The Perfect Ending to a Perfect Day

No caption necessary.......

My new Wheels!

Okay..... So I got a little excited about my new wheels, and forgot to get dressed before I took them around the living room for a "spin." So what? I just needed to make sure that the seat was the right size for my tush. Not buying that one? Okay..... It's a convertible, and I didn't want "Farmers Tan?" Not buying that one, either? Well, then, add your own caption!

I'm such a Big Boy!

Hey! How do you like my new chair? Isn't this just the bestest gift ever? Now I can be one of the "Big Guys!" Whoopee!!!!

Traumatic Turbans!

Okay, so we're having WAYYYYY too much fun! It's apparent that we have no lives when trying on a "Turvy -Towel" brings this much enjoyment to both Miss Laura and Miss Barb! Somebody give us lives...... PLEASE!

Maybe we should say..... "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a 'Good Night?'"

Laura came for the big Family Christmas Dinner with her salad (which was yummy!) and fresh green beans. That was the least caloric part of the meal!. As usual, Heather and Company were late..... something about the broccoli surprise and an oven.... yeah, right! She and Shawn ate leftover Turkey, stuffing, and baked potatoes, while the rest of us chowed down on Prime Rib, cooked to perfection..... thank you Epicurious! Raspberry swirl cheesecake finished the meal, and everybody took a turn at the kitchen sink, too!
















In all. it was a great day, with Family and Friend! Thanks, Laura, for my Glen Beck book, my stickers (Yes we will get together to start our 2007 Christmas Cards in January.), and my bottle of "Barb's Brandy," too! I just love your personalized labels! What a hoot!

Laura's Present

Well, Miss Laura...... You didn't look close enough.It was sitting right on top of the entertainment center..... And because you didn't, I'll just have to tantalize you with SEEING your present up close and personal. No, you may not shake or peek! Not until Monday will you get your grubby hands on my masterful wrap job! Ha!

My Nativity

Many years ago, My Mother in Law "lucked" into a Fontanini Nativity Set complete with Crache. I was the lucky Christmas recipient of it, and each year have added to it. I now find that unless I want to buy a larger hutch, I must STOP buying animals and people....LOL. I just don't think that John will want to buy a new dining room set, move the doorway, or extend the entire house just for Fontanini! Anyway..... here is this years creation. Enjoy!

The Presents were Wrapped.....

Okay, Bill...... here's your blog! How I spent my Thursday.... morning....and afternoon! If I never see another piece of wrapping paper, it'll be too soon! Enjoy your Ruben on Saturday!

Victorian Sampler

Now that my Sister, Cindi, has received her present, I can post a pic of "Cottage Garden." This was my first attempt at drawn thread and specialty stitches. Don't look too close!

I had never worked with Perle Cotton or Silk thread before. I can't say that I'm crazy about the Perle, but the silk thread is really nice to work with. It works easily, and doesn't fray badly.

The worst part was the "thatching" on the roof. I just don't do "diagonal" stitching very well. Other than that, it was fun!
Enjoy!

Pere Noel Ornament Complete!

Well, here He is! Pere Noel turned out even better than I had hoped. I truly believe that the pictures don't do him justice at all. He's so much prettier in person.

I even learned how to use the "Twisty Thing" to make a ribbon braid for the perimeter of the ornament..... Now.... what do I do with him?

Thanks for looking!
Later.....

Colin's Christening

Poor Father..... he had to s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the beginning of Mass, because, as usual...... The Harvey's were late. He must have had a really nice "Welcome" to the new "parrishoner" (ME!) planned, too! Oh, well..... he obviously doesn't know my Mom and Dad very well! Then, all 12 of us trooped in, and didn't sit in the "reserved" seating smack dab in the front pews, either. S-t-r-e-t-c-h..... some more, and send somebody to tell us where to plunk ourselves down. Can you say "I'm sooooo embarrassed!" Good thing these are really nice folks at St John's. They made me feel right at home! Everybody smiled at me when I paraded in.

So the good news is that the christening gown fit me! Good thing Mom and Dad didn't wait another week! And I was so good, too! I laughed and cooed at Father. Then Father laughed and cooed right back at Me.....
"Maybe if I hide my eyes, nobody will notice that I'm a boy in a dress, with a frilly hat! My Grandmother HATES me! This will probably make me Gay! It'll be all her fault! Somebody Pleeeeeezeeee make me look like a boy!














