Weekly Roundup

 

This week has been one of getting little things completed by putzing around the house, taking my time and working a bit here and there to make life a tiny bit simpler and a tiny bit more organized.

I filled some baking containers with the items I bought to restock those. 

Used leftovers to make lovely meals that fed us a couple of suppers and even a couple of lunches. 

Cleaned the stove and oven, did some decluttering, rummaged through my fabric drawers to see what else I could find to use up in clothing making. 

Cut out three patterns to sew next month.

After rummaging through my fabric drawers I found a few more larger sized pieces to make a couple more items and will get those cut out tomorrow. 

Lots of leftover bits and bobs, but I believe the one on top may be enough to make a small jacket with. We shall see once I find that pattern. 

The rest are really too small unless pinned together in a patchwork design, and I found lots more like that which I will probably cut into squares and or strips. Hmmm, perhaps some yarn will be fashioned from these remnants. 

I finished the size 8-10 mittens.

Filled the cookie jar with Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

Filled my yarn basket with more yarn, mostly orphan balls and a few that a good friend gave me when she moved away.

There should be enough there to make lots more mittens to send back with Kurt. I believe I now have 80 pair made and I am hoping to reach at least 120 pairs by the time they are needed. I think my next task will be knitting some toques for them as well. Should have enough mittens now to last a good long while. 

Projects are slowly getting completed, though only one scarf will be woven this month, with the second one carried over until next month. I may manage to get the loom warped for it though. 

Thinking through what needs to be used up and planning some meals in my head for next month (though I will have to get those down on paper very soon). I will know more once I get my chest freezer organized and the inventory completed on it. I think there could be many items I have forgotten about hiding in its depths. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

Nothing much really happening today. As usual we took part in Mass via the television. The uptick in Covid cases in our province is a bit concerning, especially to Harvey as he has a heart condition. He wonders how many parishioners are vaccinated, and does not like being around too many other people. Until he feels safe we will probably continue with online Mass. 

I am not so concerned about Omicron (did I spell that correctly...) at this point in time as the Delta variant is still number one here in my province. The thing I am worried about is large gatherings where one or two people might not be vaccinated and are carriers being asymptomatic. I am thankful that our provincial government still has the mask mandates and social distancing (though there are a few that seem to think social distancing means going the wrong way down grocery aisles). I am hoping that those in the family that are not vaccinated stay away from the family get together. I will be taking some masks with us just in case.

The weather warmed up considerably today, but will be more like normal tomorrow when I head out shopping. Since it was so nice I did a short walk outside and a bit longer one inside. It takes me awhile now to work out the aches and pains of a morning. It was very nice to get some fresh air after days of being cooped up inside.

After my walk and Mass I started the chocolate chip cookies. I think if there is time tomorrow between shopping and regular household chores I will try and get a batch of shortbread cookies made. That should be enough baking for us.

Kurt gave me a text this morning saying some close friends of his are holidaying right now and have offered him the use of their truck to come home if the repairs are extensive on his vehicle. He has awesome friends!!! If he ends up taking them up on the usage, I will find some way to say thank you. Perhaps a knitted blanket or a quilt is in order.

Off to finish off the second mitt to the pair I have been working on the last couple of days. I hope to cast on the first of the next pair tonight as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 

Thought that I would share some of the projects I have been working on since my surgery.

I made two of these triangle prayer shawls.

Then I pulled this out a couple of days ago. I forgot to take a picture of what it looked like when I started up again. But hopefully this shows you how far I managed to get today.

This is what it looked like by the end of my stitching yesterday.

This is how I ended today. Not as much done as I would like, but enough to see a bit of a difference. Hopefully even more will be completed tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Another Project Done, Baking, Quiet Time

 It has been very quiet around the old homestead. Part of the reason could be that I have been very busy doing things to keep me out of trouble.

I finished Harvey's sweater today (picture to follow when the lighting is better), baked bread, two pumpkin pies, and seriously considered baking cookies as well (but didn't, will do so tomorrow morning) and pulled yarn and a pattern to work on a sweater for myself. 

I can't make the carboy cozies (to keep the wine in them in the dark) until Friday when Harvey bottles one batch, so decided that this afternoon I would work on my cross stitch. I had set it aside awhile ago and now realize why, my those stitches are small. However I will work on it until I need to start on the cozies and until the end of the week during the afternoons.

