Monday Funday

Most people dislike Monday's.  When I worked outside of the home, I was not a fan of it either.  But now that retirement has happened.......Monday is the day hubby and I get quite a bit done as far as errand running.

Today was no exception.  Hubby did some work in the yard early this morning while I updated my book and fiber journals as well as cleaned some windows.  Once that was done, hubby took off to get our RO water jugs filled, get our pool water tested and picked up my 25 lb bag of spelt flour.  While he did that, I headed to Wally World to find a container to hold said 25 lb of flour as well as some 'special' dog food.  We both got home about the same time and put everything away.  

That made it lunch time.............................this is what happened yesterday to make our life a bit easier.

I made 8 mason jar salads for hubby and myself.  This is the first time I have made these.  I must say....................the salad was delicious and am looking forward to having another one tomorrow.  We will see how they hold up by day 4.  Hubby was also impressed with the flavor and how everything was crisp.

This afternoon we made our plans for the week as far as house cleaning and laundry and any other errands we need to accomplish before we leave town this weekend.  Once that was done, we decided to take some time and just relax and watch some of our recorded shows.

I worked on my dishcloths for a while and did finish the red one and started and finished another one today too.  I will update about them on Sunday.

There has been something else I have been wanting to do for quite a while and today was the day I started on it...................learning how to REALLY use my camera I bought a year ago.  I started reading this:

It is excellent.  He does not talk above my education level.  Even though I have used the camera I am starting from the very beginning of the book and reacquainting myself with some of the features I had forgotten were there.  I hope by the time I get about half way through this book I will be taking some fantabulous photos.  I have some fun lenses I really want to get familiar with and he even goes into that in this book.  Learning something new is so much fun...........even at my 'old' age.  

Dinner is over and I am getting ready to cast on another dishcloth.  I want them all done so I can mail them and get back to my socks.  Plus....................I have a test knit coming up in a couple of weeks, so need to be finished with other projects so I can devote my time to it.

Until next time.................happy crafting!!!!!!

WEEK 44 YOP 7

Hello readers.  It is another warm day here.  The sun is out and it will be about 98F by this afternoon.  The swimming pool is just about warm enough for me to jump in, so that is the plus side of the early warm temperatures.

This week did not see me doing tons of knitting.  I was in a 'meh' mood most of the week and nothing seemed to really speak to me in the crafting area.  I am still working on dishcloths.  I have completed 4 of them so far.

Sorry for the cruddy photo.......there is no sunlight near where these were.  The solid colors are the Boxy Dishcloth.  The striped is Knit Knot Stitch Dishcloth.  I have started another solid cloth.

I hate to say this but the pattern for this was handed down to me by my friend.  It had been handed down to her by a friend who got it from a friend......etc.  It is a super easy to remember pattern.  I love that it has texture but is not stiff.  The one thing I do on all my cloths is knit them on a US 8 (5mm) needle.  This way, when the cloth is washed and dried, the shrinkage does not cause it to become super tight and stiff then either.  Most patterns I like call for a US 7 (4.5mm)  needle and I do not like the density of the fabric with those.  

That is all for the crafting part of today's post.  

I was super busy this week with our local Grand's basketball tournament.  It was quite exciting to watch.  They made it through 3 games but then were eliminated.  She was bummed but I was super proud of her and her teammates.  They played their hearts out.

I have the laundry all caught up so I can spend my day today in the kitchen.  I want to bake cookies so bad.  We have been out of cookies for 2 weeks!  Not normal for us.  I also have loads of veggies and fruit to clean.  I am going to make mason jar salads for hubby and I for this week.  It is something I have wanted to try for quite a while.  It would sure save time during the week to just grab a jar, dump it in a bowl and sit down to lunch.  I love salads and enjoy being creative with them.  I put fruit in them as well as veggies.  Gives them that little POP for the taste buds.

Once the cookies and salads are made, I will start my menu planning for the week.  It won't be much as we are leaving next weekend for a few days to go and see hubby's mom.  While we are visiting, there just happens to be a BINGO tournament going on.  YUP!  We signed up for that back in February.  So there will be some fun at the casino going on along with the family visit.

It is time for me to get going on my day.

Until next time..................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!

Phew!

