Thimbleanna – Page 125 – My little online diary.

Happy Birthday BigBoy!

46 Comments / March 20, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Family

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the birth of TheSecondChild!

I’ve always thought it was so cool that he was born on the first day of spring. There’s nothing like a new baby when mother earth is waking up from her winter’s nap. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and we were so blessed by the arrival of our little wild child.

He hasn’t always been this way and I’m pretty sure I didn’t drop him on his head when he was a baby. He did have a harrowing birth though, and the Dr. joked that he didn’t “lose a brain cell.” If only that Dr. could see him now. Does this look like a kid with all his marbles???

Our little angel keeps us hopping and guessing and entertained. These days he seems to have a penchant for jumping and in just a few short months, he’ll be jumping into a new life as he graduates from college.

We’re all crazy about our BigBoy and we hope that big jump will land him somewhere close to home. We miss you BigBoy and love you dearly — Happy, Happy Birthday!!!

XOXO,
Mom

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

51 Comments / March 17, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Chat, Embroidery, Sewing

Wow! You guys are the best readers anywhere! Thank You for all the mug cozy love! I had several questions about how to make that little mug cozy and you’d be surprised at how easy it was to make. I think it only took me about 3 hours, start to finish.

It’s just a little rectangle mini-quilt. Draw a few little flowers out on a piece of fabric, embroider them, and then add 1-inch blocks around the outside. Finish it just like you would any other quilt with a backing, batting and binding. Then sew two buttons to each end. Wrap it around your mug and stretch a small sized ponytail holder between each set of buttons. (You just can see them in the photo above.) Easy Peasy! I would have taken a better picture of the button thingy, but it’s now at work doing its job. It’s either working well, or I’m drinking my tea faster, but the tea isn’t getting cold now until very close to the bottom of the mug.

Among all of your fab comments was one from Isabelle suggesting that I make a patchwork roof cosy. Which is exactly what I’ve been thinking.

That’s precisely why I have nothing else to report today — you wouldn’t believe how long it takes to make a quilt big enough to cover that south end of the house. And then, being the over-achiever that I am (ha!), I had to make more than one for a little change up now and then.

I’m thinking this could be a new market niche. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could drive down the street and see a quilt on every roof? And certainly, today deserves a quilt all its own. Somewhere, way back in my genealogy, I remember seeing someone born in Ireland. That probably makes me about 1/50th Irish, but I’m counting it.

I hope you didn’t get pinched today. If you did, I hope you enjoyed it {wink}{wink}. I’m off to get to work on the Easter Roof Cozy!

XOXO,
Anna

The Day’s Recap

64 Comments / March 14, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Chat, Embroidery, Sewing

How’s your weekend going so far? Mine has been nice and relaxing.

There’s been surveying of the wind damage to the roof and picking of the new shingle color.

A little cleaning.

Chocolate Chip and Frosted Orange Cranberry.

And a little stitching with my lap dog buddy.

Which resulted in a mug cozy. ‘Cause I’m a sipper and only halfway through the tea, it gets cold.

Have a Happy Sunday!

XOXO,
Anna

I Looked for Toto in My Backyard this Morning…

64 Comments / March 9, 2009 March 8, 2016 / Knitting, Socks

…but all I found were some shingles. We had a LOT of rain and storms and WIND (with a tornado in the area.) Lots of wind. Remember my sad looking roof? I think we’re pushing that poor ol’ roof a little too hard — after the 70+ mph winds some of those poor ol’ shingles aren’t there anymore. Oops. We’re in the middle of getting new roof estimates — they just aren’t coming in as fast as the wind. Pass the buckets, please.

So, anyway, there’s been more knitting around here. I finished these socks a few weeks ago in record (for me) time. Started on Monday and finished on Friday. That will almost surely never happen again — it was a lucky week with lots of airport time. Now I can be Melly’s twin — someday she’s going to take me on a Harley ride and we’re going to wear our matching socks, right, Melly?

I got this yarn at Cami’s the last time we were there. It was sitting on top of a shelf in a tangled mess, but Melly’s socks were in progress, so I knew I had to have it. While we sat and talked, I untangled it and then Sweet Blogless Rob put it on the ballwinder for me. I don’t have a ball band, but Cami says it’s Trekking 126. It was great to work with and I love the colors that scream neapolitan ice cream. Although, what’s up with that icky lighter brown stripe there? Don’t tell me that doesn’t remind you of diaper poop. You know it does.