Keeping as busy as possible is helping me not to think about how close Covid-19 could be to us. The top leader of the bible study I help with just under went a test. She and her husband should find out in a few days whether or not they have it. I always wore my mask around her (and she had one on as well), but considering the infectiousness of this virus one never knows. I will be attending the next study tomorrow, but if her test comes back positive I will not be attending any others. I do not need to bring this home to Harvey with his heart condition, and I need to stay healthy in order to have the surgery I have been waiting on. 

Since we have now gone from 0 cases to 11 cases in my small area of Saskatchewan (perhaps adding 2 more if the worst case scenario arises) I will be hurrying forward with my stock up efforts. 

Kurt and Kris should be home at some point on Friday night. I have a feeling that will be the last time we see Kurt for awhile as cases are once again on the rise. My province not so much, but Kurt's province is getting a bigger uptick in cases each day. Christmas will not be the same at all if he can not make it home. We have such few times that he can make the 9 hour drive. I am very thankful that he has managed to get back every year for Thanksgiving so far. Pretty sure there may come a time when he can't. So I will count us blessed to see him for two days.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

What I Have Been Up To

 This post will be mostly pictures just to show you all some of the things I have been up to.

Supper tonight was some leftover roast beef made into a lovely Beef Vegetable Soup.

I have also spent time dehydrating. All my herbs are now done and I even managed to dehydrate some of the green bell peppers.

I have no idea why this photo is so blurry.

I worked on the masks for Kurt's students. Still have more to do.

Kept right on knitting on the temperature blanket.

I also knitted on Harvey's Christmas sweater but that picture will have to wait until it is completed.

Started to gather ripe tomatoes together to make tomato soup for the freezer.

I need two more pounds and then I can start.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

Before I start my post for tonight I want to tell you all that we were under a tornado watch for a little while before supper. Everything is good, and the hail was not bad, just a few small bits for a short period of time. 

I am going to try and upload a picture/video. Hope it works.

I can't do the video sorry.

So what thriftiness was practiced on the old homestead this week?

I have been watching free television on my android box again. 

Eating fresh beans, and cucumbers from the garden.

Used up lots of little balls and orphan skeins of yarn knitting those 13 pairs of mitts for Kurt to take to school.

Started to use up more yarn from my stash knitting Harvey's Christmas sweater.

Collected another old sheet to use as backing for any quilt I decide to make (I have quite a collection of these now).

Mended a small hole in a pillow case.

Saved the elastics and twist ties from various bags from my shopping late last week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday Happenings

On our way home from visiting Kris we got to see two rather large flocks of geese resting in the fields before carrying on with their flights. This is a picture of the smaller of the two flocks. The biggest one was on the wrong side of the highway and I couldn't get a decent picture.

This is only about half the flock.

I have also been spending much of my free time sewing.

Some more masks. These are going to be mailed to Kurt tomorrow.

Another skirt because I love to wear long skirts in the spring and summer. It does make walking a bit more difficult but I seem to manage okay.

And two dresses. 

This leaves me 4 other cut out projects to get done this month. I am slowly but surely getting caught up. I will be making some summer clothing next. Good thing I have an extensive stash of fabric to choose from. But boy or boy when the fabric stores open again I am going to really stock up, especially if it is true about going through waves of Covid-19 until a vaccine is made.

Still knitting dishcloths and will have a picture of those to show you all very soon.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Keeping Busy

I thought I just might as well post some pictures of the projects and other things I have managed to get done over the past week.

Bone broth simmering on the stove. Sure made the house smell wonderful.

The weather was very unpredictable. This is what it was like the day I made my bone broth. The next day rolled around, the sun shone and the small amount of snow we received disappeared.

This is the prayer shawl I have been working on. I finished it off tonight. This night Harvey and I decided to try some of his homemade beer.... A bit strong for my taste.

Made unbaked cookies, which I am sorry to say I ate way too many of.

Got some veggie seeds to get started. Of course I did not have any peat pots left so had to get those as well. There are a few flower seed packets as well that will need starting. Plan on doing that before we leave for Kris's on Saturday. 

This years temperature blanket is being worked on a row at a time.

Then the snow came once again. This time great big flakes floating gently to the ground. 

