My Mother's Hands

One day, while doing some work around the house, I looked down and what did I see?  My mother's hands.  The photo above is an actual photo of my Mother's hands.  It was kind of eerie seeing my mom's hands at the end of my arms.  But then, I remembered all the things my mother's hands had done over the 90 years she was alive.

They milked cows, helped with farm chores, churned butter, washed clothes in a wringer washer, scrubbed wooden floors, sewed her wedding dress, held hands with my dad, changed diapers, held us until we went to sleep, wiped tears away, cuddled her children grand children and great grand children, healed boo-boos, nursed us when we were sick, did office work, learned to use a computer, sewed my clothes, knit, baked goodies, cooked meals, and folded them in prayer.

During her last years of life, she enjoyed just holding our hands and giving bear hugs with those hands.

Our last Mother's Day with Mom.

So, the next time I look down and see my Mother's hands, I will be thankful for all she did for me.  I will be thankful for all the years I had with her.  I will be thankful to be able to remember all the joys she gave me.  I will be thankful she was MY mom.

Until next time................................Be Thankful!  

Happy Mothers Day!!!!

WEEK45 WAS BUSY AND FUN

 

What a week!  It was jammed pack with activity.  Our weather cooled off for a few days so I was outside as well as inside.  This week should be pleasant too.  I am looking forward to being able to go out without melting.  Not sure how long this will last but will soak it in while I can.  This is very unusual for us to be this mild in May.  Yes, we have hit 100 plus already this year but only for a few days.  I will take the 80's and low 90's any time I can get it.

But, you did not show up here to get a weather report.  Let's see what happened in my world this week.

I did work on the shawl this week but didn't pick it up until Wednesday!  And then I only worked on it on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday!  So here is where I am at now.

I just started pattern repeat #21.  The bottom edging doesn't start until after repeat #37.  I now know why starting a shawl at the top is such a wise idea.  Those first rows go so quickly when there are only 25 stitches on them.  I am at 269 stitches now.  That takes a bit of time to do.  This is also fingering weight yarn and has a huge tendency to split if not careful. (100% cotton)  But, this is still my favorite shawl pattern and I will make it again and again as it really does give me just enough warmth on those cool days when a sweater is just too much.

That is all for knitting/crocheting.  I did do other things that were new to me.

I made a loaf (boule) of sourdough beer bread.  It uses only 4 ingredients in it.  Sourdough starter, bread flour, beer and salt.  It does take up to 12 hours before baking can be done but it is well worth the time.  There really is very little effort in it.  I just fed my starter this morning and will try and get this ready to mix up today and the bake it first thing in the morning.  Hubby loved this loaf!  He is not a huge bread eater but, this loaf got every last crumb eaten!  Normally I end up throwing out half a loaf of my bread machine bread.

We cooked on our Blackstone griddle a few times this week.  I LOVE it!  This is a photo of the Carne Asada Tacos we made on it.

They were so yummy!  The meat was cooked on the Blackstone then I threw the tortillas on it, filled them with yummy cheese and let it melt.  Then put the meat and fixings on tip.  Ta-Da.  All cooked in about 15 minutes!  And no heat in the kitchen.  All done outside.  This is my kind of cooking.  Between the flat top griddle (Blackstone) and our wood pellet grill/smoker (Traeger), not much cooking will be done in the house other than baking.  Also, my baking is usually done in my counter top french door oven (Oster ).  It keeps the heat down in the kitchen too.  I also have an induction burner that I use if I have to cook something on the stove top.  No heat from induction cooking either.

Enrique had a vet appointment this week.  Poor little guy has some arthritis in one of his back knees.  He also has gained a little over 2 pounds which needs to come off. The vet was kind enough to tell me how many Kcal he can have a day.  Now I know and have adjusted his daily feedings to match that.  He was not too happy the first couple of days but he has already adjusted to the reduced food.  It wasn't much of a reduction.  Only about a teaspoons worth.  Since Luna passed away, he has not been nearly as active.  Hence the weight gain.

I had my routine blood work done for my RA Doc this week.  It came back the best it has ever been.  100% normal!  Yessssssssss!  But then I developed a rash and had to go to my primary care Dr.  Well, I had an appointment anyway and this just happened to show up the day I went.  Contact dermatitis and we have no idea what from.  It is in a place covered by clothing so both the Dr and I are baffled.  He put me on meds and it is starting to dissipate. 

I did lots of errand running this week. You know like normal folks do.  There was the grocery store, water store, pharmacy, and Sam's Club.  There were also loads of laundry done as well as house cleaning.  On Saturday morning, hubby and I go and pick up food from one of our local grocers for our church's food bank.  Here is what the back of my SUV looked like this week.

