Another Sunday gone

What a day! The littlest Grandchildren were baptized today! All three of them! Then the whole family came here for a quick lunch. What a nice day.
Took a quick nap, and then off to the Country Health food store in Pullman, got some spices as I plan on making Green Tomato Relish on Tuesday, the tomatoes have to soak in a brine over night, so I will do that tomorrow.
Tomorrow night, Tim and I are going to the Casco Community Band's concert the last one of the season......always a treat.
Busy busy here......planning already for the Christmas Open House, anything this big has to be planned, or Tim's life is miserable. This year, I may bend and do the cottage and the Victorian trees before----gasp-----Thanksgiving, MAY...........we will see. Those are really the easiest trees as they don't really change much. The rest of the house, well that is a quite different story.
I have completed almost nine pairs of socks for orphans........I wanted to do a dozen, now if I didn't have to work this week at the bank I know I could do it, but I shall give it a valiant try. It has become a personal challenge.
On another note, I am resurrecting the Prayer Shawl Ministry at Casco. Will see how many ladies join in the fun, for me...........another reason to knit!!
Many thing are popping at church, Charge Conference on the 23rd, the Praise Worship on the 26th, the Chicken Dinner on the 29th---work in the Prayer Shawl Ministry in Oct........the Bazaar the first Saturday in November........this looks to be a very busy time for us, here at the Teske home!
Tonight I made pickled cherry tomatoes, they have garlic buds and basil leaves mixed in.....sure look pretty, hope they taste as well as they look...will report on the taste later...
Enough for now.........off to make orphan socks!
Knit On!

Tomatoes, salsa.........

all done. Ok for now, 1/2 bushel of tomatoes, green peppers, onions and hot peppers make Marie's Famous Salsa. 40+ cups of it!! All canned and waiting to be carried down to the canning products shelf!!
I had a 1/2 day today and this is what I accomplished! Now just to make it last till next season. Ok maybe not! I have 1/2 bushel still waiting, but they may end up being just tomatoes....hey I can make lots with them!! I forget how much satisfaction is derived from canning....and how much mess........But the kitchen and stove are all back in order.
Not much knitting, or anything else this week, I feel that I have been just drifting along.
Work continues to be work......too bad, it used to be fun. But now it is all about the numbers.....and I don't mean counting the money.
This weekend, if sunny and decent weather is here, I hope Tim and I can finish up some of the outside stuff......or if not paint the entryway. Christmas is coming and I **need** these things done, lol.
In 9 days my nephew is getting married in an outside ceremony, I hope that the weather is just beautiful as some fall evenings can be! The good news is that Tim and I will be able to attend, thru much finagling at work, I will be able to leave early and make it......of course we will have to change in the car, lol. right.
Tomorrow is Knit Night, something I don't want to miss.........I love those gals. Each one is special, but a couple of them, well you know......Some of us are going to be at Boot Camp. Hopefully finances straighten out and give me some flexible income......if not, I won't be able to attend. We will see.........I have to get stuff done here also.
Tim has taken on another job, bless him. He is working for the library 2 nights a week as a maintenance person....he is finally realizing that only he has the flexible schedule and stamina to do this for us. I will continue to find ways to live cheaper, but we do need a little cash to get supplies, lol.
We are going to be taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course..it works if you work at it........so we will try.
Off to read a little, a Susan Wiggs novel and then try to get to sleep at a decent hour.
Knit on!

Hello to a new week!!

Fall is in the air and I love it!! But that also means, we need to be like a squirrel, packing away nuts for the winter, get those outside projects finished!!
Yesterday, Tim found two doors, and a thermopane window! One of the doors will replace our broken windowed back door and the window with some adjustments to the opening, will fit in our bathroom. No more plastic over the window in there, to maintain a comfortable temp! If, we can save the wooden molding around the opening, the project will only have a cost of $4.97!! If we need new molding, only about 15.00 more, so the whole thing might still come in under$20.00-lucky am I that Tim is so handy.
The Littles are here today, off to church soon and then for a time in the afternoon. They were happy to see us. Last evening, we all went to Tim's folks and cut hydragea blossoms for me to dry...........maybe they will be used in this year's Christmas decorating!! Plans for new and different trees are forming in my head as I write, lol.
Yesterday we also visited Aunt Erma-- and her neighbor Curly, let Tim pick over a bushel of ripe tomatoes for me to make my famous homemade Salsa! Hurrah, last year we were unable to make salsa as we did not have a stove, but this year we are ready, even have 24 more jars!
So I am off to make breakfast for the troops, and hope that MY plans for the day are not dismissed!! Take care! Oh, and knit on!

