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!

Am I cute or what? What's Halloween, anyway?

Happy Halloween!

Halloween arrived as a beautiful, sunny morning! Great time to finish the landscaping - just ask my Son! Poor guy had to load, and off-load 24oo pounds of stone mulch. I kept thinking...... "This will make you stronger." His facial expression kept saying, " How much stronger, and WHY does she hate me?"

What began as a relatively simple project to replace the cedar mulch with stone (in order to keep the ant population at a minumum!), became a typical 3 Stooges project! Just after Chris and I left the house, John called to say that he would come home, pick up the tow behind trailer, and help us get the stone from Lowes to the house. HA! After two trips to Lowes to carry the stone and constant worries about flat tires and burning transmissions, Chris and I were ready to begin. Did I mention that it was a pallet of stone? OH! Also, each of the 63 bags weighed 45 lbs apiece! Do the math.

The end result? Check it out!

















The Boys were supposed to arrive by late afternoon, but Mommy's "day before her first day back to work after Maternity Leave" was too hectic. She wanted Lucy Peabody to see the "Tricksters," so Grandma came in "second place." LOL. Naw..... I was "on the way home." Then, Shawn had a "fender-bender," so everybody ran late. The wait was worth it! Peyton has quite a "Dinosaur Roar." He was so excited! I just love this age.....everything is such a "Hoot!" Poor Colin slept through it all in his Bumble-Bee costume. The only time he woke up was to eat! so cute..... I sure miss those times....