YOP Week #31 Year #11

 It's been a good week, although no finishes, there was progress.  Today is Sabbath Sunday when I work on a religious piece....I will be working on it today but this is progress from last week...the "O" is finished.  Now, I'm working on the big "G".............I am thrilled with this piece and I think it will be gorgeous when finished.

I found my Blackbird piece to work on Saturdays.........you might remember it..........it will be a hand and I will be making it into a pinkeep.............

I did work on Stu the Snowman and I am halfway down his chest.  I also did 4 more rows on the Multnomah.  I also got the backing cut and pinned to sew today for the Christmas quilt.

I got some treasures this week in the mail..........4 Lori Holt fat quarters...........

Her Cookbook notebook which will hold the sewing guide to the Chicken Salad quilt and also some recipes she is going to share with us.....

I also got the dividers to use...........so cute...

This was from Fat Quarter Shop and I got a couple flosses and they threw in some free hand sanitizer...how nice!

This next week I hope to get the Christmas quilt sandwiched together and ready to quilt.  I have some Valentine tidbits to work on for me and the grands.  I'll be working on my New Year's start on the 31st and the 1st and on the 4th my Birthday start will get some love.  

We're supposed to get rain on Tuesday and then rain on Wednesday turning to snow on Thursday!  Tomorrow it will be about 60 so a good day to do any errands before the weather turns.  I'm excited....I love variety in weather as long as no one gets hurt and the power stays on! LOL!

Have a wonderful week and enjoy creating!

Happy Trails!!!

Treasures galore!!!

 What a great Friday!  I got a present...well, really it's a present for Grace and Miss Peeps.  I tried to get a picture of them playing with them but that wasn't happening!

My dear friend Susan has been knitting up a storm and sent me these 2 darling knitted mice filled with catnip for the girls.........too cute!  Thank you, Susan.  The girls are loving them!

I also got a belated birthday card from an old friend I used to work with years ago........a Mary Engelbreit card.....my favorite...frame worthy!!!  She also sent some tea.....thank you, Vickie!

My first Lori Holt fabric.....just a few fat quarters............

I cleaned another cupboard but instead of more room I had to find places for things that didn't belong in there in the first place...........plus I have many duplicates and triplicates of some items like Panko crumbs, broth powders and cubes and enough pasta to open a restaurant.  The top shelf is pasta and noodles, the next shelf is bread crumbs, grains, and broths and the bottom shelf is baking items, syrup and peanut butter.  Cleaning out my cupboards will hopefully keep me from buying multiples just because I can't find something...geez!

I cleaned up the kitchen and swept the floor.  It was craft day but I haven't done any yet.  I need to fill out my XS books and cut my fabric and batting for the Christmas quilt......but it's already 3:30 and I'm slowing down.....we'll see.

I hope you are having  a great Friday and Friday night!

Happy Trails!!!
 

Treasures and good food cooking!

 The supply train stopped by and I got my baskets for my fabric scraps.  I'm going to organize my fabric scraps like Lori Holt does...she has a great system and a You Tube video to show you.

I also got a sticker book I've been wanting and I'm glad I waited as it is now 1/2 price!  Go get one...it's beautiful!  (on Amazon)

Here are a few sample pages but there is so much more...beautiful flowers and numbers and letters............

Today was cooking day plus I cleaned out the frig and changed my sheets.....I have baby potatoes boiled in the skin, a meatloaf in the oven and Brussel sprouts ready to roast.................

I found a new pod caster who is so cute....she said she was 55 but I swear she looks about 20!  She cross stitches and quilts and she is really fun to watch!   She is CurlyGirlCrafter on You Tube.

I worked on Stu the Snowman a bit and then my Multnomah shawl which is about 1/2 way not counting the feather and fan part. 

That's all for today.....it's cold here but sunny...in the 30's.....may get some snow flakes tonight....that's exactly what they said....."flakes".....I think we have enough of them down here! LOL!

Happy Trails!!!

Just a regular day and I'll take it!

