gain.  Last week I was at 16-17lbs.  I figure I’m around 18 this week.  I’ve splurged a bit on some junky foods (I made 5 dozen chocolate chip raisin cookies and have eaten most of them myself!) so I wouldn’t be surprised if I gained a bit extra.  I’ll just watch more closely what I eat this week.

Fidget is moving around a ton.  I swear last night he was spinning in circles.  He was also making it pretty difficult for me to breathe…either that or the fact that we had a major snowstorm with a low move through…sometimes I have trouble breathing when the pressure is heavy.

On a non pregnancy related note, Bug got his first ear infection last week and I had to take him in to the drs for a sick visit.  He woke up Tuesday night crying that his ear hurt, so I took him in after my drs appointment Wednesday morning and sure enough, ear infection.  I can’t believe we made it to 5 years without having one prior, esp with his daddy’s history of chronic ear infections as a child.  We started a course of amoxicillan and today is day 8 of the meds and wouldn’t you know it, he woke up covered from head to toe in itchy red hives.  I had the same thing happen to me last February when I was taking it for Strep Throat.  It was at the same time in the course of the meds and from what I’ve heard, it’s not uncommon.  I actually had his well child (5 year) visit scheduled for today at 1:30 (only a month late!), but due to the snow storm that blew threw last night, school is canceled and therefore the drs office is closed, too…I’m just going to keep an eye on him and if he starts getting worse or has trouble breathing or something I’ll call 911.  Since Darling Hubby still had to go to work this morning, he took the car so I wouldn’t have to drive in the yucky stuff.  Apparently, he saw 3 accidents on his drive in this morning.  Eeek!  Anyway, I’m going to have him pick up some Benedryl or some Aveeno bath stuff for poor Bug.  He’s actually doing pretty well with not itching.  He has more willpower than I do!  The above picture is just his belly and face (he even asked to say “cheese.”  It’s the same on his back and not as bad on his arms and legs.

The drs office did call to reschedule his appointment and I mentioned the hives and the nurse told me to stop the meds (too bad I decided to go ahead and give him his morning dose) and keep an eye on him.  I’ll call tomorrow and see  if they are open to reschedule…I’m kinda hoping that tomorrow will be another snow day for school since I wouldn’t feel comfortable sending him to school covered in hives…They’d probably frown on that…We’ll just play it by ear, I guess.

On a crafty note, I’ve been working quite a bit on Darling Hubby’s knitted sweater.   I’m keeping to my 2010 New Year’s Resolution and I’ve learned to follow a knitting pattern with ease.  I finished the back panel of the sweater and am now working on the front.  So far it’s been pretty easy.  I’ll probably get a bit more nervous when I have to start the sleeves, but for now I’m happy with how it’s turning out.  Darling Hubby might just get his sweater yet, and before the end of winter if I keep working on it like I have been.  I also want to finish it sooner rather than later because there’s a knitting pattern for me that’s calling my name…I’m not sure if I have a need for one, but it seems everyone is making one, so I have a big desire to make a clapotis.  I’m vowing that I’m not starting any new projects until the sweater is finished.

On a weather note, here are some pictures of the snow storm…it’s still snowing now and we are supposed to have another storm pass through tomorrow.  Darling Hubby plowed the driveway last night just before 8 and I shoveled the steps and front walk (yes, at 7 months pregnant, I shoveled!!  It’s not the first and won’t be the last time.)  At 7 this morning there was as much snow in the drive way again as there was last night…It’s a good thing we plowed/shoveled last night because the snow is super wet and heavy.

This is the driveway after the snowplow came through…and left snow boulders…DH is going to have to park in the street and get the snow blower out again when he gets home.  There’s no way I’m shoveling that!

The snowbank blocking off the parking lot across the street.

The walkway I shoveled off.  I had to bang some of the snow off the trellis…
It’s weighing it down and bowing in the middle.

The tree in the neighbors yard.

Our ornamental cherry tree covered in snow.  It’s actually quite pretty.

I Got A New Way To Walk…Walk, Walk

Walk way that is!  Darling Hubby and I finished redoing our front walk this weekend and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.  The old one was a crumbling concrete mess and looked down right terrible.  Here is a picture that was taken in early 2004 (before we sided over that hideous yellow color) that shows an already crumbling mess…add 5 years to that and you can imagine what it looked like a couple weeks ago before we broke it all up.