A skirt has been sewn, and I have a dress almost finished which I will share in another post next week.

I was asked about Lazy Cabbage rolls. I usually put shredded cabbage on the bottom of a casserole or tinfoil container. Then put the usual cabbage roll (stuffed cabbage) mixture in a layer on top of that. Add another layer of shredded cabbage over the seasoned meat and rice mixture. Lastly I pour tomato juice or watered down tomato soup over top. 

I was also asked about why I couldn't hang clothes outside. I could, but considering how cold it is here they would be freeze dried and might cause a few more problems as to how to dry the freeze dried clothing. I just don't know how that works, though Harvey says his Mom did this all the time.

We also has some bad news yesterday. My double first cousin's wife (we call ourselves double because my mom's sister married my dad's brother) passed away. I don't think it was from Covid-19, but very little is being said about the why or how. The funeral will not take place until things open up again and their sons can get to Canada from New Zealand and Vietnam. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday Social Distancing Post

It is a beautiful day here in Southeast Saskatchewan. The sun is shining, birds singing, woodpeckers pecking at the power poles (why do they do that when there are trees available).

I did our shopping today, rather then tomorrow, mainly because I wanted to pick up Kris a few things and once again Shania (our elderly cat) is not well. This way I can keep an eye on her for the rest of the day (she is hiding in her tent right now) and if necessary be available to take her to the vet tomorrow. Hopefully there will be one open or at least they will open for an emergency.

I have noticed a lessening of vehicles on the road as well as shoppers in the stores. I think people are starting to take this Pandemic social distancing to heart. We still have those that think it is fake by our Liberal government, but the vast majority of people are heeding the governments directives. While social distancing alone will not totally prevent you from acquiring the virus it will make a difference on how many get it.

I spent yesterday sewing some masks. 

I managed to get two made and tomorrow I plan on making a few more. Providing of course that my machine decides that it is going to work correctly. Had a few problems with the first two and what could possibly be a dull needle. 

I have put aside the second knitted baby dress and pulled out some leftover cotton yarn from my stash. It amazes me that with all the dishcloths and washcloths I have made for Kris, he does not seem to have very many at all. Two are finished and I am on the third one.

Kris's specialist appointment has been changed to a telephone conference. We will still go up on Friday, take him some groceries, do a bit of a clean up in the apartment and find out the news. 

Off to work on the dishcloth and watch television.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

Sunny and fairly warm today, and it made my morning and afternoon walks very pleasant. I enjoyed both immensely. Being out in the fresh air, even if there is no one else around, gives a person the ability to face social distancing.

Once home this morning I watched Mass on my computer, said a prayer (or two) for all those who are having problems social distancing or fighting Covid-19. Then started on the days chores. 

I managed to make my rhubarb loaves.

I even got a dish cloth started for Kris as he never seems to have enough.

I hope to get a few finished before we go back up this Friday. I will be using up some of my leftover cotton yarn doing so.

My lady wipes are finished. Nicely washed and folded. They are in the bathroom just in case the time comes and I need to use them.

Fabric for the face masks is washed and dried. I plan on ironing and cutting them out tomorrow. While I know they will not completely protect us, the little protection they will in fact give will be enough to let Harvey feel a bit of peace.

My list of household chores was completed for next week, and a few ideas for baking are percolating around in my head.

All in all a pretty good day.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tidbits

The last couple of days most people here are staying in and keeping warm. While not as cold as our neighbours to the west it has still been very cold and with the wind factored in dangerous to be outside.

So most of the time has been spent baking, or doing bits of cleaning and organizing around the house.

I finished cutting up all the stored t-shirt knit fabric that I had salvaged over the years and actually managed to get it all down to one box. Made a bit more storage room and that enabled me to put up the books I managed to buy on various sewing techniques.

The kitted knitting projects have also been moved from the floor in the sewing/craft room making yet more space to move around.

Work has been done on the prayer shawl and I am actually pleased with how much I have completed. I will soon be adding the second ball.

The same can be said about the temperature blanket for this year. It is only a row a day, but I can see some end in sight for a few of the balls of leftover yarn. Those that aren't used up this year, I will make mitts for our oldest to take to his school or to donate to a homeless shelter in his area.

