Bad, bad me

Friday, January 4, 2008

I am running so behind today. I slept late and just had to run and heat up my coffee before getting started (you know, "go juice"). I know, you say coffee? I didn't think you drank coffee. Well, usually I don't, but my DH found this decadent coffee that he grinds fresh each morning - chocolate, macadamia. It is more like drinking hot chocolate than coffee, mmmmm :-) As to sleeping in, well, anyone who has ever lived in Texas knows about the "Texas crud", which I am fighting off right now. Head and chest cold with croup - its dreadful, just stops you in your tracks. But, I am very hardheaded and determined to win.

Here we go. First of all, yes, I have been bad. I got even more supplies. I ordered some things over the net (darn that ebay!) and some of them came in. Aren't these cute little stones? I got a packet of foil-backed teardrop stones to use as accent pieces on various projects. I also got a packet of swarovski crystals. They came in different sizes, but I just adore the tiny ones. Unfortunately, none of these are drilled for sewing on - those are becoming harder to find in the very small sizes, but these will be fun to use on something for sure.

Then, I just had to laugh when I opened this box. The editor of the online magazine I write for, Rissa, gave me a tip to find some fairly inexpensive fibers I was looking for so I ordered a grab bag of Cotswold and fleece. I was so excited to see what came in the grab bag...well, I am excited at the texture of these fibers. They will be a lot of fun to dye and play with, but was not expecting the pungent aroma that came with it - how funny. It just never dawned on me is all, but makes perfect sense. These are leftovers or are from sheep who have wallowed a bit in the hay and perhaps other things that lie about in the pasture and to clean would cost extra money. So, I was carried away with the smell of the barnyard as it wafted through the house when I opened my box. I now have it airing out and will dig into in a couple of days :-) What is fun is that they even give you the name of the sheep that gave up those fibers - I will have to name a piece after "Alexandria" after all, I will be getting, touchy, feely with her hair!

Just thought I would post a couple more photos. The first is of my last little
duck that survived the dog attack on our land. She has moved to the larger pond across the street so I can still visit and take her food and I snapped this on the way out on an errand yesterday.

Then I have added a photo of our humble abode. Believe me, the house is not much at all. Not very big and was built by a bachelor some years ago. Hence, we do not have an abundance of design or storage(like a pantry, coat or linen closets) or even an oven. Yep, no oven. We have lived here over ten years now without an oven. Oh, I have a cook top. And, a dear friend recently gave me a tabletop convection/microwave combination, but there is no oven. My DH loves to grill, so that is what we do. You can't make out too much for the trees, but there is a little pond just in front of the house, maybe 40 feet across (where we had our ducks-and will again). The trees are why we bought the place, we do have some beautiful large oaks dripping with moss. This is after, all winter in Texas, and yes, some of our trees even lose leaves at the hint of a frost. There are two pastures, one on the front left and one on the front right. The only animal left in the pasture to the right in picture is our rescued Emu. We have total of seven acres, pastures in the front and trees in the back. So, when you hear me say, "I am off to mow", you know I am serious and will be gone a while. I really love to mow - it is somehow quite relaxing, but it does take up valuable sewing time!