And the winner is...

AnnaMaria Mondro!

Thanks to all who entered. I may do another giveaway at the end of the year, if I'm not sick of knitting by then ;) Anna, contact me with color preference and item preference.

last day to enter my giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway for a hand knit goodie made by me! 

I will be choosing a winner at noon tomorrow.

I know I can do better than 10 comments!

Tomatoes! And don't forget to enter my giveaway...

I picked my first ripe tomato today, an heirloom variety named Dad's Sunset. It's gorgeous. I can't wait to eat it. I'm surprised that I have one already...most of my plants are nowhere near producing maters.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway! Only 2 days left!

still time to enter!

Its is the most beautiful, perfect morning in suburban Michigan today!

My son will be home in a little more than 12 hours, and rumor is he just scored a goal.

Life is good.

There is still time to enter my giveaway. Don't be left out in the cold :)

Bayard hat, and enter my giveaway!

Nothing screams summer quite like a wool hat.

The pattern is Bayard from Brooklyn Tweed. First time using Loft yarn. I like the way it knitted up, but wouldn't say I'm a big fan of the yarn in general. The dark brown especially was very wispy and pulled apart easily. That's frustrating to someone who likes to pull their stitches tight so they don't have ladders! I like the pattern though, and have lots of other yarns I can make more hats with.

Have you entered my giveaway yet? You could be the proud owner of a hand knit hat.

Of course, you're not expected to wear it on 104 degree days!

600th blog posts...and a giveaway!

This is my 600th blog post! A lofty milestone that I never thought I'd ever hit. Not because I'm not wordy (ahem), but because I'm lazy and blog in my head all the time and never actually get around to putting it down.

So...I'm going to host a giveaway!

I will hand knit something for one lucky commenter, in your choice of color. It may be a hat. It may be gloves. It may be socks. It may be a scarf. It will be made just for you*. Because I like you.

All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this post. I will choose a winner Monday July 23rd.

And now, some random things making me happy:

 This fabric will become pillows in the near future.

 This is how much I've been drinking lately. I'm awesome.

 Having lunch with good friends. And two handed drinks.

 9 beans. The whole sum of my first harvest.

 I put my hair in a ponytail today! I know you're jealous of how hot I am.

Photo updates of my son on his VA beach adventure.

So there you have it! 600. wow.

Comment away!

*If you have big feet, I promise you it won't be socks :)

Evan & Max

I was just downloading photos from my camera and came across these two shots.

They are not great composition, the lighting is too harsh, and the second one is blurry. 

And yet, they melt my heart.

A little glimpse into the relationship Evan has with his youngest cousin. One becoming a boy, one becoming a man.

Love these boys. I hope they will always be close.

sockstar*

One of the items on my summer manifesto was to knit 5 pair of socks. Well, I just finished pair #4 and have started pair #5.

I may even get a few more pair knitted. Awesome. It feels so good to use up some of the sock yarn that I've been hoarding saving up for a special occasion. I've barely made a dent in my stash, but I am well on my way. So happy to see the yarns knit up.

*as dubbed by my pal Erica, who is a knitting superstar in her own right.

Project Life: week 21

Wow, I am so far behind in posting these. Here is week 21

full spread:

 Left side: lots of oldies but goodies here! 7 Gypsies stickers, A CZ template, a label from who knows where, washi tape, Bananafish Studios tab & flair. I also added in a second journaling square detailing my experience with diabetes. AE template there.

 Cute kids.

 Right side: Nisa Fiin journal card, 7 Gypsies best card, Heidi Swapp labels, October Afternoon label, JIllibean Soup label.

 Close-up of the girls at the last soccer game.

 cute kids again.

Thanks for looking! I need to get caught up one of these days!

Summer garden 2012

We've been working hard in the yard and I wanted to take some photos and share with you how nice it's looking this year. Of course, today it's 100 degrees and I'm sure everything will be fried in a few more weeks. Planting it all is time consuming, but keeping it alive, that's the hard part.

Here's the view of the patio from the end of the house. We installed the pergola last year, and it is a huge help with shade. There is a sail shade in the center that helps make our seating area pleasant to sit in. Otherwise, it's too hot.

 Just down from the patio is a huge spruce tree and our magnolia tree, now growing into the spruce. It's kind of a dead area. The last to be weeded. Usually by the time I get over there I just can't handle anymore. Need to come up with a better solution!

 A view of the pond from the walkway into the yard. All of these ponytail grasses and gaura were volunteers. I have moved 3 gaura out from there but don't have a good place for the others. This is a favorite place for Lola to get tangled in.

 Front side of the pond. I'm doing something right, because the plants are very happy! The cattails are 7' tall, and the lily has sent up 25+ lilypads.

 To the left of the pond

 My birdhouse collection. They used to be scattered all over the place, but Bart grouped them and I think they look awesome.

 A few of them have plants in them. So far, so good.  Between these two posts is where the hammock hangs when we have it up. I took it down for pix.

 Even more to the left, we have a silver lace vine that we finally got to grow up this trellis and onto the pergola.

 I love the leaf man face in here.

 On the other side of the walk is a recently planted honeysuckle vine. The hope is that it will grow up and make an arbor of sorts with the silver lace. This is a new planting area, and we're not quite sure what to do with it. The spruce is dying, so we had it trimmed up last year. I've added in some perennials

 and some hostas and the squirrels were kind enough to plant a few sunflowers. Eventually the tree will have to go. My planting bench. Most of my pots live here. I planted far fewer than in previous years.

 The back door, and an ever present furry creature. They follow me everywhere.

 Close up of the bench and plants.

 We are still deciding what to do about patio furniture. I want something more couch like and Bart doesn't. We ordered some new chairs because these ones are rusting and we are sick of dealing with the cushions, but haven't done anything about the table. We may not do anything this year. There is a rumor of mulch being ordered, but I'm hoping it's not true :) I hate laying mulch.

Thanks for looking! Hope you saw something you liked.

Project life: week 20

Welcome to week 20. I can't believe I had enough photos to fill a spread for this week, and the next several. It's not easy to take, edit and select photos when your vision is so crappy! This week I had the additional story of my diabetes diagnosis to add to the mix.

Full spread:

 Left side:  2 CZ templates, An AE template, washi tapes, & 7 Gypsies stickers (I'm determined to use all of these dang stickers!). 

 I used a Bananafish Studio tab and stitched it here.

 Right side: Nisa Finn journal card, Heidi Swapp label, and I don't remember for sure where the other stuff is from. It's really old.

 A photo from the last game of the season. Sadly, this will be the last time they will all play together. Sniff.

 Bart took Evan to see MIB3 in 3D, and then we went to the drive in. Love when they cooperate and let me take photos!

Week 21, up next!

Project life: week 19

Week 19. I still love this project. I'm still far behind.

This was the busiest week as far as extra curricular stuff going on. On top of it all, Evan was sick for 10 days and missed an entire week of school. And we had our garage sale.

Here's the spread:

 Left side: a stamp from Nicole, Heidi Swapp journal spot & sticker, Studio Calico spot, Jillibean Soup label, Bananafish Studios flair.

 Right side: Stickers from 7 Gypsoes, Jillibean, & fontwerks. Scenic Route chipboard circle.

 Great photo of my loves.

Thanks for looking! I'll post the next week later.