Inauguration Day and window washng day!

 I used my planner today!  It did seem to make a difference.....I was 'on fire' today!

I watched/listened to the inauguration...whether you're for or against.....it's history!  I also found some more supplies.......postits and some stickers........oh yeah......fun times.............

It was 65 here today and so I got a few more windows washed.............I wasn't able to get them all washed this past Fall as it got cold here early............

I also washed the rods and the curtain rings and put up fresh curtains........

No inaugural ball for me tonight but some pj's and homemade pizza.....that's more my style.....lol!
Happy Friday night and.........
Happy Trails!

My Happy Planner arrived!!!!!

 And I'm a happy girl with a Happy Planner!  It's pretty self-explanatory...........

This is the beginning of the month and mine is an 18 month planner but it started last July so it isn't really...........

Here's the monthly layout............

and the daily..........

 I've gathered all my supplies in a plastic tub so I can keep them all together............

Now all I need are a boatload of stickers!!!!

Happy Trails!

Lots going on around here!

What have I been doing you ask?  Nothing glamorous that's for sure but I am making some progress..........this was yesterday........I tried the Krud Kutter but I went back to Chlorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner Gel.....it sticks and it works...no runny mess........

I do little sections at a time and then let it sit for 15 or 20 minutes then I go back and scrub it with the grout brush (love that brush!) and then wipe it all up.

It's not perfect but I never feel I've wasted my time as long as it looks better than it did before.........
I'll keep working on a few sections a day until it is done and then I will completely wash the floor again.  I also have a grout paint pen for painting in the grout lines which I might use....we'll see.....most floor tiles are bigger than this but oh no, my Dad had to use smaller ones.  I guess I should be grateful they're not the 1 inch tiles! LOL!

On a fun note though, yesterday I had to make a quick trip to Walmart to get some ingredients for my supper tonight and even though the gal in the craft department said they did not have any glitter gel markers....I took a peek in the office supply aisle and guess what I found?............and the woman had one of their handheld computers where they can look it up but did she?  No, but I found them! 
Not only are there glitter but also neon and metallic! Oh yeah!  I'll be having some fun with these!

 I also picked up one of those 'tape runners' for my planner and my yarn journal.............I've never used one so we will see how it goes...........

 and although I found the sticker department to be a bit lacking I did find these cute little birds........
I actually watched a You Tube video last night on how to decorate your planner and she gave a lot of good tips and also places to get various accessories.

Guess what came in the mail today?.............Give  up?  My hat kit!!!!! Remember I ordered it quite a while ago and then they called me and said Blue Sky Fibers were all out of the kits but they would be making up some more.  So I said that was fine and I would be more than willing to wait as I love that hat so much and it's finally here!!! Look at all those gorgeous wool skeins with every color of their new worsted wool line.......I can order with confidence now since I know what every color looks like!  I think it was a brilliant marketing strategy and every yarn company should do the same!
My only problem now is I don't have time to work on it as I am still doing birthdays and also CALs and KALs.  In fact, it was my son Ben's 39th birthday today and he still doesn't have his card or gift and this time it's not the mail who is at fault...it's Mom!  But lo and behold he and Amy did finally receive their packages that were mailed Priority on December  27th or 28th, I can't remember now.  Amy got her's yesterday and Ben got his today but everything was ruined except for the 2016 Collectible Christmas ornaments...thank goodness!  They both said the boxes looked like they'd been through WW3 and Ben's box actually had 2 things missing and the food was all wrecked......the cookies were in cookie tins and yet they had been reduced to crumbs.  So, tomorrow I will be going to the post office and not only requesting a refund on my Priority shipping cost but also collect on the $50.00 per package insurance.....we'll see how far I get with that......

My Prisma colored markers came today too....I think I have enough art supplies to last me a good long time now.................

 Now I'm off to make supper.........Penzey's Brat, Beer, and Cheese soup........yum!  It's all prepped so I just have to throw it together now..........

Happy Trails!

The luckiest girl in the world!

That's me!  I was feeling a bit homesick and for some reason decided to download Google Earth and see what I could find..........well.....let me tell you!  I am so excited!  I can see everything in and around my hometown!  I spent 2 hours last night traveling the back roads of my youth and I was in heaven!  Here's a brief tour of some 'hotspots' of my youth.....of course, they've cut some trees down, a tornado went through in 1974 and took a lot and then Dutch Elm disease but much has remained the same......it's just the people that I miss terribly. 

 This was my cousin Frank's farm where I played as a child.............

The gray bungalow was my Uncle Homer and Aunt Bernice's where I spent the first 5 years of my life and every summer until I went to college.........the ranch house was not there.....my swing set was!  When I was little my bedroom was downstairs but when I came for the summer I had a bedroom upstairs where those windows are with a big 4 poster bed with slanted ceilings.....so cozy....my childhood was like Anne of Green Gables!

