Got slapped in the face Friday!

I knew it would happen, but I did it anyway.  The shopping trip Wednesday was so much fun, BUT it put me in bed all day Friday.  That’s the slap in the face.  Although I’ve been feeling better for about a week, I still have this damned fibromyalgia.  I’ve gotten to a point though, that I would rather play~~then pay.  What else can I do?  Not have any fun again –ever?  Even Mickey kept saying you better not overdo it!  How can you go to those neat fun places and not overdo it, even if you’re not sick?  That’s how it goes for me.  Feel good one day…have fun.  Down for two days…not having fun.. Repeat.  It’s much better than being down every day, I must say.  I’m learning to live with it and adjust.

OK now some fun stuff!!!  I went to the mailbox yesterday and there was a package for me!  (Actually Mickey said it was there on Friday night~~he just forgot to pick it up)

A surprise gift from Ter’e!  My bestest internet friend.  Look at my bootie!  (ok…not my BOOTIE!?!?!) What is it loot?  

This is a flag bag!  It has beaded trim across the bottom.  I had it hanging on the inside of the front door, but Jimmie Dean loved it too!  Now it’s hanging out of his reach.

Didn’t I tell ya it was loot?  I told Ter’e I needed to buy Karen Kahle’s marbleizing book and she said don’t do that!

And the little snowman bag is hanging in the living room now too!  Maybe he will cool me off!  It’s 97 degrees outside today.  I love anything red, white and blue.  And who doesn’t love a little bisque lambie?

This pin was hooked by Victoria Ingalls.  It’s INCREDIBLE!  The size is 1 1/2 inches by 1 inch!!!  I can’t even see the little loops without my granny glasses on.  I couldn’t ever hook something that small.  That’s why I had to quit cross stitching.  Can’t see the holes.

 

She also sent me a stack of old ATHA hooking magazines.  Boy will I enjoy looking at those.  Maybe I’ll stay in bed some morning and just dream!

And let me not forget.  The biggest surprise.  A “boatload” of Cushings dyes!  I did get in the dye pots yesterday too!  The old dyes didn’t seem to make any difference in how the colors turned out.  I was in heaven!!!

I simply cannot thank her enough.  What a great friend.  And to think we’ve never even met!  (in person)

One other funny thing happened yesterday.  I got up early to go garage saling.  I went to an estate sale in a nice side of town.  Well the guy didn’t really have anything for sale BUT he had a HUGE dumpster in the driveway.  Another lady looked at me and said, “Let’s Get In!”  Of course I started climbing in !!!!  It was the huge kind of dumpster that they bring out when you’re getting a new roof.  BIG! 

It’s already 90 degrees and the humidity must have been the same number.  After only a few minutes digging I was dripping wet!  I found some great things though.  An old suitcase~looks almost like it’s cardboard.  Another Samsonite carry on bag, or train case as I call them,  a metal floral tray, a handful of crocheted doilies, a new bag of poly stuffing, and my favorite thing~old black and white photos.  They are from the 20’s-40’s I think.  Some on the rivers and even two men on a bicycle built for two!  I will definitely  use those in my art journals and I will have plenty to share with my journaling friends!  Mickey Moaned when he saw me unloading the Durango.  More Junk???  Where are you going to put it???

Oh and a local news lady was at the sale.  I told her if she had had her camera crew with her I would have had to bribe him to give me the tape!  Can’t let that secret out All over town.  When I got back in my car I had mascara down to my nose and all around my eyes!  Pretty!  Luckily that was my last stop before I was going home anyway. 

I’m listing some PRIMITIVE COLORED WOOL on Etsy later today!  Be sure and check the shop!  I did get alot of dyeing done yesterday,  thanks to Ter’e! 

Have a great week and stay cool.

Peace, Sheri

Crazy Junk Man’s place

Well if you’ve been to Tammy's blog you’ve seen the video of yesterdays escapades.  She Really did not want to go to Crazy Junk Mans.  She told me it was because it was hot, dirty, he’s crazy, etc.  I’m still not sure she wanted to let the cat out of the bag as to where he is located!!!  (kidding)

There’s no way one hundred shoppers could make a dent in all of the junk this man has. 

And inside his “Junk Mall” it was surprisingly organized.  Really organized!  That’s where the crazy comes in I think!

But I told Tammy he’s probably crazy like a fox.  He probably has more $$$ than all of us!

Ready for pictures?

Crazy Junk Mans “Junk Mall” ---Outside

 

  Some might call this scrap metal.  I call it projects!

OK, this is the first time I told Tammy to “hold my camera…I’m goin’ in!” 

 

Now we’ve gone inside.  This is where the crazy part comes in!  How can you go from what we just saw outside to this organization? 

    

 

 

 

 

 

   

 Tammy is still muttering “Oh My Gosh!”

She told me to stick my head in this door.  It said Employees Only on the sign on the door.  But it was open! 

She said the last time she and Patti were here the junk man took them inside this unknown room.  It’s long and the whole length of the building.  She said it was very CREEPY.

Must have been Patti.  He didn’t offer to take us in today!

But… all of the sudden he was right behind me offering to take my treasures to the counter so I didn’t have to carry them.   I had found a new tea pot.  Had been searching for just the right one.  I declined his offer, in case I found one I liked better.

Would you look at this little pile of enamel ware?  I love this stuff!

 

 

 This is probably a Hillbilly thing.  A crocheted cover for your enamel pan lids!!!  And we say we don’t have enough hours in a day!!!   How did they do it?  

OK, are you understanding the crazy part yet?

From this…

To this…

 

There seems to be an oil lamp theme of collections here too.

At one of the shops in Joplin there was a Huge display of them.  I’ve never thought much about them.  I have a couple, but never thought there would be so many different sizes and shapes.  I was just thinking functional!