We pick up from produce, deli, frozen, bakery and meat departments.  I could not even see out of my back window.  Last week we only had about 3 boxes. There are two other people that pick up food also on Saturday.  We all got quite a bit this week.  I love it when the car gets filled.  That means there will be lots of full tummies this coming week.  

Not sure if I will be posting next week.  Maybe.  Depends.  It is Mother's Day here in the US.  My kids were going to have us all come over for a special day.  I cancelled it!  I have one Daughter in Law who has a broken rib and is in horrible pain.  Another Daughter in Law is having surgery this week and is going to be in horrible pain afterwards (trust me, I know what she is having done and it isn't gonna be pain free)  The son who was going to have the dinner has his in laws staying with him for the next few weeks.  Then we have graduation, 2 birthday parties, and a graduation party all happening in the next 3 weeks.  It is all just too much.  So I cancelled everyone's plans.  Not one person was upset either!  I know my kids love me for being their mom.  I do not need a special day on the calendar to have them show me their love.  So...................Hubby made reservations for us to go up to the mountains and spend the night in one of the casinos there.  We have a friend up there we have not seen for many years and would like to reconnect with her too.  It will be nice to have a little get away for the two of us.  And, no one needs to cook!

WARNING!!!!!!!  The next couple of paragraphs are kind of downers.  If you do not want to read them I understand.  Just scoot on down to the comment area and leave a comment.  I needed to write about the 'sadder' things from this week.  It helps me heal if I get it out of my head and down in writing.  I will leave you with a darling picture of my "boy".  He sleeps like this all the time and I find his little pink tongue peeking out adorable.

This is all the good news for this week!

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

My daughter had one of her dogs cross the rainbow bridge early Friday morning.  He was one of the goofiest dogs I had ever met.  It was unexpected and my heart hurts for her.  Having just gone through it myself, I know how sad it makes a person.  Her three other dogs don't seem to miss him too much which it a good thing for them.  This dog was her best buddy so I know she is missing him terribly.  

We lost someone to Suicide this week.  I am totally shocked and completed baffled as to why.  No warning signs at all.  The family left behind is beyond devastated.  I can not even imagine the pain and agony they are in.  The worse part is, it happened at home with the family in the other room!  The trauma of finding your loved one......I can not even begin to know the pain, anguish, shock and horror.  This is the second friend we have known to do this.  So heart wrenching.  Please, if you are a praying person, send some prayers of healing and comfort up for this family that is left behind.  Thank you.  

May peace and joy be with you this coming week.

WEEK 44 OF YOP 12

 Week 44!  Yikes, this year has flown by.  April 2023 is just about in the books and May 2023 is on the horizon.  My crafting this week was practically nonexistent.  

This is truly pitiful.  I only did 12 rows all week.  There were only 2 days, this past week, I even picked this up.  Very sad.

Does anyone remember this?

I put in a few hours on it this week and got most of the black on it.  The rest of the black will be lettering and backstitching.  It was nice to pull it back out and give it some love.

So why was my craft time limited?  I have no idea.  I had 3 evenings out but other than that, it was a normal week with normal household chores.  In the evenings that I was home, I found myself engrossed in a few very suspenseful TV shows.  Those are not good for knitting lace and very bad for trying to XS.  Maybe this week will be better for my projects.  Time will tell.

Otherwise, nothing else major happened.  We did have 2 grandkids drop by last Sunday for a lovely visit.  It made us feel so good to have them just drop in like that.  We must be the cool grandparents LOL.  I spent quite a bit of time this week trying to revive my sourdough starter.  As of this morning, it is super active and in the process of making a lovely boule of sourdough for us.  Note to self:  Do not let starter sit on counter for 3 days without feeding in warm weather!  GROSS!

I also am learning on how to cook on a Blackstone Griddle.  It is a bit of a learning curve but I am loving cooking on it.  It keeps the heat out of the kitchen too.  Today's offering from the griddle will be carne asada with homemade sourdough tortillas.  YUM!

OK, that is about all I can think to tell y'all.  Like I said, it was a fairly normal week here.  Oh, we have already hit 100F!  Looks like summer is just around the corner with it's beastly hot temperatures. Swimming season is soon to start!

How was your week?

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

WEEK 43 OF YOP 12

 

It has been a very unusual week here.  Luckily I was still able to get some knitting done on my shawl.

