Day 7

It is 6AM and still dark here and will be for another hour yet.  The sun will set at 5:30 tonight.  Love this time of year.  My dogs don't.  They get pretty confused and can not understand why we wait so long after sunset to go to bed.  They do not 'get' changing of the seasons.  In fact, they are still in their beds and will be until the sun comes up.

Yesterday, hubby got the bathrooms and kitchens all nice and clean.   My job is to move as much out of those rooms as possible to make his mopping job easier.  Then I move it all back.  I did not get as much laundry done as I wanted, so that is top priority today.  

I did finish the puzzle yesterday.

Only took 9 days to complete but then it only gets worked on for about an hour a day.  There is another puzzle already set up.  I am missing 1 boarder piece and it is making me a little crazy.  Being a 1000 piece puzzle, finding that piece at the moment is not easy.  So, I will work on the opposite edge until I whittle down some of the pieces and hope I find it.

Tonight, my daughter in law and I are going to one of the casinos here, to play bingo.  I have not been to our casinos here in quite a while.  The bingo games here last for 4 hours and makes that $40 spent seem like a pretty good deal.  In Las Vegas, the bingo games only last 1 hour................unless it is a tournament and then we are there for 6-8 hours.  I already have my bingo bag packed an ready to go.

We got a call last night from our son in Texas.  Seems one of our Grand Son's is in the hospital with possible appendicitis.  They are making a decision this morning as to whether or not to operate.  I am waiting for that phone call as I type this.  There is an issue with his appendix but the Dr said it is not actual appendicitis but could turn into that.  They are waiting for a consult with a surgeon.  

One thing I want to research today is how to make cinnamon raisin bread with spelt flour.  Sam make a lovely looking fruit bread yesterday and it really got my mouth watering for some raisin bread.

The camera battery is charged up.  Now I need to get the settings on it fixed as I will be needing it this weekend for the retreat.  Hopefully I can find some time in the next 2 days to complete that task.

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

DAY 6

It is election day here in the USA.  Please go out and vote!  I don't care what party you associate with, it is still important to exercise the right we have to vote.  There are too many countries where voting is taking your life in your hands if you do it.  We are blessed to have the FREEDOM to vote.

Hubby and I do early ballots.  It was a good thing this year too as there were 52 judges on our ballot to vote on.  We researched each one of them and that takes time.

I am looking forward to the end of today.  The political ads on TV, the internet, and all the phone calls are making me a little crazy.  It seems sad when I look forward to a Preparation H commercial!

OK, on to other stuff.

Went to Home Depot yesterday and picked up a new pot for my peace lily from my mom's memorial service.  It was in a 12" pot and totally root bound.  Today it is happily growing in a 17" pot.

It is hard to see the size difference in this photo.  The original container (on the right) sat on top of the milk can that is now upside down to accommodate the new pot (on the left).  It will be a while before it starts blooming again.  Once they are repotted, they usually go into a bit of shock.  

Last night hubby and I went to dinner with our Grand Daughter and her mom.  Texas Roadhouse was the place to be.  Super yummy food and I was good and did not eat their rolls.  Planning what to eat before I go somewhere is a big help with Weight Watchers.

Before we went to the restaurant, we stopped by their house to drop off the girl's school bag.  In their entryway, they have a 55 gallon aquarium.  It is loaded with guppies!

They started with about 5 guppies may years ago and they have never had to buy another fish since then.  There is also a 15 year old Plecko in there.

He is a happy little camper.  He is about 8-9 inches long.  It is unbelievable he has lived this long.  Every time they go on vacation, they tell us not to worry if he goes belly up, but just to get him out of there if it happens.  EWWWWW!

I worked on my socks again last night and both socks now have 3 pattern repeats on them.  The puzzle also got some love yesterday and is nearing completion.  Today we will be doing house cleaning and laundry.  (Bet you wish you could be here to help!) I have some research to do on different items today so that will keep me busy for a while.  I still have not picked up the camera to work with it.  Today, the batteries will be charged so tomorrow I can get back to it.  

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

#5

 

Hello and welcome to day 5.  I hate to say it but, it is another gorgeous day here in the deserts of Arizona.  Right now I am sitting here with my doors and windows opened ad there is a nice cool breeze blowing through my house.  Our expected high today is only 82 and that is perfect for us here.

Last night we had a lovely meal at our son's house.  He smoked a pork loin and made au gratin potatoes and a salad to go with it.  I baked an apple crisp that goes in line with my WW.  It was very yummy and not hard to make at all.  I will be doing that one again.

After we returned home, hubby watched the evening football game and I decided to work on my socks for a change.

I was able to get another 18 row pattern done on one sock.  Hopefully I can do the same on the other sock yet today.  I like to keep them equal.  Once I have 4 repeats of the pattern, I will decide if I want to start the heel or do one more repeat.  I guess I could look at the other Snoqualmie socks in my drawer and see what I did there.  (Did you see that light bulb go off over my head?)

I pulled this out today.

I was doing quite well with learning my camera and then life happened and I put all of it away.  I am determined to get acquainted with the workings of my camera so I can take some photos that will be worthy of framing.  Since the weather has cooled off, I now can go out into the desert and try some of my different lenses and get creative with shooting pictures.  We have some lovely places around us just begging to be photographed.

Just finishing up my coffee for the day and then will get to a little housework and then off to have fun with yarn and camera.

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

WEEK 19 & DAY 4

Hello dear readers.  It is that time of week again to talk about all the crafting that has been happening this week.  

I finished all the Santa Hats for the Grand kids' tree ornaments.

All six of them are completed.  I put jingle bells on the tops.  It was suggestion from my DIL and it worked out perfectly.  So glad I listened to her.  

