Rhythm Is Going To Get You

I'm trying to get my rhythm. It's hard. I've blogged about this before ... feeling like I just can't get my groove going. Too many left feet ...


I have no magic solution but I've decided to take advantage of our beautiful weather (before we hit humidity of 100% and temps in the 90's+).

I've been walking/jogging to help me clear some of the cobwebs out.

Ahhhhh.

I finally got out my iPod to give me some motivation and company. I love it when a song that you haven't heard in forever pops up. Here's a few of the ones I was hitting the pavement with:

Jumping Someone Else's Train

In God's Country

Candyman

Cluck Old Hen

Anyone got a play list they want to recommend? Anyone ... anyone ... Bueller?

This Is A Stick Up

Give me all your yarn and no hooks or needles will be harmed.

Remember this attempt at a market bag? Well, I was determined to try again ... and again.




I wasn't however going to keep trying to get a picture of the tote solo ... Goldilocks here was determined to help.


I'm so glad I didn't toss the pattern. I ((love)) this tote. The other day at the store I had 2 lbs of chicken, 1 lb of pork chops, 3 lbs of ground beef, and 2 packages of hot dogs ... and there was room for more. This back rocks.

I did make a few changes to the pattern: Round 18 I Ch 1, sc in join and next 22 sts but then I ch 1, sc 4, and repeated the Ch1, sc 4 until I had the desired length for the handles (about 7 inches). I then sewed the handle to the end of the 22 stitches (does that make sense?). I then did the same on the other side. Sorry to be so confusing, I'm not so great at explaining these things.

A little side note - a butcher shop just opened in town with local meats raised naturally. They have crazy hours but I hope to get there soon and fill my tote. Don't worry, I won't tell 'em it's a stick up; I'll just ask for them to fill 'er up and then I'll pay ;-)

Daddy-O

I'm so predictable. Here's what DH and the grandpa's got for fathers day:





Both DH and my father in law are big football fans; actually they are huge rivals too - DH went to Virginia and my father in law went to Virginia Tech. Never a dull moment during college football season ...

If I remember correctly the fabric is Alexander Henry.


I was in such a rush to get my dad's in the mail I forgot to take a picture. He loves trains so I used some green (his favorite color) linen from my stash and backed it with this train fabric.


I learned a lot from my first go round with the bookmarks - this time I used a chalk pencil and 'erased' all the missed marks. I also had Henry just write their name instead of draw a picture keeping it simple.

We had a nice day until DH got stung by a bee - two days later he was at the MD because he could barely walk. His ankle was so grossly swollen had become infected. Who knew a bee sting could do that! He's on an antibiotic now and is doing much better but I'll tell ya - I've never really seen anything like it. Poor guy. At least he got some time to prop his feet up and use his new bookmark!

Bulletins

• Turn the page ... Tuesday is coming up soon - July 7th. I'm working on a new linking feature. Stay tuned.


• Christmas in July. Yup. I'm doing it again. You sewing, crafting, gift planning along? I'm planning a few more shoe totes and maybe some lap quilts done the Some of a Kind way (in other words - with shortcuts and no binding). I also stumbled upon these cute soap savers. I'm thinking these would be nice with some local hand made soap.

• Craft Hope has announced the new opportunity to help. Baby blankets - must be received no later than July 25th - more details here.


• Stacey and Kris have announced their new sew along - details at either blog or the flickr page. I'm going to use this as my opportunity to help me make up for my flop of a May(d) for Me!
  
• Something big is happening here in Some of a Kind land. I can't share yet but you all will be some of the first to know (and no I'm not pregnant - seriously). I'm working as fast as I can considering Henry has semi-officially dropped his nap. He's adjusted quite well. I have not. Here's a little sneak peak of the WIP -

Go Local :: Baby Got Bok

I like bok choy and I can not lie

You other bloggers can't deny

That when a girl walks in with an itty bitty pan

And puts bok choy in your face

You get hungry, wanna pull out your garlic

Cause you notice that bok was sauteed

Deep in the pan she's carrying
I'm hooked and I can't stop eating ...

Tell 'em to saute it! (saute it!)

Saute it! (saute it!)

Saute that healthy bok!

Baby got bok!

