WEEK 25 OF YOP 12

 

Happy 4th week of Advent!  It has been super busy, for us, this past week.  Let's get started on what went on.

I got very little knitting done this past week.  But what knitting did get done was focused on the Azel.

The arrow shows where I was last Sunday.  This does knit up fast, thanks to the bulky chunky yarn and size US 13 needles.  Unfortunately, I can only do about 4 rows before I need to rest my hands.  I have another 10 inches before I start the neck shaping.  Hopefully this coming week will be a bit calmer and I can actually put some time into it.

So, let's take a look at what happened this week to keep me from knitting.

Last Sunday - I got a call, shortly after I published my blog, to grab our wet vac and get over to the new house as my son broke a pipe!  I dropped the wet vac off and came back home.  No need for me to add more to their confusion.  Then, around noon they called again and asked if we could come over and help unpack the kitchen.  Our son has a second job he was leaving to do and he wanted us to help his wife so she would not hurt herself since she just had shoulder repair surgery and has a bad back from her US Navy career.  We helped her until about 8 pm and then went home to collapse.  Good news is...........we got the kitchen totally unpacked and 90% put away!

Monday - After lunch, we headed back over to help with the unpacking of the new house.  We got served a lovely dinner for all our help too.  When we left the house was 85% completely unpacked and put away.  Most of what was left was decorations that needed to be hung on the walls.

Tuesday - Our doorbell rang at 7:20 am!  It was the gentlemen to take apart our pool table and move it over to the new house.  They were very efficient and had everything out the door in about 45 minutes.  We had not used the pool table in years and the TX family are huge pool players and were thrilled to have it.  I had my RA Dr tele-med appointment today too.  She is changing my meds, as the ones I am taking are no longer keeping my RA from progressing.  I will be taking an injectable as soon as it is approved my insurance and can be shipped to me.  She has been trying to get me to do this for several years but, being the stubborn person I am, I kept telling her NO!  Well, it is time to do something before I can no longer walk or care for myself.  This is also the day hubby and I made our tamales for the season.

We made over 6 dozen green chili corn and 1.5 dozen sweet tamales.  It took us about 4.5 hours total.  Although 1.5 hours of that was cooking time.  They are so yummy!  It had been 3 years since we had done this.  Next year we are going to cut that amount in half.  Our family all wants some of them but I am being a good mom and gifting them the recipe and they can make their own!  LOL

Wednesday - Had to get blood work done for my new meds.  Then I made two batches of fudge to be gifted.  There was a lovely lunch date with one of my dear friends.  The lunch was sorely needed so we both could just sit and relax and let the world go on around us for a while.

Thursday - Hubby finished cleaning the house and I did laundry.  I also finished up making the fudge today.

It has been taste tested and pronounces yummy!  I made 4 pans like the one above.  Three are for gifting and the one above is for us to enjoy.

Friday - Hubby and I went grocery shopping to make sure we did not need to go again until after the new year.  We may need to go for fresh produce but that would be it.  The stores are crazy right now and the less we need to add to the mess the better.  I also finished up making the Rolo Preztel treats.  These are so easy to make but the most time consuming.  Unwrapping the little Rolo candies is tedious work.  Especially when you unwrap over 500 of them.

Most people put pecans on the top but since these are for gifting and most of my family do not like nuts, I used Reeses pieces.

Saturday - I finished up my candy making!  Today I made Scotch Treats.  It is combination of peanut butter and butterscotch chips mixed with Rice Krispies.  So yummy!

I made 4 of these pans and once again, 3 of them will be for gifting.  You see, we do ' white elephant' gift exchange each year for Christmas.  Our gifts are to be 'nice' gifts and not gag gifts.  They are also to be no more than $25.  So this year, I purchased some lovely Lock n Lock containers and will fill them with home made goodies long with the recipe for each goodie.  Hubby and I have 3 containers each to gift this year.  I will let you know how well it went over next week.  Also, on this day we went to the new house and played pool (so much more fun when it is not at your own home), ate pizza and had a great time with the family.  It was so nice to see both of our sons together having some laughs and good times.  The daughter in laws get along so well too.  My heart is full!

Today hubby and I will be making our annual Chex Mix party mix.  It is the last of my Christmas goodies to be made.  We were chuckling as normally this is the first thing I make each year.  Those tamales threw the whole schedule off!  We will also be getting our Christmas cards addressed and ready to mail out tomorrow.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh!