"There! That's better! Now, get rid of these lacey shoes, and put my cleets on, right now! "

"And what are YOU laughing at Father? My baseball cap looks better than YOUR Hat!" Hair? Oh, sorry..... thought it was a hat!" Let's get on with this, before I loose all my nerve....."





Anyway..... My Mom didn't drop me in the big bathtub, and Father came through on his promise to warm the water before he dumped it on my head! Guess I'm glad I'm Catholic, cause they don't make me jump into a river or anything like that! Grandma would have been bummed if my nice dress got ruined..... hmmmm..... maybe I can save some other kid.....

Everything went fine until Father woke me up with the water. Then it reminded me that I was hungry. I figured that if I fussed loud enough, and long enough that somebody would give me some of whatever they were eating and drinking in front of me..... not a chance. Mom took me outside for a little "teaser," but had to bring me back in again so Father could say some more nice words, and slobber oil on my head. What's up with that, anyway? Still nothing to eat.... bummer! Let's get outta here!



Pictures? Now you want to take PICTURES???? Didn't Bryce take enough of them (with Uncle Buzzy's help, of course) when they dunked me? Oh, all right..... make it quick!

Me, Mommy and Daddy. See how happy I look? FEED ME!!!











Me and My Godmother, Aunt Rachel, I'll be a good boy for her.... she doesn't have anything to feed me with, and besides.... she's nice!














Me and My Godfather, Uncle Michael... not a prayer for a meal here. I'm being good for him, because Aunt Stephanie is going to have my cousin in February, and I don't want to scare him off, or anything...... just lookin' out for your future interests, here, Cuz......

A point of interest here.....do you notice who DIDN'T.... and RARELY has her picture taken with me? Just thought I'd bring that up.......







My Big Brother, Bryce, has a birthday on December 10th, so after Mommy fed me in the front pew of the church while chatting with Father (we expect anything else from my Mom? If she doesn't care, I sure don't .... I'll eat ANYWHERE!), we all trooped off to Avicoli's for our 7 PM dinner reservation.. ...which..... they screwed up! I don't think that all 12 of us would have fit into a booth for 4, do you? I mean.... I had my OWN seat, but I felt sorry for the rest of them! Somebody really messed things up, BIG TIME. So much for the leisurely fine dining..... we finally sat down at 7:40.... record time to shove the other people out the door! Uncle Mike and Grandma's orders got.... uh... lost somewhere, but they still managed to finish dinner with the rest of us. The cake was served, we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Bryce,



and, as you can see......




My Big Brother, Peyton held on as long as he could.

















And to all...."A Good Night!"

Love you!
Colin Julian Harvey

Happy Birthday, Bill!

Did you think that we would forget????? Miss Laura, Miss Lana and Miss Barb were busily plotting and planning for your Special Day, for days in advance. We wanted your birthday to be memorable. By the look on your face at the gym this morning - it was! Great! We did it! AND..... we couldn't have done it without YOU! Thank you for slugging through the snow, not knowing about your surprise, Bill!

Now you can celebrate your special day for two days in a row. Enjoy your decorations, especially your "Kiss Me" button...... pin it on anywhere you want! Don't forget to wear it to the C&S party tonight, or to your Family birthday celebration at Danzer's tomorow night, either!

Enjoy!

Did You Miss Me?

I'll bet - not!" My PC decided to take a vacation, and after a week, came home! Thank you Bryan for putting "Humpty Dumpty" back together again..... now I'm paranoid to surf!




I've included a couple of pics of the horrible rain storm we had this week. I was thinking that it was terrible, until I thought..... "What if it were snow?" Straightened out my thought process right quick, Pardner!



Since last we spoke, "Curly, Larry and Moe-lita" trimmed the tree (complete with the Star - not Fluffy the Angel, boo-hoo), and Moe-lita quasi-decorated the house. I guess I'd better finish the job, as Miss Laura is going to be our Dinner guest for Christmas Day. Hope she likes either over-done Prime Rib, or Burned Bird! With company coming, that's surely what will happen!

I also worked furiously on my Santa..... picture will appear post-Christmas, as it's a present. I'm so tired of seeing Gentle Arts Sampler "cranberry" thread! I've used 6 skeins of it! That's a lotta' thread!

The Victoria Sampler Cottage Garden Sampler is framed, and ready to go. Look for that pic just before Christmas..... yep.... also a present. It turned out really well...... that's a "tease."

