Texas

A friend of mine, a native Texan, sent out some info on our great state. Here are a few snippets for you. After sending this to my girls, the replies were, "I want to see Oatmeal, TX," to which I replied, "I wonder what Winter, TX is like right now? Since we are over 100F." My other daughter was nice enough to send the picture of Notrees, TX. Her comment is: "How is this much different than most of TX??" If you aren't from Texas, you don't know about east TX, where there are very tall pine trees and it is gorgeous. But, alas, most of TX looks like, yep, Notrees. However, a person can see and appreciate the beauty of the desert, it is just hard to take in the summer heat when all you can think of is the need for shade. :) Sure hope this posts OK. I have it arranged nicely, but you never know what will happen when you hit that Publish key .

A bit of humor, but also may explain why Texans are so proud! This is a must read for all Texans, used-to-be Texans, adopted Texans or wanna-be Texans,

JUST TEXAS
Pep, Texas 79353
Smiley , Texas 78159

Paradise , Texas 76073

Rainbow , Texas 76077
Sweet Home , Texas 77987

Comfort , Texas 78013

Friendship, Texas 76530

LOVE THE SUN?

Sun City , Texas 78628

Sunrise , Texas 76661

Sunset, Texas 76270

Sundown, Texas 79372

Sunray , Texas 79086

Sunny Side , Texas 77423

WANT SOMETHING TO EAT?

Bacon , Texas 76301

Noodle , Texas 79536

Oatmeal , Texas 78605

Turkey , Texas 79261

Trout , Texas 75789

Sugar Land , Texas 77479

Salty, Texas 76567
Rice, Texas 75155
Pearland , Texas 77581

Orange , Texas 77630

AND TOP IT OFF WITH: Sweetwater , Texas 79556

WHY TRAVEL TO OTHER CITES? TEXAS HAS THEM ALL!

Detroit , Texas 75436

Cleveland , Texas 75436

Colorado City , Texas 79512

Denver City , Texas 79323

Klondike , Texas 75448

Nevada , Texas 75173

Memphis , Texas 79245

Miami , Texas 79059

Boston , Texas 75570

Santa Fe , Texas 77517

Tennessee Colony , Texas 75861

Reno, Texas 75462

Pasadena , Texas 77506

Columbus , Texas 78934

FEEL LIKE TRAVELING OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY?

Athens, Texas 75751

Canadian, Texas 79014

China, Texas 77613
Egypt, Texas 77436

Ireland, Texas 76538

Italy, Texas 76538

Turkey, Texas 79261

London, Texas 76854
New London, Texas 75682
Paris, Texas 75460
Palestine, Texas 75801

NO NEED TO TRAVEL TO WASHINGTON D.C. Whitehouse, Texas 75791

WE EVEN HAVE A CITY NAMED AFTER OUR PLANET! Earth, Texas 79031

WE HAVE A CITY NAMED AFTER OUR STATE.Texas City, Texas 77590

EXHAUSTED?
Energy, Texas 76452

COLD?

Blanket, Texas 76432

Winters, Texas

LIKE TO READ ABOUT HISTORY?

Santa Anna, Texas

Goliad, Texas

Alamo, Texas
Gun Barrel City, Texas

Robert Lee, Texas

NEED OFFICE SUPPLIES? Staples, Texas 78670

WANT TO GO INTO OUTER SPACE?

Venus, Texas 76084

Mars, Texas 79062

YOU GUESSED IT. ITS ON THE STATE LINE.

Texline, Texas 79087

FOR THE KIDS...

Kermit, Texas 79745

Elmo, Texas 75118

Nemo, Texas 76070
Tarzan, Texas 79783

Winnie, Texas 77665

Sylvester, Texas 79560

OTHER CITY NAMES IN TEXAS TO MAKE YOU SMILE.......

Frognot, Texas 75424
Bigfoot, Texas 78005

Hogeye, Texas 75423

Cactus, Texas 79013

Notrees, Texas 79759

Best, Texas 76932

Veribest, Texas 76886

Kickapoo, Texas 75763
Dime Box, Texas 77853
Old Dime Box, Texas 77853

Telephone, Texas 75488

Telegraph, Texas 76883

Whiteface, Texas 79379

Twitty, Texas 79079

AND OUR FAVORITES...

