Daisy Square Blanket

A Blanket for the Front Porch

with a delivery date of 2012 :-)

After viewing the photos from this last post,

I noticed that the front porch was lacking that crocheted touch.

There were just a couple of red crocheted flowers that were sewn into the middle of a couple of cushions that were recovered from leftover fabric from a curtain project from days of old.
(That was an excellent run-on sentence, eh?)

Not really enough crochet goodness to even shake a stick at.

And since in the corner of the porch sits a daisy topiary and because I enjoyed making
the daisy square pillow from this post so much,
I decided a daisy square blanket was just what the doctor ordered.
(Actually I am employed by doctors and if they were to give me an order it would NOT be "crochet daisy blankets," hehe.)

Did you ever get something in your head that you like
 and make it over and over again?

Well...

that's what's going on here.

So colors were picked to coordinate with the concrete painted rug and away I go....

Lots of yarn from the stash and a couple from the store....mostly Red Heart Super Savers and a couple Sensations, "Sincerely" for the right green color.
Gotta' love two JoAnn's 40% off coupons for two skeins of yarn!
Yeehaw!

Please stayed tuned for a very, very, very long time.

Rag Rug

Painted Scandinavian Rag Rug

A rag rug on the front porch would be nice, cozy it up a bit ya' know;

give it a little bit of that Scandinavian spice.

Hmmmmm...I was thinking; the porch gets a lot of traffic and

a lot of weather so a rag rug was not really feasible.

 Light bulb turns on: how about if I paint it to make it look like a rag rug?

Then we can just sweep right over it and hose it down when needed. :-)

So with my colored crayola pencils and some graph paper an idea is put down on paper.

(Hey, I'm not an artist or a designer, I'm an accountant for heaven's sake and I am always in a hurry!)

 This is the best I can do unless I try to slow down and

I have had much too much "Iced Coffee a Go-Go" to do that.  :-)

...SO...

The NVO helps prepare the peeling concrete from where it had been painted before:

I apologize in advance for this photo, but I had to prove that, although

 the NVO is very good at prepping the concrete for my crazy ideas,

 he is not a good plumber!

And here is the result of that archaic drawing and a finely prepped area to paint.

(Thanks to the NVO - the prep is the most work and unfortunately the least bang for the buck.)

Man, is it ever fun fixing up the joint!

4 x Summer Granny Cushions

Summer Granny Cushions
Finished

Just in time for Autumn preparations. :-)

Remember this post?

Two cushions were still waiting to be made and here they are joined with their mates.

YAY!

Excess on each corner was flipped over and sewn down.
I changed my mind on adding a flower to the corners.
It is plenty busy enough!

Stacks and stacks of fun, fun, fun!

In place, and remember?

 they are reversible. ;-)

Looks pretty good with the pillow from this post too, eh?

Here's to hoping the remainder of your summer is a colorful one!!!

Thirty

It's #5's birthday this week and she is:

......so......

A pillow

with 30 daisy squares

 for each of her 30 years.

to match her kitchen/dining/sitting area:

bluish gray cabinets, light gray counter tops with

 primary colored accents and sage green. :-)

The pattern for this daisy square with a fantastic tutorial found here
at the "My Rose Valley" blog; a beautiful blog full of warmth and charm from Switzerland.

Button pattern found here at Mr. Micawber's Recipe For Happiness blog.
A delightful blog full of wisdom and clever ideas.
A general theme of "Spend Less Than You Make" 
and you all know how I love that!

Happy Birthday #5, I love you!

Lefse and Gingham Tea Towels

Lefse From a Box

Lefse is soft Norwegian flat bread, spread with a buttery-cinnamon-sugar goodness.

This is sort of like making cake from a box mix, though; it's good but scratch is better.

From "scratch" is on the "someday" list. :-)

The NVO's favorite Norsk treat....or so he says...hmmmmm...

...I thought he said it was berlinerkranser???

(I will be in BIG trouble when he sees this photo :-) )

and

Gingham Tea Towels

One of my favorite treats. :-)

The two together make the two of us together very happy!

Have a Happy Day!!!

Iced Coffee a Go-Go

Crochet is not my only addiction

Holy cow this is the yummiest coffee treat ever!
It's in a "to go" cup as it must "go" everywhere.

To make:

The previous morning's leftover coffee that's been refrigerated

Some half and half (I think that makes it a "breve" in coffee talk.)

*Torani Sugar-Free Brown Sugar Cinnamon
Mix these three ingredients in however much of each ingredient
you think it would take to make it happen.

This stuff is so good and low-carb too!

*I have been unable to find this flavor of Torani in any of our local stores,
World Market has a lot of flavors but not this one.
However, I found it online at this shop.

Hey, I just recently read that caffeine makes one smarter!
Watch out Mensa, here we come!

Surprise WIP

Coming Soon

Please Stay Tuned

Pattern and tutorial at My Rose Valley

Garden Update

 Crookneck Squash

On this evenings menu!

 Zuchinni Squash

(No signs of anything but leaves and blossoms, so far???)

 Flowers 

 Herbs

Cukes

(nothing but leaves and blossoms here, too.)

Eggplant

Two adorable babies!

Grapes

(They need another year. :-) )

 Oregano

(All by itself)

 Tarragon

(All by itself, too)

 MINT!!!

(Always out of control!)

Grape Tomatoes

Tomatoes

 Peppers...

Not working yet this year???

 Spaghetti Squash

Working!

More Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash Blossoms.