Busy Week Helping Out Where I Can!

Well it's been another busy week. This week was spent mostly helping others where I could. I'm glad when I can and able.

Most of this week was very hot and humid - yuk - and downpours and then hot sun. It's the weekend of the Philadelphia Folk Fest ( http://www.pfs.org/PFF.php ) and seems to rain every year - they even had it a week earlier this year but still bad rain - The local news was comparing it to "Woodstock" with all the mud - and the traffic was backed up for 4 hours - and you would get a real laugh thinking traffic backed up in these little towns if you knew the area! (I live less than a mile from the Old Poole Farm where it's held) Probably the only time of year you see out of state cars! LOL!

Anyway - putting on a few pics of my week - all in a hicky picky way - no order here - just like my very own scattered brain!

This was taken this afternoon - Now what is that on top of the plant? Could it be one of those ceramic "plant ornaments?" Why no - Look at that - it's just my little Jonesy sound asleep!

Hmm putting laundry away upstairs - and who could this be - there is no beginning or end - just one round bagel named Miles laying on the bed

Earlier this morning I had my helpers while I was trying to gather and fold laundry and do sheets- They are so helpful aren't they? Pete and Re-Pete

And yes - this is my "little" Jonesy on Friday - My baby is getting so big!

And speaking of Jonesy and his growing - this little boy eats and eats and then wants some more. Oh and he's very helpful with trying to eat whatever I may have - He even grabbed a piece of cantaloupe out of my bowl earlier this week! Never met a cat that likes fruit before him - he likes cantaloupe and watermelon! You have to be careful when you eat - you know how cats are - they are very quiet when they want to be! Tonite he actually tried to steal an ear of corn off my husband's plate! He's too much.

Because he's eating us out of house and home on Monday I decided to go to the discount pet supply place as they were having a sale on kitty litter and cat food - It's over near my husband's work so met him for lunch at a pub first and then to the pet supply store - It was very very very hot and I was sweating after lugging those huge bags of kitty litter (hey when it's on sale I stock up) and cat food. There is a good thrift store across the street so went there next.

I found 2 yards of heavier red and white ticking for $3.50...
The white was way too white for me - so when I got home pulled out my big agate tub and made a concoction of coffee and tea - left it to soak for 2 days.

It turned out nice but the pic I took of "after" almost looks like before - the camera didn't pick up the color.

Also found these two cool wooden boxes - they are pretty large and look like drawers and the top opens up and latches on the side.

Can you hear Miles thinking "Now what is she draggin in the house now and what in the world is she going to do with these?"

Well I don't know yet but I thought they were cool and they came home with me. Inside one of those boxes is another couple of treasures I found that will be "RAK'd" to an online friend! (RAK = Random Act of Kindness - just something we do in our online group). Just have to get it in the mail!

Also decided to dye some wool this week. Had some hideous pieces of wool previously dyed and some wool odds and ends from the thrift stores

Soaking the wool in warm water and jet dry getting ready to dye - here are two of my 5 pots! These are pretty big tubs so threw a blanket on the floor and put the tubs there - not enough counter space!

Getting the pots started on the stove -

Riley can't understand why there are pots with wool and water on the floor and why he was just told to stop playing in the water! I think he's mad with me here.

I spent about 4 hours dyeing wool - Here's Jonesy staying out of the way....

What a yawn...Hey Mom are we done with this yet - I'm bored...

I'm so bored - i'm taking a nap...wake me when it's over

This is some of my "ugly" wool - threw this in a pan with onion skins to prim it up a bit...

The top half of this pile is the results of the onion skinned dye - the bottom half was wool I overdyed - I needed some prim gold colors. Oh my camera colors were off on all these wool pictures - it's more drab in person and more brown/gold -

Now Riley is getting impatient with me paying attention to the wool and not him. He was asleep a few minutes after this.

Here are some of the blues I did - again the pic made them look way brighter and more purple than they are in person.

Again - terrible colors - but great in person - this is antique black/browns, and some greys

This pile s more brown/tan than the pic shows -

This is my reds - of course the pic looks pink here but it's actually some good reds!

Another thing I did a couple of days this week is go over to a friends house who is moving to help her pack - She is a busy woman and I was glad I was available to help - Of course the one day we were working in her garage and it was 94 degrees outside - so you can image how hot it was in the garage - image her not having it air conditioned for me! LOLLLL! We went inside for lunch and then started packing up her collections (and she has a lot!) so it was nice and cool inside. The next day was spent bagging and tagging and organizing more. I couldn't stay all day because I was meeting my husband to drop my car off for inspection but we got a lot done - and I came home with some treasures! (You know that saying - one man's junk is another's treasure!)

I saved these two quilts from the trash bin - she was going to toss them! Can you image! I brought them home and washed them and now they are folded up on top of bureau in the spare room just to admire!

This one is in pretty good condition - it's the size of single bed - I can't remember the pattern's name but I love looking at all the fabrics they used - you just know some of it came from some little girl's dress or a boy's pair of trousers. Of course I couldn't put this one the floor without some furballs helping

Love this one - this one has a little bit of wear and is a little wider than the other one. Of course it didn't come with those two lumps under it - that would be Jonesy and Riley inspecting the undercarriage I guess...

Friday Afternoon and Life is Good in the Sunbeams....

Jonesy's been nabbed - Caught him licking the sink... Bad boy! He has been jumping up on the couch and coming into the kitchen via the pass-thru from the living room! He's been told NO so many times - he's just not getting it yet! (I bet he knows what NO means and doesn't care!)

Well on Thursday I was without wheels - I just hate that feeling - the car had to be inspected so my Dad came over to pick me up to take me to their house - They got sent 3 boxes from Comcast to install by September so their TV's would work - I tell you what a time! Got thru it though - but it took all afternoon - lots of issues and on the phone with them. My Mom did have fresh peach pie thoughfor after lunch and that's one of my favorites!

My Dad took me for my car and guess what Sharon! I have tread - actual tread on my tires finally! Yep - 4 brand spanking new tires. They were sorely needed. Other than that my car which is 200 miles short of 100,000 miles needed nothing else. Still the bill was high enough to make me fan myself!

While I was at my parents they were telling me the nightmare they were having with their cell phone - Their phone had been recalled because the phone blocks "911" and the place they got it from wasn't honoring fixing it, etc. Plus the phone never works anywhere - calls they make say "out of range" - come on - no matter where they are - i tried calling to their home phone 3 feet away and it said that - My Mom had cancelled service but it was still working My parents do not have a computer and struggle with some of this "new technology" but they should have a cell phone so my Dad who takes walks everyday can take it with him - you never know with his medical problems. So on Friday I went to the phone store and got them an easy to use phone and added them to our service on the family plan - Of course spent another 2 hours over there trying to explain to them the operation of the phone! LOL! It's a very easy phone to use and they are very happy with it - I got a call tonite thanking me and saying "I done good" but they still weren't sure how to bring up "that contact list" i entered for them! I couldn't stop laughing - anyway - will go over tomorrow and give them another lesson and one of the peach buckles I made tonite (My parents picked peaches on Wednesday and gave me some) I printed a pic of the phone out on the computer and will make a cheat sheet for them! Hey whatever works.

So that was my week - I'm hoping maybe tomorrow sometime I can start on another rug - I'm itching to hook!

Hope everyone is staying cool and having a great weekend!