Nancy Jo gets the Gold in Gifting!!!!

Yes she does and here's why!  She even wrapped them!  And it's not my birthday or anything!

and wrote me a really sweet card...............(I'm the one on the right with the blonde hair and the walking stick because I have RA! LOL!)

 

I couldn't have said it better myself, Nancy Jo!

And look what all she sent me.....................a lavender sachet and BUTTONS!  Don't we love us some buttons!

A crochet book that has everything in it........pictures of all kinds of stitches with instructions (no excuses now!), edgings like I want to make and doilies..........it's a great book!

and 2 pamphlets with more patterns....which means more options!

 

yarn for my stash...boucle....I don't have any of this...it's gorgeous................

And 3 fantastic Crochet Today magazines...where have I been?  I've never seen these before....but they have the greatest projects in them....wonderful!

Thank you, Nancy Jo!  You get the Gold Medal in friendship and thoughtfulness too!  I'm going to try and be as good a friend so watch your mailbox!  Also, for the rest of you.....I will be having a drawing when I reach 100 followers and I think I have 91 so it won't be long now!  I'm excited!  Hope you're having a Super Saturday!

Oh, I am such a BAD BLOGGER!!!!

I apologize for not blogging the last couple days.  I am out of sync and it's because I keep thinking I can "do it all" but alas......as you can tell.........I cannot.  I've been preoccupied with the Olympics and when I wasn't I was doing mundane housekeeping that I really didn't think anyone would be very interested in.  But here's a posting which is still not very glamorous..........I'll get back on track once the Olympics are over....won't I???? 
I finally used some beautiful Crab Tree and Evelyn scented drawer paper I've had for years.  I was saving it....for what?  Lining my casket? LOL!  I've been cleaning while keeping my eyes on the t.v. and got to my Mother's dresser which I use for out of season clothes.  It's an old dresser and the drawers stick so I don't use it for every day....too much of a struggle but for out of season clothes it's perfect! 

 

  Isn't this the prettiest print?  Plus, it's scented with their "Summer" scent.  The box it came in is covered in the same paper....it's like 2 presents in one!  You betcha I saved the box! 

 I finally got my next block pattern traced and ironed onto the wool for the appliques.........

 

 Other than that I really haven't gotten anything "fun or glamorous" done.  

But.........I did get a wonderful present(s) in the mail from my blogging buddy Nancy Jo  which I will post about tomorrow!  You won't believe all the lovely things she sent me!  And I didn't even win a drawing!  she's just sweet and generous and I am blessed that she is my friend!  So, I promise to be a better blogger and tune in tomorrow to see what Nancy Jo sent me!  Woo Hoo!  Hope you had a great Friday!

 

An ode to cotton..........or at least praise!

These are dish towels....the ones on the left are over 30 years old and I'm still using them!  One has a little  hole but that's about it.  The ones on the right are about 6 months old and I found them at the Dollar General store for $2.00 each.  What do they have in common?  They're both made of 100% cotton!  The new ones are bigger than the older ones and I also bought dish cloths to match.  I buy a lot of things made with this wonderful fiber.  I have bath towels too that are very old.  The edges are frayed but the majority of the towel is still good.  If I was really fussy I guess I could hem the frayed edges but it doesn't bother me.
This a brief post from me today as this morning I had the annual termite inspection (not me personally but the house) and then I had to take Nitty for an allergy shot she was suffering terribly and the Benadryl just wasn't doing the trick.  The nice thing is that the shot lasts for 6-8 weeks.  I did manage to keep working on my bedroom this afernoon, did some laundry and got to see some Olympics.  I hope you had a great day!  Tomorrow is Wally World and Farmer's Market....busy, busy, busy!

Motivated Monday and the U.K. gets gold in equestrian and I got to see it!!!!!

I might as well just move to the U.K.   they seem to have everything I love....we have so much in common!  They have lovely places to walk everywhere it seems....they encourage and accommodate walking and hiking and they are very "equestrian oriented"!  In fact, I bet they got to see all the Olympic equestrian events!  Plus they have the perfect gardening weather there and I like tea and quaint and cozy.  I'm thinking the U.K. was made for me and my personality.  Hmmm.....I'll have to think about this....I have options!

Meanwhile, back here in the U.S., it was more cleaning and clearing events  and I'm not talking about horse jumps! LOL!