 

Ever notice as an artist, you tend to look at colors very closely?  Oooh, that would be a great rug color!!!  Well these are some of the color groupings at Crazy Man Junk!

 

 

  

 

 

Patti had asked Tammy to keep a heads up for an old fashioned clothes pin bag.  The cloth kind.

I have a feeling that if they were going to be anywhere in  here this would be the place.  Well I was Not going to stick my hand in that pile!  We have brown recluse spiders in this neck of the woods and they would love this pile!

Sorry Patti!

 

I asked Mrs. Crazy Man if she thought they had one and she said defiantly no.  I have a feeling they know exactly what’s in this place and where!

Mr. Crazy Man was nice enough to carry my things out to the car.  He said, “see that 150 ft. long quansit hut there across the interstate?  That’s mine too and it’s full of stuff.  Go on over there and go in the side door.  The light switch is just above the door.  Let me know if you want anything!

Sure!!!  We’re game!  After all we’re on our way home, so what if we get really dirty at this point?

This is the sidewalk by the entrance.

 This is the side door!!!  Scarey right?  I told Tammy to go first!

 

 

 

We’re in!  Tammy is Still muttering OMG!!!!  This time a lot louder!!!

 

 

 

 Leave it to me to find a box of shiny jewelry in a place like this!  I really am a crow.  That’s what my husband calls me! I will bend over and pick up anything that’s shiny or sparkly.

 

 Back to the crazy.  These beautiful dining chairs in the midst of all of this junk!  There were only five of them though.

 

 If you watched Tammy's video this is the last time I said- I’m goin’ in!  See that blue and white box at the bottom center of the pic?  That’s about where my foot was when I screamed bloody murder!!!  A frog had jumped past my right foot!  When I looked down I thought it was a little baby bird.  (Remember, I’m blind!)  Can you imagine what went through my mind when I saw something moving in this place?

We suspect this is where Mr. and Mrs. Crazy Man live.  Right in the parking lot of the quansit hut!

And yup……just as I thought……..

He is crazy like a fox.  There’s a Cadillac parked in his drive!

 

If you haven’t already, go to Tammy’s blog to check out her video of our expedition.  skiptomyewe.blogspot.com.

I had fun sharing our day with you.  I hope you had fun watching it with photographs!

Peace,

Sheri

Hooking night at Simply Fibers

We have changed to only meeting once a month for the summer months and we changed to Tuesday nights! I was pleasantly surprised at how many girls showed up last night.

Rita, Renee’ and Dulcy. From left to right.

Here is a close up of the rug Rita was binding! I was absolutely drooling over it and I’m not even really a “cat person”. Isn’t it incredible? Her work always amazes me.

This is Sandy…Still working on her “rain, rain go away” rug. I give her a hard time about not hooking enough. She has a very busy and interesting life though!!!

Hhmmmm….. I hook quite fast. Does that mean I Don’t have a busy and interesting life? I’ll have to think about that one!

Janette is just starting this darling pattern. I’m kind of scared of bees, but I love this pattern. She found it in an old issue of The Wool Street Journal.

Vicki is hard at work and I believe Marsha has been shopping at Tammy’s big 25% off sale.

This is a little birdie mat that Vicki just finished. Darling, right?

This is my friend Anne. She is telling stories of her fabulous trip to Greece. WOW! She told me they were visiting a grotto and she instantly thought of my Mary rug! In Greece, and she thinks of me!?!?! Now that’s a compliment!

I finally got the binding finished on my chicken rug.

Now I can start my Shabby Sheep rug. I’ve already got the wool dyed for it. I just wouldn’t let myself start it until the chicken was completely finished.

And as promised I’m sharing the recipe for the delicious rhubarb cake! It really is good. Time consuming to put together, but worth every minute!

I got the recipe from The Today Show one morning.

Rhubarb Cake

1 1/2 C. brown sugar

1/2 C. soft butter

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

1 C. buttermilk (you can add 2 t. of vinegar to regular milk and let

it set for 3 minutes. This is what I did.)

2 C. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

1 1/2 C. chopped rhubarb. (About one stalk was plenty)

Sift dry ingredients and set aside.

Mix brown sugar with butter until well mixed. Add eggs and vanilla. Alternately add buttermilk and flour until thoroughly mixed then fold in rhubarb.

Mix together 1/4 C. sugar with 1 t. cinnamon. (Of course I used about 1/3 C. sugar) Spread batter into 9” by 13” pan and sprinkle with the cinn./sugar mix. (The batter will be Very thick)

Bake 350 degrees 45-50 minutes.

Mmmmm Mmmmm Good!

Today Tammy and I went junkin’. First we headed out to Mt. Vernon which is about 40 miles or so from home. We went to the flea markets there and decided the day was young so we headed on to Joplin, MO. another 40 or so miles to the west. Oh My Gosh. We had soooo much fun! Bought some junk, had lunch, bought some more junk and then back home.

She took some hilarious video of the two of us. Be sure and check out her blog tomorrow! www.skiptomyewe.blogspot.com

And check back in with me tomorrow and I’ll post the still shots. I even talked her into telling me how to drive to the “crazy junk man’s” place. You’ve NEVER seen anything like this!!! She didn’t want to go because it was Hot outside. His stuff is mostly outside and it’s a Dirty-Dig for It kind of place. Of course I was in absolute heaven! I love to dig! I think she had just as much fun watching me dig and look as she did shopping for herself. I’d say, “I’m going in!” and start climbing over stuff! Too bad I wore white pants today. Oh well, they’ll wash and it was totally worth it.

Gotta go list some more woolens on my Etsy shop. Click here to go there! I’m still having the FREE SHIPPING special. Be sure to check it out!

Peace,

Sheri

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