So much excitement!

 I have much excitement to tell you about! So, first of all, I am building a house. Well, sort of. It all started when I asked Mom to think about my buying us a shed we could use as a craft studio. I knew I did not have enough money saved up to buy a house and feel comfortable doing so with school. But, having a craft studio would be awesome, and give myself, and Mom, more space. Mom thought about it for a few days, then asked why not buy a shed and convert it into a house for myself? So, long story short, I now have a deposit down on a shed kit. I was going to buy it outright, but it is currently backordered due to lumber shortages, so when I called the guy asked if I wanted to do a deposit for now so that all of the money will not be tied up while I wait. It made sense to me, so that is what we did. Right now, they are thinking that it will ship in October, but it all depends on when they can get the lumber. Hopefully, either October or earlier. This gives me time to work on the groundwork. My hope is that myself, and hopefully my Dad, can get the foundation ready, and have all of the pipes and such in place by the time it arrives. Then I won't have to figure out how to store it- assembly can begin instead!

  Yesterday, Banjo, Guinea, and Peppy arrived for the groundbreaking ceremony. Banjo's orange ball was the special guest, and the puppies watched from afar. 

  This is what the kit is:

  It has a full loft, which is ideal for me, since it will be my house!!!! My plan is to have an open floor plan downstairs, with the exception of the bathroom. Upstairs, I will probably use giant curtains or screens to block the storage/closet area. I'm hoping to do fairy lights upstairs; I think that will look really cool!

I'm thinking maybe these windows- they have... something that makes them not let heat and air escape.

A screen door something like this, but waaaaay cheaper. I think it would pop with the red behind; what do you think?

  Downstairs will host the kitchen, living room, and bathroom. I am buying my own windows and doors. The windows they have are cute with the shutters, but they are single pane and I can buy shutters later. The door looks cool, but I can save a few hundred buying one elsewhere. I'll probably go with a small window in the door. While I love the idea of how much sunlight the french doors would let in, there has been a lot more violence in this general area, so something a little more solid feels better to me. My plan is to paint the door a cheerful red and do a white screen door over it. I'm going to do things in stages, so the screen door will likely wait a while, as will the shutters. Shoot, for that matter, kitchen cabinets may wait a bit. I want to be able to pay for everything in full at the time of purchase, and still have a bit tucked back for nursing school. If needed, I will do a school loan, but those things are a pain to do, and I am not a fan of paying interest. Granted, I'll run things through my credit card, but that is because the rewards points convert to gift cards, which can then be used to buy stuff I need for the house. And I'll pay the credit card off right away, which makes my credit score happy, and prevents interest from being applied. When did I start using words like "rewards points," "interest," and "credit scores" so often?!? 

  Anyway, when I get shutters, I would like to pain them to match the door. I'm planning on painting house a light blue or blueish gray. For the inside, I think I will do hardwood, or something that looks like hardwood. I'm not sure what will be budget-friendly, last very well, and survive Smokey's claws, especially since the turd pulls his Purrdy Paws off. I'm not sure what colors I will paint the inside yet. I'm not even sure if I will hang drywall, or use bead board for the inside. There are a lot of unknowns, and a ton of excitement!!!!!

  It rained some today, and will be raining a good chunk of this coming week. I'm hoping it will make the ground soft. Getting the layer with the grass up was not hard, but under that layer is rocky (this is Missouri after all) with almost rock-hard soil. As my neighbor used to say, "If it wasn't for all of the rocks, all of the big farmers in Kansas would own this land, so I am thankful for the rocks." I have not quite reached the point of being super thankful for the rocks yet. ;) Maybe soon.

  No stitchy progress for the day. I am at work, so I decided to try to take a nap, but that was a sad 45 minutes of disappointment. Should've stitched instead. Oh well, perhaps I will get some stitching in tonight; we shall see! 

The baby has not been acting as peppy, and cries quite a bit. We have been letting him into the mud room to drink some kitten milk replacer. This has helped, but he still eats dirt, so I am planning on bringing him to the vet. On the upside, he loves car rides, and makes Kirst and Dad give him a short ride whenever they leave for work. 

Smokey is NOT happy with allowing Jitterbug in the house. 

Look, Mom, I'm a flower!

My cousin's bum is crushing me.

He regretted trying this- his balance is that of a drunk newborn giraffe.

He guarded the produce while carried the rest inside. 

Ignore the weeds please. :) 

Jittergbug loves helping in the garden. He gets mad if I go in there without him. 

Nap time that almost gave me a heart attack. 

Has anyone else been having issues with really weird cucumbers this year?

Big smile for the camera!

    I hope all of you are safe, happy, and well!

~ Emmy

Well, that stinks

   Apparently, Blogger decided to post my last two posts with just the title and tags. Today's was easy to fix, as it was just a funny thing I found on Pinterest. Yesterday's post is a different story altogether. It was a normal post. Which I do not remember. I do remember a few of the photos though. Here are the photos and what of the words I remember. I did change how the shift was going, to how it went. 

The sky was gorgeous yesterday morning:

  I have no clue what is wrong with these cucumbers. They forgot how to cucumber!

"Mom, it makes a great step stool!"

  These baby carrots are so tiny, they need the NICU!!!

