Random 5 Friday, It's Good to be Back

• Missed the last couple of weeks, as I was traveling.  Hubby, DD and I had a wonderful time.  Take a peak here on my traveling blog.
• Getting over a wicked allergy bout that hit again on our return from vacation.  We landed in a terrific rain storm that lasted too many days,  that seemed to reverse all the good I got from being in the beautiful, dry mountain air of Park City, Utah.
• The work week was pretty nasty after vacation, we were over over booked, and understaffed, and it was a mighty long week.
• Spent a good deal of time working on my mothers side of the family (doing the family tree), and think I've found a lost cousin we've wondered about for years.  Posted a long letter to him yesterday and have my fingers crossed that it is indeed him, and that I get a response.  Too bad some of these folks eluded me before, Mom would have enjoyed the additional information I found.   **edited becasuse this was a scheduled post to say, my cousin called last night-though I didn't get to talk to him he left a message so will make contact today...pretty excited.  
  
   These 2 pictures you can tell are from long ago, back in 1951, I was 1 then; and he's now 75.  Wonder if he played music all his life???  So many questions.
  
  
  Beyond the clues these 2 pictures tell us, he played trombone and liked dogs....I know very little about him.   Hope that will be remedied soon.  My cousin Lee said in his phone message it was good to hear from me.  Wonderful start.
• Looking forward to a gathering of old neighborhood friends (from childhood) in my old hometown this wkend.  Some of you might remember I met up with one girl friend I hadn't seen in 50 years earlier this summer.  This is 2nd go round, but a few others are joining us.

This is the picture she took of me at President Hardings Memorial, a place we played often as kids.  This will be the meeting place again this week.  I love making connections.

I've been very disappointed so few have joined me in Memory Monday, so am trying once again to invite you all.  Monday's are often dreaded days, let's make them more fun.  PLEASE join me on Monday, post a photo and share it's memory with us.

• Write your post, add the badge with a link back here
• Add yourself to the linky that will be up on Monday with the post
• Visits others, and have fun

Random 5 on Friday

It's Fridaytime for another fun round of Random 5 (Friday 5, guess people call it several different names)

• Spent a good part of week organizing stuff here, my desk was sorely in need.  Looks much nicer now...hope I remember where I put stuff, lol
• Looking forward to a week in the mountains with Hubby and Darling Daughter.  Been Christmas when we were last all together.
• The hardest part of packing for a trip for me is what yarn to take.  I never gauge the right number of projects to take, and typically take too much; but I don't want to have craft time with out something to work on.
• Been so rainy, wet, and humid here am hopeful the dry mountain air will give hubby and I a break from the allergy problems.  He's sneezing and coughing and I'm going crazy with itchy eyes.
• Am so enjoying the flowers in the yard

Click the badge and join us Nancy's Rural Journal.

Mark your calendars and be sure to pop back her for Memory Monday's, the more the merrier.

Fabulous, it's Friday

Finally it's Done!  Terrible picture with it being cloudy, bad lighten; but was anxious to show this afghan is finally finished.  It's a knitted feather and fan pattern with each section being a 20 stitch repeat.  This one is named Sea and Sand, Sand and Sea.  In the beginning I called it Sea and Sand, but later kept interchanging the names.  This afghan has been in the works over 1 year.  I found a post from June 4th of last year where I had about 3 stripes done.  Now, it's not like I worked on this everyday or didn't work on anything else during this time; but...it's been a long time...much longer then I like to have one going.

And So for the first time in ages I do have a Finished Object to share with you on Friday AND a post for Random 5, Friday Five, 5 on Friday.  All badges are clickable, join us!

