YOP Sunday

Not too much handwork getting done with Thanksgiving company coming but I have done a few squares on my Ordinarily Extraordinary blanket like Dottie Angels.

 I'm sort of liking the shades of red and pinks and a cream in between maybe.  Something more monochromatic for a change.  I  might leave out that green square. I haven't found any doilies for the top of some of the squares so I may have to make some of my own or visit the Thrift Store.
  I have 2 new patterns  from Sandra over at Cherry Heart and these are for me for Christmas although whether they get done by then is yet to determined. She also has a 25% discount on the new patterns until the end of November.   A Debbie Bliss yarn order is going in today.  The pictures are the same yarn color but they don't look it.  I think the mitts are the more accurate color of the Duck Egg Blue but I'll be happy either way as I like both colors.   She is on Ravelry so you can download her patterns from there.  She has lots!

 

I promise there will be more to see after Thanksgiving.....I'm not having company for Christmas and I will be "home alone" so what better way to spend it than to curl up in front of the fire and do handwork, eat great Christmas food and watch the Hallmark channel?
I'm off to watch the Bear's game now...GO BEARS!!!! 

If you don't use it you lose it!

 

I went to the doctor last week and everything is great except my cholesterol was elevated.  I might have overdone it on the ice cream this Summer...tee hee.  Plus, my doctor told me no dairy products!  I'd not heard that before as I have osteoporosis supposedly so I thought I had to get calcium so I've been eating a yogurt every morning for breakfast! He told me to replace it with 2000 mg of Vitamin D3 which thankfully I was able to get at Wal-Mart in the "gummy" version.  Love those gummy vitamins!

 So...........I figured I needed to change things up a bit.  I had also stopped walking in the heat of summer.  I'm back walking, I replaced yogurt with oatmeal made with water and sometimes I add a sliced up apple or some fresh fruit I have on hand and sweeten with organic maple syrup.  Don't be fooled either....instant oatmeal is not the same plus it has loads of sugar in it.  If you want to benefit from oatmeal get steel cut or at least old fashioned...you're looking for fiber and bulk not mush. 
I also started using cinnamon and honey which I mixed up in a jar.  I put it on my homemade bread toasted  instead of jam.  There are health benefits to eating as close to "the source" of the food as possible.  The more "processed" the food the worse it is for you. 

 I'm not a big milk drinker but I sure did love me some ice cream and my Fage yogurt in the mornings!  I'll be 65 in January and I want stay flexible and as healthy as possible.  I've come back from Graves Disease where I was almost blind and Rheumatoid Arthritis which I have gotten to the point where I only take my Enbrel once a month instead of twice a week now.  My rheumatologist was upset when I told him but the shot is SO expensive that I was trying to cut back and yet still be able to function.  He said we would do blood tests and see if I had inflammation and if I did that meant I was damaging my joints and needed to take it twice a week again.  Well, the blood tests came back and they were perfectly fine!  No inflammation!  I have never been one to want to take meds of any kind because there are side affects no matter what you take.  At one point I was taking Methotrexate with the Enbrel as that was the suggested method of treatment.  Methotrexate is a drug they give to cancer patients and it is very strong and after you've been on it awhile you have to have a liver biopsy to see if it's damaged your liver...yet.  I told my doctor I wanted off of the metho and he said he's never known anyone to not take it in conjunction with the Enbrel but he said he was willing to try and we'd see.   I went off of it so many years ago I can't remember when, but it's been more than 10 years, I know that.

 I do stretching exercises in the morning when I get up to stay limber.  I lift, haul and tote and don't allow people to do it for me as I want to keep my back muscles strong and they are.  I have no back pain ever.  I know I am aging and I can't stop it but attitude and not dwelling on your "aches and pains" helps a lot I think.  I know many "elders" who all they talk about are their illnesses and their surgeries etc.  I try not to other than to point out to others that you are still in control and you can still do things to help yourself and stay strong.   Keep moving, keep smiling and stay grateful...life can take a turn for the worse at any moment so enjoy this one!

   Also, ensure you understand your ailments and question your doctor(s), make sure you know what the side affects are of any treatment or medicine you are taking and don't just "go along to get along".....it's your body and your life and you only get one!  Good health to all and to all a good night! 

Time's flying and I'm trying! WIP's and my favorite Fall sandwich recipe......

It was WIP  Wednesday and here it is supper time already and I haven't even blogged!  I only do my handwork in the evening when my legs are too tired to go anymore.  Thanksgiving is on the horizon and I have house guests coming, hopefully,  if the weather holds (theirs, not mine! LOL!).  Walking daily and my journaling in the morning takes about 2 hours right there.  But here's what I've been working on when I haven't been doing other things.

