YOP Week #44

 

and.....Stitch Maynia Day #2!

Well it has been a great week and I've gotten some work done around here.  I had to work in-between rain showers during the week but that was okay.  It's raining again today but yesterday was beautiful and I was able to finish weeding and mulching the SE border.  I still  have my plants in the house and I have a tomato!  I thought they had to be pollinated by bees?

I worked on the border of the Giant Granny Square blanket but it is still not done!  I did finish the gussets on both socks and I'm onto the legs now.  I got the yarn in for the Fox scarf and was able to finish the 20 rows so it won't be long now!
   

I started Stitch Maynia yesterday so you can look at yesterday's post if  you want to see the first project.
As for today, it is a project from SM 2020..........I've already worked on it a bit......

This year I will continue to work on my SM projects from last year. I'll probably work on ones that are closer to being finished.  I did place an order for floss and some treasures.  I ordered this pattern that I mentioned last week.....

It's always nice to have things to look forward to.  That's all for now.....it is nap weather here today!

Happy Trails!!!

Happy May Day and Stitch Maynia Day #1!!!

 

No May Day celebrations here but it is Stitch Maynia Day #1 and here is my project!  This is a small project downloaded from Country Rustic Primitives on Etsy.  She has a lot of cute smalls and that is exactly what I needed!  I love her patterns because not only are they fast and cute but she includes details on how to finish them.

I've gotten a little more done since I took this picture but if you want some quick bowl fillers for decorating Jenny is the go to gal for patterns!  I was lucky to have one of the flosses on hand and the others are being shipped as we speak.  I am using some leftover 14 count Aida cloth that I tea/coffee dyed for another project sometime ago.

Of the 31 projects I started last year I only finished 2...lol!  So, I only have 2 new projects I can start and they will be small ones.  Day #1 and Day #9.  

We have a guest chef again with another healthy recipe.......he didn't specify whether it calls for dressing but you can use your discretion.

Salad:

3 baby sweet peppers

1 stick of celery

5 cabbage leaves

Chop everything up.  \

The photo shows the steps evidently.  Very appetizing photo Grayson!  Thanks again!

I got some weeding and mulching done today and that was about it.  I need to go out and do some more and some trimming as there is rain coming again for the next 2-3 days.

Happy Trails!!!

Happy Arbor Day and a guest chef!

 Today is Arbor day and it was beautiful here so it was the perfect time to plant my lilac bush.......

I kept the lilac bush in the house while it bloomed so I could enjoy the fragrance.  I was going to spread more mulch but the planting took all my energy.

One of my clematis is blooming........... I have 2 big pots and there are 2 fake evergreens that I put lights on in the winter.....the clematis climb all over them and then when they die back I have the evergreens for Christmas decorating............they serve a dual purpose..

I made turtles today..............

but the real surprise is my guest chef, Grayson............

and here is the recipe that he created and he asked me to share it with you....he said it is healthy and yummy!   Bananas with honey....he also took the pictures and sent them to me.  He's a whiz, that boy!  Thank you so much Grayson!  I wonder what he'll create next?

Tune in tomorrow when it will be the first day of Stitch Maynia 2021!  Stop by and see my first start of the 31 days of Maynia!

Happy Trails!!!

Allergies and more!

 I never had allergies but as I get older there's a lot of things I was never bothered by that bother me now! LOL!  I'm sneezing and my eyes are bothering me big time!  It's been a busy but productive week so far.  Monday was the twice a year garbage pickup where they'll take just about anything except electronics or chemicals and paint. I hauled out the mowing trailer and an old heavy wheelbarrow.  My neighbor came over and took them both!  It's only the 2nd time I've ever seen him since he moved in several years ago. I welcomed him to the neighborhood by going over and introducing myself and taking him a dishcloth and a loaf of homemade bread and that was the last time I saw him! LOL!  Those days are done now especially with Covid.

