YOP LIST 2023-2024

Saturday, November 30, 2019

Day 30 of 30



This is the last day of National Blog Posting Month.  It was fun to post daily and yet at times it was a chore.  I do not think I could post daily 365 days a year.  There are many a blogger who does this and I admire them for their commitment.

Here is my thankful item for today.  I am very thankful for the ability to knit/crochet.  These crafts have become my resource when I am; bored, scared, anxious, happy, sad, worried, confused, in physical pain, hungry, etc.  Both my mom and her mom knit.  My Maternal Grandmother also crocheted and tatted.  Watching these woman ply their skills helped me to appreciate this art form.  They are both deceased and yet that art form lives on through me and now I have taught others in my family these skills.  My hope is, they then will teach their sons and daughters this art form also.

Tune in tomorrow to see what I have made this past week with these skills.

Friday, November 29, 2019

Day 29 of 30



Did you all have a good day yesterday?  We had such a great time at our Son's house.  There were 8 of us for dinner and it was splendid.  My DIL had things so well organized.  Things went so smooth.  We all walked out of there with leftovers too.  Yummy turkey sandwiches today.

Today I am very thankful for teachers.  I don't just mean school teachers either.  All people that teach others.  I have taken craft classes from some of these people and they have the patience of a saint.  I can be a bit hard headed when it comes to learning a new skill.  Yet the teachers I have had were so patient and kind.  Never did they roll their eyes or swear under their breath.  I have even remained friends with a few of these teachers over the years.  There are school teachers in our family also.  The one thing I learned quickly.....never tell they they have it easy.  Never tell them they only work 9 months out of the year and only from 8 until 3.  Never ever say those things unless you have quick reflexes and can dodge what ever may be thrown at you.  School teachers work from sun up until well past sun down.  Their biggest issue is not always the students either.  The parents can be their worst nightmare at times.  So, if you know a teacher (school or other type) take the time to stop and thank them for their time and patience.

TTYL

Thursday, November 28, 2019

Day 28 0f 30



Today I am thankful for indoor plumbing.  Go ahead and laugh, but it is true.  Have any of you lived some where that did not have indoor plumbing?  I have.  My Grandma's farm did not have a bathroom.  She had an outhouse and during the winter we used chamber pots.  The outhouse was located out by the chicken coop.  Those birds were not very nice either. If you wanted to bathe, you heated water on her wood burning stove and then bathed in your room.  Also, to get the water to bathe with, you had to use the well pump that was outside by the side of the house.  Ever hear of priming the pump.....this was a regular occurrence too.  As a kid it was kind of an adventure.  As an adult, not so much.   As age is happening to me, I find there are times when I need to use the facilities in the middle of the night.  All I need to do is walk a few steps from my bed and there I am!  Yup, indoor plumbing is something to be very thankful for.

To all my family and friends here in the US I would like to wish you and yours a very blessed Thanksgiving.

Image result for thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Day 27 of 30



Hubby and I left our home at 9:30 this morning and 12 hours later we are home.  Yes, I am exhausted but it is a happy exhaustion.  We had a meeting with our attorney from 10 until 12.  Then we went to our Grands High School to pick up gift cards and some items for our secret Santa gifts with the family.  After we left there we went out to lunch to a, new to us, Mexican restaurant.  It was quite yummy too.  Off we went to Costco to pick up a new laptop/tablet for me and another secret Santa gift.  From there we went to JoAnn's where I found all Cricut supplies at 50-70% off!  Yes, I stocked up.  Then we were off to our local Walgreen's to pick our last secret Santa gift.  Last stop on our journey was Sam's club for dog food and a couple of other items.  We did a quick stop at our house to feed the dogs dinner and the we went off to Trivia and dinner.

You may be asking why 3 secret Santa gifts.  We take one gift per family member attending the Christmas celebration.  We were just informed we will be gifted with our Texas Grand Daughter for the Christmas holidays.  We had so much fun last year doing this gift exchange.  We have been thinking all year about what we would get for the exchange this year.  We have a $20 limit for our gifts.  It is so much fun.  So those gifts are purchased and just need wrapping.

