Crafting like crazy!

I have been crafting like crazy!  But the bad thing about having a blog that family and friends read, is that I can't post pics of what I have been making.  But I assure you- anytime I am not at work, I have been crafting - trying to get all the holiday gifts done by the 24th.

I have been knitting, crocheting, playing with felt, quilting, and even drilling holes in books.  But you will have to wait for pics after the gifts have been given.  

But had to share this...our kitty seems to have an issue with me knitting....

Just in case I don't make it back on here before the holidays - be safe, have fun and eat lots of yummy food for me!

Happy holidays!  

Ash

The adventure to the ranch

Last weekend, my hubby and I decided to road trip-it down to visit my parents who are currently working at a ranch down near Paso Robles, CA.  The entire trip was an adventure!  

First, we decided to go ahead and drive our older pickup truck the 12 hours or so to visit.  We thought it might be a little iffy, but we had a fresh oil change and air filter and we were on our way! 

The pass near Mt. Ashland was a hairy on the way down, but very pretty!

This was the view from the passenger seat, and this was how Ric felt driving in the slushy snow with our not-so-great tires.....

The trip was going as planned until we had been driving about 6 hours.  I smelled something funny and looked at the gauge for how hot the engine is running...it was overheating.

So we stopped for coffee in a little town called Corning to let the truck cool down, and bought some coolant. After that, we had to stop almost every hour to put water and coolant in.  Not a good sign.

But we made it the remaining 6 hours (well, longer than that as we had to take it easy - more like 8 hours) of driving and arrived at midnight at the ranch.  We retired the truck for the night, excited for horseback riding and ranch tour the next day.

Friday was great!  Dad, Ric and I took a ride on the horses.  

This was my horse, Hank.  He was great!

Here we are all riding down in a dry creek bed.  I took a chance and snapped these while on Hank, but I had to show how close the little tiny dog was walking behind the horse!  Gutsy little dog!

(My dad is right in front of me in the hat, and Ric in front of him.)

After meeting the rest of the farm animals and helping with feeding time,

we went into town for great food and to pick up a thermostat for the truck.  We had high hopes that that was all that was wrong.

We got to stay in the bunk house next door to mom and dad, which was also great!  After a good night of sleep, Dad and I went to work on the truck.  And sadly, it was not the thermostat.  After installing the new one and going for a ride, it was more evident than ever that we must have blown the head gasket.

But that was the day of the big UO Duck game!  So we went into to town to have a few drinks, watch the Duck kick butt (we are going to the Nationals!) and think on the options for getting home.

Option #1- take the train ride back to Oregon (about 20 hrs) 

Option #2 - Try and fix the truck in time to get home and hope that we did not crack a head or do worse damage

Option #3 - Fly home 

Option #4 - Leave the truck with my parents and buy a new car

Can you guess which one won out?

Here is Ric in our new(er) 2009 Kia Rondo!  It is really, really nice.  It is tough to go back to a car payment, but I think it was worth it.

Here are a few more fun pics from the ranch...

Kitty on the hay bales!

This is what I miss about the desert!  So pretty!

Oh and this is ranch cat, Charlie!  He rides on the little Kubota with my dad all the time! :)

Then it was back on the road to home. 

This is Ric happy in our new car.  It was a smoooooth ride home.

With one stop at....

Split Pea Soup Anderson's!  Sooo good!

What a great, and crazy trip!  Thanks again, Mom and Dad!

Ash

4 day weekend?!

It is so strange!  I have definitely been enjoying it, but it has been a while since I have had a 4 day weekend where there was not some definitive reason for it.  For example, going on a trip to see family (ok maybe that is the only reason I have 4 days off in a row...lol).

I had a great Thanksgiving with just me and my hubby and we made tons of food that we have enjoyed for basically all meals since. :)

And yesterday, I finally painted the ceiling in the bathroom and started to put it back together.  It is basically done, other than I need to repaint the cabinets at some point (currently an ok green, but want them to be blue) and I need to get some more art in there.