This quilt was on it's way to the Thrift Store when I happened to stop by a friends.  I unloaded her whole car into mine and saved her a trip! LOL!

It's too small for my bed so it must be a twin but it's okay for now but eventually it will be a chair cover.  It's a store quilt, nothing handmade or handed down which makes it more comfortable to use it in whatever way I wish...tablecloth, chair cover, picnic blanket....whatever.  It's colorful and I love it!  I changed all the linens and started dusting and cleaning counter-clockwise around my bedroom. 

Below is an appliqued tea towel that same friend made for me several years back for my birthday.  I use tea towels as dresser scarves, curtains...you name it.  The same goes for cloth napkins. 

I washed windows and hung clean curtains....cloth napkins that I bought at a sale for cheap.  The one thing I like about my Pella crank style windows is that the screens clip in and out from the inside and once I take the screen down and open the window full out, I can wash both sides of the window from inside the house!  Pretty convenient and it's so convenient I tend to wash my windows more often than I ever have with other windows. In addition, I use Invisible Glass window cleaner....no streaks!   I got those clip curtain rings at Target years ago and I use tension rods so no hardware to install and I can adjust the height depending on the cloth I am hanging....easy, peasy!   I'm moving so I am not doing much permanent other than important stuff like the new roof, ac and furnace etc.   

I have more to do but the catalog below came in the mail and I think I may need to take a break now and take a peek! LOL!  Have you ever gotten this catalog?  It's The Stitchery  It is mostly cross stitch and needlepoint and embroidery but lovely, lovely things!  They even have a few clothes and jewelry and now, paint-by-number.  Paint-by-number paintings are really popular in vintage collecting and decorating right now.

They have a website where you can shop online and/or request a catalog just click on the link/name above to check it out.  

I hope you're having a great Monday and I apologize for not visiting and getting around like I usually do.  Hopefully, I'll improve after the Olympics....plus I really do need to get this house on the market!  Once it's sold and I'm moved I will be a better blog friend...I promise! 

Ravelry YOP Update...........

 

Below is my bathmat which is nearly done as the center is finished and I am now working on the edge which will only be about 4 or 5 inches more of knitting.  I shouldn't say "only" as a lot could go wrong between now and then! LOL!  

 

  I did a few more rows of crochet on my Granny Stripe table runner and of course I try not to let the "ends" get away from me so I only do a few rows and then I weave in the ends.  

 The most I did on my wool applique  was to gather the wool for the next block! LOL!  Only 2 blocks to go and then the appliqued and embroidered binding/edging that goes all around it.  

Hope you're having a great Sunday and guess what????  I FINALLY got to see some equestrian on the Olympics today!  YES!!!!!   

Does she get a spot on the housecleaning podium? YES!!!!!

First, I promised you the English Melting Biscuit recipe and I'm sorry I didn't have it out there yesterday.

English Melting Biscuits
---------------------------
yield: 24 biscuits

1/2 cup soft butter
3/8 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1 cup self-rising flour
2 tbs corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 375, grease cookie sheets (I use parchment paper)
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg yolk and vanilla extract.  Sift together flour, cornstarch, and salt; stir into butter mixture.  Shape dough into 20 to 24 balls about 1/2 inch in diameter.  Roll each ball in the oats and place about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool on wire rack.  Store in airtight container.

Now, onto the present.   I spent the day in my bathroom.  No, I wasn't sick, thank goodness!  I was cleaning...Olympic style!  I scrubbed everything!  I even washed the windows and hung some clean curtains, wiped down cobwebs (yes, there were some).  Washed everything in my little hutch which means taking everything out of it...little bottles and supplies and put it all back.  I vacuumed and scrubbed the floor on my hands and knees and I think I qualified for the final heat which is my bedroom! LOL!

 See the little embroidery of a squirrel hanging above the heater?  Nancy Jo  sent that to me a few years ago.  she was one of my first "blogging buddies" and still is.  I have yet to return the favor but I am going to!  I have ideas brewing in my head!  Nancy Jo does beautiful embroidery work.  I love that little squirrel!

  I know...I need a shower curtain but I never take showers only baths so there it sits....naked!  This bathroom is my bathroom and is in my bedroom. 

There is the Queen's throne! LOL!

There we go...all nice and clean!  I'm not sure it should have taken me all day but it is REALLY clean....top to bottom!