Now we are home and I have been thinking all day what to put down for my thankful item today.  It came to me as we were out and about.  Today I am very thankful for our first responders. (fire and police)  My husband was a police officer for over 20 year.  It is a very hard job.  The things he saw while on duty were not always pleasant.  In fact, most of the time they were heart breaking.  These first responders put their lives on the line everyday for us.  How many times have we heard of Firefighters or police officers being hurt in the line of duty.  Think of all the first responders that ran into  the twin towers during the attack of 911.  Would you have done that?  These men and women are heroes in my book and I think we need to respect them and teach our children to respect them.  Too many parents threaten their children with the police if they are bad.  Really?  Who are they to call when they are in trouble? 

OK, enough preaching.  I am off to finish up one of my knitting items and watch a little TV.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Day 26 of 30



I hope all of you are safe and warm with all these horrible winter storms hitting the US.  We are expecting rain over the next 3 days and our high temps will only be in the 50's.  Pretty cool for us desert rats.  

Today I am very thankful for warm clothing.  I refuse to turn on our heater since I just turned off our A/C the first of November.  Hubby and I both are just layering our clothing.  I love my long sleeved undershirts that I wear under my blouses.  I have leggings I wear under my jeans.  Naturally my knitted socks are nice and warm and always on my feet.  My house is sitting at 69 during the day and when I wake up it is around 64.  The coolness forces me to move often which means my housework gets done in record time.  I also, do not shy away from using my oven since it adds heat to my home.  In the summer, it seldom gets turned on for the same reason.

I am sure some of you are thinking "64?  that's warm for us".  In the summer my house sits between 77 and 80.  What temp is your home at?  In the winter I have the heat set at 68.  It all depends on what your body is used to.  Our summer temps are often 110 plus so when our temps in the winter are 40 it is down right cold for us.  I have tried to explain this before and people just do not get it.  So put it this way:

110F to 40F is a 70 degree difference.

Take your normal summer temp and subtract your normal winter temp.  Is it 70 degree difference?  If so, then you understand us being COLD!

Thank you warm clothes for allowing me to keep my heater off for a little bit longer.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Day 25 of 30



It has been a busy day around my house.  Hubby and I are getting back into our daily routines as well as getting ready to decorate for Christmas.  I got 2 loads of laundry done, eggplant steamed and marinating in vinegar and oil, cleaned veggies, and made an ornament for the one Grand that actually puts up a tree.  Hubby has trimmed the bushes out front so we can put lights on them.  He is also working in the backyard t clean it up the doggie bathroom.  (I know, TMI)  I finally got time to sit down and do my thankful blog.

I am very thankful for my craft room.  When I go in there, I can spend an entire day sewing, making, printing, knitting, crocheting, and doing many other crafts.  It is a room that has allowed me to express myself without any input from others.  If I am in a foul mood, I can go in there and within minutes my mood will be lifted.  Sheryl may have a sheshe-er she shed but I would not trade my craft room for that at all.  

Time to knit!




Sunday, November 24, 2019

Week 21 & Day 24 of 30




Hello again.  It is early on Sunday morning, the house is quiet (other than my male dog snoring), I have my coffee by my side and lots of pictures to show and tell about.  First up is my crafting week.

Since we were on a road trip from Sunday through Thursday, I did not get too much done in the craft area.  In fact, the only item worked on was my Fawkes sock.


This is where I am at on sock #2, as of this morning.  My goal (hope) is to have it completed this coming week and get back to working on my sweater.  The weather here has cooled off quite a bit and a sweater would be most welcomed now.

While hubby and I were grocery shopping this week, we ran across this:


Is that not the cutest bowl ever?  We found it at Trader Joe's.  I just knew it would be perfect to hold my sock yarn cakes.  My other yarn bowl is quite a bit bigger and I use it for my DK and worsted cakes.


It is just perfect.  This photo was taken on Friday afternoon so you can see I have gotten quite a bit done on the sock. Anyway, I know the bowl does not have the usual cut out on the side for the yarn to guide through, but my bowls sit on the floor by my chair.  Since the yarn is caked, it just pulls off the cake easily.  I mainly use the bowl to keep the yarn off the floor and out of any dog hair or dirt that many be there.  Plus, it doesn't roll away from me either.

If you follow my blog regularly, you know hubby and I took a little trip to Las Vegas last week.  We left on Sunday and returned on Thursday.  The main reason for the trip was a delayed anniversary trip for us and a bingo tournament.  The tournament was HUGE.