• Hope you had a wonderful and safe 4th of July.  Sadly our fireworks weren't quite as good as normal.  It rained, not stormy so they went ahead.  But, I wonder if they couldn't shoot them off as high because of that?  And or, because of the dampness they didn't last as long in the sky?  No matter, Happy Birthday America.  You're an awesome country and I so appreciate all the sacrifices of those that made it possible for us.
• Obviously I'm really excited to have the above afghan completed.  It's still in need of being laundered and blocked, but and a better taken, but it's DONE!
• More planning for the trip to Spain next Spring has taken place AND, we now have all our tickets for flights confirmed.  We've decided not to stay the full 10 days in Malaga (Marbella Beach Area), we'll be there a week then fly to Barcelona via Madrid for a few days, AND we now have confirmed hotel reservations there in Barcelona as well.  Gonna give our brains and our charge card a rest before we move onto the next step...which will be planning tours, though I do have a lists of things we want to see.
• House smells so good right now, hubby is making his "World Famous" Baked Beans.  We're going to a Baby Reveal party later today with family (normally we would have spent yesterday, the 4th together here at our house so this is combined deal).  We'll soon know whether my youngest nephew, Ryan and his wife are having a little boy or girl.  I'm pulling for a girl which would give them one of each...wouldn't that be nice.
• Continuing to work on my SIL's family tree, but also pulled out my Mom's side file that I've not worked on in a good long while and am happy to say...I'm finding some of the missing pieces from before!

Pop in tomorrow for the 3rd Year of Projects, it's a group through Ravelry, always happy to have more folks join us.

AND don't forget to join in on Monday for my Memory Monday...I've already gotten 4 or 5 posts written and placed in que.  Looking forward to seeing you all, the more the merrier.  The more you link and visit the more fun folks.  Join any or all of the meme's.  Enjoy the rest of your week-end.

Busy and Fun Times on Friday

 It's Friday, always a favorite day for many.  Link up with some fun folks, click the Random 5 button and join Nancy and the rest of us.  Sorry to all my friends I have nothing finished craft wise to join in on Finished Object Friday today.  Still working on the infamous HUGE Afghan that is Sand and Sea or Sea and Sand, think I keep switching how I type the name.  Which sounds better anyway?

• Having knitting or crocheted as much as normal past couple of weeks, have been working on my SIL, Jan's genealogy...thrilled with how much I've found for her in such a short period of time.  Particularly given one of the family names in Jones!
• On countdown til we leave for vacation with our Darling Daughter...we just don't get to see her enough
• Catching up with my grade school friend last Saturday was soooooooooooo awesome.  We had a great time, took pictures, shared stories and laughed alot.  Looking forward to our next outing.  Will be blogging and sharing some pictures in a few days.  Stay tuned, please!
• Work schedule is about to become wild and crazy, over booked, and double booked...hope I have the umph for it.  I'm not getting any younger you know.
• Hoping to get to Shakespeare in the Park this weekend.  Every-time I think we're gonna go, hubby's too tired, or the weather doesn't cooperate.  We've not made it all this year.

 I mentioned working on my SIL's and Wendy's family tree above, and want to share with you a fun project to do with the kids...big and small.  Join me please over on Flat Stanley's.  The project will be posted later today, just click the tree to pop over.

For those that like blog challenges, pop over to Paula's.  Her June challenge is about to end, but she's having one in July too.  Check it out.  I may only participate here and there, with work kicking into high gear, and I've done 3 month long blog challenges in the past 3 months.  I might not be able to blog daily in July.  But, know she'd love some folks to join her.

Still trying to Memory Monday up and going with more participants.  Please pop back on Monday, and join in.  Linky Love, Meme's blog challenges that are a specific day of the week don't require a huge comment...time wise so they appeal to me...join in.

Loving Friday

Purple Iris's about 1/3rd opened in my back yard.  I have them up and down 3 fence rows and in flower beds around the side of the house too.  I love this flowers.  So large, so pretty, so deep in color.  These are what my Mom used to say were double Iris's.

It's Friday folks, time for 5 on Friday, Random 5 and time for Finished object Friday!

