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.

Midweek And No Panic This Month

 It has been a lovely month. The beginning of the month was pretty warm, though it did cool off over Thanksgiving. It then seemed that the temperature went up and down. We had rain with the threat of snow that did not arrive, and lots of wind. 

A month to begin the nesting process, which has been moving along now that my arm is so much better. Yes, finally in the last week and a bit I have gained all the motion back, but will have to work on building up some strength in the wrist, hand and arm once again. It is lovely not to have to call Harvey to bring up the clean clothes, or open a can for me. I can even use a pen a bit better (well when the trigger finger does not act up). 

Since I have been staying home more I am managing to get more done. My hall is clean and tidy, the area around my desk is the same (the desk top is the neatest it has been in years) and I have started on straightening out my pantry a bit. Today I filled containers and over the next few weeks I hope to continue that process. A jar takes up way less room than a bag and has the added benefit of me being able to see what I have. I worked on the pasta cupboard and the baking cupboards today, and while there is more to be done things do look much better. 

I have even kept up with my goals and projects for this month and it actually looks like I will get them all done. Knock on wood. Got the pajama bottoms cut out and may even work on getting them sewn before next month. Well that is if my sewing machine decides to behave. I may be pulling the other one out to use. I am thankful every day that I have the number of machines I do.

Made my list of projects/goals for next month and will share them with you now.

1.  Sew pajama bottoms.

2.  Weave Kurt's rug.

3.  Sew rubber backing on the rugs to keep them from slipping.

4.  Knit some mitts.

5.  Embroider another block.

6.  Make spice/soup mixes for the baskets.

7.  Bake for Christmas.

8.  Stock up where possible.

9.  Keep on decluttering.

I plan on staying home much more this upcoming month, and so things should be completed. Many of my goals and projects are one day or less to do. 

I am hoping to stock up a great deal more, just in case we get a really nasty winter and take advantage of hopefully lower prices before the new tariffs hit.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

The temperature fell drastically overnight, but seems to have warmed up some. The predictions have changed and our really cold weather will hit this weekend. Glad to have a nice warm home to curl up in, though I worry about those who are homeless these are killing temperatures.

Not much happening today. I did get a few things done, no baking/candy making as of yet, but will hopefully get something done after supper. My cabbage bread/bun day will be on Friday so I will need to remember to get the ingredients out and thawing overnight. 

I did work the yarn ends into the blanket and that has been folded and put away. Started on the first pair of mitts. I am using a chunky yarn so have had to change the stitch numbers a bit or they would be way too large for anyone. I hope to have enough to do the two pairs of mitts and will use a worsted weight to make the toques. Slowly but surely those baskets are filling up. 

Managed to take down most of the old sound system by myself. Tomorrow when we go out to look at dining room tables and chairs we will drop it at the electrical drop off at our nearest Sarcan. There is still one piece left to remove, but I need help with that. I did undo one cord from the TV that I shouldn't have, but got that found and the TV back up and running. A bit scary there for awhile until I figured out what I did wrong. 

Cleaned the bookcase beside the desk, stripped the bedding and put on fresh, swept the floors, folded the clothes from the lines downstairs, and a few other small things to keep the house running smoothly. I hope to just have very basic cleaning once the sons are home and the guests arrive Christmas day.

Plans are afoot to put up the basement tree this Sunday. I will then know how many ornaments are available for this new tree and if I will need to fashion some more. 

Off to get the casserole in the oven and then visit with all of you.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Back To As Normal As Things Get

 

My house and yard is finally my own once again, but it has taken me awhile to get back to normal (if it really ever is normal) here on the old homestead.

Lots of washing of sheets, remaking beds, and gathering leftovers to be used in upcoming meals. Seems like I will not really be sticking to my planned menus for the rest of this week.

Harvesting is started once again, mostly cucumbers and herbs, slowly but surely I am catching up. Getting some projects completed and some started now. I am also making room in the sewing/craft room for the loom and stand once I need to put it away for awhile.