If it were'nt for bad luck.

well, you know the saying. The Ladybug('91 Escort) seems to be better for a time. As for the van, we are hoping that we have found a replacement. It is one I like much much more than the one we currently have, but it is all up to the financing. It has to stay within the budget.
On a up note, Knit nite was last night and after much trying, I was finally able to make it. I needed to be there........I did not accomplish much knitting, but I sure did feel much better after being there.
Having to work on Saturday will mean a shorter weekend for me, but I had better get used to it as I will be working lots of Saturdays in the upcoming months. Sigh.
So I will just have to pick one project per weekend and go with it! This weekend I would like it to be my homemade salsa! Have to get those tomatoes while I can! Of to fight the war of banking!

The last day of vacation

is today. Tomorrow it is back to the weekly grind, sigh.
Wait! there is knit night and plenty of weekend things to do!
Today I hope and plan to finish up two projects, number one, the computer room's new day bed's throw pillows and new valances!! And to make up new curtains for the bathroom. Planning for winter, it seems strange as it is to be in the 80's today, but I am thinking ahead.

Nothing else on the planbook, but I am sure to get so knitting in and maybe, just maybe some Christmas gift planning also! Never too early..........I know, I know, my family members already have afghans/throws............I will try to find something unique. One thing I know for sure is that this weekend coming up I need to get that bushel of tomatoes and make salsa!
Have a great day readers.........all one or two of you!

Vacations are never long enough.

Today marks the only day Tim and I will actually be alone.
We have done some of the things we planned, but Alex was here, and that changed some of the plans.
On Tuesday we had a great day in Lansing and seeing Mima.........it was a good day. I scored a few balls of yarn for my blue crayon jacket project... have to get busy on the pink one so as to start the blue one.
Today we are off to the Four Winds, probably within the hour!! Not being gamblers, I am not sure why, but we want to see it. We are each armed with a roll of quarters!
Tomorrow, Alex is back and so are the littles. Plus Tim's mol...........for the weekend.....and thru Monday. So back to the full house, which as of yet, does not have the "projects" done.
So even tho projects shout our names, we are going adventuring!

Yarn

Can a person have too much sock yarn?? You wear them every day right? OK, maybe not in the summer so much, but all winter long. I did add to my stash at Friends of Wool last night not much, only 3........and having Ruby hold another, lol. I do like knitting socks, easy, portable- and yet at times challenging.
Ruby had just finishe a beautiful 3 button shawl, will have to think about that one. I love the idea of a shawl, but am I really the shawl type, too much adjusting for me??? Still thinking about it.....
On another note, I am on vacation, no real plans, hope it doesn't just get wasted........Tim has no plans either, ok sleeping and eating on a schedule, blah.........eat whenever is what I would like a total week of non-comformity!! But alas with my DH it just won't happen, sigh. So we will have fun!! I hope to travel to Lansing on Tuesday to see my sister and check out some shops in the Lansing area, we will see..........have to take the 15 yo Grandson school shopping also.
going to be great not to have to travel to the workplace tho.
Later..........................

It's over already??

Fiberfest that is, we went after work as planned. Not quite as early, as Tim fell asleep and was *late* picking me up from work. Then the issue of getting him lunch, (of course he was to eat before we headed for the festival) which we did, after going thru 2 of the "barns". Wowsers , what great stuffs. I saw the square needles, which I would still like to try, but the sizes available were 10 and up. Glass needles, but outta my range at $45. Needles with fimo tops-hey I could do that?! And needles out of walnut and cherry.........again only in very small or very large sizes..guess I am on the look out for dowels in cherry or walnut...hmmmm, maybe with some fimo tops! I did purchase a surprise for my sister.......first and foremost a cross-stitcher, but she will appreciate the gift. A book for Tim, sigh, it was to me my choices, but I agree it is something we can use to make unique gifts. No more on that, as my sister reads the blog! And I did get some string........beautiful, 85% alpaca, 15% wool, in a denim-y color for my next crayon box jacket. Since I had not a major project in mind, ok I do but I have the fiber of choice already chosen, no a major purchases. Just a most enjoyable day!
After the festival, did we really leave before the end? We found 3 thrift stores........I have an upcoming craft show, next week and I need some display/sale items. I found several wood things, which I will paint black. That is the color I like to decorate/accent with lately, for that primitive look I love so much.
Then home to a supper of Italian sausage cooked with onions and green peppers and a baked potato, yum! Just as we were finishing..........our friends Ken and Janet stopped by with 2 outfits for my Kendra, how nice that she thinks of my grandchildren so often when doing the garage sales! Understand the kids all love Janet, as do we!
After they left, Tim had to run out to church for the weekly cleaning, I just sat and read my Harry Potter book, almost 2/3 finished, and tried to stay awake til he came home. I did and then I crawled off to bed!
Today finds the morning with thunderstorms, not sure if we will go to church as we were going to play hookey, but learned last night that one of our friends from church suddenly passed away. Tim has to go into work at 8, for a couple of hours, so we will decide be before then. Looks to be a lazy day, no kids for the weekend, for the first time in 8 months and no kids at all since early June. They have gone back home, hope it is going well.
Enough ramblin's from me for now.............

