Well, we always look under the back door neighbors shed, hoping to see foxes. All summer I didn't see anything. Last night, I saw some shadows (hoping FOX), well.... then I saw the masked faces. As in numerous faces and numerous glowing eyes. We had a family of raccoons under the shed. You can't see much in the photo since it was dark. But you can see their shadow and glowing eyes. I tried to lighten the photo, but that's as good as it gets. Foxes are a lot more fun to watch, even though they left eaten parts scattered around ~ ewwww!
Today was the first day of school - a half a day. Matt came home and slept until we we to the dentist for cleanings. It's hard to wake up after sleeping in all summer. I went to work, even though the kids didn't have lunch today. We were there as the kids came to the cafeteria to go over rules. I'll be working with 2nd grade ~ at least I'm taller than them!I managed to finish one more candle mat this morning before work. Maybe tomorrow I'll have some time to get something accomplished. I have a few more cut out and traced and ready to stitch. Hopefully tomorrow when the kids are at school.
I just finished this cat punch needle pinkeep ~ it will go on Ebay later tonight. I've had this graphic printed and waiting to punch and finally got around to it. I've been doing a little more outlining on my punching (I did the cat and the flower on this one), and experimenting with combining colors. I used 3 strands each of different shades of green for the grass. The background was done in ecru and beige, but combined in different amounts throughout the background. Just a different way to get some depth besides over-dyed floss. Tomorrow is my last day off before starting work. Even though Tuesday is only a half day of school, they want us in the lunchroom as the kids are getting tours. I managed to get all the other stuff for work done last week. I got fingerprinted, had to get a physical with TB test, go back to have the TB test read, and a morning meeting. I'm even going to get paid for attending the meeting ~ what a concept! :)
If I take my walk after dark tonight, I'll have to take my camera. Last night the sun was down when I finished walking. I had one more block until home, when I thought I saw a dog coming towards me. It wasn't a dog, but one of the foxes that lives in the neighborhood! It was no more than 10 feet from me, and didn't run away. I made some noise, and it finally left (ok, "I" was the one who left ~ QUICKLY!). Now I need some photos of it! :)
I finished stitching another candle mat. It's one I've done before with brown vines and cranberry colored berries. I changed the colors, and created an autumn berry mat. It has a dark orange, orange, and gold berries. I still need to age/distress it, but I'll do a bunch of aging at the same time. I sold some mats to a store in Florida, and need to make some more! :)
After debating for a couple weeks, I quit my one phone calling job earlier this week. I will only have one job at school, then do crafts on the side. It's a big relief to not have too many jobs. Plus, now I know my hours and can schedule everything else around it (Bible study, dentist appointments, doctor appointments, etc).
Andrew, Matt and Rachel picked up their schedules at the jr high yesterday. Andrew got the 10:24am lunch period. He's not too happy about it. So, he'll be starving by the time he gets home. I better stock up on quick meals/snacks for him. It's better than the school on the news where school starts at 6am and lunch starts at 8:45am.Yep, they were serving lunch foods at 8:45am.
Andrew has been begging for guitar lessons. A recent college grad on the street was handing out flyers for lessons, so I think we'll use this guy as a teacher. Can't beat the price, or the location ~ a few houses down on the street!
I was scrambling to get a few finishes to list tonight. I always like to set Sunday evenings as a deadline to list items ~ it gives me motivation to complete unfinished items. I finished this set of turkey bowl fillers. The wings are a vintage quilt that I stained up with coffee and vanilla. The photos don't do the turkey bodies justice. They are painted onsaburg that I sanded off. They really look stonewashed/prim. 
I also finished a set of pumpkin bowl fillers. The pattern calls for a curly rusty wire on the top. I didn't have any rusty wire ready, so I substituted some cinnamon sticks for a stem. Walmart was out of polyfil, so I'm making a list of craft items to purchase this week. I never made it to get green material, as we went to the pool yesterday. It hasn't been a great pool year, since the weather has been cooler than normal. So, when it got hot yesterday, off to the pool before it closes for the year.
Tomorrow I go to fill out all the paperwork for the new job. I'll have to get fingerprinted sometime this week, too. Between that and a meeting, picking up jr high schedules on Wednesday, it should keep me busy. :)
I'm in the bowl filler mood! I've cut and sewn pumpkins, snowmen and turkeys, but need to finish stuffing them. I want to make some Frankenstein faces, but need some more green fabric. Yet another trip to Hobby Lobby! I feel like I live there sometimes. :) Then I'll need some new nails or screws for the neck. Almost all the hardware is galvanized, so it doesn't rust. Last year, I was using a really heavy screw, but they were pricey, VERY pricey. In this photo, I had used some old, rusty nails. I'm hoping to find something I like this year.
