What temp do you have? or Worlds tallest thermometer.

We actually went to California for Easter. It wasn't something mentioned on the blog. We left on the 4th and came back on the 9th, a very quick trip to say the least. Took two days to get there, stopping to see my sister, and a 14-hour drive home, it is only supposed to be 11 hours (only, yikes)! Construction outside of Barstow -- yuck!!!!!!
We stopped in Baker on the way out and back to give the kids a rest. I always forget to take a picture of that town's major landmark, so this time I thought I would. As you can see, it is a very large thermometer. If you look at the upper right picture closely (click on it) it reads 81 degrees Fahrenheit; yep, definitely near Death Valley. It is hard to tell in these pictures how tall this item is; I hope the cars give you a reference.

Crochet group on flickr

If you love crochet -- making, using or just collecting -- there is a new group on flickr you want to check out. It is called Hooked on Crochet. Any crochet items from baby clothes, blankets, or purses, vintage, new, or still making, please add them all to this group. This is a family-friendly group, so anything that a child shouldn't see shouldn't be added to the group. Enjoy looking forward to all the wonderful creations out there in cyber-land.

http://flickr.com/groups/hookedoncrochet/

Straw colored Layette set

Last summer we had a few friends die in a plane crash. All three men left behind wives and children and unborn babies.
As each baby has been born, I have made a special one-of-a-kind item for that child. This is the last baby of those wonderful men. There have been two little girls and one little boy. This is for the second little girl; she is now 3 months old. This set fits 3 months to 6 months old.

The top picture is of the complete 4-piece set. The next three are of the jacket, close up of the jacket buttons and rose on sleeves. The last three are of the booties, bonnet, and a close up of bonnet detail. Click on pictures for bigger image.
The items below are what the other babies received as gifts as they arrived. I really enjoyed this labor of love making these items for our friends. I hope that they will in time be cherished items in these families and passed down for many generations to come. The blue items below and the blanket went to the only boy in the group.
This is the dress and bonnet that went to the other little baby girl in the group.

Part 2: Rock show eggs and other items

Since Easter just happened I thought this was fitting to show today. This is an egg display at the rock show.

I thought this was a lovely array of eggs. I especially like the lamp work ones and the snowflake obsidian.

There was another lovely display of carved stone. This other one was of carved elephants.

The glowing rocks were real neat; it took me awhile to figure out how to take good pictures in the dark that were not blurry since I didn't bring a tri-pod. So I held the camera up to the glass to steady it for the long exposure; I think they came out well. These are all under black light.
There were lots of other displays as well, like this miniature train display. To see how small this is, that is a 5 year old's finger in the bottom picture.Also, there were petrified wood and carved and polished metamorphic rocks, geodes, petrified turtles (fossil), and rocks carved into spheres.Lastly, the thing I don't think I will ever understand, and it is gross to me, is stones bladed into knives with animal jawbones for the handle. Impractical as you could never hold it comfortably and absolutely discusting to me.