halloween decorations

turns out i might enjoy decorating for halloween. :)

longer sleeves

i added longer sleeves to the tree sweater today. and, in case you're interested, i took some process photos, too.



here's one of the flat pieces, ready to attach to the tree. the long black string is what i'll use to slip stitch the sleeve closed. there's a short green string at the bottom left, as well. that's what i'll use to attach the sleeve to what's already on the tree.



attaching the sleeve to what's already on the tree is tricky to show because the colors match up. but it's a simple slip stitch through the bottom row of the sleeve to the top row of what's already sewn around the tree.



and then a simple slip stitch all the way up the length of the sleeve - pulling & stretching when needed to fit over any knots or bulges on the limb.



the sleeve, completely attached.

it's easy. and i've measured the next dozen or so sleeves ... so i think i'll go back to crocheting now. :)

22. crochet a scarf

hey julie ... remember asking me why i was measuring the dogwood tree out front? :)

when i wrote this goal, i kept it vague on purpose. the tree scarf (sweater?) was my original intention, but i wanted to be able to fall back on a traditional, human-worn scarf if need be. but ... i love my tree scarf! i even have measurements for the next six extensions - so you'll be seeing updated photos as i add to the project.

as i was sewing it on this afternoon, a fellow (in his 60s, probably) was walking by. he stopped and said, "nothing to do but dress a tree, huh?" to which i replied, "hey! it's getting cold out!" he giggled a you've-gotta-be-kidding-me giggle as he continued on his walk.

new bedding

i fell in love with this bedding at target a few weeks ago. so, of course, i procrastinated & procrastinated on buying it. i finally went & got it thursday. isn't it cute? the first target i went to only had a king-sized comforter left. my bed is not king sized. but i bought it anyway, thinking i could use the extra width as extra length to wrap around the pillows. yeah ... see that pattern? not so cute when it's turned 90 degrees. so i took it back and tried another target. they had the correct size, but the pillows i'd decided to buy for the shams? more expensive at target #2 then at target #1. what? so i went back to target #1 to buy the pillows. sure enough, i saved a full dollar by purchasing the pillows at target #1 ...

and then i found the four coordinating pillows that i just could NOT leave without. so i bought those, too. :)



i know this one isn't the best photo, but the front pillow is furry. that's right - furry.

diy genius

so there's an exhaust fan in my bathroom that, i'm convinced, was getting louder every time it was turned on. it was starting to sound like the fan was going to take flight off the side of my house. seriously.

so last night, i'm watching the fan and realize that the little knobby thingy that holds the cover up to the wall over the fan? it's actually twitching as the fan runs. that didn't seem right. so i reached up and tightened it. problem solved.

seriously. i may not know the technical term for the little knobby thingy ... but tightening it made the fan operate at an acceptable noise level. now i just need to reach up there with a dust cloth in my hand, and it'll be like new.

yellow rose, part 2

remember when i blogged about my yellow rose and said that the plant could die now without guilt? yeah ... i'm really glad i put that positive energy out into the universe. within a couple of weeks the plant went bald & turned into this tim burton-esque figure, with the dead rose on top.

life of a lily

it should loop twice. if you miss it, you can always reload. :)

mail?

i got home tonight & the flag on my mailbox was up. this could mean one of two things. A - i actually had mail. sometimes when i don't get mail for several days, my mail man will put the flag up when he delivers something. or B - the little girl next door had put something in my mailbox. she's done this in the past with dandelions.

sure enough, i open the box & find this lily inside.

i'm guessing it's not from my mail man.

i would find this whole thing much more cute if the lily wasn't from my own backyard.

french vanilla

the first of my lilies are getting ready to open outside. i had one stalk that got pretty beat up during the storm thursday, so i cut it & brought it in. two of the buds were open within 12 hours; a third is opening now. i do love lilies.

i'm going to the railcats game tonight. it'll be a little chilly, but the first 1,500 fans get a free fleece blanket. good timing, eh?

mystery flowers

these flowers grow on the west side of my porch. the buds are red, but they open up to these bright yellow flowers. anyone know what they are?

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'becca is going to bed early tonight.

memorial day fire

we ended our memorial day weekend with a bonfire. doesn't it look like we're burning a human figure here?