Shopping went well and I am hopefully going to be under budget for the month to make up for last month's overspending. I am stretching everything and substituting where ever possible.

I hope to make all my salves (except for the lavender) this month. Lemon balm salve was made today and plantain will be made tomorrow. 

So happy that I no longer have to go to my friends and water her plants, they are back from their vacation now. Between keeping her flowers and garden watered and my garden/flowers watered as well as the herbs harvested my mornings were pretty much shot. Now at least I can work on some preserving without interruption (had to go very early in the morning when we had company). 

I spent some of my allowance on some lights to fit into the small canning jars (pints) for outside. That is when Harvey discovered that someone at our neighbour's hit the last post in our fence. Now he is trying to figure out how to fix it without too much work and he wonders if he has another treated post to use. He does have the cement which will be a good savings. Those bags cost quite a bit. 

Still trying to use appliances to cut down on electrical costs, and I am happy to report our gas bill was down for last month (we pay it this month). Still the electric bill will probably be a bit higher over the next few months due to the heat. 

I finished the woven scarf and it is now washed, blocked and drying. I am now working on finishing the quilt for outside and of course the mitten knitting is still happening. 

I should be finished this size in a couple of days, sewing will take a couple of days, and then I will begin the smaller size. I plan on making the same number of mitts for this size as well. Kurt's school should be well supplied.

Life is moving along and I want to get as much done as is possible before Christmas, and Christmas is coming up much too quickly for my peace of mind.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

P.S.

I know I promised pictures and will get some posted very soon.

Sunday Ramblings

 

Not so much a post about thoughts and various ramblings. Instead we assembled the loom today. It went together very easily, the directions were pretty good, except in one place. But Harvey figured it out. 

So here is the monster that I purchased.

A rather large monster, that will probably draw me in for a number of months. I know I will need to make some strict guidelines so that I can get my other projects done as well.

Most of today I have spent knitting mitts and watching warping videos. I am hoping to get it warped tomorrow (which from the looks of it will take quite awhile). Weaving will start on Tuesday for a couple of hours hopefully.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monthly Goal Update

 

First off what did I manage to get completed in May.

1.  Work on cross stitch angel. Nothing done on this just too rainy and dismal. 

2. Copy 14 recipes from those we have tried and loved. Done

3.  Finish binding on baby quilt. Done

4.  Sew sun dress. Done

5.  Cut out purses (can't find anything I really like so will try to make a couple of my own). Done

6.  Plant perennial bulbs. Done

7.  Hem and hang curtains. Actually pretty much done. Done

8.  Make another quilt flimsy. Done

9.  Cut and sew infinity scarves for silent auction.10. Sew purses. Done

11.  Wash winter coats. Done

12.  Plant outside flowers, herbs and veggies. Done

13.  Try and use appliances for cooking much more than I do. Done

Not too bad. I even managed to knit another tank top for the summer.

Here are a few photos of what was completed.

This month there will be fewer projects on my list.

1.  Set up the loom.

2.  Warp the loom.

3.  Start an easy weaving project (probably a scarf or some placemats).

4.  Knit 25 pairs of mittens.

5.  Weed the perennial bed at least twice.

6.  Water outside plants.

7.  Get the fertilizer spikes into the lemon tree pots.

8. Cross stitch on the angel.

Wish me luck as I am not too sure about the weaving portion of these projects. We are going to start (notice I say start) putting the loom together tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well and we can get it all together in one day. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits

 

We have had a very lovely day. So hope that this weather continues as it could mean setting up our outdoor furniture can take place very, very soon. It could also mean that we can do some spring clean up in the yard. It definitely needs it, lots of small sticks down from our windy weather. 

I promised you some pictures of what I managed to get done project wise. Of course I also need to catch you all up on my projects/goals for this month as well.

One of the two lapghans I made. The other is a light blue.

