For dollys and preemie babies

Somebunny loves you

 

Penny is at it again. Meet Sebastain. He is an adorable Lilac French Angora. Just a few months old. And too precious! I would love to have an English Angora, like her Sunny bunny, but am afraid I wouldn't be able to take care of it. Some days I cannot take of Toby, Timmy and me. Let alone another dependent. But they are just so doggone stinkin' cute! So yes, I have bunny envy. We are doing two fiber shows in April. And oh my! There will be so many bunnies who will be calling my name.... Mark would be giddy. He had rabbits as a kid, raised them for 4-H. He is pushing for one. Will I give in to peer pressure at 48? Yikes!

Speaking of precious. I am getting in to making the teddy bear hats. Someone asked about the patterns for my hats. They are all my own design.

Loving the warmer temps still. Especially the part of not hearing my furnace run!! Our gas bills have not been good. Not good at all. I know we are not alone. Everyone else is saying the same thing. I walked around outside today looking for green shoots of spring flowers. Nothing yet. But soon, soon. :o) God is good like that. Be blessed everyone.

A Facebook page for my Etsy shoppe

This is something new I have started. A fan page on Facebook for The Country Cellar Etsy shoppe. I am not doing it to sound "too big for my britches". But honestly I am trying to promote my Etsy shoppe and help sell my goodies. If you get a chance to stop by and become a fan, I would appreciate it. I need 25 fans to get a good start with FB. This is their rules. Am hoping it will give me more exposure as I fill the "shelves" of my shoppe. :o)

Oh my lands (that is for you Michelle). The sunshine was gorgeous today. I mean seriously, thank you Jesus! We have needed these warmer temps too. Our gas meter needs a rest don't you know! And I imagine your heating source does too. Even if it is you having to toss another log on the fire. The furnace has hardlly ran at all today. I baked an orange cake and then left the door on the oven open afterward to keep the warmth in the kitchen and it was almost too warm. Usually I would be crawling into the oven to absorb all the heat I could into my cold body. You would think I was depressed and had just read a crazy Danielle Steele novel! hahahaha Not today though. Oh and that cake. So simple. It is just a box yellow cake mix. I substituted melted butter for the oil and added a bit of applesauce, the zest of a orange and the juice too. Am going to make cream cheese frosting for it. I was just in the mood for something refreshing. 

Hope your weekend is sweet!

Baby bear hat

 I thought this one was fun. Made from soft cotton yarn. More pics on Etsy. I am working on uploading more hats to the shoppe. It is time consuming!

We have had blessed sunshine the past two days! I am so very thankful. Today I have felt much better too. The doctor's office called me yesterday and said I am still testing positive for viral pneumonia, the 4th week. The only things I have accomplished has been keeping the bare basics of housework done (hubby always runs the sweeper) and my crocheting. But I guess that is enough. My current food favorites are soups, nutty bread toast with Nutella and fruit juice popsicles. Hope the sun is shining on you today! Be blessed.

Working away

These are on my Etsy. Have started working towards Farmer's Market and our spring shows.

I had a good report at the eye surgeon yesterday. He was pleased with things and that makes ME pleased. 

Hope everyone is staying warm and snotty nose free. Unfortunately, that last one has hit my family. 

~Angela

Hand painted yarn

Here is a pair of small wool soakers I made from Penny's hand painted yarn. I love how it worked up. She will be listing her hand dyed and painted yarns on Etsy soon. This skein made me think of a froggy playing in a pond.

More pics here at my Etsy shop.

Health update, because some of your sweet ladies have asked. The new meds I have been taking once a week, stink. That crazy pill knocks me on my hiney and I do not even know my name for about 3 days/daze. The good news is I do not have to take it this week. Having a blood transfusion with platelets on Wednesday, so off the nasty medicine for a week. Sad when I am looking forward to this procedure which makes my head pound like a jackhammer. BUT at least I still know who I am. Trade offs work for me. I am easy like that. :o)

My mini dresses

These lil' darlings are 4-inches tall and from crochet thread. I need to make several more for my tree.

Thank YOU everyone for buying the dress dishcloths and baby hats on Etsy. If you missed out on the red/white dresses, I have more added in now. And a retro green and pink set.

Hope you are staying coooooooooool!

Working up dishcloths

in cheery red and white. (These are a bit larger than my previous ones and a different flower.) I love these lil' dresses.

I have added a couple sets to my Etsy shop. Still working on goodies for Farmer's Market as I can. Have started a new medicine that has knocked me on my hiney. It is like chemo without the "bathroom issues". Lovely....On the up side, my family is all coming over tomorrow evening for a visit. That always makes me happy. :o) Hope your weekend is sweet too.

Crocheting and Chickens and Surgery...oh MY!

More baby hats. Lots more. They have been selling well for me at Farmer's Market. I have several listed now in my Etsy store also.

Miss Jaidy loves the chickies! She wanted to catch them all and gives them lots of pets. Her expressions were so cute. And then Penny is THE chicken whisper.

