Just stuff that’s going on this week…

Here’s a quickie update to the last post about our little window shopping day on King Street…turns out I did buy a few goodies…

Handmade book marks for the girls

A little sock knitting cheat sheet with kitchener stitch pattern on the back and a darning needle built in…clever

Some hand-dyed silk ribbons

Cute little antique scrimshaw hat pin

Here are a couple cute shots of the girls wearing their slippers…they are even more cute on tiny feet.

I think hers got hairy because she insists on sleeping in them every night

Plus, here’s the only thing we did to celebrate on Cinco de Mayo…another Craftgawker idea (search mini pinatas on Craftgawker). Using an empty tissue box, I put stuff that we already had inside (seriously, I’m not going to go out and buy pinata filler when their favorite part is beating the hell out of it and they barely notice what’s inside; plus, did I mention I’m super cheap?).

I filled it and wrapped it up before we headed out for the day. I even put two sandwich bags into the pinata with the girls’ names on them…you know, so they would be handy for collecting their loot (OCD).

I just wrapped it up in newspaper and packed some art supplies so the kids could decorate it when we reached our destination for the day.

This is their masterpiece before the beating…

…and…after…

Oh yeah, and teacher appreciation week is on so the three of them received their little cliche ‘apple for the teacher’ apple cozies yesterday, and the girls got to pick their colors.

Also, I got out the May gifts for Mother’s Day and May birthdays today…but I don’t want to spoil anything, but here’s a hint…

P.S. I’m attempting knitting again with the help of a book borrowed from a friend…I’ll keep you posted on how that goes…I’ve never gotten past first base with knitting before…

I accompanied Mona’s Kindergarten class on their field trip to “Belmont” in Fredericksburg today and it was pretty neat. The plaque above kind of sums up what Belmont is. Apparently he maintained a main gallery in New York and a country home here in Fredericksburg, which is known as Belmont. I don’t really know how his work celebrated Fredericksburg and its people because he studied in Europe and from what I could see, mainly painted Dutch people and landscapes…I mean he even had a pair of wooden shoes in his room.

Unfortunately photos weren’t allowed inside the home or of the paintings, but I did get a bunch of the exterior. The grounds were beautiful and the weather was cooperative (we’ve been having the loudest and longest spring thunderstorms lately); though hot…it was something like 90 degrees which is fine with me except it’s so humid here…still not used to it…jeez! The property includes a huge house, studio, some small out buildings and the gardens; all on a hill overlooking Old Town Fredericksburg and the Rappahannock River.

Really beautiful, especially this time of year. I’m still trying to figure out how I didn’t get a single picture of the house – by far the biggest photo target there… amateur…

There were lots of little old gates, walkways, and passages…

The kids also did some great painting with water colors on part of our tour…

At one point the kids were given a list of scavenger hunt objects and here are a few of their finds…

I was actually given a third of the class for the scavenger hunt, which was not my favorite part. Those kindergarteners operate with a pack mentality and they can smell fear…managing a small herd of 5-year-olds is a gift I simply don’t have; however, my competitive side and my OCD won out and we managed to beat the other two teams…oh, wait, I just remembered it wasn’t a competition.

I’ll leave you with my favorite photo…

Here it is! How cute is that?

I made it from this Crochet Today! pattern.

The pattern was good except for one part…the rainbow ends don’t come out completely horizontal; they come out at an angle. It shows on the photo in my last post.

So, here’s what I changed:

1. I put rays all the way around the sun. The pattern calls for eight rays, but without the clouds, I used nine.

2. I used one fewer color on the rainbow than called for and ended with a purple instead of a blue. I lightly stuffed it and used the clouds to cover my angled rainbow ends. I like the clouds better on the rainbow anyway. The sun is super cute all alone.

3. I made the rain a lighter blue and the cheeks a lighter pink. Also, I used all cotton yarn instead of acrylic. And I used fishing line to string it all together so it would be invisible.

Here’s what I’d change if I made it again:

1. I’d use ten rays around the sun and place them closer together.

2. I’d double the number of clouds so I could sandwich the rainbow ends between them.

3. I might not put a face on the rainbow…

Fun and easy project though…you should make one!

…while I wait for the refrigerator repair guy to show…

Can you guess what it will be? (Besides super cute I mean.)

Short post, I know, but I’m test posting from my phone and I will totally post a pic of the final product once I’m done.

Now, to see how well this works…