On a more personal note.... I want to wish Bill a "Happy Birthday" on this Saturday. Rumor has it he's turning "60-something", but he sure doesn't look it. He's going to Danzer's for a Rueben, and promises to eat the whooooolllllleeeee thing! I'm not taking bets on that one. Uh, huh..... no way! It's a "given" that there won't be a shard of cabbage, or a teaspoon of Russian Dressing on the plate!

For a bit of Family humor (Yeah, everybody who has a Family has one or two stories to tell.), try this one on..... Our Daughter and Son in Law are having Texas Company this weekend for Colin's baptismal. It figures that the sink would plug (thank you, Peyton for the toy in the trap), the toilet would overflow (oh, sure, why not?), and Peyton would toss water all over the bathroom floor (a nice soggy mess - and "What's that mildew smell?). Well, as long as you're doing it, might as well do the whole thing, right? So Shawn rips out the old shower doors, and the vanity, buys copper, fittings, new fixtures, a new vanity, shower doors, and starts to "re-model." The floor would have to wait - clorox will take care of that smell, right?). The first thing that happens is that the piping under the now wide open sink is so corroded, that it has to be changed out. Then, the pipes behind the shower leak, necessitating finding the "cut-out" for the plumbing behind the bathtub..... located "conveniently" behind the refrigerator. Not, too bad..... UNTIL the new copper leaked..... and leaked.... and leaked, because Shawn couldn't get it "plumb." All bets are on the fact that at some point, the shower had leaked before they bought the house, and the dingbat had probably done the plumbing repair herself! Okay.... tear out all the copper, and replace it with PVC because it's more flexible.... problem solved! It only took 4 days, and Heather can shower at the gym or climb into the kitchen sink if she needs to, right? Next item on the agenda is to buy the new vanity. Saw a great one at Home Depot for a terrific price - including the sink! Buy it, have it delivered, and THEN discover that just because there's a sink IN the vanity AT the store, doesn't mean that it COMES WITH the vanity. New lesson is learned..... To add insult to injury, the vanity is damaged when it arrived. Now.... it's Monday, and Company arrives on Thursday...... Go back to Home Depot, straighten it all out, order another vanity. New vanity is supposed to arrive on Tuesday evening. 8 o'clock PM arrives, and no vanity in sight. Somebody neglected to schedule it for delivery. The end of the story should arrive this evening..... we'll see. The whole "tale" sounds just like Everybody's last nightmare, right? I tell you this tale to make all of the rest of us feel better..... These things DON'T just happen to US! Sorry Heather.... but it sure makes US feel better!

Have a good day, and look for me tomorrow!

Nasty Syracuse Weather!

That "Wait 5 minutes, and the weather will change" statement that I made in an earlier blog has come back to haunt me! It is Naaaassssstttttyyyy outside! The skies have opened up, and the gutters can't keep up with the rain. Oh, I'm gonna' wish we'd taken down those Poplar trees sooner, I just know it! Wind, and rain so hard, I can't see the end of my driveway. Good thing I'm not a scaredy cat! Ha! "A Day Not Fit For Man Nor Beast" as WC Fields would say!

Anyway, I'm on a "mission" to figure out how to add a link to my Webshots and Photobucket picture files, so look around for it on the blog....
Later.....

For Miss Laura

"Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa!!!!" Gad Goodfry, I forgot to mention that on our little shopping spree to the "Nort Country," that Miss Laura also bought Diamond Glaze!!!! OH! I just remembered that she bought ear muffs at Herb Philipsons, too!!!!!! Whoop-tee-do! There! Take THAT, you! You'd better watch out, or I'll tell Mr YMCA where you live! He'll ride his bicycle over to your house and show you what's in his backpack! I'll bet HE has lots of rubber and paper in there.... Yup... I betcha he does!

Feels Just like Summer!

Another beautiful warm Syracuse Day! Ha! Please, don't tell Mother Nature that it's the end of November.... please.....please! The thermometer was at 56 at 5 AM this morning, and hovered at 63 for the rest of the day. I'll gladly take the overcast skies that went along with it, as long as there was no snow! It all ends on Friday evening, as the temperatures are predicted to drop into the low 30's, and there's Lake Effect snow predicted for Saturday.....bummer!

The good news is.... my ornaments are d-o-n-e! Take a look.....

They turned out okay, if I do say so myself! Now I can get back to my Santa.... he's calling out to me!

Later.....

