Getting There

We are trying to get back to our normal routine.  I started the day by doing 2 loads of laundry.  It was starting to stack up.  Ten days is too long to go between washing days.  The only laundry I kept up on was towels.  I still have sheets to launder as well as towels (again).  That will get me all caught up.  Hopefully, I will be able to do that tomorrow morning.

Lunch, today, was spent with my grand daughter.  We also finished up the movie we started yesterday and then watch another movie after that.  It was nice to spend a couple of days with her.

My SIL got to 'visit' with her mom today.  SIL was required to stay in her car during the visit but at least, they are getting to have visits.

She looks pretty good for 93, right?  My SIL could not believe she was in long sleeves with a sweater and the lapghan I made for her.  It was well over 100 there today too!  But MIL said she was quite comfy.

I am home, once again.  Cooking dinner will commence in about an hour. Not sure what will be served.  We have choices.  There are leftover wings from last night as well as leftover rice from 2 nights ago.  The rice will be made into pork fried rice and if wings are served, I will make a nice garden salad to go with it.  Hubby will get to choose which he wants.

We hit a record today...........................119F!  Are you jealous?  Luckily, our monsoon humidity has left.  Otherwise, it would be much more miserable outside.

I hope you all are staying cool.

Until next time........happy crafting & stay well!

Wednesday Excitement

Today was one of the most exciting days we have had in quite a time.  This day started off with a train derailment in Tempe.

Not only did it derail, it also caught fire (as you can see in the above photo) and part of the bridge collapsed.  This bridge which goes over a lake (see photo below) was built in 1912.

Normally, this would not concern us.  After all, we are still on a semi lock down and traveling 15 miles is not on our to do list.  However....................it was on my SIL's list to travel today and they closed the freeway she was going to use to get out of town.

So..........................SIL planned to get up, pack her car and be on the road around 10 this morning.  She got the car packed and was leaving by 10:05 but.......................her car battery was DEAD!  She called her insurance company for their roadside assistance and then contacted the Toyota dealership close to our house to get it in there for a battery check. 🔋

The roadside assistance was at my house in about 15 minutes.  They got her car jumped in seconds.  She jumped in and went to the dealership for the battery check.  Lucky for her, the battery was warrantied by the dealership for 36,000 miles and she only has 22,000 miles on her car.  After being at the dealership for 3 hours, she was given a new battery and was ready to begin her 5 hour journey to Las Vegas.  I contacted her hotel and told them she would be a bit late and they said they would hold the room for her.  Phew! 🚙

I spent some time with my Grand Daughter this afternoon.  I took lunch over for her and we watched a couple of movies.

Her 'puppy' is so in love with her.  He is now almost 18 months old and still thinks he is a lap dog.  They are so cute together.

To top all of this off...............our son in Tx called this morning to tell us his A/C was not working.  His home owner's insurance sent out someone to look at the unit and found out the pipes had been installed wrong and they were also plugged.  It is now working again and saved them from having to buy a whole new unit.  👍

I am home now and hubby has suggested purchasing wings tonight, from our favorite wings place.  After the day we had..............I was all for it.  OH....................we hit a high today of 115F (46C).  Let me just say......................IT IS HOT! 🌞

Until next time..............happy crafting & stay well!

Tuesday Blog

I have a few minutes before I start dinner.  That means I have some time to talk to all of you.

This is the last day my SIL will be at our house.  She leaves tomorrow for Las Vegas.  She will be there for a couple of weeks and then head back home to Denver.  We have had so much fun the past few weeks.  I told her I am soaking up as much 'girl time' as I can.

Yesterday, SIL and I spent about 1.5 hours in the pool.  It was early in the day but it was already over 100F.  It was a bit too long for my body to be out there.  My shoulders are a nice shade of red and feel very hot.  UGH!  I have not had a sunburn for many years.  Normally, I am careful to only spend about 30 minutes at a time in the sun..........for that reason.

After lunch, she and I headed out to pick up some items she needed for her upcoming trip.  Since she is staying in a hotel, she wanted some shelf stable food and a few items for the fridge that will be in her room.  We spent 3 hours going to several stores to obtain everything she needed.  We were so happy to see there were not very many people out shopping.  I guess when the thermometer hits 112F, no one wants to be out and about.

We have spent our evenings watching baseball and movies.  Nice and relaxing.  Tonight we will be heading to my son's so she can say goodbye to them.  We will take dessert over to them too.  There might be a game or two played as well.  We won't stay too late as she wants a good night's sleep before she drives tomorrow.