Today is the day!!

I'm going to Fiberfest!!! Of couse there will never be enough $$ for one of those triangle looms, but I am still in hopes of finding one somewhere at my cost, lol. But it will be a nice day! The calm, the fiber, the sense of being with those who enjoy it as much as I do! Too bad I have to count money for the bank in the morning, but it will help me to appreciate all the more the festival.
On a sad note here, the grandchildren were taken home last night by their mother........they have been living with us since June.......I am not sure of how this will turn out, I only hope that the parents time of "relief" will make them realize how special all of these children are. It breaks my heart that the parents haven't been or even adequate in the parenting department. But our 15 year old is a wonderful young man and with his help and ours so will the littler ones!! On an up note, we now can clean up the house and when we come home after work, it will still be as we left it! But things won't be waiting for me like bouquets of Queen's Anne's Lace either.
They will still be here on the weekends and school starts soon for the three oldest. Only the 2 year old will be there all day. Believe me if things don't look right when we pick them up on the weekends, there will be actions taken. I am trusting God to help Tim and I make the decisions it needed.
So off to the bank I go, and then to the Festival!!!(missing out on the DeWitt Ox Roast, but maybe next year!)

Another day closer to vacation

By this time next week, I will officially be on vacation from the work day week. Yahoo!!
I will be outta the bank until Sept 5........a long time coming. Of course with the purchase of the new homestead last year, we have no vacation fund, so we are vacationing at home. Working on the projects we would normally try to get done and put in a 40+ hour work week. This summer having the kids has put most of that on hold, so now it is most needed. One thing I want to especially get done is finish organizing the craft room, I selfishly want it so I can just walk in and place my hand on whatever it is my little heart desires to do at that time, not "search". Now don't misunderstand this is a little room, lined with book shelves, so there is no comfy stitching/knitting chair! But to actually have all my stuffs organized, well, that would make me very happy.
Fiberfest is tomorrow, while it actually starts today, and we will be going. IF you have never been able to go, and you knit, stitch or whatever, you should!! It is an amazing thing to see!
DeWitt's Ox Roast is this weekend also, and while it is tradition that we attend that, I have to work on Saturday morning, so we would miss out on the parade. Not to mention that the current cost of gas is prohibitive. So for this year we will do the Fiberfest and stay at home missing the fireworks.
I have 6 pairs of the dozen socks completed and delivered to FOW!! They go quickly and I feel good about making them. Off to knit for a time before work, but I needed to post a little something.....

So now that summer is almost over-aakkkkk

I am going to give it a go at blogging again.
My sister is ribbing me about not posting since march, hey who had the time???
My four grand children have been living with us most of the summer.....they came on a Monday with just the things on their backs, good thing we had clothes and diapers here! The 15 year old did bring one change of clothes, at some point we did go back and get him some more clothing, but other than that!! Nothing came here!
The kidlets have had a great summer, the 15 yearold watched them during the days and DH and I made sure supper and bedtimes were not his responsibility, as it most likely would have been at home. They went saw and did many things even tho Grandpa and Grandma work full time..camping boating on Lake Michingan, swimming twice a week or more ..........good kid summer!!
Me I have renewed my interest in knitting, and at present have accepted a challenge to knit up 12-a dozen, no less, pairs of "Magic 28" socks-my local Yarn shop, Friends of Wool has been asked by someone to have the knitters do these up for a couple adopting a child from Russia. The socks will be gifts from the family to the orphange. I feel driven to do this as I have the grandchildren so near........of course it is turning out to be a great lesson to them on the sharing of what one can with others!
I will try to keep you up on things, thanks for reading!! Knit on!!

Leavin' on a jet plane

That's right, I'am leavin' for the sunny south. Now don't get to jealous or excited for me...I fly out on Saturday afternoon and leave Myrtle Beach on Sunday morning in a van headed north! I am going to drive my mom back home. Lucky me of 3 daughters, she decided I was the one who could best afford the time away from my home to do this for her. Oh well, she is good to DH and I, so we have given her this time with just me.
DH will be taking me to the airport with the 4 grandchildren in tow. I wonder how the little ones we be at seeing Grandma off?
Much to do, even tho I am going to be gone for only 2.5 days, so I had better get off this puter and get busy!