 I did chores today, some cleaning, folded a load of clothes. cleaned litter boxes, and made egg salad.

On breaks I worked on Prairie Schooler Santa............it's almost done....I love working on Prairie Schooler patterns............

I ran across a very cool thing on FaceBook today which I rarely even logon to FB anymore but I wanted to share it with you..........

 

Moonbeams and Mayhem

Poster based in the United Kingdom

  · Jah0n6mu8arcySp 823m ats 6:2h6 Aa 3Mougl  ·

Created in celebration of Pooh's 95th anniversary, The 'Bearbnb' is an authentic replica of Pooh's tree-hollow cottage & the designer, Kim Raymond, hasn't left a single detail out – fittingly. Taking inspiration from the original illustrations of E. H. Shepard, the tiny property can be found inside a real tree trunk & boasts a bright red door & a sign that reads 'Mr Sanders', a reference to the original Winnie-the-Pooh tales. The magical home boasts a cozy interior with bespoke blue & white striped wallpaper adorned with yellow acorns & pine cones, as well as a rustic wood ceiling, off-kilter windows, floral furnishings & hand-painted artworks. The kitchen comes equipped with a shelving unit filled with giant jars of honey, while outside you'll find a magical picnic area where guests were served up locally-sourced meals inspired by Pooh's favourite honey.

Bearbnb, East Sussex, UK

 

 I could live there for sure!  Enjoy!

Happy Trails!!!

Grocery pickup and organizing floss....

 Not much gets done on the days I pickup groceries...it's a full time job but I was able to get what I needed and there was only 1 substitution.  It was a beautiful day here...sunny, blue skies, and 62 F!  I picked the perfect day to get groceries.  Tomorrow it's going to be 36!

After I got all the groceries put away, the kitchen cleaned up, and a load of laundry in the washer, I started sorting through  those bags of finished projects that still had the floss in them that I never put away.....and some new floss that hasn't been put with the projects they were bought for!

I am trying to get away from the cardboard cards that you wind the floss around.  I'm preferring the floss bags at the moment.  Not sure if I'll mess with that spider web of floss or just pitch it.  Today and tomorrow I'm working on my Christmas stitch which is my first Prairie Schooler Santa.  I think it's the 2005 one.  I'll show it to you tomorrow as I forgot to photograph it today.  I also printed off some free Valentine smalls. There is a real cute one from Colorado Stitcher....check it out.

Well, I'm tuckered out so I'm calling it a day!  I hope you had a good one!

Happy Trails!!! 
 

YOP Week #30 Year #11

 Things ended on a good note this week and I am back to my old self after having a brush with Covid!  I am so grateful I am vaccinated and boosted or I probably wouldn't be here right now!  Whew!

I have been remiss in showing a beautiful gift I got from my friend, Connie at Far Side of Fifty blog.  She sent it on time but I got to using it right away as I loved it so much and didn't blog about it.  Plus, I wanted to get her permission before I started spouting off!  LOL!  But here it is.....so awesome!

 First, her hand painted card..........that's a gift right there..........

and then this handmade accessory pouch with a zipper, mind you!  Connie  is very talented! Isn't it gorgeous?  It's mosaic crochet.........

and as if that wasn't enough she tucked these lovely items inside...........too cute for words!  Thank you, Connie, I will treasure these items and think of you every time I use them.

I was going to focus on a big piece for cross stitch and it was the Star full coverage piece by Theresa Kogut.  I got it out and there is a page of the pattern missing!  Another indication that I need to clean my crafts room!  So, I went to the next LIFO (last in first out) which was Stu the snowman. I've worked on him all week and got quite a bit done.........actually he WAS the last one in so it should have been him from the get go.

I also did about 4 rows on my Multnomah shawl using Malabrigo Dachshund colorway in fingering weight.  I had to get this color because of Annie, my little dachshund who has since passed.  I think that's why I stopped working on it.  I cried every time I picked it up.  I must admit I shed a few tears this time too but I also smiled as she was so funny and brought me so much joy! I remembered to put in a progress marker......one of the new ones that Connie gave me....they are clear and different colors....so pretty!

