Garden Vicinity Fiasco....Ewwwwwww!

(Plush Food by Plushoff)

       Any of you that read my blog on any kind of a regular basis have seen me, on numerous occasions, sharing my hubby's gardening and flower growing skills...or lack there of, in the case of the sunflowers this year. :-] But today's story of his attempts at gardening has an...*gulp!*...unexpected ending.

     Maybe what I should do first is show you some of the good that came out of his garden so far...

      He has flowers growing as tall as corn stalks back there!

       Peeking from around every corner...

      He was planning to go over to his mom's house to cut her grass, but his garden and flowers were calling 'him-him-him-him, him-him-himmmmmm'! LOL...Where is Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy when you need them?! ^_^

       So, out to the backyard he went...Ahhhhhh.....Oooooooo!...

       Everything is growing so pretty! :-)

    Hubby was having dreams of weeding and planting and....Ooooo! Barbecuing!!....Hmmm...do we have any charcoal for the grill?!....So into the storage shed room he went....

      ...and there, laid out as pretty as you please in the middle of the floor, was a HUGE mouse! He was so big that hubby wanted me to see it... O_O ...Sometimes I think this sharing thing goes a little too far! LOL...That's why I'm not gonna show him to you! ^_^ I erased the picture of that mouse faster than you can say "Jack!"

       He looked so pitiful laying there. And his little eyes looked like they had little 'X'es on them, like in the cartoons. *_* ...All I kept thinking was: "I hope he was alone"...and..."I hope this was a one time event...I mean, we "are" far away from the woods to not have any other critters coming to visit, right?!"

     

      Hubby removed the mouse with a shovel I think. He took him up to the edge of the woods out back and flung him....I know that because he told me. Not because I was watching! The picture of his dead body already had me in "EWWWWW-death con 7" mode!! LOL

      The adventure didn't stop there though, because hubby was now determined to clean out the shed...just in case! He was poking and kicking everything to make sure that if anything was alive out there, it would 'high-tail-it' to the woods immediately! LOL

      He poked a rolled up carpet and......bzzzzz!....O_O....bzzzzzzz!.....and then a small swarm of bees, none too happy that he was poking their new lair, came after him!! He came running into the house in a panic!...all gardening and shed cleaning had to be put on hold.

     He kept peeking out the window into the backyard every few minutes to see if the bees were still flying around....more panicked than he needed to be...probably because we recently watched a documentary about the extremely aggressive and deadly traveling African bees, that are going up and down the coast, inhabiting people's sheds and attics...unbeknownst to the owners until they come upon them by accident! O_O

     We don't know if they're African bees. But we know our shed is inhabited now!...And hubby's not interested in bothering them. What!...we don't "NEED" the grill! ^_^ .....And just as hubby was about to get re-settled in himself, he looked up and saw a fox trotting across our backyard....up near the woods.

      Yep...you guessed it...the fox found the mouse...*gulp!*....crunch, crunch, crunch!....EWWWWWWW!...I didn't want any pictures of him eating...and I didn't wanna eat myself for a while yesterday either!!...Yeah, I know....circle of life...yadda yadda yadda!...I needed to relax myself. You know what that meant! :-)

       Crochet time!...I had to make the new boutonnieres for the wedding party...{By the way, he says the wedding party will be in a follow up spread in a magazine. So my boutonnieres are gonna get some much needed promotion!!! :-)}...The magazine is doing a follow up to an engagement spread on him and his fiance'....It's beautiful too! He sent me the link!! :-) I'll share when it happens. His wedding is in another couple of months.

     I also got another custom request yesterday...to make two tiny thread lapel pins. They're less than an inch in size...

     When I say tiny...I mean tiny! I'm just thankful we're having good weather right now. This work with this tiny crochet hook is an ouch fest anyway, with my arthritic hands. But it would be impossible if we were having rainy weather!

