It Worked!

As I have said before........................it doesn't take much to make me happy.  I am very happy right now too.

Yesterday, I fed my sourdough starter, as usual.  By early evening, I noticed it was really taking off and growing.  A happy dance happened in my kitchen.  I grabbed my sourdough recipe and decided to go ahead and get the dough started so I could bake it today.  It takes up to 12 hours for the dough to rise properly.  I got to use my new Danish Dough Whisk.  It works fantastic!!!!

This is the second time I have tried to make sourdough.  I did learn from the first time, NOT to cook it the last 10 minutes the recipe calls to do, directly on the oven rack.  I did that last time and ended up with a lovely door stop.

The bread got 'kneaded' a bit this morning and I put it in the proofing basket for it's last 'rise'.  Out of the proofing basket, into the dutch oven and into a 450F oven.  It cooks for 20 minutes covered and 30 minutes uncovered.

What do you think?

Of course, we won't know for sure if it is perfect until we cut into it and taste it.  It has the 'hollow' sound the recipe said it needed to have to make sure it was done.  We will cut into it later this afternoon for a little snack.

I put the starter into the refrigerator as I do not plan on making sourdough everyday.  Maybe once a week though.  I also want to try sourdough English muffins, tortillas, pancakes and pizza dough.

I am so glad you all liked the puppy photos from yesterday's blog post.  I have one more for you.

From what I heard, this little puppy slept all night after her debut at the family gathering.  

Also..............as for the photo of my Grand Son.  I have been telling him for years he needs to go into modeling.  He says he is too short to model.  I don't think that is the reason.  Not sure what the real reason is but...................even if I wasn't his MiMi, I would think he was one handsome guy.  His younger brother actually tried out for a couple of modeling gigs but was not fond of it.  (He is a handsome guy too LOL)  Heck.....................ALL my grands are good looking.  Just ask me 😂😂😂😂

My only other accomplishment for the day, so far, is making menus for the next 10 days as well as a grocery list.  I will probably wait to go to the store until Tuesday or Wednesday.

The plan for the rest of today is working on the Rosary Cable Shawl.  It is so close to being completed.  I want it done and off the needles so I can concentrate on other WIP's.  

How many of you YOPers already have a list composed for next year?  Not me!  Haven't even started one.  Looking at my stash, I realize, I added too much to it.  Even though I cleaned it out twice, this past year, it looks larger now than it did at the beginning of last year's YOP.  UGH!  I'm a hopeless yarnaholic.

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

The Countdown Continues

Three weeks!  That is all I have left in this, my 9th year, of Year of Projects.  What do you do when it is close to the end of the year?

You start another project.

Introducing "May I Borrow This, Please?" shawl.  As you can see I am moving right along on it.  I started it last night after we got home from our son's house.  So I worked on it for about 20 minutes is all.  The yarn is from Fiber Lady and is 70% bamboo 30% cotton called Makicot.  It is one of the skeins I purchased from my "darn it, my fiber fest got cancelled" shopping spree.

Don't worry, I did have a couple of finishes this week too.

My Harry Potter themed Bookmark.  My daughter got me this for Mothers Day.  It was a lot of fun to do.  I have several more counted cross stitch projects waiting to be started.  Will decide which one this week.

I also finished this:

The High Effects Feather and Fan shawl.  This thing took forever to get to the length I wanted it. The shawl is draped over a high top table chair.  I would say it is between 7 and 8 feet long and has LOTS of stretch to it.  I have tried it on and it is warm but not overly so.  It will be perfect for when we go to places with the A/C turned to frozen tundra settings.   I still have quite a bit of the yarn left over.  Not sure what I will do with the leftovers.  The texture of the yarn does not lend itself to things like hats or fingerless mitts.  Maybe a thin scarf?  

The other finish I have is:

Dishcloth #4 from the skein of yarn I have been working with for the past two weeks.  