This house was not there when I was growing up and it was all grass and there were 2 huge trees where someone had put a rope swing and there was a gulley that I would swing over......it was wonderful!  They've cleared it all out now and the forest that was behind my Aunt and Uncles house.  When I was a child there were cougars/mountain lions in the area and I could hear them at night.
 Those days are gone...........

The first building used to be the Hanover State Bank and I remember when it was but now it's a bar.  The red building used to be my Uncle Homer's meat market and grocery store..........I think it's a restaurant now.............he had a smoke house out back where he smoked meat and I used to love that smell.....still do.........

This building was a few doors down from the market and it belonged to my Aunt  Alice and Uncle Ben and they lived upstairs and rented out the downstairs to my other Uncle Chuck and his partner who had the insurance agency in town.   It is still an insurance agency...just different people.........

This is the church where I went every Sunday...........it hasn't changed at all.........thank goodness!

 

 This was my cousin Kay's house and it was newly built back in the day and they had sticks for trees.....but granted that was many moons ago......they were 'modern' for that day and age but I do remember the big tall aerial that was in the back yard and there it is.....still!  My Aunt Edna was the best housekeeper ever.......she canned and sewed and gardened and did everything and was the best cook in the whole family.....it was her Swiss Steak I was trying to recreate last week.........close but it will never be as good as hers.........

When I would visit my cousin Kay we would spend time with her best friend, Sue Potter who lived across the street with her Aunt and Uncle............I loved their family..........I'd give my eye teeth for that house...............you can barely see it but it reminds me of an English cottage...........when I was growing up these roads were all gravel......now they're all paved........amazing...........

The Stewarts were another family that we hung out with..........they had a farm right on the edge of town down from my cousin's house.....again these were all gravel roads back then....the farm is still there and the matriarch of the Stewart clan is also, from what I hear............a beautiful old brick farmhouse............  

Now, we're going up the hill past the Apple River dam where I played..... you can actually go underneath the falls and walk across the river.........I don't think we were supposed to but there was so much freedom for children back in those days......now you have to worry every second....I was so blessed to have the freedom I did as a child to explore and go where ever I wanted........everyone watched out for everyone else.......there were party lines back then and they would just get on the phone and ask if anyone had seen me.....and of course, they had...........

This is Evergreen Cemetery where almost all my relatives are buried............it sits high on a hill overlooking the Apple River and the hills that surround this beautiful little town.  This is where I would like to be buried also............

I hope you enjoyed my little trip to my favorite place on earth......

Happy Trails!

It's Monday......what are you reading., listening to and/or watching?

Is it me, the weather, or is there a general malaise on the nation? This looks like my Annie girl as she likes to be all wrapped up in her blankets.  I must admit, I feel the same lately...........I'm not sick but boy am I tired all  the time.......I've heard the same from others who are either sick or fighting off something and feeling exhausted.......oh well, as the Brits say....."Carry On".............

Needless to say, I haven't gotten much reading done because I start dozing after just a couple pages!
Of course, it could be the book.....and this one is definitely to blame.............I have to say this is one of the worst books I have ever read!  Maybe you have to be  a Brit to "get it" but it absolutely makes no sense or rhyme or reason to me.  Truly awful and unless it all comes together in the end it will make it to the Top 5 Worst books I have ever read!  Boring!

My first book of 2017 will be this one...........a non-fiction...........this is one of the 2 books about a farm family in the area that I call home.............

I'm still listening to Financial Peace University cd's by Dave Ramsey but it is taking me forever because there are 15 or 16 but mostly because if I don't listen to a whole 'track' then when I go back it starts from the beginning!  What's up with that?  My tapes I can start and stop exactly where I left off.  Am I doing something wrong?  That seems like going backwards in technology not forward.  I've tried all the buttons on my cd player......is it me or is it really this inflexible?

 

I got a new magazine in the mail....a free one to get you to subscribe which I won't but it is a nice magazine..............by Chris Kimball from America's Test Kitchen fame.

I'm also reading a cookbook..............and trying the recipes............or trying to try the recipes but it is hard to get certain things here that would be easily found elsewhere.............I may have to order online and it is not anything foreign just healthy.............

 I did finish one book.........it was good but it's hard to learn much new from such young authors.......and my decorating is going back to the 30's or 40's not the latest fads so although good for a younger person, I really didn't pick up anything new from it.

I've been watching Democracy Now for news, Aljazeera, The Intercept, BBC, The Young Turks and The Humanist Report.  Regular media here is so shallow that all I hear is Trump, Trump, Trump.....I thought after the election they would stop it but despite the fact that there is a whole world out there with important and newsworthy things happening, it's hard to realize it when you listen to mainstream media.....so, I don't.
For entertainment I've been listening to knitting pod casts....specifically Homespun House and Knitting Expat.....playing catch up with them and then The Knit Lit Chicks which are an audio podcast.
It has been foggy and dreary here for 2 days and I have to have lights on that's how dark it is during the day!  That could be part of the reason I can't stop yawning!  It feels like nighttime most of the day! LOL! I hope you are well and staying warm and dry wherever you are!
Happy Trails! 

