WEEK 6 OF YOP 9

Where did this past week go?  We are almost to the middle of August.  Our schools all started last week.  Pre-season football (American) started last Thursday.  Does this mean fall is knocking on our door?  Have you started any crafting for the upcoming Christmas season?   This year, there will not be any handmade gifts coming from my house.  I doubt I will even do Christmas ornaments this year.  I just am not feeling it.  Maybe because it is still so dad-gum hot outside.  

Did anyone else have a blah crafting week?  I sure did.  There were several days when I didn't even touch any of my items I am working on.  Can you believe that?  Explanation for that will come at the end of my post.

I did get the heels done on the RCR socks.

The striping of this yarn is one of my favorites.  But then I am a big fan of black, white and gray anyway.  These socks are the only thing I worked this week.  I am at the mindless part now, so I can watch TV while working on these without too much issue.

There is a new endeavor afloat. Indoor container gardening.  As you know, we are decluttering our enclosed Arizona room.  While getting rid of 'stuff' we no longer use or want we had to decide what to do with this:

This cooler was a blessing for many years when we were having large pool parties.  It holds copious amounts of beverages and keeps them nice and cold for quite a while.  It has been used by several friends and family for parties at their homes too.  Poor Mr Cooler now has a slow leak that we can not find.  There is not a visible crack in the lining but after a couple of hours, water starts to drip out of it.  We were getting ready to take it to the dump when I came up with the bright idea to turn it into an indoor planter.  I have seen a video of someone else turning this exact cooler into an herb garden.  The decision has not been made yet, as to what I am going to plant in it.  The toss up has been herbs, lettuce, spinach, peppers, or even tomatoes.  My brother in law is a professional gardener and I have gone to him for advice.  He told me to grow what I wanted.  BIG HELP!

The way you work this into a garden is, line the bottom third with river rock for drainage. Then you add your soil and any nutrients needed for whatever item you will be growing.  I am not worried about it leaking as the soil will hold most of the water.  If herbs are grown, they really don't take a lot of water to keep them happy and healthy.  Same with lettuce and spinach.  I have never grown peppers or tomatoes, so have no idea of what they take to grow and produce.  Anyway, I am looking forward to getting this started.  Since it will be indoors, I do not have to worry about our sweltering heat or any frosts we might get.  Win Win!

That is it for crafting/gardening today.  Now on to life in general.

Last Sunday, after I finished blogging, I got a call from my local son who wanted to know if we had an extra baby gate.  Since I knew they were not having a baby I had to ask why.

This guy found his forever home with them.  All my grand daughter wanted for her 14th bday was a puppy.  She wanted a puppy so she could watch it grow and be her best buddy.  Hello Thor!  

She is very happy to have this little rascal to call her own.  He is only 11 weeks old and full of life.  She did not realize how 'needy' puppies are nor how much work goes into training them.  But she agreed to be the one to take responsibility of it all.  He is going to be a wonderful pet for them and Josie and Thor are going to become inseparable.  He already follows her everywhere she goes.

I had 'kid' duty this week.  Her dad had to go out of town unexpectedly so I was given the honor of picking her up after school for 3 days.  It was her first 3 days of HIGH SCHOOL!  I so enjoyed hearing all about her adventures during her first week of school.  She is loving it and I am so glad.  I loved my high school years.

Another thing happened this week that kept me away from my crafts.

We had our artificial turf replaced.  Our original turf started loosing it's green grass.  Thankfully it was under warranty so all we had to pay for was the installation.  The company said we were the first ones where this had happened.  They have been in business for over 20 years too!  Our warranty was due to expire 1 month after we reported the issue.  Talk about a close call on that one.  So while this was going on, I had the privilege of taking our dogs to the local water retention basin so they could relieve themselves.  Since it was well over 100 degrees, I was not able to walk them there so they got a few car rides there and back.  I felt pretty silly driving 2 blocks for them to go potty.  The installation took 2 full days so that cut into my crafting time too.

Monday hubby's new workbench was delivered.  It weighs about 250lbs.  Needless to say, he needed help getting it into the house.  Our son was available to come over and help him get it in the front door.  Tuesday, our friend and his son came over and got it moved from the front door into our Arizona room.  Hubby and I worked for over an hour getting all the drawers back in it.  They came out so easily but going back in was another story.

On Wednesday nights we play trivia at our local sports bar and grill.  We came in third this week and got a gift certificate towards food there.  

Thursday is the day the grass got completed.  It was nice to let the dogs have free rein again.  That night we had adoration at our cancer shrine.  This is a weekly commitment we have been doing for several years now.

We had a memorial Mass for our friends' parents, on Friday.  The reception was a potluck and was so much fun.  (I know it sounds strange to have fun at a funeral reception.) That took up most of that afternoon and evening.  

Saturday hubby and I made a Costco run that took 90 minutes.  Then you have to put everything away afterwards.   We usually attend Mass on Saturday and this week was no exception.  After Mass we were invited to the Knights of Columbus installation dinner.  We had never attended one before and it was very nice. That killed that afternoon and evening.

I have been up since 4 this morning.  Insomnia still has it's hold on me a couple days a week.  That's OK.  It gives me alone time for me to plan my day.  This day will see me making bread (fingers crossed it works this time), doing some laundry, putting things back where they belong in the backyard (we have yard art) and maybe even getting in some swimming today.  Oh, there might be a little nap in there somewhere too.  Hubby is going to smoke some St Louis Ribs for dinner tonight.  We found them at Costco yesterday.  They are already seasoned and ready for the smoker!  

I hope your week is filled with lots of love and laughter.

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