finally.....a finished knitting project!

my oh my

but this project has been a long time coming!

not that it was a difficult project or pattern

but....

(here come the excuses)

we had a horribly hot summer

and i just was not in the mood to knit

however

with that being said

i finally got these off the needles

the details can be found at these links

my ravelry page

&

my finished projects


~*~

the farm what?

we aren't farmers

but for one day

we were wanna be farmers

we put on our boots

and headed to the farm science review

"where farmers go to dream"

it's a small city of all things farming

this kid loved it!
we spent the entire day
looking at all things farming

tractors

planters

plows

and lots of other equipment
that i have no idea what it's used for

and golf carts.......so many golf carts
i didn't realize farmers were so big on golf carts

we didn't know until we were leaving
that you can rent golf carts
to tour this farming city

we certainly got our exercise for the day
but next year
we'll be one of the golf cart farmer wanna be's

~*~



all things family, fall & fun~

i love when a plan comes together

and everyone has a great time

and that's just what happened this past sunday

we agreed to meet at youngs dairy in yellow springs

to attend the wool gathering

well....i wanted to go to the wool gathering,

everyone else wanted to have lunch, eat ice cream and see the animals

what's not to love about this guy

a little picking & playing

and of course, lunch!

where our family is gathered, food is ALWAYS involved

gigi, ashlie, iris & douglas

abbey, grayson, adelyn, adam & shelden

gigi, doug, and moi 

the glass says it all

it was family fun!

the littles were so good

perhaps the biggest drumstick ever

and yes, he ate it all

a ride in the barrels for mama & adelyn

grayson loved the goats

he giggled the entire time!

say cheese!

what day is complete on the farm without driving a tractor

thanks guys for meeting up with us

maybe it should be an annual trip?

~*~

laundry soap...the homemade kind

i've used this detergent for about 2 years

and i really like it

it's not overloaded by scent

just a fresh, clean smell

and it's safe for our septic

i use vinegar for fabric softener

the grinder belonged to my dad

its perfect for grinding the bars of fels naptha

you can also use a food processor

or

a hand grater

if you want more scent to your laundry

you can add essential oil

i can't tell you

the amount you would add

i like that my clothes don't have a scent other than

clean

so i've never added scent

i would like to give credit to the website that i got this from

but

i can't find the original source

i make a double batch

store it in this container

with the recipe taped to it

so i don't forget

recipe~

2 cups grated fels naptha (i am told you can also use castile)

1 cup borax

1 cup washing soda (not baking soda)

mix together and add 2 tablespoons per load

you will not get bubbles from this product

enjoy!

~*~

a rant and rave about blogger and my original post.......... cleaning & cookie baking with the pixie~

blogger.....it's a love hate relationship between me and them

i spent over an hour this morning getting a blog ready to post

only to find that

1. while working on said blog, tried to preview my work

nope....won't let me

honestly...why does blogger have to be so difficult

and inconsistent?????

2.  went back to grab another picture,

yep, you guessed it,

won't let me

had to close and re-open

(happens all the time)

3. grabbed my picture

returned to "draft"

and

even though i pressed
"save now"

it did not

it said "draft saved"

but.......

well you know the rest of the story

so........

here we go again

~*~

the pixie was driving her mama a bit crazy

i was doing some cleaning & cookie baking

and i can always use some extra hands

even if they are little ones

so mama dropped her off and took the boys to a fishing derby

we did lots of cleaning

we ran the sweeper

washed a window or two

fed lucy & jesse

made the bed

and then we whipped up the best cookies

they are my new favorite

you can find the recipe at sugarcooking

there was some mixing

a little whisking

and what is cookie baking without a little tasting

and last but not least...pretzel smashing

i believe this was her favorite part

then there was an hour of waiting as the dough had to chill

in that time we

sat on the porch swing

read a few books

waited on grampy to come out of the barn

had a few snacks

(all that baking & cleaning makes a girl hungry ya know)

and watched the hummers at the feeders

the final product

oh my....these are the best combination of

crunchy

chewy

chocolate

peanut butter

&

salty goodness

give em' a try

~*~

a sunny fall day + 2 little cuties = photo shoot

the pixie

i'm not sure why i thought she would be excited about

her nana taking a hundred pictures

even with a pocket full of candies i

didn't get much cooperation from her

she looked at her mother and i like well,

like we were a  little on the silly side

what with all the

"cheese"

"smile"

"aaaaachooooo"

nonsense

we probably did look silly

but this one...

baby boy grayson

ate it up

he thought his mama & i were hysterical

he always has a giggle & a smile

no candy needed

sit him on a log

stand him on a chair

put him in the grass

he didn't care

&

he smiled

for

   

every

   

picture

baby g

aka

 chunky monkey

adelyn the pixie

the idea of taking lots & lots of pictures

of the grandkidlets all began

because i couldn't resist the purchase of clearence sunflowers

from andersons

i went after dog food and came out with flowers

go figure

i've been wanting to do some pics of the grand kidlets

and a bunch of sunflowers seemed reason enough

that and a pretty fall day

seemed to be the only motivation i needed

she likes her boots

and

she wants to wear her boots

but

she walks as though they aren't very comfortable

and they probably aren't

he seemed to love the day nana had in store for him

she tolerated the day nana had in store for her

but

it ended with a kiss

thank you

grayson thomas & adelyn laine

for allowing your nana

to pretend as though she knows what she's doing

for an afternoon

~*~

beans, beans & more beans~

our garden was a good producer this year

despite the heat

we still have some tomatoes

a few eggplants

peppers

and the brussel sprouts are starting to form

the end of canning, freezing & pickling is upon us

the empty jars once shelved in the garage

have been filled with goodness and moved

to the pantry shelves & the freezer

today....

i am attempting fruit leather!