Recovery

Hubby and I are recovering from yesterday's Fathers Day bash.  We had so much fun with the family.  Unfortunately, at our age, we need a day to recover from all the fun.  Hubby and I spent several hours preparing for the family to come over.  I made onion dip, a loaf of bread, cut up cheese and summer sausage.  Hubby had backyard duty.  He got doggy 'diamonds' picked up and watered down the 'grass' to help it cool off a bit.  He also got the smoker all set up and put the brisket on to smoke.  He also was in charge of the music and got our portable speaker turned on and tuned into some oldies but goodies.  We finally got a chance to sit down about 1:30.  The family came over about 3.  We had a few snacks and then hit the pool to cool off.  There was not time to play any games.

The brisket finally got finished about 6.  We had a lovely dinner and great conversation.  After dinner, we got a fun gift from the kids.

This will go on our cross wall.  We laughed when we got it.  My husband was always looking for his tools and we would find out the boys had 'borrowed' them.  This cross will remind us of those good times.

After dinner, we also had an early birthday for our Grand Daughter.  We went in with the other grandparents and mom and dad and got her an Apple watch.  She was so excited and happy.  We let her open her gift while we had the other grand parents on a video call.  It was fun.

The family left about 8pm and hubby and I were exhausted.  I finished cleaning up the kitchen and hubby cleaned up some of the backyard.  Then we went to bed.

My bread made a big hit with everyone yesterday.  It was so good, I had to make another loaf today.  I want to thank all of you who gave me suggestions as to why my bread was not rising properly.  I changed two things I had been doing.

1.  I made sure I used separate measuring spoons for the salt and yeast.

2.  I opened up a new jar of yeast and used it.

Look at that beauty.  This is the one I made today.  The one yesterday looked just like it.  It is so much softer and not as dense.  I always have used Fleischman's yeast but could not find it once so switched to Red Star.  The Red Star worked fine until about 2 weeks ago and then....poof.  Nasty bread.  Whereas, I had always used the same spoon for the yeast and salt (always measured the yeast first though), I still think it was the yeast.  Even though the Red Star said it was good until July of 2021........I think it was dieing a slow death.  I am once again a happy bread maker.  Thanks again for the advice.

The rest of my day has been filled with laundry, emptying the dishwasher, going through knitting/crocheting patterns, reading blogs, working on my YOP 10 list, ordering books, picking up all the pool towels from the backyard and cutting out more face masks.  Other than that, we are just kicking back LOL.

How is your Monday treating you?

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

WEEK 51 OF YOP 9

Hello lovelies.  I hope you are all doing well on this fine summer day.  We went to Mass at 7 this morning.  Dang, that is an early hour to be up and functioning.  Yet, it leaves the whole day open for us to do what we want/need to do.  

Right now, we are getting ready to host a HUGE Fathers Day party.  I'm joking.  It will be just 5 of us.  Our son and his family plus hubby and myself.  There will be swimming, food and fun.  Hopefully, us girls will be able to squeeze in a game or two of cards while the guys are watching a golf tournament.  Hubby has a brisket in the smoker.  I have a loaf of bread in the bread machine.  Daugher in Law is bringing a pasta salad.  There will be cheese, summer sausage, onion dip, chips and crackers for snacks.  No one leaves my house hungry!  

Wanna see what I accomplished this week on the crafting front? Of course you do, or you wouldn't be here, right?

The Rose City Roller socks are completed and in hubby's drawer. You can see Enrique is not impressed with the FO.  Yet, he is never far from my side.  He definitely is my dog.

I also finished sewing all the sequins on this Jim Shore nativity scene.  This was a lovely project to do during the evenings when watching TV.  

The only other crafting I did this week was sew these:

This only shows the first 6 I made on Friday.  I made another 6 on Saturday.  They have all been delivered to the lady who requested them.  She kept offering to pay me for my time.  I told her the payment would be for her to NOT tell anyone who made these!!!!  I still need to make a few more for hubby and myself.  We are now under a mandatory face mask policy here in our area.  We kind of figured this would happen since Arizona is one of the top three states where the numbers are increasing at an alarming rate.  (Texas and Florida are the other two)

Next week I will be doing a wrap up of what was accomplished this year.  This is the time of year I am glad I keep a spread sheet of all the projects I start and finish from July - June.  Otherwise, I would be scrambling for the info.  

Those of you who make lists for YOP, have you gotten your next one figured out?   I just started on mine last night.  For some reason, I just can not seem to pin down exactly what I want to accomplish for the next YOP.  It must be pandemic brain LOL.  This has never been an issue before.  Maybe some divine revelation will come over me in the next 2 weeks.  It's not like I don't have any stash to work from.

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

Finished Friday

Oh my goodness.  It is Friday and the last day for me to blog, for the week.  Come by on Sunday for my crafting week wrap up and to see what I have finished.

Today saw me heading to my craft room about 8 this morning.  I stayed there until 3 this afternoon.  Well, other than taking a 30 minute break for lunch.  I had 12 face masks to make for my friend from Church.  Here is where I am at the present time.

