New grandbaby

I'd like to introduce our newest grandchild - Ella Elizabeth North Watson. In the pix with her Mom Ella is one day old. She is now two weeks old and growing like a weed. In her first two weeks she has grown nearly 3 inches taller. My goodness she will be walking soon.

Three Things

Sorry its been "years" since I last posted (not that anyone will notice). No good reason, I'm afraid. ---

I received a box in the mail yesterday (things I ordered) and with that box, I've just completed my Christmas shopping for this year. I've been collecting a few things for gifts and I've done some embroidery. So now its finished but for the wrapping and sending. Hopefully the post office will still be in business this coming December.

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Saw this on another blog and thought it was a good idea.

Three names I go by:

1. Stine

2. Christine (only when I'm in trouble with my Mom)

3. Chris

Three jobs I have had:

1. Nurses aide

2. Receptionist

3. Administrative Assistant

Three places I have lived:

1. Houma, LA

2. El Cajon, CA

3. Portland, OR

Three favorite drinks:

1. Margarita

2. Gin & tonic

3. Snapple diet pink lemonade

Three TV shows I watch:

1. The Closer

2. Dr. Who

3. Justified

Three places I have been:

1. Eagle River, WI

2. Disneyland (Los Angeles)

3. Tijuana, Mexico

Three places I would like to visit:

1. England

2. Ireland

3. East Coast in Autumn

Three favorite dishes:

1. Nachos

2. A good cobb salad

3. Prime rib

Three beauty/make-up I can't live without:

1. Scent

2. Mascara

3. Eye liner

Three things I'm looking forward to:

1. Grandbaby #2

2. My next visit with my sister

3. Boxes in the mail

Sock Monster

Just finished this funny "Sock Monster". His non-matching socks can come off his feet. He is the fellow who makes off with the odd sock from the washer or dryer.

New dolls

I recently invested in 2 new dolls. The first is from Japan. Its a Wanda the Wonder Frog. His name is Pod and he is wearing his knit hoodie, that I finished this afternoon. Pod is about 6.5 inches tall. Don't you love his tennies?

The 2nd doll is a Pullip (type of doll). Her name is Lyvy. She is about 11 inches tall and very thin. She is like a Blythe doll but I believe she has a sweeter face. She is wearing a dress I made for her yesterday.

New dresses for Hitty Louise

Recently finished sewing a couple of dresses for Hitty Louise. They are made from vintage hankies. The pink has small flowers strewn about the dress and the white dress is from a linen hankie with flowers embroidered on the front. They both turned out pretty much like I envisioned them in my head.

Washing with Homemade Laundry Soap

I did two loads of wash with the homemade laundry soap this evening. I also used the white vinegar in the rinse rather than store-bought fabric softener. It all worked a treat!!! The towels came out soft and fluffy. My clothes had no static when they came out of the dryer (they usually do). Everything smelled nice and clean. I'd say this was a great project and I'd recommend it to ANYONE! Sure beats paying $6-12 for liquid laundry soap.

Homemade Laundry Soap

I just finished making a batch of homemade laundry soap. The batch makes 10 gallons of soap and it only costs about $2 a batch. The recipe is from the Dugger Family (The Learning Channel)(they have 18 children). See the recipe below: Homemade Laundry Soap - (red print is from me, Chris) TIPS FOR LAUNDRY SOAP: We use Fels-Naptha bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk's Hardwater Castile or Zote bars. Don't use heavily perfumed soaps. We buy Fels-Naptha by the case from our local grocer or online. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2. Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value (I found all ingredients at Krogers (local grocery store)) 4 Cups hot tap water 1 Fels-Naptha soap bar 1 Cup Washing Soda ½ Cup Borax - Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted. -Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken. -Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser (container) half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (it will gel) -Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons. -Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads) -Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads) I was at Kroger (to get supplies). A lady stopped me in the aisle and said "You're going to make soap". She had already made some of the soap and had a few suggestions... You don't need to use prewash. If you want, put some soap on the stain and then wash. You don't need to use softener. Lastly, when you are ready to put the homemade laundry soap in the small laundry soap container (equal parts soap and water) only put enough soap and water to fill the small container 2/3s full. That leaves "mixing" room. Inexpensive Fabric Softener Recipes Recipe #1 1 Cup White VinegarAdd vinegar to rinse cycle. Works great. Removes residue and odors. Also helps to keep washing machine and hoses fresh and clean too. Recipe #2 1 Container of Name Brand Fabric Softener 4 Inexpensive sponges, cut in half Pour entire container of softener into a 5 gallon bucket. Fill empty softener container with water twice. (2 parts water to 1 part softener) Add sponges to softener/water mixture. When ready to use wring out extra mixture from one sponge and add to the dryer as you would a dryer sheet. Sorry this is all run together - I haven't figured out how to get spaces between paragraphs. Can anyone tell me how? Thanks

Monkey Pattern

http://www.monkeemaker.co.uk/page45.htm Over to Monkee Makers site she has had enough of making monkees made of knit. So she has made her monkee pattern available for free to anyone who would like to have it. Go to the site above if you'd like the way cute pattern. Thanks to Monkee Maker for sharing with us.

Bushfire Appeal Raffle

The "Austrlian Red Cross Bushfire Appeal" Raffle, held over at Trashalou has concluded. All the prizes have been awarded. The total funds raised from this raffle came to $2,041! Isn't that something! What a wonderful effort!! Thanks to all those who participated, by donating prizes and those who donated $ to the Bushfire Appeal! Special thanks to Trashalou for heading up this raffle!