After she leaves, I want to get back to working on my knitting and crocheting projects.  I have been ignoring them so I could spend time with her.  We don't see each other too often, so I am really SOAKING in the girl time. LOL

There has been some concern from some of you about me going out and about.  The virus numbers in our area are decreasing.  Masks are being worn by everyone who is out and about.  Hand sanitizers are available at most places when you enter and leave and if not, I carry a bottle with me at all times.  I use a clorox wipe on my car after every outing.  In all reality, the only stores I visit are grocery stores.  I was invited to go clothes shopping this past week and I declined.  I am not ready for that yet.  Thank you for your concern, though.  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside that you care.

There have been several other questions asked over the past 2-3 weeks.  I will take one day this week to answer all the questions, so stay tuned.  

Until next time..................happy crafting & stay well!

WEEK 4 OF YEAR 10

Hello again.  Once again, I am here to update y'all on my past week's progress in my crafting and a little in my personal life.

First off, I have another FO!

I started and completed the To The Point shawl this week.  This will be going to the Prayer Shawl ministry at church.  I just found out they have started mailing prayer packets out again.  We had stopped for a while because of Covid 19.  

My Sock Scrap Granny Stripe blanket is coming along too.

Can you see the little owl progress keeper?  The part above it is what I have completed in the past 2 weeks.  It is going to be my long term project this year.  It is good TV watching crochet.  Unfortunately, it is starting to get big enough where my lap gets a bit toasty with it laying on it.  This is a great way to use up all those dribs and drabs of sock yarn I have hanging around.

Speaking of socks........................

I started another pair for the knit worthy husband.  I have not decided which pattern I will be using yet.  I am still leaning towards the Hermione Everyday Socks.  Although, hubby really liked the 3X1 ribbed pattern I used on his last socks.  I still another half inch to go on the cuff before a decision needs to be made.

That is all for my crafting this week.  It was a slow week.  My sister in law came back to our house on Tuesday.  That meant I have spent a lot of time just enjoying her company.  There was a trip to Costco, menu planning, grocery shopping, swimming, playing games, and working on perfecting SIL's crocheting skills.  It has been so nice to have her here.  I am going to miss her when she leaves this week.

When we were doing making the menus for the next 10 days, I let SIL pick out the recipes she would like me to make until she leaves.  She chose some wonderful recipes and I am looking forward to making them.  Tonight is chicken and white bean enchiladas.  YUM!  Last night was bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers and hot wings.  It is fun to have someone else choose recipes for me to make.  

My favorite job this week was doing my Grand Daughter's hair for her play performance.  The Chandler Youth Theater is performing "Beauty and the Beast Jr".  Needless to say, they are not doing live performances.  Rather, they are video taping the performance and then putting it on YouTube for us to watch.  Here she is in her 'Napkin Girl" costume.

She is part of the ensemble.  Her other ensemble part was the 'silly girls'.  She has really enjoyed doing this.  Of course, you can not see the curls in her hair with this photo.  Trust me, she has large ringlets going down her back.  I am still getting used to her 'brunette' hair.  She loves it but I miss her gorgeous naturally blonde hair.  Oh, Well...................I'm just the Mimi.  LOL

Her next play will be 'The Adams Family'.  She is looking forward to the try outs.  She asked me what role I thought she should try out for and I told her.....................Cousin It!  I got a dirty look from her for that one LOL.

Hubby and I went to 7 AM Mass this morning.  Afterwards, we went to our local carry out Mexican place and got breakfast burritos for all of us.  SIL just finished making hotel reservations for her stay in Las Vegas.  Now we are kicking back and watching "Solo:A Star Wars Story" on Disney +.  I will be grabbing some handiwork after I post this.  So.................

Until Next Time.......................Happy Crafting & Stay Well!!!!!!!!!

Hiding Out

It is that time of week where I hide out for a couple of hours while hubby does his weekly cleaning routine.  Today, I am hiding out in my craft room.  It is my favorite hide away.

My SIL has gone to have her hair washed and dried at a salon.  She has a ton of hair and it takes forever for her to do it.  That leaves me and my buddy to hang out for a while.

He is not a fan of the vacuum, so he is as far away from the door to my craft room as he can get.

Since I am in my favorite room, I decided to replace the name on my water bottle.  It was starting to peel off.  