Now that I've taken back to your early 90's dance club days ... here's what else was in the bag last week:

5 carrots

5 nectarines

3 cucumbers

swiss chard

4 ears of corn

1 recipe

How about you ...

I Should Work For NASCAR

Seriously.

I can rip out a crochet project that took hours in 18.262 seconds.

Just look at what I've accomplished this week:

Baby sweater that was supposed to be size 0-3 months.

It looked like it could fit John.

Rrrriiiiipppp.

Market tote.

I'm on my third go of it. I deliberately keep miscounting ... trying to improve my demolition time you see.

Now if I could only clear my cutting table as fast as I can rip a seam ...

maybe then NASCAR will hire me.

What's All The Buzz About

I recently participated in a Garden Swap hosted by Kerry of pennydog jewellery and I was partnered with Katharine of Wolly Wotnots. I really hit the big time. Katharine spoiled me beyond my wildest gardening dreams ... but first let's get to what I sent. I'll save the best for last.

I thrifted a pair of skorts to convert into a gardening apron. First things first, I cut out the shorts and then added bias tape so it wouldn't fray over time (so wish I had a serger ... sigh).



Then I cut out the zipper and added my own bias tape using this awesome Trefle Green Bee linen fabric.



What was the front of the original skorts have now become the back of the gardening apron.

Then I added a tie for the apron and looped it through the belt pocket to keep the apron from slipping.

Hopefully the only bees Katharine will tangle with in her garden will be the ones on her apron!

I also included wire bound journal, a dishcloth, and some gummy bears.

Now on to the mother load. Prepare yourself, I told you she spoiled me.

You still with me? I know, It's insane!!! Here's the skinny: hot pink flower bag, a paper potter, needlepoint pillow, gardening journal, cute tin (inside is gardening stakes), knitted flowers, napkins, puzzle, oregano, and bee's on a stick ...

It didn't take long to for my boys to make them fly! They are the cutest little things (I'm talking about the bees here ;-P)

Everything has found it's place in our home (and garden). I definitely got the better end of the deal this go round!

If you would like to see where Katharine got all my goods you can go here for the details.

Ups and Downs

Henry and I headed out of town this past weekend. A quick getaway which had it's shares of ups and downs. ... getting out of town was a huge downer requiring DH and I to switch cars/car seats/luggage' GPS/DVD ... in a local parking lot due to a random light on the dash. Better safe then sorry. Once we unloaded and loaded again Henry and I were on our way down to Charlotte, NC.

Our friends live in 'uptown' Charlotte.

We indeed spent a great deal of time looking up.

After a great dinner out we got down on the corner to some good ol' New Orleans style music.




The next day we headed to a movie theater so comfortable you felt like you were at home. We saw UP. Very cute. Henry had never been to a movie before and can't wait unit he can watch it again.

We also enjoyed some down time in one of Charlotte's many parks.

Sunday morning we got up early and headed down to the Lynx station for a quick ride.

Then it was on the road again ... back up to Virginia. Home sweet home.

Go Local 2009 :: Onions & Apples Oh My!

Well. We didn't go all local for one meal but we certainly incorporated much of our bounty into some delicious semi-local eats.


Chicken salad made from our CSA red onion and parsley from our yard.




This is one of those recipes that you don't measure; it turns out different every time. I love that.

Some of a Kind Chicken Salad

1 lb chicken cooked (chopped or shredded)

red onion

celery

parlsey

red wine vinager

sour cream (or mayo or both)

spicey brown mustard

pepper

Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt

I had been itching to make some apple bread. It's so yummy and sugary I just had to add a bit of whole wheat flour to make me feel not so unhealthy!

Mmmm. Mmmm. Can you smell that?

One is gone already and the other that I froze ... well, it will be for breakfast tomorrow I'm sure!


If you are here via Mr. Linky from Heather Jane welcome! I just got my act together last week but I did a whole weeks worth of posts about our local CSA that wasn't on the link ~ hope you scroll down and check them out :-P

Go Local 2009 :: The Bounty

What's in the bag?

4 apples

1 beet

1 red onion

3 yellow sqash

arugula

lettuce

1 recipe

Henry and I are headed out of town to visit some dear friends this weekend so you will have to wait until Monday to see what became of our bounty. You can rest assured it is not the recipe they gave us ... we told our beet to beat it (I must confess here that I had that album cover poster size in my room when I was a tween). It made it's way from our kitchen to our neighbors ... we're just not beet people.