Baking wise I have made a loaf of bread, cinnamon buns, and a chocolate Bundt cake. As tomorrow is not supposed to be much warmer than today (warmer by a few degrees) I plan on making those zucchini loaves I had planned on yesterday for the freezer and perhaps a rhubarb cake for the freezer as well.

I still have some organizing to do in the sewing/craft room but hope to be working on those sewing projects this weekend. Lots to do before winter ends so I can get some wear out of what I make.

Harvey and I are also working on our budget for this year. Hopefully it will be all set up very soon. I have noticed one thing and that is food is really going up in price and a grocery cart costs way more than ever before. Time to start thinking about what we can grow ourselves, harvest and process for the winter. Perhaps more container gardening will be in order, or perhaps Harvey can build some raised beds for less strain on the back and knees.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

It was and is a beautiful day and evening here on the prairies of Saskatchewan. We actually made it above freezing. However, now we are under a wind warning. In fact the winds could reach such speed as to cause a great deal of damage. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this does not happen.

After a few household chores, it was time to gather things together and get them completed.

First off I worked in all the yarn ends on the temperature blanket and knit another row on the new one I started for this year.

Then I worked in all the yarn ends on two of my completed prayer shawls.

I then moved on to a few other unfinished yarn and seam sewing projects.

An infinity scarf needed seaming, a cowl needed the same thing, and a belt I knitted months back needed to have the metal loops installed and the yarn ends worked in. 

I pulled out a prayer shawl that was started in October and laid aside to finish up over the next week or so. 

Harvey finished the shelves and we have them up on the wall.

They turned out very nicely and I am glad to get them up and pictures displayed.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

While this week has not been what I would call extremely thrifty, there have been a few thrifty moments over all.

Our Christmas meal was made of mostly sale items.

We went out last night for some free entertainment. Every year for the past 4 years various companies and groups have set up light displays in our regional park. After dark we took a trip down and gazed at all the beautiful displays. No pictures this year as I forgot the camera and my phone.

Many of our meals this past week have been using up the leftovers from our Christmas meal. Still have a few that need to be used though and I am running out of ideas. Like the cranberry sauce, what on earth do I do with it?

I finished the temperature blanket today. A year of charting the temperatures here in Estevan.

A rather large blanket but one that tells a story.

I even have enough yarn from the bits and bobs I started with to make another one in 2020.

I walked a couple of mornings and enjoyed a winter wonderland.

Wishing all of you the best for the New Year. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Freezing Cold, Snowy and Winter Has Arrived

Once again it is really cold today and then later in the afternoon the snow moved in. We will definitely have a white Christmas unless some strange weather pattern moves in.

I spent the day cleaning, knitting and sewing. My crafting mojo seems to be dissipating the closer it gets to the holidays. I really need to get things done before that final week. The boys will be home and I will want to visit (though I can do so with knitting in my hands, not so much sewing).

Tomorrow is errand day so I hope that the accumulation of snow is not too great (by the end of tomorrow we are supposed to have gotten another 4 inches). I need to do a bit of travelling as I will be going to SaskTel to get a new cell phone and sign another contract (mine is done). That is all the way across town (a 5 or 6 minute drive when the roads are good, much longer if they are nasty).  So I am keeping my fingers crossed that roads are in pretty decent shape.

Once I have finished braving our roads, I plan on getting things put away, helping Harvey mount our upstairs television on the wall, finishing all the hems on my tunic top, and rethreading (as well as changing the needle to one more for sewing knits) my machine. I need to get at least three more items sewn before the week ends. Then I might just cut out a couple of other patterns that have been begging me to try them out. My stash is slowly going down and replacements are going into my closet.

Today I made it a great day.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

This has been a week of finishing up a few Christmas gifts and a couple of items for me as well. I don't have a picture of one of the items for me as it is in the basket waiting to be washed on Monday. 

This is one of the items I finally finished for myself.

Just a little shift dress to wear next spring or during cooler days in the summer.

Next are Harvey's Christmas presents this year.

Two pairs of flannelette pajama bottoms.

The BBQ apron. Perhaps his clothes will stay a bit cleaner after his episodes of being a Grill Master.

A sweater vest to ward off the chill in the basement.

I cut out lots more patterns over the last two days. I hope to be busy in the sewing/craft room until the sewing mojo disappears once again.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.