I think watching all the Olympics really motivated me!  Watching all those people being physical I just couldn't sit and watch t.v. anymore.  I had to get up and participate but I kept the t.v. on in my bedroom so I didn't really miss anything.  I hope you had a great Saturday!

What's in your wallet? I mean closet...........

Today I finished the center of my knitted bath mat...................

 Loaded up the "clean" closet in the guest room with a container of pictures, rugs, lampshades, ironing in the basket and a container of videos. 

On the other side the shelf has my canning equipment and some canning jars and more rugs......

This may not be their permanent residence but for now it's a good place for them.  I now have 3 boxes in the car for the Thrift Store and a garbage bag full that went out today.   What a great feeling!  I think I get a gold medal for that don't I?
On the floor of the closet are 2 bed frames, that I can't hook up by myself but are going with me when I  move and 2 mirrors that I may still hang but probably will not go with me.

I also made another Olympic dessert.........English Melting Biscuits with U.S.A. colors on them! LOL!  You're supposed to roll them in oats but I did the red, white and blue stars instead......

until I ran out of them...........then I used oats

I might have gotten them a little brown but I taste tested them and they were DELISH!!!!

I know why they call them melting biscuits now.....they melt in your mouth they're so good! 
I'll post the recipe tomorrow....the Olympics are on now!   Gotta run...okay, gotta go sit in my easy chair! LOL!  Go team U.S.A.!  Best of luck to all Olympians....even the armchair ones.  Hope you had a great Thursday!

A walk down memory lane.......

My cousin sent me a packet of pictures most of which I had never seen.  At age 63 I saw myself as a baby for the first time.  Evidently they found these pictures when my Aunt died at age 96.  My other cousin had also sent me a few pictures a while ago.  The youngest and only picture I had of myself as a child was the one on this blog so these pictures are very precious to me.  Thank you dear cousins!  (I need to scan them but for now I just snapped pictures of them).

   Below is blurry but it's me with my Aunt Bernice who practically raised me.  She was married to my Mother's oldest brother.  There was 20 years between them so they were almost like Grandparents to me.  Plus, my Mother was a career woman and didn't have me until she was 34 years old.
 You can tell I'm old....look at those classic cars in the background!

 Below is my cousin Allen (my Aunt and Uncle's grandson and my Uncle Homer, my Mother's oldest brother..she was the youngest in the family of 6) and of course...me standing there.

I know now why I love horses so much.  Here I am with my cousin Allen (he's a year younger than I am...actually his Dad was my first cousin Allen was my second cousin) on board Chess.  I was 2 years old at the time.

 

Oh, and the dog, Queen (of Sheba #2...there was a long line of them).  I remember one of the Queens pulled my younger cousin Gus out of the river when he fell in one time.....literally saved his life!  They were all German Sheperds.  The man in the picture is my cousin Frank who saved my life one time when I was little when I crawled in to see the baby pigs.  All I remember is he reached over the fence and grabbed me by the back of the shirt and pulled me out before the mama pigs got me.    

 

This is my Mother, she was a nurse and she also went into the Army and became an Army nurse during WWII. (I think they "beefed" her up for the war as I've never seen my Mother so chunky! LOL!)

Below is more what I remember her like.........

Below is my high school graduation picture.  My Mother did have these pictures but when she died my step father got rid of all of her things. 

Well, there's my little trip down memory lane....well, my memory lane at least.  I hope I didn't bore you too much!  I was just so excited when I received them in the mail I just had to share them.  I hope you had a wonderful Wednesday!

Books in the mail and a new knitting project!

 

I set my "frogged" sock aside for now until the Olympics are over.  I HAVE to watch the Olympics and I HAVE to knit but something simple not my first sock that's for sure!  So, I am starting the "beginner knitting" project of the PurlBee bath mat made out of Rowan handknit cotton.  So, far so good! LOL!

 I ordered a few books which came in the mail today.........I'll let you know how they are after I read them

 

The colors and the word "organizing" and "craft space" really drew me to this one..........I'm mad about color!  That white/neutral thing is definitely not for me!

 This book on circular needles I've been looking at for awhile as that is what I use to knit now almost exclusively.  This particular book had the most reviews and the highest rating of the books on circular needles knitting.  I can't get enough of books, videos, stories, yarns, patterns.....well...you get my drift.  I am mad for knitting!  And crochet, and I just found a rug loom I think I can afford to make rag rugs with.  I love so much about my life...I am truly blessed!

