Visions of Pumpkins & A Beautiful Gift

My days are still filled with visions of

pumpkins...

All sizes

all shapes

&

even all colors...

For the first time ever

I put some items in our

Pumpkin Festival

Craft Sale

with the girls from my LYS.

My goods did quite well and I was just

*tickled pink*

{not orange mind you ~ I am still not a lover of orange,

which is why I am attracted to pumpkins in other colors!}

I just love these sweet little

pumpkin egg cozies.

I found the pattern on

Wool Free and Lovin' Knit

I will probably make a few orange or pumpkin colored ones also

but.......

I had to start with

cream

&

flamingo pink :)))

OH!!!!

And my other

exciting news ~

My friend Neicee

over at

Insomniac With A Hook

had a recent

Give Away

and

I was the

LUCKY WINNER!!!

Just look at all this

Yarny  Goodness!

:)))))))

I can accomplish a whole lot with this lovely

treasure trove!

Plus

she was sweet enough to include

a bag full of assorted teas.

They are not in the picture

because

I confess~

I have been drinking them up left and right.

I am a true addict.

It is all very yummy...

yarn ....

tea....

aahhhhh..........

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!

**Thank you,

thank you,

thank you

My Dear Neicee!**

You sure know how to treat a girl nice :)

A Harvest of Good Things

Once again it's

Pumpkin

time

here in the

Pumpkin Capital of the World!

Our Pumpkin Festival

started today

and runs through Saturday.

I, of course, look forward mostly

to the

Craft Sale

on the last day :)))

Living here and being surrounded by

pumpkin mania

this time of year

keeps me on the constant lookout

for new pumpkin patterns.

I love this one they gave me at my

LYS.

I did tweak it a bit here and there {naturally}.

It has been a fun pattern to work with.

Cute, huh?!

And on a personal note~

My Mother~In~Law

is doing better,

however,

due to her age she has some

longstanding health issues

 that will be with her always now.

I still keep a close watch on her,

take her to all doctor appointments

and fill her medication keeper each week.

I am so thankful she lives next door to me.

And I thank each one of you for your kind comments,

concern,

&

prayers.

It means so much.

Also, I had a new experience today.

For the first time I gave myself an injection.

The doctor put me on Enbrel for my RA.

Rather than going into the office for a weekly injection,

I opted to self inject.

It went quite well.

I feel just fine.

Much better than when I was on Methotrexate {UGH!!!}

So~

So far so good.

I have high hopes for this medication

and

who knows

maybe next year

I

will win the Golfing Championship

{maybe I should learn to golf first...}.

And one more thing~

Tomorrow we hit the 2 year mark from Scott's Pancreatic Cancer.

Can I get a good

AMEN!!!

I pray this finds you all

Happy

Healthy

&

Blessed.

With Love,

Danette

Scallops & Shells Shawl

Hello to all my long lost friends!

So sorry I have been absent here lately ~

My dear Mother In Law,

who is 87 and lives next door to me,

has been very sick :(((

I spent one week in the hospital with her

and am now looking after her at home.

She had acute pancreatitis

and

went into heart failure at the hospital.

All prayers are appreciated!

Her name is Pat.

During all those hours of hospital time,

I managed to finish my

Scallops and Shells Shawl.

The pattern is in

Serenity

A Crochet Collection

by

Knit Picks.

I used

Gloss Fingering

{70% Merino Wool, 30% Silk}

yarn in a lovely dusty {almost silvery} purple called

Velveteen.

This yarn was wonderful to work with

and feels nice and soft.

And more to the

point ~

the finished project is very lacy

&

Oh

So

Feminine.

I hope you are all happy and healthy.

I will spend the next several days,

while we have this nearly 100 degree heat snap,

catching up on all of your blogs.

Blessings,

Danette

Strawberry Red

We had a beautiful weekend here in Illinois.

Perfect weather for

front porch swinging.

So on Saturday

I gathered up two of my doggies

and my crochet basket

and headed out for some fresh air.

{Miss Sophie ~ the oldest weenie~ cannot come to the porch.

She likes to give chase up and down Main Street.}

Phoebe however is too barrel chested to go up and down steps

so she gets to join Mommy on the porch.

And the little guy~

Jose'

only wants to be where his Mommy is

so he stays put as well.