I made a menu and grocery list and got my order in for pickup yesterday.  It's an all day event by the time I  unload, debag in the garage and then bring in slowly and disinfect everything and then put it all away...whew!  I watered the plants and fed the hummers and I was done for the day.

I was able to get more items for my bug-out bag or as some call it a 72 hour bag.........I got travel sizes of shampoo, body wash, body cream, toothpaste and toothbrush, hairspray, a first aid kit, and a soap dish that I put soap in.  Now at least, the toilet paper won't be so lonely...........

   It's been storming and raining on and off all day so this morning I got my bath in early, a load of laundry done before the storm started, and put together Chicken Ranch Pesto in the crock pot.  It's a recipe from a pod caster I watch and she said her family loves it.  I'll let you know.

I spent the afternoon gathering up my Stitch Maynia projects from last year.  I only have 2 slots available for new projects.....PTL!  I don't need any new ones!  Although I will fill those 2 slots with projects I already had waiting in the wings.  I finished project #1 and project #9 from 2020 and never picked the others up all year!  Shame on me!  That is not how it is supposed to work.  You're supposed to continue working on them throughout the year.

So, I have them all organized and arranged except for kitting up the 2 new projects.

I ordered some clothes the other day...I may have gotten ripped off..we'll see but I used Pay Pal so I feel safe with them.  I'll see what the quality is.......they were on sale and just what I've been looking for......this apron has pockets and crosses over in the back.......

This tunic/dress............I used to have a shirtwaist dress similar to this years ago that I loved...in red also.

 

I'll let you know when I receive them.....

Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #43

 

Let's face it!  I am slower than snail do-do!  But I will keep plugging along....just don't expect too much! LOL!

I am still working on the socks...you're probably tired of seeing my projects but it is what it is..........some people only publish after they finish a project.  If I did that I would only post about every 3 months! LOL!

I finished the gusset on sock #1 and I'm working the gusset on sock #2 now........

 

I did sew all the rest of the rag strips for my rag rug....those fabrics are over 40 years old....I recognized fabrics from my daughter's Christmas dress and pinafore I made her when she was little and fabric that I used to make curtains and bumper pad for Jim's crib when he was a baby.  Now, I need to cut fabric, then sew strips together, and trim and then crochet.  It's getting the fabric ready to crochet that takes the time but I am loving the results..............this time I will sew the strips together before I wind up the balls.

I thought I would be done with the border on the Giant Granny Square blanket but that's what I get for thinking by myself!  I am still on round 8 of 11.....maybe next week? 

As for treasures.....I did get one and the yarn for the Fox Scarf is arriving tomorrow..........the treasure I got was a book I've been wanting.....it was pricey and I was disappointed when I got it to find out it is soft cover.  I'm thinking it is because the author is from South Africa....it is beautiful; the patterns and the photography......

I found a new website that has the cutest embroidery, wool applique and sewing patterns......

it is Bareroots

Here is a pattern I'm looking at for the patriotic holidays ahead.......aren't they cute?

I'm off to spend some time gathering my Stitch Maynia from 2020.  The only new projects will be in the slots that I finished projects from last year......which aren't many! The unfinished from last year will get worked on this year and then they will get put into some kind of a rotation that I have yet to dream up.....so many crafts and so little time and then there's laundry and cooking and cleaning and gardening.....woe is me! LOL!  Not really....most days I feel more than blessed!  I hope you do too!

Happy Trails!!!
 

Spring is on hold!

 Our last freeze date is April 20 yet we had a frost last night and there's one predicted for tonight too.   I covered my peonies and brought in my lilac............

I did some trimming outside and the lawnmower man is coming this afternoon.  I made a batch of waffles today to freeze and then pop in the toaster when I want one .....my own personal Eggo's.

I have gotten started on my 72 hour bug-out bag.............it's a start!  I do have 3 gallons of water too which don't expire for a year.  You're supposed to keep them in a cool dark place so I will be storing it all in the bottom of my linen closet.  Toiletries are next and I think I will go to Walmart and get those travel size items.  I need food for 3 days so I will have to think about what I want that to be.

