DAY 17

 

Hello everyone.  Hubby and I made it home around 2pm yesterday.  The drive was really pretty easy but boy, was I tired afterwards.  I guess I am not as young as I thought I was.  I was in bed with lights out by 9pm.  That is pretty darn early for me.

We had such a great time while we were gone.  It was sad to leave but, the dogs were so excited for us to be back home.  They have not left our sides since we got back.  Now it is time to get back to reality.  Decluttering continues on and I am excited to get more items out of my house.  So far, I have not missed one item that has been removed.  Today's items have been the hardest to clear out.

These stitch markers were made by myself and Josie.  Even though they are pretty and have some sentimental value, I can not stand using them.  I seldom use stitch markers and when I do I want ones that are light weight and small.  These will fit up to a size 10 needle comfortably.  So, here is my issue:

I do not want to give these to GoodWill or some other thrift store.  I would like them to go to a fellow knitter.  I am contacting the prayer shawl ladies to see if any of them would be interested and I am also putting it out there for my blog readers.  I will be happy to give these 17 stitch markers to anyone that would use them.  They are made with Swarski crystals and stainless steel metal.  If you are interested in owning them, please send me an email at,

menoce @ cox dot net

I will need your address as to where to send them.  I will pay for the shipping as long as it is in the USA.

Come on back tomorrow to see what has gone away from my home.

Until next time...............................................

DAY 16

 

Hello again.  Our bags are all packed and we are just having a little bite to eat before we head out on our trip back home.  It was an amazing week here and has renewed me.  I am now ready to go home, sleep in my bed, play with my dogs and go back into my little bubble of the world.  While we were gone, we kept track of the number of COVID cases being reported in our state and have seen the numbers rising.  Hence me saying we were going back into our little bubble.

Here is my declutter for today.

Another cell phone, more cables, speaker wire, switch boxes and connectors.  This just about sums up all the electronics from hubby's office.  I am sure we will find more of them as we scan the house.  In fact, I can almost guarantee it.

Hubby has the ice chest packed so that is my signal to get off of here and get myself ready to go out the door.

Until next time.................................................................................

DAY 15

 

Hey guys.  Another day of getting rid of things in my house that someone else can surely use.

Once again I have lots of cables to get rid of.  While going through the drawers that held cables we also found 3 tapes for a video camera.  I do have a video camera and have used it all of once in the 15 years I have owned it.  Hmmmm, maybe the camera should be given away too................but I digress.  These are the 15 items for today.

This is our last day in Las Vegas.  Our morning is full with a visit to hubby's mom and then going to pick up some flooring for her home's remodel.  There is also a trip to WalMart scheduled as well as going over some legal papers and then lunch with hubby's sister.  After that, I am hoping we can relax and just have a little fun in the casino.

Until next time..........................................................

DAY 14

Still here in Las Vegas.  We were able to visit hubby's mom yesterday and will be leaving soon to see her again today.  We had to make appointments for the visits.  There is a plastic shield she sits inside of and we are on the outside of it.  It is placed outside in the shade so not to let the resident of the facility get too warm.  Even though we were outside, we were still required to wear masks through the entire visit.  It make it quite hard for her to hear us and for us to hear her.  Luckily, the person that brought her out stayed with her and helped with getting messages to her and us. The visits are scheduled for 10 minutes but we were able to be with her for 30 since no one else was scheduled right away.  As soon as we left the visiting area they were out there sanitizing the inside and outside of the plastic shield and the chairs where we sat.  That made us feel very comfortable with their procedures.  It could be why there have only been 5 residents of this skilled nursing facility, that have had the virus.  They take this quite seriously.  My only regret is not being able to touch her and give her a hug.  We are quite a hugging group and this is the hardest part of this pandemic for me.  On our way back to the hotel, we discovered a Skechers shoe outlet.  Of course we had to stop and see what they had to offer.  BIG MISTAKE!  I found 3 pair of shoes and hubby found 2 pair.  This is about the only brand of shoe I can wear with my arthritic deformed feet.  So I was thrilled to find that many pairs of shoes that felt wonderful.

Anyway, here is my group of 14 items that left my house.  Like I said yesterday, we have cables.  Let me rephrase that...................we HAD cables.  I threw in a picture frame just to make it more interesting.

After our visit to hubby's mom today, we are going to go by her house and see what all has been done on the remodel.  Then we are going to go and pick up some Las Vegas Raiders NFL stuff for some friends of our.  (They are huge Raiders fans and were so excited to hear we were going to be in the Raiders new home town)  After all of that, we are heading to our friends home for some down time, watching baseball, eating homemade pizza looking over their brand new casita and swimming pool addition to their home, and there just might be some knitting involved too.  Then back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

Until next time............................................................

