Going Home

My time here in Alaska is almost over. I will be going home tomorrow, we are leaving her about 2:30 tomorrow afternoon. I don't fly out until 10:15 tomorrow night and I won't actually get home until after 9:00 pm Tuesday. A long trip but really only about 15 hours of flight time. It has been snowing here and it suppose to continue and my daughter does not want to have to drive home on slippery roads after she drops me at the airport about 6:00 pm. I really don't blame her as it will be dark as she drives the 80 miles home.

It has been an interesting trip, my grandson decided to go home to North Carolina while I was here and that was a fast trip. He did have a return trip ticket so it only cost us $100 to change it. We were able to get him on a plane the day he decided he wanted to go home. I think he was homesick for his family and friends. He had been here about five months and it is pretty isolated out here. No one, but my daughter and the dogs to keep him company. He was working, cutting, stacking and hauling firewood at $10.00 an hour. Not bad for a kid just out of high school. The only problem was the guy he was working for just didn't keep him busy enough.

I didn't get much tatting completed while here. I finished a bookmark and started a second one. I did find my stork pieces and did work on them a little bit, but did not complete one. I do have a headless one and I did get a new crochet hook so I could do some joins and some beads for the eyes so I can finish one when I get home. I also had to order some more thread for the baby body and the blanket as I didn't bring any with me. But it looks like I won't finish one until I get home now. Good thing I still have time to make my cards. Baby isn't due until the end on January.

Baby Shower

It is a cold crisp day in the interior of Alaska. I believe I saw the thermometer at -13 this morning. But it is toasty warm in the house. The picture is a view from the front of my daughter's home.

Today is my daughter's baby shower. People should be arriving in about an hour or so. I think she is only expecting about 8 people but she has already started to receive gifts in the mail. It should be fun and I get to meet some more of her friends. My grandson is going to Healy to watch a volleyball game. He didn't think he wanted to hang out with a bunch of women playing games and talking about babies. He has been getting quite the education with this baby much more than a 19 year old really wants to know!

I finished my bookmark and now have those two shuttles empty so I can fill them up with the colors for the stork and see if I can finish one before it gets ate. That may be the biggest challenge I face with the storks. I do have about half a ball of thread in white and ecru so I should be able to make a few with that. I will have to be sure to put them up out of reach of the bloodhounds!

From Snowy Alaska

I have been here a week tomorrow now and haven't accomplished much in the way of tatting. My daughter has five dogs, two bloodhounds, two basset and a chocolate lab and guess what.......they decided they wanted to do some tatting while we were gone one day. Chewed up two tatting shuttles and two balls of thread and the stork I was working on. Now that is two storks that have not survived, I am beginning to think I am not suppose to make these cards. I will be home tomorrow, sort of alone, just me and the dogs so maybe I can get one done after I unravel what is left of my thread.

I did bring a bookmark with me so I at least have that to work on. I carried it on the plane along with a small paid of sissors. Not want blip as I came through security. Thank goodness. I hope it goes as well when I go home.

We have about three inches of snow on the ground here and it is dipping into the low twenties at night but othere than that the weather has been great. My grandson was suppose to take his driving test but it was cancelled as they had not plowed or put any gravel on the roads. I don't blame the offices administrating the test I don't think I would want to be on slippery roads with a new driver. Even though I went with him to the post office and he did a very good job. No slipping or sliding at all. He should do great on his test whenever they reschedule it.

Off to Alaska

Thursday is the big day I am leaving for Alaska. My daughter sent me a text message last night to bring warm clothes and boot as the temps are in the 20s and 30s. Exactly what I expected for the interior of Alaska. I have my tatting packed also. Don't want to be stuck in a snow storm and have no tatting to work on. I shall be gone three weeks but will have access to the Internet while I am there. So I won't be totally isolated out in the wilds. She lives about 80 miles south of Fairbanks so there won't be a whole lot going on. The baby shower is at noon on Halloween. Then I think we are going to a costume party. I don't think I have ever gone to a costume party, at least not since I was a little kid.

