Whew

I have been trying to avoid blogland and focus on getting things done. For some weird reason you guys are way more interesting than getting sewing burnout and cleaning my house.

My hubbie turned 39 on Monday and enjoyed all his Hulk treasures.

My daughter made this cutie for him out of polymer clay.

I finished 5 more bags for the show.

And a few more tissue packs.

The big Halloween wagonfest is tonight, they are predicting scattered showers. We do have a roof on the wagon, (photos tomorrow). Lets hope the weatherman is wrong again.

I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween.

A weekend of JOY!

I want to start by saying I am so happy I could barf my own guts out!

I have so many great things to talk about I'm not sure where to start.

I guess I'll start with Friday.

Friday I checked some of my favorite blogs due to the fact that I rarely get the computer with my family home. I saw that Catherine from Red Shoes was having an open house at her shop from 6-9 that evening, so I only live in the next town over and figured it was a good time to meet her and see her quaint shop.

Let me just say Catherine is as nice in person as she seems on her blog, and her shop! it was so sweet and charming and the items she had for sale were so colorful and fun. I went in each little room at least twice just to be sure I didn't miss anything. If you are ever in Ann Arbor, Michigan, stopping is a must! But if you cant, you can see her shop online.

So early on in my blogging Farmer Julie left some of the sweetest comments and I love comments. She makes these coiled clay vases which are beautiful. Well, Catherine had 2 in her shop one was holding teaspoons for coffee. I instantly recognized them and asked if they were Farmer Julies vases and they were. They look even better in person. Now I need one. Just to let you know Farmer Julie, after my big show in less that two weeks, I am going shopping!

So that was Friday. So yesterday morning we froze our tooshies off in the cold rain watching the last of the soccer games. Got home and had to have soup. There was a message from my Brother (we 3 siblings live on the same road) saying it was wagon decorating time.

Since we are somewhat rural we go trick or treating in a subdivision not far from us. These people in the sub don't have a ton of kids come by so they go all out. Not only with decor but with goodies too. So every year there has been a not so subtle competition with the hay wagons and their decorating to see who is #1.

My 9 year old niece has this friend who told her that her wagon was going to be better than ours because the people whos wagon she was riding on are rich. Can you believe it? Bring it on Missy! We all know that wealth and creativity don't necessarily go hand in hand.

I am going to have to post pictures the day after Halloween but I cant spoil the surprise now. Lets just say we were #1 last year and this year's wagon is even better.

We then went and carved pumpkins at my Mom in laws and had a good time visiting our sweet little, pink and juicy niece. My nephews loved my pumpkin with his googly eyes, his brains sticking out of his head and barfing his own guts out.

So I was still going to wait till Monday to Blog but then the piece De resistance( I'm part French Canadian ya know). I checked my e-mail and Sarah from still life in yarn had a 100th blog drawing and I was one of the winners! I was so excited I had to do a few laps around the yard. She is sending something Knitty my way and I cant wait! I have never received a real knitted something before.

I know I am going to sound like a broken record, but becoming a blogger is one of the best things I've done for myself. Just knowing there are kind, talented women out in the world makes my world a better place. So thank you all but especially Catherine, Julie and Sarah for this weekend.

smooches and squeezes

michelle

Friday

I try to stay focused and get more bags done for the big show coming up, I don't know if I truly have ADD, but I've checked out the symptoms and a lot of them describe me to a T.

It is Friday, homemade pizza night, get the dough started, and we usually have a dessert on Friday, bake a incredible chocolate cake with pudding and Kahlua, sew a little and then I need to check some of my favorite bloggers, sew a little more, hmmmm maybe a shower, iron some fabric, I think I'll go visit the chickens awhile, sew some. So now its 2:30 and I have 3 new bags partially started. I have 45 mins till the bus so I may as well blog about my day and still have no new bags finished today. I only have made one and 15 new tissue packs this week. A whole week!

Our last games of Soccer are tomorrow. Sad, but the kids had a great season and it's great to see how they have developed as athletes over the years.

