Deck to Patio

This is what was left of the old deck as the project began. Wood is all removed and the jack hammers were brought in to break up the OLD cement under the deck. The noise rattled my brain and set my teeth on edge.
Here comes the cement truck. It ran over my ferns and left huges tire tracks in the lawn. One can only hope that the snow will cover the destruction and in the spring everything will will be magically healed. Yea, right!



Mark waded right in and I was regretting the BRIGHT ORANGE color. They assured me that the antiquing and drying process would mellow it all out. P.S. I think Mark's wife should kick his butt for coming home with boots caked in cement.

Finally, after whatt seemed like forever, they started stamping. I now understand when someone says it's as boring as waiting for cement to dry. Everything turned to a very dusty gray. Good Lord! What have I done?
Finally, the antiquing/release agent is washed off and I start to relax.
This London cobblestone looks pretty good , if I do say so myself....
Yup, I really think I like it. What do you think?

Posted by Patti/Mom/Nonna

Geckos!!

This was a fun little project I did before I left for Boston last week! Who doesn't love pajama pants?

Oliver did love them but he loved my cell phone better. I made a quick trip to JoAnn's and bought some dinosaur fabric and some fire engine fabric but sadly, they were out of cell phones.

The only complication was the elastic waist band. I had to shorten the elastic twice. Who knew a toddler's waist was so small?

Zack's Sack

I did a little sewing last weekend.

It's a zipper bag for those times when we don't want to lug the diaper bag, but have a few more Zack-related items than will fit in the Skip Hop (which we use all the time, K--thanks!).
(Note the tomatoes from our garden in the background. The ones I manged to pick before someone stole them.)

It's about 12" x 14", and I had the brilliant idea to add a handle to it. Now I want to make another one for me to use as a clutch.
A gratuitous Zack shot, with his Sack.
"Thanks, Mom"

I'm moving on up ...

In the immortal words of George Jefferson, I AM moving on up -- up the street, in fact, to a new neighborhood (more neighbors, fewer murders) and a new "southern front porch" way of life (I've mastered mint juleps but still can't stomach sweet tea). Its hard to quantify how much happeir I am here -- its just so great to see people out walking around the neighborhood, to be able to walk down the street to a park, restaurant, or bank, and just generally to have outdoor space. My neighbor loaned me her pool pass last week, for goodness sake!!

Let's take a tour, shall we?

Walking up the steps -- the landscaping looked better before 2 solid years of outdoor watering restrictions, I'm sure....

And the front porch. Ferns were the first thing I bought for the new place, and they're not even dead yet. Whoo hoo! A whomping big ceiling fan keeps bugs at bay (and me busy, relighting candles).
Walking in the living room, with the front door at my back. Each room has a fireplace, though none of them work any more.
And another view of the living room, now facing the front door. I need a bigger couch -- that's my mini white couch, with the ottoman next to it.
The big room -- or party room, as its been monikered by someone who likes to race cars down the length of it. Sorry the picture is so dark -- I tried at a couple times of day and couldn't get a better one. The walls are a really cool olive green. This is probably a dining room, but used now mostly as an office space. I didn't take a picture of the desk -- you just don't need to see that!
The red room, entered by taking a hard right from the front door. A very cozy place to sit and watch TV -- and listen to the neighbors non-stop "sitting on the porch, smoking and listening to Phil Collins" groove. Boy, they love their Phil Collins. But at least they're not killing each other. Gotta keep things in perspective. My hope is to buy a leather couch for this room, and move the red couch out of the red room sometime soon. Because all that red makes my brain hurt a little!
The kitchen, all the way in the back of the house. You can get here from the party room on the lefthand side OR by walking down the hallway on the right hand side. From the vantage point of this picture, if you turned left you'd be back in the hallway, near the 2nd bedroom and the bathroom (coming up next). If you turned right, you'd be on the back porch, exiting to the backyard and driveway.

The second bedroom. I need help with this one, kids. The walls are painted with a kind of stucco paint. The ideal position for the bed is against the wall, but the paint would be too scratchy to sleep against. I need a good idea for a more "cozy" wall covering. I had this grand thought of hanging felt, and then cutting out stick up shapes (a la tommy tooth, mom)... Things like roads, trees, and trucks. Think that would work? Other thoughts??

Exiting this bedroom, and walking back up the hallway toward the front door, we go past the bathroom (claw foot tub) -- its really hard to take a good picture of a bathroom.
And then the big bedroom. I still need a dresser -- suitcases of various clothing types were kicked out of the way of this shot.

So that's it! What do you think???

I'm smitten...too bad its 95 degrees

I finished my Japanese Vines scarf awhile ago and it's been sitting around looking like this:
I steam blocked it yesterday and now it looks like this:
It drapes soooo nicely! I can't wait to wear it--which will either entail cranking the AC to about 60, taking a vacation in Antarctica, or waiting until my birthday rolls around.

