Internet problems so we'll see how far I get! LOL!

It seems if I try to go to others blogs my internet connection goes down but I called the phone company and they checked and sure enough there was a problem (cables buried under the road problem) so it won't be fixed until Thursday night at the latest.  Meanwhile it is intermittent and has been going on since Memorial Day....it might have to do with that storm we had Saturday night  although the cables are buried under the ground but then so was my propane line when it got hit! LOL!
I was trying to do Yarn Along Wednesday but not sure I'll be able to link to her....we'll see.  Meanwhile, I have been very productive and was going to blog yesterday when the internet went down...arg!  I've been trying to do my 'big rocks first' instead of cleaning up the house and doing dishes, laundry etc.  They need to be done too, don't get me wrong, but I will always find time to fit those in as I could do them in my sleep.  It's the real priorities that I end up not getting to!
So this morning I got right to it and went outside and planted yellow and green bush beans in planters and watered all my outside plants.  I also planted a big container of radishes.  We have a long growing season so as long as I can keep them watered they should be fine.  I also painted a coat on my already primed plant stand.  But the most fun I had and the cutest thing is my fairy garden........

 It is an indoor Fairy Garden with houseplants and I 'submerged'  a votive candle so they could have their own little fire pit!  I know I'm taking a big risk bringing Fairies into the house but hey, they can't be any worse than Miss Peeps!  There's a little birdhouse in the back, a ceramic chicken and a silver bird and of course some rocks.  I think they need a few more things but for now this is good!
Remember these?  My Christmas Eve cast on socks?  Yes, that's how they were left...not even half done and if I don't hurry up it will be Christmas Eve before I finish them!  I am on the heel flap of the first sock and I love the West Yorkshire Spinner's yarn and the colors just scream Christmas don't they?  I am using Susan B. Anderson's How I Make my Socks pattern.....it is my go to vanilla sock pattern and I love it.............

 Yesterday I made 18 teeny weeny stars for my little flag pillow and the back is done also.........

 Now I just have to weave all those ends in.........these were so fun to make but tiny....I think I will try some bigger ones with bigger yarn....................

YOP is usually gifts on Sunday but during the week I can show personal stuff.........my family only knows not to look at the Sunday blog with the YOP sign at the top! LOL!
I've been working a little bit on my Beatrix Potter blanket but very little as you can see by the progress keeper..................

Finally, the internet is staying up long enough for me to post this...PTL!
Happy Trails!

Memorial Day honors to all those who suffered, and to some who still do, in defense of our country....

    I think our veterans who have served in past wars would be embarrassed by how we seem to put less and less emphasis on human life and suffering.  We kill civilians, children, we bomb hospitals, we use drones so we don't get out hands dirty.  For such a 'christian' nation it always strikes me as odd that we still have the death penalty and we still send young people off to kill others.  Wars are seldom about protection but more about greed and power and the people that authorize them always ensure their family isn't involved or if they are, they ensure they are in a 'safe job' away from the 'front'.  So this Memorial Day, I wish to honor all those who served willingly, yet knew they would struggle if it came time to kill someone else.....some come home and continue to struggle.  Bless their hearts, their souls and the families that mourn them.  As a 'christian' nation with 'family values'.....I think that we can come up with a better way then sending our young men and women off to kill or be killed, maim or be maimed.  With all the brilliant minds out there I pray they can come up with a better way.

YOP Week #49

Only 3 more weeks????  Then comes YOP Year #7!  I better get planning!  Although I have a few things in mind for sure.....like all the WIP's from past YOP years! LOL!  But for this week here is what I've been doing and it really isn't much.....it's been a week of storms, trying to keep up with the buckets and bowls from the leaky roof.....yes.........still and then laundry when the sun shines and trying to hide my head  under the covers at night away from the lightening! LOL!  But it's Spring so it is to be expected...at least here in the Ozarks.
I did work on my shawl but my count was off so I had to rip back about 6 rows so it looks no different than last week even though I worked on it........I did manage to knit up the giraffe ears and their linings.....did you know giraffe's have ear linings?   

 I  mentioned this earlier this week and it will be on my YOP 2017/2018 list.....I am back to doing some charitable knitting/crocheting and this is The Mother Bear Project and you can find their group on Ravelry

I've already started my first bear..............not too far yet but the head is done.....well the knitting of it anyway...............

and for my goal of wanting homemade everything including holiday decor.....I am making this for the Memorial Day............it looks smaller in the picture but it is probably 12 X 7 inches...a little pillow when I get done.  The front is done except for crocheted stars and I have started the back which is a separate blue piece the same size.  I still have a few ends to weave in (great for t.v. watching) and I had all the yarn in my 'stash'  and the pattern was free! You can't beat that kind of a project! Here's a link

 Hers looks much nicer than mine but then I'm not finished yet either.....so simple....just HDC's throughout except for the stars.
My focaccia turned out great last night...........you can actually slice it in half and use it for sandwiches....really tasty! 

