Throw Back Thursday – My How Things Have Grown

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. While moving all my files from one computer to another I discovered a picture that took me back over a decade ago.  A young Angel Nina was hanging out in the yard while helping Charlie do some gardening.

Many of the plants towards the front of the planting were just put in the ground during that spring of 2005. The small tree in the middle with the red leaves is a Japanese Maple. In front of the maple tree to the right and left are a couple of evergreen shrubs.

Here is the same Japanese Maple and evergreen shrubs about 11 years later. Some of the shrubs that are in the top picture were moved as the tree and other shrubs grew and crowded them out. You never know how a planting will turn out when it first goes in the ground. It’s always fun to stumble on a picture of what our yard looked like when a planting was first done to remind us of how it once looked. Gardening definitely takes patience to wait for the final outcome.

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Hooking on Hump Day – Rendezvous Clutch

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to show you a clutch purse I made. One of the other reasons I haven’t blogged much this summer was because I had a family wedding to attend and along with being away for that I also did a bit of sewing for wedding gifts and made this clutch to go with the dress I wore.

I found this pattern in the April 2015 issue of Crochet World magazine called Rendezvous Clutch. It worked up to the perfect size to hold my phone and a few essentials. I wasn’t sure at first if I would add the flower details but decided that it was too plain without them. It also helps to weigh down the flap so it stays closed.

The original pattern called for a zipper across the top but it didn’t call for a lining. With the way the crochet fabric had fairly large holes in it I decided to add a lining so nothing would fall through and you couldn’t see what was in the clutch. Speaking of the crochet fabric, it is made with a special stitch called “Crossed Double Crochet” that is well described in the instructions. At first it was a bit awkward to do but it got easier once you got used to it.

To make the bag perfect I added a couple of pockets, one with a zipper, to the lining. The pattern was very easy to follow and the bag worked up to the same size as the pattern description.

I used about 1 1/2 skeins of Lily Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn. Usually I don’t enjoy working with cotton yarn because it seems kind of sticky but this time I used a Clover Soft Touch Crochet Hook and the yarn slid easily around my hook.

Picture from Crochet World Magizine
April 2015

I’m real happy with the way my bag turned out and hope I have some other occasion to use it sometime.

I receive no benefit from any of the links in this post but have provided them for informational purposes to my readers.

Chewy Review – CANIDAE Life Stages Bakery Snacks

Hi everyone, it’s Millie & Walter here! Sorry we haven’t been around much. We’ve been trying to read all your posts but haven’t been able to comment on all of them. We will explain why at the end of the post.

Right now it’s time for this month’s Chewy.com review. We are reviewing CANIDAE Life Stages Bakery Snacks with Lamb, Wild Rice & Sweet Potato. There are other flavors available too.

Let’s see if I can open this bag

According to the Chewy website these treats are “… made with just 7 nutritious main ingredients, this recipe pairs savory lamb with easily recognizable foods like wild rice and sweet potato. These healthy dog treats make training and treating a snap, especially since they’re great for dogs of all ages, breeds and sizes.”

Those look yummy!

Each treat is scored in the middle so you can break them in half but we don’t recommend that.

They are a solid treat but are easy to crunch into smaller pieces.

Waiting is the hardest part

We finally got to try a couple of pieces. Take a look at our video that we took. You sure can see how much we loved these treats.

If you can’t see the video you can go here to view it.

We both think these treats are great!

We have to give these treats 8 paws up (because that is all the paws we have) and we recommend them to all our friends.

This month we are joining Oz the Terrier and Koru Bear for their Chewy.com blog hop.

Disclaimer: As #ChewyInfluencers we received one bag of CANIDAE Life Stages Bakery Snacks with Lamb, Wild Rice & Sweet Potato from Chewy.com to review. We did not receive any monetary compensation for this review and will receive no additional benefits for barking about the product or the company. The opinions in this review are the honest opinions of ours.

Now we promised to tell you why we haven’t been around much.

That picture above is part of the cause. Our mom’s old computer (on the right) was starting to act up too much so she bought a new one. She has been working on moving all her files and applications to the new computer and we have to tell you there have been a few HBO words coming out of her mouth in the past few days. Whenever you upgrade to a new operating system (even though they are both Windows machines) things don’t always work as they used to. We just wanted to let you know that we are trying to catch up now that our mom thinks she almost has everything moved over like she wants and hope to get to post a bit more than we have been recently.

Chewy Review – Caru Soft ‘n Tasty Baked Bites Rabbit Recipe Treats

Hi everyone, it’s Millie & Walter here!