Sigh.

I made this with the Neighborhood Fiber Company sock yarn that I bought at MDSW. Granted, it's the little things these days, but that rule I placed on myself was great--I really enjoyed knitting something that wasn't Erica Blue or Abi Grey. The green yarn I got is kinda rocking my world, too. Who knows, I may go for fuschia next!

Before I Leave..

I'm heading to Boston to spent 9 (maybe 10 days) with Oliver. Oh, and Adam and Amy too;).
Erica might remember the locket. It's the one I got at Renninger's the day we met there. I had collected all the beads awhile ago but procrastinated when it came to putting it together. Sorry about the glare. Just couldn't seem to get a good picture. I think you can get the general idea of it tho. All 4 pictures are of Oliver so I guess I'll name it Oliver's locket. Aren't I the clever one....????
So off I go into the wild blue yonder. Love, Patti

Progress & Something From Kristen

Here's the necklace with the final modifications. I like the sparkly bead. It perks it up a bit. Thanks for the suggestion! The shawl is slowly growing. I think I sorta, kinda have the pattern under control. The stitch markers have really helped me keep my place. So far, I've only resorted to the lifeline once and that was way at the beginning;).
Since K is busy jetting around, packing to move and running a business, I thought I'd post this necklace she made. I sorta, kinda borrowed it..OK , stole it from her when we were in Boston. She made 2 other ones and I had a tough time deciding which one to steal..err, borrow. That's all I've got for now! Hope you are doing things you love..
Love, Patti

REMEMBER THESE?

Thought I'd try to get this together despite my managled hand. This is the bead I wanted to use with the raspberry garnets and labradorite. Decided to use just silver since I don't have a single silver necklace. I think it turned out OK despite my awkward use of the pliers. Let's take a vote on the dangling chain with the leaf. Leave it or ditch it? I did start the small triangle shawl before I was injured;) but haven't knitted anymore for a week since the yarn catches on either the flap of skin or the band-aid. So gross! Do you like it so far. I love the yarn but am wondering if it would look better used in a simpler pattern. Like a moss stitch shoulder shrug?? Opinions, please.
Hope everything is rosy in your little corner of the world. Love~Patti

The Birthday Girl!

36 years, 12hours, 30 minutes ago you entered the world and changed our lives forever! We

love you more than ever...Mom & Dad

A Few Highlights From Our Weekend!

Lunch break. Zack has his eye on our gelato.


Zack takes time out from fabric shopping for a snack.


How nice of those sheep to line up like that for the picture..

Speaking of snacks!


Awwwwww!

Have You Seen This Book?-plus a bonus

The Yarn Harlot talked about this book on her blog so I requested it from the library to see what it was all about. I had to wait for it because it was on order but I got to to be the first person to crack it open. It seems to have some good patterns. The patterns are sorted by yarn weight. There are some lace patterns, Erica. Kristen sends the best packages and they always come as a surprise! This is a birthday/Mother's Day package. The necklace is so cool. It is an old needle case!! Mix and match perfume, a change purse for all my money, shopping bags so I don't pollute the earth and one cute hippo. Thanks, K!!

Love, Patti

VERDIGRIS PATINA

I have this ugly, old pipe sticking up in the middle of my front garden. It is the well cap but we no longer use the well and even when we did I tried many creative ways to hide it. Today I painted it with a verdigris patina and placed this weather vein (a JoAnn's find) on top. So far it's my best solution. I plan on planting some more around it to camouflage it even better. It has been an unbelievably nice April here. It feels more like June but I think that's about to change!

I MISS YOU ALL! Love, Patti

I wanted to share...

....my beautiful birthday flowers with you. If you close your eyes and inhale, I'm sure you'll be able to smell them. Love, Patti

Happy Birthday, Nonna!!!

I love you!!!! I miss you!!!! I hope you have a great day!!!

Love, Oliver

Look what Erica and Rob made!!!

Welcome to the world Zachary Cole! We can't WAIT to make you wonderful things and give you lots of love!!!!

Christmas crafts

Now that gifts have been given, I can blog about the stuff I did before Christmas (that wasn't for me). And I have to show you the miracle that is blocking. I have to admit that I always poo-pooed blocking as a waste of time, until I started knitting lace. I may be a convert now.

Case in point:

What appears to be a mangled tangle of yarn. And I did NOT smush this up any more than it already was before taking the picture.
Soaked and stretched out on an old beach towel.
Et voila! No longer a mangled tangle of yarn, but a presentable scarf for my mom.
This is the Falling Water scarf.
This is K's.
This is Grandma's.
This is Deb's.
These are the scarves with their matching bags
and Grandma's bag.