 Bedroom lighting wasn't good with the sun down but here are 3 squares done in my Ordinarily Extraordinary blanket designed by Dottie Angel who I linked to in my last post.

I also started and finished my teeny tiny granny squares done in crochet thread for a bookmark.  I'm going to do several of these for Christmas presents.  I still need to weave and join and block.  I'd like to actually do different colors like granny squares in blankets but I need to order more thread.  I've never done anything this small but it sure is a frugal way of doing handwork!

Here are some of the views from my walk today....it was "brisk" out...just like I like it!

Years ago, I used to lunch occasionally at a restaurant called The Soup Kitchen, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa where they served this.  I am not a sandwich person usually but this is my favorite sandwich (along with grilled cheese, of course).  It's so easy and so tasty!

 

I used my homemade bread, sliced smoked turkey breast, some sliced Havarti Cheese, slices of Granny Smith apples and before you put it together slather both pieces of bread with apple butter.  YUMMO!  I always toast my bread first but that's not necessary. 

The restaurant used to serve it with a bowl of white chile.  I'll be sharing that recipe another day.  Enjoy this Fall favorite of mine.!

WIP Wednesday

I haven't gotten much done but I've been full of inspiration!  Does that count?  I have to admit right now that I have a "thing" for blankets but evidently I'm not the only one.  Here's my inspiration for them..........and once again both are from the U.K.....what's up with that?  Are my long deceased relations channeling me?  I am a true anglophile, at least in the craft sense! LOL!

 This gorgeous blanket is courtesy of Sandra at Cherry Heart and she calls it her Giant Granny Patches although the patches are small the blanket she made is huge!  She tells you how she made it and gives you a tutorial on the beautiful border below.  Now do you see why I was so inspired?

 Here's my little start on it.  There was some fiddling at first since the directions for most granny squares have you "fastening off" when you change colors and then starting in a corner with the next color.  I had to figure out how to get to the corner as I was continuing on with the same color.  I did a slip stitch until I got to where I needed to be. 

 Then she talked about "joining as you go" which led me over to Dottie Angel's website and her Ordinary Extraordinary Blanket where she had a tutorial about hers and her "join as you go" method

 

which led me to want to make hers and practice that technique first 

and so blanket number two is now started also......

and now I need to go order more yarn in more colors, of course!  Does anyone else have this problem? 

P.S.  Not to  mention the fact that I have another granny square blanket started from my Nicki Trench book and a knitted blanket kit I ordered that I haven't even started yet!  Woe is me!  Or lucky me depending on how you look at it.  I love planning and starting....finishing?  Not so much.

Monday Reading Update

 Fall is here big time and I and Mother Nature are in our glory!

 I'm still reading Halloween Party and it was perfect for this time of year and a good mystery starring Hercule Poirot!  There will be a report next week as I will have finished it by then.

 Still reading this one too but almost done with it.

 I finished George Washington Carver, An American Biography by Rackham Holt published in 1945...below is the bookplate inside the front cover

 This was the best biography I have ever read and G.W. was the most fascinating and gifted individual that I have ever read about.  I remember hearing his name but not really much about him.  As with women and blacks, there wasn't much studied in school as the white male was the preferred "hero" and the smartest and the bravest....or so they wanted us to believe.

 This man overcame odds that most would have given up on long before.  He struggled and overcame, struggled and overcame and never lost his sense of humor, or his kindness or his sense of self and what his gifts were to him and for sharing with others.  In my mind, his contributions far outweigh Martin Luther King's.  George W. Carver did more for the black population and the South and they are still reaping those rewards today.  There are biographies out there but this one was written from interviews with him and those close to him.  There were other biographies written but many held fantasies and untruthes but Professor Carver didn't have the time nor the inclination to set them straight so before he died he worked with Rackham Holt to ensure there was one biography out there that "came straight from the horses mouth"!  And wasn't I the blessed receiver of this particular book?!?!  From where I sit right now having read many, many biographies over the years...this one far outshines all others and so does George Washington Carver.  In my mind, he was one of the greatest human beings that ever graced our planet and we all have much to be grateful to him for. 
A brief synopsis is that he was born into slavery, wanted to learn so badly that he never gave up and finally graduated from Iowa State University in Ames with a degree in Botany and Agriculture.  He spent time working at the University and later took a job with Booker T. Washington at Tuskegee in Alabama.  He worked at Tuskegee for the rest of his life and invented and created and taught and shared all his knowledge with everyone and anyone who wanted to learn.  He was a man who was strong in faith and walked the talk.  If you believe that "there are angels among us" then this man was one of them.  

