Beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine but 30's

It got really cold last night.  The coldest all winter so far.....16 F.  But it was nice when I took my walk this afternoon.  This morning  I made out my menu and my grocery list and went to Walmart.  I got home safely, no shooters and hopefully, I wasn't exposed to a killer bug.  Who knew that one would be taking their life in their hands to go to school or church or to the grocery store?!?!  I enjoy myself while I'm there as it is my only outing unless you count going out to the highway and filling the car with gas!  LOL!  Which I should do but I am too tired now.  I got some treasures for Valentine's Day from me to me!  BTW  Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Here's what I got for myself for Valentine's Day.............some sweets for the sweet! LOL!

 A little ladybug filled with sweet tiny flowers....................they're not roses either.........

 I also nabbed this beautiful houseplant.....I don't have too many............but they're good for keeping your indoor air clean.........

 and who could resist these beauties?  I am not de-stashing, I am enhancing my stash!

 and finally, I got some new reading glasses so I can do my cross-stitch!  If I find my other ones that's okay as then I will have a spare pair.  I don't use them for reading just cross-stitch.

When I got home I was starving so I made myself a sandwich on my homemade bread with peppers that had been cooked in olive oil and garlic.....yum!  Healthy and tasty too! 

I've been reading The Blue Zone Kitchen that I bought a few weeks ago.  The blue zones are the 5 or 6 areas in the world where people live the longest.  They attribute their longevity to their diet.  This book visits each area and has recipes and stories from them.
My menu this week and probably next includes recipes from that book, a few print offs and some from the Farmchicks cookbook.
Here's my menu:

1)  French Onion Slow Cooker Chicken (from Betsy Queen on my sidebar)  she said it was very good so I am going to try it. (printout)
2) Spinach, feta and beet salad (The Farmchicks in the Kitchen)
3) Margaret's Special Oatmeal Cookies (The Farmchicks in the Kitchen)
4) Veggie Cassoula (Blue Zone Kitchen)
5) Quick Greens and Onions  (Blue Zone Kitchen)
6) Minestrone (Blue Zone Kitchen)
7) Blueberry muffins (printout)
8) Avocado toast with egg (printout)
9) Blueberry Almond Overnight Oats (printout)

Last but not least I got this yarn and started this crocheted scarf.....love this yarn.......the pattern calls for a bulky or 2 worsted held together.  This yarn is super bulky but I got it anyway as I love the color and the feel of it....it's Lionbrand Hometown USA....100% acrylic and machine washable and dryable.  It's a free pattern and I will put it on my Ravelry projects page.  If you want it sooner let me know in the comments.  I don't have it in front of me now and I am too tired to get up and go get it! LOL!  After unloading all the groceries I even took my walk!  What was I thinking?  I am really toast now!

I'm sorry...no"tidbits"....I got a phone call and it is now almost 6:30!
Happy Trails!!!

I saw my first robin!!!!

On my walk today....there he/she was singing to me from a limb above my head!  I was thrilled as they are one of my favorite birds.
Today was very productive too!  I baked off my bread this morning after letting it rise overnight on the top of the frig.

 While the bread was baking I got to work on the bedroom.  I dusted the window frames and sills, finished dusting the rest of the baseboards and vacuumed next to the baseboards with that special tool.  I dusted the little shelf and the detached headboard and then vacuumed the entire room.  Now on to the hallway!  The cleaning extravaganza continues!  There are still some things that need doing in this bedroom but not right now.  The carpet needs to be replaced shampooed, the headboard needs to be sealed and painted again and re-installed and the whole room, ceiling too,  needs to be painted.  But right now I am just getting it ready to show for selling and decluttering for moving.

 I also finished the Feather and Fan dishcloth.  I just need to bind off and weave in the ends tonight while watching t.v.

I finished a book I was reading too so I am doing great on finishes this week!  I started watching a new podcast and I love it.  She is A Wooden Nest and she knits and botanically dyes yarn and gardens and she lives in the pacific northwest.  She's very soothing to listen to and I love her knitting projects.  Now, I want to dye yarn botanically.....of course I do!
Here are your "tidbits" for today...........
Wow!  Now there's some hearts for you and plenty of them!  Here's the link to the tutorial

A little red food coloring and you have Valentine's Day in the bag....they had me at "cream filled"!  Here's the recipe

here's a little humor............that will teach him!

  Happy Trails!!!

Spring has sprung!!!

 It has been raining since last night and there are flash flood warnings.  It stopped this afternoon so I snuck out with my camera and my rain slicker and got my walk in and took some pictures.  Spring is here.  I kid you not!  I also got pictures of the gushing streams........