That's all for this YOP week!  Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend if you are in the U.S. otherwise just have a safe and happy weekend!
Happy Trails!

Humdinger of a storm this morning!

I was awoken to lightening, thunder and hail about 3:00 a.m. this morning....oh and let me not forget the torrential rains.  I've been up ever since.  I did try to lay down after the storm passed but by then the sun was shining in my windows! LOL!  So, I muddled through the day and after awhile the drowsiness goes away.  My soup last night was good but I'm sure it will taste even better after a night in the frig.  I was too tired to really enjoy it.  Tonight I will be having some olive oil focaccia to go with it.  It is on it's second rising as I type this.   My warmest and most draft free place is in my oven so that's where it goes to rise but now it is in the pan and I had to jury-rig glasses and a towel to 'tent' over it.....sort of like pizza dough in a pan.  It called for an 11 X 15 inch pan but I fudged and used 3/4 of a cookie sheet.

  I  harvested my first 'crop' of rosemary and it is on the focaccia along with some Greek olives I chopped up........I've never made focaccia before but have always wanted to............

 I found this cute vintage sign on Pinterest and printed it off but of course it is in black and white because my 'color' printer no longer prints colors so I will try coloring it myself.....stay tuned! LOL!

 I also have a little surprise project that I will save for tomorrow for YOP Sunday...here's just a little peek.............

I'm off to heat up my soup, bake off my focaccia and get my jammies on.....plus, make sure the fresh batteries are on hand for the weather radio.....it's only a matter of time before the storm hits.....the atmosphere is VERY unstable as it was 88 today, sunny and felt like 94 with the dew point/humidity.....I hope I get some sleep! But not permanent! LOL!
BTW....a BIG congratulations to Farside and Far Guy who became Great Grandparents early this morning.....a little boy named "Mikey"...well, that's what Connie calls him anyway.  So happy for them and the entire family!
 Happy Trails!!!

Walmart and cooking in one day?

Yes, I went to Wally World today as I certainly didn't want to attempt it over the Memorial Day weekend and I just found out I have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday afternoon in Mountain Home.  Their computer just called me but I don't know if I need lab work or need to be fasting.  I guess I'll call them Tuesday morning....early! LOL!
I got some patriotic fabric fat quarters to make something this weekend.........

 and a few houseplants.............I want to make an indoor fairy garden and I picked up those little statues at the Dollar store..........cute huh?

I also got this beauty which was on sale!...................

I started some charitable knitting (you can also crochet them) for The Mother Bear Project........there is a group on Ravelry if you're interested..........for some of these children it is the first toy they have ever had...it broke my  heart..............

So.........I've started my first bear............

My hydrangea are starting to bloom...........love............

and my clematis is still blooming so beautifully................

I thought I could make a meal the same day I went to Wal-Mart and I can but it looks like I won't be eating until about 8:30 tonight...................meat and vegetable soup from my Apples for Jam cookbook...........I'm sure it will be very good but this is a soup that needs to be started in the morning!  Oh well, it will taste that much better, I'm sure.

I had to go to Wal-Mart today and I needed a meal and I needed to mow but it got down to mow the lawn or have something to eat for supper.....I picked supper so mowing will have to wait and maybe I'll get it done tomorrow if the rain holds off.  Their predictions for severe weather have evidently changed as I see nothing in their forecast for it now but there is still a 60% chance of rain for tomorrow......and to think I was going to relax this weekend and do some sewing.....yeah right!
Happy Trails!

Sunshine and blue sky but not for long! LOL!

What are your plans for the Memorial Day Weekend?  It's supposed to be nice today and tomorrow so I need to 'make hay while the sun shines'!  I'll be hanging clothes out on the line, mowing tomorrow and Nitty goes to the vet today so I guess I will stop by Walmart while  I'm in the neighborhood.  Terminix was supposed to be here yesterday but never showed up....what a mismanaged company!  It was supposed to rain yesterday and looked like it would but it never did but I washed a load and hung it in the basement.  It's supposed to storm over the weekend but be nice on Memorial Day.
Still gathering up my tools........the weed whacker.........cordless from Workx.......

I did find the battery but not the charger...............woe is me..................