This was only part of the room where the tournament was held.  There were over 2000 people in this room.  Needless to say, we did not win at the tournament but we did meet some very nice people there.  

When we got to our room, I started to unpack and put clothes away.  While doing so I discovered I had under packed for myself by 1 shirt.  I never under pack.........NEVER!  No problem, we will just go to the gift shop and see what they had.  There was quite a bit of clothing there and I found an adorable blouse.  Well, it was adorable until I looked at the price tag and it was $110!  No thank you.  But I did finally find something there that was in my price range.


I now have a souvenir sweatshirt.  Good thing it was chilly inside and outside.  Hubby and I had a good laugh over this.  I wore that shirt with pride too.

We also visited hubby's mom while we were there.  She is 92 and feisty as ever.


She is still insisting on going home and it looks like she will probably get her wish in the next month or so.  We do not agree with this idea as she will need constant care, but she is determined to make this happen.  The house is almost ready for her to go there and her youngest son has sworn he wants her home too and will take care of her.  Time will tell, right?

Oh, I did get about 15 minutes of knitting in during one of our breaks at bingo.


Yup, that is all the knitting I did while gone.  Since I did all the driving up and back and all around, there was no car knitting done either.  On a happy note, when driving, I was able to see some lovely fall foliage as well as snow capped mountains.  

On the way home we were in and out of rain the entire 5 hours.  Most of the rain was light and did not last long.  I think we hit 2 really heavy downpours where it was almost blinding.  The most interesting thing we saw on the way home was this:


That, my friends, is hail covered earth.  It was almost 2 inches deep and covered everything.  I thought it was snow at first but hubby was able to really look out the window at it and was able to see the hail stones.  Lucky for us, it was done hailing when we got to this part of the trip.  That much hail could have really done some car damage.

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving this coming Thursday  We will all congregate at our son's house for food and festivities.  I have the turkey in the fridge defrosting.  Everyone contributes to the meal which makes it easy on the host/hostess.  Next Saturday, we will be heading to our daughter's place for a brisket dinner.  She has been wanting the family to come out there for some time now.  She and her husband have a very small place so it will be quite intimate LOL.  I am making no bake cheesecakes for the occasion.  One will be plain and the other peanut butter.  YUM!


Today I am thankful for Pinterest.  WHAT?????  Are you kidding me?  Thankful for a website?  You betcha.  I have been able to get so many recipes, craft patterns, hair tips, decorating ideas from this site.  When hubby was told to cut down on gluten, Pinterest was there to help me with that.  When I got an air fryer and needed ideas on what to cook in it, Pinterest was at my service.  When I was looking for a way to undercut my thick hair so it would lay down better, Pinterest gave me copious amounts of photos to show my hair dresser.  When I am stuck on what to make for a gift using my cricut, Pinterest pops all sorts of images up for me to choose from.

Yes, Pinterest can be a time sucker but........................most everything on there is free and, I would be scouring book stores trying to find the same stuff.  This way I do not need to leave the comfort of my home to go and seek things out.  

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

Saturday, November 23, 2019

Day 23 of 30



Some days are easier than others to pin point what I am thankful for.  There is so much in this world to be thankful for that my mind just explodes with ideas.  Today I pick my bed.  Sound strange?  Maybe.  Hubby and I have had different beds in our 44 years of marriage.  We have had traditional mattresses, a water bed (several in fact), pillow top and now we have an articulating Tempurpedic bed.  I love this bed.  It is so nice to be able to raise the head of the bed up slightly to help with hubby's bad back and also helps a bit with our snoring.  When I do not feel well, I crawl into the bed and can adjust the head and feet to make my aches and pains less and I will sleep quite well for a few hours.  I do not get pressure points in this bed as I did on regular or even pillow top mattresses.  The only other bed that was as kind to my joints as this one is, was the water beds.  When we travel I dread night time.  I know after about 3 days my hips, shoulders and neck are going to remind me of my age and my RA.  So, yes, I am very thankful for my bed. 

Friday, November 22, 2019

Day 22 of 30



Today I am thankful for good news from a specialist about me.  I have been having some health issues for the past few weeks.  I had made an appointment with a specialist and today was the day to go and see him.  I am happy to say, there is nothing majorly wrong with me that will not be cleared up in a few weeks.  Phew!  I have been on pins and needles for a couple of weeks now fearing the worse and praying for the best.  My prayers were answered.