And now the not so fun part of the post. I see the neurosurgeon on Wednesday in Indy. It is a pre-surgery consult, so should know the date of my surgery that day. This has been a long time coming. I have had this brain tumor or more than one, for about 10 years. Technology is now allowing the removal. I just want it. Over. With. Now to get my lungs to play pretty with everything and we should be a go. I still have pleurisy (and one cracked rib) and they want that to be healed before surgery. I would appreciate your prayers in all this. As always, God is why I am still fighting a good fight and not pushing up daisies.

Hope you are in a cool shady place today. Enjoying life and your loved ones.

ps: And a big thank you shout out to those who donated to my starting a Project Linus chapter! I will have this done before surgery.

How to lanolize wool soakers

Crocheting for babies has always been a great love of mine. Now I am crocheting lanolized wool soakers. These are diaper covers that help keep the baby dry by wicking the moisture away from the cloth diaper. You can use these with disposable also. The wool has a natural antibacterial property that neutralizes the urine. Cannot do too much for good ole poo though. :o) There are several styles to use: diaper covers (without legs), shorties (with just a bit of a leg), longies (full leg coverage) and sleep sacks. The sleep sack is perfect for newborn and small babies that do not move a lot. Makes for an easy sleeepytime diaper change with the open end. 

Here are pics of a couple of my wool soakers listed on Etsy.

I sell my soakers, lanolized and ready to wear. This is what keeps them waterproof. Here is simple tutorial on how I do mine.

 I use liquid lanolin, a small jar and a teaspoon. This is my soaker sleep sack. I mix 1/2 teaspoon of the liquid lanolin to hot water in the jar. (The hot water helps melt the lanolin. This is the only time you will use anything hot). This is per soaker. If I was doing 2 soakers, I would add 1 teaspoon. Then shake like crazy. Then shake some more. You want the lanolin to evenly disperse and be a creamy milk color.

Fill the sink with tepid water. Not cold, but definitely not warm. You do not want your soaker to felt or full in water that is too warm. Add your jar of mixed lanolin. Use your hand to mix it throughout the water evenly. 

Place your soaker into the water. Gently push the soaker under water until it stay. Let soak 5 minutes and turn over. Let soak another 5 minutes. Turn the soaker inside out and let soak 5-10 more minutes.

Gently fold the soaker into fourths and squeeze the excess water out. Place the soaker onto a dry large bath towel. Roll the towel and gently squeeze.

Remove the soaker from the towel and place somewhere safe to drip dry. You do NOT machine dry your wool soakers. It will compress the fibers and shrink them up. Drying time depends on many factors: weight and twist of yarn and humidity are the top ones that come to mind. Right now with the hot and humid Indiana weather we are having, I am thinking it might take 3 days. Eeek!
I hope this helps those who had questions about relanolizing their soakers. We need more babies in our family! I am so ready to be a grammy!!!! :o)

Goings on

The farmer's market that Penny and I vendor at, had a wedding. It was so sweet. The young people had met at the market last year while their parents were vendoring. Love blossomed. And they had their wedding on the town lawn, after market on Saturday. All the market vendors and customers were cordially invited.

A sign someone made and set up.

The musicians.

The happy couple walking under an arch of garden implements for the processional. :o) The guests were instructed to bring a canning jar for flower bouquets to hold and their garden implements for the arch.

This lil sweetie is wearing one of my cotton crocheted hat. Her parents are vendors and she is the highlight of my day on Saturdays. Love my baby holding time.

Another lil dolly has one of my children's hats. Look at that natural curly red hair. She is pure sunshine. Love watching her and listening to her talk. Someone asked her this past Saturday where she got that pretty red hair. Her reply? Jesus. :o))))) Her mom said she hadn't ever said that before. Being only 4, you never know what she will say.

I have reopened my Etsy store. Have been working on wool soakers for cloth diaper babies. Although, they are also great for disposables. Wool allows the body to stay at an even temperature, so helps with diaper rashes. I am lanolizing them, so they will be absorbent yet will not easily leak. Making baby and children items gives me great pleasure.

Hope you had a love Independence Day.

Thank you

Everyone has been so encouraging about my tatting endeavors. I am back at it tonight. Took a couple days/daze off. We have both had the head/chest cold plague here. Blech on sickies. I personally have just felt like a bump on a log. Just sitting here. Then finally late last night I got motivated to DO something. I hate sewing on snaps. It is just a lil thing, but I always put it off. These sweet felted bags had just needed that finishing touch for over a week. TAAADAAAA! Each one is crocheted from wool. I do enjoy making these. And they always turn out a bit different. There is no for certain when you are felting. Penny gave me a laundry bag for the smallest things. Like baby socks, I was afraid the washer would eat them! I always hand washed Shayla's because I knew they would go into the belly of the washer. LOL

I have added all these goodies into my Etsy shop.

I have been enjoying Facebook. Have reconnected with high school and old friends. Some live locally and some live out of state. Just nice to hear how everyone is doing and see how big the kiddos have gotten. We gotta love the internet!! If you want to add me to your Facebook, just let me know and I will send you my email connected. I joined a couple of quilting groups there that just post information, no chatting and they have been good reads.

