Estate Sale

If you've been following this blog at all, you know my mother passed away two and a half years ago.   She left a four-bedroom house stuffed to the rafters with things, most of which were antique or collectible, and the rest were at least vintage.  It was almost an unsurmountable task at the beginning and we had to move some stuff to storage, then to her greenhouse, and have several garage sales just to have enough space to sort through the rest of the stuff.  It's been a long, horrible process.  Long because there was just so much stuff!  Horrible because it was my mother's and I had to dispose of it.  Horrible because I knew enough to know stuff was worth something, but not enough to know what it was worthor where to sell it.  Guilt ridden when I had to sell something below its value.  Selling collectible stuff in this economy is difficult.  I finally sorted out the junk and the stuff I didn't want to deal with (stained linens and broken toys and junk), went through the neverending boxes of clippings, and drug home what I did want to keep, ever mindful of not wanting to create the same situation in my own home.  This summer I just didn't know what to do further, so I called in some estate sale ladies.  They have spent the last two months sorting and selling.  They are down to their final sale, a public sale this weekend.  Then the rest of the stuff will go to the thrift store and we will have a large part of the job done.  There will still be stuff there, the stuff in the garage and some stuff in a back room, but the main part of the house will be empty and we will be able to start repairs and painting in there.  I am so happy!

~Jane

Projects, projects, projects

When I got back from vacation, I was all fired up to finish projects. First, I finished some more of the extra-small diapers for Zachary. I didn't end up really making enough of them to be useful, but at least he had some.

Then I sewed three sets of summer pajamas for Malachi to take with on their Colorado vacation. I used fabric I already had, prints I had purchased years ago for a project that never was started.  But Malachi loved them anyways.

After that, I sewed two summer skirts for my daughter (who, I believe, has yet to wear either of them and probably won't). :)

Lastly, I sewed a car mat for Malachi to take on vacation, which turned out to be such a hit, I made another one for him to give as a birthday present to one of his friends.

I've knit a shawl for myself, which needs to be blocked. I'll post a picture when its blocked.  I'm back to knitting on my cable sweater. Fall is coming and I'm going to need it.

~Jane

Baby Shower Quilts

Just before we went on vacation, my daughter's friends had a baby shower for her and Zach.  I finished up a couple of quilts - one for one of the friend's little boy and one for Zach.  The one with jungle animals was for Leah and the one with forest animals is for Zach. 

~Jane

Boise Vacation

Each summer my husband and I take a vacation with some friends. The guys ride their motorcycles and the ladies ride in the support vehicle. We always have a good time. The route is chosen for what is fun to ride on a motorcycle, rather than the destination. This year we visited Boise, Sun Valley and Pendleton. In Boise we stayed at the Harrison Suites and it was a wonderful place to stay. The staff were nice and shuttled us around the town in their van, since there were six of us and only five could fit in the car. 

At one of our stops, the guys helped the park ranger set up his tipi.  They were really into it.  Then we stopped at a cute park for lunch.

When we got to Boise, we toured the Old Idaho Penitentiary.  There was so much to see, we ended up spending about five hours there between the prison and the botanical gardens.

The grounds were beautiful.  The prisoners had raised roses for Jackson and Perkins.  The cellblocks were horrible and I couldn't imagine people living there up until the 1970's.

This is a picture of some of the washing machines in the prison laundry. They were huge.

Solitary confinement was in a separate building called Siberia.  My husband is standing in one of the cells.  The only light in the cell came through a hole in the ceiling, which would drip water in from the outdoors.

On the grounds of the prison they have made a wonderful botanical gardens.  We could have spent many more hours there.

We stopped at Craters of the Moon and looked at the lava beds.

We visited Sun Valley, which has hosted the Olympics in the past.  It was a wonderful place to look at, but we couldn't have afforded to stay there.  We did get to see skaters practicing on the outdoor ice rink in the 90 degree heat.

This was at a little store in Sydney.  I bought some skeins of homespun yarn there from local sheep.  It was the only yarn I saw the entire trip.  Because I didn't have my own car, it was impossible to sneak away and do some yarn store shopping.

Well, that is my report on our vacation.  I'll catch up on my projects finished since then in my next post.

~Jane

 

Blogging?

I am having trouble blogging with the new format.  I'm here, just can't seem to post any pictures. 

~Jane

Checking In

It seems like it has been forever since I posted a blog.  I've been really busy and, since I hate to post a blog without pictures, I haven't posted since I haven't moved the pictures off my camera. 

In July, my husband and two other couples went on our annual motorcycle trip.  This year we went to Boise and SunValley, Idaho, and then went home through Pendleton, Oregon.  We visited Craters of the Moon, the Old Idaho State Penitentiary and Botanical Gardens, and toured the Pendleton woolen mill.  The guys rode their motorcycles and the ladies rode in the support vehicle and I think we discussed every subject known to man over the seven days in the car.  :)

We went back to work the next Monday.  Of course, the Olympics have been a distraction, one that I really didn't need right now.  My daughter and her family are going on vacation next week and I have a bunch of projects I need to get done before they leave.  I am trying to finish up the initial set of 9 extra-small diapers for Zachary.  I only have the inserts to go and hopefully will be done with them tonight.  Then I've cut out three pairs of summer pajamas for Malachi and need to sew them.  My daughter wanted some cotton elastic-waisted skirts and we haven't been able to find any in the stores, so I have fabric to sew three of them for her.  Plus, my husband's birthday is on Saturday and I need to bake him a cake and clean house before company comes over.

My Olympics needlework projects, besides the sewing, have been continuing on my red sweater - I'm working on the sleeves, and a lace shawl that one of my co-workers decided she wanted to make and I thought I'd make it also so I could troubleshoot any problems she might have with it.  I'll have to add some pictures to this post so you can see what I'm doing.

~Jane

Children's Museum Day with Grandma

Malachi and I spent the afternoon at the Hands On Children's Museum and Priest Point Park last week.  There was no one at the museum the day after July 4th so he had lots of time to play with everything.  The park, on the other hand, was packed.  What a fun day to spend with my little guy.

Driving the delivery van.

Fishing in the water table.

Driving the tug boat.

Loading cargo on the crane.

Playing at the moon sand table.

Trying out the gear in the construction corner.

Swinging!

Malachi and Grandma

~Jane