Raffle at Trashaloucan.blogspot.com

Please see the cuteness of monkeyness to the right. He will be one of the offerings in the raffle over at Trashaloucan.blogspot.com. The proceeds from the raffle will go to help folks in Australia who have been affected by the terrible bushfires of recent days. Please have a look at all the goodies that will be raffled off one day next week. Something may be calling your name. Its certainly for a good cause!!

Miles 1st Bday

Happy 1st Birthday to our Miles!

Love Gramma & Grampa Watson

Happy B-Day Harry Barker

Our cutie-boy dog had his 3rd birthday on Sunday.

I've been doing a bit of knitting toward NEXT

Christmas. Please see a few pix of the mitts I've

been working on and stripey scarves made from

Boku yarn.

Grandpa Santa

Just a quick pix of Miles with GrandpaSanta (on his Mom's side). He wasn't the least bit scared.

Merry Christmas to you all!

Giveaway & the winner is. . . .

Today is the day of the giveaway!!!

I put all the names in the knit hat and had Hubs pick one.

The winner is JODIE!!! Yea, huzzah, woohoo!!!

Jodie, please email me (stine4115@yahoo.com).

Congrats Jodie, you will enjoy this little girl.

Giveaway!!

I'm nearly up to 100 posts on my blog! (its only taken about 4 years - ha!)

To celebrate the (nearly) 100th blog, I'm going to have a giveway. Well, that would be if anyone enters their name.

Oh, what will be in the giveaway? I will be giving one of my knit monkeys. Her name is Fern. Have a look.

If you'd like to participate and possibly get this little girl, please leave me a comment and be sure to leave your email address or send me an email at stine4115@yahoo.com

The cutoff is Monday, Dec. 15th. So leave a comment or send me an email.

Be there or be square!

Update

My sister and family were visiting from Wisc 2 weeks ago. Its was so nice to have them here and we had such a good time - eating out, & shopping, shopping, shopping.

Then her family drove back to Wisc. and sister stayed another week. More eating out and shopping. OH and LOTS of knitting. Sis made 4 pairs of wool knit socks for grandson Miles. I made a pair of mittens and an earflap hat for Miles. That little boy will be plenty warm this winter! Have a look.

Miles

Just a quick note to say the unpacking and trips to the Goodwill are nearly finished. Boy do I miss our old REALLY LARGE walk-in closets! But I guess if I have to store it in a closet, I probably don't need it.

Please see the latest adorable pix of our grandson Miles. He is now 10 months old and he is doing a lot of "cruising" (hanging on to furniture and walking around).

Gotta go, more thigns to unpack (yuk, crapjob).

Its all done!

You thought I meant all the boxes have been emptied and everything put away?! HA! Not pickin likely, my friends!!! No, what I refer to is that all the things that needed fixing in our place have been taken care of by the landlord and his workmen. New toilet in the master bath, new switch for the garbage disposal (thats all it was) and the faucets for the washer no longer lead (everywhere). Thanks guys! Also the new washer was delivered this morning and I've been washing lots of things and it works like a champ! Its an LG (Life's Good). Tomorrow we are going to try and get an Ohio drivers license. We'll see how that goes. I went by Hobby Lobby this afternoon (what a fun store!!!). I found a few pix for the walls. Had a look at some of the Christmas decorations. Wow, that could take hours. . . . Better go, need my sleep for the written test for a new license (I hope).

I'm sorry

I'm sorry I was less thn kind about the new owner where we now live. He has been by and has sent his plumber by to have a look-see. The plumber will be by today and replace the cracked toilet, put in a new garbage disposal and fix the leaking knob in the laundry room. Thank you owner - you are looking after things! Our things finally arrived this past Friday. How that driver ooched that 18-wheeler into the cul-d'sac I'll never know - but he did it really well. The guys got everything unloaded in about 4 hours. The furniture is all in the house and in the correct rooms. The garage is full of all the boxes and boxes and boxes. The new tv is hooked up to Directv but as yet, we haven't been able to find the Directv box. It will probably be in the LAST PICKING BOX. My sister says to find the box that looks like its the last one and look in it now. The kitchen is a complete shambles - boxes everywhere and "stuff" all over the sideboards. I'm working on the kitchen today. Its hard trying to decide where to put things. I went thru things while packing and lots went to the Goodwill. I've started another Goodwill pile of things we just don't have room for. The 2nd bedroom seems to be getting lots of boxes that "I'll go thru later". Goodgrief, this is going to take forever. I did put up some pictures yesterday. It really makes a room look finished. I took a few pixs of the chaos but I haven't been able to find the cord to hook the camera to the computer - its probably in the box with the directv box (sigh) Oh the "best" (not) thing yet. Went to do a load of wash and the washer was acting strange. Called "The Appliance Man". He came out to have a look. He asked if we had stabilized the washer before it was moved? Do what? Its a front loader and that is supposed to be done before its moved. Seems there are these large cement weights inside (for whatever reason) and the moving smashed them all to heck. When the repairman open up the front panel on the washer all these bits and pieces of cement and electronic parts fell out (that is a bad thing). He just sighed and said it would be less expensive to buy a new washer - which we did. Its being delivered today. Today I will be calling the movers to see if we can get any money for our wrecked washer. I'm not holding my breath. I better go work on the kitchen. I probably should do something with my hair before any deliverymen show up - I look a little wild right now. More later.