I made one Victorian Lattice Square (pattern on Ravelry) but then I remembered that the "last one in" was the Wintertime blanket so I'll be dragging that one out today.

I did do some sewing too!  I made my project bag which has been cut out and languishing for a long time!  Finally, it is done............

here is the lining......it's just like the first project bag I made except the fabrics are reversed.....

I was pleased with my progress this past week despite the fact that I practically slept for 2 days straight and did nothing!

Today is Sabbath cross stitch and next for sewing is cut backing and batting for that old Christmas quilt.  I have some Christmas cross stitch this week on the 24th and 25th and the other days I will continue to stitch on Stu.  I was supposed to stitch on my Blackbird XS on Saturday but I couldn't find it...imagine that!  

This afternoon I'll be making a menu, grocery list, and making my grocery order to pick up tomorrow.  It has been very cold here....single digits but today is going to be 51 and tomorrow 58!  Perfect for unloading groceries.  I should be home for the rest of the week if I can get everything I need from Walmart.  I need poster board and foam core board but if I can't get it at Walmart I'll have to visit the Dollar General here in town.  I also need to ensure I have Valentine treat ingredients on the list for making for the grands.  My one grandson has a severe peanut allergy so I make everything from scratch for them.  I'm trying to send them a "Grandma Sam" box every month.  Nothing much, some National Geographic magazines, homemade pumpkin seeds, a few books, some teas for my daughter, stickers, a toy catalog.....just miscellaneous items.  Now, I have to get February's ready which will definitely have a Valentine theme.  Who doesn't love to get surprises in the mail?

I'm slowly working on cleaning out kitchen cupboards and need more shelf paper.  I only got one cleaned out last week and that may be my speed but it's still progress! LOL!

Here's a little wisdom from my favorite gal.........Mary Englebreit................ 

I didn't get any haul this week but I ordered some!  I am prepping to participate in Lori Holt's Chicken Salad Quilt Along.  I'm not ordering her materials as it is too much moolah for me but I have material and I did order just a few fat quarters, a notebook, dividers, and her Sew Simple Shapes for the Chickens in Chicken Salad.  I think I'm good to go for starters and it begins on Valentine's Day.....my gift to me!  It will be a long term project which is fine....one block at a time but it should be fun!

That's all for this week in the crafting arena.  I hope you all had a great week and got to make "all the  things"!
 Happy Trails!!!

Feeling so much better!

 I am once again among the living, thank God!  I can't complain as all I did was sleep and that is not painful at all.  I'm still slow though but that's not because of Covid...that's old age! LOL!

I did finally finish my cupboard under the sink.  I had to steal the bins I had for my fabric scraps but I ordered some more.  I needed some poster board and foam core board too but you have to order so much through Amazon that I will have to venture out to Dollar General some day and get it.  There's a lot more room in there now.  I thought the containers would be easier to slide out and I grouped certain products together; like all the carpet cleaning, the daily items are up front along with the garbage bags and heavy duty cleaners are in the back.  Unfortunately, they do not slide on the rubber shelf liner......oh boy!  Oh well, it's clean and it looks better and I got rid of a lot of "old" chemicals I no longer use.

 I did finally get my chicken marinated and I did not make kabobs but I put the cut up chicken in a pan with the marinade and some green beans and potatoes and mixed it all up.  It's baking right now.

That's all for today.

Happy Trails!!!

 

Covid???? I'm thinking it was...........

 Okay....yesterday after I blogged I went to bed.  I slept all afternoon. no appetite whatsoever, chilled to the bone.  I got up at 5:00 p.m. thinking I needed to eat something so I could take my meds.  I had 1/4 cup of soup and that was all I could manage.  I went back to sleep at 7:00 p.m and slept until 7:00 this morning.  Those were the exact reactions I had from both shots and the booster.....coincidence?  I don't think so.  I'm better today but it did wear me out.  I have not napped today or felt the need to but my energy level isn't what it usually is.  

