End of 2020- Our Annis Horribulus!

Well, today is the last day of 2020 here in the United States. It has been  Our own Annis Horribulus!  From worldwide Pandemics and the resulting isolation from the community to an accident involving a dog leash, a slight hill, and a less than graceful lady resulting in surgery for a broken  wrist, it's been quite a circus!

I will hopefully get my cast off this coming Tuesday.  It has been quite an eye-opening and humbling experience.  I had no idea how much I rely on my right hand for everyday living.  And I am eternally humbled by my darling husband and precious mother for their help for even the most simple things like combing my hair and cutting my food. Let's not talk about bathing and washing my hair (You are my hero, John!) This last 5 weeks in a cast have taught me to appreciate the little things!  

We had snow then other day - not much, not enough to interfere with driving on  the roads. But enough to make the view from the front pretty.

Sorry this is short...typing with a broken wrist is quite time-consuming and  bit painful....Wanted you all to know that we are wishing you a Most Happy New Year....May this next year be blessed beyond measure!

The Good News is - It's Not Covid!

 So John has been coming home from work the last week or so with a runny nose and coughs most all night long.  Naturally, I caught it from him.  Mine came on really fast and included a horrible ear ache and sore throat.  It started last Thursday night and by Saturday morning - at 5:00 a.m. (those of you who know me know that 5:00 a.m. is NOT in my normal day) I got up, got dressed and told John I needed to go to Urgent Care cause I thought I had an ear infection.  Since it's the weekend, there are no doctors available and I did not want to go thru the rest of the weekend in that kind of pain. And, on Monday morning I have a mammogram scheduled, followed by a day-long class of machine embroidery.  I honestly did not want to miss those.  So we drove the 40 miles into town to go to the nearest Urgent Care.  After some discussion and ear looking-at, and throat swabbing, and temperature-taking, the Nurse Practitioner decided to test for Covid-19.  Many of my symptoms were indicative of the Plague and she wanted to rule that out.  Let me tell you, that is NOT a pleasant test - imagine a tiny little bottle brush shoved down your nasal passage as far as it will go and then being pulled out while scraping your nose from the inside.  NOT pleasant at all.  Fortunately, she was quick and the only residual effect I had was a much more runny nose for a few minutes. They called last night and said the test came out negative.  It appears I ONLY have an ear infection - for which I am taking antibiotics and pro-biotics for the next 10 days.  And today, upon waking, I've decided I will probably survive.  I slept better last night, and most of the pain is minimal.  

With the postal system at it's lowest level of efficiency in a very many years, I have decided that I need to mail the Far-Away Christmas Parcels early...much earlier than I normally do.  So today is gift-wrapping and packaging-up so the boxes can go out tomorrow.  John is cleaning the turkey and making the cranberry relish today...I will tear the bread for the dressing and might make one of the three pies I'd committed to.  Of course, I might as well make all 3 and be done with that chore.  I'm so glad we got that extra regrigerator for the garage last year - I can store all the Thanksgiving dinner items in there without taking away the space for our normal operations here inside the house.  And it will make the day go without so much stress if I can get things done in advance.  

Our annual Knotwell Girls Cookie Day is this coming Friday.  I love that day.  We only make Sugar Cookies with sprinkles on them.  We use the recipe that was handed down from one the the girls' grandmothers.  It's a basic sugar cookie recipe and they make them really thin and cook them longer than I prefer (their mother always cooked them longer and make them almost burned on the bottom so that's the way they like them - Me?  Not so much) John like them the way his sisters do, too.  So I always save some of the dough and make them the way I want them - slightly thicker and palely done - like real sugar cookies!  They NEVER frost them, only sprinkles put on before they go into the over.  That's the way they've always done it and that's the way they will continue to do it...fine with me, we get tons of sugar cookies from just one day of cooking.  Each girl brings a batch of dough which makes about 5 dozen cookies.  And there will be 6 of us this year....that's a lot of cookies!

Shiloh turned one year old this past Thursday.  We took him to the vet for his one year check-up and they are quite pleased with his growth and development.  He went to the groomer on Wednesday.  And on Tursday, I got a text from the lady who we bought him from wishing him a Happy Birthday...wasn't that a nice thing to do! 

