I have found another yarn store... and it was amazing!!!

The view when you open the door....

Yarn and more yarn.   Lots of other crafty materials too- some beads, purse handles, etc.

I thought about buying this yarn... to make a scarf like this... but I changed my mind.   I did buy 'yarn' though.... more photos another time.  It's late at night and I'm tired.

*Click on the top 2 photos to get a great view of the store.

Why can't I be rich... or 'YOU WANT HOW MUCH FOR THAT?'

I liked the front porch and how the house is sitting up above the road-- probably not much of a chance for 'flooding?'... but it was TINY inside. WAY too small...

Looks good from the outside... other than the sloping/sinking  roof right dab in the middle that you can't see because of the tree.  Typical grandmother house on the inside... no updates.  That's ok... I can see past that... but, the upstairs had a bathroom and a bedroom.... and about 1/3 of that area was a big ole empty storage room.  Problem was... no insulation EVER had been used and ok... the truth is... it was HOT as hot could be up there... and you could see through the roof in that no 'insulated' storage room.  So, I can only imagine how cold or how hot that upstairs area would be???   And, how expensive the utility bills would be?   I did like the front of the house and the yard.

I want to buy a house.   Also,
I want to win the lottery so I can buy a house.  However, since that isn't likely to happen... I need to look at houses within my budget.  So, new houses are out of the question.  They just cost too much.  Besides, I like the older homes because they have some character and usually have a fireplace, wooden floors, a dining room, and sometimes even a sun room.

Inside view of the screened in back porch of the green house... why?  What was the plan?   Strange, huh?

This house had a lot going for it... a very nice (amazing wooden floor) living room/dining room, 3 bedrooms (after all- my yarn and other craft supplies probably will need their own room?),  and 1 3/4 bathrooms.   However, the kitchen wasn't big enough (at all) for my small kitchen table to go into it and I could ignore the horrible color it was painted- after all, I can paint walls with the best of them... and what is up w/ that front addition?  It looks like to me- that at some point... someone got the idea to 'close up the porch?  Or maybe to just add that room to the front of the house?  It is a narrow entry hallway like place... and to me... as they say on HGTV 'no curb appeal' it looks like the bigger part of the house is hiding behind this stone wall addition?   *Plus, you don't even want to know what they did to the back porch place...  let's just say... one would need to turn all lights on and wear one of those lights that miners were on their foreheads if they walked out in this area...  For safety, of course.   *THIS house was a lot more money than the other houses too.

The back view of the screened in porch... as mentioned above.

Last summer, one afternoon, my friend and I drove to where I used to live in Oklahoma before I moved overseas.   We looked at 4 houses.   In my 'projected' budget.   It was eye-opening.  Everyone of them would need to have the kitchen updated... (beyond painting the walls) and they were very small.   So, it made me realize... 'iwouldratherbeknitting' you have got to GET RID of a lot of stuff and save more money for a down-payment!

It makes me feel better to know that ALL OF THESE houses are still for sale even now... just a few weeks shy of one year later.   *I'm not sure about the second photo (the brick house) if it is still for sale or not?


So, anyone have a VERY NICE (in sound condition), good roof, 1800 sq feet or more, nice older home for sale?  Or know of one?  I do want the wooden floors... (no carpet- I have some rugs that I have bought through the years and I want to put them down on wooden floors)....

When I get to the states, my friend and I are going to go look again this summer... we'll watch a few HGTV shows to give us some 'buying a house' knowledge... but, I think that what I really need are the PROPERTY BROTHERS to find me a house that they'll re-model for me!!!    At least I do have more $$ saved for a down payment.  

Have an abundance of metal caps?

Chair made from recycled soda/water/beer metal caps.  I saw this when I went to Southern France a year or two ago.   It was in front of this store that had lots of odds and ends for sale... I thought the chair was really great and it looked comfortable... but, there wasn't any way that I could bring it back with me.   *Click on the image for a larger view so you can see how they attached the lids/caps together.

Apparently, I live on the Italian "Chisum Trail".... because this morning at 6:10am... I suddenly heard....

I barely had time to find and grab my camera... and I was able to take ONE PHOTO out the front door.   Do you see the donkeys in the mix of sheep?   The baby sheep are in the back of the group.  The man that you see is a real 'shepherd' he even has the crooked stick as seen in countless Christmas plays!   I had to take the photo through the glass of the front door- (no time to find the key to the front door- plus, I was still in my pajamas) and then I ran to the other side of the house and filmed some through the dining room windows!   My guess is that they are herding them up to the mountain grassy areas now that winter is over?   I have NEVER, EVER seen sheep in any fields anywhere!!!!  I wonder where they have been staying/living for the winter?   The little babies in the back are so cute and you can see the guy go and grab one that isn't able to keep up (he lasted for quite awhile though) and dump him in the back of the pick-up.  If you look closely there are at least a couple more little babies already in the back of the truck.

