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These Moments - This Week

Whew!  Where has this week gone?  Work has kept me really busy.  I don't discuss work very often, if ever. I work in IT, but I'm not IT.  Does that make sense?  I'm in set up and customer support which basically translates to "Melissa does the grunt work that no one else wants to do."  I'm OK with that. We've gotten three new accounts which means three new set ups.  By the time I get home, I'm pooped. But I haven't been idle.

I'm cheating here for a moment as these are from last week, but I had to share photos of the lovely Biscuits.  It was Annie and Chelsey's birthday this month,  so we went to dinner at Longhorn (steak house). We had a wonderful time - ate too much food and laughed loudly and often.  These ladies are the best!

Annie, Nicole and Dawn

Chelsey and Jen

Mel and Chelsey

I'm still working on cleaning my wool...Here it is in process....

Pretty much looks like a hot mess.  I've started carding so that I can get some of the finer bits of mess out of it. Let me tell you, I am hand carding this mess and by the time I am through, I am going to have some AMAZING arm muscles.  That is some hard work!  Of course, I've openly admitted that I'm a tad on the lazy side, so I'm looking for a drum carder to borrow...Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Or better yet, if I could figure out how to card using other muscle groups in my body...my core, my behind....hmmm...

This here would be the carded wool....so pretty and fluffy! And this stuff is so incredibly soft. I'm starting to get impatient with it.  I want to start spinning and dying it yesterday.  I will leave some of it un-dyed because it is such a pretty color.

We went to dinner at  friends and met this little guy. I use the word little very loosely.  He's only two months old....look at the size of those paws! The vet said he should end up being at least 140 pounds.  His name is Winston and he is the sweetest! And smart!  Holy Cow!  I'm not sure what breed he is, but it's popular in Sweden - his human parents are Swedish.  He's also an extremely intelligent pup.  As I said, he's only two months old, and he already understands sit, stay, come and no...in Swedish.  Fortunately, those words are very similar in English. He's also very playful.  He figured out how to untie Car Guy's shoes and did it several time to entertain himself.

Did I mention how busy work has been?  Yeah, this is what I've been dealing with this week....

UGH!  Not fun at all.  I guess I'll stay looking at the bright side because we all learned a lot and it was great that we were all able to work together without aggravating each other too much.  However, at the end of the day, I really wanted some of this....

Bring me a shrubbery!

But thought better of it because of the dangers......

So instead I went here...This is a friend's new business venture....Easy Peasy Decadent Desserts.

I think he and his wife are going to be very successful...I um, sampled a few items.....

Yeah....about that....YUM!  Again...need to work on the behind and core from just looking at that and remembering.

This is Erik, one of the owners.  I love him. He is an amazing friend of my sister's.  They go all the way back to High School days.  I call him Evil Cupcake Man.  He's always posting pictures on Facebook of all the amazing stuff in the shop.  I'm glad they are on the other side of town or I would be HUGE.

So that's just a little glimpse into my week.  Car Guy is in Chile and Buenos Aires this week....maybe he'll have cool picture I can share with you next week.  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

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These Moments - This Week

It's been a really busy week with tons going on in our world so I give you these moments with a few words to catch up....

- Number Two Son got his license and starts his first job...yikes! I mean yea!

- Number One Son drove a state away by himself...yikes! He arrived at Aunt and Uncle's house safely...yea!

- I had to write down "Sleeve Modifications" for my sleeves cause I screwed up...Yikes!

- But I've almost completed the first sleeve...Yea!

-Car Guy's Porsche is back in the garage, after spending a couple of months with a welder,  in various parts and pieces....yikes

But I'm not worried about falling through the floor when he gets it put back together...Yea!

- We had a wonderful 4th with great friends.

We hope you did too!

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This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!
 

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Unraveling

Remember this?

It Dahlia.  That center piece took three tries before I finally got it done.  

It also had these....

They made me very nervous because I had to pull that green yarn out for sleeves.

I started last night....insert heart palpitations here.

My dear friend Mel was a great help.
She was the voice of calm and reason and great advice.  

Pick up the stitches BEFORE you pull out the waste yarn.

Tada!

Now it's more stockinette....round and round we go...two sleeves to go, then completion. 

I've kind of put a knitting/crochet embargo on myself - no new projects - so that maybe I'll finish this thing instead of getting frustrated with the whole process and putting it in a time out. I hope to finish soon cause Christmas is just around the corner and I REALLY need to get started. Yes, I'm sorry I said the "C word."  I'll go back to my knitting in circles...and dreaming of completed sweaters that take forever to knit. And drooling over all the beautiful finished products out there. Jared Flood...how I love thee...sigh.

Wool Gathering

So last week I mentioned that I'm working on a new project - Yeah, I know it's not Thursday. I'm a bit late.  Anyway...It started with this...

Freshly sheared wool...then it got a bath...

A bubble bath no less....cause I'm all about the pampering.

That was some seriously dirty wool.....Ewww.....

 

So then my tub became equally dirty......

That is seriously gross.

But the wool looks pretty good. 

Soft, fluffy wool....pretty.