I will not post next Sunday as we will be spending time with family celebrating the birth of Jesus!  I will, however, have a special post with a BIG surprise on Monday or Tuesday.  So stay tuned.

Until Next Time..............................Happy Crafting and Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

WEEK 24 OF YOP 12

 

Hey, thanks for stopping by.  My needles have been busy this week.

I finished the baby sweater and hat and it has been given to the church for my 'angel'.

These are the buttons I chose.  Thanks to everyone that voted on which buttons to use.  I laughed as no one chose these.  I almost went with the ones Maureen choose but they were just a bit too busy and these had the same colors in them.

Here is the hat.

And photos of the outfit together.  Please excuse the lighting.  It was a dreary rainy day when the photos were taken so no natural light available.

After that ensemble was completed, I was able to pick up some neglected WIP's and work on them when I was not making yummy stuff for Christmas.

RCR socks went with me to Adoration.  I only got to work on them for about half an hour.  But hey, it was 4 rows more than they have seen in over a month.

My DIL's Azel is my main focus now.

You know I love you when I agree to make something for you in BLACK!  This is going to be really big, per her request.  I just finished doing the part with all the button holes.  Now it is endless knitting until I get to the neck's edge and then down the other side.  It is bulky chunky yarn and I can only work with it for small segments of time before my hands and shoulders complain.  When I watch TV in the evenings is when I normally grab this and work on it.  My goal is to get it done before summer hits LOL.

My house is finally decorated for Christmas.  I have started my candy making and am hoping to finish that up this week as well as the Chex Mix party mix.  Hubby and I also have all the makings for green chili corn tamales as well as sweet tamales.  Those should be completed this week too.  Come back next week to see if we met our goal.

Today I was going to really concentrate on baking but.......................yes there is always a but.  The newly arrived TX family's belongings are being delivered today.  I was asked to help them unpack and get the house set up.  Especially the kitchen.  That pretty much took care of me doing tons of baking today.  That's okay..............I am retired and there are still many days before Christmas.

How is your week going?

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

WEEK 23 OF YOP 12

 

Running a bit late today.  I will talk about the reason later in this post.  Right now let's take a look at what has been happening with my yarn and needles.

The Wee Sherlock sweater is completed and the ends have been woven in.  I need some help, though.

Which buttons would you use on this.  The heart buttons are placed to show where the buttons will be sewn.  I like the hearts but they are a little hard to get through the button holes not to mention the yarn has a peach undertone and not 'pink'.  The buttons next to the hearts are kind of busy but have so many colors in them as do the ones next to the sleeve.  The ones on the sleeve are one short for all the holes but I could mix them with the ones next to the sleeve.  HELP!  What do you think?

Once the sweater got completed I cast on for the hat.

Here is where I was this morning.  Since then I have unraveled it and cast on using a cable cast on and the needle size it called for as well as the next size down.  I am still on the garter edging.  I am debating on whether to do the cable accent or just sew a button on the garter edging for accent.  This outfit needs to be completed this week and turned into our church so they can get it to the 'angel'.

That is all for crafting this week.  I have not discussed my Hydroponic garden in a while.  I am down to only one at the moment.  It is growing cherry tomatoes.  I harvested the ripe ones today.

Hubby ate them with his dinner tonight.

This week has been crazy.  We have been preparing for the rest of the family from Texas to arrive.  

Monday - Smoked a turkey for hubby and I.  It was my first time to do this by myself.  It turned out yummy.  I also pulled the tree ornaments out of the storage shed.  Moved the tree to where I wanted it this year too.

Tuesday - Had a meeting with our Estate Planner to go over our updated trust.  Hubby decided to come down with a nasty cold.  (Covid test was negative)  

Wednesday - Finally got the tree decorated!  Nothing else has been decorated yet.  Too busy trying to find cold medicine for hubby.  There has been quite a run on the stuff we like to use.  Guess everyone is stocking up because of the 'tridemic' the news media keeps warning us about.

Thursday - Got around to doing laundry....finally!  Also spent most of the day running errands while hubby stayed home and away from the public.  