Not pictured are two more face masks I made yesterday, for hubby and myself.  They are matching masks this time.  He laughed when he saw they matched.  I used muslin on the inside of the mask this time as it makes it a bit easier to breath and the muslin is a bit more absorbent than the fat quarter cotton I used in the others.  Since it seems we will be wearing masks for some time to come, I wanted to make sure they were comfy.

I worked on several other items this week.

Rose City Roller socks have heels in them and now, it is on to the foot part.

Do any of you remember the Rosary Cable Shawl I started sometime last year?  I pulled it out of hibernation and set to work on it again this week.  This is the other long term project I was hoping to complete this week.  If I really try, this should be completed before the end of this YOP year.  It needs a good 6-8 inches more on it before I will be happy with the size of it.  This will go into the Prayer Shawl ministry pile.  (Someday we will be able to meet again)

Then there were treasures in the mail this week.

Another needle minder

This came as an extra little gift with the needle minder. (It is a sticker that went to my Grand Daughter)

Danish dough whisks.  I have not used them yet.  I was going to make some sourdough with them but....................my starter is not cooperating......................again.

Then I got a gift from my hubby................

My favorite flower is the yellow rose.  I just wish they lasted longer.  They have been in my house for 3 days and the roses are already toast.

Yesterday, we went to my son's house as one of our nieces and her family came to town.  We had not seen her in over a year.  WOW!  Her kids have all grown so much and have such different personalities.  Our daughter and her husband joined us and brought a special treat for the kids.

Can you see what Josie is holding in her arms?  It is a 5 week old puppy.  Her name is Bailey and belongs to our daughter and her husband.  This was so special for the children.  Josie had to say goodbye to her 17 year old cat 2 weeks ago and Kaleb (He is on the left) had to say goodbye to their 8 year old dog 10 days ago.  They have all been very sad since then.

This puppy helped to heal them a bit.  Kaleb even said it might be nice to have another dog again.  Before Bailey showed up, he said he would never have another dog as it was too hard to say goodbye.  What a hard lesson for a 10 year old boy to go through.

I did not get photos of the other 2 little ones as they moved quicker than a race horse.  Not to mention they were tired and wanted only mommy and daddy.  (They are 2 and 4)  

It was a nice day and we stayed outside the whole time.  Our niece and family are leaving this morning to head back home (Las Vegas).  It was so good to see them.  She said her office has decided to let all their employees work from home from now on.  She is thrilled with this.  Saves her lots of travel time going to and from work.  She will only need to go into the office once a week for a meeting.  So there has been a silver lining to their stay at home orders.

I got one of the best surprises this week.

This is our oldest Grand Son!  Getting this photo of him made my heart swell with so much love.  He lives in Texas.  Since we have not been able to travel this year, I have missed seeing my TX Grands so much.  Just getting to talk to them on the phone or getting a photo of them makes me happy.  It also makes me miss them all the more.  The above grand son gives the BESTEST hugs ever.  (He knows it too LOL)  I am hoping there will soon be a solution to all this virus stuff so we can travel and I can go and see my TX Grands.  They neeeeeed me!

I plan on taking it easy today.  My RA is in a bit of a flare.  Not sure why, but will listen to my body and take things slow and easy for the day.  Hopefully, I can find a project or two to work on (Said with a wink).

I hope you are all doing well.  

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

This and That

Since this is the last post of the week, it will be a bit of a hodgepodge of stuff.

I am waiting for the floors to dry so I can put all the furniture back in place.  Hubby has finished cleaning the rest of the house today.  He is so good about doing it each week.  I wish my shoulders, hands and back were stronger so I could get in there and help him.  The kitchen is the one area I do keep clean.  I wash counters every time we prepare food.  The cupboard doors and appliances get attention weekly.  Once a month I deep clean and polish my granite.  So, I guess I do help with the cleaning somewhat.  Oh, and I also clean our shower.  Don't know why I decided to take that task on, but I don't mind it at all. I am working on trying to build the strength back up in my legs.  If I kneel down, I need a lot of help getting back up.  (Like a counter top to hang onto or something very stable that won't move when I grab it)  RA is not good for my muscle strength.  No one told me that until I found out how much I had lost.  Getting it back is not easy at my age LOL.  Or any age for that matter.