I officially got a job today! I'll be working at James' school everyday during lunch. It will be 2 hours a day, but I'll take it. I can still run errands before work, or after. It's close by, so no drive time. It still leaves time for crafting, too. :)
Yesterday, I was in the crafting mood. I started cutting out snowman bowl fillers, snowman face bowl fillers, pumpkin bowl fillers, and some Thanksgiving turkey bowl fillers (above). The tail is a piece of a tattered quilt that I stained and dried. Now to work on the bodies. I had made some last year, but used a pattern for some big turkeys. This year, I'm making some smaller ones, so they can easily be arranged in a wood bowl or basket. 
I almost finished with some fall candle mats (oops, I forgot to rotate the photo!). I just need to press them out with an iron.
I like the way this sheep mat turned out. I took a pattern, removed the wording, and added another sheep to it. The black sheep really stands out. I usually do white sheep, but tried something different.
I spent the day school shopping (thanks, Grandma!). I still need to double check that all the supplies are in their backpacks, and that I didn't forget anything. I still haven't heard on the job.....
For those who want to know about my cousin, Michele's (a houseful of boys), new job ~ here's a photo of her! (and she wonders where her boys get their attitude!!!!!) I'm glad I live a LONG way away, as payback for this could be nasty! :)
I won the giveaway from Bella Michele Jewelry! (I secretly think she picked me, as she wants a Santa punch needle!) My package arrived in the mail yesterday. It came with a personalized box, too.
Here's the silver necklace that I won! It's even prettier in person. Rachel is now trying to steal it from me, but she won't be able to ~she'll have to put one on her birthday list.
This is the project that I have been working on the last 2 days. I worked on it all day yesterday, as it rained out the entire day. (that's a GOOD thing, as the ground is way too dry) I ended up ripping out many sections of it, as the outlining didn't turn out how I wanted. After experimenting with different needle heights and number of floss, I re-punched with better results. I had to make a Hobby Lobby run to get more floss so I can finish the background. The background is a brown, with sections of dark brown. It was too dark this morning to get a photo outside for actual colors. I'll finish the scarecrow, then start a pile of stitchery candle mats. I have a special order for a Christmas one, and the possibility of selling some to a shop. I better get busy! :)
I did finish these Christmas cross stitch bowl fillers on Sunday night, and even took photos of them. I just didn't get them listed on Ebay this week. I stitched them to pieces of vintage (almost an army green) green wool felt, using very primitive stitches. They are stuffed with bits of wool felt & fabric snippets. I'll have to get these listed next week ~ and hopefully a few more items!
After spending 4 days trying to solve my mystery/dilemma on the phone, I was able to solve it yesterday. I even went as far as ordering credit reports for myself and Rachel. (thankfully, these don't show up on those reports!) I had made an initial call to the police to see what the process was. I was going to copy my files, and then take them over. In the mean time, a person confessed to one of them (I won't classify it as one of her friend's anymore). I'm hoping nothing else will show up, but who knows.
I went into school this morning to see about possible jobs for the lunch hour. I'll find out next week how many days it will be. It's only 3 weeks until school starts...
Here's the garden - with bricks instead of rotting wood. It really opens the back of the garden, as the height of the bricks is a lot lower. I've even noticed that few plants have a bit more sun. I now will be slightly rearranging some plants, as they have a bit more room without the dividing diamond sides. There's even a bit of room to add one or two new plants!
On a side note, I've been busy thinking about what I should do next on a possible online issue. HELP! Last week we started receiving a message and calls saying Rachel had won a free cruise. We're on the do not call list, and we know it's all scams. How did a minor get on a list? Then I opened the phone bill the day it came (I usually wait until I pay it to open it). I noticed a couple charges for webhosting and another phone service. Definitely not ours. I called the phone company, and the other companies involved to remove the bogus charges. They are saying that Rachel authorized it on a certain date (which happens to be when we were on vacation with no phone, no computer). I know it wasn't her! Do I now get copies of her credit report (it's a minor, so I'll have to send away for them) to see what's on there - hopefully nothing. Do I call the police, but how are they going to track down who signed her up online? Any suggestions?
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Today was the first day of school - a half a day. Matt came home and slept until we we to the dentist for cleanings. It's hard to wake up after sleeping in all summer. I went to work, even though the kids didn't have lunch today. We were there as the kids came to the cafeteria to go over rules. I'll be working with 2nd grade ~ at least I'm taller than them!
