I'll start with the odd days. Well, not incredibly odd but out of the ordinary, thank heavens.

I am quite the brave woman, I'll have you know.  I get to give a laxative (orally) to an angry chameleon.  It involves a syringe, a thin tube and lactalose.  'Nuff said, don't ya think?  

Today I discovered my younger daughter had applied her brother's airplane-rubber-band-winder-upper to her hair.  A big ole nasty knot resulted.  I am blessed to have an older daughter who is willing to spend some time combing the knot out with the help of a bit of conditioner. 

Tomorrow we are having a birthday party for ds3 who had his birthday about 2 weeks ago.  I think I have everything we need but I have to make the cake and ds3 wants his imaginary creature as a design upon it.  I'm not quite sure how exactly I'm going to do this, but I'm thinking marzipan might be a good material.  I've also got get ready for the obligatory party games.

I probably will win the bad mother prize for saying this, but I do not look forward to birthday parties very much.  I don't mind having people of any age over, for food, or just hanging out but the whole party ritual with food and games and the constant shepherding of other people's children into structured activities stresses me out a bit.  To add to this, because of the date we had to choose, dh will not be there and he usually lends a hand.  I suppose I can press dd1 into service. (I don't think she'll mind, or I wouldn't ask.)

OK on to the really nice stuff - pictures of my swap package that Suzanne sent me. I really enjoyed the package.  There is one thing you can't see very well in the pictures and that is a stitch marker made with amber-colored beads. 

First, the whole thing:

Next, the apple themed gifts:

The pumpkins (very cute!) and crocheted dishcloth:

A few miscellaneous items:
(Suzanne attached the stitch marker to the postcard, which I thought was a great idea!)
                

I made bread yesterday.  The loaves aren't perfect as I was in a hurry by the time I could shape them, but they are edible.  I used my favorite recipe, Honey Whole Wheat Bread.

Grain mill attachment on mixer:

I started by cracking some grain for the chickens....

and then moved on to a finer setting for flour.

The cloth is in Yellow and Mardi Gras, with a 27 stitch pattern and 6 stitch border.  I started it on Monday night while we watched UHF (son #2's birthday present) and finished it on Tuesday while listening to Iron Sharpens Iron. 

Well, I notice that all the photos are back and the post in which I replaced the photos, had two of each!  So I've fixed that, but still wonder what was going on?

Here is the finished Monkey/Market bag, hanging from the weeping cherry in our front yard, and holding a toy dog:

Here is the Garter Stitch Tulip Bud cloth, which I did to participate in the Dishcloth of the Week group on Ravelry:

This is a Ballband dishcloth, in Neon Green and Pink Lemonade.  I don't like the pooling but it is a bright cheerful cloth anyway (and much brighter in person).

Not a new thing exactly, but more evidence for the theory that breastfeeding reduces the chance of cancer...

Breastfeeding 'significantly' lowers cancer risk, study finds

I don't know where my photos have gone!  I hope it is some kind of blogdrive glitch!  I'll have to come back and look into it another time.

Update:  I've restored some from the last post with photos, but I'll wait to see if others will come back on their own!

This is a site that I want to spend some more time on - there are some good articles as well as recipes.

A Year of Crockpotting

Completed dishcloths:

Ballband dishcloth

Nine-patch dishrag:

In progress:

Monkey/market bag

A Little Bit Country dishcloth (pattern Sue Schaefer) - one of my favorite patterns.  Not sure of the colorway but it is P&C.

Waffle stitch dishcloth

We've got a new series of CSI Miami going on now.  What is with Frank and the uniform, and no hair?  The hair I can understand, but why in uniform?

Calamine lotion
you bring me
Relief from my hives.

(Hives provoked by allergic reaction to insect bite back at the end of July.  And yes, I have been to the doctor - twice.  The old-fashioned over the counter remedy is about the only thing that has worked so far, although I am still taking the recommended antihistimine.)

This is a post for links to fall-themed dishcloth patterns.  I hope to work on it in the following days, and then either post all the links in the sidebar, or just put a link to this post so you can get to it easily.

Gary the Gobbler

Candy Corn Illusion Cloth

Maple Leaf Cloth (you have to scroll down to find it)

Turkey Leg (drumstick)

Thanks

Apple Cloth

Pumpkin (smiling jack o lantern)

Punkin (another smiling jack o lantern)

Maple Leaf Dishcloth

If I find any more that I like, I'll add them.