YOP Week #29

 

I think I must be the WIP Queen!  I have more projects on the go than Carter has liver pills...that's an old saying for you young folk.  But I do have a finish this week and some acquisitions too.
I finished the Corner-to-Corner pet blanket (baby size)....

I used leftover purple yarns and crocheted 2 rounds of a granny square edging and the last round was a scallop edging all in a cream color.  This was a good stash buster too.

Since this was a "new" project that I finished I was able to replace it with a new project..........my Hermione socks for the Harry Potter KAL and the Box of Socks.  I better get going too!  But it should go well as I am using my favorite needles with my favorite method.....Addi Turbo Sock or Addi Lace needles...not sure but I love them............and circular using Magic Loop.

Not much on the needles yet but yesterday  I found the pattern, the yarn and the needles so I was doing well in my house! LOL!  Here's a closer look................I call these my Summer Watermelon socks............I was going to wait until Summer but the KAL was calling me and I didn't have any other sock yarn in the house.  I am hoping to get some more work in on these today as they have to be finished by the 31st. 

 But I also have the house slippers to do for the birthday boys.........I finished one and this time I measured every 5 minutes and followed the pattern to a T even going with Brooklyn Knitfolk's instruction to start the toe 2 inches less than the foot size as opposed to 1 inch which the pattern states.......but look...............I have a size 9 1/2- 10  foot size and you can see where the end of my big toe is......my son wears a 10 1/2 (measured size with a ruler not shoe size) and I started the toe decreases at 8 /1/2 inches..............Miss Peeps was helping...as always....they look like something Elf would wear especially with my red socks.....lol!

She says to only measure from the stockinette stitch and remember last time I measured from the garter stitch and it was way too small?  I am really confused but I am sticking to the rules...what do I know?  I am also a pretty tight knitter.....oh well, maybe they'll fit...........I sure hope so!

I made some progress on my Christmas Eve Cast On Jingle socks but they are in timeout now until I meet my KAL and CAL deadlines.  Almost to the heel and gusset part..........
still loving this yarn......West Yorkshire Spinners

This cowl is good t.v. watching but this Red Heart worsted isn't as stretchy as the other Red Heart worsted I used so I don't think I will be able to double it for around my neck.  I will probably make it taller in order to make up for that fact.  I like the yarn though and the different flecks of color means it will go with lots of things.

As for acquisitions...oh la la!  Some Chiagu needles which I have never tried before but have heard great things about..............

The hand spun yarn I ordered came............be still my beating heart!
 I'll be saving this for some Fall knitting...........if I can wait that long.......

 and this prettiest of all Christmas yarns......not sure I'll be able to wait until the Christmas Eve Cast On for this one either................she even included a Christmas pencil!  This is "You'll Shoot Your Eye Out" by Brazen Stitchery on Etsy....L O V E !!!!

 I did update my YOP list and I am in the midst of updating my Ravelry project page and these pictures will be going over there.  In looking back, I really did not accomplish much last year but the year before that was pretty productive....more cold weather?  I'm hoping the CALs and KALs will keep me motivated and of course you all motivate me too! Podcasts are also keeping me "in the zone".  I have caught up with Brooklyn Knitfolk and love her and just started on Episode #3 of 92 of The Knitting Expat podcast.  But I am watching the current ones also because I just realized Mina is going to have a baby and they are now living in New York City!  Homespun House is the same.....watching current but also going back and catching up from the beginning.  Have you been wondering why no one's been podcasting much? Brooklyn Knitfolk just did one of her Knitfolk in the Wild Vlogs and there they were.....almost all of the podcasters I watch in New York, together at Vogue Knitting Live!  No wonder my screen is blank! LOL!  It's a great Vlog episode and a great chance to see all the podcast "stars".  Inside Number 23 has been Vlogging since she got to New York......so sweet of these podcasters to Vlog during Christmas and their vacations! I truly appreciate it since if it wasn't for them I would not have a social life at all! LOL!    Love all of you crafty podcasters....audios included!!!!!! 
I'm off to read your posts, update Ravelry, work on my yarn journal, birthday slippers, Hermione socks and Wardrobe Architect........not necessarily in that order! LOL!
Oh, I almost forgot............I got the Slipper Grippers.........I haven't read the instructions yet but how hard can it be?  I got it on Amazon....of course, and it comes in different colors and you can get it by the yard too.   Cute ey?

Since I wanted free shipping I had to add this to put me over the top......it's a shame but I guess I'll find a use for it somewhere.....tee hee............love

and one last pic of "the lion and the lamb"........Miss Peeps thinks she's a dog and does everything Nitty does....it is TOO funny!

Happy Trails!