My New Finish

Check out these French knots! I had such fun, and there must be 50 of them I'm so proud..... LOL

Believe it or not, I actually finished.... yup.... soup to nuts one whole ornament! Sheesh..... I'm going to keep Elmer's glue in business! I procrastinated attaching the braid for so long that I almost gave up on the whole project! Silly me! It took all of 5 minutes to glue the stupid braid onto the ornie. Okay.... so I didn't "twist" the braid myself.... I haven't gotten up the nerve to learn how to use the stupid "twisty thingy." Give me time.... give me time........

Anyway..... enjoy!

The Great Shopping Extravaganza with Laura!

Okay! So Laura had never been to The Dragonfly. I try to "enable" every stamper that I know to try it once. Just ask my cousin Janet! This is a pic of my "stash" from today. I really n-e-e-d-e-d another piece of rubber (yeah right!). So, I bought 4! Then I was "enabled" into buying some paper..... well.... it WAS marked down to 10 cents a sheet, ya' know! Who can resist another stamp pad, either..... oh, shut up, John!!! The Glaze pens jumped into the basket when I wasn't looking..... well.... sort of. Okay, okay..... I'll shut up, now! Watch your Christmas cards for the finished display!

Oh! Did I mention that Laura bought a resin bag? BIGGGGGGG time spender, My Friend!

Monday, Monday.....

Good title for a song, huh?

The weather isn't bad for the end of November, either. I saw somebody mowing her lawn yesterday! Sure beats shoveling snow, right? If you live in Syracuse, you get used to our quirky weather. The "tag line" around here is "Wait 5 minutes, and the weather could change!" It comes from living so close to Lake Ontario.

I'm still working on ornaments, and I have to tell ya' that it's been a "slow-go." I spent the better part of Saturday just gluing stuff. Today I'm going to learn how to use that thing that makes cording..... This should be interesting.

Last night, I got out my Russian Punch needle kit, and started to learn..... What a mess I made! I'm now busy weaving fibers back together to try to salvage the stupid thing! It took over an hour just to figure out how to hold the stupid needle without cutting the material...... There are parts of it that are just shredded. Not good! Maybe I should just stick to plain old cross stitch!

The good news for today is that there's no rain or snow predicted! Whooo-hoooo!
Later......

For My Sister

Here's your big chance........

Cindi sent a beautiful gift along with the Familial Christening Gown the other day. Yes, you Snot! You indeed DID make your "always will be younger Sister cry!" Happy now? The pic in the upper left is only one of two pics that I'm aware of with me as a baby. I know all babies look alike, but I can see myself in Colin! Vanity......

There's a great pic of the two of us standing in front of our old house on State St in Oneonta on Easter morning. Mom loved to dress us up...... she had to be careful with me, though, or I'd take off, and roll in some dirt somewhere. I was never dressed up for long! Cindi was the "prim and proper" one.

The other photo is of the "Glamore Gals" onboard ship. We took a nice cruise to celebrate.... oh.... I guess our existance. Cindi..... remember the berths on the ship? there wasn't room to turn around! Our bright idea was to choose an "inside" berth for our first cruise, too! You have NO IDEA how dark those rooms are in the middle of the night! I also discovered that when they change out the fresh water (also in the middle of the night), the water in the stainless steel toilets comes right up to the brim! Ask me how I know this at 3 AM!

The other picture is is Cindi and I at the Enchanted Forest taken in 1955. I think Cindy was 7 1/2, and Barbie was just 4 years old. See how proud we were of our new "Annie Oakley" Cowgirl outfits? Check out the fringe on the skirts! For some reason, I'm not wearing my "6-guns" though. It was probably too hot that day! I remember that my hat was red, and I think that Cindy’s was Black. I have a vivid reccolation about the shoes, too. They were red "Buster Brown’s" and had holes cut out in the shape of leaves on the instep! Mom always dressed us up so cute when we went out "visiting!"

For Marlene......

Just for you, Marlene.....

The Gruesome Foursome got together to christen

"Marlene's Summer Palace" in November. Oneonta just hates to see us coming! We hadn't all been together in 3 years, and I'm surprised the Town Fathers didn't yell "Katie, bar the door!" from River Street to Emmons!

Ah..... Mosca's Pizza from the Depot. Brooks chicken makes the mouth water...... The Widmer's Lake Niagara didn't hurt, either. Mary is just as crazy as the rest of us - we must invite her next time, Mar!

