Apple Picking. =]

Just a picture from one of our lovely weekend adventures in beautiful Maine. =]

I Think My Husband Is a Magical Genie

Soooo. Let me explain this. You know how on Aladdin, you rub the lamp, you get three wishes...blah blah blah. Well. Monday I was in my kitchen, where we had this very large, always a mess, drawer where I keep plastic wraps, dish towels, pot holders, etc, etc... And I was like, "I wish this drawer was a cupboard!" (Definatly not thinking that it would actually turn into one!)
Last night I had to work 4-9, and when I got home his tools were on the landing of our stairs. So I was like "hmmm why are your tools out?" (Mostly because I had been trying to get the place organized. And he was like, "wellllll I didn't feel like putting them back in the trailer." So I didn't say anything. Then he was like, "Ah! I was going to wait until you noticed, but look what I did!!"

Hooray for my hubby!! He even made a little slideout drawer above my cook books to hold towels and pot holders. Areas on the sides for wraps, baggies, foil etc, then some sheet pans, place mats, aprons and knife case on the other side. =] Yay!!

Orange-y Fresh?

Okay so I'm feeling really proud right now. I came across a recipe for Chocolate-Dipped Orange Biscotti. I needed 1/4 of a cup of orange zest for the recipe, so I bought 3 organic oranges at the grocery store, costing .99 each. I zested two of the oranges for the recipe. I put one of the zested oranges in the fridge and juiced the other one. (Delish by the way, and super healthy!) Later I plan on either eating the other 2 oranges or making them into juice. So I already have what 3 uses for them? Okay now, here's the good part. I'd been wanting to stop using so many chemicals for cleaning, and I know that my mom uses vinegar to clean with. I came across a recipe for a Citrus Vinegar Cleaner. You put citrus peels into a container, cover them with white vinegar, then let it sit, (shaking occasionally) for about 4 weeks. I'm so excited to make some new cleaner!! And I was able to do all of these things with 3 oranges that cost me a total of $2.98!! Woohoo!! =]

Finished Longies!!

Yay! My first FO! (Finished object for those of you who don't regularly read knitting blogs... ;]) I'm so happy with the way these longies came out, they're so adorable. But they are definatly NOT newborn size. Granted, I was using size 6 needles, instead of 4, but I feel like they would still be wayyyy too long. Maybe they were accounting for a lot of felting?? Anyway, today I went to my mom's house when these were almost finished and tried them on the little girl she babysits. She is 6 months (and NOT a little baby!!) and they fit her. So that's what I came up with. I'm going to give them to her because she looks so darn cute in them!! =]

My darling husband took this picture of me binding off the second leg, so I thought I would be kind and put it on here. ;] Looks like I'm doing some serious concentrating!! =]

Oh yes, and today was my interview. Well I thought it was an interview. I went in and said I was there for the interview and the owner was like, "I thought I already hired you." So I got the job! Haha. So that's awesome. I start tomorrow. =]

Alpacas!!! =] =] =] And yarrrn!!

Today my hubby and I went to Nezinscot Farm for the first time! This farm store is about 10 - 15 minutes away from our apartment, and I'd driven by it a couple of times and thought, hey, that looks neat, but hadn't stopped. But today I just really wanted to see some alpacas. So we drove there, and stopped at the store.

We had to just park on the side of the road to see the alpacas. I really wanted to get close!! Look at the little cutie baby one!! Aww.

I was soooooooooo happy that inside the store they sell yarn! Made from their alpacas' wool! They also sell a ton of organic products, I was surprised at how big it is inside!

Here's the skein I chose to make a pair of longies for my new neice, due October 2nd! (I decided the ones I'm working on now will be like a practice pair, mostly because they're not extremely soft, so I'll give them to our 5 year old neice for one of her dolls.)

I love the fact that the yarn is made right here in Maine, just minutes from where I live! It's hand painted, and 100% wool! They sell other yarns there too, but I thought it was so awesome that I could purchase this, then go outside and see the animals that it came from. So neat!! I have an idea that this will be my primary yarn shop from now on! =] I can't wait to get my hands on this yarn! =]

Corn Bread and Chili Night!!

So pretty much. I was browning the ground beef for chili this afternoon and I was like, "I hate the smell of ground beef." I'm not a vegetarian, but ground beef just kind of grosses me out lately. I'm not sure why. I was feeling kind of blahish about eating chili tonight after that experience...but now that it's been simmering for over 2 hours and I just tasted it, I'm looking forward to it! =] And corn bread mmm. Little sis is super jealous. Sorry little sis, maybe I can bring you some leftovers. =]

Mmmm! As Rachael Ray would say, "Yum-o!"