Cut n Shoot, Texas
Gun Barrell City, Texas
Hoop And Holler, Texas
Ding Dong, Texas and, of course,
Muleshoe , Texas

Lacey White Cotton Gloves

I have been busy knitting and writing patterns this week. I have just finished this pair of fingerless gloves and listed them on my etsy site.

I also have my pattern for them listed there too.

I have such a great husband in the UPS guy. I was able to get him to take the picture of my hands against the wall. I tried taking a picture of my hands without him, but his pics were better. Thank

You, Jeff.

Did I get you curious about the new patterns? Well, they will be out soon. Hopefully..... I am trying to make them as perfect as humanly possible, before they are released. :) Be watching for them though, just don't hold your breath. I want you alive when I publish them. ;o)

OH, and now back to the She-Knits mystery bag or I am going to be behind. aaaacccckkk.

She-Knits Mystery Bag, First Clue

Friday was an exciting day! I was able to download the

first clue for the She-Knits Mystery Knit-along. I was ready, I had my yarn wound in balls and waiting. Actually, we had been waiting for several weeks. But, that is OK, it was good to know I was ready.

On Friday evening, I turned on the computer and went out to Ravelry. I downloaded the first clue and printed it out. I read it through and read it through. I understood it, it looked like it was easy knitting at first. Good,

I should be able to work this out this weekend. And that is what I did. Last night, Sunday night, I looked at my knitting and then looked at the directions for the last portion of the first clue and I had made a BIG error. No, no, no, no....................... So, I put it aside to feel sorry for myself for a while. You see, I had misinterpreted one little line. Actually, being distracted by the new DVD's that I bought the UPS guy for Fathers' Day, Get Smart(the TV show), I didn't read two little words. IN STOCKINETTE STITCH. Oh, I guess it is three little words.

So, this morning, I have ripped out my beginnings of a bag and the bottom picture is what I have to show for myself. I will conquer this and I will post my progress again.

We will be receiving several clues over the next few weeks, so the bag, will not be done this week. At the rate I am going, that is a good thing. It will take me a week to do the first step!!! :)

Three Different Things

We have a new greatnephew! He was born to my niece and her husband, about 2 weeks ago. I was behind in getting this sweater done, but then he was a little early. I have knitted a 12 month size sweater, hoping it will fit this winter. I used a cotton yarn, that is soooo soft. My niece and her family live outside Phoenix, AZ, so cotton, even for the winter, is a must. The design is my original design.

Well, last week I was writing about where the air conditioner went. We did find it, however, it doesn't work. Won't ever work again. :( The culprit, other than the straight line winds at like 80mph and driving rain, was the roof of the awning located over the front of our store. The winds ripped it off and it smashed into the air conditioning unit. In the pictures you can see where it used to be. We are actually feeling fortunate that we do still have a store. And when do we expect to have the air conditioning back? That should be happening as I type this blog. Yippeeeeee!!!! I sure hope so, it has been dreadfully hot, with no air conditioning inside the store. We have fans and a portable air conditioner, but the freezer of the pizza restaurant next store has been a nice refuge for all.

On Tuesday, as I was doing the dishes, I looked out the window and look what I saw! We have been hearing this guy and seeing him flying around. Jeff even saw him pick up some prey. I wondered if I would ever get to see him up close. It was truly fascinating. I took these through my kitchen window. We believe it is a Red-shouldered Hawk. If I am wrong about that let me know. Thanks!

Donut Muffins

You know as families are trying to be careful and balance their own budgets in the economic times of the present, they are looking for ways to stretch their dollars. One way is to cook. I mean, actually, to cook or bake from scratch. Over the years, I have cooked and baked most things from scratch. Some unsuccessfully and some successfully. Like the first time I baked bread. I was a new bride, wanting to impress the UPS guy at how talented I was. Hahaha! I didn't realize that yeast would die after the expiration date on the package. I sat for hours waiting for that darn bread to rise. What do you do with bread that is refusing to rise?? Well, I tried baking it and let me tell you, that didn't work. I also tried rolling it out flatter, that didn't work. So, I learned a hard lesson that day. What did the UPS guy do?? Well, he started buying me cookbooks. Heeeheee!