Ive finished two stockings since last I posted.  Neither of these are going to anyone special.  They are meant to be part of a hanging swag for the fireplace - so far I only have 5 done and want about 15 more...will work on thse as I have time.  I surely do like making these.  Without bragging, I probably have over 50 kits just waiting to be made.  All of them different, all of them depicting something that resonates with me in some way.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  More later!

Happy Halloween

 I'm not even going to mention that it's been over 6 weeks since I've last posted to the blog...We can all count and it just embarasses me to think about it.

Today is Halloween.  This day used to be frought with making sure our son had his costume and was going to be going out to trick-or-treat safely, making sure we had enough candy for the hordes, and making sure we had enough candy left over to reward us for all of the things I just mentioned.  For the last 17 years, we've not had to do any of that.  We live so far out in the country that the trick-or-treaters just don't appear.  Of course, that also means I have no legitimate excuse for buying excess candy - or candy at all!  Usually, I buy one bag of candy - making sure it's a favorite of mine - just in case someone gets lost down the gravel road and shows up.  It has never happened yet, but you never know.  

We used to have all the single sailors working with John come to our house for Halloween movies and pizza.  Their 'ticket' to the party was a bag of Halloween candy.  Most of them just loved to hand out the candy at our front door and see all the costumes - since they mostly lived in barracks, they didn't get trick-or-treaters.  I recall our last year before John retired, we had 15 sailors come for pizza and movies...each brought at least one bag of candy.  We lived in military housing that year so there were a LOT of children - A LOT!  I had bought about 5 bags of candy and with the 15 sailors bringing at least one bag, we figured we had enough. NOT.  I ended up sending a couple of the crew out to find a store to get more candy.  It was always my habit to keep a tick list of how many Trick-or-Treaters we had each year and I stopped marking the paper that year after kid #851....you read that right.....over 800 children came to our house that year.   Those sailors had so much fun handing out candy and I only needed to put pizza into the over to feed my helpers!  I don't think anyone even stopped to watch the movie that year....they were all watching out the door and on the front porch/patio to see all the kids.  And not one child - not ONE child - was rude or snotty or hateful....not one.  They ranged in age from tiny (carried in mom or dad's arms) to tall teens.  They were all polite and said thank you and were delightful to treat on Halloween. I sincerely doubt that is the case these days.  

I read this morning that Sir Sean Connery passed away overnight.  That just makes me sad.  I mean, James Bond!  I read a condolence on Facebook that said, "One ping, Vasily, Just one ping!"  That was a classic line from The Hunt for Red October.  I love that movie!  He was 90 years old.  A true Hollywood Movie Star.  Blessings to his family.  

The election is this coming Tuesday.  Regardless of the outcome, I hope people can accept it and get on with making this country stronger and respectable again.  We have become a laughing stock throughout the world and that's just humiliating.  And if the folks in Washington don't start working together for the good of the people, it's going to get worse.  And that's all I'm going to say about the political arena in the good ol' USA.

It's almost time for this little guy to make his annual appearance.  Given the current situation around the world, this made me smile.

As some of you might recall, our oldest granddaughter got married in early September.  She called me and asked me to make a Christmas stocking for her new husband like I'd done for all of the grands.  Of course, I said I'd do it.  Not a lot one won't do for a grandchild, is there?  I found a wonderful one that fit Trent perfectly.  He is an outdoorsman through and through.  So Outdoor Santa was very fitting.

After I finished his, I started another for my stash of stockings to decorate for the holidays.  Here it is.  It only had 38 pieces and took me 4 days to complete.  

Hoping to have less days between this posting and the next.  Fingers crossed!  

Thanks for stopping by.

Mid-September Wanderings

 Here we are, the middle of September.  Still mostly staying home, wearing a mask when we DO leave home.  Dreaming of traveling to visit family and friends far away.  And always, always, having the spectre of the Plague following our every move.  Hopefully, once this year has run it's 366 day course, we can find some semblance of calm and whatever normal is going to be.  