I got a treasure in the mail today!

 

It is a Danish Dough whisk.  It was recommended by several people who bake breads and cakes and anything doughy from scratch.  Even though I have a lovely Kitchen Aid mixer, there are times, I do not need something that big.  I am anxious to use it.  

I got a treasure yesterday in the mail too.

Another needle minder.  It is so darn cute.  I wasn't going to get another one until I saw this and fell in love with it.  This one is from Amazon too.  Snarky Crafter is the name of the company that sells some of the cutest needle minders.  I also got an extra treat from this company.

Nothing like a laid back Avocado sticker to make you smile.  This will go to Josie.  Even though she is almost 15, she adores eclectic stickers.  She covers her computer cover with them to express herself.  She has some very cute and clever ones.  I sent her a photo of it and asked if she would be interested in it and this is the response I got; "YES?! what kind of a question is that of course i would like it". (I typed this exactly as it was sent to me)  She cracks me up.  I am stopping by her house later today to run an errand for them and will deliver it to her then.

I worked on some knitting yesterday but not for long.  My middle finger of my left hand was in a lot of pain.  Since I did not want to exacerbate the situation I only knit for about 45 minutes and then put it away.   You know me, though.  I can not just sit without something in my hands to work on.  That would be a big waste of time.  So I grabbed some counted cross stitch and worked on it.  (Funny how that did not irritate that finger since I am a left handed stitcher)

I am further along than this photo but when I started it yesterday all I had completed was the "L" and part of the "W".  There is still quite a bit more to do on it.  Not sure if I will work on this or the WIP I was hoping to complete this week yet.  Completion is not going to happen but I could get quite a bit more done on the WIP if I worked on nothing else but it.  

Today will be the last day I really get any crafting time.  My niece and her family are arriving in town this afternoon.   They will be here until either Sunday or Monday.  They are staying with my son and his family.  We will be seeing them on Saturday for a BBQ and pool party.  Thank goodness we are going to have a bit of a cool down on Saturday.  It won't even be hitting 100F!  I am so thankful as we will be outdoors the entire time so we can distance ourselves.   My son has some lovely shade trees and also outdoor ceiling fans to help out if there is no breeze.  We haven't seen our niece and her family in over a year.  It will be nice to catch up with them.

I just saw all your eyes roll when I said it was going to be under 100F tomorrow.  That is a treat for us.  It has been between 109F and 111F for the past 10 days.  91F will feel like a nice spring day for us.  It is also suppose to be breezy.  That is a plus too as long as the humidity stays down.  Right now it is only 13%.  If your temperature dropped almost 20 degrees, how would that feel to you?  AHA!  Now you see where I am coming from.  It is all relative.

Do you have any plans for the weekend?  Any special crafting?  Will you be visiting with anyone, either in person or via electronics?  How about baking?  Anything yummy coming out of your oven?

Until Sunday............................happy crafting and stay well!

Hopefully, some of you are old enough to remember the above person who made saying 'howdy' a whole new language.  My folks loved to watch Minnie Pearl and of course, with only one TV in the house, us kids did not have a choice but to watch what they did.  My Dad was a country boy at heart. He loved Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Grand Ole Opry, Porter Wagner, Conway Twitty, Charlie Pride, Hee Haw............just to name a few.  My mom was partial to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and all those crooners that sang love songs back in the day.

My brother and I were rebels.  We were products of the 60's and 70's.  So we were right in the throws of Woodstock and the Vietnam War.  My brother was a big Beach Boys fan,I was more Peter, Paul and Mary type.  But then came the British Invasion.  It totally rocked my world.  My brother was not as big a fan as I was.  By the time Woodstock came around, I was totally infatuated with Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, Joan Baez, Sly and the Family Stone, etc.  The British Invasion groups were taking a back seat to Woodstock.  Well, other than the Beatles.  