The weather has changed back to winter here. Temps are getting low and snow on the forecast. We enjoyed the warm break while we had it, now back to our regularly scheduled program....

Movin' On

Well my 2 winners have been notified, replied and their packages ready to be mailed out. They were happy and so was I. I appreciate folks appreciating, you know what I mean. I have had a couple of drawings where the winners never replied back, even after a couple emails. Once a lady said, no thanks I don't know why I signed up, I don't like the prize. No way you say. Yes WAY!! But actually that was better than me sending it and her tossing it. But still, manners go a long way! LOLOL

Anyways...you haven't seen Mr. Toby for awhile. He is soooo big now. Freakish long legs too. Freakish! And he is loving him some bonies. He has several laying about, better to chew on them than the poor sad recliners he has chomped on already. But please does this pic say "spoiled rotten" or what? LOL He threw his ears back right when I snapped. He got startled. Serious business chewing on bonies you know.

And I am still crocheting away. My hands are letting me, so I am staying with it. The lupus is in my feeties right now. Which is a trade off. I have enjoyed making these gloves. If they do not sell on Etsy, I will haul them to a show next fall or give them to my Miss Thing aka Miss Heather. Who is going to become a Mrs. come April 11th. Did I tell you that already?

It is pretty nippy chippy here. Temps were in the low single digits last night. Expecting lower for tonight and tomorrow. Of course I have to get out tomorrow for a long awaited doctor appointment. The liver guy. This is supposed to be a meet and greet and hopefully get some things rolling along. I need a blood transfusion and some tests ran. Just want to feel better! And if there is something to be done, well let's get it done. :o)

Hope you are warm where you are.

Fingerless Gloves

I just listed these on Etsy. Both are 100% wool and very soft. I have written up the pattern to sell in a pdf too. Have it being double checked for me right now. Heather loves wearing mitts as does Penny. I am going to make myself a pair of the cranberry ones next.

EDITED---I have the pdf pattern listed on Etsy now. Instant gratification in these downloadable patterns!

Don't forget to sign up on the January 1st post to enter the Whirl Into Winter drawing. We seem to be having a good turn out for it! :o) Gotta love free stuf. LOL

Everyone stay warm and dry!

Filling my Etsy shop up. Didn't make it in time for Christmas sales, but maybe the folk's who get the gift of green will come a'callin' in January! :o) Here is a pic of 3 of my raggedy girls. I do love my raggedies. I enjoy making dolls so much.

Hope you are warm wherever you are!

I just updated my Etsy shoppe with prints, wool bears (these are the last 3) and a couple wooden pieces. Had meant to do this for weeeeeeeeks. But just hadn't felt up to par to get the pics taken and tweeked and then the uploading part itself. Have a couple of new dolls to add yet.

I have also have a sale on my stitchery patterns at The Country Cellar.

That says it all. Faith. I had to have my lungs and kidneys drained yesterday. NOT a fun time. They got 6 oz from my lungs and quit. Did some "business" (won't gross you out) on my kidneys and said go home and pee and breathe. LOL Well SHOOT, isn't that what we all aspire to do? After having my ribs seperated yesterday, I am moving slow. As in, I asked the kitty babies to put on my socks for me. LOL Mark is working and doing his orientation for his new extra job tonight. But I am hungry for some comfort food. So I have a tuna noodle casserole in the oven.

Easy Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 package of extra wide egg noodles, 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 can milk, 2 cans of drained tuna, 1 can of peas, 1/2 c shredded cheese, 1 sleeve of crushed saltines and 1 stick of melted margarine or butter. Salt and pepper to taste. You may add onion, I added onion powder.

Cook noodles per package direction and drain. Mix tuna, soup, milk and spices with noodles. Pour into a buttered casserole or 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle cheese on top. Sprinkle crackers. Pour melted butter over top. Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes. YUM

I am far behind on my blog reading. And have several new links to add. Many of my Backporch Friends girls have started blogging and I will be adding them to my list. Will post about them soon. AND I received a couple of blog awards I will be passing along. So stay tuned! :o)

Crazy weather here! I am serious. Friday and Saturday we had about 5-inches of snow. Warm temps yesterday and today...and it is gone! Just chunks along the street where the plowed. And it is about 60 degrees today. :o) Which is great because the furnace is not kicking on and that will save on the ole gas bill.

This wasn't my best weekend. I made a pot of chili for Mark on Saturday. And that was about the sum of my accomplishments for the weekend. Didn't make it to church either. Was just hurting pretty bad. BUT I feel much better today. So yay for that. I need to do some housework, but just going at things easy.

I listed some vintage embroidery transfers on eBay. (Tried to post a pic here, but they were having issues.) They are all unused and some are very old. A huge lot.

If anyone is wanting an inexpensive Etsy banner and matching avator, I have several made up in my shoppe. Will customize of course with your name and text.

Hope everyone is having a great start to their week!

Feels good to be out in my playhouse again. Here is a bit of what I have been working on. I have these and more new items listed in my Etsy shoppe.