From the progress keeper upwards is my progress for the week.  I am almost at the halfway point which doesn't mean it will be done soon.  There are 217 stitches on the needles and it stops at 481.  I would be further along but have needed to tink back 2-3 rows several times this week.  Evidently setting this down for the night and then me thinking I know what pattern row I am on, without writing it down, is not a good thing.  I now have a sticky note attached to the pattern to keep me informed.  Also, watching intense TV while knitting lace is not a good idea either.  Good thing I enjoy knitting this or I might have given up by now.

That is all I did craftwise this week.  In other news.................................

Both of my sons were out of town this past week.  One for business and the other for a family funeral.  I was privileged to take care of the dogs for the one attending the family duties.

This is Bandit.  If you look really hard, you can see his sister, Shiloh, in the kennel waiting for him to finish eating so they can go outside and play.  She is all black other than her feet.  Yes they are true litter mates and couldn't be more different from each other.  These are the ones that moved here from TX.  Very good doggos and I love taking care of them.

Everyone is back where they belong and this momma is glad to have her cubs back home.  It doesn't matter how old they get, they will always be my little ones.

We had another very dear friend leave the earth this week.  She passed on Monday and the funeral was on Saturday.  She was 85 and had one of the fullest lives of anyone I know.  Not to mention she was one of the sweetest persons too.  Never heard her say anything negative about anyone.  Always had a glass half full.

Enrique had a day where he wouldn't eat.  I got a bit concerned as he is a voracious eater.  But, the next day he was back to his normal self.  Phew!  

He loves to try and 'hide' in this bed.  It sits under our entertainment center.  

I have tried some new things in the cooking department.  Since we got the Blackstone griddle I have made a couple of things on it to get used to it.  I made pancakes and then hamburgers.   Both were a success.  I plan on making several meals on it this coming week.  So nice to be outside cooking and not heating up the house.  (We are already in the 90's!)

Quite a while ago, I ordered 5 inch cast iron skillets from Pampered Chef.  This week I finally decided to try and make pazookies in them.

This is a sourdough chocolate cookie recipe written especially for these little skillets.  The pazookies are very yummy but extremely rich.  I cut each cookie into quarters and that is still almost too much.  It's ok.  We will suffer through LOL.

Friday, Hubby and I decided to take the day off from all our household duties and took a trip to the our Premium Outlet Mall.  It was so much fun and gorgeous warm day to be out and walking around all the shops.  I did come home with a few new Vera Bradly bags as well as a new pair of 'dress' shoes.  Hubby got himself a new pair of 'dress' shoes.  All of my shoes are flats due to foot surgery that left my feet unable to wear heels.  They also have RA in them so finding shoes to accommodate that is not easy.  When I find a shoe that fits and feels good I grab them immediately.  The pair I got Friday fit the bill.  Good thing too since I needed them for the Funeral on Saturday.  Hubby refuses to wear anything that needs 'breaking in' so his dress shoes are not stiff leather but rather soft leather and very flexible. Also not easy to find that are not sneaker looking type shoes.

So, that sums up our week.  I made out menus today as well as a grocery list.  The rest of the day will be spent kicking back and working on the shawl until time to make dinner.  (salmon with roasted asparagus and crescent rolls)

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

WEEK 42 OF YEAR 12

 

Hey there!  Here is what happened this past week here.

I cast on a new project!

The Mehujaa Shawl is started.  It is being knit in Scheejpes Whirlette in colorway Ice.  The photo does not do it justice.  It is actually closer to an eggshell color.  I love this shawl and the knit pattern is pretty easy to memorize.  If you notice some small 'holes' in the stockinette area, have no fear.  This yarn has some thicker areas in it and hence the little holes are made while knitting away.  This is all I have worked on this week.  Until this is completed, it will most likely be my only project.  Yes, I still have a sock going but it is sitting off to the side at the moment.  I am sure it understands LOL.

Last Sunday my home was filled with family.  After they all left, I realized I had not taken one photo!  I was enjoying having everyone at my home, I just flat out forgot.  There was so much laughter and love.  My heart was filled to the top by the time the day was over.  

Here is the photo taken the day after.

My Sister in Law and her friend brought me this lily.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I still have 2 blooms on it but have a feeling by tomorrow it will be ready to go dormant for a while.  I am going to research on how I can keep this alive until it is time for it bloom again.  

I have one more photo for you:

Josie's Senior prom was last night.  This is her and her beau of over a year.  They are such a cute couple and really compliment each other.  He is a super nice guy and a gentleman too.  Once again this year, her dad acted as their chauffer.

The kids love it that he 'dresses' the part too.  

