Bucket List: Red Rocks!

Colorado road trip'n ]with Karen to a concert at Red Rocks

To see the amazing and magical Elephant Revival!

Bucket List: Red Rocks!

Colorado road trip'n with Karen to a concert at Red Rocks

To see the amazing and magical Elephant Revival!

Mother's Day 2016

Love spending time with Mom road trip'n. Especially to my most favorite destinations - Santa Fe and Taos, NM.

BFFs in Vegas

This time my BFF flew in to meet me in Vegas.  I swear it took a full day for our excitement being together in such a great place to subside so we could think straight.  Lots of walking, happy hours and best of all, Brooks and Dunn with Reba show! Such a fine, fine time.

Labor Day Weekend

Got to do a little riding with the big dogs this weekend.

Yarn and Golf

Golf Girls and I stopped in the new yarn shop, Unwind, in Manhattan for a new project then on to our annual casino resort destination for some of our most favorite golfing in Kansas.

CO Road Trip

Life has been extremely hectic lately so I took a weekend road trip with a good friend to Colorado as a welcome reprieve. Time to chat, laugh and listen to bluegrass music. Our plan to wander our way to Estes Park for a fiber festival.

There were breweries -- New Belgium, FCB and Odell to name a few.  I do love beer in the Rockies...

and the BEST yet yarn shop, My Sister Knits, in Fort Collins.  Seriously, no other shop will ever compare.

More beer and knitting in Estes

A fiber festival

and great mountain views to feed the soul.

Bottle Caps

A new project....because I can!

Glass Houses

Seeing a sample of a completed project at Mrs. O'Leary's stopped me in my tracks and I was thrilled when the owner told me a class was coming up soon.  Today, I attended the class and it took about 7 hours for me to complete my own tiny glass house.  It was a lot of work to construct but thoroughly enjoyable.  I learned some new soldering techniques and was in total awe of her work room of many tools.  I'm going to use it to hold my rosary.

   

25 Years

This is how we celebrate 25 years of marriage.  We've had a lot of adventures over the years that has made our time together seem to go by quickly but we've never made it to Vegas.  I've always wanted to see Hoover Dam.  Check!  Then a show in Vegas. Check! Poolside in Vegas.  Check, Check!! He learned to play blackjack and I walked miles and miles in my flip flops during the cool morning hours when most were sleeping.  We had a great time and will go back.

January Knits

I went to OKC with a girlfriend in December and we went to an outdoor ice skating rink.  There was music, Christmas lights and people of all ages skating in the holiday spirit.  It was magical.  And it was there that I saw a girl wearing a slouchy pom-pom hat that inspired me to make some of my own.

Productive

 

Winter knitting is ON!  Love the long weeknights and cold lazy weekends made for knitting in January.  Some as gifts and some for myself.

Merry Christmas 2014

The magic of Christmas is everywhere!

Christmas Knits

 

December at the Flea is my most favorite and lucrative month for slinging my handknits for close to 9 busy hours.  I see return customers, family and friends who stop by to shop for holiday gifts.  I even have customers that buy the stuff right off of me that I'm modeling.  As well as my made up mannequin with Miss Lanora's Miscellany holiday flair!

Table Rock Lake Getaway

My sister-in-law has a lake house in Shell Knob and we rented the cabin next door to them for the weekend.  It had a killer view and after finding it's for sale I found myself fantasizing about retiring and moving into it after falling in love with the heated tile floors, refurbished wood skating floor throughout and refurbished wood bowling alley countertops.

An eagle flew up the balcony as I sat drinking coffee this morning.

I hiked along the water's edge and picked out some driftwood to bring home to make a souvenir rustic tree for my front porch back home.

November Knits

It's that time of year that my outdoor activities move indoors with more time to sit, knit and build my flea market inventory. This season will be more hats than usual as that's what I'm in to right now. I am making several different styles and enjoy proving to customers that they really can look good in just the right hat.  There are also many headbands and fingerless mitts, too.

Peanut Turns 1!

Happy Birthday, Polly the Peanut, my little monkey-faced Superstar!!

Flying W Ranch Retreat

The Kansas Knitting Guild hosted an overnight retreat in the Flint Hills at Flying W Ranch.  We hiked, drank wine and knitted the night away.  I spun a skein of cotton from the fields in Winfield.  Some very good stuff in my home state.

 

Water Dogs

It's official -- I am raising pups who love the water.  Up to now it's been water hoses and bath tubs until my annual family reunion where they played and explored the Sand Creek falls.  Then each took a turn going out for rides in my kayak.

 

Halstead Fine Arts and Crafts

I answered a request for a spinning artist to give demonstrations in Halstead, KS at their fall arts festival.  I took all my (free on the side of the road) cotton and spinning supplies to showcase how a fiber can be hand processed, carded, spun and knitted into useful objects.  Turns out it was a good excuse to spend a day at one of my favorite crafts.

A Birthday to Remember

I hit the road with these two

 Knitting fingerless mitts on the way

to one of my most favorite destinations

Taos, New Mexico where

  we went the Wool Festival where I purchased Buffalo wool and finished a cowl

and celebrated a fantastic birthday in my gifted handknit shawl

2014 Walnut Valley Festival

It seems like I wait patiently all year for this bluegrass festival.  I get to enjoy the outdoors camping, great live entertainment and hang with a good friend.  The temps were a little on the warm side and we had just one early morning light rain shower.  That great friend made up wonderful meals and my favorite adult beverages, Margarona's.  We swam in the river, rode our bicycles and spent each cool morning and night around a campfire...just plain good fun.

 

Around the Campsite

 Easy Friendships

 Lots of Knitting

 A Great Fiber Vendor

Until next year, Winfield!

Woven Cotton

Taking a knitting break to dabble in weaving.  I actually found this primitive handmade loom and tools many years ago in Taos, NM.  It's been sitting in my craft room more or less as decoration.  Just another hobby maybe someday I will have more time to devote to.  In the meanwhile, I made up a couple small facecloths.  One for myself and one to gift to a good friend who is wanting to get into weaving.

Pearl Turns 1

 

Happy Birthday, pretty girl Pearl.  She liked wearing a festive hat and really loved her dog party cupcakes. 

Scarf Cowl

So in love with cowls these days and I think I've found the best pattern yet.  I will be gifting a lot of these but this one is all mine in Plymouth wool Gina.

Road Trip Yarn

All that road trip yarn is now completed projects. 

36 Hours

What starts off as an overnight girls golf trip can easily turn into a yarn hop to shops in Abilene, Wamego and Topeka.  We load up on yarn and head to a favorite casino two and 1/2 easy hours from home.  There was a light rain shower and we had the courtyard hot tubs all to ourselves.  We woke early for a foggy, cool tee-off at the resort golf course, had a good meal at the clubhouse and then headed home.  A lot of fun in just 36 busy hours.

Derby Flea Market

I made a last minute decision to set up my stuff at the bi-monthly flea market in Derby.  To say it was hot was an understatement.  For some reason, I thought I wouldn't need my easy-up tent.  But, I endured about 5 hours in the sun, sold a few and bought a few things.

Golf is Good

Beginning many years ago, I wanted it. Sucked at it.  Stuck with it. 

My girls and I have stayed committed to playing once a week and just this year I'm starting to see huge improvements and consistency in my golf game.  I have confidence to play in corporate tournaments and had a superstar moment almost making a hole-in-one in a recent tourney that rewarded me in some spending money!

I'm a golf girl now.