DAY 13

 

Hello from beautiful Las Vegas!  We made it here just fine and are enjoying our 'down' time.  We actually spent quite a bit of time in our room yesterday as I was pretty tired from driving here.

But, that is not what this day's blog is about.  Today, there is an photo of 13 items that left my house.

Can you say cables?  Yup, there are phone, cat 5, HDMI and other assorted cables in this pile.  As you may have guess, the next few days will be items I found BEFORE we left the house.  Trust me, they are no longer in the house as hubby took them to the electronics recycling center before we left town.

Until next time.......................................................

DAY 12

 

It is early in the morning.  I wanted to get this posted before we took off for our adventure this week.

Hubby has been such a wonderful help with this declutter.  Maybe because it is only for one month.  The last time I did this, it was a 90 day challenge and he pooped out after a couple of weeks.  The items leaving today are all out of an armoire that sits in the office area.  When we would replace stuff, hubby would be notorious for buying new cables for anything electronic.  Therefore, over the next few days, you will see that we finally are parting with electronic cables and other items.

Because of holding onto all the cables and storing them in the armoire drawer, the drawers fell apart.  Now that that item has been decluttered, hubby has fixed the drawers and reinforced them to make them nice and strong.

So, not only has this declutter led to a lighter feeling house, but it has led to items being in good repair.  It is  win, win for me.

Until next time....................................

WEEK 15 & DAY 11

 

Doesn't that header make it look like 2020 has been a grand year so far?  I made this banner in the middle of lock down too.  What was I thinking?  Well, anyway, today is Sunday.  This is the day I will tell you all about my crafting from the past week.  I have also combined my 31 day declutter challenge with this post to save me a bit of time.  I might even throw in some 'real life' happenings in this post.  So, grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair, relax and read on.

There is a finish for this week!  Finally!  The Boneset shawl is done, blocked and ends woven in.

Here is the lace on the bottom of the shawl.  It is amazing what a good blocking will do for a piece.

I was trying to show the size of it but none of the photos really do it justice.

This shot makes is look asymmetrical

It is 72" X 22".  I normally do not make triangular shawls.  Yet, for some reason, I really loved the looks of this one.  It will be worn more around the neck then as a traditional shawl.

Do you see the way the short rows worked on this?  I finally have conquered the wrap and turn stitch.  The first photo of the shawl probably shows the w&t areas a bit better.  Will I make this shawl again?  Probably, but not with such a busy yarn.  Don't get me wrong, I love the color of the yarn and this will go with anything I wear.  The finished material has lovely drape and for being part wool, it is surprisingly super soft.  I would assume, that is from the silk that is in the fiber too.  The yarn is Diva from Leading Mens Fiber.  There was 600 yards in the skein and I still have enough to make hubby a lovely pair of short socks.  Well worth the price I paid for it.  Next time, I will use a more tonal or solid colored yarn so the lace and short rows really shine through.

I was really hoping to have this finished too.

It actually will probably be completed yet today.  I only have 32 rows left before I start the toe.  In all honesty, it would have been completed if I had not taken a day off from knitting.  My hands had a "please don't make me move' day this past week.  I want this one done so I can cast on the second sock and take that on our trip this week.

Speaking of the trip..............I am so excited.  It has been 11 months since we have gone more than 5 miles from our home.  Even though hubby and I are together daily, it still seems different when we go out of town.  We have that nice 5 hour car ride to just talk without interruption and then we will have 5 days to make some great memories of time with his mom and time with some friends and time with just the two of us.  So, I am finishing up the dribs and drabs of the laundry this morning.  Packing will commence as soon as that is all completed.  I have my list of things to not forget to take with us.  Then I will get the car washed and filled with gas.  Once all that is done, I will kick back and knit away on that lovely sock and GET IT DONE!

Now, let's take a look at what left me house today for my 31 day declutter challenge.

It is day 11 which means 11 items needed to find a new home.

NO, your eyes are not playing tricks on you.  You only see 9 items here.  I had 2 more items added to this but forgot to take a photo of the other 2 items which were books I had read.  They were returned to the person I had borrowed them from without posing for their photo shoot.  Sixty-six items have left my house for good.  How refreshing it is to walk into a room and know it is much lighter than it was a few days ago.

Until next time.............................Happy Crafting & Stay Well!!!!!!!!!!