A BAD package arrived

Lookey, lookey at what arrived in the mail today!!! I ordered this purse and wallet from the talented Autum and today the beautiful set arrived! I am so thrilled with it! AND she is such a sweetheart that she also made me a matching keychain and tissue holder, which are adorable. And her little personalized tag is so cute.

If you've never checked out Miss Autum's beautiful workmanship, check out her purse gallery . She will make you something of your own design and she also has an Etsy shop.

Autum, they are absolutely perfect and I can't thank you enough. I will likely be placing an order for bags for my daughters soon (for Christmas presents.) They love my set!

Chilly Chili Day

Yesterday, I made a big pot of chili to donate to my daughter's school for a teacher luncheon. We were given the recipe so everyone who was cooking would make the same thing and to be honest, I was a bit skeptical because it didn't sound very good. Well, I was wrong. It was excellent and I'll make it again! (I made some itty bitty changes to the original recipe because I thought it would be too salty.)

2 lb ground beef or turkey, browned
1 onion, chopped and sautéed
2 pkg taco seasoning (use the low sodium kind)
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can beef broth

Combine all ingredients in crockpot and cook for 6 hours or so.

Nice to get away

My husband and I went away last weekend to spend a relaxing weekend sans children. He planned the triap and I didn't know where we were headed. We ended up at a B&B called Maple Hill Manor about two hours south of Cincinnati in a small town called Springfield, KY. The B&B was fabulous but the best part .... IT'S ALSO AN ALPACA FARM! My husband didn't even know that part when he booked it; it was a coincidence. I fell asleep before we got to the place and woke up as we were driving up the lane. My eyes got real big and I said "OMG, is that an alpaca?" My husband looked at me like I was crazy because 1) he didn't know what an alpaca was; and 2) he had no idea that yarn is made from them. Oh and another coincidence, I was knitting a scarf from alpaca yarn (the pink aran one) before I fell asleep.

What's especially cool is that the owners, Tyler and Todd, sent their first load of fiber off to a spinner this season and had JUST received the yarn back in. Ummmm..... do you think I bought any????? See the lovely hanks above. Notice how nicely they match the photos of the alpacas themselves? Yup, the yarn was spun from their fiber. Isn't that so cool?! Each "colorway" is named after the alpaca it came from.

The baby you see was just born 4 days before the photo was taken and she was adorable. We got to hold her.

I highly recommend this B&B. Very comfortable accomodations, very friendly, helpful owners and the food was excellent.

Knitting News

I haven't blogged in awhile but I have been knitting. I completed my Tote for the Tote Exchange II and received my Tote, too! The Pink Carpetbag was sent to Jane and the multi colored one was my treat from Judy.

I have not yet received my scarf yet from ISE III nor have I sent mine - you can see the WIP above. I'm just under 30" and it's due in a week. YIKES!!! I'm gonna be late.