Old Tree

When we purchased our house, you could tell that the ice storm they had in Tulsa last winter killed one of the trees in the front and took some major branches off the other. Now, we have a crazy series of "baby trees" all over our lawn that we mow over to keep in control. We've tried battling the upset lawn gnomes with some "weed" control and it seems to be working, but there are just so many of them.

So instead of continuous mowing, lawn gnome unhappiness, and baby tree battling, hopefully ending with the planting of grass, what if we replace the tree and make the lawn gnomes happy? Well, in the car to work this morning, Shannon and I wondered how much a tree cost. So I naturally checked first thing when I got to work and I found the Arbor Day Foundation's website. They have hundreds of trees for sale, most under 20$. So, perhaps a new tree will fill the hole of the old tree.

Blanket

I know I usually post about my knit-things over here, but I'm gonna show it here too. :)

A few months ago my cousin Diana, Kat's Tyler's Aunt, had a request for a blanket for her new baby girl which is to be born in about 2 weeks. I told her I could make it, and now I am almost done with it.

Here are the 5 panels as I sew them together.

Opah!

This past weekend we saw a lot of our friends and family. We ate dinner with Andy, Rusty, Mom, Jayme, Charles, and Nikki at Firkin Bull on Friday evening. Then we drove through to Manhattan. There we saw Rhonda, Michelle, Jenette, and Chris. Shannon and Chris got to go to the K-State game Saturday night with Michelle while Jenette and I stayed behind. We sewed and Rhonda made us a good steak dinner!


Then Sunday Shannon, Rhonda, Michelle, Chris, Jenette and I dressed up and got in Rhonda's new van, drove to Bonner Springs and spent the day in the 16th century.





We met up with Newgen and Andrea. Mom, Jayme, Charles, Maria, and Nikki came a little after that. It was great fun. We went to the tea again. The gypsy son's danced on the table for us. That was fabulous, in an awkward way.

Shannon went as a pirate, as did Maria. She wore Jenette's costume. Rhonda, Jenette, Jayme, and I went as girls in dresses....or ladies of the court. Michelle and Mom were gypsies. Chris was a steam mechanic. Charles wore Shannon's alchemist costume, and Nikki was a fairy. Jayme made her cute costume.

After, we got out of our costumes and ate a satisfying meal at Johnny Carino's with all 13 of us.

I must say these pics are not taken by Shann and I. Our camera died. These are all from Rhonda and Jenette. Thanks!

Missed.

So, I didn't make my goal. I kind of took 2nd place. Wednesday I got as far as getting the underskirt hemmed, making a chemise and finishing the edges of my under sleeves (or whatever they are called).

Thursday night, the last night I had to work with my machines due to travel, I met my goal. I hemmed the overskirt and added a few more snaps and stitches.

About hemming... OMG... it sucked. Having Shannon help was good and all, but it is a lot of fabric. And I'm not very good at giving advice on how to mark the hem. So Shannon tried his best and after many hours and pinning and repinning, I finally got it done. That was underskirt. It is made of flat fabric. The overskirt, with the pinched taffeta... not as easy. I spent about 6 hours last night and all I did besides sew on 6 buttons and 1 snap was hem the overskirt. It took so long. It was so hard to get it even. The pinched fabric bunches here but not there and then lays flat here, but not there. I don't know how good it is, but it is done and it should be fine.

Thanks so much to Shannon for his pinning and picturing (which helped a lot, I need a full lenght mirror). He poked himselft a few times, but no blood as far a I know. Now to make it look pretty I have a car ride and tomorrow.

Ah Yes.

I've broken a needle and bend the snot out of a pin. It's officially sewing season. In related news, my goal is to get my dress completely wearable tonight. That way tomorrow night I can spend making it look even prettier.

Sewed, Peeled, Mowed

I did what I aimed to do. I sewed, I peeled, and I mowed. I don't have a picture of the lawn for you. But I'll assume you know what fresh cut grass looks like.

Shannon helped me peel border this time. It went SO much faster. Instead of the wall taking me about 4 hours or so, it was done in less than 1 and a half hours. Thanks Shannon. Here is what it looks like so far. The wall to the left is all but 2' done. The wall to the right and behind still aren't touched. But the kitchen looks much bigger and better without the border.


I also sewed. It was fun to special order the fabric, it came in these long boxes, they are about as tall as me, a little shorter.


Here is the purple taffeta in all it's glory. The embroidered one will be the top and the pinched one will be the skirt part. It's very K-State-y. It's the same kind of fabric that I made Shannon's alchemist cloak out of last year. The dress isn't very done yet, but what is done looks pretty cool so far. This has been by guide/inspiration.


And as a bonus, I put together this black night table from Target to be a printer stand for us. We are going to move the computery things to the bedroom so Shannon has space in his office to do artsy things. Right now the whole desk is taken up by a monitor a disabled laptop, 2 external hard drives, our printer, and lots of cords.

Sew, Peel, Mow

I've been sewing quite a bit lately. A week from today we are going to the KC Ren Fest and I plan to wear a fancy new dress. Shannon and I special ordered the fabric on July 31st and I picked it up last week. It's exciting to watch it all come together.

I've also been working on removing that Thomas Kincade wall paper border from our kitchen. The walls are textured and it takes forever to remove the border. It wasn't much of a challenge to take the down paper in the bathroom, but this kitchen... It's a job. So far I've gotten about 1 wall of four walls done. It's taking me about 3 hours to remove border from a 6 foot span. Geepers. Maybe by Christmas I'll be able to prime the walls...

Also, I need to mow the lawn. Not very exciting and you can probably guess anything I'd have to say about it.

Ode to Family Guy

Family Guy is on TV a lot. When this show first came out, I pretty much hated it. But now, now I really like this show. I appreciate the randomness and the singing and dancing. Last night the episode with Peter going back in time to re-win Lois was on and I just love this clip. And if you've seen the episode, he does it twice. :)

And then a classic. This song rocks.

Thank you Seth MacFarlane. Thank you.

Frickin' Dude! I mean Dinosaur!

I totally forgot about this until Shannon and I were eating lunch at Chimi's, a Mexican restaurant, and it was playing. Woot. Who remember this song?

Who's getting married next? I fully expect this song to be played. "Walk the Dinosaur" by Was.

Mr. Doctor

Happy Birthday, Nikki! Jayme made funfetti cupcakes into groovy flowers. It was cute and Atari didn't eat them!


Maria, being the girly-girl, bought Nikki kids make-up. Nikki loved it and looked very pink, because everything was pink.


Shannon and I found a neat little wooden veggie/fruit cutting set. She seemed to enjoy it. "I cut." And then she'd cut. :)