Kayaking down the River...

This was day 2 of our float trip week, yesterday I forgot my camera. But now glad because today was the most important. I took my neighbor for her first kayak trip down the river yesterday. I have told you in many blogs before this one, Jeanie is my next door neighbor, but she calls me her "Crazy Neighbor". Never knowing what I am going to get her into!!!LOL

This week it was Kayaking...

Yesterday was her first kayak trip and she loved it...

So last night she went out and bought herself a brand new "Pink" one...

Now both Jeanie & her husband Mike in the water, waiting for me to catch up with them.

   

       This is what we just call "CHILLIN"...  It felt like we were on a wonderful vacation the last two days in our own back yards...  Just taking our time floating down stream...

        We only saw a father and son fishing, and another group of father and two sons on their boat fishing, as he said a little bit of bonding time with the kids this morning... a really quiet morning on the river.

   

Now just going in circles trying to find some big fish swimming in the shallow clear water.. and we did see some big ones today...

      Look how quiet and still the water is and how beautiful the scenery, in the bright morning sun, or should I say by now afternoon sun... I have always told everyone that has never been to West Virginia that we have the most "Beautiful Green State". Now you see what I mean...

 .... and look at this view!

       How nice for husband and wife to just sit and relax, not even a paddle in the water. we were in no hurry to get anywhere fast... Remember we are on vacation today...

 The sun felt so good and I did even get a little sunburn on my legs today. Never expecting that today...

 You couldn't help but put your feet out swinging in the nice cool water. Splashing water up on your legs every chance we got. Just to cool off...

Mike grabbed the camera to take a few shots of Jeanie and me... just chilling side by side floating down stream chatting away!!! Looking at all the beautiful homes and camps on the river, deciding what ones we would love to live in.... of course just buying them with our petty cash...LOL

Than later in the day my husband joined us at the camp to take a little spin around the river just for fun. We paddled upstream a little way and floated back down. If I did this everyday my arms would be buff!!! Sure makes you feel good to be out on the river in the sun here just before I have to go back to school...

Wooly Bully Bag for you knitters!!! UPDATE!!!

 AN UPDATE TODAY!

I can't beleive it I won something on someones wonderful blog...  I have never won anything on a blog before... I keep trying and finally it happened.

The Blog is "Sew Mama Sew" 

(click on link to check it out)

I have been a follower for a while now and I love looking at all the great things she is making. Always great book reviews and she hilights some great crafters... So go check it out ...

Usually in the summer I'm not into knitting as much, but the past few weeks it has been so hot I don't even want to go outside. So to keep myself busy in the house in the evenings I started a new purse. I love felted purses they just look so cool. You knit them with 100% wool yarn on large needles, so the knitting goes pretty fast.This is a picture of the really large loosely knit purse right after I finished knitting it.

Of course it won't stay this way long. We all know what happens when you wash wool in very hot water!

If you look close you can see all the stitches on this purse, and it is 32 inches long from top to bottom.

 This is the finished purse now only 22 inches long from top to bottom and you can no longer see any of the stitches. It is just to cool how it works. You put the knitted purse into a big pillow case and throw it into the washing machine on the hottest water you can get it on. You keep checking it every 8 minutes or so never letting it go into the spin cycle until it shrinks to where you want it! Take it out, and shape it, pulling and tugging at it until you like it. I even put a metal box inside it overnight while it dried to give it those nice crisp edges.

 I always have to give it some type of decoration and with this purse being solid navy it needed something.

I got up this morning and my mind was going 500 miles a minute trying to figure out what to put on it. So here it is. An orange rose made out of an old t-shirt. I cut a piece, wound it up and twisted it to look like a rose with a pearl center. Added a few knitted felted leaves,edged with a blanket stitch and a couple of beads for the center of the leaf. Than put a pin back on it a pined it on. I hope to make a few more different things to put on it to interchange them from time to time. But who would have known an old t-shirt could look so good as a rose!!! I love to recycle...

For all you knitters out there this pattern came of Ravelry my favorite place to find great free patterns. So go check it out! Here's the pattern for this one. Woolly Bully Bag by Lori Puthoff. It is a great easy pattern. Hope you enjoy!

Click here for a tutorial on the rose...

For the leaf I just knitted a square and felted it with the purse than cut out the leaves, did a little blanket stitch around the edge and the little beads up the middle and that was it! Glued it all together and put a pin back on the back of rose...

Have a great week everyone!!!

Lynn

Have a Great Day...

"This is the beginning of a new day.

You have been given this day to use as you will.

 You can waste it or use it for good.

What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it.

When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever;

in its place is something that you have left behind...

let it be something good."

Have a Great Day,

Lynn

 

An evening in the country...

I spent the evening at my youngest daughters house, out in the country. It is beautiful there and so quiet...