It’s time for this month’s Chewy.com review. We are reviewing Caru Soft ‘n Tasty Baked Bites Rabbit Recipe Grain-Free Dog Treats. There are other flavors available too.

According to the Chewy website these treats “…use only carefully selected ingredients, which is why their Rabbit Recipe Grain-Free Dog Treats are made with real rabbit, blueberries and cranberries. These delicious bite-size treats are grain-free and baked in small batches to lock in exceptional aroma and flavor.”

This is a tough bag to open

Each treat is about 1 inch square.

They are soft enough that they can be broken into smaller pieces but we don’t recommend it.

We finally got to try a couple of pieces.

The waiting is the hardest part.

Take a look at our video that we took. You sure can see how much we loved these treats

If you can’t see the video you can go here to view it.

These are so tasty!

I’ve got my eyes on the prize

We both think these treats are great! We have rabbits around our house but our mom and dad never let us catch any. After tasting these treats we know those bunnies are very tasty.

We have to give these treats 8 paws up (because that is all the paws we have) and we recommend them to all our friends.

This month we are joining Oz the Terrier and Angel Sugar the Golden Retriever for their Chewy.com blog hop.

Disclaimer: As #ChewyInfluencers we received one bag of Caru Soft ‘n Tasty Baked Bites Rabbit Recipe Grain-Free Dog Treats from Chewy.com to review. We did not receive any monetary compensation for this review and will receive no additional benefits for barking about the product or the company. The opinions in this review are the honest opinions of ours.

Wordy Wednesday – More Kitchen Updates

Hi everyone! It’s Walter here. Ever since our kitchen was finished my pawrents have been adding a few more touches to make it even better.

I think I look great on this new runner

One thing they did was buy a couple of new carpet runners. The old carpet we had in the kitchen was too small and they wanted something in front of both the main work areas of the kitchen but not have it cover up the entire floor.

This rust colored one is about 8′ and fits perfectly in front of the sink area and the grey one is 10′ long. The carpets were purchased from Oriental Rug Mart in Victor, NY. They will let you take rugs home and try them out before you even buy them. These two are from a “collection” which means the same color threads are used throughout the entire collection so they coordinate very well.

Are we done talking about the carpets yet mom?

Millie & I really like having the runners so we don’t go slipping and sliding through the kitchen. Now on to the other improvements in the kitchen. These are ones you can’t see when you just look at the kitchen. You have to open some of the drawers to see what my dad has been doing to help keep the drawers organized.

Silverware drawer

First up is the silverware drawer. There are lots of things you can buy in the stores to help you organize your drawers but they are mostly made of plastic and cost way too much money. Having a handy dad helps a lot. All of the inserts were made using a 1/4″ maple plywood for the base and  1/4″ or 1/2″ solid maple for the dividers. There also were no nails used. Everything is carefully glued together and dado joints were used to make sure the pieces lined up well.

Overhead view of silverware drawer

Utensil drawer – side view

Utensil drawer – overhead view

By making the inserts himself, my dad was able to custom fit them to make sure all the utensils or silverware fit perfectly. My mom really loves the utensil drawer. For one thing it’s a 36″ wide drawer and it is what they call “full access”. That means it pulls all the way out so you don’t have to reach under anything to get at the items in the back. She no longer has to stack as many items on top of each other and it is well organized.

Spice drawer

Here is a different type of insert for storing all my mom’s spices.

Spice drawer – side view

The insert for the spices takes up about two thirds of the drawer so there is also room for some pot holders and other things. This one is made using a 1/4″ maple plywood for the base and the angled pieces are made from 3/8″ baltic birch plywood.

knife drawer

The knife drawer is the last one for now. With our new kitchen we finally have room to be able to store things so they aren’t all piled on top of each other.

The knife drawer has room in the back for additional items too. As you can see there is also space in the middle for our bread knife that has an adjustable guide. 

For this drawer my dad used 1/2″ and 3/4″ thick solid maple for the dividers and 3/4″ maple for the handle rests.

Well that is all the new stuff that has been added to our kitchen. We sure are lucky to have such a handy dad. Next up he is going to make an insert for all his coffee pods but I will have to show you that later.

Chewy Review – Natural Balance Beef Formula Dog Food Roll

Hi everyone, it’s Millie & Walter here!

It’s time for this month’s Chewy.com review. We are reviewing Natural Balance Beef Formula Dog Food Roll. There are other flavors available too.