I did log onto to the website to see how much it would cost to replace it and it would be about $50.00 so I continue to search and the weeds continue to grow!
I love this tool!  It is by Black and Decker and it is like a giant pair  of scissors with a chain saw as the blades.  It is cordless and is great for cutting back 'the woods' that keep trying to encroach on my property.  I have cut a lot of brush and tree limbs with this baby and if you are hesitant of chain saws like me this is the perfect solution.  Is it going to fell a big tree?  No, but it will get saplings or brush or limbs that get in your way.  I love it!  I can't remember how much it cost but it couldn't have been too much as I bought it! LOL!

I have yet to identify this bird....I just haven't gotten the books out again but I need to.......

 

I've been making some smoothies with fresh fruit...yummy...this one had raspberries and blueberries with some maple syrup!  

 I made a great chicken salad with the rest of the roast chicken I had leftover and I froze the carcass and bones for broth at a later date.  It came from All Recipes here 

I also made these pecan butter cookies from the Apples for Jam cookbook.....they were so simple...just flour, very little powdered sugar and some butter and they were to be frosted which I was not going to do because I do not like frosting but they really needed it!  So, I made it and instead of the vanilla I used brandy extract and they are mighty tasty!

  I just finished this book which I gave 5 stars.....I didn't want to read anything else and so I didn't until I was finished with it!  I read it on my Kindle...........I highly recommend this non-fiction book.

Amazon stated: "Tired of the pace and noise of life near London and longing for a better place to raise their young children, Mary J. MacLeod (known to all as Julia) and her husband encountered their dream while vacationing on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. Enthralled by its windswept beauty, they soon were the proud owners of a near-derelict croft house—a farmer’s stone cottage—on “a small acre” of land. Mary assumed duties as the island’s district nurse. Call the Nurse is her account of the first enchanted years she and her family spent there, coming to know its folk as both patients and friends.
Gaelic fortitude meets a nurse’s compassion in these wonderful true stories from rural Scotland. The remarkable debut of an author now in her eighties, Call the Nurse is a treasure of sweet nostalgia."

I also watched the first episode of a new series on Netflix called...."Anne of Green Gables"!!!!

It is excellent and I like the gal who plays Anne much better than the one in the original movie....this one also has Anne having flashbacks to her original life before Green Gables.  I also encourage you to watch this one!  I'm off to plan and get supplies for my Memorial Day weekend.....rain or shine!  Have a great day!  Happy Trails! 

YOP Week #48

What a week this has been.....it's been that way for the last month actually.....5 steps forward and 10 steps backward!  But I am still progressing...just much slower than I would like!
I finished the legs on Grayson's giraffe...........now there's just tail, spots, face embroidery and stuffing and attaching.  This is a knitting pattern from Susan B. Anderson and is a Craftsy class.  This is my 2nd giraffe and then there is one more to make for Uriah............

Since they all have birthdays in July.....I decided to start on Uriah's for a change of pace and color...........his is  more gold and a rust colored orange.  Grayson and Sam's giraffe were  made with old acrylic yarn I had and this new acrylic I got at Hobby Lobby and it is so soft! 

The Hotel of Bees shawl is coming along......I'm on Row 43 of 134 and the KAL ends May 31st so not sure if I'll make it............it is a strange shape and unusual instructions but I  seem to be doing alright.  You have to count each and every stitch or it will not turn out so it is not T.V. watching material....for me anyway..........

I moved my progress keeper up after I blogged last Sunday so you can see how far I've come this past week...I absolutely love the design of it all but my hand gets sore from working on it.  I think it's the cotton yarn as my hand never got sore when I crocheted in the past with non-cotton yarn.  It is a very nice yarn though but cotton just doesn't 'give' very much.

We had several storms this week and it seems the roof is getting worse not better.  This last round of storms had me dashing around with bowls everywhere!  I am feeling like I am moving backwards not forwards lately.

I had a visitor this week.............this cute little gal came though the yard on her way to lay some eggs....I've never seen this coloring on one before................

This was one plant last year and it has spread into about 3 or 4.....nice as I can transplant them to other areas............

Since I am always talking about Miss Peeps, Miss Grace gets sort of left out of the picture so I thought I would give her a spot on this post.....she is is so good compared to Miss Peeps and never bothers my yarn or disturbs anything or climbs up on anything except bed or chair which is perfectly alright....... she's such a sweetheart.................

That's all for this week.........I'm trying to stick to one or 2 projects so maybe I can make more progress.  It's time to start planning for YOP Year 7?  Really?  Where has the time gone?  Plus, there's Christmas to start making for!  I have been de-cluttering and trying to maintain at least minimum standards on the house and still searching for my chargers for several of my tools.....what a tangled web I weave!  I hope you had a good week and that your roof is not leaking but at least I have one!  Some  people lost their entire homes and all the contents with some of those storms so I am very fortunate!
Happy Trails!