These days, I am pretty open to most music. (Not so much opera though)  I love mo-town, rock and roll, some heavy metal, easy listening, classical, a little country.  Yet, most of the time I listen to Contemporary Christian music.  Big change from Woodstock, huh. LOL

OK, so that was not what I had planned to write about today.  WHOA!  I guess sometimes, that type of thing happens.

I am sitting in my craft room writing today as Hubby wanted to mop the floors where I normally sit and write.  I have a couple of really brave dogs in here with me.  (They do not like cleaning days)

This morning I did get a loaf of bread in the bread machine.  It should be done in about 30 minutes.  I finally got all the laundry put away.  (No, laundry does not belong folded in a laundry basket LOL)  I have worked with my sourdough starter in hopes I can get it to take off again so I can make a loaf of sourdough in the next day or two.  The starter (Emilie) has been doing well.  I just needed to do a little more feeding so she would swell up a bit more.  After lunch, I will be going into the pool for some more water aerobics.  I did not go yesterday as I was wanting the sunburn I got the other day to settle down.  It was not a bad burn, just a little pink on the shoulders.  (And that is with sunscreen 50 on!)

Each evening, I have been working on my WIP's.  I have 2 finished and am hoping to finish a third before Sunday's wrap up.  Tune in Sunday to see which projects have been completed.

My daughter and her husband, gave me these flowers for my birthday, Monday.  I smile each time I walk by them.  They are such happy flowers and such pretty colors.  

I found a funny to leave with you today.

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

Feeling the Love

Thank you everyone who gave me such encouraging messages yesterday.  To let you all know, comments, on my blog, have to be approved by me before they are published on the blog.  If I find your comment offensive to me or could be offensive to others, it will be deleted immediately.  What does this mean?  If your comment is published, you have not offended me or anyone I know.  Becki, hugs go to you for making you worry.  Sorry about that.

After having a good night's sleep and time to read and think about what advice I was given, I have decided something.

THIS IS MY BLOG.......................NOT ANYONE ELSE'S!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, that felt good.  I started this blog on February 28,2007.  In the 13 years I have been blogging, I have never had an issue with comments (other than spam, before I started approving comments).  In the past few months, I have seen many unkind comments, not just on my blog, but on others as well.  It all seems to have started about the time we got stay at home orders.  Hmmmmm, could this be because of frustration and/or boredom? 

That all being said, I will not be bullied into changing my blog because of a few inconsiderate people (who will remain unnamed).  This blog has been such a blessing for me.  I have met some of the most wonderful people through blogging.  It is a place where I can share myself and even at times, over share myself.  (My family is subject to that a lot)  

When I read other people's blogs, I very much enjoy reading about their ideas, daily activities, craft projects, their joys and sorrows, their families, pets, and jobs.  The blogs that I read, from other parts of the world than where I live, make me feel like I take a journey each time I get a glimpse into their world.

I do not always agree with things that are posted on other's blogs.  I do not agree with many peoples political ideas, religious beliefs, life styles and world views.  But that does not mean I can not enjoy reading their blogs and still find many interesting things.  They are still people and I know I would enjoy meeting them in person and would enjoy sharing a meal or glass of wine with them.  (I would even buy!) 

There is enough hate going on in today's world.  Let's try and be better people and respect each other.  There is not anyone that will agree with you 100% of the time.  (ask any married couple that)  That does not give you the right to bully them into your way of thinking.  Be kind.  You catch more flies with honey then you do vinegar.  (another of my mom's sayings)

Thank you to all the readers who are kind and considerate.  Thank you for being a 'friend'. (You just heard the Golden Girls theme song, didn't you.)

Blessing to you all!

WOW......JUST WOW

I now know why I do not post anything on my blog that could cause controversy.  After yesterday's post, I have been 'schooled' and taken to task by a couple of people.  I was not TELLING anyone what they should or should not do.  That was not my intent.  I simply was relaying information that had been given to me by a healthcare professional who is up to date on many issues.  I was not discounting anything the CDC has said.  But the CDC is publishing things to cover all 50 states.  If you read what WHO says it will confuse you even more because they are covering the world!  