Here are pictures from every side of the roll
(Don’t forget you can click on the picture to make it bigger)

According to the Chewy website these treats “…are formulated to be meaty tasting and full of delicious flavors that no dog can resist. These delicious rolls are packed with high quality nutrition and the finest ingredients.”

Use this food as a full meal, a topper or cut it up for treats

The roll is soft and cuts easily with a knife.

We only get those little pieces?

That sure looks tasty

We finally got to try a few pieces.

Hey Millie! You are supposed to wait!

Take a look at our video that we took during our second tasting. You sure can see how much we loved these treats

If you can’t see the video you can go here to view it.

Let go of the treat and you won’t lose any fingers

These treats are fantastic

We both got 4 treats each and boy were they great!

We have to give these treats 8 paws up (because that is all the paws we have) and we recommend them to all our friends.

This month we are joining Oz the Terrier and Angel Sugar the Golden Retriever for their Chewy.com blog hop.

Disclaimer: As #ChewyInfluencers we received one Natural Balance Beef Formula Dog Food Roll from Chewy.com to review. We did not receive any monetary compensation for this review and will receive no additional benefits for barking about the product or the company. The opinions in this review are the honest opinions of ours.

Hooking on Hump Day – A Sunhat for Mother’s Day

Hi everyone it’s Cindy here. Today I’m joining the Hookin on Hump Day blog hop to show you a sunhat I made for my mom for Mother’s Day. We all know that as our parents age it becomes more difficult to find things to gift them at holidays and birthdays. When the Summer 2017 issue of Crochet! magazine arrived I glanced through it as usual and when I saw the pattern for the Sheer Southern Style Sun Hat by Kathy Lashley I just knew I had to make it for my mom.

My mom loves to wear hats, especially in the summer, so since Mother’s Day was a few weeks away I set out to find the yarn. When I do a pattern for the first time, that you must do to the same size as it’s intended (unlike an afghan for instance), I like to use the same yarn that is called for in the pattern. The yarn used for this pattern is Omega Sinfonia DK-weight yarn. Fortunately I found a local source and went to acquire the yarn. The pattern calls for the colors Navy, White and Blue Orchid. The store didn’t have any of the Blue Orchid but the Light Teal was a great substitute since it was the same value color as the Blue Orchid.

No hat is complete without a proper hat box. Since this hat pattern uses millinery wire to keep the brim from flopping I wanted to give it to my mom in a box that could be used for storing it properly. I looked all around (Michael’s, JoAnn’s, etc.) and couldn’t find anything wide enough for the wired brim. A quick perusal in our basement found a box that stored a vacuum hose for Charlie’s wood shop that was the perfect size for the hat. He was very gracious in giving up the box for the hat but I couldn’t have my mom’s hat sitting in a “tool” box.

This is one of those boxes that comes apart and opens to a flat piece of cardboard. I rummaged in my wrapping paper supply and found this great floral and two solid colors that all went together (even if they weren’t bought as a set). With a bit of spray adhesive, scissors, and tape I had a proper hat box. The only thing left to finish off the gift was a flower.

I couldn’t find one pattern that fit the bill so I took three patterns and combined them to make the above flower. The main pattern is called Blossom Posy and I did the whole pattern using the white for the center and the light teal for the petals. I wanted to make the flower a little bigger and so I used a modified version (by not doing the “extended single crochet”) of the final round of the Cheerful Crochet Flower pattern to add the white around the outside. The last thing I added was a covered button to fill in the middle of the flower with the navy colored yarn. The reason I wanted to fill in the middle was because I added a pin to the back and I didn’t want that to show through the hole in the center of the flower. With the pin back the flower can be worn as a lapel pin if desired.

I love the way the hat and flower came out. My mom was very surprised and happy with the hat and has worn it many times already. We have an outdoor wedding to go to this summer and she said the hat matches her dress.

The hat pattern was very easy to follow. I had never worked with this yarn before and found it a bit sticky to use. It is a nice 100% cotton but as you pull it out of the skein it kind of sticks to itself and can sometimes get tangled. This wasn’t too much of a problem that I would use this yarn again if I found the right pattern for it. When I went looking for the millinery wire I did a search on Etsy and found Kathy Lashley’s shop by accident. I didn’t even realize at first that the Etsy shop where I purchased the wire and joiner was owned by the woman who wrote the pattern.

I receive no benefit from any of the links in this post but have provided them for informational purposes to my readers. The pictures of the hat were taken with a form under the crown. It doesn’t stay up on its own.