They say we will have a vaccine to treat the virus at the earliest in November...maybe by the end of the year....or February 2021. I have never been what one would call an Anti-Vaxxer...but I also do not voluntarily get in line for an injection of any kind.  Mainly cause I'm so afraid of shots!  Yes, I'm a coward....a weenie.... a baby where shots are concerned.  I've never gotten a flu shot, and only got the shot for hepatitis several years ago because I was exposed....but I don't do shots!  So I won't be getting the Corona injection when they say it's available.  They aren't doing enough testing, in my opinion, and I am uncomfortable having my family and friends just blindly go out and get in line for it when it IS available.  But the only person I have control over is myself...and I'm not getting in that line!  

We have 20 new baby chickens as of Thursday.  We had ordered them back in June during the height of the pandemic.  Usually, you can just go out to the hatchery and pick up chicks...but during the pandemic, folks were buying chickens to raise for eggs and meat because...well, think toilet paper and you will understand why they were hoarding chickens and hamburger.  Anyway, our order came up right on time and Mom and I drove out to the hatchery to pick up John's new peepers.  

It's hard to get perspective from this picture but all 20 of them fit into a small bakery box to transport home.  There are 15 assorted females and 5 Black Australops...the black ones, once they get fully feathered, look as though they are covered in oil - their feathers are shiny and pitch black.  So beautiful.  We don't know if any of those are roosters...will have to wait till they get older to tell.  We are looking for egg-layers anyway so if they are all female, that's fine with us. 

The Presidential election is coming up again and there is so much hate and discontent in this country.  I am so disturbed by the vitriol and just plain nastiness that the American people seem to ascribe to these days.  The current trend is just so Un-American, to my way of thinking.  A friend from High School (we're coming up to our 50 Year Reunion next year!) posted this and it really struck home with me....I will post for anyone who needs it...

I am going to print this out and frame it...a very good reminder for me, and anyone else.  You're welcome!

Rather than leave this as is, and have folks maybe come away on a sad or somber note, here is something to make you smile.

And I have, unfortunately, made sure furniture is in place in exactly this manner several times...Oh, my aching pinky toe!  

On that note, I will leave you till next time.  Thanks for stopping by!

End of August 2020

 This may be the end of August,  it's not the end of whatever 2020 has in store for us...I suspect we are still going to have to endure stuff at least till the end of the year, or further.  I know, it's a downer, but that's what I think.  

Right?  

We are in a bit of a drought here in the southwest portion of Missouri.  No measurable rain almost all month.  We normally don't purchase our hay for the winter until closer to October but this year, it's likely to go up in cost the longer we get into the autumn.  So we ordered the amount of hay we will need to get Belle and Rosie thru the winter and it's being delivered on Friday afternoon.  That's one more thing I can mark off my list of things to get done before winter sets in.  I think the only thing left if to order enough propane to get us thru till April...I will get that done before mid-September when the price will go up dramatically.  

The hurricane down south of us in the Gulf of Mexico might, just might, affect us a tiny bit....with some wind and much welcome rain.  We won't get the damaging surges or wind but the maps are showing Hurricane Laura has enough push to get all the way up here.  The water will be very much useful.  Mom and I were talking at lunch about the folks who are being 'brave' and not evacuating, even though the authorities are strongly urging them to do so.  The storm surge is expected to be upwards of 20 feet in some areas...thats 2 stories tall.  I don't think it's brave to stay...I think it's stupid and foolish. And I will bet good money those people will be the ones moaning and crying because they lost everything and were in danger and no one could get to them right away and "Oh, we were so scared!" Stupid, stupid, stupid!  

I've been collecting meme's for a long time...sometimes one really resonates with me - like this one.

Or this one - I must be a really creative person....My studio is rife with ideas!

We are getting a bit of rain right now.  Not a lot, but it's wet!  Honestly, it may not even stay wet on the walkways for long, but we take whatever we can get!  