Crazy Monday yesterday!

Sunday...yes, even on Mother's Day, I had to wash up my produce and I had a lot of it!  I wash everything when I get back from grocery shopping (usually) so it is ready to go when I want to use it except for berries.  I don't use any fancy 'wash' that they now sell just my regular Dawn.......

I wash the potatoes last as they are  usually the dirtiest............I  use an old vegetable brush that my Mother had.....it must be at least 60 years old as I remember it as a child............I scrub all the potatoes whether I'm going to peel them or not...........

 then a rinse and they are laid out on an old towel to dry............

this is the water after I washed everything............pretty dirty!!!

Yesterday, a crane showed up at my neighbors early to unload roof shingles onto her roof.....the dogs were pretty upset about it! LOL!  Then the roofer came and started in, then my roofers called and said they were on their way over.........so much for my  plans!  They had to go in the attic/crawlspace and what a mess when they came down, from all the insulation.  Then they went on the porch and tore down some drywall and hopefully after all that mess they have found the problem.  I am grateful for them though and their persistence!  But today I need to do some serious vacuuming!
I did manage to make some bread though!  I used Apples for Jam's Milk Bread Recipe which turned out fantastic!  Best looking and tasting bread ever!  I love my rustic bread but it is pretty hard to chew and bite and I think I need to be considerate of my teeth and jaw at my age!  So this will be my new bread recipe.  Next, I'll try some wheat and so many more bread recipes!  This is definitely a keeper!

 Mother's Day I did not get my chicken roasted....I just ran out of time and energy so I had a bowl of organic minestrone soup with my pie for dessert.  I got the chicken roasted yesterday (another recipe from Apples for Jam) and it was scrumptious....even better than Ina Garten and her recipes are usually top notch but Tessa's recipe beat her out! LOL!  It's not a great picture but the flavors were delicious and the chicken was tender and moist.....another favorite!  At this point, I would highly recommend her cookbook!  I'll be cooking more from her book this week.  I got my copy on Thrift Books for about $3.59?  Plus, free shipping if you order 4 and there was a coupon code for May with a discount.  How can you go wrong?  

 I'm now on row 29 of 134 of my Hotel of Bees Shawl.  I watched Inside Number 23 in the evening and checked IG for Joyce of Ruby Moss Cottage.....love that gal and want to do everything she makes!  Check out her podcast...she's a hoot and a darn good knitter and gardener!
I'm off to do some laundry, weeding, landscaping and so much more!  Have a great day!
Happy Trails!

YOP Week #47

Happy Mother's Day to all who mother in whatever way they can! It is Mother's Day here in the U.S but I know some of you celebrate a different date...no matter.....Mothers are great all over the world and deserve far more credit than they get and equal pay too!  I cannot let this day go by without giving credit to so many women in my life who have contributed to the person I am today......just the good parts.....the bad parts I take full responsibility for!  LOL!  They are all gone from this earth now and I miss them very much.....here are just a few.......

My Mother is the one with her arms crossed, my Aunt Bernice is in the middle and my Aunt Alice is on the right.  My grandmother and grandfather are in the left picture on the right side of it.  I never knew them as they had died by the time I was born.  My Aunt Edna is not in the picture but she was another great lady to have a big influence on me.  They were great women and I miss them all!
Now, (sniffle, sniffle), on to the YOP news of the day!
(Drum Roll)......my cursed Hermione's Everyday Socks are done!  Ta Da!!!!!!  I'll be entering them in Inside #23's Harry Potter KAL.  Does it matter that I have been working on them for 4 1/2 months?  I'll have to check the rules....maybe you have to start and  finish within the month.  Regardless, they are done and they do qualify for my Box of Socks.....only 11 more pair to go before 12/31! LOL!

 I am trying to be somewhat monogamous in my handwork now to try and get some finishes although with outside work now my time is limited.   I started back on my Hotel of Bees shawl..............it's terribly small but we shall see.........the project keeper is what I have done today

The little white arrow looking things are the bee's wings..............the next golden rows are the honeycomb........

and see those 2 little holes below?  Those are the bee's wings also and you can see the puff stitch below that is the bee's lower body.  The next row will be the top of the bee's body.  How she ever designed this shawl is beyond me!  What talent!

To top off my Mother's Day I finally got my lemon meringue pie made!  My Aunt Bernice used to make this for me every time I came for the summer as she knew it was my favorite.....I wish she could be here to share it with me........or you guys!

I hope you all had a great day and I wish you a great week ahead!
Happy Trails!