I Heart Electricity!

After perusing my recent posts, one might conclude that all house projects have stopped since September. While they have most definitely slowed down, they haven't yet come to a complete halt. They are however, projects of the most boring variety. To illustrate my point, please enjoy the following photos.

Oh look, a new furnace!

My, what a pretty hot water heater.


Good golly, is that a new breaker panel I see?


I do love me some new wiring.

Camano Craft Weekend

After the Gunters, I continued North to Camano Island for my craft weekend at Camano Craft Hideaway. I can't rave enough about the place. They cooked us 3 meals a day, plied us with candy and cookies for snacks, provided feather beds on which to lay our heads and craft space to die for. Each workstation had an Ott-lite, a tool holder, cup holder and a personal trash can. The work chairs had a dozen different adjustable positions and the view out the windows were of the sound and Whidbey Island. Before we left we'd already signed up for a return trip.

Regina and Robyn were scrapbooking (as were Jane and Carol, not pictured).

Susanna was beading.


And I was crocheting.

Following are photos of two of Susanna's brick-stitch bracelets from the weekend.


Following are some of the crocheted Amigurumi I worked on all weekend. In addition to these, I have a gnome, a mushroom and a strawberry in the works. Those pieces are going to be folded into a couple of baby mobiles, and need a little more work. But as I progress with the mobiles I'll post more photos of them.

Baby Squirrel from Amigurumi Two! This is a very cute guy, but there was a typo in the pattern for the body portion, so I had to do a little guesstimating.

Hammer and fish from Amigurumi Two!

Lamb is from Grammy's Heart. I think I'll have to adapt this pattern for future use, as I'm not a big fan of how the face turned out.

Sweet Cheeks: kickin' off the weekend

What a wonderful weekend!

I kicked it off early, on Thursday, by spending the night at Katie & Jamie's place in Seattle. I got to spend lots of quality time with the smiley and sweet-cheeked Maxwell, who at 3 months old, is such an adorable pleasure to be around. He recently discovered his hands, and it looks like he's constantly wringing them in anxiety (the smile on his face assures us that he's really just fascinated with trying to get both fists into his mouth). Katie made us all Hearty Lentil Soup, and we capped the evening off with a game of Carcasonne.

Hotel Oregon + Kate Mann + Cake = Happy

Last weekend Mike surprised me with a night at the Hotel Oregon in McMinnville so that we could listen to Kate Mann play 3 sets in the Cellar Bar, eat free cake to celebrate the Hotel's 105th birthday and then not have to drive home!

The look of a satisfied man - eating cake in bed.

The best newell post I've ever seen.

Mike was trying out the new camera by showcasing the custom headboard, painted quote and his wife.

Amigurumi: Seal, Lion and Bear, Oh My!

Two new Ami projects from Vanna White's "Easy Crochet Critters"; the lion and the seal. I'm particularly enamored with the seal, and love that I didn't have to embroider much of the face.




This little bear in pajamas is from Ana Paula Rimoli's "Amigurumi Two!". It's about 9" high, and I used two orange buttons from the little vintage button collection that Sharon gave me for Christmas. His coloring and face remind me of Sara's childhood teddy bear, Mustard.

Pretty in Pink

Our pink lights in the snow.

Christmas In Sedro Woolley

The holidays have come and gone, and for this, I am sad. I love getting together with family and friends around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's, and this year we were around to celebrate Aidan's 7th birthday too. We celebrated Christmas day at Susanna's house with Franklins, Always and Scagliottis (and a Soliwoda, Rosenstock and a couple of Vorobiks thrown in for good measure), and Christmas Eve at Mom and Mark's house, with wine, raclette and mexican train dominoes. Christmas cookies were consumed at a very consistent pace, as was red wine and those lovely, petite mandarin oranges.

All the stockings were hung under the dead animals with care...

Susanna made new felt stockings for everybody; customizing each to fit our personalities.

Vanessa explained the whole Santa/present process to Alexis. Her favorite gift was a box.

Adrianne shared her socks and gloves with Alexis. It was very early in the morning, and the coffee had yet to kick in.

Well, that takes care of breakfast.

Aidan found his "Santa" Tree present.

Upon opening, he exclaimed "Look Mom, it's just what you wanted!".

Clayton "unwraps" his presents (involved untying the hefty-cinch sak)

Grandma, Randy and Marianne settle into the couch, which is very large and comfy, and served as homebase throughout the day.