So, not much was done today but I did  manage to get the shelf liner in the cupboard under the sink.....not a great job but it will do...........

I did get some supplies in the mail..........happy mail!

Zippers for project bags and floss for cross stitch.........

That's all for today folks......

Happy Trails!!!
 

Just a small post as I am really tired for some reason...........

 Remember my "slice" cleaning?  Well, I fell behind but decided that it was more important to clean out the cupboards first.  So, yesterday I cleaned out the cupboard  under the sink.  I filled a large plastic container with it all!  It's clean and today I will line it with shelf paper.  I also need some containers to make it easier to get to things.

I've been doing some armchair traveling in the evenings.  These are on You Tube   This one is a family going from Ontario to the Yukon where they will be staying in an off the grid cabin for 2 weeks.

https://youtu.be/OUmYpCB2bPE

The other one is a solo canoe trip to Northern Ontario..........

 https://youtu.be/gsovv87h8nE?t=3

Last night I watched a father and son drive to Alaska and stop at a lot of interesting places.

Today, I am going to chop up some chicken and marinate it with Wishbone Italian dressing.  I used to make shish kabobs with chicken, mushrooms, potatoes and green and red peppers.  In the winter I would make it in a pan and bake it in the oven.  Easy and delicious either way.   

 

I'm not sure what is wrong today, but I am chilled, tired and I have a stomach ache.  I thought I would feel better but I don't and I have no appetite either.  I pray I didn't catch soemthing when I went to Mountain Home last week!

Happy Trails!!!

Monday - MLK's birthday and Betty White's too!

 I'm picking up where I left off yesterday.  It is book Monday and a few recipes I made last week.  

I finished reading These High Green Hills...the 3rd book in the Mitford series by Jan Karon....all her books automatically get a 5 out of 5 from me!

Presently, I am reading Where the Crawdads Sing and so far it is very well written.  I love the nature and scenery descriptions as she makes you feel like you are actually there...........

I got this book because I think Jan Karon gave it a good review....or it was a similar heart warming series like the Mitford books.....I don't remember exactly...I just started it last night so I'll let you know.....this is book #1 of how many I'm not sure.....Amazon stated "NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Friendship, loyalty, and love lie at the heart of this beautifully written, poignant, and sweeping novel of five women who, over the course of four decades, come to redefine what it means to be family."

I am reading a non-fiction but it is terrible........I think it was someone's PHD thesis as it assumes you've read all her books and that you are already familiar with her life...it's almost stream of consciousness.....maybe the author was smoking something?  I keep reading it but it's pretty bad in my estimation. 

So, that was my reading this past week.  Now, on to the cooking I did...........I made 2 items that were very tasty.......the first was a recipe for chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) and it was easy and tasty!

Here's the recipe if you're interested

The other item I made was delicious but it was not a quick recipe.  At the time ,I  thought I would never make it again but after eating it.....I changed my mind.....it is really good!  Here's the recipe 

BTW these are not my pictures.....they are from the websites.....I did make both these recipes though!

The snow is still here but about 1/2 of it is gone and it is sunny and above freezing so it won't be here for long.  It was really nice to enjoy for awhile and no shoveling needed! LOL!

Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #29 Year #11

 I'm not off to a very good start on my desire to blog every day in 2022.....evidently I just can't manage it.  This week was especially busy and tiring.  The pest control guy was here, then I had to pick up prescriptions, and I did a grocery order and pickup, and then I went to Mountain Home which is 1 1/2 hours away for blood work, and to take a Tahoe full of stuff to the Salvation Army.  Usually,  I try to space things out but  this past week everything seemed to happen at once.  Plus, going into the "big city" (compared to my little hamlet) was nerve racking knowing how the omicron variant is surging here in Arkansas.   So far, no signs of illness.  I have been vaccinated and boosted and I wore an N-95 mask so hopefully I'll be okay.  I have known people though that have gotten it even still and been very sick.  Plus, there seem to be long-term effects even if you survive so I do not want to get it at all.  So, I was exhausted this week but hopefully this next week I will be home and get lots done!