I "gotta run" and go watch more Olympics!!!!!  Go Team U.S.A.!!!!!  I admire all the athletes from everywhere and congratulations to all of them!  Hope you had a great Tuesday!

Olympic baking tribute! Scones!

First there was English Lemon Cake  which is gone.  Last night I decided to make Scones...another baking tribute to the Olympics in London.  This recipe is compliments of Tammy from T's Daily Treasures

Scones
------------
preheat oven to 425 degrees F
Blend together 3 C flour, 3 Tbs sugar, 1 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt.  Work in 6 Tbs soft butter until mixture resembles fine meal; add in 1 lightly beaten egg and 3/4 C buttermilk to form a dough; stir in 1/3 C dried cranberries.  Lightly flour a work surface.  Pat dough to 3/4 inch thick and cut into rounds.  Brush tops with a little buttermilk and bake until golden.

 

As usual....I was "distracted" so I set oven to 450 instead of 425, I cooked for 10 minutes which worked thank goodness but I forgot to baste the tops with buttermilk.  Despite all these mistakes....I LOVED them!!!!  

 

Last night I had one split with butter while still warm with a cup of ginger peach green tea!  What a great evening treat.   This morning I had them with a little whipped cream and honey....OMG!  YUMMO!

 

Basically they are like baking powder biscuits with a little sugar and fruit thrown in.  These are a much healthier treat than cookies, cakes etc; yet filling and just the right thing with a cup of tea.  They are really easy and fast to make and I'll be trying other added ingredients.  Thanks Tammy!  This recipe is a winner!

I got my socks going finally after a few unsuccessful tries........got the cuff done now on to the heel flap

I did get the heel flap going but it is really bad, multiple  mistakes (I cannot watch the Olympics AND knit socks...whoops!)  So, take a look but it will probably get pulled out and started over but I'm learning.  It's just frustrating to tear out all the time.....but thank goodness I have other "feel good" projects and also I do know HOW to do it....I just can't watch t.v. and do it. LOL!  I wonder if I'll ever be that good.
I hope all those competing in the Ravellenics are doing better than me!
I did get the last of my supplies for awhile..........they came in the mail this morning........

 

I think I'll go eat a scone before I tear out that sock.....it might make it a little easier...ya think?

I hope you're having a good Monday!  It's 106 degrees F right now....thank God for AC! I think it would be appropriate to change my banner to Summer now!

YOP Update and an FO!!!!

Yes!!!!  I have an FO .....I finished all three of my washcloth/towels and I really like how they turned out.  I had one mistake in my stitches in each cloth....sort of  like that Amish tradition of putting  a mistake in each quilt they make because only God can make something perfect.  Well, mine weren't on purpose but my knitting is very even now after knitting 3 of these. But the hardest part of the whole project was weaving in the ends and keeping it decent looking at the same time.  I've decided that since they're too big for washcloths yet too small for a kitchen towel, I'm going to use them as guest towels in my "guest" bathroom.  It has tan walls and beige fixtures and tile and red is my accent color in there so it will be perfect! I didn't plan it but it worked out that way. I think I'll place them in a white enamel dish with red edging.  I'll post when I get that done!

Oh!  I also learned right side from wrong side I think.  See the middle towel....I obviously didn't know that when I knitted that one! LOL!  The left side stripe was supposed to look like the right side stripe....yeah.
But I'm learning and as long as I keep improving and learning I'm a happy knitter!
Below is not an FO but this particular block is done.  I'll be starting a new one this week.

I worked some on my crocheted table runner too and it is about 3/4 done.

 

I started on my first pair of socks and actually had it on the needles with the first row FIVE times so far but to no avail!  But I am not giving up...I may set aside while I knit a bath mat but I will not give up on this!  One of these times I will do it correctly and it will look "right" to me.  I am using the Magic Loop method but so far the "magic" hasn't worked for me! LOL!  I think my knitting angels need to give me a helping hand on this one!

 

See the "curly" yarn.....it is tired from being "cast on" so many times!  And look at those teeny, tiny needles!  OMG.....can this knitter be saved (taught)?  In true Olympic spirit though I will prevail!

 

You know.....if she'd just get her hands out of the way I might be able to see how it's done! LOL!

I hope all YOUR projects are coming along splendidly and cheers to all who are participating in the Ravellenics and the Olympics too!  Have a great week of YOPs!