Remember, I do not live where you do.  I do not know what is happening in your neighborhood.  Where I live there is only a 1% rate of infection and has been that way since the start of the virus.  We have had more flu issues than anything else.  (I am unable to take a flu shot so that is also scary for me!!!!! Yet no one wears masks during flu season to protect me!  I can guarantee you the flu shot is not 100% effective either.)

As for wearing a mask to protect others.  I get it.  I am not saying you should never mask in public.  Please re-read my post.  Our grocery stores here seldom have more than 20 people in them when I go shopping.  The most crowded store I have been to is Hobby Lobby and I already said I will not be going back there until things settle down.  (I wore a mask there but still felt unsafe)

So from now on, this blog will be about knitting, crocheting, sewing, my pets and I might put on what I have done for the day/week as long as it does not talk about me leaving my house.  No longer will I talk about any politics, health issues, current event, things I do with my life, my religious beliefs, or personal thoughts on topics.

As my mom use to tell me; "If you can not say anything nice, do not say anything at all".  There are so many horrid things going on in our world right now, it is hard to stay positive.  I get that.  So until further notice, I will only say positive things on my blog and nothing that can cause conflict among others.

Blessings to all.  Leftycrafter out!

Useful Information

First off.....................thank you everyone for the Birthday wishes.  I have heard from 2 of my 4 children so far.  Hubby remembered after our daughter was leaving and yelled "happy birthday".  He looked pretty sheepish too.  LOL  He thought it was still May.  Silly man.  Good thing I am not easily offended by things like that.

I had a Doctor's appointment this morning.  Healthy is the word he used to describe me.  Notice, he did not say 'normal'.  That is a running joke in our family.  We never say anything or anyone is normal.  After all...............whose definition of normal do you use?

While at my Doctor's office I finally asked the all important question:

"When, where, and should we be wearing face masks?"

His answer really made a lot of sense.  Here is what I learned.

If you are going into church, wear your mask.  If you are going into someplace where there are more than 50 people and physical distancing can not be observed (wedding reception graduation party, etc), wear your mask.  If you go somewhere where it is required;  (Costco, beauty salon, nail salon),wear your mask.  If you are traveling by public transportation and especially by airplane, wear your mask.    If you are going to a grocery store YOU DO NOT NEED TO WEAR A MASK!   He said the ventilation system in grocery stores are quite excellent.   If you are walking around outside YOU DO NOT NEED TO WEAR A MASK!  Most department stores also have excellent ventilation, no need for a mask.  (Darn, I forgot to ask him about casinos LOL)

Here is the kicker..............if you are in public and someone is coughing and sneezing, put your mask on.  If you are a person who touches their face quite a bit, wear your mask to keep your hands off your face.

He also informed me, wearing a mask does protect you 20-30%.  Therefore, if you have a mask on and someone else has a mask on that protects you up to 60%.  His big thing is to have hand sanitizer with you at all times and use it each time you leave a store.  Once you are home................WASH YOUR HANDS WITH SOAP FOR 20 SECONDS.  (Sing happy birthday 3 times)

Wearing disposable gloves is the worse thing you can do to try and keep any virus away from you.  When the gloves are removed, the 'germs' scatter.  Hence, good hand washing is the key.  

Hubby and I discussed it when I got home.  We are going to carry a couple of masks with us at all times in a baggie.  If it is needed, then we will be prepared.  Otherwise, we are going to stop panicking each time we leave the house.  I have wipes in my car, hand sanitizer in my purse and a deep faith in God.  I will continue to wear a mask at church, Costco, beauty shop and the pharmacy. (Lots of sick folks there)  

This is just information I was given today by my healthcare professional.  Do what makes you feel safe.  (Actually, that was his last statement to me on the subject)  If wearing a mask gives you confidence, than go for it.