Donut Tell Your Momma

Halloween has come and gone and this year seemed crazier than the last with VERY LAST MINUTE costume creating which resulted in these:

 The donut box idea came to us as we were getting ready to recycle boxes out of the garage, upon which my sweet girl spotted the huge microwave box (yep, aside from having a non-functioning oven for OVER a year, the microwave RIP'd last month) and declared she should be a box of donuts.  

Of course Momma waited until the day before Halloween to get the felt for donuts, stood at JoAnn fabric cutting line for 20 minutes to purchase yards of felt, then got to work with a little help from Pinterest.  Then I ran out of stuffing…..not to worry, I had 2 rolls of quilt batting so one of the rolls was put to use and voila!  

Got lots of help with a little duct tape engineering from Dad so sweet girl can maneuver around in the huge box.  She knocked down lots of things off the wall on the way out and had strangers taking photos of her.  

And this too cool 13 yr old refused to wear a traditional costume so Dear Dad ironed on the "error 404" message on an old shirt of his and said 13 yr old was very happy with the results.

Hope no one OD'd on candies :-)!

UK Highlights

 Castles, castles and more castles….

My son's favorite castle, Urquhart Castle - on the Loch in Scotland,  because he shares the same name as the tower.

No Loch Ness monster in the lake….

Hmmm…I should have worn the other shoes.  At the Caernarfon Castle in Wales.

Lord Warwick - you're tiny!  Wax figures at the campy Warwick Castle.

Poppies for WW I & II remembrance at Tower of London

When in Rome, London…..

His size 14's (men's shoe size!) even made it to Stonehenge!

Posing with their favorite character from the Brit. show Merlin

My girl kept asking why the letter i's were missing from the TOILET signs…..heh, heh!

Apple of London's Eye

They are such tourists!

Tea at Harrods in London…...

Tea at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland…..

Mmmmmmmm, but I don't get clotted cream - it's like tasteless butter.

Tea at home - recreated completely by the kiddos to capture UK trip memories :-)!

Of course, some eye candy is necessary to end this post…

WIP - baby ripple blanket with Rico Design cotton yarn.

American Girl Doll mini afghan using Stylecraft DK weight yarn (the best!)

Great way to use up scrap yarn - pattern here.

No-calorie donuts :)….Going to the boutique

Man afghan for the other house (using Stylecraft yarn again!)

Pretty yarn baskets - also going to the boutique

Yarn "Oreos" for boutique...

Trying new patterns - using old designer fabric (Michael Miller's Flora Fauna by Patty Young), pardon the ugly ironing board cover.

A brief pause in the southwest U.S.

Before we set off for the UK, we decided to see a bit more of this beautiful country…..

Montezuma's castle

Grand Canyon - everytime we saw tourists taking cliff-hanger photos, we would start singing, "It's going down, I'm yelling timber…."

We took the mile hike down one canyon, turned around shortly after we heard a swarm of bees coming up from the bottom!

Truly grand

Canyon De Chelley Nat'l Monument 

Mesa Verde - so many cliff dwellings!  How did the ancient Puebloans build these homes?!

Aaaah, one of the most film-captured scenery:  Monument Valley

and of course, you can't go to the southwest without stopping at the 4-corners (maintained by the Navajo Nation, the 4 states are Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado).

I think the girl learned a lot from this trip because shortly after returning from the southwest, she chose to do Arizona for her state project.  She did this all by herself with the exception of photo printing and gluing the side structures.  She got an A+!

I didn't do Idaho justice, I was told, so here are a couple more beautiful pictures of the Red Horse Mountain Dude Ranch:

My horse Lou is the one on the far left - only his rump is showing :-)

The view from one of the top ranges, accessible only after a 2 hr horse-back ride to the top.  Oh, my rear!

 Lastly, this is what I completed crocheting during that trip - faux cable stitch using lots of scrap worsted weight yarn:

Close-up view

Picture this

It has been over a year since my last post -- with the kids both out of elementary school, I hope to find time to post more regularly, to share what I make, where we've been and perhaps even offer a little humor to the blog world.  

My baby girl graduated from 5th grade!  Her graduation treat was to take a few of her closest girlfriends out to lunch.  But shortly after, I lost control of the group and they all ran away from me, only to find them at the perfume counter at a nearby department store.  Oh, dear.  It's starting…….

We will be spending more time here - a great opportunity suddenly knocked on the door and off he went to face the opportunity while we hold down the fort at home.  

Aaah, it's beautiful in Idaho.  Yes, they have more than potatoes there.  We spent a fun-filled week at this Dude Ranch with extended family.  We came away being fluent in "hee haw" and a new respect for all cowboys.

Can you say Hippie Tea?  That's what we call this tea house in Pacifica but they serve the best scones and tea sandwiches on this side of the Left Coast.

New crochet pillow covers for our bedroom.  I made 2 - still trying to decide what fabric backing I'll use.  My better half thinks our room is starting to look like his Grandma's house so I may just keep them flipped to the fabric side.  

Next time:  our visit to the UK and more wip's.  

Aaaah....life!

Before she got too old, we made a trek to the American Girl Doll store in LA and splurged on lunch!

My Boy Scout on a zip line!

On a cruise ship.  With real grass.  Amazing trip!  Thanks, Mom!!

My little ham.

Ft Ross Settlement.  Gorgeous place - highly recommend!

Visit to one of our favorite places.  Poor pig. 

Giddy up!  City boy meets Ms Easy.

What form!  Track and Field Spring '13

Yes, it's supposed to be edible.  Man o'da house having fun with the dehydrator.

Before the oven broke.

64 Oreos.  Since the oven wasn't working.  

Ummm....shouldn't the boy or Dad be doing this???

Fishing.  Dumb fish too smart to eat peanut butter and lettuce.

She better end up an artist.  Hopefully not the starving kind.

Look, Ma!  I learned how to sew on zippers!

Fancy pillowcases.  With pockets a la Pottery Barn.    And crocheted edge!  If you wanna buy one, it will cost you $50!

Fun with fleece.  

Learning how to sew more stuff.

Foot mops.  Binding and curves - aaack!