Friday - Took our son to work so he did not have to leave his car at the airport while he went to TX to help drive the family out here.  I got to see a gorgeous sunrise as he leaves for work at 6am and the sun comes up around 7am.  I did a grocery store run to help stock a few things up in the 'new house' kitchen.  This way they do not need to run to a grocery store the minute they get in.  We also did a final clean on the house and hung up a banner welcoming them to their new home.

Saturday - Bread making day!   I no longer make a loaf of bread.  I am now making buns and this way we do not have the waste we were having with the loaf.  While I was letting the bread rise things got interesting.  My DIL from TX called and gave me a list of items they would need when they arrived here.  It was all items for the 3 guinea pigs LOL.  By the time I got all the supplies and bread completed it was early evening.  We followed their driving progress and decided to stay up until we knew they were safely at their home.  They arrived around 1:30am!  One of their cars broke down about 150 miles into their trip.  They ended up renting a trailer to tow the car the rest of the trip.  This really slowed them down.

Today - Hubs and I got to bed about 2 this morning but still woke up around 7.  He is feeling much better.  HOORAY!  It rained all day yesterday and some this morning.  Not a good time to try and pull boxes out of the shed for the rest of our Christmas decorating.  So, we just took it kind of slow today.  Our daughter and her husband dropped by and brought a lovely tray of homemade goodies.  The Tx son and wife dropped by to get some tools and chat a bit.

It is now about 8pm and time for me to get back to working on the baby hat.  Next week I hope for a more normal week.  I do have an appt on Tues, Wed, and Thur.  But they are all short appointments so should not effect our routine too much.  I am hoping to get the rest of the decorations up this week as well as get the Christmas baking going.

If this seems a bit choppy, it is.  My mind is whirling with all the things that have happened in the past 7 days not to mention what still needs to be done in the next 7 days.  Gotta love this time of year LOL.

I hope you all are healthy and staying warm.

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

WEEK 22 OF YOP 12

 

This week I worked solely on the baby sweater.  It needs to be completed and delivered to the church by the 11th of December.

It is coming along nicely.  I only have a couple more inches of body to do and then move on to sleeve island.  Then the matching hat and ta da, I will be done. I am on the lookout for adorable buttons for it.

My week has been filled with getting things ready for Christmas baking and decorating.  Throw in Thanksgiving on Thursday and Doggy Dental cleaning with extractions on Friday and my Week was pretty full.

Yes, Enrique needed his teeth cleaned and in the process had to have 7 extractions.  There were more they think will need to be removed next year during his dental but did not want to overload his poor little body with too much trauma at once.  He is actually doing quite well and is pretty much back to his old mischievous ways.  He will be on soft foods for 2 weeks.  After his recheck he should be able to go back on his kibble.

We also took Luna in to meet her new Vet.  Being 16 we were getting concerned about some changes we had seen in her.  The vet thought for being 16 she was doing pretty darn good.  Other than her hearing is almost all gone and her vision has decreased she is healthy.  She does have some beginning signs of Doggy Dementia too. 

I made my holiday baking list and got all the supplies for it.  Last night I backed my famous boozy fruitcake.  I know, most people make fun of fruitcakes.  Mine is made 4 weeks before it is to be served and each week it gets a bit of soaking with spiced rum.  By the time it is ready to serve, it is moist and really flavorful.  It will get its first 'drink' today.

Today, I will be making my grandmothers oatmeal cookies.  I have never made them before and hubby loves oatmeal cookies.  They will bring back some lovely memories for me as well as make hubby happy.

So, that was my week.  This coming week will be filled with decorating (although hubby does have the outside done) and more baking and cooking.  My infamous chex party mix is next on the list of things to make.

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

WEEK 20 & 21 OF YOP 12

Hey there!  Can you believe I did not post last week?  I think that is the first time I have missed a YOP update in many years.  It was just way too hectic last Sunday to try and squeeze in an update.  We were scrambling to get everything into the car so we could head out of town.  Unfortunately, I was no help either.  It was not a good RA day for me.  I was lucky to even be able to walk to the car.  More on that later in this post.  Let's take a look at all the fun and good things first.

I finished my modified Nuuk.

 I am so glad I decided to put the 'lace' edging on the bottom of the sweater.

This photo was taken very early this morning just before we left for Mass.  It is super comfy and I like the fact it does not 'hug' my body but has a nice flow to it.