The recipe below is one of my family's favorites. I am going to write out the recipe as it reads and then tell you what I do different. There isn't any yeast, so if you are a new baker don't be afraid to try these. I found the recipe for these in a little newspaper years ago, when we were living in Minnesota.

Doughnut Muffins (makes 12 muffins)

1/3 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 c flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

Place shortening, sugar and egg in mixing bowl and beat. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in a bowl. Then, add and stir the flour mixture, alternately with the milk, to the shortening mixture in the mixing bowl. Fill greased muffin pans 3/4 full and bake in 350 F oven for 20 -30 minutes. Remove from pan and roll in melted butter, then in a sugar and cinnamon mixture.

My changes: 1.For the shortening, I use oil. 2.I don't roll them in butter, too greasy. I take a pad of butter and rub the top. Then shake a mixture of cinnamon/sugar over the tops.

3. I have used applesauce in place of the shortening or oil, they still taste good, but have a slightly different texture. It is worth a try if you are eating low fat. 4. I have substituted whole wheat flour for 1/2 of the white flour.

Hope you enjoy them!

Painting and What Air Conditioner???

I have started painting furniture, again. Actually, these two pieces are finished and back in the living room. The room is a pretty dark room, because of the color of the paneling on the walls. The carpet, which will be replaced someday, is dark too. These tables were purchased in the 1980's and were two different dark colored woods. So, in the interest of trying to look like a set, I painted them white. Honestly, I don't think these little pieces have helped to lighten the room, but it is a start and they look nice that way.

We found the air conditioner at the store. It was still up on the roof, sort of where it was supposed to be. BUT, the glass awning in front of the store had been blown up there, in hundreds, maybe thousands of pieces. The glass shards and wind apparently did in the air conditioner. A new one is on order, and it will be about 5 days until it is in. Of course, this is June, this is Texas and it is in the 90's! We have fans hooked up(and turned on), the guys are wearing lei's to help you feel like you are entering the tropics and they are also wearing shorts. Nothing like a tropical paradise!

Storms

Last night we had storms move through the north Texas region. We had been under a severe thunderstorm watch until about 5:30pm. Well, when the storms didn't come, I figured that they missed us. Then it happened. About 6:30pm the wind picked up, the rain started falling and then, low and behold, sirens went off! Oh, shoot, I hadn't watched the evening weather report, thinking that we were out of the woods. Well, the siren means find cover, there is a tornado around somewhere. So, I was off to the lowest level of our split level home. But, wait, had to find a current knitting project, a neck warmer out of lovely alpaca yarn, from Jacob's Reward(watch for the pattern) and a baby sweater. The phone rings and it was the local fire department calling to tell us to find shelter, but then the power went out and the message was cut off. Frustrated and more nervous, I was emptying out the closet that we hide in, of some Christmas decorations, when Jeff(UPS guy) came down and said, "Did you get your purse?" Oh, shoot, I had gotten my knitting, what else do I need? So, back up I went and found the purse. Then I hear, "What about your flashlight?" Oh, yeah, well, I had my knitting, didn't I? Finally, as I am descending the stairs, the electricity goes out. OH, no.... I hear, "Do you have the wind up radio?" of course not, I have my knitting, right??????? He says, "I'll get it." I was already on the stairs, thinking, wow, I had my knitting, what else did I forget? AH! My Bible. I love my Bible. So, I grabbed it and back down I went. Ready for whatever happened. There I sat, in the dark, winding the radio, so we could hear it, with my knitting and everything else in the closet. The UPS guy's cell phone rings, and it is the store. Trees were falling and the shopping center sign was being blown out. He and the UPS truck driver were hiding in the back of the store. Wow! This was serious, and I hadn't even watched the weather...... BUT, I had my knitting. :)
The UPS guy's cell phone rings again. It is our son-in-law, great guy, calling to make sure we knew there was a tornado watch. (Yep, and I have my knitting!) The bulk of the storm has passed them and they had no power either.
Eventually, the storm passed us too. We emerged from the house to sit on the front porch. We called both of our daughters, both were fine and their homes were fine. It was dark, so I took my little wind up flash light and .... yes, my knitting, and knitted with the flashlight shining on it. I love this flashlight. I would wind it and I could knit! No batteries to deal with. It came in a package of 3 from Home Depot, by the way.