This time I applied it the long ways instead of around the bottle.  It stays much better that way.

I have my radio on in the craft room and we just got a weather alert!  We under a severe thunderstorm warning.  Unfortunately it is to the west of us and moving north so, I do not think we will see any rain out of this one.  Hopefully another rain storm will develop this afternoon closer to us.  We so need rain.  It has been over 100 days since we have had any.

SIL and I will be heading over to my son's house to do hair and makeup for the Grand Daugher's play performance.  I do believe this is the last day I am needed for this activity.  

That about sums up my day.  It is a lazy type of day for me.  That means I will get some crafting time today.  Hooray!

Until next time........happy crafting & stay well!

What a Day!

We had so much fun last night.  The family arrived about 5:30.  Almost everyone went for a pre-dinner swim.  After dinner we got the dishes done, put everything away and then we all went for a post dinner swim.  It was so nice and refreshing.  Everyone left about 9:30.  I was bushed by then.  My bed was calling my name and I happily answered the call.

This morning, hubby got up as the sun was rising so he could do the yard work before it got too beastly hot outside.  He was done and back in the house by 7am.  That is when my SIL and myself woke up.

SIL and I kind of mapped out what we were going to do today.  We left the house about 9:30 to go and pick up SIL's ultrasound records so she can take them to her Dr at home.  After that, we went to the water mart to get our water jugs filled................again!  We are going through about 12 gallons of drinking water every 6-7 days.  That is how hot it is here.  From the water mart we went by my BFF's house to see how the roofers were doing.  We got to talk to her (outside) for a little bit too.  She gets to go back to work tomorrow and is thrilled as she is bored to tears.  From there we went and filled my car with gas.  While we were out, we decided to head to Costco as SIL wanted to pick up a few items before she left for Las Vegas.  That completed our errands.  

We came home and had a nice lunch of Tortellini salad.  We had found it at Costco and it was delicious.  As soon as lunch was over, we headed to my son's house.  I have been requested to curl the Grand Daughter's hair each day for her play performance that is being videoed.  We hung out there for a little while and chatted.  We are now at home watching "Greyhound" with Tom Hanks.  It is a good movie.

We got good news today, our daughter in law got her Covid 19 test results back (finally) and she is negative.  We figured she was but this was extra peace of mind.

I did have a little surprise waiting for me when we returned from our shopping trip.

My lovely friend in Las Vegas ordered this and sent it to me.  It is a sourdough starter crock from King Arthur Flour Company.  What a thoughtful gift.  I am so excited to start using it.  I just know it will make my sourdough starter really take off.  I love it!  Thank you so much, special friend!

Tonight, we are going to order Mexican food and take it easy.  I might get a chance to pick up one of my WIP's and work on it.  They have been ignored for 2 days.  

Who knows what tomorrow holds in store for us.  I do know I need to curl hair again tomorrow afternoon.  I was also asked to apply her eyeliner for the performance being done tomorrow.  I think SIL is going to take on that job for me.  I do not know when SIL is heading to Vegas, but we are really enjoying having her here...............well, I know I am.

Until next time................happy crafting & stay well!

LET THEM EAT CAKE

This was a kitchen day.  Since we are gathering as a family tonight for dinner, I wanted to make sure everything was prepared long before they all showed up.

There are two crockpots going with chicken in them.  Once the chicken is finished cooking, I will be putting cut up refrigerated buttermilk biscuits in the crockpots to make the dumplings.  This is my all time favorite recipe and loved by my entire family.  

There will also be a nice garden salad to go with it.  The lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms and cucumbers have all been cleaned and cut up ready to go.  Store bought croutons as well as shredded cheese will also be available as toppings.  Ranch and Olive Garden Italian dressings will be offered as well.

Then, there is dessert.  I made an Easy French Strawberry Cake.  Here is a photo of it once it was finished.

I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on the top instead of the granulated sugar the recipe called for.   There will be whipping cream served with it too.

My daughter is allergic to strawberries so she is going to bring another dessert to share.  If anyone goes home hungry, it will not be my fault.

It sounds like there will be a little swimming happening tonight too.  Good thing we got the pool all cleaned up this weekend.  There has been quite a bit of wind lately so we have had lots of leaves in the pool.  

That is it for the day today.  I am going to kick back for a couple of hours and enjoy the quite before we get invaded.

Until next time..............happy crafting & stay well!