Sorry to say, I will be putting moderation of comments back on.  I had hoped the non-related comments had stopped so I took off the moderation.  Darn it!  I got non-related comments on 23 different posts!  I am not going to go in and delete them all at this time.  So I will just make it where I will moderate all comments again for a while.  Sorry, folks.  It is just annoying for me as it is for you.

TTYL

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Day 21 of 30



We are home.  WOOHOO!  

I am thankful for a safe road trip.  It was an interesting drive home today.  We started out with light rain off and on.  About 2 hours into our drive we hit blinding rain for about 5 minutes.  But the most interesting thing we ran into was this:

Image result for hail in phoenix today

That is not snow.  That is hail!  It was at least an inch deep.  We ran into this about 1.5 hours away from home.  Once we got home (after another blinding rain storm)  South Phoenix got hit with the same type of hail storm.  It was so deep, kids were sledding downhill on it.  We are no longer in the 80's LOL.  We will be in the 60's for the rest of the week.  Fall has arrived.......finally!  There are a couple more storm fronts heading our way over the next week.  That will keep our temperatures very cool.  This makes me very happy.

Ok, I am waaaaaay behind in reading other's blogs.  I will be getting that completed over the next couple of days.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Day 20 of 30



Today's thankfulness is an easy one.  I am so thankful for rain.  Our yearly average rainfall is supposed to be around 7 inches.  We have been in drought conditions for several years so anytime we receive rainfall it is such a blessing.  The rain started yesterday and is to continue through tomorrow.  Not great traveling weather for hubby and I but we will just take our time going home tomorrow and watch out for others.  People who do not live in the desert southwest do not understand our roads.  We oil them regularly to keep them pliable during the extreme heat of the summer.  Therefore, when it rains it is the same as driving on ice.  Hydroplaning is another problem with our wet roads.  We do not have good drainage because of the infrequency of moisture here.  Our ground is not absorbent.  But........I am still very thankful for the rainfall we are receiving presently.

Tomorrow's post will be another late one as we are traveling home that day.  I am looking forward to getting home and getting a chance to read all of the blogs I am behind on!

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Day 19 of 30



Hello again from Las Vegas.  It was another busy day with us having our Bingo Tournament to day.  We have it again tomorrow.  Sitting for 5 hours is not something I normally do so it does get a bit tiring.  But we had a lot of fun and look forward to doing it again tomorrow.  I have photos and have tried to upload them to my laptop to no avail.  For some reason my email is declining to send anything at the moment.  I will post them this weekend with my YOP update.

My thankfulness goes go to my career.  The last 20 years I worked, I met some of the best people and learned so much from many of them.  I appreciated all the opportunities afforded me during those years and it has helped me even into my retirement.  After 20 years I was more than ready to retire permanently yet there are times I really miss the work I did.  

TTYL

Monday, November 18, 2019

Day 18 of 30




It is only 9:45pm here in Las Vegas.  We have been gone all day.  We spent the morning and half of the afternoon with my mother in law.  The rest of the afternoon and evening we have been at our friends house.  They made a lovely dinner for us and I finally got to do a bit of knitting.  Now we are back at the hotel and neither of us are real excited about going back down to the casino area to gamble.  We are pretty tired from our outings today.

I am starting to have a hard time coming up with things I am thankful for.  I don't want to seem petty in some of the items I had picked out yet, they are things I think all of us take for granted.  So today, I am thankful for having plenty of food to eat.  People all over the world go to bed hungry each night and may not know if there will be any food for them the next day to abate their hunger.  This is something most of us do not experience.  How many times have I said "I am hungry" and then head out to my kitchen and open a cupboard or fridge and pull out something to eat.  How often have I taken that action for granted.  Yes, I am very thankful for having plenty to eat.


Sunday, November 17, 2019

Week 20 & Day 17 of 30





This will be quick.  We are wanting to get on the road soon for our 5 hour drive to Las Vegas.

I have a finished object, sort of.


Sock #1 of Fawkes is done.  The pattern was easy but I did have to keep track of where I was on it.  It is a 12 row repeat.  I know it is hard to see the pattern because of the stripes, but trust me, it is there.  I case you want to know what the hardest part of this was, it was the knit 3 together!  You need sharp needles to do that.  Thankfully I have stiletto Signature DPN's.  Otherwise it was mostly YO, K2TG and SSK.  Super easy.