Two Rhubarb sponge pies to have over the Easter holiday.

The start of the first tank top. I am up to the arm holes now on the back.

The shorts and matching top I had cut out.

The sandwiched baby quilt.

Even though I did not get much done on the cross stitch, I thought I should have a picture for comparison over the next months.

I didn't get pictures of the recipe cards but I did get 14 more of the recipes we love done. 

1.  Copy 14 tried and true recipes and get them in the album.

2.  Work on cross stitch.

3.  Sew shorts.

4.  Sew top.

5.  Cut out a summer tank dress.

6.  Quilt the baby quilt.

7.  Start knit tank top.

8.  Shred papers.

9.  Make an appointment with my prayer partner.

10. Go to the accountant.

11. Transfer fall/winter and spring/summer wardrobes.

As you can see some are very simple and will only take a short time. Others of course will take a bit longer. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can get through them all again this month.

I should probably add clean up the yard and set up the outdoor furniture. Yet I am worried that we could in fact get more snow and that could cause problems with the furniture.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Happy Easter

 

It has been a quiet day here today. Kris left for home this morning and because of this we had our Easter meal last night. Wish Kris could have stayed one more day, but he had lots of laundry to get done, and he had some other plans that needed done before he works again on Tuesday. Of course I sent Kris home with a care package. He took home one of the packages of summer sausage lunch meat, an Eggplant Parma, a container of Potato Soup, some leftover frozen ham, 6 homemade buns, a jar each of mint jelly and tomato jam. Wish it could have been more, but we will be going up again next month so who knows what I will be able to share with him. 

I did up our spending for the month and while some lines were over, many were under. So that enabled us to be under total budget for the month. I really hope to be even further under the month of April, and keeping my fingers crossed that I can get a better handle on groceries and the cost of replacing items in this house. Seems our front door knob is worn out, which is not a great thing really as replacements are quite expensive. 

As it is the end of the month I guess it is time to fill all in on what projects I have managed to complete or am still working on.

1.  Cross stitch. Working on this and will continue next month. I hope to have a picture soon to show all you how much this has progressed. Right now not a great deal as so many daysD this month were cloudy.

2.  Sandwich the quilt. Done

3.  Knit first lapghan. Done

4.  Start second lapghan. Actually completely finished this month as well.

5.  Organize and make pantry book. Done

6.  Do up freezer inventories. Upright freezer completed, but not the chest freezer as of yet. I decided I needed to clear some items out before making the inventory.

7.  Copy up to 14 recipes on cards that we enjoy. Done

8.  Cut out shorts. Done

9.  Cut out top. Done

10.  Organize freezers. The upright is done, but not the chest freezer. 

So not too bad, but I could have gotten a bit more done if only I was more on the ball at using items of veggies, fruits and baking that are stored in the chest freezer. 

I have next month's goals ready to go and will share them with you all in another post. I also need to take a few more photo's of the finished projects. I will share with you all on Tuesday.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Last Midweek Of The Month

 

, 

Well, I did not get all my projects finished this month. I did make a good dent in them though.

The ones I didn't finish are much easier to post than those I did. I did not finish my block of embroidery (though over the last week, what with the sunshine I made very good progress) and I did not get the cough drops made. 

We are supposed to have a good amount of snow hit us on the 7th of February, so that looks like a good day to stay home and get hopefully many small projects listed for the month completed.

Thought I would share my list of goals and projects for February with you.

