Day 7

Hello again from Arizona.  It is very overcast today and I am loving the change of pace that gives me.  With having over 300 days of sunshine, a day of clouds is a welcomed change.

Last night, I made another great meal for the hubs and myself.

I have made this several times and it is one of our favorites.  I did not get a photo of it on our plates.  It was already 7pm when the dish was ready for consumption and we were very hungry.  Instead of white potatoes, I used white sweet potatoes since those are better for us.  I also used orange bell peppers as that is what I had in the fridge.  It is quite easy to make.  I cook the veggies in the bit oven and the sausage in my little Breville toaster/convection oven.  The pans I use for this are these:

I have a large one and a small one.  I use these quite a bit and it is my answer to an air fryer.  They are made by Copper Chef.  The small one is my favorite for the two of us.  It fits into my Breville quite nicely too.

Once dinner was completed, I sat down and knitting on the shawl some more.  It has so many stitches now, a row takes me quite a while to finish.  I got 6 rows done last night while watching TV.

I have kept an even keel today of doing chores and resting.  I managed to get the living areas of the house vacuumed today.  These dogs have not heard that winter is coming.  They shed so much.  I have already found a couple more 'rolls' of dog hair since I vacuumed a couple of hours ago.  It is a never ending battle, for sure.

I also got all the tags and medals sewn on the prayer shawl I had completed and have them bagged and ready to go to the church on Thursday.

It will feel good to get them all out of the house.  I was hoping to have the other shawl done to turn in, but I do believe it is going to be a little while longer on it.  I am getting ready to attach the third skein of yarn to it.  It calls for a little over 600 yards and I have just used around 500.  I may make it longer than it is in the pattern, as I want it to cover the recipients back to keep them warm all over.

Thank you to those of you who commented last time on my post.  I see that there are a couple of you interested in the pattern I used for the baptismal gown.  No, it is not on Ravelry.  I actually bought a pattern book.

It is a Leisure Arts book.  I bought it 4 years ago but I would assume they are still printing it.  There are 4 outfits in the book.  The one I made is on the front cover.  The only thing I did not make were the booties.   I have never liked booties.  They never stay on either.  I bought her Humpty Dumpty booties/socks in white to go with the dress.  Those things never come off.  LOL

Tonight is Taco Tuesday night.  Hubs loves anything Mexican and I have a couple of dishes this week with that flavor in it.  He will be a happy man.

That is all for today.  I am going to go and work on the blasted blessed shawl again.  

Until tomorrow................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAY 6

Happy Monday the 6th of November.  Blogging every day has been a lot of fun for me.  I start planning my blog the night before and jot down ideas of what I want to say.  It really has me thinking and making note of how a day is going and what I am doing with my time.  I have found I have had better time management too.  A win win for me.

I received a private message this weekend with this picture in it.

This is our God Daughter, Grace.  She was heading to church to receive her sacraments this weekend.  The dress she is wearing is the one I knit for her for her baptism 4 years ago.  The dress is on backwards, but I don't care.  I am just thrilled her dad thought enough of it to have her wear it again for another wonderful occasion.

This is the dress the first time she wore it.  I loved making this for her.

The past couple of weeks have been so hectic with hubby's issues.  I have not made a decent meal for us in almost 2 weeks.  Last night I changed that.

This is the recipe I used to make our dinner.  I use gluten free pasta and organic pasta sauce.  I also reduced the amount of bell pepper to 1 and used orange instead of green.  (Green does not agree with hubs or myself)

This is what it looked like before we consumed 80% of it

It was very yummy but I think I will had a bit of red pepper flakes next time to give it a bit more umph.

I am cooking again tonight and will share my recipe and photo with you on tomorrow's post.

I did complete a project today:

The story board is completed and ready to be displayed at Saturday's celebration of our Cancer Shrine's 8th anniversary.  I really enjoyed finding the photos for the board.  I did not enjoy making sure everything was level and spaced evenly.  I will hang onto this board as I am sure it will used again next year and also for our ministry fair we have each year.

I need to brag a bit.  Yesterday I told you I had a meeting at church at 8.  After the meeting, I went to Michael's, Walmart, Sprouts (farmers market) and then came home in time for lunch.  After lunch I started more laundry and got 2 loads completed and even with all that happening I was still able to take an hour nap!  I seldom nap, but with all the hub bub that has been happening, I knew I needed to slow down a bit before I crashed and burned.  As and RA patient, I need to be mindful of my body and what it is saying to me.  I don't always listen.................(oops) but I knew if I needed to continue to be available for my sweety, I needed to take care of me too.