When we got back from our trip I found this:

My first bloom on my Thanksgiving Cactus!  Most people call all these cacti Christmas Cactus when there are actually 3 different types.....Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas.  The difference is in the shape of the leaves.  Both of mine are Thanksgiving as are about 99% of the ones I see in the stores.  There are tons of buds on this white cactus.  My red one is not ready to bloom yet.  It seems to prefer to bloom in late December but continues on for several months.

Yesterday I decided to try my hand at making dinner rolls with my sourdough starter.  My reason to do this is because I am in charge of bread for Thanksgiving.

They turned out fantastic.  And yes, there is one missing from the bottom left corner.  Hubby and I needed to taste test them first.  Next time I make these I will make them bigger and only do 3 across and 4 down.  I think I will need to make 2 pans of them.

Hubby and I had a great time in Las Vegas.  We were in a Bingo Tournament at one of the casinos.  We did not win but had a great time and met some lovely people.  The first day of the trip was iffy.  I woke up and was in extreme pain from my neck to my toes.  We almost cancelled the trip because of it.  I can not even describe the pain, it was that severe.  It was so bad I could not even get all of my clothes on by myself.  (Hubby was an angel in helping)  I started taking my 'flare up' meds immediately but they do take several hours to even begin to ease any inflammation.  When we got to our destination, we were able to get a wheelchair from the casino, for me.  Hubby made sure I went everywhere and had as good a time as possible.  Monday I woke up and found I was able to walk (slowly but walk none the less).  By Tuesday, I was almost 100% back to normal again.  We turned in the wheelchair in case someone else was in need.  We got home on Thursday and I am now back to normal.  I have a Dr appointment with my RA Dr in a couple of weeks and I think it is time to discuss different meds as the one I take now does not seem to be helping as much as it used to.  (Sigh)

Our son moved into his new home yesterday (Saturday).  He has some modifications he wants to get done before the family arrives in 2 weeks.  It is so quiet with him gone.  We enjoyed having him around after 23 years of him living in other states.  Getting to know the man he has become was wonderful and we look forward to being around his family once they arrive.

That pretty much catches you up.  I am casting on a new project today.  Our church has "Advent Giving Trees" where you pull an angle off the tree and purchase the gift requested.  I got a 5 month old baby girl that wants an outfit.  I will purchase an outfit for her but I am also going to knit her a sweater and hat set.  I do not get to make baby gifts often anymore and so love making them.  Stay tuned for progress next week.

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

WEEK 19 OF YOP 12

 

Hey there.  Glad you came by.  Here is what has happened in my world.

I am still working on Nuuk.  It is getting really close to being finished.

Another 7 inches added this past week.  As you can see, I have changed up the bottom of the sweater.  Bottom ribbing is not my friend.  I like my sweaters to 'flow' or 'swing' away from my hip area.  So I found another sweater pattern with this as the bottom edging and decided to try it out.  I do like it and it gives the sweater a little oomph since it is 99% stockinette. My hope is when I finish this 10 row set of lace, it will be the length I am desiring.  A try on will happen to double check.

And that my friends, is all for my crafting this week.  Last week I showed you my bagels I made.  Just so you don't think I am a whiz at making those holes perfect............

I used these bagel molds.  You shape, boil and bake with the dough on them.  Makes it so easy.

Not sure if I will post next week or not.  Hubby and I are taking a little road trip to Las Vegas.  So..............................

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

Math!

 

I am working as much as possible on my Nuuk sweater.  Our weather has turned quite cool and this will be perfect for it.  However.......You know I never do a pattern 100% the way it is written.  This time has been no exception.  I needed to adjust it for my body shape so it is now more of an a-line than a straight down sweater.  The pattern sleeves were huge so I had to reduce the underarm stitches there.  I am starting to get to the hip area of the sweater.  I do not like ribbing on the bottom of my sweaters as I feel they just draw in the sweater and make my hips look larger than they already are.  So, I wanted to do a lace edging on the bottom of the sweater.  Hmmmm.  Since I am not a designer I needed to find a lace edging that was not worked from side to side or one needing to be sewn on.

