Wednesday...........Late

It is late in the evening on Wednesday.  Hubby and I just got home from Church and are trying to decompress before we go to bed.  He is watching baseball and I am updating my blog.  After this, I will be heading to bed and will read for a while.  I am loving the book I am reading right now. "Go Away Home" by Carol Bodenstein.  It is one of the free books I get from being a prime member of Amazon.  The book takes place just as WWI is starting.  It goes into pretty good detail about clothing designs, photography and farming back at that time.  Very interesting.

Monday was an exciting day for me.  The check from the insurance company came in. Unfortunately, it came in just as I was leaving to go and visit my mom.  So, hubby and I made plans to go the next day to pick up my car.  Otherwise, I did a couple of loads of laundry and tried out a new dish for dinner that evening.  I try and cook every night and I really dislike cooking the same thing all the time.  It is bad enough that I am cooking for my WW without it getting boring.

My favorite recipe website is; Skinnytaste.  She includes the WW points on all of her recipes which makes my life super easy.  I think there has only been 2 dishes we have tried from there that we will never have again.  That's not too bad as I have been using her site for almost 4 years!

Tuesday I GOT MY CAR!!!!!!  I missed it so much.  The auto body shop was kind enough to turn in the rental for me too.  Since the auto body shop is across the street from Costco, hubby and I decided to go there and pick up a few items.  There is a reason they all it the $100 store. We spent 2 hours in there!  We got home, put everything away and realized, it was after 1 and we had not had lunch yet.  So a quick lunch we had and then I picked up the Grand from school and brought her back to our house to do homework.  After she left, we warmed up leftovers for dinner and had a nice quiet evening.

Today was Crochet Class with my fellow lefties.  We are still working on half double crochet. I have one student that totally gets it and the other one.............well not so much.  She keeps twisting her foundation chain and skips chains because of it.  Before, the teachers did the foundations and then they worked off of them.  This time they have to do it all from start to finish.  Only 6 more weeks of school and they have 2 projects that need to be completed in that time.  It could get real interesting soon.  We still have double crochet and treble crochet to work on.

I cooked another new dish tonight for dinner.  Totally delish.  Hubby had 2 helpings which means it will go on the to make again list. I also made a loaf of banana bread for hubby to devour.  It seems I have been making a lot of banana bread lately.  I buy bananas to eat, but then, I only will eat one or two of them and then they get too ripe for my liking.  I have the best banana bread recipe. I add nuts to my bread, as hubby loves it that way.  Not my favorite, but then, I am not the one eating it LOL.

I have lots of other stuff to talk about but am not going to do it until Sunday's YOP update.  All that I have to talk about will be about crafts and if I do it now and then again on Sunday, that would be totally boring for me.................and you.  So come on back my Sunday to see what is happening in the crafting world here.

That is about all for now.  I think I will go and crochet a little bit before I start reading.  I started a new project today and am loving it.  Want to make a good start on it and hope to complete it in a weeks time.  I will show it to you on Sunday.

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

YOP Update Week 40

I know I told y'all last week that I would not be doing updates because of my broken thumb and the splint I am in.  But........I had lots of stuff to talk about so decided I would do a bit of crafty update and also update on the home front.

I am still able to crochet.  THANK GOODNESS!  I packed up all my knitting projects and put them away in my craft room so I didn't get sad looking at them.  I only have 1 crochet project going.

This is my Angel Wings prayer shawl I am working on.  A friend had made it with 2 colors and I decided to try it with 3 colors.  I am really liking the way it is working up.  It is slow going but at least I am able to play with fiber still.

When not working on this, I occupy my spare time with this:

Jigsaw puzzles.  I enjoy doing them.  I can spend hours just sitting and looking for pieces that go together.  

I am still helping out with the crochet class at our church's school.  My lefty crocheters are doing amazing.  I am so proud of them.  They are getting ready to complete their second project.  They will have one more project to do before the end of school next month.  I have not attended the prayer shawl ministry for a while.  I need to get back in there.  I am still working on shawls on my own, but really miss the community of lovely women in there. Hopefully, I will be able to get back in there this week.

Last night, I helped my DIL make a tulle skirt for her daughter.  The lovely Josie is doing a presentation on Iris, the greek goddess of rainbows.  I was hoping for a photo from her mom today, but have not received it as of yet.  But it looks something like this:

It was a blast to make.  I had made one for her when she was small and wanted to be a ballerina.  Once I get the photo sent to me, I will post it to my blog.  Let me just say......when working with glittered tulle, you will wear it for a day or two afterward.

