Bono?!

lbm with bono
Originally uploaded by grammagramma1

Somehow, Lulu got hold of Bono for a picture of one of our Tractor Sock monkeys, who happens to be my godchild Ladybird Murphy! La te da!

Cupcakes Rule

I am about to head to the Atl to get Knittymac for Ashevegas Tractor Retreat- very psyched! But first, some cupcake pron brought to you by AmandaLeigh- candybritches to those of us who love her best. 'Manda always sends THE BEST swap packages! She was my swap angel for baked goods and I got spoilt! Two bags of cookies, one choc chip and one huge bag of Pumpkin choc chip (meh boys thank you and ask for your hand in marriage) also an awesome book of cute cupcakes called "Hello, cupcake" and another one with dessert recipes. TWO I-said-TWO skeins of the new Kureyon colors (do I deserve all this??) ok then my favorites of all: a cookie cup cozy, a cookie soap (hope the boys do not eat) one of those adorable scrabble tile necklaces with a cupcake on it which I am wearing, a cupcake magnet, a cupcake stamp, three (!) pattern holder magnet strips with cupcakes in case I forget what they look like, a scrappin set of stickers, a cookie stitchmarker, another set of cookie stitch markers from etsy, adorable Im telling you! And the last thing cause she knows me so well, pink pug stitch markers, but they have earring posts on them so I stole two for earrings, k? Amanda sweetie, you are the best most cuppycake queen of all time! Thank you so much!

Hand Salve

Hello my friends, today was fun and tiring too. Lizabee and her son Art came over for a visit at Pug Palace. Wonderful Lizabee NEEDS to have an etsy store, because her upcycled tote bags are just the cutest things I have ever seen. I am only going to post one, which is maybe my favorite, and any of the Tractors will be able to guess who it is for so don't y'all tell her!! Lizabee did the totes then I added crochet brooches, stitch markers, special yarn, a handmade card, and of course a nun, to each bag. We also did decorated tins that I poured the hand salve into.
In case you want a recipe: I used olive oil 3 parts to one part local Asheville Beeswax from the market. I melt the beeswax in the oil on the stovetop. I add a few (2-3) drops of essential oil while it is still hot, and pour it into the tin. That's it! Today I made three kinds- some wanted cinammon, and I did add a drop of nutmeg as well. Some wanted peppermint. The rest asked for "fruity but not too sweet" and I went kind of crazy and mixed grapefruit oil, bergamot, and lemonbalm. Those three are cheerful yet relaxing, yes?

Unexpected Score

Wow. Ok, this is all a bit embarassing. I started the purple scarf group back in September. I got into so many in Traveling Scarves that um, I think I forgot which ones I finished. All I know is that when I'd get a scarf I'd follow the directions or requests and mail it on. Anyway I was pretty sure I was done with purples till this package arrived from AmandaPage. OMG the scarf is gobsmacking gorgeous! Also included, possibly just because she is made of awesome sauce, was a recipe for honey crackles, a pink floweredy tape measure, a yummy smelly good pink sheep soap, TWO gorgeous sets of stitch markers and some pretty postycards! Oh, and the bobblesheep washcloth, which is so cute and is already in my stack of things to make...Oh group 44 rawks!
Ok also, same day, another package from 2mayboys who I had been coveting her adorable sock monkey tape measures, and she sent me one! AND a freaking beautiful project bag! Dawn, I will get my yarny Rak revenge! You are the best! So yeah this whole post is me bragging about being spoiled. Uh huh. That is all.

Not What it Looks Like I Swear!

Jolly Bean has this old suitcase that he adores. He sits in it out in the garage, and stores his toys and bones in it. Son #1 decided to take him for a ride around the house, and omg he LOVES it! Ever since the first ride, he gets soooooo excited that he gets to roll through the house without using his paws. He looks so pitiful in the pics but I promise it is all voluntary.
Valentina redecorated the window in front of my knitting area, too. She's posed herself in the top basket and wants to know what all the fuss is about with pugs in suitcases.

Good News or Bad News?

Thanks to MarySK and her prayer to St Anthony, Patron saint of lost things:

"Dear St Anthony, please come around.
Something is lost and must be found-
Pugger’s pattern!"

And this morning I found it on a shelf in my craft closet! Ok, this was after I ransacked the living room and rearranged the furniture and culled all my old patterns...still. So I was all happy till I read it. And of course I've been screwing up the decreases. And now I'm pretty sure it's going to be time to frog. And frog. And I might just toss it and move on. *sigh*

Mr. Foster and the Waterfall

I was browsing Etsy and Flickr last night through links on Craft Mag. and saw some really creative ideas. Here's one for a free father's day card that looks fun! One more, which the hubs will like since he obsessively hoards those little plastic honeybears: honeybeararium.
I did FINALLY cast on for Mr Foster, and he as one teeny paw! Also I keep knitting the scrap wrap, which is starting to look like water, isnt it?

Yarn Flowers and Dubious Cake Pron

I made some crocheted brooches last week for the Tractor Girls and they turned out kinda pretty. I used a pattern I found in a Simply Knitting mag, which I am too covered up in pugs to look up right now. Here's a picture of little Purl "modeling" one of my favorite ones. The hubs turned forty on Friday and I had this awesome zombie cake planned but he wanted jello and cool whip, so the cake pron is not all that, unless you really enjoy fruit. SO thankful to have a new hard drive!

FO's, and Superheroes

I finished the Lord of the Rings inspired Washcloth for the hubs yesterday, totally in love with this pattern and yarn. Also was nervously knitting with scraps of Noro last night and did up this hat, which turned out surprisingly well I think.
The great things about this week: Ward made it to Atlanta to drop son #2 at his wonderful camp. Also being dropped off, son #1 to see his best friend from GA for a week! Translation: one week, one kid, sunshine sock monkeys and pugs.
Also keeping me smiling is 8ntfrogn's prezzie, hilarious stitch markers with my old ravetar and a crazy WW photo of me. She made these! Thank you, Karen!

Almost Summer

I like summer, except for the pollen thing. We have baby birds that were just born in the eaves of our house, and fireflies in the yard. I'm being all busy with dr appoinments, school conferences and getting son #2 ready for his heart camp. In my spare time I'm doing a crochet Haekelbeutel out of cotlin. I also started on my buddy's Dollywood swap doll, which so far really does look pretty cool- it's going to be wonderwoman! I got a surprise package from Grandpa today, probably for Easter but she let me take a few pictures of her loot: a box of ring dings which is almost as funny as a box of ding dongs. Also a funny card, and an Amputee Bunny. Totally serious. He claims to have had his arm bitten off by a cranky wizard. Easter is allowing me to put him on a shelf with a few friends so that Jolly can't disembowel him right away.
So I thought the latke party thing was today around 1pm, no worries. Then Son #3 last night insists that we ALL come and that its at 8 bloody am. So we get up a 6am, stumble around make the latkes, go to the school...yep it was laer in the day. And no parents. So for revenge I whipped out Valentina, dressed in her new satin outfit, and sweetly asked the teacher to pose with son #3. He of course was the only one who was aware of Valentina's gender issues, and you can tell from his face that he was not amused to be in the picture. Sweet sweet revenge.
Tomorrow is knitty Friday- yay! I'm hoping Lizabee and I can go check out the hotel for tractor retreat. Speaking of Tractors, submitted here is the June page of my fab nun calendar!