Were having a pumpkin carving/hubbies B-day party at my Mom in law's this weekend so I don't see any sewing in my near future. 2 weeks till the show, Crikey, get working! Nope keep blogging, I have such important things to write about.

such as.....

This is the view from my bedroom. Its a honeysuckle shrub and we have a lot growing wild on our property. We lucked out and have the prettiest out our window.

In the fall it has these great berries for birds (poison for people). I have had up to 14 bluebirds at one time midwinter enjoying the berries. I also have bird feeders hanging in the branches in the winter. I call it the bird sanctuary.

This little bird hit our window today. I try window clings to keep them away but It doesn't work. Most of the time they fly right away, some die and some need just a little help. I wrapped this one in a towel and started to give it water. By the third water drop it started biting my finger. A good sign. Soon after unwrapping, it flew away. I wanted just one more picture of this little beautiful creature. Oh well.

I sure pray people out in California are getting a warm safe place to recover from their trauma.

Hope the rest of you have a good, safe weekend.

My autograph?

My sister called me on my way to the local thrift shops and asked for my autograph. A couple of months the craft show promoter asked me to do her a favor and answer some Q's for an article. Free promotion, I think its a favor for me. So the article came out today in our local paper. It's exciting to be in there and I am grateful there is a picture of my bags and not me. I think there have been 3 pictures of me in my entire life that came out good.

My first stop was the PTO thrift shop. Nice set up, clean and nice people work there.

I found a vintage sheet, an embroidered pillowcase and some Iron on vinyl in the package. All for $3.71. And a free mightybean.

My hubbie the Hulk collector's birthday is coming up and at Goodwill found the Hulk pillow. $3.

At Value World found the mask and the 2 punchie fists. I also got a men's green turtle neck and women's purple sweatpants (large). I smell a Hulk costume in the making.

We have a local farmer a couple miles away and got these beautiful pumpkins, big too!

All for the cheap price of $10.

Its a sunny Fall day, I got my name in the paper, bargains galore. What more could a gal want?

Family

I am the worst Aunt in the world.

My brother-in-law and his wife had a little girl in August and I haven't seen her yet. My excuse, they live an hour away, so evenings are out with dinner and homework. Saturdays are soccer days, and we bought a fixer upper rental this summer and Sundays have been dedicated to working on that. We did little playing in the last 5 months. Any way I feel bad about not seeing her, but I didn't even send a card, gift, or anything. My hubbie is worse than me, when his Mom came over and asked if he wanted to see a picture of his new niece, he replied " It probably looks like the other ones." (it's their fourth) Which totally cracked me up. He was trying to be funny. We are awful people.

So I get the opportunity to see her this coming up Saturday only because she is less than 10 miles from my house and convenient. I AM TERRIBLE! So I want to bring something.

I love the free downlaodable puppy pattern from Jenny B. Harris from allsorts. (just don't sell what you make) I wanted it bigger and don't have that feature on my copier so I just sketched the pattern larger and hoped it would turn out ok.

I like to mix up the fabrics and colors.

I started at 7:30 am and went on a 3 hour grocery/errand trip with my sis (we carpool often since she is only 2 miles down the same road) and still finished by 12:30 and even put all the groceries away.

The other side.

Next to an un- altered pattern pup to see the size difference.

I just stitched on eyes and nose so no choking and best of all, its made in America and no lead paint! I hope she likes it.

help

All of us moms at one point or another have gone through the blues, varying degrees, various reasons. Sarah at Sara+h is deep in it. I don't know her personally, just her post really was touching. I feel she needs to know she isn't alone. If you have any personal experience that can help her, please go to her blog and leave a comment. You can scroll down on my sites I love column and link to her blog. We moms need all the support we can get, good times and bad.

much love

michelle

room with a view

We are lucky to have a home where there isn't a single window with a bad view. This is the view from my sons window.

Our front yard and fire pit. We spend most of the summer camped out here.

My daughter has a a Guinea Pig named Rascal.
I thought he looked cute napping in his little wicker ball that is too small. He's got the ol' leg hanging out.














I got more bags done for the Giant Show that's in only 3 weeks. I'm trying not to panic!




I hope you all have a great weekend.