But to show off a little of what I have done....

I had an old window that the glass broke out of and I decided to put in some wire mesh stuff (forgot the technical name....mom if you read this...ask dad what its called for me...hehe) on the back and turn it into my new jewelry display.

I have trouble getting mollies into the wall, so I opted for leaning it on the shelf and adding my Marylin like necklace holder.  Trying for a bit of the country/shabby chic to go with the vintage-y theme of the overall bath.

I also thought I would post some little 'shelves' I made a while back (like years...)  They are just parts (lid and bottom) of a nice thick box I had that I then paper-mached with vintage store bought papers.

And for the close ups....

The little 'lid' one and....

The bottom part of the box...now a pretty little shelf.  

Today has been a bit of eating (more), relaxing with my man, and now that he is at work, I will be getting to work on Christmas crafts.  Did you know that there is less than a month now??  Akk!

Hope you have a great rest of your Thanksgiving Day weekend!

Ash

My weekend projects

Happy Friday and what a beautiful fall day it is!

I am so glad it is Friday!  I am super excited.  First, I am going to go watch my favorite A Capella group On the Rocks practice at UO.  They are great!  If you have yet to see it, this Lady Gaga cover they do is great (and kinda famous - over 7 million views!)

Then I am going to work on cleaning my house some and even get a massage!

And I am going to start working on two new sewing projects.

First, I am going to make myself this jacket out of my new-ish sewing book I shared with you all - Sew Serendipity. 

But I am making it out of this fabric....

I am so excited!

Also, I am making this skirt....

with these fabrics...

The green and brown fabric on the bottom will be the main color, and the busier fabric on top will be the contrast, with the brown satiny fabric on the very bottom as the ruffles.  Yay!

Have a wonderful weekend!  

Ash

The cutest purse ever!

Ok, well the cutest purse I have ever made I think!  And it is for me! :)  I rarely make stuff for myself, but decided I needed a nice, new purse.  I started this a while ago, but finally had time to finish it yesterday.

It is a pattern from Stitch n' Bitch Nation that I love.  I modified it a little by making it taller and sewing pockets into the liner.  It is great because you have very simple knit pieces for the outside and then a simple fabric liner with plastic canvass in between to hold its great shape.

And I found this cute button that just adds that finishing touch.  I filled it up this morning and I just love it!  And it had just enough room left to throw my current knitting project in to work on while riding the bus to work.

Happy knitting!

Ash

Whew! My first full weekend off!

The election season is pretty much the busiest time of the year for my work.  But even though I have been working like crazy, I pretty much love my job.  I mean, not a lot of people get to...

hang out with deer in Ashland, Oregon

or

check out roadside waterfalls...

or

see these kinds of views on their drive to Bend, Oregon...

as well as this view

And not a whole lot of people get to say that they work for an organization that gets to save Oregon! :)

The elections were a roller coaster.  We lost some of the races were worked very hard on, but won others.  It just makes the work that we do even more important in the coming years.

But that can wait through the weekend!  I have been having a nice 3 day weekend, getting to see my man who is now home from China (yay!!), buying new fabric for my future projects, and working on the 'new' spare room.

I will get some pics up of my crafting from this weekend in another post.

Have a great rest of the weekend!!

Ash

Warms the...legs...

I just had to share the finished leg warmers with you all! They feel great!

I have to decide what to start knitting next....hmmm...

Ash

What should I make out of these?

I just bought this cute little screen printed patch at an adorable little store in Eugene called Nest and I am trying to figure out what I am to make with it...

Isn't it great?  I am just in love owls lately!

Also, I have had this great fabric for a while but just can't decide to make out of it.  I just love it though!

It is so funny to me.  The lighting makes the colors a little subdued, but it has very vibrant colors, and I love the little trains and submarines!  I have about a yard....and I just can't decide how best to use it.  Any thoughts?