The basketball tournament is over for our grand daughter.  It was double elimination and they lost their second game last night.  She was quite bummed..................I wasn't.  The tournament was held 28 miles from us.  We had to get to it by going through rush hour traffic in 2 smallish cities and 1 LARGE city.  Yesterday it took me 70 minutes on the freeway to get there!  The day before it was an hour to get there.  I am not fond of big city driving.  I have lived in the suburbs of; Phoenix, Dallas and Philadelphia.  I have driven in all of those cities and have hated it each time.  Philadelphia has wonderful mass transit, so it really wasn't necessary for me to drive the city.

Yesterday, convinced me, there is no reason for me to go to the 'big' city for any reason EVER!   I was cut off, nearly run off the road, and tail gated while going about 15 MPH!  Seriously, I was so happy to see the team loose their second game.  I even took my grand out for frozen yogurt afterwards to celebrate LOL!

She was bummed about the loss but......................those girls played their hearts out.  They have nothing to be ashamed of.

Now, we get back to our regularly scheduled program.

Until next time...............happy crafting!!!!!!!!!!!  

Midweek Update

Hello readers.  I hope your week has been moving along splendidly.  This week has been flying by for me.  I had all sorts of good intentions this week of getting back to the gym but.....my RA had other ideas about that.  So, I have been making a concerted effort to move as much as possible at home.  There even might have been a bit of dancing while doing a bit of housekeeping and laundry.  I figure, any extra movement is better than none at all.

Monday was my worse day.  I sat for most of the day. Between the fatigue, joint discomfort and other RA symptoms, I felt like a sloth moving through life.  I journaled about it.  Just putting my thoughts and feelings on paper really helped.  By Tuesday, I was back to my happy go lucky self.

I have had the honor, this week, of getting to pick up my Grand from school and spending time with her each day.  Monday she had just a tish of homework and then we got to sit and chat a bit about school and her friends.  We also discussed the teacher walk out that is scheduled to happen this week.  Her school will not be affected since it is a private school and her teachers are paid by the tuition fees.  Unfortunately, some of her extra curriculum activities will be affected since they take place in pubic schools.  Trying to explain politics to a 12 year old is quite interesting.  She is very smart and quite aware of what is going on in the world.  She also has her own opinions on things and they are not influenced by her parents or anyone else.  She makes up her own mind according to her sense of right and wrong from her religious upbringing.  Love that child.

There is a bit of excitement going on right now with her though.  Her basketball team is in the finals.  They lost their game last night and have another one tonight.  If they loose again, they will be out of the tournament.  If they win, they play again on Thursday for a spot on Monday's final game.

I took some photos during their warm up.  Her team mates faces have been blocked out since I do not know how their parents feel about them being on social media.

She has really loved playing basketball.  She has told me that volleyball is her favorite though.  I can see why.  She is so lanky right now.  She is at that stage where she is all arms and legs and they get in her way at times.  She will outgrow it in a year or two.....maybe.

She is also taking cheer.  Her cheer team took first place last weekend and is now heading to state in the next 3 weeks.  We will be attending that performance.  

In crafting news.......................I found a new to me pattern for dishcloths.  If you want the pattern, you can find it here, on Ravelry.  It is a new to me stitch and I am loving the way it works up.

It takes a little more time than the boxy cloth I was doing but a lot of that has to do with the fact you change color every 2 rows.  But...........................you just carry the yarns up the side, so there are not a billion ends to weave in at the end.

Hubby comes home today.  I have green chili in the crockpot for dinner.  Since I have no clue when I will be home from the basketball tournament, I wanted to be sure he had food here for when he got hungry.  He just called and is on his way to see his mom on his way out of town and then will be on the road for his journey home.

As soon as I publish this blog post, I am going to go and make a couple of loaves of banana bread.  Today, I will be adding dried cranberries and pepita seeds to it.  I like to add fruit to my banana bread and hubby likes nuts of some sort in it.  So we will have the best of both worlds.  I might give one of the loaves to our friend who lost his wife last year.  I know those men do not do much home cooking and banana bread is one of their favorites.

Until next time................happy crafting!

Week 43

Happy Sunday to all.  I just realized there are only 9 weeks left in this year's YOP!  Well, for those of us who do the mid-year YOP.  That is crazy.  I know I have not even come close to my goals for the year.  But, that is ok........I have enjoyed what I have done and to me, that is what is important.

Let's see what happened this past week.