*Click on the arrow to see the video images...  I still can't believe that my very busy street in front of my house suddenly became a stockyard full of donkeys and sheep and sheep herding dogs!  Plus, one cute looking 'shepherd'...

Well, what an interesting start to my morning!

Soon, I'll get dressed (I was still in my jammies) and go to the local bakery, then to the big grocery store in the nearby town because I haven't been to it in awhile.

 I am finally finished with the 3 'on-line' university classes that I was taking to get credits to keep my teaching certificate updated.  We have to get 6 credit hours every 5 years.  I have one more one hour credit class to take this summer.   The last of the classes ended this week.  I finished 2 about 10 days early and then worked to get the last class finished (it didn't take as long as it was only 1 college credit) and I finished it a few days early.   So this will be the first weekend of NOT having to work on college classes for weeks/months.

We are also off work on Monday... however, the local areas shops/etc. will be closed for election.  So, it seems like a day to spend doing stuff at home... that hasn't been taken care of lately-- due to all the college class work?

Information about the Chisum Trail... (it went from Texas, across Oklahoma, and then to Kansas)
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/WWchisumT.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chisholm_Trail See Ardmore?  That's where I used to live... of course, the Chisum Trail was long before I was born.

Oklahoma, you are in my thoughts...

As I drove home a few days ago... this is what I saw as I approached the little town that is right where I live... the bell tower for the church that is about 1 1/2 miles from my house.   Sure looks like something 'ominous' weather-wise is going to happen, doesn't it?   However, many times... I've seen the sky look like this... and nothing happens... other than RAIN... sometimes it even blows away and it did in this case.  No rain as a result of these suddenly approaching dark clouds.

When I was a child in Oklahoma... living in the country, at the lake, you had to learn to read the skies at an early age.   In Oklahoma, if you saw the sky look like this... it was worth noting.

I heard the news and saw some photos on the Internet news about what happened in Shawnee and Moore a few days ago.

I also noticed a lot of people, on the Internet news areas (where comments could be left), critizing Oklahoma and Oklahomans about not having basements.   It made me sad.  I have never in my life known anyone having a basement in Oklahoma.  They just don't exist.   Small metal or cement block cellars are 'often' in the yards of many rural homes and in the yards of the homes in towns and maybe even in the larger cities?.  

It would be awesome (space wise) to get to have basements in one's homes-- but, they just won't work in Oklahoma... have you noticed that in the photos of the homes destroyed... that where the home 'used to be' that there is a cement slab?   That's because the homes are built UP from those slabs... the ground is clay and it is unstable.  There are also rocky areas too- but, mostly the problem is shifting clay soil.   Home structures just can't be built without damage showing up quite soon-- by digging them and placing them in a clay soil.   Also the water table in Oklahoma is pretty close to the surface.

And let's also remember... a tornado is a unpredictable force.   Different parts of the world and the states have different building materials and different building conditions.

Just like the above photo... In Oklahoma, I'd be watching the skies for a possible tornado if I saw a sky suddenly look like that photo... overseas?  Just not something that you think about as being a possibility.   Not that a 'tornado' might not EVER HAPPEN but... it just isn't part of life overseas in any of the locations where I've lived.  None.

How many different SPINACH BALLS need to be made for sale in the local BUTCHER'S SHOP????

Found at a local 'butcher's shop'....Lots of 'side-dishes' and of course what seems like an endless supply of different spinach balls?

Sure hope I don't confuse the EURO money bills with a packet of SUGAR??????

Recently,  I stopped by the local pizza place for a take home pizza.  While waiting for my pizza to be ready... I noticed the sugar packets on the counter were actually made to look like EURO bills.  Same colors and images as the actual 'spending EURO' money bills.   

 As I looked at the sugar packet-- I noticed printed on them the words:  "Facsimile"... just so you don't get confused w/ real spending EURO BILLS that are FLAT in size and don't have sugar in them .. you know??





Well, I wonder if I might get confused?   What do you think?  Actual bills placed next to the 'euro bill' that the sugar packets represent.

I don't know... it's going to be close... I might have to REALLY THINK about it and make sure that I don't accidentally grab the EURO sugar packets instead of the REAL EURO paper money to pay for my next pizza???