 These are just dry beds until it rains.............
If anyone wants to study moss they should come to the Ozarks.....all different kinds.  I think it's beautiful..........

These are just raindrops but they looked like a tree covered in diamonds............

 and here is the spring that I told you about............

These are already leafed out and there is green everywhere!  The grass and of course the weeds!

Spring............coming soon to a neighborhood near you!

I got my battery container with the charger!  I haven't filled it yet but it seems very nice!  It is made to fit in a drawer or on a shelf but you can also mount it on the wall.

I crocheted another heart today and I have bread rising but that's about it.  Oh, this morning I got the valentines off to the grands and I also wrote a few letters to friends.

Here's your "tidbits" for today.............

Here's the link 

I have never made French Onion soup but I would like to and especially in the crockpot!Here's the recipe

 and now for a wee bit of humor............

Happy Trails!!!

Gray and Gloomy - Day 2

But I got a treasure in the mail!  One of my belated birthday gifts to myself....at my age I just celebrate all year long!  This is my favorite fragrance in the whole world.  I am not big on perfumes but this just smells clean.  Better than soap and water clean but just clean and fresh.  It's not citrus either....you'd have to smell it but trust me it is wonderful!  It's close to ozone or how I imagine angels smell.   I haven't had any for several years so it was about time.  This will probably last me a year.  I got the body spritz, the body butter, and the shampoo/body wash.  Each item has a saying about grace......... here's the one on the body spritz..........the fragrance is Amazing Grace which is also one of my favorite hymns and the word and meaning of grace hold a special place in my soul.

"philosophy: how you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain.  and so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson.  in the end, it all comes down to one word, grace.  it's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness, and the light."

 I'll share the rest with you some other day.

Here is proof that spring is on the way...............I think they are tulips, hyacinth and the last one I know are daffodils.  There was a gal out in Oregon that said her daffodils are blooming!  Wow!

 I spent the morning on valentines and then took my walk, crocheted another heart. cleaned litter boxes and the kitchen and here I am!
Here are your "tidbits" for today.........
This looks intriguing....I wonder if it would stick?  Here's the recipe
Let me know if you try it!

This looks like fun and it involves either a paper hole punch or a craft drill.  What?  I've never heard of a craft drill but evidently, Fiskars makes one!  Who knew?  Here's the link to the tutorial

and a little something to make you smile..........

Happy Trails!!!

Gray and gloomy day........

I don't have much to show for the first day of the workweek.  I spent the majority of the morning shopping online and finally made my purchases.  I have spent hours trying to find equivalent yarn in color, weight and fiber content to the Spud and Chloe sweater yarn called for in the Seeing Stars Blanket.  I called Knit Picks this morning to ask them how soon they restock when they are out of a color.  She said there's no way of knowing....that was it.....end of conversation!  That was not what I was expecting.  I had looked at 2 other comparable yarns but I couldn't seem to get all the colors in one brand.  So, after that brief call I decided to order the ones I could in the Brava Worsted and look elsewhere for the other colors.  I found the rest of the colors in Stylecraft Special Aran at Deramores.  It will come from England but from ordering from Knit Picks in the past they weren't any faster.  At least it's ordered now.  It was bothering me all weekend.   I also got some books ordered which I had been hemming and hawing over.  I wrapped that all up about 1:00 p.m.!  Shopping takes me forever!
I took my walk and crocheted my heart for the day.  I also did 8 rows on the Feather and Fan washcloth.  It is garbage day tomorrow so I emptied all of them and got the garbage out to the street for tomorrow's pickup.

The tree is starting to get filled up with hearts!  Now I have to get some valentines out.  I'll be cleaning the rest of the bedroom this week and whenever I finish that I will be starting in the hallway.
Sorry, there isn't much to show for today.....but when my treasures start arriving I will!
I hope you're having a good start to the week!
Here are your  "tidbits" for today.............

 Priscilla and Chelsea (The Real Housewives of Cross Stitch on YouTube) have a new pattern they designed and it will be available in the Spring issue of Primitive Stitcher and Punchneedle....here's an  early peek!   You can subscribe to the magazine or just buy a single issue.  Priscilla and Chelsea are going to have a new design in each issue this year.   The magazine will also be available at the Fat Quarter Shop.

 I happened to be on the FQS website and found quilty puzzles by Lori Holt.............there are 2 of them.....I love puzzles and I love to frame them too..........

This is the book I want to get when my other quilts are done...........love all these projects with scraps.....scrappy projects and quilts are my favorites

The grass is greening up, my spring bulbs are up and I am getting the gardening bug.........here's the link

and last but not least a little something to make you smile.............

Happy Trails!!!