Speaking of my sweety..............he is doing so well.  I am very happy to report, no more bleeding since Thursday before surgery.  He has been very good about taking things easy and is letting me do most of everything for him.  

I know today is supposed to me 'what are you reading' Monday. I am still reading my Rachel Herron book "How to Knit a Heart Back Home".  It is the second book in her Cypress Hollow series.  It is pretty good but I am so tired by the time I go to bed, I am only getting a couple of pages read each night.  Maybe by next week, when things get back to normal, I will be able to really sit down and read more.

Until tomorrow..........................happy crafting!!!!!!!!!!!!

Week 19 and NaBloPoMo day 5

It is very early here at Casa de Noce.  In fact, it is still dark here.  In the summertime, the sun comes up around 5am.  When we go into autumn/winter the sun sleeps until around 7am.  Evening comes earlier too these days with the sun going down around 6pm. In the summer we have daylight until 9pm easily.  Now that you have those lovely bits of trivia about Arizona................let me take you into a little bit of YOP posting.

I was totally monogamous this past week.  I only worked on my Faroese shawl.  Yup, that is the pattern I settled on last Sunday when my needles became free.

The fiber being used is Red Heart's Shimmer.  Those little tiny white specks you see on the shawl are not lint.  That is the way the light was hitting the little shimmer flecks on the shawl.  This has been a real joy to knit and it goes pretty fast. It is knitted top down and you decide how long you want it.  These shawls are perfect for someone who is not feeling well. They hug your shoulders and you don't need to constantly need to keep pulling them up and around you to keep them on.  I have quite a bit of worsted weight yarn for shawls.  I do believe I have found my go to pattern for that yarn.  The next one I do, I want to do in multiple colors.  I do believe this pattern will lend itself to that quite nicely.

Now I take you to my second part of my posting, NaBloPoMo Day 5:

I have been doing well with my daily posting....................so far.  It has been so much fun too.  The challenge for me is coming up this weekend.  We have an all day retreat at church on Saturday...........and I mean all day.  It starts at 7am and goes until 10pm.  It will be a challenge for me to post that day but............I think I can manage a few lines, even if I need to post from my phone.

I have a meeting today at 8am for the retreat next weekend.  This is our planning meeting when we discuss who will do what when.  It is one of the longest meetings this group every has but it is so much fun to see the retreat outline come together.

After the meeting I have a bit of shopping to do.  I am on a search to find lettering stencils for the Prayer Shawl story board.  There will also be a trip to the local farmers market to pick up some fresh veggies and fruit.  Then I will return home to start the last 2-3 loads of laundry to get myself caught up in that area.

Hubby has done quite well and we are so thankful for the past 2 days without any nose bleeds.  Today will be the first day he is allowed to do anything other than sit and watch TV.  Yup, today he will be allowed to pour his own coffee.  I still want him to rest as much as possible.  The longer we let him heal the better we will be.  You know things were getting out of hand when your brand new Doctor gives you his private phone number and tells you to call him directly if there are any issues.

I would like to bake some cookies today too.  I have the BEST recipe for healthy cookies.  Our nutritionist gave it to me about 6 weeks ago.  I have made it once and they are delicious and filling.  I have all the makings for them, all I need is the time to bake.  Since the weather has cooled down, finally, it is the time of year I love being in the kitchen making up scrumptious items to fill our bodies.

After all the laundry and baking is completed, I will turn my attention to crafting again.  I need to get the story board done ASAP.  It is going to be used next Saturday for the 8th anniversary of our Cancer Shrine.  I also need to return my attention to the ugly Christmas Sweater Ornaments I started.  They aren't going to make themselves.  They do take quite a bit of time to do.  I still have not finished the first one and have already spent over 2 hours on it.  The one I am doing is not even the most intricate one either.  Yup, need to get going on those ornaments.

OK, the sun has finally risen and I need to go and get ready for the meeting.

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

Day 4

Day four and I am still finding things to blog about.  It may not be super interesting, but it is something.