Today was so nice and sunny, and hot!!! It's sort of a bummer that all of summer camp season was rainy, and now that it's over and everyone is back in school it's gorgeous, and hot!!! Luckily I live on the water. =] This afternoon I went down and sat on the beach to spend some time with God. It's so nice to just change your normal routine sometimes. I would rarely take the time to walk down to the beach...(which is a shame if you know where I live!) but today was just so nice and beautiful, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. Then little sis called and we talked for 45 minutes or so, just catching up. =] I don't consider myself much of a phone talker, but I was enjoying chatting about nonsense and life with her. =]

I talked to the lady from the place I applied at last week today. She said I could come in Tuesday at 11 for a sort of trial/interview. I'm excited. It's nice to be at home, but when Ben's gone it can be sooo boring! He was gone from about 9 - 4:30 today When he got back I ran to meet him!! Only to find out that he had to go back... =[ He only came home because he forgot his wallet and needed to pick some things up for the job. Bummer. I didn't picture my evening sitting in a beanbag chair, watching Charles in Charge on Netflix, and knitting. (Okay, okay, I did picture the knitting. =])

My progress from last night! I did more today, but I'll save that for a later post...=]

And finally, a fun quiz I got from lil sis on Facebook.

Which Starbucks Drink Are You?

(I couldn't resist)

Oooh, my fave. =]

Baby Longies, New Shoe Rack and Carrots!!

This morning I got up and started over on my pink longies. So far I've finished the waistband. Seven rows of K2, P1 ribbing. =] Check out the pattern! They're too sweet. =]

Here's what I've done so far. =]

The next part of the pattern tells you to increase every third stitch. I needed a little reminder on how to increase a stitch - Youtube is such a great resource on how to's! I found this video on stitch increasing and it was just the thing to help me remember.

I've been wanting/needing a shoe rack badly. I found a great looking one at Target.

Ben and I went in to check it out. It was $25 - but really very cheaply made. So we opted to head over to Lowes and pick up the lumber to build a version of our own. The lumber ended up costing a little over $30 or so and we had an awesome day together yesterday to build it. It's not stained at all, and we ended up leaving the top shelf open all the way across because of a cutting boo boo, but here it is!!

I love it!! And it's so much fun working my hubby, I mostly measured, drew lines and glued, but at one point he asked me to cut some boards. I was like, "What?? You want ME to cut them??" So ladies and gentlemen, I used a compound sliding miter saw. Wish I had pictures to prove it! =]

Yup. Okay two more things. =] Monday at Maurices I found some super cute sneaks/oxfords (they were called fusion oxfords) on sale. 75% off! So I got them for a sweet price of $6.55!

See the doormat they're sitting on? It's made out of flip flops!!

Last thing!! Haha, Ben walked over to our garden (if you can consider it a garden, we got so busy with camp over the summer, it was overrun with weeds and never really produced anything...) and he came back with 3 little carrots!! So exciting! =]

Ben couldn't resist eating one on the way back up to the apartment. Haha, I've never ever heard him rave over a vegetable!! That made my day. =]

Melissa

Post Numero Uno

Today I decided, "Hey, I think I'll start writing a blog." I haven't had a blog since I was 13. So here we go. My plans for this blog are just kind of an online scrapbook of sorts. Of projects I'm working on and everyday life. In the posts to come, I hope you'll enjoy seeing what I'm doing!! =]

Seeing as it's September 2nd already, I figured it's time to get back into the knitting season. I sometimes wish that I kept up with it over the summer, but then again, I don't think I would enjoy it nearly as much. It's just kind of comforting after a brisk day to curl up on the couch in the evening with a ball of yarn and some needles. =] My favorite projects to do are baby items, because they're quick and oh so darn cute!! This fall/winter I have 3 new babies coming into my life (my brother's 3rd daughter, and my friends 2nd and 3rd daughters - twins!!) so I want to knit them some nice longies for winter. I got the pattern from Tiny Bird's Organics http://www.tinybirdsorganics.com/organicwool/woolpants.html You can see the pictures on that link of the sweetest little girl wearing many different pairs of longies!! For a practice run (of if they turn out good maybe the real thing) I'm just going to use some leftover Red Heart worsted yarn in baby pink and tan. Hopefully I'll post pictures of my progress! (I've already ripped them out twice...or was it 3 times?...just tonight!!) I'll start over in the morning...

Melissa