As for my Food preparedness, I did buy some extra bags of flour and some extra canned vegetables.

As for my Flylady Zone 4 cleaning this week...it is the master bathroom, closet and bedroom.  De-clutter first and I've started that.  A lot of "crafting supplies" had taken up space in there....imagine that! 

 I'm working on sock #1 gusset decreases and the border on the giant granny square blanket....I'm on round 7 of 11.  I ran out of the orange yarn for the fox scarf; it only called for 1 skein but I have at least 6 more rows to go.  I ordered more yarn and it should be here Monday.

I've finished some books..........this was a slow read as a cookbook.  It was interesting but I probably won't be making many recipes from it.  Things like reconstituted dried corn or corn meal mush.  But then there are jams and jellies and some bread recipes and sourdough starter I might try. 

I read this book and it was hard to put down!  I gave it a 5 star rating!  It was the first in a 2 book series.

Amazon states "            The year is 1883, and in New York City, Anna Savard and her cousin Sophie—both graduates of the Woman’s Medical School—treat the city’s most vulnerable, even if doing so puts everything they’ve strived for in jeopardy...
 
Anna’s work has placed her in the path of four children who have lost everything, just as she herself once had. Faced with their helplessness, Anna must make an unexpected choice between holding on to the pain of her past and letting love into her life.
 
For Sophie, an obstetrician and the orphaned daughter of free people of color, helping a desperate young mother forces her to grapple with the oath she took as a doctor—and thrusts her and Anna into the orbit of anti-vice crusader Anthony Comstock, a dangerous man who considers himself the enemy of everything indecent and of anyone who dares to defy him.
 
With its vivid depictions of old New York and its enormously appealing characters, The Gilded Hour is a captivating novel by an author at the height of her powers."                    

I'm now reading the second and last book...........it is also very good!

 So, that all the news that's fit to print!  I'm off to do some more trimming outside and then de-cluttering my bedroom!  I hope you are all doing fine.

Happy Trails!!!
 

 
 

YOP Week #42

 I hope you've all had a good week.  I've been absent from the blog scene as I have been cleaning and that isn't very interesting to blog about..  Because of my Spring cleaning I haven't done much handwork except at the end of the day.  I've been working on the Giant Granny Square border.  I got this book to help me find a border..........

it's a great book only I didn't realize that most of the borders depend on the number of stitches you have on each side.  That works if you know how many stitches you started out with but with a giant granny square it just gets as big as you want it and I didn't do any counting of stitches nor was I about to! LOL!  So, there were still 6 or 7 borders that did not require a knowledge of the number of stitches.  I chose one of those and it requires 11 rounds and several rounds are different stitches.    I am actually on the 5th round which isn't in the picture that I took last evening.....it now has a grayish blue next to the powder blue.............I am hoping to finish this week and get all the ends woven in.  I will not block it as it is acrylic but I will give it a good turn in the washer and dryer.

Here's my petunias that I bought last week.  They're in a basket hanging from a shepherd's hook in my front yard.  It has been cool, cloudy and rainy  this past week.  The sun is out today but it's supposed to rain again this afternoon.

My lilac bush is starting to open.  I decided to let it bloom before I plant it in the yard.

I ordered some new candles because pretty soon it will be too hot to order them....these rainy days have been cozy......this one is called Cozy Cabin and it smells wonderful...

 

Not much else going on but when it's not raining this week I will be planting.  Our last frost date is April 20th so I can get all my plants outside.  I also have yard work and trimming to do.  Tomorrow I'm cooking a corned beef brisket to make Reuben sandwiches....it's been a long time since I've had one and I love them!

Oh, Stitch Maynia is coming in May!.  I need to get my projects out from last year.  The only new projects I will start are the few open slots from finishes last year which aren't many!  Mostly, I will work on the ones that didn't get finished. 

Happy Trails!!!