And the bag?

I did manage something crafty this week after all. Free pattern here.

Go Local 2009 :: Mi Casa Su Casa

Our CSA in conjunction with another local agency hosted a kids day last Saturday. We were there with our boots on ~ the activity was to make a toad house and they happily got down and went to town.

Unfortunately I dropped the shovel on Henry's habitat and broke the planter. He was very kind and said "accidents happen." We made due ...

The fortunate toad not only has a duplex (for his mother in law no doubt) but has stepping stones as well.

An added bonus was to make a lizard house; again, my boys happily complied.

Our lucky "lizards" (skinks actually, thanks to the commenter who identified them ... lucky lizard just has a nice roll to it I think but I digress ...) have the great fortune of having their home outfitted with every rock from our back yard that we could carry.

And yes, lest our lucky lizards feel left out ... a stepping stone for them too. Mi casa su casa!

Go Local 2009 :: Hands And Feet

Our CSA periodically host events for kids (and with other local agencies) to expose children to the great outdoors. We decided to jump on over for one of the events.

The boys had a blast getting messy making a toad-aly cool habitat for some hip hop friends. You will just have to wait to see the finally product. For now, I give you exhibit A (or should it be J):

Once we were done (ruining our clothes) painting we headed over to the chicken coop for some more turkey talk ... and who do we run into but none other than Angela of The Clothesline Chronicles and her girls. Ok - hubbie too but I think we burned him out with all the sewing talk so he went to smell the roses ;-)

I don't think it gets much better than this ...

Aren't those flip flops the cutest! Angela made them. So crafty. Come to think of it, good thing those chickens didn't take a liking to them there flip flops ... they eat right out of your hand. I don't know who would have yelped, crowed, or gobbled more - probably my boys ;-)

Go Local 2009 :: Green -

Houses.

The original purpose for the greenhouses at our local CSA (long before it became an urban farm) was to grow roses.



Apparently at one time they were one of the largest suppliers in the USA. Our CSA have since taken over most of the greenhouses for vegetables and storage but still have two that grow roses.

You can't even walk into this one.

It's just beautiful.

These babies have survived on their own. I guess someone forgot to tell them that they are known for being one of the most fragile and time-consuming flowers you can attempt to grow.

Ignorance is bliss.

I see blues skies ahead ...

Go Local 2009 :: The Challenge

Have you heard (or should I say read)?

Heather Jane has issued a challenge: Go Local. Eat one meal per week of as much local ingredients as you can get your paws on and then post every Monday to show us your bounty. The Some of a Kind gang is a little behind schedule (we won't get our first fixin's from our CSA until later in the week) but I thought I would share some of the sites from our local urban farm.

The chicken coop ...

... with one large and in charge turkey. There's always one in the bunch ;-)

The Kennel ...

... meet Princess the goat and her companions.

Signs, signs ...

... everywhere a sign. Only these were not blocking out the scenery - they were a part of it!

We have already made several visits to our new feathered and furry friends and being the (semi) good blogger that I am, took loads of pictures. I even was lucky enough to run into one of my local bloggy friends for a toad-aly awesome time (more on that in another post). I don't envision having too much sewing to share this coming week so I'm going to inundate you with pictures from the farm all week. Consider yourself warned ;-)

Don't forget the challenge - are you up for it?

Loose Ends

Linda of Craft Apple hosted a give away and I won!

I'm definitely going to have to get out some needles this summer and just go for it ... check out this cool beach chair! Way out of my league but maybe one of the sweater tanks ... maybe ;-)


I've apparently gotten bit by the swap bug ... check out this cute one:

Swap details here. Sign ups end June 15th. Go on over ... you know you want to! Looks like I'm gonna have a few loose ends on my hands this summer. I'd say that's a good problem to have!

Dearest Little One,

This comes to you with lots of hugs and kisses. Two little boys just like you cuddled and snuggled your new friend so that you would receive not only this doll but the love that it was made with.

May he bring you some happiness and comfort; but most of all, we want you to know that you are indeed loved.

xo xo,

The Some of a Kind Guys & Gal

(Thank you Jade for giving us this opportunity!)