I am scheduled to take a 2 days virtual embroidery class on Friday and Saturday....I did one several weeks ago and honestly, I wasn't impressed with the experience.  Am trying it once more to see if it was me or maybe it was the whole idea of the workshop with 80 people doing it all at the same time - trying to 'talk' on the chat board and ask questions and waiting for the teacher to address whatever was asked...the class is designed for the least experienced person attending and that might be the reason I had such a negative experience...I am not a novice with this type of embroidery and felt I was being 'held back'.  I ended up just working ahead and listening to the teacher jabber on ...that was a 4 hour class....I hope I can maintain for 16 hours this time.  Cross your fingers for me.....

Thanks for stopping by....be safe and well. 

Oh, Good Grief!

I just looked at the date of my last update on this blog....Where has the darned time gone?  I've been home...I haven't been sick.....I'm not traveling....and yet it's been almost 6 weeks since I last posted.  What a slug I am.  

So, let's get caught up with life at Pieceful Harbor, shall we?  

There has been a lot of sewing (machine embroidery) happening here the last few weeks.  What used to be known as the Row by Row Experiene and is now called Quilters Trek started again in late June.  Not as many shops participating this year.  There is only one shop in Scotland to account for any overseas shops.  I purchased their row, sight unseen, so we will see what it looks like when it finally arrives.  In the US and Canada, not as many shops are part of the event this year.  Only one shop near me and it's a tiny shop in a town east of us...none of the big shops in Springfield.  The theme this year is simple Blue.  I'm seeing a lot of shops returning to more traditional blocks instead of elaborate applique blocks.  Lots of pineapple blocks, and log cabin blocks, and pinwheel ones as well.  It certainly makes my budget happy since I'm not buying so many kits.  

There are, however, 9 shops in Illinois who collaborated to make a quilt with their blocks.  It is called Winter's Window and each shop designed a portion of the quilt.  It will finish out at about 54" by 54" and is blue, gray, white, and black.  It's lovely and I've gotten all the kits.  Heavily appliqued.  I have one more section to stitch down and then I can put them all together.  I want a blorder on mine so I've gotten some beautiful royal blue batik to make a 3 inch border all around and it can go to my quilter.  Will show a picture once it's done.  You are gonna love it!

I've done a couple of virtual quilt classes - I don't know if it's because I love being with people for those classes or if they are designed to address folks with fewer skills and less experience than me but I just didn't have a good time doing them.  I felt as though I was always waiting for the next thing instead of motoring along as I usually do.  Not a fan of virtual quilt/embroidery classes!  

The groomer has opened up for business again and Shiloh has already been a couple of times.  He always looks so happy once he's been to see Miss Rachelle!

Isn't he a cutie!

Saturday nites are Movie Night around here...we've done this for the last 4 years since Mom came to live with us.  Evidently, Shiloh really likes the Mission Impossible movies - or else maybe it's Tom Cruise!  Whichever it is, he sure does pay attention!

Summertime in the Ozarks is usually hot and very humid and this summer is no different.  With all the humidity, when it rains, we usually get what the weather-readers like to call Severe Weather (weatherspeak for Tornadoes).  Last night I looked out the window of the studio just before the sun set and saw this!

I walked outside the front door and saw this wall cloud - really dark and full of water - forming to the east of us.  The wind was raging like crazy and we figured we might get some of the moisture since it went all the way to the west of us as well.  Sadly, no moisture last night but this morning it rained for quite a while.  That bodes well for the second cutting of hay before the winter sets in.  We need about 20 round bales of hay to feed the cows over the winter and if hay isn't plentiful, it is so expensive.  We don't have enough acreage to grow our own hay so we must buy it and have it delivered.  Thankfully, it appears we will get it at a reasonable rate this year!

Our oldest granddaughter is getting married in 3 weeks.  Emily and her Trent will be married in Salt Lake City and live in Pocatello, Idaho where Trent has a job with the U. S. Forest Service.  Because of the current plague situation, it is not advisable for us to travel nor to bring germs back to infect mom.  So we will remain here and hope someone takes a video of the service so we can see it vicariously and at a later time.  

Am working on making aprons for the 4 young girls who will be helping at Emily's reception.  Little half aprons they can take home with them to commemorate the wedding.  Got the fabric yesterday from my daughter-in-law and need to get crackin' on them so I can mail them out in time for the wedding!  