Here is what I am taking on our trip.


Fawkes sock #2.  You can see the pattern a bit better here.  There are 2 completed patterns on this one.

As for the sweater................this past week was waaaaaaay to crazy for me to get much done on it.  I am still working on the first sleeve.  The weather is supposed to finally cool off next week, so it will be perfect sweater knitting weather.  

Not yarn related but something I was not aware of.  Did you know they have urns where you can put 2 peoples remains in them?


Look at that!  She died 2 years ago and he died 2 weeks ago.  How thoughtful of the children to do this.  Don't mind the beer can...............that is an old family tradition when we have a celebration of life.  We always give the person being honored a 'drink' to toast with us.

 Today I am thankful for books.  I don't care if they are electronic, audio or paper.  I love to read.  Reading allows me to get away from 'my world'.  I can read about other places and other people.  I can find books that make me laugh, cry, get angry or even make me think.

A good friend introduced me to the Overdrive app a couple of weeks ago.  It is a free app and as long as you have a library card, you can check out books from your 'local' library.  The books are either electronic or audio books.  FINALLY!  A free book service.  Granted, their audio book selection can be a bit limited, but I don't care.  I am always able to find something to listen to while I am knitting or cleaning or doing laundry.  What a joy.  I got my hubby hooked on it too.  They even have a Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (yarn harlot) audio book and she does her own reading!  I have not checked it out yet, but it is on the list.

Ok, my friends.  Time for me to go and finish packing and get on the road.

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

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Day 16 of 30


Bet you thought I was not going to make a post today.  PSYCH!  Hubby and I were at a conference from 8 until 3 today.  Then we scurried back to our side of town and went to Mass.  I am now doing a load of laundry before we go and meet some friends for dinner tonight.  A very busy day for us and to think we head out tomorrow morning for our trip to Las Vegas!  Oh my.............too much going on this past week.  We are so looking forward to our 4 days away.

Today I am thankful to have a car.  I love to drive and go places. For many years we only had 1 car.  It was so hard on me as a stay at home mom to not have a vehicle to do errands while the kids were in school and hubby was at work.  I had to do all my errands after hubby got home with the kids in tow.  (They always wanted to go to the stores with me)  Having a car of my own has offered me a great amount of independence.  

Anyone else been a 1 car family, or are you still a 1 car family?

Friday, November 15, 2019

Day 15 of 30


Kleenex/Puffs.................either one.  I am sooooo thankful for them.  When I have a cold/allergies, they are my best friend.  This past week, they have been used to dry my eyes.  Today, they will be used as we say a final goodbye to our friend.  

Image result for kleenexImage result for puffs tissues

Does anyone remember when your dad carried a cloth handkerchief in his back pocket?  Or your mom had a pretty hanky in her purse.  That is what you used when you needed to blow your nose or wipe your eyes.  My hubby carried a handkerchief in his pocket until about 4 years ago.  Our grands thought it strange to blow their noses on a piece of cloth.  But, when they needed it, Grandpa was always at the ready.  

Image result for hanky

When my mom passed away, all of us girls grabbed a few of her hankies as a memento of her.  Most of them had been tatted edges on them done by her mother (my grandmother). What a wonderful reminder of days gone by.

Do any of you use cloth handkerchiefs/hankies?

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Day 14 of 30


Today's thankfulness may sound trite or silly to some of you.  I want you to think about it though.  Today I am thankful for my washing machine.  I remember the days I had to go to a community washers in our apartment building to do the family laundry.  Carrying baskets of clothes in, hoping there were enough machines vacant so I could get them done quickly while trying to watch my young children and making sure I had enough money to do all the laundry etc.  There were even times I would wash a few items in the bathtub just to avoid the hassle.  It is nice to just go to my laundry room, throw in the clothes and sit down and knit while waiting for them to be done.

Yesterday I used that washing machine LOL.  The shower curtain and it's liner got all nice and cleaned up in it.  While that was going on, I made a loaf of banana bread for our deceased friend's family, stirred up 3 lbs of onion dip for the celebration of life and hand washed some items that can not be put in the dishwasher.  

Do you have your own washing machine?  If so, aren't you happy you do?