If you do not follow me, then you missed the post about my acquisitions this week.

I got 6 skeins of Dishie yarn (knit picks has a great sale), a book of patterns for spring/summer sweaters and a yarn bowl.  I am in love with that yarn bowl.  It is so nice, not to have my yarn on the floor or in a bag but out where it flows freely sans dog hair!

The socks did not get much love this week.

I still need to do 1-2 more pattern repeats before the heel will go in.  There were other items that needed to be worked on first.

Dishcloths!  My DIL in TX mentioned she would not mind if I felt the urge to make more dishcloths for her.  She even gave me specific colors.  I love quick projects.  The pattern is Boxy Dishcloth by Leah Michelle Designs.  It is free on Ravelry.  I will finish the beige one in this pattern and then pick another pattern for 3 more solids.  After all the solids are done, I want to try some striped cloths to add a bit of spice for her.  Out of the 6 skeins of yarn, I should be able to get 9 cloths............at the least.  Possibly even 12.  When I send them to her, there will be a note for my son...................these are not to be used to clean your BBQ! (Or any other item that does not reside in the kitchen)

In other news....................hubby left this morning to visit his mom in Nevada.  She is doing well in her new digs.  It is just getting her used to the fact she is NOT going to go home again.  She is not able to take care of herself and she lives alone.  We would be worried 100% of the time if she went home again.

I have a class to teach this morning at Church.  This will be my last class until fall.  I am still discerning if I want to continue teaching next year.  It isn't real hard work but.......it can be stressful at times.  We have retreats and days of prayer that need to be done and those completely wipe me out.  I will need to pray on it for a while and see where I am led on this one.

I signed up for a class at my LYS.  It is called "knit your wish".  As you know, my DD purchased some lovely yarn and a pattern to make her a special scarf.  It is so special, I do not understand the instructions.  I have managed to cast on the 414 stitches and knit row 1.  Now I am stuck.  I tried to hire my friend to come and show me how to work it but our schedules have not worked well together.  FINE!  I got the class schedule from my LYS, saw the class and called to make sure this is what they do in that class and signed up and paid for it.  Hopefully, I can get that scarf going enough, during the 2 hour class, so I can understand the pattern and continue at home.

This is also the week I head back to the gym.  I have gained so much weight since the death of my mom and then my MIL's stroke.  I am a huge stress eater.  Hubby and I discussed it and decided, if I were to head back to the gym while he is gone, it would get me into the swing of it and then when he comes home, I can 'inspire' him to join me.  We even agreed upon a time to go that works for both of us.  Normally, I like to go within a couple of hours of being awake.  He is NOT a morning person.  We agreed that 9:30 AM would be perfect and if he is not ready by then, I will go alone.  Fingers crossed I can get him to go when he returns home.

That is all for today.  My laundry is done, dishes are done, house is cleaned.............sounds like a great day to go to the gym (after teaching) and then settle in to watch some movies while knitting away.

Until next time.....................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!

It's Wednesday

Hello.....It is just about dinner time here but I wanted to get a quick update done before eating.  It has been a busy day for these 2 'old' people.

I had a nail appointment this morning.  Hubby went and got our water cooler bottles filled while I was gone.  After lunch we had an appointment with our nutritionist.  She gave us some sad news.........the company she works for, is no longer going to bill insurance for her services.  This is an issue for those of us on Medicare.  As a patient, we are not allowed to file claims with Medicare.  Plus...........the Medicare plan that covers our state will not pay for a Nutritionist......only a dietitian!  And you can only go to a dietitian AFTER you are diagnosed with a disease!  Crazy,huh.  Needless to say, hubby and I will be contacting our Medicare carrier and starting to file complaints by voice and by mail.  (Our Medicare carrier is Blue Cross of North Dakota and there is no coverage for nutritionists by ANY blue cross plan!)

We were bummed but.......................she is going to start holding classes and the cost of the  is NOT prohibitive for our 'fixed' income.  We are looking forward to going to those.  Then, come to find out, she will also do private sessions if needed for a small fee.  I LOVE THIS WOMAN!

When we got home I had a lovely package waiting for me.  Knit Picks had been delivered.  I had ordered from them while in Texas.  Let's take a little peek at what was in the box.