1.  Finish the block of embroidery and start another.

2.  Sew the dress I cut out.

3.  Cut the strips I will use for the sashing on the baby quilt flimsy.

4.  Cut out skirt.

5.  Sew skirt.

6.  Try one downloaded free embroidery pattern.

7.  Finish the sweater I am knitting.

8.  Use appliances to cook more meals.

9.  Pull yarn for my next knitting projects.

10.  Knit some mug cozies for the silent auction.

11.  Cut out and sew 2 aprons.

12.  Fix chair cushions. 

Many will only take an hour or two of concentration. I hope to be finished all of them by the end of the month. We shall see how I manage to get everything completed or at least the majority of them. Would really like a month where there was no carry over for a change.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Mid Week, Oh My

 

We missed the rain that Regina got, or at least I think so and so I went for a bit of a walk this morning. I am hopeful that all the ice will be gone from the roads very soon. In looking ahead at the weather forecast...the snow/rain mix for next week that was predicted is no longer there. Really great, especially as it was supposed to occur the day before we need to travel for my specialist appointment. 

I got the outsides of my kitchen cupboards washed with Murphy's Oil Soap and oiled with Lemon Oil. They look so nice and shiny now. I really need to do that a bit more often. 

I also got many of the pictures from my phone moved over to the computer. Still have a few to do, but I will get more moved tomorrow.

This is the Prayer shawl/blanket I have been working on for one of Kurt's good friends. I have actually become a friend of hers as well. In fact I may have adopted her. She is a wonderful artist, very talented, and is struggling with quite a few health issues. I will be mailing it up to Kurt to give to her early next week.

Now I think I mentioned how I seemed to have inherited all Mom's crafty things when she left us many years ago. I don't often do stamped embroidery, unless it is something she left. I actually finished off a set of sugar bag dishtowels for my niece for a shower gift that Mom had started. I have done a few tablecloths which I use regularly and a couple of dresser scarves. This week I decided to see what was left in the box. 

I pulled out what I thought was two sets of quilt blocks. Well, it turned out to be three sets!!! I decided that perhaps I should work on these. So, I cut apart one set of 15 and started to embroider today.

This is how far I have gotten.

This is going to be a great deal of work, but on cloudy days should keep me occupied. I believe that Mom was going to do them and get me to make three different quilts. At the time there

were only three other females in the family. My sister, her daughter and myself. I am not sure who to give them to now as my brother has three daughters. I will just have to think about that a bit more. 

I will also consider this a bit of decluttering and using things up in the sewing/craft room. Something that is definitely needed at this point in time.

There is another set of different quilt blocks in the box as well as a couple of dresser scarves and I think enough sugar bags to do at least 5 sets of dish towels. Could keep me busy for a very long time. I don't do hand embroidery as quickly as I used to. 

Still using items up from the fridge freezer and the chest freezer. Today I am making a curry and am using up a package of frozen tomatoes, the leftover chicken that I didn't use yesterday, and some tortillas that have been in the fridge freezer for awhile. My curry will be going into a wrap kind of thing. Served with the leftover salad it should fill us up nicely

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

Saturday Roundup

 

Due to the rather warm weather this week, the few tornado warnings and last nights downpour, I have spent most of the time other than the early morning inside. 

This did help me to get a few projects completed, and a pretty decent start on a few more. 

The first worsted weight blanket is done, and I actually started the second. I figured I needed something rather mindless to do at night. So here that is.

This is actually a deeper purple so why the photo is blue is beyond me.

I even managed to finish the knitted purse in record time.

Lined and ready to mail to my great niece early next week.

I started the embroidered tablecloth and work on this in the afternoons. It will take awhile, but at least I have started this after months of putting it aside.

Then this morning I started my brick quilt.

Only three strips put together, but I am loving how it is turning out. Should be fairly easy to quilt by hand as well. This will be worked on for an hour or so each morning in the sewing/craft room as that is when the light is just perfect. I figure the flimsy (is that the correct term?) will be done in a couple of weeks.

Early morning is when I headed out to pick herbs for dehydrating, and a few things that were ready in the garden. I did pick what was probably the last of the rhubarb for the season, but also managed to get

lettuce, and 

cucumbers. 

So that has been my week so far. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Tidbits and Stuff

 It is the end of the month and time to fess up on what I got done and what I didn't get done as far as projects.