While enjoying the heavenly breeze

I was able to finish up this darling

 Baby Shell Cardigan.

I chose a gorgeous shade of

Strawberry Red

instead of a typical baby color.

My friend Diane, who lives in Kentucky,

will have a new granddaughter

in early September.

Her daughter, a first time Mommy,

loves

red.

And I figured she will be gifted with plenty of pink.

The pattern can be found in my new favorite book

by

Nicki Trench

If you love to crochet baby things

this book is a

must have.

I promise you will love it!

It was so much fun to crochet.

And as promised ~

cute & easy.

There is no seaming anywhere :)))

The pattern shows darling little flowers

dancing across the front

{which I will add to my next sweater}.

Once I attached these

heart buttons

Hubby and I decided the look was complete.

So I omitted the flowers on this one.

Sorry

Miss Phoebe ~

Although you do look good in red,

this sweater really isn't for YOU.

Fragrance of Days Gone By

I just LOVE

Flowers.

I love the look

the feel

&

the smell

of them.

Being unable to part with them,

I always dry them.

As time goes by I have discovered

that I actually like them best

when they are dried.

They carry with them the

fragrance of days gone by.

There are always precious memories

attached to each bouquet,

each blossom.

They make my heart happy

and sometimes bring a tear to my eyes

while I stand for a moment's recollection.

These roses were a  Mother's Day gift

from my 6 year old granddaughter,

Gabby

who knows and shares her Grammy's love for all things that

grow

&

have life.

Gabby had the honor

of being the flower girl

in her Mommy's best friend's wedding

a couple of weeks ago.

While still in her beautiful array of clothing,

with her hair piled up in curls,

she ran down to Grammy's

to ask me to dry her little bouquet.

I put them in an old Coca~Cola bottle

and plan to set them on her dresser today

for her to find when she returns home

from a day out with her Daddy.

They turned out rather sweet.

The hydrangeas grow in massive quantity

in my daughter

Chelsea's

yard.

Every time I look at them I will remember

this Summer.

Why is this Summer special?

For many reasons

but here are my top three~

In December

Chelsea & her little family moved into the house on the corner,

just 2 doors over.

In June

Hilary and her hubby

moved into the house across the street.

This is the very first Summer

Scott & I have had our children living so close.

What a fun, beautiful BLESSING it has been.

Oh!

And #3 ~

In September we will hit the 2 year mark from Scott's Pancreatic Cancer.

He is cancer free.

His energy comes back bit by bit... gradually,

and we are so

 THANKFUL TO GOD.

All in all ~

it's been a good

Summer.

And now it's August already.

I believe there are good things in store.

May you all not only be Blessed beyond belief in this month ahead,

but also be an abundant blessing to those around you.

"But thanks be to God,

 who always leads us in triumph in Christ,

and manifests through us the sweet aroma

of the knowledge of Him

in every place.

For we are a

fragrance of Christ to God..."

2 Corinthians 2:14 ~ 15

Beautiful Baskets

Is there anyone out there who shares my

Obsession

for

Baskets?

Aren't these the most

Beautiful Baskets?!!

And the really cool thing is...

they were

Handmade

by

My Very Dear Friend

Carey.

I am so amazed by her talent!

Each one is lovelier than the last.

It is hard to choose a favorite.

Carey has long been a

 gifted knitter

&

absolute

Queen of Crochet

but this too.....

Come on now!

So much talent in one sweet person :)))

And by day

she's a

Nurse Practitioner.

This little beauty is

mine all mine :)))

She made me a

Tea Basket

for my birthday!

And filled it with teabags

&

a handmade teabag dish.

She even signed the bottom for me.

As much as I love baskets...

there's nothing that compares to

Good Friends!

Thanks Carey ~

I love you!

Meet Mr. Darcy

On Sunday afternoon my sister

Bridget

brought me a gift.

I had been thinking I might enjoy watching a pretty fish

float around while I am in my upstairs office.

So I pulled a pretty crystal rose bowl out of the china cabinet

and made it ready,

thinking I would go fish shopping one day this week.

Instead I got a lovely surprise ~

Bridget showed up with this gorgeous

Beta.

I love how colorful he is.

Such a beautiful creature needed a special name...

So~

Meet

Mr. Darcy.