So here's the fun part...My bathroom seriously smelled like a zoo during this process...like the stuff they shovel up.  Evidently this little lamb named Cadbury decided to roll in some stinky mess. And I think I'm going to wash the wool again cause there is a lingering...um....stench?  There is just no polite way around it.  That wool smelled like poo and a little time in the sun did NOT help. So I'm back to square one of washing wool.  For those of you a bit more experienced than I.....how many times have you washed your wool? Inquiring minds...as in mine...would like to know.  Does that smell get washed away? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

Around Here

There's been lots of stuff going on around here. This past weekend we went on a little day trip to the neighboring town of Salisbury.  It's a neat little town with a lovely historic downtown.  I am a sucker for old buildings and homes.  The detail and craftsmanship have always amazed me.  Some of these buildings are over one hundred years old.  Look at the arches and brick work....

More arches and corbels.  Why did we stop building like this?  It has so much more character than a concrete box...in my opinion...for what that's worth.

This building isn't quite as old as the one above, but it makes me think of the movie "A Christmas Story." It almost looks like it came straight out of the movie...you know, the restaurant where they ate their Christmas dinner after the Bumpuses' dogs ate the turkey? Only it was called Chop Suey.

They even had those old coin operated rides for kids....ahem....yeah, some people haven't grown up even after a year of college....

I do love that picture...that and the fact that he's still willing to be silly.

We also spent a lovely evening with some friend on Saturday and Sunday was spent doing what Car Guy wanted...it was Father's Day after all. I have another project in the works that I'll share with you tomorrow...a long with a few questions for those of you who may have a bit more experience.

It's going to be a long day.  I had to have Number Two Son  at the airport this morning for a 6:00 a.m. flight....yawn.  I mean seriously yawning....Must...Stay...Awake...At...Work......snnnnorreee.......

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Ha!  Cat takeover....no words? What?

Oh hello there! We've met before, correct? You look awfully familiar. You've met my Mom, right? I'd say look to the left of the picture and you'd see her, but my Dad thought she might get a bit peeved if she showed up in a picture sound asleep - he's absolutely correct - so you can only see a bit of her hair. She's fine, by the way. Lots of running around...it appears to be in circles and evidently, she's very tired from it. I don't understand. It's not like she's got a tail or anything like that to chase after....humans are so confusing. Anywho, as you can tell, it was a rough night...too much catnip. I hate it when that happens. It was that gray cat's fault. He eats all the food, so he's bigger and has a higher tolerance....but that's ok. I finished it, so no more for him! Ha! Looks like it's going to be a quiet weekend. Hope you enjoy it. Now...that other cat had better not be in the warm spot in front of the window....I got here first and that is MY spot....this younger generation...I don't know why he thinks he can come in here and take over....good thing the humans slept through everything last night...I don't think they noticed us running across the bed until maybe the 49th time.....oh, the sun's out....must lay down...right here...yawn....



Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

Duty...

Just a little cuteness to help get through the day. I'm in jury duty, in case you're wondering and the guy sitting next to me just passed gas....really? Nice. They haven't closed the doors yet, so he could have walked out into the hallway.

So you know how my week is going. How's yours?

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

Help Me Please!

Source

Okey dokey friends. I need your help. For those of you who watch TV, tonight on NBC, a new show starts. It's called...the picture is a dead give away... Save Me and stars Anne Heche. I need you all to watch this show because my incredibly talented sister is the head make up artist and I'd really like for this show to be a HUGE success.  Thank you for your support!

Blooming Dahlia

Well, I can happily say the the Dahlia is going MUCH better now.  Not only am I no longer pulling my hair out, but I'm learning some new techniques.

I've learned how to do a provisional crochet cast on. Admittedly, this wasn't too difficult since I learned how to crochet before I figured out knitting. Pulling that chain out is scaring the bejesus out of me.

That green line there is where a sleeve will go....this is another green string that I'm going to have to pull out and it freaks me out as well....we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

But this....this is the coolest thing of all. The piece de resistance....the blooming dahlia.

Is it wrong to be this pleased with one's self? Seriously, I was so thrilled when I finished that bit right there. Now I'm on to endless amounts of stockinette....yawn. To bad I wasn't able to do the boring part first. I will admit, since I now understand the construction of this thing, it's actually a bit ingenious.  

We'll see how quickly I can get this puppy finished. Keep your fingers crossed and if, at any point in the next couple of weeks, you hear an anguished cry....I've pulled out one of those green strings and it was an epic fail. I hope not.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

I'm so cute!  My brother and I really need home.
Contact the crazy lady if you are in the NC area.

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Sparkle's Day

Have you ever gone to a wedding and it's just been perfect? The perfect couple. The perfect location. The perfect friends. We had that this past weekend when our Biscuit Sparkle (aka Chelsey) and her man Chase tied the knot. I was so honored to be a part of this event.

The Wedding was at Sparkle's parent's house.  We were all a bit worried because it had been raining off and on all day.  The ceremony was to start at 6:00 p.m. At 5:55, the clouds cleared up and the sun started shining brightly.  It was better than a scene out of any romantic movie.

Everything was so sweet and family oriented.  The Groom's daughter was the flower girl and his son was the ring bearer. His grandfather was the best man.  Sparkle's sister was the matron of honor and her future new sister-in-law, her cousin and our very own biscuit Mel were bride's maids.The whole event was very much like a fairy tale....complete with Cinderella's shoes.

After the ceremony, well, it was time to party with tons of Southern Barbeque and cake.

 Red Velvet Cake....Yum!

And since it was a Biscuit wedding, the Biscuits were there in full force...all dressed up, but not too classy ;)

And here's our best angle...just saying...

I do love these girls!

Seriously though, the wedding was beautiful and I hope that Sparkle has a wonderful life with her new family.