My body has been found!!

Well at last the stork body that was lost. I am making Jane Eborall's stork and I lost the second body that I did for a week. Too many sewing projects going on the table. It was lost amongst the fabric pieces. I will give this stork a head eventually. I decided that size 20 thread was just going to make a stork to big for the cards. I ordered some size 40 from Handy Hands and now have anew one stated. So far I have not had any difficulty with Jane's pattern, not that I expected to she is such a wonderful designer. I am excited to see the small one progress but don't know if I will have it completed before I leave Tuesday. But as soon as I have the stork done I will post a picture.

Poor Sadie is still on a tether. Her wireless fence has malfunctioned and I have had to order a new transformer and a then a new collar and now a second transformer. She has been tied for two weeks and she does not like it at all. It is funny to watch her try to pull out the stake or chew the cable in two but so far she has not succeeded. I had to tie her down as she was chasing cars on my street and the cars go 70 mph down the road. She could have ended up as one smushed puppy on the road and I didn't want that. The one night she was out there I had four cars that eventually stopped to try to help corral her! At least they understood what a determined little monster she was! But no more, no freedom until I get her fence working again, and we are working on going to the mail box but not going on the road.

Next week it is off to Alaska for three weeks. I haven't stayed that long on any of my trips yet! It is getting cold there and they have had some snow. I don't think it has stayed but who knows what I will find when I get there.

I am still in a sewing frenzy. I have several more projects I want to work on but they are going to have to wait until I return home. I am taking tatting with me to Alaska and Georgia assured me I needed a metal shuttle with my SSN engraved on it just in case!!

Dhamana Bookmark

After finishing my 7th pair of baby booties I was looking for something else to work on before I start another big project. On InTatter, Kersti posted the October Challenge. To tat something with some thread you had lurking around in your stash that maybe you didn't care for the first time, or you didn't like after you brought it home. I had some Coton Perle 8 that I purchased some time ago and didn't care for. (And still don't care for!) So, I looked up a bookmark pattern that I wanted to try and here it is! Since it was a challenge piece I think I will count it as number 20 in my 25 Motif Challenge. I only have 5 more to go and only three months left this year. I better get busy.

Next I hope to make the Stork by Jane Eborall. I hope to make a plethora of them for announcement cards for my daughters baby in January. I hope I have bitten off to much with this project. At least I have time to make them before the baby gets here. I think they will make adorable cards. Oh, yes, three of our babies have arrived. Joshua Lewis was born 9-12. Annaleigh Barbara, 9-25 and Sawyer Jean 9-28. Only 4 more to go! Along with the tatting I have been sewing up a storm for all of the babies. Fleece sleeper and flannel kimonos. So many babies, so many sleepers!

Today, was my last day at work, I am official retired, again! It is a good thing too as I am going to Alaska October 22 for three weeks. So far I have a baby shower and a costume Halloween Party to attend. I don't think I have every been to a costume party, or at least not since I was in grade school.

I had better close have lots and lots to get done!

The Seahorse

I decided to take a break from baby booties. I have three pair done and am working on the fourth paid with two more to go. I added another pair by request. So I have done two lime green pair and a pair made from Lizbeth color Jewels. I have another green pair to do and then I am doing mocha and cream for my new baby.

Not a traditional color for a seahorse, but who said tradition was all you could do. This one was done with Lizbeth Color 123 Grape med., plum lite, plum dark and lighter shades between colors. It was actually the second one I did the first didn't turn out at all. I thought I followed the directions exactly but my seahorse looked very sick. So this time I follow the diagram and it did turn out better. The pattern is one of Debbie Arnold's. I might do this one again. It was fun and a nice break from baby booties. I am going to count this as 19 in the 25 Motif Challenge. I might get them all end before the end of the year.

Now it is back to listening to the pressure cooker as bean soup is cooking for this winter. I discovered a pressure cooker is great for dividing up meals and canning them. Making single servings is difficult and this way I can have some later without all the fuss. Besides who can make bean soup for just one person!