Thanks for stopping by.

2020 is Half Over - Whew

So far, we've dodged the bullets of 2020.  No one has gotten sick - knock wood - and we still have a household income and we've not run out of meat.  I'd say we are doing pretty well this year.  Hoping the rest of the year passes just as uneventfully.

We are well and truly into Summer here in the Ozarks.  It's hot and humid and just plain miserable outside.  Last week, we were expecting rain - again - and I looked outside.  Here it is at 9:30 in the morning, almost black outside...

This picture really doesn't reflect what I saw outside...the camera lightens it up so you can see...it was so dark outside, I thought it was closer to dusk than first thing in the morning.  We had a wicked rainstorm, almost 2 inches in less than an hour.  Then the clouds moved off and we had a lovely sunshiny, humid day.  That evening, I saw this outside my studio window.

Again, you can't quite see the majesty of that cloud reflecting the sunset but, believe me, it was spectacular!  

Shiloh came out of his surgery very well.  He was a bit loopy when we brought him home that afternoon, and stepped gingerly for that evening and the next day.  After that, one would never know he'd had surgery at all.  Ah, to heal like a puppy!

Most of the time, Shiloh and the Skipper are chasing each other throughout the house....they rarely are still around each other.  But one day, I looked just past John and saw Shiloh standing in the hallway, with the Skipper winding around and around his legs and under his belly....sweet as you please.  They are a treat to watch - most of the time - and this time was certainly one of them.

Our 4th of July went quietly - well, mostly quietly - over the weekend.  If you discount the fireworks going off after dark and until well into the next day.  I got up at about 3:30 - darned bladder! - and there were still fireworks going off! We celebrated with hamburgers, pasta salad, and fresh strawberries for dinner.  Since it was a Saturday anyway, we had our usual Movie Night - the one night of the week when we three get together and spend the evening watching a movie.  We recently spent almost 5 months watching the entire Marvel Comics series in the recommended order....what a treat!  And if you haven't watched the remake of Jumanji, we highly recommend it, too.  

Our oldest granddaughter, Emily, is getting married in early September in Salt Lake City.   Somehow I am old enought to be a Grandmother-in-Law...how the heck did that happen?  We are planning to go out to the wedding - first taking Mom out to Arizona to spend some time with my brothers.  John and I have rented a car and will drive up to SLC for the wedding, drive back down to Phoenix to get Mom and fly home.  Assuming that the Plague doesn't put a spanner into that plan, of course!  While the dresscode is suits and ties for the men, it has been suggested that her Papa from Missouri might wear his dress white military uniform!  Will see if that still fits.....picture to follow if that happens! 

I saw this meme online the other day....it sums up my thinking perfectly!

Until next time. Thanks for stopping by.  

Middle June

This month is half over and going so slowly.  We started out with a sad thing...John's youngest sister suddenly passed away.  Well, she'd been in ill health for many years.  Kay evidently had a heart attack or another stroke sometime that day.  We as a family cleared out her apartment the following Saturday and have planned a small private family service at the lake in mid-July.  We will scatter her ashes at the lake and then have a family picnic to celebrate her life.  We are so grateful for the time we had with her...she was 61 years old and would constantly remind us the she was the baby of the family!  Sweet Kay, RIP.

Our outside temperatures are rising, as they do in June.  We have hit 90 degrees several times already.  The humidity is rising as well.  Another miserable summer.  Sigh!

We just received word that our oldest granddaughter is getting married in early September.  The ceremony and reception will be held at the family cabin near Sundance, Utah.  It would be a really hard trip for mom so we are taking her to Phoenix to visit with my brothers while we drive up to Utah for the wedding. After the wedding, we will drive back down to Phoenix to pick mom up and then fly home.  Not a lot of time to prepare for a wedding but since it will be a small, intimate one, they can get it done.  Emily and Trent will begin their new life in Pocatello, Idaho where he has started a new job with the U.S. Forest Service.  

