Knitted Babe, Tree Frog, Pickle Jars, Sun Tea, (and a Picture of Me!)...

This is the first tree frog I have seen this year! And he was hanging out on our picture window which made for an interesting picture...can you see him? If you click on the pictures they will enlarge.

I saw sun tea jars at the store the other day. I was tempted to buy a couple because we LOVE making sun tea! But really, we are pinching pennies and squeezing George til he screams (don't we sound mean? LOL) and on top of that, I have never had good luck with them because the spicket part always ends up leaking. And they do require more cleaning to keep the spicket and lid crevices clean. So I thought I'd come up with something at home and "make do". Let me tell you, it was fun to be creative and the pride for my accomplishment was much more satisfying! Not to mention money saved. I remembered I had saved these giant pickle jars, which turned out to be the perfect size for sun tea jars. The only problem was that I haven't found an effective way to get the lids to stop smelling like pickles, so using them was out. I didn't want to use plastic wrap because of the chemicals and waste. So I thought 'reusable' and sewed the edges of two small squares out of left over material scraps. I tied them up with some cotton yarn to keep them in place while outside and ta da! They work wonderfully! They are easy to pour from and are easy to clean. And they are pretty to look at sitting on the deck too - bright, cheap, and cheery.

I got my first knitted babe done and my daughter loves her! She named her Cassi after one of her sister's friends. I have three more to make at least...one for my other daughter and for two of my nieces for their b-days. I will probably make a couple for Christmas gifts too, I know a couple of more girls who would love them. I sewed her a little pair of undies and a quick dress out of fabric scraps. I still want to add more hair underneath the hair that is there, but my little one was anxious to love on her so she is good enough for now. And she drags her EVERYWHERE! And she buckles her in when she goes in the van with us. I just realized something so I have edited this to add that if you click on the picture of the doll sitting on the shelf, to her left is a picture of me with my husband! Since I have never posted a picture of myself, I thought that might get you all excited. ;) LOL The picture frame says "It's not the destination, it's the journey." I love that frame.

The Dirty Divas are doing great! The are growing fast and are loving their new home and yard. Herding ducks is not an easy task but it is funny....it took three of us forever to get them to go up their ramp! They are so neat because they move as a flock - so they'd go back and forth past the ramp then under it, and repeat. A time or two we have just give up and caught them and put them in...it was easier that way! Last night we went out late to put them to bed and they were already inside on their own. The nights we herded them it was earlier in the evening and we wanted to get them put up. I think we'll just let them put themselves to bed and then go close them in. We have been getting a lot of rain and they enjoy it. I am ready for things to dry out so I can get in the garden. And I am ready for some sunshine! These grey rainy days make me tired.