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'becca is mesmerized by fire.

yellow rose

my friends matt & jeanette had their baby shower back in january, and at each table there was a li'l potted flower. when the flowers were given away as door prizes, my table was instantly a chorus of "no, no ... YOU take it. i'll kill it." so i decided to be brave and let it die at my house.

sure enough, none of the half a dozen buds ever bloomed. they dried out & looked sad, instead. so i decided to try watering it on a regular basis. and like magic - i got some fresh leaves, a fresh bud and a bloom! amazing!

now that i've nurtured this one yellow rose, the rest of the plant can die without any guilty feelings. :)


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'becca is using words. see that? words.

lilacs

spring dishes

favorite tulip

i have flowers!

i was thrilled to see these little guys when i came home tonight. i love spring flowers!


today i learned that it's easy to get attention if you turn your hair bright green. who knew?


and the gray skirt, for laure. :)

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'becca thinks she's going to bed early tonight.

aaaaaaaaaaaaah!

nope, nothing's wrong. just feeling like i have way too much energy for my own good. i should be sleeping. really, i should. i'm fighting off some sort of bug and sleeping would be good for me. but i have got so much stinkin' energy, it's ridiculous. i'm typing too fast for the computer to keep up and making way too many typos in the process. the energy may be related to the fact i ate an actual meal tonight. the past 40 hours or so have been mostly pretzels & white rice, with some minty gum mixed in to calm earl down when he gets too feisty. tonight holly & i went to a chinese restaurant and had sesame chicken. yummy. i think it's fair to judge food's deliciousness by how excited you are for the leftovers as they're being packaged up.

yup, totally full ... but already pumped about heating up the leftovers tomorrow for lunch? that's a good sign.

i got my federal tax return today. yay! don't know what i'm doing with it ... but, again, i think i should pull it out of the bank quickly so i don't just randomly spend it. do i buy a tv? if i buy a tv, i need to rearrange my living room to accommodate the tv. i like the way the living room is currently situated - as it has no gaping hole for a tv. but it would be nice to curl up on the sofa sometimes & watch a movie. although the sofa, in & of itself, is a totally different conversation. and i'd like to have a wii, which would play nicely with a new tv. but then i wonder how long i'd be entertained by the wii before it becomes an expensive dust collector. it's a fun thing to do with people around, but when i'm by myself? yeah, there's a pretty good chance the novelty would wear off. so perhaps that's not the best way to spend the money.

i could save it all for ireland. or i could use part of it to do some clothes shopping. or purchase a nice furniture set for my bedroom. or replace my sofa.

or i could let ikea replace my sofa. you know, after i actually call them & let them know it broke.

or i could fix the sofa myself. i do like doing things myself, and i don't like telephones. although, "by myself" actually means asking my dad to help me. because he's smarter than me & much more handy. :)

no movement today on the amazon packages. or, at least, none has been reported. i know that more than likely i'll probably receive the packages long before their status is updated online. i still believe online tracking only exists to prove it's possible to both give the customer a feeling of power & irritate the snot out of them at the same time.

i'm contemplating changing my netflix subscription, again. i'm currently on the one-at-a-time unlimited package. and i'm averaging 5 dvds a month. that works out to $1.80 per movie. i'm comfortable with that. so if i bump it up to the next package, which gives me two dvds at a time, and watch 8 movies per month, i'll still be paying the same per movie. i'm thinking that's quite possible. because what's better than having one alan alda movie in the house? having TWO alan alda movies in the house. obviously.

papa john's is currently offering a large 'ultimate pepperoni' pizza for $11.99. it is apparently "loaded with double the pepperoni and three cheeses on a thin & crispy crust!" sounds pretty good to me. anyone wanna come over for pizza?

i saw a bedroom set in the ashley ad that i like. it seems pricey ... but i think all furniture is pricey. let me see if i can find a photo for you. because hey, so long as i'm awake & rambling, i might as well giv eyou as much information as i can. ;)


cute, right? unfortunately it would also mean changing bed sizes as it comes in a queen, and i currently have a full. hmph. too many decisions.

do we think i should take advantage of the current housing market & look into getting a sweet deal on buying a house?

has anyone else ever noticed that their house gets louder the later it gets? have i mentioned this here before? for example, i have to turn my ice maker off at night because i'm convinced it's twice as loud once the sun goes down. and the furnace? yeah, i just know it doesn't make all those clicking noises during the day.

you know, i could get my money back from ikea & ditch the sofa. move the loveseat in front of the windows and add one of those fabulous gray chairs from target on either side. that would leave the opposite wall open for a tv.

or an aquarium!

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'becca, 'becca, 'becca ...

winter dishes

i'm taking down Christmas today. slowly. i feel i should maximize the time my internet works, so i'm going back & forth between facebook, general web surfing and de-Christmasing. oh, and laundry. it never hurts to have clean underwear. :)

today went better than yesterday, thanks largely to the help of a couple of co-workers. i get stuck between killing myself to get everything done in a timely manner and taking an attitude of "well, what did they expect to have happen?" i'm working on finding the middle ground.

today is day two of avoiding obvious processed sugars. after lunch today i very much wanted some chocolate. i'm glad there was none readily available to tempt me. i think part of my de-Christmasing will be tossing out the last of the Christmas-colored m&ms in the living room. it's too easy to just grab a handful without thinking.

my fingers are cold.

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'becca is itching to do some cleaning.