Getting Skinny???

Good morning one and all!!!  Once again I start a journey with blogging. This morning while on facebook, I came across a very interesting site/blog titled "Organize yourself Skinny". What catched my attention was the Freezer Food. As I am getting ready to have right shoulder surgery and being out of "commission" while the shoulder heals... I think that preparing dinner's ahead of time would be very helpful. Another reason that this site caught my interest were the words "organize and skinny". I really wish one would lead to the other but by utilizing some of the tips from this facebook page, I'm hoping both become real for me.

Tammy (owner of Organize Yourself Skinny) first suggests starting a blog. Check... I already have one. The second suggestion is being accountable by weighing yourself weekly and posting that weight. Whoa! Not check!  Don't feel comfortable posting that yet... but I did weigh myself and I have a lot of organizing to do.

I hope whoever my readers are will embrace my new adventure and give me positive encouragement. I do promise to also post about my cat's and crafts.... but this new journey is  my attempt to start blogging again.

Talk with everyone again soon!!

Okay....so it's been 4 years.... busy, busy, busy

I really enjoyed posting here and sharing my love of my family, pets, crafts and gardening. Where has the time gone? I am going to give this a "go" again. We will see what happens.

We moved!  In 2012, we became "empty nesters" and my better half and I decided to get a place that was "ours" with NO history. We love where we live now. Not far from a lake, on a private road with very little traffic. Very different from where we lived in Dover.

We are "empty nesters"!  Katrina has 3 children and she is living in NJ working as a Director of Infection control at a facility.  Jason is working as an IT and is living with a former co-worker in Felton, DE. Brandon turned 21!!!!  He is working full-time and now resides with a former class-mate in an apartment in Dover.  Since my past post, we have hosted another exchange student.. Miami from Thailand. We miss her so much!

Since the move, I have new gardens... will post pictures another time.

My cat Bengi has died, as well as our Sheltie Winston. We miss them!  We had Wesley for 4 years and due to health reasons, he has found a new home with a friend and I get to see him whenever I want. He is very spoiled in his new home.

We have a new "kitten"  who is 1 year old. Her name is Daisy. Beautiful kitty... will post pictures another time.

I am still knitting... collecting "stash"

That's it for now...  I will be back!! :)

Wesley Dec 2009 011

Wesley Dec 2009 011
Originally uploaded by cathyes61

Wesley's first snow.... looking for snowballs I was throwing to him. Hilarious!

A Very Long Time

It has been a very long time since I have updated here. Very busy with my new job. Enjoyed the birth of my 3rd grandchild. I guess I need to share that I am now the proud "momma" of a 13 week old boxer/rottweiler mix puppy. His name is Wesley and has so much energy. I've had him about a week now and house training is going okay....

Learning about "Korean" Alpacas

Wow! That is about all I can say about today and this past weekend! Yesterday I had the pleasure of keeping one of my very best friend's mother company for the day. We watched Momma Mia and The Sound of Music. We had popcorn and tea. We had fun.

Today though.... I went with another one of my very best friends to an alpaca farm just outside of Marydel Maryland.

A couple of days ago, Rena asked me if I wanted to go see the Cria at the alpaca farm. I did not know that "cria" was the name of a baby alpaca. To help me remember what a baby alpaca is, I have been referring to them as "Korean Alpacas".

Well today we went to Dragonfly Alpaca Farm. We met Dede and Roger and 20 or more alpacas, their dogs, cats, a goat, a horse and a sheep and a guard llama. And beautiful gardens. We played with alpaca fiber. It was a day of total relaxation.

Here are some pictures of the alpaca:


This is a mama and her baby (cria)


This is a papa alpaca or "herdsire"

This is a pet cria - the fiber is different than the other alpacas
It is very soft and fluffy, very difficult to spin. I don't spin so I don't
know. I just thought he/she was so adorable. This one is moving
to Missouri I think. They have another alpaca that will be moving
to Ohio. Fiberlicious Alpaca Fiber.... soooo soft!!!!

I felt so welcomed and relaxed at this farm. Dede and Roger
are awesome and they have beautiful gardens! I was so enamored
by all the alpaca that I forgot to take pictures of anything else.

I did get a picture of the llama....



I have one more picture that I have to share....


Making homemade chocolate chip/almond ice cream to top off the day

YUMMY!!!!

It has been an awesome summer so far!

Last night I had the pleasure of going to a potluck dinner at Stitches with Style in Newark and was able to sit, knit and chat with Wendy Johnson. She is a wonderful person and someone that I know I could be great friends with. Very down to earth and has a great sense of humor. If you ever have the chance, go visit her blog, Wendy Knits. She has beautiful designs available for free and her 3rd book is available on Amazon.com for pre-order. (Which was done by me last night) I am in the process of knitting my first pair of toe up socks, Wendy's Serpentine Design.



I also thoroughly enjoyed spending a weekend with my mom for her "belated" birthday celebration. I gave her my very first lace project "Ishbel" and I think she loved it. This time for her birthday, we started in her hometown of Vineland, NJ and with using Garmin and my mom's wishlist, we went on our "Knitting Safari" as mom calls it.
We went to several wonderful knitting shops, Marlton, Haddonfield, Mt Holly and Princeton. My favorite shop was Woolbearers in Mt Holly but I had the most fun in Princeton. We went to an excellent Italian restaurant called Theresa's and the couple sitting next to us, the beautiful lady was also a knitter. Her poor friend... was not a knitter but patiently waited for us to stop talking about fiber, stores and projects and stash. After dinner, we went to a little ice cream shop called the Bent Spoon. They had very good ice cream but my favorite shop still remains to be Zippy's here in Dover. He has excellent ice cream! I should know, I am always trying out his new flavors.



At the beginning of the summer, my 3 children, my 2 grandchildren and hubby and I were treated to a vacation by my father to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It was so wonderful spending quality time with everyone! We tried making it a technology free week but of course my oldest son used his cell phone to access the internet daily. So much for technology free. This first picture I love. It is a picture of my 21 year old son teaching my grandson how to jump the waves.


This is one of my favorite pictures from the week in the Outer Banks. My 2 year old grand-daughter loved going to the beach. Everyday she would march herself and her toys down the street saying "Come on Mimi (supposed to be Grammy) Hurry up, we have to get there" She is a very determined and sassy 2 year old. I love both of my grandchildren so much!









And of course, no vacation is complete unless you visit the yarn shops in the area. My hubby and Dad were fishing and I took a day to myself and visit 2 wonderful shops. The first one was in Manteo NC called Fine Yarn at Kimbeeba and the second was just outside of Kitty Hawk in Southern Shores called Knitting Addiction. Beautiful shops and I can not wait to visit them again.





















Just two more pictures to share. Fourth of July in Dover is great. I was having a great time at the parade with my daughter, her friend and my boys and 2 grandchildren. The only damper on the parade was this "Antique" Corvette. It is a 1979 Corvette. The year I graduated from high school. I will always have a problem with considering myself as being "antique"









The last picture I want to share is of my 3 cats eating their dinner. I finally was able to catch them looking like chocolate filled Oreo cookie. I know, I'm weird but I have wanted this picture for a long time.

Bengi is on the far left, Kiki in the middle and Spencer on the right. Yum, Yum, dinner time!

It must have been a cold night

I was going through some of my pictures on the computer today and came across this picture I took this past winter. Who needs a blanket when you can have one made of cats! Never thought I would ever get all 3 on my lap at the same time. I would not have if I had tried to. This has been the one and only time I have had all 3 on my lap. Truly a night to remember. :)