I did manage to organize my cross stitch WIPs and there are a lot of them!  I won't tell you how many but suffice it to say.....I hope I live that long to finish them all! LOL!  I separated them into categories of seasonal, Christmas, patriotic, Halloween, and miscellaneous.  My rotation of XS projects will be: on the 1st of the month my New Year's start, 4th my birthday start,  13th and the 31st will be Halloween , and the 24th and the 25th will be Christmas.  The other days will be filled in with other XS projects; there will be a focus (large piece) and smalls plus both the Halloween and Christmas annual ornaments for the grands.  There will also be Saturday Blackbird stitch, Sabbath Sunday stitch, a red work piece and/or an alphabet sampler and anything else I might have to squeeze in.  That's it for cross stitch and each week I will show you what I have worked on that week.  That way it won't get boring for either one of us.

As for my YOP goals this past year, and even before that,  I am going with an old queuing  theory  that I learned while in college for computer science.  There are more than these 2 but these are the ones that I remember.....it was a long, long time ago! LOL!  There's FIFO and LIFO.....FIFO is first in first out and LIFO is last in first out.  I'll be using LIFO as I cannot recall nor can I find some of those really past projects.  I'm going to be organizing and cleaning my craft's room and hopefully they will all turn up at that time but for now...LIFO works for me. 

The areas of my projects (all WIPs) are as follows although I will not be working in all these areas simultaneously.

 Cross Stitch (which is on a different schedule as outlined above)

Crochet - washcloth finished this week so next is Wintertime Blanket

Sewing - project bag

Quilting -Christmas quilt

Knitting - Multnomah shawl

Punch Needle - Halloween by Teresa Kogut

Rug hooking - crocheted rag rug

Miscellaneous Crafts - Christmas card basket

These are all WIP's and I will stick with these until they are done.  I may at times throw in something mindless that I can work on while watching t.v.  but other than that I am going to be very strict with myself!

Here's this week's finish which I cannot promise will happen every week but I will show what I have worked on.  I will hopefully get Ravelry updated so that yarns and patterns will be published on my project page.  This was crocheted using Peaches and Creme cotton worsted.  It was very hard on my hands but it is a good size and I learned a new stitch; the crossed double crochet which makes good bumps in the cloth for scrubbing.  I have arthritis so it might not bother your hands.

The fabric for my Sabbath stitch arrived so I got started on it so I could show you.  I think it's going to be a beauty when it's done........it's one strand of a Caron skein of a variegated special yarn and I'm working it on 14 count Aida.  There are only 2 colors throughout.  There's a green for the leaves but the letters are all in the variegated red.

I work on my birthday start on the 4th of each month........Ida Mae Crow.  I had to change some colors because the called for colors didn't look anything like the photo and I preferred the colors in the photo

The other XS I put some time into was my Winter stitch....Stu the Snowman..........

This coming week I hope to work on some Valentine smalls and dig up my St. Patrick's Day smalls. Today, I want to get my quilt backing and batting cut, sew a project bag and drag out my Multnomah to work on this coming week.  Wish me luck!

I did get a few items in the mail and I have a bunch of zippers coming for future project bags.  I got this book from Thrift books...I use the old black and white composition books for my planner(s) and I would like to make a nice colorful cover for it.

I also got some fusible fleece for the project bags........

and last but not least Temecula Quilt Co.  Mini a Month Postcard Collection for 2022...........the patterns are on the back of the postcards...too cute!

I  have more to tell you but it can wait until tomorrow but I must leave you with some pictures of the SNOW we got~!  Yes, we got snow starting yesterday afternoon and it was so pretty coming down.  It was still snowing when it was getting dark.  They said 4-8 inches but it looked more like 2" to me.  I'll take it though!

This was during the snow storm...........

This was this morning.........

I'm sorry I was so long winded today.....I hope you didn't fall asleep! LOL!  I hope you have a great week ahead  of you!

Happy Trails!!!