       I have to make the other one, close the buds, make backings for them and add buttons...I shared the photos with the customer. He is very pleased. :-) I'm so glad. There's nothing like a satisfied customer.

      When I finish this order, I think I'm gonna make some more lapel pins for the shop. I'm gonna add my new lapel pin helper...I'm always trying to think of some simple way to wear these in that tiny lapel pin hole on a man's suit!...Meet my newest helper...

      ^_^ Why didn't I think of these before?!!!

       You can just fold these down!! :-] ...Oh how I love a new use for an old thing!...Speaking of which, this 'Old Thing' has to get her some breakfast. ^_^ I think it's been enough time now, since the fox had his meal. Ugh!....Have a good day everybody! :-)

Hungry Stomach

My empty stomach's grumbling
was as noisy as could be!
So demanding in it's urging,
and it's "Hungry" symphony.

I awakened to it's music,
and the fluttering that it caused.
I tried to just ignore it,
with its twist and turning gnaws!

Like a 'stick-in-hand' conductor,
setting music to a riot,
I'll direct some food into it,
so that it will just be QUIET!      

Patchy News

(Unique Tea Cup Holder by simplysweetcrafts10)

     Just kinda hang with me here, because I know you're probably thinking: "A tea cup?!" But I want you to see what I see when I look at this patchwork tea cup.....I see POSSIBILITY!...Creative possibility!...I'll explain in a second.

      First I wanna tell you a couple of other things...before I forget. :-] ... 1. My groom customer that I made all of the wedding boutonnieres for, loves the boutonniere I made for him...the one with the two shades of gray and autumn red. :-) And now I'm also making two more boutonnieres for him...for the father of the bride and the ring bearer! :-) Is that cool or what?!!!!

     

      2.  I have another celebrity follower on Twitter!...Heidi Newfield the country singer. I am flabbergasted that these singers keep 'hitting me up'! LOL I know. I'm delusional!....But whatever the reason, I'm excited to become familiar with all kinds of new music. :-)

      Okay, back to my patchwork cup (in the header photo)...Can you see the connection and the possibilities between the tea cup and this...

     It's one of the patchwork slippers I've been working on. I had to crochet a lining for the slipper, and then sew all of the colored crocheted pieces onto it...Ugh!!!!!...I'm having flashbacks of when I made 'Baby Wuglyee'!! LOL

      Cute.....but NOT fun!!...About half way through tediously sewing all of those little colored patches onto the lining of the slipper, I made a big decision......I'm NOT making the other slipper!! No way.....No how!! ^_^

       And since I'm gonna end up with only one slipper, that means I had to come up with some creative use for it!...Something as creative as the tea cup!...Now do you see where I'm going?! ^_^ ... Let's see....what could this be?!...

        I know.....cute. But it's so deceptively simple looking! Grrrr!...I had to crochet all of the little pieces, and then put them sorta kinda in the places where the pattern says they're suppose to be....Places where they actually don't fit!!!.....and where the pieces were odd shaped in the first place! O_0 I would categorize this pattern as "Pain-In-The-Neck-Ville"!!!!...

       As you can see though....I did get it done!

      And I love how it looks.....now! :-) ... But Oh No! I'm not making the matching one!!!! So, since that's a 'for sure, big daddy!', then I had to come up with another idea for what it would be!....And thanks to a few of you who were trying to help me out. :-) ...{Kelly on Facebook suggested that I make it into a tea cozy. I loved that idea, but since that would require that I do some more modifications on it....NO!!! I'm done with this thing!! LOL}

      I know what it's gonna be now too! I got inspiraton from these two things...

