Thursday, July 26, 2018

Thursday - July 26, 2018

Today is my grandson Grayson's 7th birthday and in honor of his birthday I made a cake.  Of course we're too far away to share it but I will enjoy it in his honor regardless! LOL!
 He's the blonde on the left....this was taken while they were visiting in June.  I didn't get many pictures....they were too fast for me! I sent a package (just this morning....I am so slow) and I called him to wish him a Happy Birthday....he was excited because he had gotten money for his birthday and he had decided he wanted a Harry Potter Lego set and they were going to get it after they got done making cupcakes.  They're going to his other grandpa's tonight for dinner so he will have a great day.
The cake I made is a French style yogurt cake with lemon.  It will get a simple lemon glaze after it is cool.  
 I got the recipe from Molly Weizenberg who used to have a blog called Orangette and that's where I got this recipe...............here
It doesn't look like she blogs anymore but there are lots of archives from 2004 with gobs of great recipes.  I think she stopped blogging because she has written 2 books now also.  I have one that I just started reading.  It was on sale for .99 so I couldn't pass it up!  It's called "A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes From My Kitchen Table".  I love cookbooks with stories about the recipes and their makers.
I have to take Miss Peeps to the vet this afternoon for her yearly rabies vaccination and tomorrow I will take Grace.  I only have 1 cat carrier.  I hope you are staying cool, dry and smoke free where you live.
Happy Trails!!!

Monday, July 23, 2018

Monday - 07/23/2018 Book Date!

I am hoping to get back on schedule this week.  It seems to take me a month to recover from company or a week for every week they are here.  I finished a book and a magazine and acquired a few more...........I found this November 1982 issue especially  interesting about the Anasazi and the different tribes of the Southwest.  Also their history and the pottery they made and how they survived in such a hostile environment.  Even the ads were interesting as 1982 seems not that long ago to me but if you look at the car advertisements the styles are really old!  Amazing!
I also finished Morality for Beautiful Girls which was very good as usual.............his books are wonderful and I truly enjoy them.
I went to the library this morning and returned the books.  I never did get to read A Team of Rivals....maybe some other time.
Before I left for the library I was looking for a recipe on Pinterest and up popped a post about 17 books you won't be able to put down.........intriguing!  I had to go see it as I am behind in my Good Reads Challenge and thought it would be good to get caught up by reading books I couldn't put down!  It was a post by The Modern Mrs. Darcy whose blog I follow.  She has excellent recommendations for books.  I wrote them all down and went off to the library not expecting to find any of them but lo and behold I got 2 of them!  Here's a link to the blog post. 
Here are the 2 books I got....
 I already started reading this one and I'm on chapter 7.......I think Anne (Mrs. Darcy) was right!
I'm still reading Alan Alda....very good non-fiction......much of it about his family, values, and speeches he gave....a very wise man and so genuine and kind.  I'm enjoying it.
Remember this one?  I put it down to read Alexander McCall Smith books and so I have picked it back up again.  I had just started it and hadn't gotten very far so I restarted.  So far so good.............
I picked out another National Geographic to read.  This one is a little more current........2014...lol!
I also ordered what I thought was a wonderful math book I loved in college that I loaned to someone and they never returned it..........it wasn't the same one.  This one is very skinny while the other one was quite thick.  But there are problems in it and I do love me some math work.  I'm thinking it might help to keep my neurons firing. My grandson Sam wanted my old Chemistry book so I gave it too him but I used to read that occasionally too.  It's hard to retire from science.....
 As for television, I have become a news/political junky but after the news I've been watching Dr. Blake Mysteries on Netflix and have only watched a few podcasts.  What have you been reading, watching or listening to?
Happy Trails!!!




Sunday, July 22, 2018

YOP Week #4


Here are my goals from last week...we'll see how well I did.
*1) order rest of supplies needed for projects - done
*2) finish the one washcloth - actually finished one and knitted another!  This one is crocheted........

This one is knitted.........I should have unfolded it.......it's Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth....a free pattern on Ravelry and my favorite!
3) finish chapter 4 of Falling Leaves Lace Scarf (which may be a bit much...I'll see) - I didn't quite make it but almost...2 more rows but here's my progress...........so far so good.....
4) finish another pickle dish - didn't quite finish this either..........but I'm still loving working on it........
5) find those dang I Spy quilts and my folk art quilt - no luck here....I think I have leprechauns in the house!
6) finish heel and gusset on sock #1 and start on the foot - again.....almost........I have about 12 more rows on the gusset before I start the foot..........
7) cut binding for sampler quilt - didn't touch it
8) trace embroidery pattern if light box arrives in time (I don't have Prime so  it takes forever!) - light box has not arrived yet
9) cut material for pillowcases if blades arrive on time - blades have not arrived yet
10) attach soles onto my slippers and they should arrive this week - they arrived but I did not  get them sewn on
11) work on 4th of July pillow if interfacing arrives  -interfacing got here but I haven't worked on it yet
I did get my row counter (can you ever have too many of these?) and the soles to the slippers arrived...........the soles are leather so no wonder they were pricey.  I love this counter by Clover...so much easier then those little barrel shaped counters.

Here are my goals for this coming week:
1)  Keep searching for the I Spy quilts and my Folk Art quilt
2)  Finish the first Felici sock
3)  Finish the first full repeat (20 rows) of the Falling Leaves scarf pattern and put in a lifeline
4)  Cut and sew up my daughter's Frida Kahlo basket
5)  Sew soles unto slippers
6)  Finish Pickle Dish #2 and cut material for the next one
7)  cut binding for Sampler quilt if rotary blades arrive
8)  cut pillowcase material if rotary blades arrive
9)  do finishing sewing on 4th of July pillow
10) trace embroidery pattern on material if light box and tracing pen arrive

I also have a question for you knitters out there.....is there a reason for slipping the first stitch as opposed to just knitting it from the left needle?  In my Falling Leaves scarf the instructor says you don't need to but in my sock knitting they always say to slip the first stitch when you're doing the heel as those are the stitches you have to 'pick up'.

Please stop by and see all the other fantastic projects that other  YOP'ers are working on.
Happy Trails!!!