On to other news:

I added something to my blog page.  If you would like to follow my blog there is a place on the right toolbar to enter your email address.  Each time I update my blog you will receive an email to alert you.  I have been updated pretty much every day lately.  Can you tell I am bored. LOL  Actually, it has been fun and I have enjoyed putting my thoughts into writing.

So......................let's take a look at what has happened this week.  If you read my blog, you know all the little stuff.  But the big thing that happened was on Friday.  We got a new HVAC unit installed.  Our old one was about 25 years old.  It was time.  Hopefully this one will last another 25 years and then we shouldn't have to worry about it.  That is, unless I live to be almost 90!

Anyway.....................our unit is on our roof.  Depending on when the house was built, will depend on if your unit is on the roof or on the ground.  Our home was built in 1972, so we are a roof unit.  They changed that up around the late 90's.  So in order for the unit to be installed and the other unit to be removed, they bring in a large crane to move it.

By the time, I found my camera and got the good battery in it.......the units had already been moved.  It took them about 10 minutes total to get it done.  

There is the new one, all nice and shiny and much smaller looking than the old unit.  It is 5 ton, just like the old one, but much sleeker.  The workers started about 8 in the morning and finished about 4 in the afternoon.  My poor dogs were going nuts all day.  

Naturally, since we had it installed, the temps here have been really wonderful.  We are only in the 70's and low 80's.  No need for any AC yet.  Once we get into the mid to high 90's and stay there for a few days, the house will heat up and the AC will be needed.

I finished making my menus for the week and have my grocery list all made out.  I will heading to the store in a little bit.  I have chicken thighs in the crockpot and will shred them later and make enchiladas tonight with them.  The next couple of weeks are not near as hectic as it has been the past month.  In fact, other than hubby's brother and family coming in next weekend, it is a normal boring week for us.  WOOHOO!!!!!!!!  I am all about boring for a while.

Ok, that get's y'all up to date..................
Until next time..................................happy crafting!!!

Frenzy of a Friday

Our morning started early.  The first HVAC worker showed up a little after 7 this morning.  Neither hubby or I were ready yet.  We had only been up for an hour and had just finished breakfast.  The next set of workers are supposed to be here anytime now.  My dogs are going crazy as we have them locked up in our bedroom.  Being small dogs, they have a habit of getting underfoot quite often.  Our male dog likes to nip at the back of legs, so he is never welcomed out with strangers.

We are having a sleepover tonight with our grand daughter.  Her parents have a planning session and the kids are not allowed.  It will be fun for us as we have not had her for over a month.  Her other Grammie was in town and we always let them have as much time together as possible

I made a short trip to my local grocery store and also WalMart.  Had to pick up a few child friendly foods for tonight and tomorrow morning.  When I returned home, all our air ducts had been cleaned and any leaks filled. The old unit had been released off the roof and then were waiting for the crane to come and out the unit on the new stand.  

I missed watching the transfer with the crane take place.  That was hugely disappointing.  I did snap a few photos of the crane but it's just not the same. 

Most of my time lately has been communicating with insurance companies associated with my car accident.  The body shop called and my car should be ready the first of next week.  I can hardly wait.  The rental I have is yucky.  It is filthy outside and the inside smells horrible. 

I think I will pick up my crochet and work on that a while.  I have finished talking to all insurance companies today.  Made a complaint call to mine and am still listening to the workers walking all over my roof.  

Until next time..........Happy Crafing!!!

Thursday

Insomnia.........I have never really experienced it before.  But for the past couple of weeks, I have been having a horrible time sleeping straight through the night.  I know a lot of it has to do with the splint that is on my hand and arm.  It really is not comfortable, but better than a plaster cast.  I woke up this morning at 2:45 and by 3 I realized I needed to just get up and do something and then hope I would get tired enough to fall back asleep.  It worked.  I went back to bed around 5 and slept very soundly until 7.  My female dog was barking off and on all night also.  I have no idea what got into her.  She and I had a little "Come to Jesus" talk this morning.  I am thinking, she is being plagued with allergies.  She is scratching quite a bit and doing the backward sneezing.  Guess I could give her some benadryl but will wait until bedtime tonight to give it to her so she will sleep!

I helped out with the crochet class, yesterday, at our school (attached to our church).  We are working on half double crochet.  My two lefties have caught on really well.  Now, if I could only convince them to loosen up their stitches.  They are so tight, it is hard to do more than one row!  But I am still proud of them.  They are really starting to enjoy the process now.

