LizzyK8 Won!

LizzyK8 was the first person who entered the 1,000 page views giveaway and she won!  Now I need to knit a pair of socks...  I'll post about them because it is a great pattern.

Blog Hub Swap Day 5:  It's notions day!  Wrapped in fabric were: the bar of beautiful glycerin soap you see above, a label for the fabric (100% cotton), and Lovelabels.  I love all things handmade.  I guess mostly, that is what this blog is all about.

Thanks Laura!

Oh, wow. I don't know what to say.

the back...

Day 4 of the swap

I opened today's gift this morning and was completely taken by surprise.  I was surprised that I was surprised.  I knew from the feel of the package that it would be a note pad.  But I had no expectation that Laura would create something so sweetly, funky for the farm.  I love it.  I don't know if I will be able to use it.  It is too special.

Wow.

I don't get it.

The cats love those little fur covered mice cat toys.  They will play with them for hours.  But they also love to drown them in their water bowl.  Why?

 

Oh, you want to know about the swap?  Okay.  More presents from Germany!

Today's gift was squishy and round.  I love yarn.  Shocking, I know.  It took me 10 min to "get" the significance of the colorway as I assumed that the label would not be in English.  Do you "get" it?  I am looking forward to knitting some funky socks.  Thanks Laura!

Coffee! aka Swap Day 2

I love coffee.  Really.  A lot.  Today's present was peeking out of it's wrappings, and I knew I would not be able to resist snooping.   So, even though the squishy ones were calling, I opened this one.  I had actually guessed that it might be coffee.  I'm happy.  Coffee is good. Really good.

Tonight, I asked the 6 year-old kid to take the pictures for the blog.  She showed me the closeup of the coffee cup photo from the German Kronung coffee.  I told her that she takes really good pictures, and she replied: "Well, I am a meteorologist." 

She also took a closeup of the fabric for me.  I am not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I have a few ideas simmering.   You know when I do use it, I will tell you all about it...


Thank you Laura!


The rest of you, seriously go check out Laura's blog: SuddenExpression

A package came!

The Blog Hub on Ravelry is hosting a swap.  Eskimimi is the swap Mom.  I have never done a swap before.  Basically, you sign up, complete a questionnaire, and get randomly assigned to put together a package of goodies for another person in the group.  This swap was designed to be incorporated into our blogging.  We each will send seven individually wrapped packages and be able to write about what we receive.  The "spend range" is around $40.  There are required items: yarn, notions, embellishments, and a pattern.  The rest is up to us.

Laura from Sudden Expression got me.  Laura has been really supportive of my blog and has a wonderful blog of her own subtitled: Ranting and Raving About Yarn and Life.  Check it out.  Her amazing photographs of the German countryside and fun take on life and everything make it one of my favorite blogs.  I'm really excited to see what treats she has found in Germany and grateful that she got my name.

I'm also grateful to Laura because she is a military spouse.  We are now much quicker to recognize our service men and women and thank them for their efforts and sacrifice.  That is good.  But it it is not enough.  Behind each person who serves in the military is an entire family who loves them, supports them, and most of all worries for them.  Especially the spouses.  They live in foreign countries, put their careers on hold, struggle to be able to go to school, and somehow hold it all together.   We need to recognize their sacrifice too. Thank you Laura.

Now back to the box...

There are six wrapped packages.  The 7th present is the fabric that the packages are wrapped in.   I was going to be obnoxious and guess what is in each package, but I won't.  My Dad used to guess each of his Christmas presents by shaking the boxes.  Shake, shake, shake: "Humm.  It's a yellow sweater."  He was usually right, so my aunt started wrapping a little box with two pennies in it into each of his gifts.  Problem solved. 

Since I opened the box tonight, today's gift is the fabric.  It is a very elegant brown floral on a plum background.  Funny how I dusted off the sewing machine last night...  Ideas are already percolating.

Thank you Laura!

Croutons

I saw geese flying south yesterday.  It's soup season.  

I also had a loaf and a half of sourdough bread sitting on the counter going stale.  No one else ate it and I'm not sure I love sourdough as much as I thought I would.  I decided that I would try to make croutons.  Sourdough croutons might be pretty good on soup.  I found this great article: How to Make Croutons.

20 minutes later they were done, cooling, and perfect.  Holy cow!  Why didn't anyone ever tell me how good and easy these are?  I'm never buying croutons in a box again.

1000+ page views!

How cool is that!?  With the new Google Analytics, I can tell that they are not all me.  I just asked the farmer what I could give away to celebrate.  He immediately said: "A cat." and held up Ella.

No, we will not be giving away Ella.  But what?  The only ideas I have are soap (done that) or something small(ish) that I knit.  Maybe, a pair of bed socks.  None of the stuff I cook would transit well.  Could you imagine what the US Post would do if a big jar of tomato sauce broke in transit?  I was thinking about homemade granola, but I haven't even made it yet.  I'm going to and it's gonna be great.  I hope.  Stay tuned.

Anyway, I still want to celebrate with a giveaway.

What would you like better: soap, a pair of warm fuzzy socks that won't fit in your shoes, or what?

Leave me a comment about what you would like and why.  I'm also open to ideas for future giveaways.  The little kid will draw a name next Saturday (9/18) and I will either package up some soap (Scrappy, Summer Vacation, Honey Wheat Beer, and  Tea Tree & Aloe) or warm up the needles for a pair of socks.  I will even ship internationally.

Good luck!