When we first moved into this house in 2003, there were 3 very large stone slabs laying between the driveway and the neighbor’s fence.  They served no purpose, aside from giving the old neighbors ramshackle fence a little more stability at the bottom…lol)  I don’t even think I have a picture of them…they were that insignificant to us.  When Darling Hubby and I started discussing options for repairing the front walk way, I made mention of the 3 stones and when we took measurements, we found they were practically perfect for the space.  They were a little smaller width wise, but it was only a couple inches and we decided to take out the bricks and other stones that made up the side walk way that led from the driveway to the main walk way since it wouldn’t match up well.  We’d planned to just lay the stone slabs flat and basically replace the front walk, but my friend Rose gave me a good idea to make them into steps.  It actually turned out better to make steps since the last stone was a bit longer than the concrete slab the construction guys poured when our sidewalks and curbs were replaced in 2007.  We had no good way to cut the stone slab to make it even so overlapping worked out well.  Plus it will keep the rugrat kid from down the street (who can’t be but a year or 2 older than Bug), who often has no adult supervision, from riding his wagon down my walk way…he attempted that once but quickly moved on when he saw me watching him from my front door…he hasn’t set foot on my property since.  Anyway, we ended up using the bricks from the side walk way area to make the steps…nothing goes to waste around our house!  lol

Here’s the finished product!  We added top soil to make things even and planted some grass seed.

We will eventually get some new solar lights to put along the sides.   The new steps look nice next to our newly redone flower bed.  There were some scraggly looking roses there before and we took them out last month and planted some mini blueberry bushes and some irises.  It looks so much nicer.

Here you can see the side walk way area.  This used to have bricks laid out there, but it was starting to heave, even after I relaid them a couple years ago.  We reused the trapezoidal stone block that was there previously and plan to get some stepping stones to place there rather than making a full walkway.  I’m thinking something along these lines.  They are made from recycled rubber.  I like reusing and recycling!

Here is a picture of the fence area where the stones used to sit.  I cleaned it up and extended the brick lined flower bed that we put in after the new neighbor replaced the fence last year.  I planted some wild flower seeds and some cosmos seeds that I got free in the mail from somewhere.  You can see my container garden with my potatoes, carrots and spinach.  The wooden post that has the bamboo wind chime hanging from it was once part of the overhang that extends all the way back to the garage.  We only use it for storing our garbage can, some firewood that’s drying and as the uprights for the “fence” that I put across the driveway to contain Bug and the dogs to the yard.

In addition to finishing the walk way and creating the new garden and planting seeds, we replaced our outside water spigot.  Shortly after moving in we replaced the old existing water spigot with a frost free one.  Last year it started spurting water out of the top whenever it was turned on.  It wasn’t bad, but this year it started getting really bad.  It made a huge mess when you needed to water anything and I dreaded using it.  Of course, it wasn’t an easy fix.  There was a lot of grumbling at it and some quick fixes, but in the end we have a spigot that works and it no longer wastes water!

You may be wondering what Bug was doing the whole time we were working.  He was either inside playing or  in the yard playing while the stones were moved and he did help a little when we were putting down the dirt and grass seed.  For some of the spigot work he was running around shoot the dog with a water gun.  Don’t worry, Max isn’t mad that he’s getting all wet…

In fact, he LOVES getting sprayed and shot with water!

He even waits patiently while Bug pumps the water gun back up.

We didn’t let Bug help or be around much for the moving of the stones.  Since we didn’t have much in the way of equipment that could easily lift and move three several hundred pound stones, we improvised and didn’t want him getting hurt accidentally.  For the first 2 stones we employed the Egyptian pyramid building method of putting the stone on a sheet of ply wood and using rollers to move it down the driveway.  It actually worked pretty well, considering.  For the 3rd stone, we borrowed our neighbor’s father’s dolly which was much easier.  lol  It’s actually great that we have neighbors who will let us borrow things.  For this job alone we borrowed a sledge hammer, a pry bar and the dolly…all of which we returned, promptly.  Good neighbors always return things quickly! lol

Overall, I’m very happy with how things came out.  I only hope that our grass starts growing soon.  It’s done nothing but rain and rain and rain (severe thunderstorms nightly) and it’s starting to wash away some of my dirt…I shored it up with some bricks today.  Hopefully it will help keep the dirt in place.