Do you see the hidden Mickey Mouse as well?

  Just chillin'.

  Sunflowers around the bird feeder- bet you can't guess what we feed the birds!

  Miss Sadie next to Daisy's very muddy pool.

  Mom and son photo!

  Daddy-daughter photo!

  I put something here, but have no clue what. Work went well yesterday. My truck only ran one transfer from Local Hospital to Big City. Local Hospital does not have the ability to do stress tests, or rapid Covid tests, or a few other things, so he was transferred for one of the above. We did have to get 4 tires put on the back of the ambulance. My psych class had started, so I decided to start studying this week's chapter. Except a fellow customer wanted to talk to me about his ingrown toenail, subsequent surgery on aforementioned toenail, and resulting infection. Which is all good and fine, except he kept breaking it up. Mr. Ingrown Toenail would wait until I found my spot and started reading in the textbook again before mentioning the next statement or question. Now I know why Coffee Bean hid outside.  (My usual partner had traded with Coffee Bean.) Oh, well, it was an excellent exercise in patience, and we have been covering the fruits of the spirit (complete with homework) at church on Sunday nights.

  For the record, if any of you have any questions about Covid or happier subjects like my fur kids, please feel free to ask. I know that there has been a lot of confusion and misinformation passed around. Shoot, the Co. Health Dept and the hospital system I used disagreed on things! I can tell you to use Tylenol, not ibuprofen. Ibuprofen somehow makes Covid worse, I do not know the science behind it. Anyway, feel free to ask away!

  Also, please comment and let me know how you and yours are doing. I love hearing from youns.

 Happy Stitching!

 Emmy

Introducing...

Mr. Slinky!

  At least, that is what I think Kirst has decided to name him! He is a sweetheart. And he gets along great with the baby! Jitterbug appears thankful to have a buddy again. 

 

 Jitterbug is a big fan of unicorns! ;) Peppy has been working with him. Poor Pepporoni has been lonely since Bullet died. Banjo and him will take turns chasing each other around the field, but that doesn't happen often, so the poor guy is on his own a lot. I am hoping that the barn kitties will become great friends with Peppy. It would be good for all 3. 

Here is Jitterbug:

 And Smokey is still having none of it, despite panicking if he thinks he might get too close to actually stepping foot outside:

In the spirit of full disclosure, he was actually judging me in the above photo while I was exercising. I'm not sure if its because I took my phone out to take his picture (he was exercising with me! Sort of...), or if he was shocked at how much muscle and endurance I lost while sick (to be fair, I was too). Or, he might have been embarrassed about my exercise moves. Which is totally fair- I have the coordination of a newborn giraffe, minus the height. :)

  Oh, look, the humans bought things for me- let us see what all is inside of the bag! (All he wanted was the bag. And he was later sad that nothing was for him, although his motto is: "What is yours is mine, and what is mine is mine."   

Kirst sent this today:

  She also took the bulk of the Jitterbug and Slinky photos. 

  No stitching yet, but I am hoping to change that in a few minutes. Provided the good people of our district can manage without calling 911 for a bit...

 I hope all of you are having a wonderful and relaxing Sunday!

 Happy Stitching,

 Emmy 

Mr. Stick tight, Mr. Gym Rat, and Mr. Gardener

Banjo found the sticktights:

 It takes a lot of hard work to look this fabulous! 

Banjo smiling:

Random picture of fish that I enjoyed watching:

Smokey Bear was afraid I was going to watch a video without him, so he came closer. 

Growing like a weed:

The mighty explorer:

Helping Marmoo in the garden:

 Hide and seek:

Smokey likes his new toy:

Waiting for breakfast:

  There is not a whole lot to report. This has been an odd week for Mom and myself. We do not know why, but we have been feeling rushed when there is no reason to be in a hurry. It is really annoying! 

  I haven't gotten any stitching in this week. Maybe that will change- at this point, who knows!

  My boss read my TB test, so hopefully the college will allow me to enroll for the class I need this fall. They put a hold on my account; apparently, they were suppose to give me a TB questionnaire back when I started college again. Since I work healthcare, they are now requiring a TB test before they will allow me to sign up for classes. I found the day after finals- a little more heads up would have been appreciated! Oh well, as long as they accept the info I sent them, all should be good. 

  The critters have been very entertaining. I felt bad for them- we were all gone a decent chunk of the day. They appeared to have handled it well. Jellybean appears to have decided to do his own thing. He knows where a food bowl is, should he ever need or want it though. Ladybug started to mature more, and is now named Jitterbug. Keeping what turned out to be a boy named Ladybug seemed a little mean. He already answers to it. He did not quite understand hide and seek- every time I would say, "Now, where could Jitterbug be?," he would come running to me for a chin scratch. 2 little boys from Kirstie's church insisted she take one of their kittens so Jitterbug would not be so lonely. They are still getting use to each other, but all appears well so far. On a side note, Jitterbug loves to sleep with his head, torso, and front paws on a unicorn stuffed animal Kirst got him- the rest of him stays on his bed to try to  hold him up on it while he is asleep. He is a light sleeper, so I don't have a picture yet, but I will keep trying. It is so adorable!

 I hope all of you are having a wonderful day, and no odd weeks!

  Happy Stitching!

 Emmy