A Measly Four Puffs

That's all I got done this week - 4 measly little puffs.

I usually try to keep my blog upbeat and fun (that's how I usually am anyway), but this past week has been a little hard.  Sunday especially.  My mom went to the ER and I went with her.  She is fine, she is having a bunch of medical problems (nothing terminal - just the "stuff" that happens as you get older) and she is scared.  I brought my knitting, thinking I would get some of that done.  My mom really just wanted me to sit there and hold her hand and talk to her.  So, that is what I did.  I did manage to show her the virtues of Pinterest :o)  I think she might be now as addicted as I am to it.  We spent hours looking at things she was interested in and things she liked - easy to talk about all that.

Well, enough of that!  Mom is home and doing well.  I am tired, but fine also and the days keep marching on.

This week I want to plant some new things in my garden and work on my weaving.

Sharing at:  Gingerbread Girl, and Frontier Dreams.

Hexis and Homemade Candles with Kids

5 puffs this week.  I used the Candy Skein yarn that I purchased last week and love it!!  It's soft and doesn't split and those stripes are the best!

 Sometimes the kids come up with such fun things to do.  One of my kids had made candles on a field trip last year and wanted to make some again at home.

 We started by melting the just plain old white wax and added wax dye.  Blue was the color of the day.

 It was very hard to cut that wax in smaller pieces.  It took my big knife and that meat tenderizer (I used it like a hammer on the handle of the knife) to break off pieces.

 Cut strings for the wicks - they are too long, but the kids didn't seem to mind!

 Then we set up an assembly of sorts - several stops with a can of melted wax and a can of water.

 The kids then walked around the table stopping at each station to dip their wick first in wax and then in the water.  The had so much fun talking and walking!!

 Some of them made big ones and formed them into shapes...

 others just let the wax do whatever it wanted.

 The 7 year old meticulously made different forms.

 The 10 year old trying to get a skinny one to stand up.

 Still trying.  It never did stand up, but she didn't mind.

The candles of our labors :o)  Not perfect, but perfectly fun!  They want to make more as soon as we use these up.

I love these times with the kids where we can just stop all the crazy business and take a breath.  Do something fun together that they have initiated.  These are the times, I hope, that they will look back on and think how fun it was to grow up in our home with all their siblings.

Sharing at:  Carole's, Nicole's, and 5 Minutes for Mom, and Mindful Mothering.

Tuesday Tallies and New Yarn!!

11 puffs this week!!  Back on a roll - it is crazy how addictive it is to knit these little things!!

 I also had the chance to sew a few more together, but haven't taken a photo yet.

 New yarn in my mailbox is ALWAYS a happy occasion.  And these mini skeins are just so cute!!

 The names are just as cute as the mini skeins:  Berry Slushie, Grape Taffy,

 Raspberry & Cream and Purple Marshmallow,

 Grape Fizz and Plum.  The pink puffs at the top are made out of this Grape Fizz.

 This yarn comes from Tami and is part of her Candy Skein shop.

OOPS!!  These other skeins just jumped right into the package with the mini skeins!!  They are so pretty and the picture does not do them justice!!  These yarns have already been made into cakes and are just waiting for me to knit some little puffs with them :o)

Sharing at Carole's and Nicole's.

Sewing Hexis Together

I can't believe I waited so long to sew these things together!!  It really is not that hard - these are only sewn on two sides, but as I add more above and  below, I'll catch in the sides that are left open.  This row of 18 only took about 30 minutes!  Ok.... talk to me in a bit when I have sewn 200 and still have more to go :o)

 This is the book I am reading right now.  Almost finished (boy am I a slow reader - not really, but I don't get much of a chance to spend time reading so it appears that I am slow!).  I love Robin Cook and our library just got this in a few weeks ago and I have taken a small break from the homesteading books.

I'm sharing with Tami, Ginny, Sara, and Nicole and Tuesdays Gone.