I ordered this pattern book.  It has many sweaters and they are all designed for small to plus sized women.  There are only 2 long sleeved sweaters in it and the rest are sleeveless or short sleeved.  It was on sale and I have already marked about 6 of them I would love to make.

Daughter in Law in Texas suggested that she could use some more dishcloths.  Seems her husband decided they would be great to clean his BBQ grill.  I swear, I raised him better than that.  I got 2 skeins of each color.  The red is not showing up well in the photo.  It is a BRIGHT Fiesta red.

I finally got a yarn bowl.  I have been wanting one for several years.  I bought a bamboo bowl at Ikea 2 years ago.  Hubby said he would be happy to turn it into a yarn bowl.  Hasn't happened yet and this one was on sale and solid Rosewood.  I think it is happy to be in my home LOL.

The weather has been lovely and I have even been able to sit outside in my rocking chair during the mornings and enjoying some fresh air.  Our front door has been open all day today.  I love fresh air.  I realize it won't be long before opening the door will only bring in burning heat.  I will take it while I can!

Until next time........................happy crafting.

Monday Monday

HEEHEEHEE.......I have had this song going through my head all morning.  Now I am gifting you the same torment.

It has been a busy morning at Casa De Noce.  There have been lots of phone calls being made that could not happen while traveling.  We have been finishing up some of the laundry that was done but not put away.  

Can you smell this?  I am so glad to be home so I can get back to my way of eating.  The honey spelt bread is done and cooling.  My Brother in Law is patiently waiting for it to be ready to cut.  I am so excited to try this with some of the new jam I bought on our trip.  YUM!

The doorbell rang, earlier today, sending my dogs into a frenzy.  Low and behold, the delivery was for them!

They got their new collars.  I had to order them as they wear special martingale collars.  I was not able to find them in the pet stores here in town.  These are a bit wider than their original ones, but the have the reflective stitching on them and the others did not.  

I had a list of chores to do today (love my bullet journal for that) and I have already completed them.  Sounds like it is time for me to enjoy some knitting time now.

Until next time...................happy crafting!

WEEK 42 UPDATE

Happy Sunday everyone.  It is another glorious day here in Arizona, albeit getting a bit warm outside.  We finally had to turn on our A/C last week.  It already reached 100 degrees F here!  But let's talk about my crafting week.

While I was traveling, I discovered I had forgotten my 'I' crochet hook.  I had remembered the yarn for a shawl I wanted to make.  The case with all my other crochet hooks was also with me.  I knew what I did.......when I loaded my project bag with the shawl supplies, I took the 'I' hook out of the case and laid it next to the bag.  I was called away from packing my craft supplies and when I returned, a few hours later, I grabbed the case, forgetting I had removed my hook.  I called every LYS in a 20 mile radius of where we were in Texas to see if they had ergonomic crochet hooks. (With my RA in my hands, it is all I can use)  This included Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's and Michael's too.  They all carried them but were out of the size I needed.  I was so disappointed.

Here is the best part.................hubby and I had to make a WalMart run and just for grins and giggles, I went to their TINY craft section.  Yup, you guessed it...............there was an ergonomic size 'I' crochet hook.  It was the last one they had and only cost $3.50!  I was so happy.  As soon as we got back to where we were staying I started on my "To The Point" shawl.  

Ta-Da!  I completed it on Friday, after we returned home.  The yarn used was 'Jeans' by Lion Brand.  It is super soft and cuddly.  The shawl will go to the prayer shawl group.   I have said it before...............this has got to be my favorite pattern for prayer shawls.  It hugs your shoulders and doesn't slide off.  It reaches down to just about the waist line so you are not sitting on it.

I did play a bit of yarn chicken with the shawl.  I had 3 full skeins of the yarn.  This is what was left from skein #2.

I think I will make a hat for my Grand Daughter in Seattle with the last skein.  She works outside year round and it gets a might bit cool at the airport where she works.

I did work on my socks quite a bit.  Well, I kind of had to since my crochet hook was playing hooky.  This is how much progress was made.

The sock on the right is where the pattern wants me to start the heel.  There are 11 more rows I need to complete on the left sock to catch up.  I am not going to start the heel where the pattern says.  This is why........