I am tearing up writing this review...that's how profoundly it affected me.

YOP Sunday

I really didn't get much done this week on my YOP list.  Halloween pretty much took over and I had a great one!  How about you? 

I had more trick or treaters than ever before and I was so happy but it was too warm to have my first fire of the season.  I did manage to get a little ornament done for my Halloween tree although it's going to my grandson so he can have his own Halloween tree and I'll make another one for me.  I  love Skype!  I got to attend his Halloween Party at school with a parade and he in his "Scream" costume.   What a treat that was!

 

I got the pattern free on Lion Brand website and now I need to find some for Thanksgiving!  My little tree will stay up all year and then I can make different ornaments for it depending on the season.  It has purple lights for Halloween but I'll have to find a different color for Thanksgiving. 
I think a tree skirt is on order too!

The leaves have really changed here this week and I took a walk today with the girls to bask in the sunshine and beautiful colors.  I hope you are enjoying your Sunday.  I'm off to watch the Titans and the Rams and do some much desired handwork.  I wonder which came first...football or handwork?  LOL!

Happy Halloween!!!!

 One of my most favorite days of the year!  How do you celebrate it...if you do?  I decorate and here it is during the day.....

Same old ghosts I've used since my children were small.............

My Aunt Alice  made this ceramic jack o'lantern......

Here's what it looks like at night..........

Oh look!  Some Trick or Treaters dressed up like a Rottweiler and a miniature dachsund!  Great costumes!  So realistic!

 

 This is the house on the hill where the old witch lives!  Me! LOL! I'd like to think I'm a good witch but there might be some who would argue with that! LOL!

 I hope you have a wonderful and safe Halloween!

YOP Sunday

Ta Da!!!!  I was able to restore my old files to Windows 8 finally and there's the graphic.  I'm still struggling with emails.  I downloaded Outlook and even saw my emails and then it disappeared!  But there's been some progress so that's a good thing. 
I have some FO's too and also plenty of WIP's .....
The little pumpkin on the right is an ornament that I'm making.  I want to have ornaments for each holiday on a little tree I have that I will leave up all year round.  This is the first Halloween ornament.  I got the free pattern over on the Lion Brand website and they have quite a few for Halloween.  They're also highly rated and easy...LOVE that!  This little pumpkin needs his/her face embroidered and a little stem/hanger.  Next up is a witches hat.  These count towards my "holiday" decorating and ornaments projects. 

 Below is a crocheted spa cloth.  It needs to be washed and blocked.  I want to use this one myself and see how it fares in the washer and dryer and see if I like using it before I "gift" it. (No, not the same one silly! LOL!  I'll make another to gift.)  It's crocheted and supposed to be great for exfoliating....God knows I need that! LOL!

I also finished this Grandmother's Favorite knitted dish cloth for my cousin for Christmas.  I told you about it last week and that she wanted a "bigger" size so instead of the 44 stitches cast on I cast on 64.

 

 You can tell it's a good size.  I'm making one for myself this week to see what size is comfortable for me and also washing and drying.  It may be that the smaller size shrinks?  Anyway, one Christmas gift done. 

 As for the Irish Hiking Scarf.....I finished the 3rd skein and it isn't big enough to throw over your shoulder (my test for a truly useful scarf in Winter).  I happened to have another skein "just in case" so I guess I'm not done with it yet.
Look at my leaves that are falling! I am having so much fun with these!  It took me a couple to get the gist of the pattern but now I can't stop!  I'm making a Fall garland with them using Noro Kureyon yarn.  One skein makes about 4 and you get different leaves each time which is SO cool!  I would not have been that attracted to the original pattern if it hadn't been for Dawn over at Fiddlesticks who was the one who thought to use the ever changing colors of the Noro Kureyon.  Brilliant!!!  Perfect for Fall leaves.

I have several more to make for my garland and then they all need to have their ends sewn in and definitely blocked and maybe even starched?  Has anyone ever done that?  I'm not sure I know how as it's wool yarn so I can't use spray starch and iron or can I?  Under a press cloth?  They tend to curl at the leaf tips..hmmm....just like real falling leaves! Ha! Ha!  Maybe I should "leaf" them be? LOL!  I know...that was bad.
The last one on the left is from a new skein in a different colorway but the other 4 are all from the same skein....amazing, huh?  I am having way too much fun with these!  Thank you so much Dawn!  Visit her website and you will be blown away by her creativity!  She makes gorgeous stuff!

Have a great Halloween week and stay safe.  May all your Halloween candy wishes come true with no cavities!