This morning, we had more storms, no siren though, but lots of lightening and thunder. When it was safe to be outside at the pool, holding a metal pole, I went to rescue it from branches and leaves. I looked up in the sky and this is what I saw. I just had to get the camera and show you our sunrise. The storm had moved east and south and the sun was coming up. A promising day ahead, for all those with serious damage to clean up. Which is what is going on at our store. We are open and doing business, but we, um, don't know where the air conditioner went. Yep. I know one thing, it isn't with my knitting.

The Big Purchase at Canton and a Crochet Project

I started thinking, and realized that I haven't blogged about a current knitting project in a long time. Yes, I am knitting. I am currently knitting a baby sweater. You know, I should get a picture of it, while I am working on it. Note to self: take picture of baby sweater.

This week I decided to make some crocheted bags for our granddaughters. They have a recital today and I thought it would be fun to give them a little gift inside the bag. After the bags were

done, I decided to line them. That way if a Polly Pocket or Barbie shoe gets put into them, the small object shouldn't fall out of the bag. You just never know what we girls will tote around.

I wanted to show you the chair I bought last week at Canton. I remember these chairs from my childhood and have seen them being brought back to life. The man I bought this one from had painted it blue, I couldn't resist. Truthfully, this chair was cheaper than any of the others that I had seen there and most of them weren't painted, but were total rust.

The vendor also told me that a company in California is starting to produce them again. I don't know if this is true though. Do you?

EtsyKnitters Team Wedding Challenge

I am a member of the EtsyKnitters Team. It is a great team and everyone on there is very encouraging to each other. We are currently doing a wedding challenge, since it is the month of June.
We are focusing on items in our shops that can be used in or for a wedding couple. Even small gifts that can be given to a bride or groom, or by the bride and groom to others, to commemorate their day. The blue picture of the bride was made for us to put in our listings that we have included in the challenge. If you would like to see the entries for our challenge, that are for sale, you can go to etsy. Then, in the search box, choose to search by tags. Then in the other box type in "ido2009" (without the quotes).

I have serveral items in the challenge. One item is the bamboo shawl below. It is the shorter version of my Take 2 Shawl pattern. The bamboo fiber was handspun by me and then I handknitted the shawl, using my own pattern. I have also listed the pattern for this shawl for sale as part of the IDo2009 challenge. I wrote the pattern so you can knit either of the two lengths of shawls that you see here.

Canton or bust and a new product.

Early Saturday morning, actually 6:40am, I arrived at Rebekah's home and we loaded her van with our food, our carts, the kids and the dog. The girls were half asleep. But, they are good sports and were anxious to go themselves, if you can believe it. We did have to stop for gas, but then we started our 2 hour drive across Dallas into east Texas to Canton. We were headed east to Canton to shop at the First Monday Trade Days, known as the world's largest outdoor trade days(flea market).

Actually, First Mondays is held the weekend before the first Monday of every month. It starts on that Thursday and runs through Sunday. No, it doesn't take place on Monday. (I don't get it either) :)

We arrived as the vendors were opening their booths, but there
were already people shopping. Our trick, is to take a list, so we don't get side tracked too much. We sort of know what we are looking for and help each other keep and eye out for it. This time the girls had ideas in their minds for things that their money would buy too. Their grandfather laughingly says that we are training them well. Nicole made her first shopping trip to Canton when she was about 4 months old.

We stayed later this time, because we found a part of the trade days that we had never seen before! Can you imagine that? Then after we looked around it dawned on us, that we weren't sure how to get back to the car.
We had lost our sight point. So, off in search of a map and then
after we found the map, we had to figure out which way we were

facing. You know, north, south blah, blah. We did find the car and had it loaded with our wonderful purchases and we were on our way home. No, I didn't get our bedraggled pics of when we were leaving. Just imagine everyone, still smiling, sweaty and tired. :)

The new product I have is an Ashford Competition Lazy Kate. It is a great product. The regular size Ashford Bobbins fit on it, as do
the bulky size bobbins. There are little rubber feet on the bottom

and it has a tensioning band to help control the yarn as it comes off the bobbin in the plying process.
On the bobbin is my handspun yarn. It is made from some roving that I dyed in February.

You can find the Ashford Competition Lazy Kate, on my etsy site, TerrificCreations .