1. As people wrap a busy week and look forward to the wkend I give you natures beauty, in the form of the beautiful Iris's.  Soon, the yard will be at what I call it's purple stage.  I also have wild Geraniums that are lavender blooming.  AND, see the wee tiny blue-ish purple, those are Forget Me Nots, so as soon as the Iris really take hold it's a purple person's fantasy.  I also love that these purple beauties came from my parents yard.
2. I have for the first time in awhile finished a project and therefore have a finished object to share with on Friday.  Yippee.  Must decide what to work on next.  Should I start something new....or try to finish Sea and Sand Afghan (a feather and fan pattern), or get brave and rip out the couple of rows I need to in order to get to knitting the green sweater for my Darling Daughter?  The finished ghan, Blue Jay is being blocked in the picture and will, like the others be donated to Homeless Families Foundation through my charity, Bridge and Beyond.
3. Friday night at our house is Pizza night, do you have a Friday night tradition?
4. Schools are on a delay here this am, due to some pretty substantial fog.  As of the writing of this post, 8:30 I can now see the end of my backyard, though it is still foggy.  No doubt closer to the river, and in out lying areas is still difficult to see, and therefore dangerous.
5. Managed to weed half of one fence row yesterday, and that almost filled 1 of those large paper yard trash bags.  Half of one bed, was enough bending and stooping for me.  Gotta pace myself

Not the best lighting, but it's a good non foot travel spot to do blog afghans.  Had to give some pretty good tugs here and there to get this even; thus the beauty and necessity to block afghans........even when made of acrylic yarn and even when crocheted and not knitted.  Yarn from different makers varies a bit, people use different size crochet hooks and have different tension as they work.  ANd even when the square measure close to the same size...you have variances that are helped when you block a ghan.  AND, yarn gets dusty on the shelves in the store, picks up odors in our homes, human and pet hair, and oils from our hands.......washing a ghan is necessary.

FOF and Friday 5 Badges and Links in meme tab, please join us.

Happy Friday all.
(BL5, FF5, CF5, FOF10)

Friday is Here!

Usually try to post Friday 5 early in the day; but today's work schedule prevented that.  So, here we are almost cocktail time and I'm just now getting it written and posted.

• I have allergies and lately the sneeze factor is annoying
• Hubby and I went to The Theatre Wed to hear/see The Tenors.  They were awesome.  Nicest date we've had in awhile, but we were both tired...we don't usually go out on a "school night".
• Had hoped to have finished this ghan, Blue Jay and be able to show it to you today, as my finished object Friday Post, so since it's not finished...not linky up. (broke my crochet hook last night while working on it and had to dig around to find another one).
• Looking forward to having nothing planned for this weekend, as we've both been rather busy lately.
• I'm looking for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who have kiddo's in the family.  AND or folks who might have a neighbor with kiddos.  I'm wanting to get folks to share their Flat Stanley experiences/adventures.  If you've done one in the past with your kids...please share your story/adventure/pictures etc.  I'd like to add them to my Flat Stanley Blog.  AND if you've not done one, how bout doing one now?  Inviting you all to visit Flat Stanley and Friends, please click HERE.

For those here for Friday 5 (badge and link in meme tab) who may not know, the afghans I assemble are generally made from donated squares and once assembled are donated to Homeless Families Foundation, though my charity blog, Bridge and Beyond.

**If you have a Disgus Blog, and or are thinking about joining google+ and or have joined google+, you really need to scroll back one post.  **
(FF6)

Oh Friday, You are MY Friend

WOW, it's been a fast week.  I had planned to have my post written and scheduled and totally missed getting that done.  Been a busier week then normal, with promises of busier yet next week. 

• I make a really good Lemon Drop Martini
• I don't like fish, though I do eat tuna salad
• I've worn glasses since I was in the 4th grade, and started wearing tri-focals about 15 years ago
• I dislike winter immensely, and with each year am more impatient for spring
• I'm not an animal lover.  In fact, I have a fear of many.

 The above picture, lunch counter ladies is for your amusement, it is after-all Friday!  No one looks good in hair nets and lab coats, so we decided to make faces along with it, and heck why not play with the adjustments of color on the computer and really make the silly picture even more ridiculous.  Taken awhile back on a particularly crazy day at work while we were in the "test kitchen".

Enjoy your week-end.  Link and badge for Friday 5/Random Friday in meme tab.  It's fun join us.
(8,2)