Feedin' Time

Left to Right:

Chloe, Nicky, and Hannah.  I just had to share this!

Wood, Wood, Wood, and More Wood!

Wood:

It's coming out of my ears!  Every weekend for the past month (or more perhaps, I've lost count) we've been cutting, marking, splitting, loading, stacking, transporting, unloading, and stacking again.  We're keeping the seasoned wood (ready to be burned) on our screened in porch. Here's our "Quick Grab" pile next to the kitchen door.

An "aerial shot" of our piles at the back of our porch. We've currently got 7 rows....

Here's our "reserve pile" outside; this is the wood that we'll be burning come January as it's not quite seasoned yet. When our porch wood is depleted, this is the stuff that we'll use to "re-fill."
Our truck fashioned with homemade sides for extra wood carrying capacity. Without this baby, there'd be no wood burnin' for us!  (Of course, if we didn't have the truck payment, we'd have no problem paying for oil!)  But, why pay for oil when you can have the satisfaction of knowing that YOU were able to heat your own house and get a lot of exercise while doing it?!  We wouldn't have it any other way!
Yes, it may look like a lot of wood but, it's not!! We're heading out again next weekend and several more will follow suit.

Wood, wood, wood, and more wood!  What's fall without it?  :)

Another Weekend in the Woods

Weekend after weekend after weekend in the fall is spent at my parents' house cutting and splitting wood.  Last Saturday (Oct. 11th) our friends Roxy and Dave joined us during one of our wood cutting "adventures." Roxy has since posted about that day and, since she's already done the work, why post twice? Click HERE to read (and see!) all about it!  (There's also a rather funny video involving my brother, a chain saw, and a really bad location ~ check it out!)

Newport, RI Wedding

The long awaited day has finally come!  Pete and I were invited to a very formal wedding in Newport, RI on October 17th for one of Pete's co-workers. As the wedding was a Friday night wedding (5:30 ceremony), I knew we had to dress the part. Starting in June, I crocheted myself a shawl and long skirt for the occasion. Since I could not find a matching top (the black yarn I used in the skirt was an odd colored black), my mom and I went to Joann Fabrics and bought the fabric for my top. My mom then sewed my top for me. I then made a pair of earrings from the same beads as on my shawl.  Everything was handmade except for my shoes and purse! :)  We got Pete's Ralph Lauren suit at Macy's in September.  He wanted a nice suit complete with a vest. It was not easy to find and we ended up paying a little more than we wanted but, did he look dapper!!

This first shot is of the ceremony site in Newport. The ceremony and reception were held at Belle Mer on Goat Island.

Just as the sun was beginning to set over the water.... The ceremony began a few minutes after 5:30.
Enzo and Katie right after the ceremony.  (Pete works with Enzo.)

Inside of Belle Mer during the reception. There were about 250 people at this VERY Italian wedding. We figure it was around $200 per person. It was quite the place!

Here we are with the famed Newport Bridge behind us. (I always blink during pictures.....)

Our table.
Outside during the reception. I was getting tired of sitting and needed to stretch my legs. There was A LOT of dancing going on but, since this was an Italian wedding, they were dancing to songs I've never heard in ways I've never seen. Pete and I just stayed at the table and watched. There was dancing in between the courses of the meal. It was amazing!

Overall, we had a very good night. We left around 10:30 and drove back to my parents' house. Most people were staying in Newport but Enzo had told Pete a few weeks earlier that the hotels were around $400 a night. We opted for the cheaper route: a commute back to my parents' house and a good night sleep in my hometown!

Sounds from the Wedding (We were outside)

Hooded Baby Blanket

Another project completed! I crocheted this hooded baby blanket for one of my teacher friends who is due in December. It was made from one ball of Lion Brand Pound of Love (White).  The edging is Bernat Worsted in Soft Yellow.

The stitch pattern was very easy but creates the look of a popcorn stitch. The hood was made by increasing the double crochet stitch row by row. The hood was sewn onto one of the corners of the blanket.

The pictures aren't the greatest; there's something to be said about taking pictures in natural light vs. incandescent light. :)

My next project (which I started last night) is a sweater, complete with pockets and buttons, as a Christmas present for someone in my family. I am using Caron Simply Soft Tweed in Off White and a "J" hook for that project.

Wood Cutting Weekend #2

Another weekend of back-breaking work is behind us.....

Next weekend, we're going out with the truck to take this load home with us. We wanted to leave it split for a week to "air out" before taking it home to stack.

All of this split wood comes from the oak tree that Adam and Pete cut up last weekend. While Pop and I split, Adam and Pete were deep in the woods cutting up a second tree. We'll split that one next weekend. We've got four other trees that are down so we'll be at this for a while longer!

Crochet Club: Meeting #1

          

After weeks of planning and days of gathering materials, we held our first ever Crochet Club.  We have 18 fourth graders signed up. It was wonderful! They were so attentive and watched intently as the three of us crocheted in front of them. It was remarkable! We showed them all different kinds of hooks, yarns, and an array of books and magazines. Tomorrow I am going to order 20 sets of hooks on-line so that each club member has 3 different sizes.

I am excited to say that we have a boy in our club! Because of him, I brought in my camouflage yarn. He was so excited to see it and immediately said he wanted to crochet himself a camouflage hat. It was great!

Because of a ton of teacher commitments (i.e. meetings), our next Crochet Club meeting will be on Wednesday, October 22nd. By then I'll have all of the materials I ordered and we can begin them with the holding of the hooks and how to attach the yarn. I can't wait!  Our third meeting will be October 29th. We've got a total of six meetings before the Christmas break. We're hopeful that by then the club members will be good enough to do some crocheting on their own. We're planning on holding our meeting through the month of May.

Stay tuned for another Crochet Club update (meeting #2) toward the end of the month!