(Candy Land Glamour Shoes by michelestewart1)

 (Crochet Basket by WolfArtStudio)

       My colorful patchwork slippers.....strike that.....Slipper (as in ONE!)...is gonna be a candy holder! :-)

      You can sit it on a kitchen counter, or on the sink in the bedroom bathroom, or wherever! :-)

      What do you think?!!....Would you use it like this, or would you just make the other slipper?!...Not that it matters...because you'd need about $100,000 to get me to make the other one! LOL...Wanna piece of candy?! ^_^

     Okay, I'm off to get another nap...or breakfast...or to crochet those other boutonnieres...or something. I'm just taking it as it comes these days with these sleep issues!...Tomorrow I'll tell you the story about what happened to hubby on the way to the flower garden. O_O .. Have a good day, Everybody! :-)

Candy Rhyme

It's not right...I know,
to start your day with a chocolate face;
But the M&Ms with peanuts
gave my dream such a lovely taste.

It got me really thinking
about the candies of my youth,
like "Pixie Sticks" and "Twizzlers",
WOW! I had such a big 'Sweet Tooth'!

I remember in the playground,
trading candy like a stock.
It's a wonder you never hear
of kids going into "candy shock"!

'Hershey's with almonds',
'Kit Kats' and 'Peanut Bars';
Chocolate 'Reese's cups',
'3 Musketeers' and 'Mars'.

'Pay Days', 'Sugar Babies',
'Nestle's Crunch' and 'Heath Bars' too;
'York Peppermint patties',
because hard candies just won't do.

'Snickers', 'Milky Way',
'Butterfinger', Raisinets';
All that chocolate, good for me,
but not good for household pets!

'Twix', 'Reese's Pieces',
'Almond Joy', and Oh Yeah!, 'Mounds';
'Tootsie Rolls' and 'Whoppers'
I could eat them by the pounds!

'Dove Bar', 'Now or Laters',
'Laffy Taffy', 'Zagnut', 'Skor'.
Okay, I'm gonna stop now,
but there's plenty, plenty more!

Now that I'm grown up
I don't eat candy all the time.
Instead, I have sweet dreams of it,
and write a candy rhyme!

Sleep...Crochet...Sleep...Crochet...Ooo! A Bird!

(RED DOBERMAN SLEEPING Watercolor Art Print by k9artgallery)

     Well, what do you want?! LOL This is what's going on with me these days. Attempts at sleeping....and attempts at crocheting something. Usually flowers. What else is there to talk about?! :-))

       This is my latest crochet project. And I know what you're thinking. Where is the slippers?! ^_^

    Well, the slippers are still in the same place they were the last time I saw them. And they're still not assembled either. Ugh!...I can't wrap my semi non-sleeping brain around configuring anything that involved right now.

(Pure Linen Sleep Eye Mask by LGlinen)

      I say 'semi non-sleeping' because I "have" been getting some sleep. Just not "good" sleep...I have 'Sleep Apnea', and I use a C-Pap machine every time I want to go to sleep. It involves a full face mask and tubes running from my face, along with the sound of a breathing Darth Vader..."Luke, I am not your father." LOL...Yikes, where did that 35 year old reference come from?!! ^_^

      Anyway!...*Teehee*...as of late, I've been falling asleep fine, but less than two hours later....UP! Sometimes it's less time...The machine is suppose to be set so that I sleep approximately 6 hours straight through, without interruption. But that hasn't happened for a long time now!

(Pet Sleeping Bag by doodlebugduds)

       I've been attributing it to my hormonal changes, Spring allergies, an acquired sensitivity to perfumed smells...and cooking smells too!...or anything I could pin the disorder on, frankly! LOL Truth is I don't know why I'm all of a sudden not sleeping. My latest investigation has to do with the C-Pap machine. I was given a monitor type machine, so that they could record my patterns for a week and see if they could analyze what my problem is.

       Guess what?...I can't sleep with the monitor machine! The level that the machine starts to test at is waaaay to low for me. It's like having someone put your head in a bag and saying: "Just relax. The oxygen levels will calibrate themselves so that you won't die in a minute."...Yeah! Right! LOL...So, what happens next?!...I'll keep you posted. :-] 

     

       In the meantime, I crochet my flowers! :-)

      ....Get a little nap where I can...