We took a walk around her property to pick some blackberries. We got probably enough for me to make a couple of Blackberry cakes... Maybe in another week there will be more ripe. But it was a beautiful evening to pick. There was no humidity and only about 79 degrees. We waited until about 7:00 to start so it was really nice.

These are some of the neighbors horses running in the field above us. As we walked up "their" road they just walked by us like we weren't there... and continued to play...

I probably took more pictures than picked berries, but things were in full bloom up in the field as we walked. The Joe Pie Weed was really blooming and far above our heads...

Queen Ann's Lace has to be one of my favorites. I remember as a child picking hands full of it and bringing it inside to put in a vase with food coloring so it would change colors. I was just amazed at how it did that.

The white of the Queen Ann's Lace looks like white sparkles down this farm road on both sides.

As we walked around to the other side of the property, finally to the point where they had just put up hay. There were big round bales still sitting in the field above the big pond, we found lots of berries ripe and ready to pick. This is the perfect time to go fishing now that everything is cut, so we are going to make some time this week to do just that. Sit and throw a line in that beautiful pond to see what we can catch...

Now back to the house to spend some time playing with her two dogs...

The monster Mastiff... Cabela

She is so big, but such a gentle giant...

...and the tiny Chihuahua, Harley...

"Here it comes my tiny little kiss on the nose"

They both have to be right on top of me while I am there.

Finally they relaxed and gave up for a while...

Now this is comfort!!!

and so cute...

and our big guy finally fell asleep.

In a few  weeks we get to baby sit these two along with our three. I am so glad they get along so well. But it is like a zoo here for 4-5 days each summer while the kids take a few days for vacation.

I'll take pictures while there are here and post!

Have a great day,

Lynn

Summer deserts make them simple and fun...

If you like chocolate This One's For You!

Just an easy summer treat...

First I made big pan of Brownies the chewy ones...

After they cool just break them into pieces and drop them into your cup...

Next you add some heaping spoons full of chocolate pudding, I used a canned pudding called

Thank You brand... I said this was easy !

On top of that is Cool Whip the extra creamy one of course...

Throw in some mini chocolate chips...

and some Heath English Toffee Bits...

YUMMY !

Than just do it all over again!!! Until you container is full...

Of course you need a little more Chocolate so top it off with a little drizzle of Hot Fudge!!!

NOW JUST ENJOY!

When I make them for a crowd I make them early and just pop them in the frig.

How easy was that ?

Have a Great Week!

Lynn

Things we learn as a child... Some we never forget...

   As a child I can remember my mother teaching me how to knit. I loved it and knitted a few scarves and than with really large needles I knitted a dress. I remember it was peach and I loved it, I even wore it to school. I must have been in 6th or 7th grade. I wonder what ever happen to it? Years went by before I began to knit again. I taught my youngest daughter to knit a few scarves when she was in high school. As hobbies go we lost interest for a few years. I never really knew how to do anything other than knit and pearl and make scarves, so when I heard a friend had a shop and was giving lessons I called my daughter and we started taking classes. It didn't take long for us to catch on and learn how to use a pattern to actually make something other than a scarf. Both of my girls are very crafty and creative, I love spending time with each of them crafting away the hours.
     Until a my oldest was beginning college we never even owned a computer, that was 1997. I didn't even know how to turn on one...LOL I'm sure you are wondering where this is going? Well I couldn't do without one today. I have found out you can learn how to do anything on the computer... Especially on You Tube! If I am trying a new knitting pattern and I have no idea what to do I just go to You Tube and type in knit-and the stitch I need to learn, and there it is in detail on a video just what I need to know. Video after video,and I am a visual learner. If I can see it done most of the time I can do it. You can start from the very beginner knitting stitch to really detailed things...
     Than when I need a pattern I go to my favorite place and sometimes stay there for ever it seems...
Ravelry (just click on link) you just sign up it is all free and there are thousands of free patterns to go through., an plenty you can pay for and just download. Just about anything you would ever want and too many to ever knit them all!!! I have so many I have printed off that I want to do and know I will never get to. So now I just add them to my favorites of that site, it is my wish list of sorts... Last year I knitted hat after hat for Hats for Hugs for cancer patients. I learned so much from each one and lots of new stitches.

This one actually went to someone I knew and I was happy she liked it...

This little child's watermelon hat was hard to knit, knowing it would go to a child...

I hoped this one would be a ray of sunshine to who ever it would go too...

So as you can see I am still hooked on knitting and I don't think I'm going to loose interest this time of a while, neither is my daughter. She just knitted her first sweater, and it is so cute!

I am knitting this scarf right now, I searched an search for this stitch to knit this scarf. I had seen it somewhere and I thought the stitch would be beautiful in a scarf, but couldn't find out what the name of it was. Than low and behold of all places I was looking at some knitted wash cloths ( click on link) on Raverly and found it...

Now I am well on my way to finishing it this summer and of course I turned to you tube for some help on this one.