Today, I should have gone to Prayer Shawl ministry but I was so stinking tired from not sleeping.  Hopefully by next week, I will be much more rested.  I did work on my prayer shawl yesterday for a bit.  It is coming along nicely.  I will post a picture of it in my YOP update on Sunday.

I have a load of laundry in...........last load of the week.  Dinner is in the crockpot (carnitas!  YUM).  Hubby is on his way home and should be here in time for lunch.  I picked up some lovely salads at our local fresh produce store (Sprouts) and they are chilling in the fridge.

I go and visit my mom this afternoon.  We will work on a puzzle for a couple of hours and talk about anything and everything.  It is an enjoyable time for the both of us.  

Tonight, hubby and I will be doing another church tour.  Hence the reason we have dinner in the crockpot.  Hopefully, it will not take as long as the last one.  Then we have adoration at 9 tonight, so our evening it full up.  I will take my prayer shawl with me to adoration.  It is the perfect time to work on it.

Tomorrow is a BIG day for us at Casa de Noce.  We are getting a new heating air conditioning unit installed.  Our current one is over 20 years old.  We had no heat this winter from December on.  Our A/C was questionable last summer also and when we are reaching temps of 110 plus, I really don't want to worry about finding a hotel room that accepts dogs. The crew will be here at 8 in the morning, so we will need to be up early.

That is about all from this end of the USA.  I need to go and put the laundry in the dryer.

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

Mid-week update

Yesterday turned out to not be as boring as I thought.  I did some things that had needed doing for a while.  I totally cleaned my kitchen.  I love cleaning my kitchen. Ever since we had it remodeled, it is one of my favorite places to spend time.  I have so much storage space now compared to when we moved into this house 29 years ago.  

I love my granite counter tops.  They are the easiest to keep clean and the shine on them is tip top.  They got a good cleaning yesterday and they shine brilliantly today.  The only problem with this cleaning frenzy I had.............now I don't want to cook in there because it will mess things up.  It's a vicious circle.

I also laid out a new puzzle yesterday.  I have the border together and that is about all right now.  It will be a challenge as it is mostly shades of browns and greens.  But, I have the time so I will work on it slowly and just enjoy the process.

I also crocheted a couple of rows on the prayer shawl I am working on.  I am doing Angel Wings shawl.  It is pretty mindless once the pattern has been established and perfect for watching TV.  I am using 3 colors on it just to make it interesting.  I am just happy, I can play with fiber for a little bit each day.

Last night, I helped give a tour of our church to 50 3rd graders.  It was so much fun and they had so many questions.  These kids are so super smart and like little sponges.  They soaked up everything that was told to them and they even educated me on some items.  It was wonderful but lasted way longer than I expected.  I was there for over 2 hours while only expecting and hour long tour.

Today I have plans to teach the left handers at our parochial school crochet. This is my weekly 'job' that I volunteered for.  It will continue until the end of school in May.  I only have 2 students and they are absolutely a joy to work with.  They too, are little sponges and have learned stitches so quickly.  Soon they will be more advanced than I am!

I added something to my blog today.  Becki from Field Lilies suggested I put a "subscribe by email" gadget on my sidebar.  This will make it much easier for some folks to follow my blog. I am all about making things easier whenever possible.  So this morning, I ventured into blogspot and found said gadget and put it on my side bar.  Thanks Becki for that bit of wisdom.  I have been blogging for over 10 years now and am still learning all sorts of ideas.

Hubby comes home tomorrow.  He has enjoyed his time with his mom but said Las Vegas is not any fun without me there.  That made my heart happy.  I love going places with him and that is one place we always have a blast at.  Hopefully, I will be able to go up there with him in the next few months again.  He tries to visit his mom about every 3-4 months.  She will be 90 in May!  With my travel schedule this year, helping out with Grands, I have not been as available as normal to go with him.  That should be changing here in the next 4-6 months though.  Everyone should be back to their home duty stations by then and things will settle down then.