Let's start with hubby..................................we have made it over 36 hours now.  By 5:30 tonight it will be 48 hours and that is our magic number.  He has been super good about just sitting around and not helping with anything.  Today I am lucky because there is lots of college football on TV.  He also has his kindle by him so he can read and his laptop is next to him and up and running.  I know he is wanting to move around but I am being quite firm about the 48 hour time period.  I told him he can go and get his own coffee tomorrow morning but that will be about all I will allow him to do.

My day has already been full and it is just noon.  I am on my third load of laundry.  It kind of got away from me this week.  Not being home has a habit of that happening.  I have also baked a loaf of bread, cleaned out the refrigerator, straightened up our bedroom, updated my daily journal, knit a bit on the shawl and made breakfast and lunch for hubby and myself.

I have been doing something else kind of crafty wise:

I am working on the Prayer Shawl story board.  I have all the photos laid out and now I just need to put the wording on it.  I was going to use these:

But realized, I would need several more packages of them to spell everything I needed.  So I am going to go and search for stencils.  I have lovely colored markers I can use.  That will make it a bit more colorful and interesting.  I am hoping JoAnn's carries them.  I will go there tomorrow morning after a meeting I have to attend.  If they don't carry them, I know our hardware store does.  I am hoping for something a little more decorative than straight block type letters.  Fingers are crossed.

I will be going to Mass tonight alone.  Hubby is not allowed to go as there is too much standing, kneeling, sitting...............we call it Catholic Calisthenics.  LOL  After Mass, I will be coming home and we will eat our left overs from yesterday.  It will be a nice quiet evening and I should be able to get quite a bit of knitting done on the shawl.

Until tomorrow's YOP update.....................Happy Crafting!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 3

Hello again.  I am happy to say, hubby and I made it through the night without any incidents. The next 36 hours will be the telling.  If we can keep him from bleeding until tomorrow night, we will be home free....................we hope and pray!  He says the only thing that really is irritated is his throat from the intubation tube.  We can deal with that no problem.  Lots of warm tea with honey seems to fix him up pretty good.

So today I am working on the story board for the Prayer Shawl Ministry table.  It will be set up next weekend after the 4pm Mass.  I pulled a couple more photos off the internet today.

I was going to take photos during our meeting yesterday, but since I could not stay, I decided to just find some good ones on the internet.  I could not believe how many wonderful photos there were  The one above really is nice to let everyone know what table they are at.

This one shows the group praying over the shawls.  We do this every meeting and then we had them over to the coordinator who then has our priest or deacon bless them before they are mailed to their recipients.

Tonight, I will be going to a play at the local Grands school.  They are doing Seusical Jr, the musical.  Of course she is in it.  She LOVES drama and tries out for every play they have.  Hubby is staying home and being good and not doing anything!  He is already twitching and wanting to do something around the house.  I may have to duct tape him to his recliner while I am gone.  LOL

This afternoon, I will be doing a quick visit to my mom.  I have things I need to deliver to her or I would bow out from going.  I really hate leaving hubby here.  I have that great fear that the bleeding will start again and I will be gone and he will have a mess to deal with.  Two weeks of bleeding and it is hard to think that it really might be over.

I am hoping to get a bit more work done on the prayer shawl today.  Although the story board is my first priority.  Once I have the lay out for that, I think I will be a little more relaxes and the stress level might calm down a bit.  MAYBE  LOL.

That is all for today.

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

Day 2

Day 2 and I am still posting.  I almost did not post today.  Hubby was scheduled for surgery at 11:30 today.  They called him around 10 this morning and told him he was being rescheduled to 3 this afternoon.  That is a looooong time to be without food and water.  He had not had anything since about 11 last night.  

He got the surgery center and filled out all the paperwork and was in the holding area by 3:15.  His Doctor got there about 4 and they took him right away to the operating room.  He was there until about 5, when the Doctor came out and talked to me about what he did and what he wanted hubby to do for the next few days.  We finally got out of there about 5:45 and made it home around 6:15.

Poor man was starving!  I ran and got him some Egg Flower Soup.  They do not want him to have and real solid food for several hours since he was under general anesthesia.

He is doing quite well.  The anesthesia has all but worn off and he is watching a football game on TV.  The next 48 hours will be the telling factor.  If no more bleeding, then the Doctor thinks we have conquered the beast.  If he does bleed, then the next surgery will be quite extensive.  We have several people praying for a great outcome.

