Wildlife

I thought I would share a few pictures of the wildlife around my house. I live out in the country and you never know who will come to visit.

First, not so wild is the dumbest dog on the face of the earth, Jack. I took this picture after hearing horrible whining coming from outside. He had somehow gotten the bottom of the downspout off the house and onto his foot and leg. It is difficult to see, but it is completely wedged onto his front right foot. I absolutely couldn't get it off so we had to wait until my husband got home to get it off. We had a great time keeping him calm and off the leg for three hours!

This is one of the many skinny friends who has decided that the best place to live is in one of my gardens. We seem to be a bit overrun by snakes this year, so I am blaming the weeds on them. There is no way I am reaching my hands in and touching one of them.
This nice guy came over last night during my daughters 16th birthday pool party. I should have put something next to him for size, but believe me when I tell you he is really big. Over a foot long and he can really move quick!
I'll add more animal pictures soon...I know many of you love cats, so I'll be sure to get some pics of our cat up!

Back to hobbies...

One of my main hobbies is working out. I have drifted away so much in the last 7 months or so and I have been trying to get myself back into shape.


I decided I wanted to do a triathlon this year, so I dusted off my bike and started riding. Here she is, her name is Tillie because I ride 'til I'm tired. (no comments from the perverts please)

I know it's not a triathlon bike, or even a road bike, but I think it would do.

So, here I am, training away on my bike and practicing the ride immediately followed by the run when I discovered I can no longer even run a mile! How is it I can do an hour of step aerobics and not run a mile?

Anyway, switch gears, (pun intended) and I am going to work on my run with an eye to a 5K later this summer. Now that I've said it here, I must do it! Anyone want to join me?

What Happens in South Haven, stays in South Haven

I recently had a fun overnight to South Haven with the intrepid foursome, of which I am one. We really need to come up with a name for ourselves. Please feel free to comment with suggestions.



We shopped, ate, talked and did other stuff that I perhaps won't blog about now. (don't worry, nothing illegal or immoral went on...much anyway. LOL)



It was actually pre baby shower for Deanna as she anxiously awaits the day she will leave to pick up her new (darling!) baby son from Ethiopia. We know we won't see much of her after his arrival as she will totally drop us for him! (Lucky little guy!)



Ummm...that must have been someone else's lunch.

Girlfriend day!

I had a fun day yesterday in lovely Shipshewana, Indiana with some of my best friends. If that place isn't the crafty capital of the world I don't know where is.

I ended up with a few tomato plants and some pretties for myself and my youngest daughter.

We also had some wonderful hot pretzels from the world famous Jo Jo's restauraunt (I don't know if they are world famous, but they are famous with us) but I forgot to get a picture of them.

I did however (or one of us did- Deena?) get a stranger to snap a picture of us under the mixed nuts sign...aren't we witty?

Guilt is a Beautiful Thing

I am a very bad blogger. If it takes guilt to inspire me to post then so be it. All around me are wonderful bloggers just blogging away and here I am saying a whole bunch of nothing. I am doing stuff though! To prove it I will show you a couple of pictures.

We take trips to Africa...

Where we feed giraffes

and back home in Michigan my garden is growing, but unfortunately, so are the weeds.I have great hope to weed in the near future...I will keep you updated.

Crafting ADD

Here is another sign of my inability to finish anything. I now have 4 projects on needles, but maybe I will finish one soon. (wishful thinking) This is my progress on an Anthropologie-inspired capelet that I found here http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=62184.0 All I have to do is add the ribbing on the bottom and around the arms. It is my first attempt at something with sleeves and so far so good. I am not very happy with the ribbing around the neck, but that might have something to do with my discovery in the last two rows that I have been knitting with different sized needles. How in the world can a person knit for that long with one 10.5 and one 11 needle? Well, it can obviously be done and here is the result!

Time Flies...

I can't believe it has been so long since my last post, but I haven't been sitting around doing nothing...really! I have been putting some time into the ponchette I started and I am happy with the way it is looking, but I am starting to have serious doubts about the size. I keep measuring the gauge and it seems to be right on, but that might mean I need a gauge tutorial. Could it possibly grow as much as it needs to with blocking?

Oh well, if it comes out too small, that is what 7 year old daughters are for. She is actually hoping it will be too small for me so she can have it. I am going to just keep on keeping on and it will eventually work for one of us!