Today, I am going to attack our family room and get it all straightened out and throw out a BUNCH of stuff that my dear sweet husband kind of pigeon holes.  He is a huge book hoarder.  I do not begrudge him his books, as he does read them and uses many of them for references when teach religion.  What I do begrudge is he sticks them every which way in our book shelves.  The shelves in the family room drive me batty.  We have other shelves in a guest bedroom and they can be all sorts of messed up and I don't care as I don't look at them 24/7.  So, today, the bookshelves in the family room are going to get a tidying up. They will look lovely when I am done and I will threaten him if he even thinks about putting a book in them that is not standing up straight.  I never thought I was OCD until the last few years. When we started the remodel of our house, I discovered my OCD side.  It is not as bad as some people in my family.  I have areas in my home that are not totally organized, and that does not affect me at all.  But areas that I am in  constantly.............they have to be organized, tidy, neat, clean etc.  I can not stand to have; dirty dishes in my sink, too many items on my kitchen counter tops, unorganized kitchen drawers, unmade bed, cluttered night stands, unorganized clothes closets, books laying every which way in the book cases, dog toys scattered all over the floors............you kind of get the idea, huh?  So it is good, that once in a while, the husband leaves town and I stay home.  I get so much organizing done. This only happens once a year though.  So I have to make the most of that time.  If I do this when he is home, he wants to help or he wants to do something else.  I am much better off doing it by myself and without any interference.  And having him over my shoulder telling me how to do it makes me a little angry at time.  LOL  Ok, A LOT angry at times.

So off I go to organize books and the entire family room.  I also have another load of laundry to do today.  I like to keep that up during the week, so our weekends are free to spend with family and friends.

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

Tuesday

It's Tuesday morning and I am already bored.  Hubby left yesterday to go and visit his mom. I am staying home with the puppies this time and since my left thumb is not allowed to play, I am totally bored.  

I completed a jigsaw puzzle yesterday.  In fact, I started it yesterday too.  It was only 500 pieces but my puzzle showed up with 499.  That did not make me happy.  It was a brand new puzzle, fresh out of the box.  Then I watched, Dancing with the Stars after dinner.  I finished off my evening with a movie "Me Before You".  Hated the ending of the movie! Went to bed around midnight and I was awakened sometime during dark o'thirty to the sound of thunder and rain. (No rain in the forecast either) I had both dogs in my bed shaking like the little Chihuahuas they are.  Sleep after that was fleeting and I ended up finally getting up around 6.

I have taken the trash barrel to the curb, fed my dogs, fed myself, read my fellow bloggers, done the dishes and started a load of laundry.  Maybe I will start another puzzle........maybe I will read a bit........maybe I will crochet a row or two on the prayer shawl.  The choices are endlessly boring.  

I think, I will watch another movie that I know the hubby would never want to watch and crochet.  UGH!!!!! I so want to be able to pick up my knitting needles and work on my WIP's. It is killing me to look at my partially finished knitting.  It breaks my heart to think it will be 4 more weeks before we will be together again.

I will go and watch Grand daughter play another basketball game this afternoon and then this evening I will be giving a tour of our church to the children in the religious education classes.  So, I actually do have things to keep me occupied.

I could go to the local yarn shop and peruse their selection of non wool yarns.  They know me well enough now, that when I walk through the door, they show me all the new non wool yarns that have arrived.  I could also go shopping on line to yarn shops and pick out some lovely sock yarn.  Seems that is all I have been knitting with lately and I am loving it.  Don't get me wrong, I am am by no means low on yarn of any weight...........It is just so fun to receive packages in the mail and open them and caress the lovely softness of cotton, linen, bamboo etc.  It even smells lovely!

OK, I am off of here and going to go and find something to do with myself.  I think the movie and crochet will be my best bet.

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

YOP update sort of

This is not much of a crafting update other than to say..................I am not crafting at the moment.  If you follow  my blog, you already know why.  If you don't follow my blog on a regular basis (Shame on you), the following photos speak louder than words.

This happened on the 16th and I got the xray results on the 21 that my thumb was broken and got into see an orthopedic Doc on the 23rd and was put into this brace for the next 4-6 weeks.  Kind of limits my knitting.  Ok, It completely knocks me out of the knitting game.  I can still crochet, sort of, but not for long as I am left handed and holding the hook between my index and middle finger is not very comfortable.

So what am I doing for the next month or so?  Reading and working on puzzles.  Not how I was planning on spending my spring time.  But at least I am the only one who was injured in the accident.  

So I will be reading all of my fellow crafter blogs, dreaming of what I will do once the brace/splint is off my arm and putting patterns in my library for future crafting.  I will also  still update my blog, but not with my crafts.  Just with my life in general........although, sometimes that is much more exciting than my crafting. LOL

So until  next time..............Happy Crafting!