The hunt began last week.  Yesterday, I found a sweater pattern with a cute lace bottom.  Just a few things for me to do.  First off, find out how many stitches did the lace pattern take for each repeat.  Count the stitches on my needles.  Do some division, multiplication, subtraction and pray.  Hopefully, my math is spot on.  I have 3 more stitches than are needed for the lace repeats.  I will put a couple on one side of the sweater and the other one on the other side.  I doubt anyone will notice unless they want to  invade my personal space.  (I do not recommend that)

This baby is getting close to where I will be doing the lace edging.  My goal is to have it completed by next Friday.

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

WEEK 18 OF YOP 12

 I am running behind today.  My day started very early with church, then a lovely breakfast out with my hubby.  We got home and I took a little 2 hour nap.  This weekend has been full of activity and my body finally said 'enough'.  But, you didn't come here for all this.  Let me show you what I have done.

I have added 4 inches to my Nuuk sweater.  And that is all I have done craftwise this week.

Well, I did go and paint some pottery on Friday with my daughter.  I pick up the finished product this coming week and will show it off next weekend.

I resurrected my sourdough starter this week and made these:

BAGELS!  I even boiled them before they were baked.  Just like a good New York bagel.  They were so yummy.

Last night was Home Coming for Josie.  Here she is with your boyfriend of 8 months.

We really like the young man too.  He is very polite and respectful.  He comes to quite a few of our family functions and we enjoy talking with him.

Yesterday was Josie's last swimming invitational.  How could those 4 years have gone by so fast?  This coming weekend is State Swim championships.  She will probably be going as an alternate for relays.  We will know more on Monday.

And that my friends is all for this week.

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

WEEK 17 OF YOP 12

 This will be one of the shortest posts I have ever done.  Not much going on here other than working on my Nuuk.

After I posted last Sunday, I got to an end of a skein of yarn and decided to try on the sweater.  I put all the bottom stitches on waste yarn and put it on.  WHOA!  I don't know who I thought I was making this sweater for.  It was HUGE!  The shoulder area and upper chest fit fine.  My swatch was spot on and even while I was checking gauge while knitting it was spot on.  What was not spot on was the amount of underarm stitches the instructions told me to add on when I split for sleeves.  I had to rip it all the way back to the underarm cast on.  UGH!  Four inches of stockinette gone!  This time I only added 8 extra stitches to the underarm instead of 26!  I knit again until I ran out of that same skein of yarn.  Tried it on and TA-DA.  It was a wonderful fit.  Just enough positive ease to make me happy.  Then, I decided to go ahead and do the neck ribbing as well as making the sleeves the length I wanted them.  Now all I have to do is knit endless rows of stockinette until it is the length I am comfortable with.  I have already done the a-line increases so it is just mindless knitting for the foreseeable future.

And that, my friends, is all I have done this week.

Tomorrow, hubby and I will be going to get the new Covid booster.  We got our flu shots last week.  That way we are set for the 'winter'.

I will leave you with a photo of Josie as smee in her performance last Sunday.  This was the cast line up at the end of the play.  Pardon all the blacked out faces, but the cast is all minors and I do not have permission to display them on social media. 

The one uncovered face is Josie as Smee.  The play was excellent and the one liners in it were spot on.

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

WEEK 16 OF YOP 12

 

Hey there.  I have some fun stuff to show you today.

My Nuuk is moving along quite well.

Such an easy pattern to knit.  I have already done my own modifications to it so it will be more of an a-line/swing sweater than a straight down from the underarm sweater.  I just finished my second skein of yarn and am going to work on the sleeves next.  I will make them longer than the pattern calls for but they will stop well above the elbow.  Several ladies have made long sleeves on the pattern.  Since we only wear long sleeved sweaters for about 3-4 weeks, I have nixed that idea.  My goal is to have this completed in the next 3 weeks.  We shall see.

And that, my friends, is all for my crafting this week.  Everything is in time out until Nuuk is completed.

Thursday was Josie's senior day at her swim meet.  They honored all the seniors who were swim team members.  we had so much fun with them at the meet.  Here is a photo of part of the ceremony.

That's Josie with her parents who were also honored.  

The swim team seniors.

Yes, there are only 6 seniors on the team.  She goes to a small school and her graduating class is only about 125.  Everyone of the seniors has been on the team for 4 years.  That, my friends is commitment.  They go to practice every morning at 5:30 and then head on to school by 7:45.  They all need to keep their grades up above a certain average or they can not participate in the meets.  They are a great group of kids and have had a lot of fun over the past 4 years.  And, yes, they all have lettered in the sport all 4 years!