The leg is just at 5.5 inches.  Sorry, but I like the legs of my socks to be at least 7 inches before the heel starts.  Since I do the FLK heel, I actually make them 8 inches now before heel construction begins.  If I were to do the heel now, I would have a sock that only came about 3 to 4 inches above my tennis shoe.  Since I wear ankle boots in the winter, this will not do at all.  I have plenty of yarn to make these any length I want, so will continue in pattern for a few more repeats.

And..........that is all from the crafting front. 

My brother in law and his buddy are coming in today for a short stay.  I have grocery shopping to do, bread to make, dinner to prep and one more load of laundry to do today.  After that it is time for some more knitting.

Until Next Time....................Happy Crafting!!!!!

Home Again

Hubby and I arrived home about 2 hours ago.  We emptied the car and I have gotten all the suitcases emptied and all other stuff put away.  The drive home was wicked.  We had cross winds gusting to 60 MPH all day yesterday.  Today's cross winds stayed steady at around 30 MPH.  We were both exhausted last night as we drove for 9.5 hours solid before we stopped for the day.

Here are a few photos of the 118 year old adobe casita we stayed in last night.

It was wonderful.  It had 2 skylights in the living/bedroom area and one in the kitchen.  I love Mexican folk decor.  I had that in my kitchen for years.  I still have in n my powder room.  I use the blue tones instead of the yellow/orange.

We took it pretty easy today on our drive.  It was only a 5 hour drive but we did it in 6 as we took a little stop at a place that made jerky.  Hubby makes jerky out of london broil.  This place advertised they made it from brisket.  We had to stop and try it.  It was quite yummy.  They also sold home made jams, olives, dried fruit and raw honey.  Hubby got some olives and picked up 3 jars of jam. (Tart cherry, strawberry rhubarb, and pineapple habanero).  I also grabbed 2 jars of honey.  (mesquite and desert flower).  These are all made in Arizona.  Their prices were quite reasonable too!

We also saw some interesting rock formations again.

These were by Wilcox Arizona.

It is great to be back home again.  My dogs went nuts when we came in.  Makes a person feel very loved.  We seldom leave for longer than 4 or 5 days.  We were gone for 12 days this time.  We traveled 2500 miles in that time and were in 4 different states.  I saw 5 of my 7 Grands while gone.  Found out I am going to be a Great Gram.  Re-connected with my best friend from high school (47 years ago). Saw a cousin I had not seen in 12 years.  And best of all..................got to spend some quality time with my hubby.  A total of 32 hours in a car will do that for you.

Would I want to do it again?  Absolutely!  Traveling by car gives you so many opportunities that you miss by flying.  We already have picked out several day trips we are going to make this summer.  All because we found things we want to go back and visit in our own state.

Come back on Sunday and  I will show you what I have done on the crafting front.

Until next time.................Happy Crafting!

WEEK 41 YEAR 7

Hello from Texas.  We still have another 5 days away from home.  Before I bore you with my traveling adventures, let's talk crafting.

Socks have been the only item I have worked on.

There has not been a lot of knitting time this week.  So this is the progress since last update.

Not a lot but some.  I am enjoying the 9 inch needles though.

We left Kansas yesterday and drove to Texas.  On the way, hubby was kind enough to let me stop at a yarn shop in Oklahoma.  I enhanced my stash while there.

This is a new yarn from Cascade.  Baby alpaca and silk, fingering weight to be socks for hubby.

I have made socks with this before and have learned to make them a bit larger than normal as they do not have hardly ant stretch to the yarn.  This yarn is being discontinued so it was half priced.

Since it was so inexpensive, I decided to buy more.

I also picked up size 1, 9 inch needles.  I knit looser on the 9 inchers so want to go down a 1/2 size.  Hopefully this will help tighten up the stitch.

Here is the place I visited.

Some of you may recognize the name.  They are also online sellers.  If you haven't ever gone to their site, please try them.  They are super nice and will go out of their way to accommodate you anyway they can. 

OK......on to travels.  The morning we left Kansas, the windchill was 1 above zero.  That is pretty darn cold for this desert rat.  Made it to Texas in about 4.5 hours and it was about 40 degrees.  Still chilly to me.  Today we get up to 60 and the in the 70's the rest of the time we are here.  It is in the high 90's back home..

It was hard to leave Kansas.  Leaving my Mom there next to my Dad was very bittersweet.  I will leave you with my final photo.

Mom and Dad together forever now.

Until next time........Happy crafting!!!!!