I only got about 2 rows done on my shawl while I was in the waiting room.  I am over 200 stitches so it take a little time to do each row.  However, I did manage to get several rows done this morning before we left.  It won't be long now and I will be starting the finale part of the shawl.  I am loving this pattern and the yarn I chose for it is:

Red Heart Shimmer.  It is super soft and has such a nice subtle speck of sparkle in it.  I decided to do it in red because of the up coming holidays.  It just looks so festive.  I have the same yarn in blue, black and white also.  I see more of these shawls being made soon.  The designer ( Cate Leonard ) had a couple of other shawl and I have printed out the other free pattern from her.  It has the decorative pattern starting up a bit closer to the shoulders and I like that look too.  It is still a Faroese shawl but made with DK weight yarn.  I will still make it with worsted though.  I like the size of it when made in the worsted.

I delivered my 3 bags of yarn to the prayer shawl ladies today.  I am so glad to have that out of my house.  They will make good use of it.  I also found a nice home for my mother's interchangeable needles.  My other straight needles were being gone over when I left.  I am confident everything will find a home.

Dinner is over, I am exhausted and still have several more hours before I can lay my head down on my pillow.  Hubby is on moving restrictions.  He is to stay in his recliner with his feet up, other than to go to the bathroom.  Needless to say.............I am running all over making sure he has everything he needs to keep him quiet and comfy.

I am off to do the dishes and then pick up some areas of the living room where hubby has been gathering 'stuff'.  I do not like clutter and there is a lot of that around 'his' area.  It will be dealt with tonight so I can sleep easy.

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

NaBloPoMo Day 1

Happy first day of NaBloPoMo.  I am so excited to try this.  If I fail.....................it really isn't a failure but a learning experience.  I always seem to have something to talk about so I don't think there will be an issue with posting something everyday.  The biggest hurdle will be finding the time to post daily.  I have some days coming up where I will not be at home and will need to rely on internet from a hotel room.  There are also days when I will be very busy with church activities and retreats.  Fingers crossed, I will be able to find at least 15 minutes to drop in and say 'hi' to everyone.

Today was a busy one for hubby and myself.  Hubby's car was dropped off at the dealership for it's routine maintenance and paint protection application. This is all part of the original warranty so there is no out of pocket expense on our end.

Once again, we found ourselves at the ENT's office.  Hubby's nose is not cooperating and even bled through the absorbable hemostat that was placed in his nose on Monday.  We did get over 24 hours of a respite in though.

Hubby is now scheduled for electric cauterization tomorrow afternoon at a local out patient surgery center.  He will be knocked out for this procedure and that way the Doctor can really look around and see if there is more than one bleeder in there and get everything done once and for all...........................we hope!  If this doesn't work than it is some type of surgery, which has not been totally explained to us yet.  One of our Grands was worried he was going to have his nose amputated.  LOL  She is so dramatic!

After the Doctors appointment, we decided to do a little bit of shopping since we were on a different side of town than we normally shop in.  I found some treasures.............even though they are not for me.

We stopped at a Super Target and I found these!  My mother has been requesting more of these socks since about March.  They only are carried during the fall and beginning of winter.  She had about 8 pair in her drawer, but they seem to disappear on laundry day.  I do mark them with her name but that doesn't seem to matter.

This time...............I got some fancy marking pens.

Bright silver and gold.  I would think these will show up quite nicely and I am going to really make the lettering BIG and BOLD!

To make double sure her socks come back to her, I also bought this:

We call them ditty bags.  There are 2 bags here and they are also going to have her name written on them in BIG BOLD lettering.  This way she can put her socks in the bags and they can just throw the bag in the washer and dryer and no more lost socks!  If any of them come up missing, there is going to be hell to pay.  These socks are hard to find and only are carried in a 3 month period.  I bought out the store I was at today.  I will be searching other Targets over the next month and if I see anymore, I will be buying them pronto!  It's always nice to have some spares.

I am still working on the Faroese shawl.  That will go with me tomorrow to the Surgery Center.  Keeps my hands busy and my mind from thinking negative thoughts.

I need to go and get all that stuff marked for my mom and then I am going to make a nice dinner for the two of us and then relax for the evening and catch up on some TV programs.

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