Notes from Marlene..... "But if you're going to do it, don't forget to tell everyone about Barb's Hints for Being the Perfect Guest-- like, "Stay up with your hostess, while she cleans up the kitchen, even if it is 3 hours past your bedtime!" And remind them to remember WHERE the party's being held, (Oneonta, not Syracuse), so they don't go up and down the thruway for 2 hours!And don't mimic the symptoms of a heart attack a week or two before the party, just to scare the crap out of everyone!"

At least we didn't embarrass ourselves by trying on hats in Walmart, or having anybody paged at the Dollar Store...... DID we, Liza? We'll just save that for next time...... We are SUCH children! Ha!

Thanksgiving Flowers

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday, too! The Lake Shore really out-did itself! It also helped that the sun was shinning, too! The bird was cooked to prefection, they had REAL Thanksgiving veges - candied yams with melted marshmallows, squash, peas and corn - along with the usual mashed potatoes, dressing and gravy. We also weren't "rushed" in and out. All in all, it was a wonderful day.

Heather and Shawn and the boys brought flowers for Grandma, too! What a nice treat!

New Finish

I also found a frame for "Can You Spy....." I think I like it better "encased in glass......" LOL

Black Friday!

Oh, my! I had the best of intentions...... I met my Running Partner, Sue, this morning at 5:30. There was so much black ice in the parking lot of the Mall where our "jaunt" begins that I was sure I was going to end up on my Keister! Between watching for the icy patches, and watching out for the half awake folk looking for that perfect Christmas present at the perfect price (That's a lotta' "perfects!"), I started thinking that we should have scrapped the walk and headed to Dunkin Doughnuts! After a lot of "slip-sliding-away," we had a nice, brisk, 27 degree walk. By the time we got back to the Mall, the parking lot was half full, and already folks were headed back to their cars, burdened with Dick's and Penny's bags. Well..... it all looked so good that I just was... uh... "compelled" to see what was so special - at least at Dick's. Oh, yeah..... Chris will be the best dressed "Roofer" on the job after Christmas!

Did I mention that my AC Moore, Michael's, and JoAnne's flyers "magically" appeared on the front seat of my car? Yup! They did, and ..... Yup! I had to check out those three stores, too. Who cared that I still had my running clothes on, and smelled? Not me!!!! JV will be proud of himself when he sees the Ott - light magnifier that he bought me. Hey! I .... er... HE... got 20% off the entire order! OH! He'll also be pleased as punch when he remembers that he also bought an "Oval" Mat Cutter for me - half price at AC Moore's! He's quite the bargain hunter, that Hubby of mine!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Blessed Thanksgiving to everyone. I'm especially thankful this year to have our Son, Chris, at home with us today. As everyone knows, he's had a rough few years, and it looks like he's on the road to Recovery at last. Thank you, everyone for your prayers. The results can be found in my eyes. Bless you!

Thanksgiving dinner is at the Lake Shore this year. We'll be doing the "Does this fit?" in the parking lot again! One of these days, I'm going to take pictures of all of us "exchanging" shirts, suit jackets and sweaters in the back seats of cars. It's such a "hoot!" Here we all are..... at the Swanky Country Club.... trying on each others clothes in the parking lot! Get the picture?

I finished "Can you Spy...." this week. I have to say that I'm not pleased with the colors. I knew it would be on the "dull" side for my taste, but this is REALLY washed out. I'm thinking that a nice "crackle" paint frame might help brighten it up. Check out the pic, and see what you think?

Actually, the pic sharpens up the colors nicely..... it really doesn't look that good in "person." LOL

Now, I'm on to making Christmas ornaments. I can't say too much about them, except that they "whip up" nicely, one ornie per day. This will be my first attempt at creating my own cording..... I hope that twisty cording thing works! LOL

What a Crappy Day!

Good Word! Dreary, drizzley, dark, dank..... can't think of any more "D" words to describe today.


I even coerced Chris into going to Beak and Skiff for apples this afternoon - just to get out of the house for a while! Yum! Mulled apple cider hit the spot! We were the only two people there, too! I just hate going to the apple farm when it's so crowded. Of course, some of the "pickins" were pretty well picked-over....LOL!

Here are a few pics of Chittenango Falls that a Friend sent over. He and his wife went out for a "hike," I guess. I hadn't seen The Falls since I was a little girl...at least a couple of years ago....LOL

Enjoy!