(Original Ink Drawing of Holly Golightly's Sleep Essentials by emmakisstina)

       ...and crochet some more flowers! LOL

      What am I gonna do with all of these flowers?!...I don't know. They could be turned into anything at this point. If you want them, let me know. I'll list them in my Wuglyees Etsy shop for you for a very reasonable price. :-)

      I could be blanketing the world with flowers, because clearly I've got...

(Sterling Silver Charm by JessicasGifts)

   ...miles and miles! LOL

       I was beginning to think that maybe the lack of sleep was driving me bonkers when I saw this huge swooping thing land in the backyard...a thing that I originally thought was an ostrich...just saying. It was moving kinda big and kinda fast! :-)) 

      And YES! I did get a picture of it!...

      The size of my backyard, and my picture taking skills, are making it look a whole lot smaller than it was. TRUST ME! When it took to flight hubby and I were so mesmerized that we forgot to click the camera!...We still aren't exactly sure what it was. A vulture?!...an eagle?!...a wild turkey?!

       Whatever it was was probably attracted there by the same thing that attracted two huge blackbirds to the woods yesterday. We don't know what that was either, but the woods were the main attraction yesterday...I hope nothing is dead out there! O_O Hubby didn't wanna go look!...Can't say I blamed him either! I didn't wanna watch anything yesterday except the Wimbledon Men's Final. :-)

        Congratulations to Roger Federer! He did it again!! And now he's the world number one again too!...Wonder what the former world number one, Novak Djokovic is gonna think about that. O_O

(Tennis Racquet Key Chain by riskybeads)

     Andy Murray played his heart out though. His speech at the end actually brought me to tears. I look forward to seeing him win a 'major' some time in the very near future. :-]

     Okay...I'm off to try to get me a few more winks, along with hubby. That man sure knows how to sleep!! :-) Hopefully, pretty soon maybe hubby will be able to hang a sign like this one on our door...

(Primitive Wood Door Sign by CAPrimlover)

       I'm leaving you with a poem that's NOT MINE today!...Go figure! LOL It's an appropriate one by Robert Frost that I was reminded of when I was looking through JessicasGifts. 

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening  

By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.  
His house is in the village though;  
He will not see me stopping here  
To watch his woods fill up with snow. 
 
My little horse must think it queer  
To stop without a farmhouse near  
Between the woods and frozen lake  
The darkest evening of the year.  

He gives his harness bells a shake  
To ask if there is some mistake.  
The only other sound’s the sweep  
Of easy wind and downy flake.  

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.  
But I have promises to keep,  
And miles to go before I sleep,  
And miles to go before I sleep.

Credit for the use of the poem goes to the Poetry Foundation      

Those Flowers Came From Where?!!

       I wanted to show you the beautiful flowers we found to give to my friend! :-) Are those blue daisies?!...I don't know. That's what they looked like to me...But those are definitely white roses, and baby's breath! :-) I even loved the blue and white ribbon tucked in the front of them!

      Yes, I know you've seen flowers before!...*Teehee*... but I thought I'd share these with you because of a story I saw on the news just the other day about the best place to buy flowers. The grocery store! :-) ...Yep! The grocery store!...And I 100% agree!

     It's a little known fact, until right now, that over the years, for the birth of new babies...or when someone was in the hospital for surgery...or to bring with us when we were invited to someone's home for dinner...or to send as a little "Thank you"...or just because we wanted to let someone know we were thinking of them...we have 95% of the time gotten our flowers at the local grocery store!.."Stop 'N Shop" usually. :-)

    Yes, we could afford to get them at the florist...and we've done that on occasion too. But, frankly, the grocery store flowers have always been fresher, arranged in a more thoughtful way, and waaaaay cheaper!...In fact, the roses I've bought from "Stop 'N Shop" were the ones that lasted me the longest!