The pattern is hard for you to see here you may be able to see it better on the link knitted wash cloths... These pictures don't do it justice it is turning out beautiful, it is just taking time, something that is scars in the summer...

So anyone of you that thinks you want to learn something just turn to YouTube a try it out...

Knitting just might be your thing!

Here we go I updated the picture and you can see the pattern better now !

Have a great weekend,

Lynn

Blueberry Pickin...

What a cute face this "Big Bad Guard Dog" had!!! He is 10 weeks old and a new addition to the Blueberry Farm. So playful, he grabbed the strap on my camera when I was trying to take his picture...

Would you look at these, what beauties... I love Blueberries and eat them almost every morning with my cereal. They are so much better when you can go pick them right off the bush and pop them in your mouth as you go...LOL

"YUMMY"

Seven Acres of them to choose from and pick...

I went all by myself tonight, took my time and soaked up all the quiet of the evening, with the exception of a few June bugs buzzing by...

This farm is what I call really "OUT THERE". It takes about 25 minutes to get there but is only about 15 miles away out a Beautiful long windy mountain road in WV.

After I was done picking I just couldn't resist, I had to take a few pictures. So as the sun was starting to sit I drove up the hill to the farmhouse to snap a few shots...

Just in time...

That little donkey just watched me as I walked along the road above him...

Now this is WV, beautiful and green...

"WILD WONDERFUL WEST VIRGINIA"

Than down the little windy road and back home to enjoy my pickings...

"IT DOESN'T GET MUCH BETTER THAN THIS"

Have a great week,

Lynn

Summer is my time of the year...

In my opinion there is nothing better than summer! I live in North Central West Virginia and we have way to long winters here for me. I am the kind of person who could live where it is warm all the time... But not my husband and kids, so I am stuck. I freeze in the winter, I want my 80 degree weather. I want to be outside in my bare feet playing in the flower beds and garden. Watching my hummingbirds fly around the feeders.

Years ago when I was first married we would visit  my husbands  family, they were really great gardeners, something my family never did. Mom planted a few annuals each year but never a big flowerbed or a vegetable garden. So when we went to Maryland to visit his dads side of the family I couldn't wait. Tom's aunt Jean could grow anything and she did. We would walk around her yard and she would tell me what everything was and I was amazed she could remember them all. Flowers everywhere, she had a Hoya plant on her back porch that bloomed every summer with the most beautiful blooms I had ever seen.To this day I am still trying to get mine to bloom and it never does. I wish I knew her secret? She would break me off a big hand full of Bridalveil vine and I would bring it home and just plant it in a pot unrooted just as she said and watered it... I was amazed that it worked and grew like crazy...

    Tom's grandmother(his moms mother) could grow things like that too. Just stick her little fingers down in the dirt, pop some plant she had picked a piece off of and in no time there would be a big beautiful plant in that pot.. Of course she passed that trait onto her daughters too. They were always growing something.

So each summer as I plant my seeds and pick pieces off plants and pop them into some dirt I think of all the great times I had learning from the best gardeners I have ever known...

Lucy,Lil and Jean...

Thanks girls for all the great lessons taught,that they probably didn't even realize they were doing ( I was listening) and the great memories....

This is one memory from my family, I remember the first time my aunt gave my mom a little Mamosa Tree from her yard to plant in ours. They were beautiful and smelled so sweet. This tree is next door at my friend Jeanies house, it is about 14 years old and a baby out of my parents yard. This year it is beautiful and so full of blooms smelling sweet just as I rememberd when I was just a kid.

They have the most delicate blooms...

Here are two of my favorite geraniums, ones I have had for probably 5 years now. I keep them in the basement each winter and I propagate pieces from them each summer to make sure I don't loose them.The top one is Appleblossom Rosebud and the bottom one is a Tulip Geranium. I never see these in any gargen centers. I wonder why they don't sell these beauties anymore?

This is Forth of July weekend.... We left on Friday afternoon for our annaul camping trip. The weather was suppose to be beautiful for days and for the most part it was... We packed up all the camping things and away we went. Tom and I... three dogs and a tent! Can you imagine!!! LOL

This is what we call "River Sitting"...

We sit for hours talking, laughing, swimming and just enjoying our time together...

See that big "Bobber" you got to love it, it's a cooler...

Now this is some kind of storm cloud for sure and boy did it bring the rain on our last evening there. The wind came with it and everyone was there holding things down all the way through it. Soaked to the bone everything survived and we laughed all the way through it... Than we rebuilt the fire and the rain stayed away so we could have our dinner...

We ate so much food on that trip, but that is what it is all about "Good Times"...

Than on Tuesday it was time to pack up and go home. We had three really tired dogs. With the back seat layed down in the Blazer,blankets layed out the dogs were ready for the trip home...

Mia was really smiling and ready to go home...

Than she was down for the count, sound asleep...

THE END...

Lynn