I would have been happier if they’d just left that poopy color out. Oh well. They still make me think of ice cream anyway. Yum-m-m-m-y! Put that on your grocery list this week for a few extra calories!

And speaking of extra calories, have you all seen the Happy Weight Calculator? You can calculate your ideal weight, and oh boy {note of sarcasm} it says I don’t need to lose anything. Gr-r-r-eat. Translation: I’ve reached an age where it’s acceptable to be portly. Oh joy. While I was there, I took the liberty of putting MyDadLovesMeBestSister’s stats into the calculator, and it says she needs to gain 20 lbs. Even with the unhappy weight calculator (i.e. conventional wisdom) she needs to gain 10 lbs. Now you know what I’m dealing with. Can I have a little sympathy please? I’m thinking about changing her name to SkinnyB*tch.

In the meantime, I’m having another bite of ice cream. And I’ll console myself with the fact, that after I wear holes in these socks, they’ll make a matching ice cream cozy for neapolitan ice cream.

Have a Happy Week (I hope it has ice cream in it {wink}{wink})!

XOXO,
Anna

A Bunch of Random

42 Comments / March 5, 2009 February 22, 2011 / Crafting, Recipes

It’s the first Thursday of the month so that means it’s time for another recipe box swap. As always, Randi, at I Have to Say, is hosting and this month it’s a no-theme month, so we can post one of our favorite recipes.

I have a new favorite this month! When we had our quilty peep sewing day last weekend, Peep Jewels brought an awesome Lemon Dessert. I LOVE creamy foods and nuts and this recipe combines the two. Jewels has very kindly allowed me to share this recipe — I think you’ll like it, especially if you need something good for your next friend or family get-together. You can find the recipe HERE. Thanks Jewels for sharing your great recipe! (Excuse that stray nut in the creamy top, it jumped up there from the crust.)

I’ve recently been given several awards and {gasp} I can’t remember who they’ve been from. Two that I do remember were from the adorable Petits Details and Not-So-Plain Jane. They both have beautiful blogs that I enjoy reading, and just like Jewel’s Lemon Dessert, I think you’ll enjoy them too. If you’ve given me an award and I’ve forgotten it, I’m so sorry — it’s a well known fact here in ThimbleannaLand that I’m forgetful and that I’m just awful with awards. They make me blush. Anyway, thanks are in order, so THANK YOU. I do very much appreciate the blog love!

And while we’re on the subject of extreme blogging kindness and my awful manners, Ms. Geranium sent me a cute little Valentine pillow and I’m dreadfully late in expressing my thanks. In my defense, apparently the postman was fondling my pillow, because the postal service had it for 2 1/2 weeks. It could have gone to Scotland and back twice in that amount of time! So, THANK YOU Sharon, I love my new little pillow and I’m looking forward to adding it to my Valentine decorations every year. Isn’t it cute?

Thanks to Woollie Wanderings (another fabulous new discovery) I found out that the woman who did all those teeny tiny sweaters for Coraline lives right here in Indiana. If you haven’t been to her website, you should check it out — her art is a-m-a-z-i-n-g. (And look Cassie — she has 10 yr. old triplets, too!)

After the last post, Miss Marzie asked if she could see more of the pendants that the quilty peeps and I made last weekend. Of course you can … and please excuse my poor manners! We shamelessly copied some of the Keep Calm and Carry On knock-offs. We also tried a new thing this time … we put fabric on the back side of some of them. It worked out surprisingly well. This one is 2 x 2 inches.

Can you read this one ok? Is says I Am (next time I’ll put I’m) a Material Girl (want to see my fabric?) I really like the fabric that we put on the back of this one. This one is 1 x 3 inches.

This one is probably my favorite, with my all-time favorite quote from Despair.com. They have some REALLY funny stuff over there and I’ve been a huge fan for years. And boy, if there’s ever been a better time for their de-motivational stuff, now is it!

And finally, I’ll leave you with a shot of my two little buddies. Whenever I’m on the computer, they insist on lying on the desk by me. I put them on the floor…they jump back up…I put them on the floor…they jump back up…over and over again. I finally gave up and put a blanket up here to protect the desk. I figured I could spend all my time messing with the kitties, or I could get something done. TheManoftheHouse is having a Cow. But then, he’s in the other room and the kitties know that. ;-) These are going to be two very sad kitties when little Paul has to go back home. ;-(

Whew! That’s it. I’m sure you’re relieved — if you’re still with me — I heart you! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

XOXO,
Anna