Isn't he pretty?

I especially love the turquoise blue across his body.

And speaking of

turquoise blue...

I finally finished my third pair of

Crocheted Socks :)

These are for my friend

Mary Anne.

She has been off work with a back injury.

I decided she needed a little something soft and snuggly to comfort her.

She was delighted!

Isn't it fun to give gifts :)))

And back to my sister

Bridget ~

I just can't resist telling you this little story...

Last night Bridget decided she would walk

to my  house and join us for Knit Night.

Her favorite coffee shop is along the way.

The girls in there saw her going by and waved her in for a nice chat.

She pulled her crochet work out to get a few stitches in while they visited.

And this is what happened~

If you look closely

you will see

that she crocheted

{and connected!}

her work around the strap of the bag!

They all got a good laugh out of that...

and when she arrived at my house...

well....

we had to laugh some more!

So today's post has gone from

Fish

to

Frog.

For my Dear Sister

must now get busy

frogging

that bit of nonsense.

A Trip to Versailles

I've taken a trip to

Versailles

this week~

well....okay....

not really.

But I have painted everything

that didn't get out of my way

in this lovely shade of

Versailles

green.

Before

After :)))

I am in love with this

Annie Sloan  Chalk Paint!

I have the  most charming Vintage store

~Second Betty's~

 just across the street

about a half a block up from my house.

And it is owned by the most delightful couple ~

Mike and Cindy.

Not only do they have lovely items of all sorts,

they also carry this fabulous paint.

I purchased this dining room table about 3 years ago

from another shop downtown when it closed.

The owner had used it in her farmhouse at one time.

Although I love it, I always intended to paint it.

I am quite happy with the fresh new look!

I think I will purchase a can of

Old White

and repaint the legs with it.

While in the midst of my painting frenzy,

I happened to spy a coffee table sitting on the curb 2 doors over.

The young man is moving out and no longer wanted it :)

So....

I helped myself!

This is what it looked like.

Ick!!!

But NO WORRIES....

I had plenty of paint left.

This is what it looks like now :)))

It's just perfect under the window in my upstairs office.

I really needed a place for my overflow of books

{and, of course, a few more pretties}.

So~

What have all of you been up to this fine week?

P.S. My Mother began to worry I might paint the dogs if they didn't stay out of the way.

Well... there is still some paint in the can.....

Baby Shells

I crocheted this baby blankie for

my granddaughter

Gabby

who is now a whole 6 years old.

Does time ever fly?!!

I ran across it this morning

and realized I had never taken any photos of it.

The darling wicker buggy it is draped over

is a gift Grammy found at an antique store

when Mommy was expecting Gabby.

There's just nothing quite like baby things.

Everything that has to do with babies is always so

soft

&

pure.

And I love to wrap new baby's in crocheted shells.

Hope you are all having a beautiful day!

P.S. In case anyone has noticed

I am having Picasa Web issues.

On Sunday I nearly had a heart attack

when I realized that all of a sudden almost all

of my past blog posts no longer have any pictures!

I am working on trying to get them back.

If anyone has any clue as to what I should do

PLEASE HELP!!!

Make Mine Pink

I just LOVE

re~making

re~doing

re~using

&

re~cycling.

Especially when  I can make something

pretty

&

{you guessed it!}

*pink*!

And if I can stick a

rose

on it

Well....

that just makes my day :)))

So here's today's project all done up.

An old floor lamp that got left behind when my youngest

daughter

Chelsea

got married.

Mainly because it no longer has a switch on it.

There is a slot for one behind the handmade

clay button which I glued a plastic rose to.

I just plugged it into a power strip

that has an on off switch.

Yesterday I purchased some

Anne Sloan Chalk Paint in

Antoinette

&

now it has a new home next to my

Crocheting

Knitting

Reading

Chair

in my upstairs office.

I found this divinely comfy chair

back in the Winter

at the local thrift shop for just a few dollars.

This is what the fabric looks like

but I am not a lover of yellow and orange

{nothing against those of you who are}

I just always have to

make mine

pink

when possible.

Or green with pink roses in this case!

So I dug out this old quilt and tucked it around

then topped it off with a butterfly doily

&

tossed a pretty pink

heart shaped pillow on it.

And now I'm

Happy!