1.  Shop for flowers and plants (going to be awhile as it is darn cool out still). Done

2.  Paint outdoor bench. Done, and I even managed to get the wooden chairs painted as well.

3.  Plant flowers. Done

4.  Knit baby blanket. Not done.

5.  Cut out skirt and sew. Done

6.  Cut out pants and sew. Done

7.  Make cover for my egg chair. Not done

8.  Knit first blanket using leftover super bulky yarn. Done

9.  Knit two small ponchos for the silent auction. One poncho made, the second on my needles right now. I did knit a kind of shrug as it turned out there wasn't enough for the second poncho.

10. Work on cross stitch. Not done since it has been cloudy most days here this month.

11.  Make cushion for outdoor rocker. Done

12.  Move wardrobe around to see what if anything I need for summer/spring. Done.

Took me a while but I got rid of most of the yellow background behind my typing. Blogger drives me a bit nuts at times.

I hope tomorrow to have some pictures of some of the finished products. As usual some of the projects this month will be carried over to next month. Hopefully now that the flowers are in I will have a bit more time.

Here are the list of projects for June.

1.  Keep the gardens weeded.

2.  Hang my yarn wreath.

3.  Knit 2 ponchos.

4.  Knit the baby blanket.

5.  Finish the table cloth.

6.  Cut out 1 pair of shorts and one summer dress.

7.  Start on strip quilt.

8.  Start knitting another use up the leftovers blanket.

9.  Work on cross stitch.

Hopefully I can manage those projects. Some just need to be started and I will need to remind myself of that fact.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Mixing Things Up a Bit

 As I felt so terrible last week I could be nothing but thrifty which is always a good thing. I thought that perhaps I would play a bit of catch up and let you all know about the projects I managed to complete for last month and even got a start of sorts on this months (which I will need to list). 

April's challenges first.

1.  Sew hot pads. Done

2.  Cut out and sew knit dress.  Done

3.  Make embroidered table cloth.  Started and hope to finish this month

4.  Knit two scarves.  Done

5.  Make coasters.  Done

6.  Continue working on angel cross stitch.  Because of the cloudy and miserable days I could only work on this two afternoons.

7.  Knit two pairs of socks.  Done

8.  Embroider two napkins.  Done

I really didn't do too badly over all. I do wish I had gotten to work on my cross stitch a bit more.

Here are some pictures of those projects.

I would put a picture of my finished dress up, but for some reason the computer will not allow me to turn it from one direction to another. 

Now on to the projects for this month of May. Some I have already started. Not much else to do when a person gets tired out before the evening falls, or needs to take rests between projects.

1.  Shop for flowers and plants (going to be awhile as it is darn cool out still).

2.  Paint outdoor bench.

3.  Plant flowers.

4.  Knit baby blanket.

5.  Cut out skirt and sew.

6.  Cut out pants and sew.

7.  Make cover for my egg chair.

8.  Knit first blanket using leftover super bulky yarn.

9.  Knit two small ponchos for the silent auction.

10. Work on cross stitch.

11.  Make cushion for outdoor rocker.

12.  Move wardrobe around to see what if anything I need for summer/spring.

I was going to scrape and paint the deck, but now that the furniture is all set up I think I might wait until the cooler fall weather. I also think I just might tire myself out a bit too much if I take that on right now. Not sure if we even have the correct stain in the basement.

I went shopping on Thursday and got faint. I barely made it out to the car and home. Then it was just snuggle in my chair and rest for pretty much the rest of the day.

Then on Saturday the United Church here in the city finally had their Fabric Sale. I went first thing so it wasn't crowded and worked quickly. I managed to come home with these finds.

Fabric for sleep pants for Christmas, fabric for winter skirt making (or perhaps a jumper), fabric for the Christmas tree skirt, and fabric for a couple of tops. All for about 1/4 of what I would have paid in a store. I could have bought more, but decided to leave fabric for others.

Off to get supper and then I hope to be able to make it to visit all of you tonight.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.