Once those were completed, I turned my attention to my Rising Tides Scarf.

The marker is where I was last time I showed this to you.  The rows to the left of it is what I have done since then.  It is still a joy to work on too.  If I continue at this pace it should be done in a couple of weeks.

I have not touched my socks this past week so no need to put a photo of them here.

This is also the month I take part in:

This is day #4.  I participated last year and managed to post every day for the entire month of November.  So this is where I will fill you in on life in general.

Hubby has finally started feeling better since his return from Las Vegas.  We both think the stress of the family dynamics is what set him on the road to ickiness.  He went to Mass yesterday and then went out to eat with the family afterwards and did fine.  So glad he is back to normal.

This morning we had a meeting at church to go over the retreat that is happening on the 10th.  We have been participating in this retreat for the past 18 years.  We love doing it and the people love going to it.

This afternoon, we will be going to our son's house for smoked pork loin.  I am making an apple crisp for dessert.  Hopefully they will like it.  I love apple desserts and this time of year, apples are plentiful.

I am still working on the puzzle I set out on Monday.  It is coming along and should be completed sometime next week.  There are plenty more puzzles to work when this one is completed.  I obtained 8 more from our friend we visited Friday night.  

Hope you all are having a grand day.

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

Day 3

Another gorgeous day here.  With the doors and windows opened, it is absolutely refreshing.  The dogs are getting better about barking at every leaf that blows by the front door.  Now they just bark at the neighbors, kids walking on the sidewalk, the mail person, UPS guy, big trucks, motorcycles and other dogs strolling by.  The male dog is kind enough to run into the backyard when he starts barking.  The female stands right at the door and continues until I give her the 'quiet' command.  I know they are protecting us from harm but....it can be annoying at times.  Like, when we are on a phone call.  They are still my joy and comfort and I would not want them any other way.

I started this on Monday:

A 1000 piece puzzle.  After I laid this one out, I realized I had worked it before with my mom.  Speaking of my mom:

The past few days I have become very melancholy.  My mom has been on my mind almost continually and I have no idea as to why.  It is still 6 weeks away from the 1st anniversary of her passing.  Maybe it is all the fall activities that I am doing alone, that we shared for the 10 years she lived here.  I keep wanting to pick up the phone and tell her about what we are doing and reminisce about when we did it together and all the fun we had.  My mind keeps going back to the fact I was not with her when she passed away.  Was she afraid?  Did she ask for me?  Why didn't anyone call me to tell me they were taking her to the hospital?  I found out from my niece who saw them putting her in an ambulance.  Feelings of guilt surround me.  I should have ignored her Doctor's order of "do not go to the hospital because of all the flu".  I do realize, even if I had gone to the hospital, by the time I got there she would have been gone.  I believe in an afterlife.  I believe in Heaven.  I believe my Christian mom is living in Heaven with all the angels and saints.  I believe she is free from a body that was not working.  I believe she is singing and dancing and praising God.  I believe my hurting heart will heal.  I believe she knows how much I love her.  I believe..........................

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

Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of my blogging for the month of November.

I got to knit on my Rising Tides scarf yesterday.  Another pattern row was completed.  Looking at the remainder of yarn on my cake, I think I will have enough for 3-4 more patterns rounds.  This means I am half way completed.

Hubby was feeling much better yesterday but by evening he was worn out.  He stayed home while I went to Adoration.  Here is a photo of where I go to pray for an hour each week.

See all the lovely decor?  That is all hand painted on.  I actually watched the artist as she worked on it.  It took weeks for her to complete it all.  This is not the only area that has painting on it.  The entire Shrine has grapes and curly Q's on it.  A very peaceful place to go and meditate for an hour.

It is another gorgeous day here.  Nice and chilly again this morning with perfect temps this afternoon.  Tonight we will go to a friends house for pizza and conversation.  It has been a year now since his wife passed away.  We still go over to visit him like we did when Bev was living.  It is nice to be able to continue that friendship and I think Bev would be glad we keep tabs on her husband.

I leave you with another dog photo.  This time it is of Luna.  She is my old lady of 11 years.  I have been told that little dogs like her can live to be 18-20 years.  I hope so..........she is a lot of love to share.

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

NaBloPoMo 2018

National Blog Posting Month started several years ago.  Last year was the first time I tried it and managed to actually post 30 days in a row.  I thought I would try it once again this year.  Not sure if there are may left that do this, but that's OK.  It is fun and challenging.  The posts do not need to be long and drawn out.  They can just be a photo or a meme or maybe a few words of wisdom that inspire you.  Some bloggers pick a theme to go with for the month.  Not me..............I guarantee, my posts will be all over the board, just like real life is.  The only day not to have it's own post will be Sunday's when I do the Year of Project post. So, let's start.

Today is my Prayer Shawl group day.  Hopefully, I will make the meeting today.  Hubby came home last night and was running a low grade fever as well as having a few other issues.  If he is right as rain this morning, then I will go.  Otherwise, we will be calling his specialist's office to try and get an appointment.  Finger crossed!

After the meeting I want to get back to my scarf and sock knitting.  There is not going to be anymore Christmas crafting this year.  The hat ornaments are completed for the grand kids and the adults have submitted their wish lists.  I decided to keep my sanity and will chose gifts from their wish lists and call it good.  I want to enjoy the coming season without pushing myself to complete something that may not be appreciated.

There are beans cooking on the stove and the shank ham bone will be added shortly.  It is that time of year when we love our ham and beans, soups, chili's and other warm comfort foods.  This is my favorite season here in Arizona.  The mornings are chilly and the afternoons are warm until the sun sets and then the chill in the air returns.

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