Camp Stitchalot

it Was great! From late Thursday til mid-day Monday and then back to the reality of home and work. Next year I am taking the Tuesday after off also!
I attended an over one class taught by Ruth Sparrow Gendron, what a hoot!! She is funnier than a stitch, get it? A Stitch. I did learn much in her class, thoroughly enjoyed it also.
Then an evening class on punch needle, Charlotte Dudney. Now I have another addiction!
The Sunday class was a minature sampler which mounted in a tin rectangle, taught by the Queen herself, Deb from Stitches "N" Things! In that class I won a door prize!
All in all a good weekend, aside from being on the second floor-no elevator-and the smoke alarm going off in the room at all hours!
It was great to see all the Stitchy Sisters who were able to attend this year, and talk on the phone to those who did not come. Next year we hope all of us can make it!!
Have to do some finishing touches on my Easter exchange and get it off to the Post Office and just wait for the Easter bunny to bring me one.
Wonder what marvelous item will come for me??
Enjoy the wonder of Spring, it is everywhere, even in the strong thunderstorms that rolled thru early this morning!

Don't you love Spring coming?

End of snow, and the greening of the earth, wonderful. I can hardly wait to see what will be poking up thru the ground here! Doesn't look like any bulbs were hidden so far, but we can remedy that in the fall.
With the coming of Spring also comes Camp StitchAlot!! A two day camp for cross-stitchers in Davison, my sister and I attend along with approximately 50 other ladies! It is a great, relaxing(?) and fun time. It has become a major annual event in our lives-leave the job, the kids, the dogs/cats and most importantly, the husband home. A time just to be the girls we are, no meal times, laundry or daily routine!! Just sleep, stitch, eat and laugh.
One draw back this year is that I will be missing my Thursday Knit-Nite group. I have really developed a group of friends there. We laugh and share it is very important to me. While I haven't learned much about knitting that I did not already know, I have become addicted again. It was my first handcraft and my first love. It is great seeing pretty string become a useable item.
Off to pack for camp.........oh and there is that pesky name tag to finish also..........

More ice/snow on it's way here in West Michigan......high winds too!
Gonna be a stitching day tomorrow!!
Ok that and Laundry.

Made it thru the 25th...

and most of this week. Only today to go and I am finished working for the year!!
Sunday brings a new Christmas as we are traveling to mom's, with the four grandchildren! Never did that before...........travel with the kids, let alone without the parents. They have to work or have things to do, FINE! We will go and have fun!
Then we are coming home and the kidlets are spending the night.....we plan on getting them all loaded in the car and going to the fireworks at midnight, but truthfully we will see how tired the grandparents are, lol.
Happy New Year to all!

Christmas is coming!!

Sunday Dec 3 was our annual Christmas Open House........what a success!!
Over 120 friends, family and acquatainces-who woulda thunk that??
We managed thru many tense times to get all of the house decorated, except for the master bedroom and the craft room. Great Job!! Momma came and she helped lots too, it is such an exciting time for us all.
Now on to the present planning and hey, here's an idea!-wrap the presents early?! Now that would be new to me, lol. In past years I have been wrapping as the daughter is driving the grandchildren up the drive, lol. Drives my DH crazy, but I think he could wrap too if it bothers him so much.
So back to work tomorrow, as I had today off to recover and regroup.....but my home is lovely if I say so myself.

Where did the time go??

Oh that's right, we bought a house and moved!
Still not completely settled in, never enough time to stitch or knit or anything.
Kitchen should be done by next week-I hope-as we are having Thanksgiving here! Yikes! and then the Annual Christmas Open House on the 3rd of Dec.........much to do!
but I love my new home, just love it ............wish I could spend much more time here enjoying it, but the almighty dollar calls-sigh.

Hello Sunshine! There was lots here today.
I got off work early and did the grocery shopping, always a treat, not!
But I did get some good deals and that is now done for a few weeks, I hope!
Tomorrow when I get off early, the time is all mine, mine I say, all mine.
No errands to run, just time to stitch!

But, I have been busy....

and that's the reason for no posts.
Saturday was the unprofitable yard sale, probably the last as long as we live here. While we did sell off the old couch and chair, it was only enough to go Mom's and pick up the new-to-us sleeper sofa. It needs a good cleaning, but DH is going to get the carpet/steam cleaning van from work for the weekend. So that will be all done for summer!
I have to make a firm decision of my exchanges and get busy........I have a general idea, just need to make the final decision.
Should be a good week for such as I work short days on T W and TH........of course that means I work Saturday morning.
Memorial Day weekend, wasn't it just New Year's????
Time is going by too quickly.