Garage Sales, How Do I Love Thee?

It's officially Garage Sale Season!  Just to let you know, garage sale season occurs sometime between the end of Spring and the beginning of Fall, at least in my neck of the woods.

I've been scouring Craigslist looking for a trampoline for the boys and for an exercise bike for me.  I've become a blob and need to work it off.  I don't have the cash for a gym membership (which in all honesty I probably wouldn't use anyway) and I hate walking the neighborhood.  The cheapest that I have seen any bike going for is $40, so that was the price that I was going to pay.  Until today.  I got an air resistance bike for $5 bucks.  The only way you could beat that price would be if it was for free.  Sweet.

A side bonus of today's garage sale-ing was a big box of sheet music and lesson books for another $5 bucks.

All in all, it was a great day for garage sales.

Oh and to show that I have been creative over the past couple of days, check out what I've been doing with the boys:

A new Star Wars Cantina and Starship:

And a very cool castle:

Last September, as part of the Eldest's birthday gift, I bought 11 pounds of Legos off of Ebay.  It was a huge misc. assortment.  We had no idea what we would be getting.   I built everything in the above two pics with what we got in the box.  Not bad for a bunch of misc. pieces, huh?  The mini-figures were from some of the Eldest's other Star Wars sets.  But they worked perfect with my futuristic cantina.  As far as the boys are concerned, I'm the coolest Mom in Town.  Oh yeah.


Who said only Dads can build with legos?

Candlestick Refurbishment

Remember the candlesticks that were purchased at a thrift store to be used as a prop for a paper that the Eldest gave at school?  No?  Here they are as they were:

And now?  After a few coats of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint and they've been given a new lease on life. 

I am seriously beginning to love this spray paint.  I've been walking around the house looking for things to paint.  The Eldest has been laughing his behind off following me around while I scout for things that need a little bit of paint love. 

Blob or Fish?

We went to the GA Aquarium (also known as the world's largest fish tank), but this time it was to attend Aquatech.  The Eldest's school, in conjunction with Lockheed Martin and a local college, had a show to exhibit some of the work that the students in the magnet program had done.  The Eldest had one computer project and one art project on display.  It was really cool (both projects and the show as a whole.)

It was held in the ball room.  One wall of the room was a giant window that looked into the Beluga whale tank and on another wall was a giant window that looked into the tank that held the whale sharks.  What a cool place to have this exhibition at.

The Youngest enjoyed it immensely:

Check out the bubble window that he was in.  It looks like he's in there with the sharks.

There was also a giant orange blob that I suppose was supposed to be a fish.  You decide.  Blob or Fish?

Mantilla Blanket Project Has Begun

I've been wanting to do a crochet project, but I've been kind of put off by the patterns that I've found out there.  One of the things that drove me to knitting was the practicality of it.  I could make and use more of my knitting projects than I could my crochet projects.   


Now I'm not saying that I don't like or enjoy crochet.  I crochet much faster than I knit.  I've been crocheting for um, way to many years to mention.  Let's just say since I was 8, okay?  Obviously I enjoy it or I would have given it up years ago (got loads of other crafts that just didn't make the cut like crochet and knitting.)   I don't like sweaters made of it, it doesn't stretch or  drape well.  I don't need toys, got enough toys around here already, thanks.  Doilies.  Nope, just dust catchers in my opinion.  Or are they?

Remember the Hemlock Ring Blanket that Jared Flood got everybody hooked on a few years ago?  Here was my take on it:

While it was knit, it was still a doily.  But a pretty doily. 

By the way, do you realize how odd the word doily looks after you've typed it several times?  Doily, doily, doily.  Yup.  Looks really weird.  I had to get my spell check up and running to make sure I wasn't losing my mind while typing it.

Anyway, this weekend, I decided to crochet me a doily.  On a size H hook.  With some gorgeous, gray, two ply alpaca from Lima, Peru.  I'm up to round 14 and there are 29 rounds in the pattern.  I will probably have to go back and repeat some rounds to get it the size that I want. 

It's approximately 12 inches in diameter at this point, but it will stretch like crazy once it's blocked. You'll be able to see more details then.  Right now it's just a furry blob.

The yarn is indecently soft.  Makes you want to get all neckid and roll in it.  I swear it does.  Sorry, you don't get pics of that.  :)

This is the Mantilla Doily by Coats and Clark.  Not terribly difficult, although I did have trouble with interpreting a few rounds.  It's been a while since I've looked at a crochet pattern.  It all looks like Greek if you haven't looked at it in a few years.  It's looking good so far and it promises to be a luxurious blanket that the whole family will be arguing over.