It is so hard for me to wrap my head around the fact she is graduating this year.  When I started this blog (2007) she was 19 months old!

Where has the time gone?  

Yesterday, we were blessed with some much needed rain.  It was one heck of a rain storm in mid morning where we got over an inch in 15 minutes!  After that it kind of drizzled most of the rest of the day.  Then at one o'clock this morning I was awakened by the worse noise ever.  I peeked out of my bedroom window to see my backyard was nothing but a layer of marble sized hail!  Could not even see the grass.  When I got up this morning there were still patches of ice on the lawn.

It was a gorgeous 60F outside too.  We ended up with over 2 inches of rain here.  No need for hubby to water the outside plants for a few days now.

This afternoon, hubby and I are going to see Peter and the StarCatcher.  Josie is playing Smee (captain hook's side kick) in it.  It is about how Peter Pan became Peter Pan.  Should be a fun show.

We have been dog sitting for the past 4 days.

Our little granddog, Celeste, came for a stay while her owners took a much needed mini vacation to the grand canyon.  She is such a sweet little thing.  Doesn't bark, doesn't harrass the other dogs.  Just wants a little loving and FOOD!  She is a great eater.  Her 'parents' tell me she is hard to feed.  Not at my house she isn't.  She is going home today.  It has been fun having her around.  Luna doesn't mind her at all.  Enrique gets his nose out of joint when we pet her or have her sitting next to us.  He is such a spoiled one!  I think Celeste likes it here because I only have 2 other dogs and at her house she has 3 and one of them is still in puppy mode. Celeste is NOT in puppy mode.

That is about it for my week.  Time to go and get started on the sleeves of my sweater.

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

WEEK 15 OF YOP 12

 

Hey there!  Glad you dropped by today.  I hope your past week was a good one.  Mine was busy and productive.

Here is my finish!

To The Point shawl is completed.  I do need to sew on the medal and label before it goes to the ministry at church.  I usually like to wait until I have a few shawls done to do that.

I worked on the Rose City Roller socks too.

They both now have the same number of rows completed on them.  These are my go to project in the morning while I am listening to my daily bible readings and prayers.  

There was a new project cast on yesterday.  My plan had been to cast on Ranunculous.  I had the pattern, needles, yarn and had even swatched for it.  I read the instructions............several times.  For some reason, I just could not 'get into' the rhythm of the pattern.  So, I sat for a few days and finally decided to cast on Nuuk.

I will be making some modifications to the body of this sweater.  I plan on making it more of an a-line sweater so as not to 'hug' my hips.  Fingers crossed my calculations and modifications work out.

The rest of the week went by in a blur.  Here is a quick recap.

Monday - The day started off fantastic.  There was a loaf of sourdough bread made, a load of laundry done, plants watered etc....  Then the afternoon hit me.  OUCH!  Stupid RA!  And then that evening we got smacked with a huge dust storm, winds, and rain in certain areas.  OK, so now I know why my RA kicked up.

Tuesday - I did nothing.  It was a day allowing my body to recoup.

Wednesday - Hubby and I had an estate planning meeting.  We already have our trust and will done but it needed to be updated.  That afternoon we went to look at a house with our son.  OH MY!  This house was great on the inside but the outside was horrible!  It would have taken THOUSANDS of dollars to make the pool and surrounding grounds to be usable.

Thursday - More laundry was done.  My RA was quiet and so I was able to get a few more household chores completed.  There were 3 more houses to be toured too.  The first home was super cute but very small.  The pool had some major issues too so that got taken off the list.  The second house had great curb appeal.  Upon walking in we felt like we had been transported back to 1940!  Oh My!  We went no further than the front room before we left.  The third house was great.  The layout was perfect and the pool was gorgeous.  There were a few things needing to be done but nothing that would stop from moving in and living there.

Friday - It was catch up day for me.  There was deep cleaning of a couple of areas.  I am trying to do 15 minutes each day of deep cleaning.  So far I have done the dining room table (the catch all table) and my special daylight lamp with tray.  It was amazing to see how much dust and dirt was on both of those items.  

