Mamaw's Green Glass Pitcher and Glasses

Welcome to 2011

It's gonna be a great year!

Resolutions - I don't do them and I resolve not to start doing them :)

Dyeing Ugg Boots

I did it! I was nervous and worried but my Ugg pale pink boots were dying - no that's not right! They were DYEING LOL :) Well, really I guess they were dying to be dyed. They were filthy and couldn't be worn like they were. Something needed to be done. I got some inspiration from a fellow blogger catchickcreations and an ehow article.

So first I sprayed them with Shout and brushed them with a toothbrush. I didn't feel like I was getting anywhere so I just went all in and threw them in the washing machine on cold/gentle.

I patiently watched them go through each cycle with my finger pushing down on the "lid closed" button. (I didn't want the bottom to come unglued from the leather)

They came out looking great! I stuffed them with paper towels to retain their shape while they dried.


I knew I wanted them to be "pinker" because they were so faded, so I bought RIT powder dye in petal pink. (I used one whole packet for the bucket). We (because at this point hubby became involved) filled the bucket with hot water and I dissolved the packet in a glass bowl with two cups of water then poured the dye mixture into the big bucket and stirred.

I throughly re-wet the Uggs and put on gloves so I could get them into the bucket top down with the soles floating together (if I would have had larger boots/feet, this wouldn't have been so easy).
I waited for thirty minutes and swirled them around with a stick periodically during that time. When the dinger went off, I pulled them both out and began the rinsing process - warm, then cold when they no longer had pinkish water running out of them. Then I stuffed them again - and waited. And waited. And waited.

It took almost 4 days for them to dry and I kept changing the paper towels in them.

But I have to say the final result was well worth it all. They are now presentable again. As a final process (to soften up the sheepskin on the outside again) I vigorously "brushed" them with a plastic bristle hair brush. This returned some of the nap and made them soft and pliable again :)

This was the final product/outcome. I think they turned out great. And thanks catchick, for your kind email and helping me through a scary process :)

As a side note, the stitching around the tag on back did turn pink. Since the dye was so light, it didn't affect the tag. I had a brainstorm of an idea to color the tag with white crayon (wax) before I dyed them to keep them from changing but in my nervousness, forgot to do that, so I don't know if that would work or not.

Yard Sale

Find garage sales
in Hazelwood, MO.

It's Been a Glorious Summer!

The dogs swam and loved it, and the whole experience was made so much better by the addition of steps into the pool rather than a ladder. We played volleyball almost every day and near the end the dogs thought they would like to play too.
We worked all summer trying to get some grass back in the yard and have been somewhat successful despite a dying lawnmower. A couple times I had summer evening fires in the new fire pit but I always ended up sweating and jumping back in the pool.
Mom and Dad came to swim and eat a couple times - on Father's day it was just like old times :)
We enjoyed several evening/night/1 am swims and games of volleyball in the dark - hilarious! - and we figured out our pool is just too small and our bodies are too big for Marco Polo :)
Near the end I started selling on ebay to get rid of some of this accumulation and have had some success but with the frequency of visiting ebay, I have also bought (some really sexy boots).
We celebrated our anniversary with an awful meal that luckily we didn't have to pay for and it ended with me being sick. So we celebrated again the next night at home and it was truly an awesome evening with a fixed steak, a night swim and chocolate!
We picked peaches and made ice cream and pies. Then made more ice cream with cosmic brownies!
We visited the Festival of the Little Hills and bought dip and ate it for dinner - LOL!
School has now started back and the pool is down to 71 degrees already. I'm facing that it is over and time to move on but it has undoubtedly been one of the best summers ever.

I really have finished it

I did finish my book. But now I have begun the rewriting phase and am ready to tackle it again. Believe it or not, I am excited about it. The biggest part that scares me is the whole publishing end of it. Not actually getting published, as I imagine that would be amazing. But the "how to get published" part of all of it. And ISBN number. Well who the hell knew?? There goes a whole days work of teaching. An agent?? Oh now come on.
Actually, the writing and rewriting and editing is SO the easy part. That's the part I know how to do. I know how to write. What I don't know how to do is this whole business of publishing. What a nightmarish mess!

Oh, and as of the last week, the new title is "Eternal Fault."

One Adventure after Another

wow
Spring Break has been a fun adventure so far.
Monday - went hiking to a place I had never been - St. Stanislaus. Went up a huge hill and slid down (on accident) due to the mud. And I guess calling it a hill is an understatement. It was a mountain. The view from up top was absolutely gorgeous despite my numbed and filthy mud-caked hands and almost new and now filthy white down coat.
Later on down the trail we found an old homestead - just the foundation was left and parts of the rock walls that had tumbled down. It was an odd oval shape???? What's up with that? It is at the end of the public land, announced by a big sign in the middle of the woods nowhere. So we turn around to head back to the main trail and surprise - a big quiet pit bull was about 50 ft. in front of us. My Snow White effect kicked in and I started to just talk to him. Ronny told me not to move but I didn't feel scared at all (reminds me of the time when the Jona's dog was coming in for the attack and out of reflex I yelled in my deep voice "go lay down" and she backed off :) So, really not wanting to make Ronny mad (cause I wasn't worried at all about the dog), I stood still. Off in the far off distance I heard a yell, which must have been the owner? and the dog turned and ran off. Made for a quite interesting day, and even though there weren't any bears or giant mudslides, our little occurences along the trail were just enough to give a hint of dangerous fun :)

Tuesday - Bought the nieces and nephews Easter candy - and yes I do think it is a bit early but it has to mailed so that's okay I think. Then we took the puppies to a dog park for the first time. We were a bit leery of Raleigh and how he would act, only because he acts like he is going to tear Rio apart in the backyard and I didn't think this behavior would be acceptable :} So we get there and in goes Rio, no problem and Raleigh and I are on the outside and he is whining like crazy. He drug me in, scraping my hand along the gatepost in his hurry, so I looked like I had gotten all chewed up before I even entered. I had blood and welps all over my hand. Geez. So we get in and he is still on the leash and isn't being very good so we just took him off. He LOVED it! He was the littlest dog there, and at one point there were about 20 dogs inside running loose. He ran and ran and ran, chasing and being chased. And then poor Rio, the 95 pound scaredy cat. He wouldn't leave our sides. And he was much more interested in the humans and children ::::)))) (yeah, I can lick a face at just my height!!!!) A dog would come over very friendly and he would run around and hide behind hubby's legs!

So tomorrow? What adventure awaits? I know it's St. Patricks Day and I will be eating corned beef and cabbage :) I wish they made green wine :)