I have completed 6 masks so far.  It doesn't seem like much until I take into account I had to cut; the interfacing, main material, lining material, elastic for ear pieces, bias tape, and twist floral wire for the nose piece.  Doing all that took over 2 hours alone.  I try to get everything ready before I finally sit down at the sewing machine.  It makes things go so much smoother.

The masks on the right have been started (there are 4 there).  The ones on the left are just cut out and waiting for me to change thread once the ones on the right are finished.  I should be able to finish all of them tomorrow with no problem.  Fingers crossed, I can cut and sew a couple of masks for hubby and I too.

I had a companion with me while I worked in my craftroom.  Sweet little Enrique.

I should have taken a video of this with sound.  He was snoring LOUDLY when I took this photo.  See my blocking mats under him?  They seem to make the perfect place to sleep.

I do have a funny to share with you today.  It is a little gross, but still funny.  

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

FRIDAY EVE

Hello again. It is another sunny day here with the temps in the low 100's.  Next week we will be warming up a bit, so we are enjoying this little break in our heat.

My teeter and I went for a little 'ride' today.  I had slacked off this week from exercising and wanted to get back to it.  I was actually able to double my time on the machine.  That's a good thing, right?  I was planning on hitting the pool today too.

The pool plan kind of got thrown to the wind early.  I got a call this morning from one of the ladies from our prayer shawl ministry.  She had labels, medals and prayer cards for me.  Now I can finish up the three completed shawls I have and get them bagged.  She gave me extras so I will be able to make a couple more shawls too.  We are unable to get out labels right now as the company we purchase them from is in New Jersey and they are closed because of the Virus.

While this lovely lady was delivering the items, we got to talking about face masks and.......well, I just can not say no.  She brought over several yards of material and interfacing.  The material had already been washed in hot and dried hot.  She has asked me to make her a couple of masks from each material.  That will be 6 more masks.  Then she tells me she has more material at home and will wash and dry it and bring it over too!  Oh my.  I have a feeling the next week will be spent making face masks again.  

I wanted to make more for hubby and I too.  It looks like face masks are going to become mandatory in our city and many of the cities surrounding us, in the next few days.  Our numbers are rising at an alarming rate.  Thinking back about 2 weeks............Memorial day and graduation parties happened and people were congregating in large groups without any physical distancing.  

  

Get a clue people.  Rant over!

I finished another knitting item early this morning.  I will post about it on Sunday.  Come back and read about it.  I am hoping to have something else completed by then.  This:

I only have one color of sequins to add to it.  PURPLE!  I saved my favorite for last.  Fingers crossed I can finish it in the next 3 evenings.  The daytime hours will be saved for making masks.

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

WEDNESDAY WONDERS

Well, hello again.  How are you doing today?  It has been a fine day here.  

Hubby got the rest of the house cleaned today.  I love that man!!!  I moved all the furniture for him and then took off to run errands.  I had to pick up some of my meds and deliver a gift to my special friend.

Delivering the gift was fun.  My friend was not home and I am lucky enough to have a key to her house.  I was able to get in and out of the house without either of her dogs noticing I was there.  Phew, otherwise, they would have expected a doggy cookie from me.  (I spoil all animals!)

I also stopped off at Target to look for an extra large cooking utensil holder.  I am happy to say, 95% of shoppers where masked in there.  Unfortunately, they did not have anything I was looking for.  So, it was basically just a walk about for me.  

When I got home, hubby was done mopping so I moved the furniture back.  Then, I got all the cleaning towels into the washer and got that going.  They are in the dryer now.

Do any of you use Pinterest?  Do you pin things to boards?  I have been doing this for about 5 years now.  Yesterday afternoon, I took the time to go through all my 'food' pins and separate them into categories.  (IE:  air fryer, crockpot, bread etc)  There were also quite a few duplicates in there.  Those are now gone too.  

I have also, been perusing Pinterest looking for recipes for 'healthy' donuts.  Believe it or not, I have found quite a few.  Now, I just need to wait patiently for my doughnut pan to arrive.  

My daughter brought over my pampered chef order yesterday.  This is the item I was waiting for the most.  It was my birthday gift from my daughter and son in law.

The deep dish pie pan.  It is stone ware and I am looking forward to making all sorts of things in it.  Not just pies.  Maybe some baked ziti, quiche or casseroles.  Pinterest has given me some great ideas for this too.

I also got these:

Teak wood utensil set.  I already had one set of these but use them daily.  So a second set was called for.  The first set I got is probably 8 years old and is like new.  I never put these in the dishwasher.  Also, before I use them the first time, I oil them with avocado oil.

I got a few other items but those two are my favorites.  My next purchase is going to be this:

The snack bar maker.  Again, Pinterest is helping me with fun recipes for this item too.  I am so thankful my daughter is a Pampered Chef consultant.  Makes it so much easier for me to order when I want something.

The dryer has buzzed.  Guess I should go and grab the towels, fold them and put them away.  Then, it will be time to kick back and do a little crafting until it is time to make dinner.  Tonight's menu is, ham steak, sweet potatoes, a side salad and home made bread.  For dessert we have angel food cake with 'light' cherry pie filling on top.

Anything new with you?

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