Ash

Cooling off

The weather is definitely cooling off!  I can say that I am not ready for it, but I am also excited about crafts that the winter brings.  I am working on my Christmas list, and already seem to feel behind, hehe.

And since it is cooling off, I am getting myself ready for the cooler weather.  I have started making some little ankle warmers.  This is one of the first patterns I tried, before I took the leap to double pointed needles and knitting in the round.  It is a simple rib stitch and then you just seam up the side.

I have also been working on a new knitted purse.  Pics to come soon!

Ash

A fun, flowery skirt...just in time for fall?

So about a month and a half ago I decided to get my creative juices flowing and make a new skirt from fabric I had in the house.  I am finally getting around to posting it, but I did get a few occasions to wear it when it was still warm enough.  And with any luck, I can wear it a time or two more!

I found this material in my scraps and can't remember where I got it.  But it was great for panels for this skirt!

Working on my machine from Ric's grandma. :)

Finishing touch of cute little lace at the bottom.

Ta da!  I love it!  Although I have to watch it when it gets windy out...a little Marilyn Monroe action....

Ash

Apple butter, baby!

I am so excited!  I just finished canning 7 half pint jars of yummy apple butter I made from apples off my tree in the front yard!

I think I will try some dilly beans next!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Ash 

Fruits of my labor

I feel like such an urban farmer today!

I had to share the yummies I am finally getting!  I picked the corn and tomatoes today (so glad they are vine ripening) and the eggs are fresh from today, too!  (But I have been getting those for a while.) The beans are from a scarlet emperor vining bean. It is hard to tell, but the beans are a pretty black and purple. And I was so happy to see how well the kernels on the corn developed!

Happy farming!

Ash

A Little Town Called Clio

This last weekend I got to duck out of work and have a little adventure to see my parents in California in this adorable little town called Clio (which is pronounced 'kl-eye-oh') where they have been living and working for a bit.  They are about to take to the road again, so I had to see them before they make me jealous and go to AZ... ;)

Clio is near another little area called Graeagle and Sierraville.  All are a little over an hour away from Lake Tahoe.

I took the train down to Chico, CA and arrived at the train platform (no station...) at 4:30am.  I was lucky enough to have a very sweet cab driver give me a free ride 6 blocks to the 24hr breakfast place called Jacks.  He was worried about me walking at that time, and I took him up on the ride as there was a weird guy walking near me...

Then I went to a cute coffeeshop around 6am.  Look at the cute building it was in...

Chico is a cute town.  I will defintely have to check it out more in the future.  I did a little window shopping and thought this 'hardware' store was great! Check out all the canning stuff!  I know a few friends that would go crazy there!

Then we were on the road to Clio.  Here are a few shots of the beautiful drive there....

This last one is the view from the place they are staying in Clio.

Me all geared up for my motorcycle ride with dad!

Here we go!  Later that day we went golfing...my first time ever golfing! (Well, I have mini-golfed, does that count? haha)

The next day we took a drive around the entire perimeter of Lake Tahoe!  We started here at this cool monument that tells about the lake.  The perimeter of the lake is 72 miles!

Windy day at Lake Tahoe.

What a cool view!

We had to stop a few times for the awesome views.  

Silly me...thumb in the pic!  Hi Mom!  How did your pic come out? :P

This island (above) has a little castle on it.  I have yet to look up the reason why...but I found myself daydreaming about being the queen of the little island in the middle of Lake Tahoe....

Then we went down to the little stream that runs through Clio.  (Actually, I think it might be a river, but it was looking more like a stream at this time of the year.) If you look carefully, you can see one of the beavers that live there!

And I just had to take a pic of the cows!  

Thanks mom and dad for a great weekend!

Since then, it has been back to work, back to reality! It's my busy season, but only 5 more weeks of being crazy busy, then a little rest.  This trip to Clio was a great reprieve!

Have a great weekend!

Ash