The lady on the far right, is one of Josie's best friends.  She does a lot of things with Josie and her beau.

This is how the evening goes when Dad chauffer's the 'royalty'.  It is in slow motion.

That's it for my week.  How was yours?

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

WEEK 41 OF YOP 12

 

Blessings on this Glorious Easter morning.  I had a little bit of time before we started getting things set up for the influx of family arriving this afternoon.  So, what do you do with extra time?  Blog!  

I have an FO for this week.

My hands have finally settled down where I can work with super bulky yarn again.  That means Jaxon will get her second slipper today!  She is still in her boot from her foot surgery so I am sure this will get some wear.  It only took me two days to complete this.  Gotta love super bulky yarn!

I am still working on hubby's sock. 

The lone DPN is about where I was last week.  It is slow going.  Probably because I only work on it in bits and spurts.  Since our temperatures are heading into the 90's this week, I am not thinking he is going to need a long wool sock anytime soon.

Last week I talked about not feeling the urge to really knit much.  Well, this week my mojo has returned and I am wanting to cast on all things.  What I really wanted to make was another shawl.  But not just any shawl.  My favorite shawl.

I have made this shawl twice.  It is the shawl I use  when I need just a little bit of warmth.  Like, when the air conditioning is turned on full blast and I sit right under the vents.  Yup, it happened to me twice last week.  Thank goodness I carry this shawl in my purse when going out and about.  My problem was, I did not have anymore yarn with which to make this shawl.  No problem!

I will just order some.  Normally I make this shawl with Scheepjes whirl.  I was thrilled when I saw Scheepjes makes solid colors of this same yarn.  This off white (colorway Ice) and will go with everything my other two do not.  I am hoping to cast it on tomorrow.

The other acquisition we got this week was this:

A Blackstone Griddle.  This will be so nice to cook on outside so as not to heat up the house this summer.  Pool side cooking is wonderful.  

This past week has been a bit trying for us.  Sunday evening our kitchen sink backed up.  We tried everything other than chemicals to open it to no avail.  So, Monday we scrambled to find a plumber.  Not only did we find a plumbing company but also one that does electrical and water treatments.

After the plumber got the drain opened by scouring out our pipes, we discovered our dishwasher was not working and the drain had backed up into that!  Oh brother!  Called another company who works with appliance repairs.  Got him scheduled for Wednesday.

On Tuesday, we had a water softener installed.  We have the hardest water in the entire USA!  Not something we are very proud of.  All our faucets heads have horrible build up of white calcium on them which needs to be cleaned off about every 6 months.  Needless to say, hubby and I do not drink our tap water but do have an RO system installed for drinking purposes.  So, now with the water softener, we should not have these issues anymore.  Not to mention, we will be using less shampoo, soap and other cleaning supplies with soft water.

Wednesday the appliance dude came out, plugged the dishwasher back in and ta-da, it worked immediately!  Naturally!  He did run it through a couple of programs to make sure everything was perfect and then handed me the service call bill.  I was happy to pay it.  Better than buying a new dishwasher!

Everything is working just fine now.  Hubby and I got the house cleaned and ready for guests.  We attended our church's triduum (three holy days) starting Thursday night and ending Saturday night. All we have left to do is open up the diningroom table, ready our countertops for buffet style serving and then sit back and enjoy our day with family.

I hope your week went well and your Easter season is blessed beyond measure.

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

WEEK 40 of YEAR 12

 

Hey there.  I missed blogging last week.  Nothing is wrong with me physically.  I just have been in a bit of a crafting slump as you will see from what I have to show you this week.

The lap blanket is finished as of 3/22.

It is super soft and squishy.  It was a wonderful mindless knit.

After I bound off, I thought I would start working on gnomes.  As I was stash diving for just the right yarn for that project, I ran across some lovely yarn I purchase a while back and decided to make a pair of socks for hubby.

Here is the Scatterby Sock.  As you can see I have not really accomplished much in 2 weeks time of knitting monogamously.  My crafting mojo is kind of on vacation.  Maybe it has spring fever.  

The only other thing I did was throw away the granny stripe scrap blanket in fingering weight yarn.  I just could not love it.  Everytime I saw it I would quickly shove it back into the back of the bin it sits in hoping it would just disappear.  So POOF!  It is now gone!

Otherwise, things are pretty normal around here.  I have been baking, cleaning, and decluttering.  I will be hosting Easter dinner at our home this year with a total of 15 people enjoying the day with us.  With all of that happening, I am not sure I will posting here.  I am just hoping I remember to take pictures of the event to commemorate the day.

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