     I was so pleased with the bargain they were offering at the time, 30 years or so ago now, that I took a chance and ordered my whole wedding package from...you guessed it..."Stop 'N Shop"!! I'm talking the bridesmaid's flowers, the groom and groomsman's boutonnieres, the arrangements for decoration, and my wedding bouquet that I carried down the aisle! They even made a holder for my bouquet! :-)

      And I'm not talking silk or fake flowers either! I'm talking fresh roses, carnations and baby's breath. And they were beautiful!!...and very reasonably priced....VERY! A whole lot cheaper than if I had gone to a florist that does wedding flowers for a living.

      I almost didn't want to throw them on my wedding day!...By the way, where did that tradition get started anyway?!...It probably was some single, over-pricing florist trying to make a buck! LOL...If I had it to do over again today, those flowers would never have been thrown. They'd be with me until they dried into a rose petal fumed pink and red potpourri sachet! :-) Live and learn! :-) ...The mind reels at the ideas I could have come up with for that gasquet and the ribbons!

(Trinket Dish by DotDotSmile)

     Oh Well...that was a long time ago! My anniversary is coming up later this month. Maybe I can put in a request for a new gasquet! ^_^ A 'Keeper' this time!

      Speaking of which, I could put in a request for these two cuties I recently ran across too! :-) ... 

 (Teacher Chalkboard Brooch by DotDotSmile)

 (French Silver Perfume Bottle by scarlton1011)

       I am a teacher after all. :-) And even if I can't sniff on any perfume right now...silly hormones! Grrr!...I can still appreciate a tiny flower covered bottle! ^_^ ...Now, I just have to figure out what to get hubby!...No! I still haven't!

      As an update:

--> 1. My friend loved the flowers! :-) ... 

--> 2. I'm still not really sleeping normally...{It's 1:45 a.m. right now, if that's any indication!}...I received a C-Pap unit that I'm suppose to be sleeping with on, to test whether my machine needs an update rather than having to go through the whole 'sleep study' thing all over again. But because the pressure inside of it is not what my regular unit is, and it takes waaaay too long for it to get there, I can't go to sleep with it on! I lay there thinking about every breath, with my eyes wide open! ^_^ It feels sorta like trying to breathe, relax, and fall asleep with a paper bag on your head!!...NOT happening!

--> 3. Serena Williams won the women's singles match at Wimbledon...

         ...and then a few hours later, her and Venus together won the women's doubles match too! ^_^ 

        (You can click on the photos to go and read all about it!)...How exciting, right?!....Congratulations Serena and Venus Williams! 

       The men's final match is today! I can't wait!!!!...Roger Federer against Andy Murray!...Be there or be square! ^_^ It's gonna be another day of contentment...Have a good day everybody! :-) 

Merrily Content

I've got lots to do today.
I hope the sun shines down on me.
But if, instead, the rain comes down,
I'll still be singing merrily.

Whatever happens I'm content.
I know how worse my life could be,
than watching hummingbirds and robins
flit around my backyard tree.

The news of shootings and disasters,
on my mind can't make a dent;
Because I'll focus on my backyard,
and I'll be smiling and content. 

Nice Try, "Life"!

(Egg Warmers with Pom Poms by imali)

        You've probably heard a lot of the expressions like..."Life is just a bowl of cherries"...or..."Life is what you make it"...or..."Life is short". They're all true expressions, depending on how you look at life...which for me, usually, is pretty positively. But lately "life" has been coming at me full force and 'on-the-real'! It feels like it's trying to take me out! It's certainly getting in a few blows!

      But, "Nice Try, Life!"... I'm not letting you take away my good outlook. I'm gonna find ways to find the "spice in life" because I still know that "Life is good"! Mentally I'm trying to get a "new lease on life"... and pretty soon I'll be back to my positively out-looking self! and "For the life of me" I won't be able to remember all of the hard knocks you were trying to give me! ^_^ Is that enough "Life" idioms?! 