Saturday - We went with our son to look at a house that was 3 houses down from us.  BIG FAIL!  Nothing was done properly in the home and would have take copious amounts of time and money to make it livable. I went with our son in the afternoon to look at one more home. (Hubby went to Mass) This one was an hour away from our house.  The curb appeal was fantastic.  The pool and grounds were gorgeous.  The interior was very nice too.  There were a few things needing to be done.  The only issue with it was, it was choppy.  Lots of rooms and not really any great 'open' area.  Once we left there our son called his wife and they decided to put an offer in on the last house we saw on Thursday.  So, now we wait for a response from the seller to see if they will accept the offer or give a counter offer.  After all of that, hubby and I went out to dinner with our BFF's.  It was nice to finally be out and away from all the hustle and bustle.

Today - I got up super early to make it to 7AM Mass.  Afterwards I went to the local Taco shop and got breakfast burritos for all of us.  This afternoon the 3 of us are going to go and meet up with our other son and his wife and watch some football together.  Until then, I will be working on my sweater.  I am almost ready to join it in the round!

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

WEEK 14 OF YOP 12

 

Hey there!  Glad you dropped by today.  I wanted to show you what's goin' on around here.

TA-DA!  Introducing my latest FO!

My finished Gnome.  It is the first gnome I have made but will not be my last.  I chose not to put arms on him.  His beard was made with two alpaca lace yarns held together.  I wanted the beard to have more of a 'fur' look.  I found the bell for his hat in my notions box and just had to add it.  The arms did get made but I did not like the looks of them when I placed them on him.  He joins the gnome my daughter made for me last year.

They are only a little over 6 inches tall.  Even my husband said the new gnome was cute.  That, my friends, is high praise.

There was a hope I would have more than one finish this week.  But life got in the way.  Although, I did get close.

To The Point is very close to being completed.  Hopefully it will get all the love and completion it deserves today.  This is my first time using Knit Picks Brava worsted weight yarn.  It is an easy yarn to use.  I am hoping after giving it a wash it will soften up a bit.  I am so used to making this shawl with Caron Simply Soft that any other yarn seems a bit stiff to me.  I do think this yarn will hold up quite well to many washing, though.  That is a big plus for a shawl going to people undergoing all types of medical procedures.

Then there are these:

The RCR socks are still being worked on...........sort of.  See the bright little yellow dot on each one?  That is where I was last Sunday.  The one on the left only got 2-3 rows added.  The one on the right traveled with me to an all day EWTN family conference yesterday.  Sitting and listening to speakers for 6 hours makes for some great knitting time.  There was a lady sitting behind me crocheting what looked like an afghan.  She knew it was going to be a long day too LOL.

My BFF asked me to help her this week with her dog, Lily.  Lily had to have surgery on her back leg for a torn meniscus and CCL.  Poor Lily did not do well with all the medications and stress that went with surgery.  Her tummy was not a happy camper for 3 days after the surgery.  So, I spent a few hours each day helping my BFF clean the little darling up and giving my BFF time to take a shower and eat.  As of last night, Lily sounded like she was doing so much better.

Sweet Lily

This is also the same BFF who asked me to resurrect her Thanksgiving Cactus.  I worked on it quite a bit this week too.  Take a look at it now!

What a difference a nice 'haircut' and proper water and light can make.  I am waiting for some new growth to show up before I send it back 'home'.

I cooked up some steaks for us a few nights ago.  With the sun setting earlier each day, it gets pretty dark in our backyard by about 6:30.  Our son has been such a help while living here.  He installed the strings of lights we have had for a while.  What a difference it makes!

Look how bright it is.  No problem cooking after the sun goes down.  The lights can be set to several different colors too.  Hubby suggested doing that while I cooked.  Told him the white was best while cooking meat so I could see the 'true' color of the food LOL.

That about covers my week.  There was a haircut for me...finally, as well as grocery shopping, laundry, and house cleaning.  I did pull my sourdough starter out of the fridge.  It had been in there for about 5 months.  I started feeding it and within 2 days it was super active again.  So, on Monday I made a loaf of sourdough bread.

It turned out so well.  I use my pullman pan to bake it in.  Once I made this loaf I put the starter back in the fridge to keep me from needing to feed it daily.  I pulled it out this morning and will feed it twice today in hopes I can make another loaf tomorrow morning.

Okay, that really does cover my week.  How was yours?

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