      Positivity, here I come again!!...Starting with the cute little warm and cozy pom pom laden eggs in the header photo! :-) How could anyone look at them and not smile?!...I'm getting some eggs warmed up for me right now too...in a frying pan...right next to some fried catfish and hash brown casserole! ^_^

(Handknit Cozy Coffee Mug Sleeve by BagsByMellysse)

        I may even see if I can get me a cozy cup of coffee to go with them! :-) Can you feel the positive washing over me?! '-'

        This little coffee cozy gave me a positive idea about my own future hand crocheted water bottle cozies too...I think they should have an interesting button. Not just a drawstring. I think that button looks so cool!

      And while I'm on the subject of tweaking my crocheted projects for more positiveness, why didn't I think of doing this...

(Crochet Scarflette with Flower by ColorMyWorldCrochet)

       What a great idea! The flower makes it look so much more pulled together, and sophisticated...And I like that she used two colors side by side and then took them over into the design of the flower! Bravo!...Why didn't I think of this?! O_O I mean I crochet scarves all the time, and you KNOW how much I love a crochet flower...on everything!!!!...Oh Well, she beat me to it. 'Good-on-ya'! ^_^

      I might've been slightly distracted by 'life'. It's been 'trying to take the life outta me'! LOL...{Sorry. I still had a couple of 'life' idioms in me! ^_^}...But, try as it might, I still have some life in me! Life is not hanging me out to dry just yet!! ^_^ ...

(Original Drawing by katyatchison)

      I've been getting a bit of sleep. I'm even using a monitor C-Pap machine for a week or two, to see if my sleep....or lack of sleep...issues have anything to do the machine. Time will tell!...I can also report that my friend that just got the dire Cancer diagnosis is doing better after her surgery. She's up, eating solid food, and, although her white blood count is dropping a bit, she's still in a positive state of mind looking forward!...If she can be.....so can I!!! "While there's life, there's hope!"

      So what if life makes you take to your bed on occasion...It's just for rejuvenation purposes, right?!! ^_^ ... Maybe that's where this idea came from...

       This is the project that I'm working on right now, that I was sharing with you yesterday. And now I can tell you what it is....or rather what's it's gonna be!...

       ...Patchwork Bedroom Slippers! :-)

       It's a vintage pattern that I've had for years. I've been saying I was gonna make them for-ever!...I wanna make them, not because I absolutely NEED a pair of patchwork slippers, but because I knew they would be challenging....and they sure are!

       I had to make stiff soles for the bottoms of them, and make a soft lining for the inside of them. Now I'm crocheting all of the pieces that will have to be configured and then sewn onto the outside of the lining! O_O ...Why do I do this kinda stuff to myself?!....Remember the Yo Yo bag?!....Oh Well, I guess "That's Life!" Ha! Ha!

      So anyway!....While life in the Wug household "is" moving at a slower pace these days...

(Seashell Photograph by machelspencePHOTO)

     ...it is still moving!...and in a positive direction too!...I hope it's going the same way in your households...I know, it sounds all introspective and thought out this morning, but it's not. It's just life. :-) Have a good one, Everybody!

Minutes In A Year

524,160-All together,
make up all the minutes in a year.
124,800-At least-spent working
in a job, insecurely stressed with fear.

175,200 minutes, spent sleeping.
(Or, at least, they say thats how many you should get.)
5,475 minutes, taking showers.
(An aweful lot of time spent being soaking wet!)

87,600 minutes, spent eating.
(Estimated at 240 a day.)
The same amount is spent watching T.V.-
feeding your mind on what other people have to say.

5,600 minutes, spent in worship,
with another 21,840 preparing for it.
(That doesn't  seem like a lot of minutes to consider,
when you think of all the wholesome benefit.)

That leaves 6,045 little minutes
to ponder ways to show your degree of love;
To show you care about the people around you,
and to appreciate all the minutes from above!