Shiloh turned 6 months old in mid-May.  Last Friday he went in for a small procedure to turn him into a gentleman.  They wanted us to keep him quiet for 7-10 days - no going down the stairs to the dog run, only going outside on a lead and then coming back in after he's done his business.  Keep an eye on his incision to make sure it doesn't swell or get infected.  Well, the day of his surgery, we brouht him home about 3:00 and he was pretty loopy.  He probably was a bit sore, too.  He spent a lot of time laying on one or the other of his pads (there are 3 pads throughout the house for his reclingin pleasure - our bedroom, the great room, and my studio). He didn't really let me or John out of his sight. On Saturday, he was a bit friskier and by Sunday he was back to being his old self.  Sunday afternoon I let him out the doggy door to go down the stairs to the dog run...he never runs down anyway, always carefully making his way down and back up.  His incision is doing really well - no swelling or infection at all.  That 7-10 days restriction just didn't work for our energetic puppy - he's mostly healed already and full of 'piss and vinegar' again!   Although, sometimes he just falls asleep where he stops....

Thanks for stopping by!

June is Bustin' Out - Maybe Not All Over Yet

Our rain has finally stopped.  As of June 1st, we are 14+ inches above our annual average.  We are fortunate where we live that we don't need to worry much about flooding.  Our fields are a bit mushy but they are green and lush. The trees in our grove are starting to sprout beautiful green leaves - all the colors of green there are!  Out temperatures are finally starting to warm a bit - not too much yet.  And the humidity is still low so going outside isn't uncomfortable.  Give us another couple of weeks and we will definitely be living in the Ozarks in summer!  The humidity will skyrocket and it won't be worth it to go outside for any length of time until mid-September.  

Once we installed the storm door with the doggy door, it was clear that the cat was going to get outside.  Skipper goes outside as soon as I open it up in the morning.  He heads out to the barn to see the chickens and then sits in the sun all day till dinner time.  However, John called me out to the front porch on Sunday - it appears Skipper wanted to be higher than sitting on the front step or out in the garden....He climbed up in the elm tree in front of my studio window.  

He really likes being up high...and he seems to be able to get down all by himself as well.

My friend, Lynnie, lives in Arizona.  I met her thru the annual Row by Row event. While the event has been going on since 2011, I only started participating in 2014.  Quilt shops all over the country design a quilt row measuring either 9 x 36 or 18 inches square, or 12 x27 inches and make the pattern available for free to anyone who walks into their store and asks for it.  They make up kits for their patterns that are available for purchase as well.  From the middle of June to the first week in September, people can collect these patterns and kits and then make quilts from them.  Lynnie was part of a group on Facebook where people who were traveling would offer to pick up kits for perfect strangers and mail them to them.  The folks who wanted a kit from a specific shop would send money thru PayPal so that the buyers weren't buying out of their own pockets.  Lynnie was in Florida and was going to pick up at a specific shop that had a kit I wanted....the rest is history.  She and her husband spend each summer traveling the country, visiting family and camping in their RV.   They usually stop for a few days at a campground near us and we get together for lunch.  Last week, in spite of the pandemic, I got to meet up with her for lunch. 

Quiche, salad, fruit salad, and texas sheet cake with peanut butter frosting.  Add on some iced tea and you have a banquet.  

I've spent most of the pandemic lockdown working on machine embroidery items that I have wanted to do for a while.  Here is a little set of seasonal hangings - they only measure about 6 inches by 10 inches.  What fun to make. 

There were seasonal button that I added to each hanging.  I have a little wrought iron table hanger that these go on....

More machine embroidery - Last winter, my favorite designer came out with what they call the Bella Box.  You bought it not knowing what was inside.  It was jam packed with exclusive projects and included all you needed to complete each project.  The cost was close to $100.00 and we had to wait for almost 2 months after we ordered it before we got it.  Once it arrived, it was worth the money and the wait.  There was a small pillow, an embroidered apron, some coasters, and one other item that I can't remember now.  Along with the projects, there was a coffee mug (or hot chocolate) and a pretty little zipper bag. They put together a limited number of kits and once they were sold out, they were gone!  The announced in March that they were doing a Spring Bella Box and I jumped at the chance to get another one.  This one would be shipped in mid-May.  Mine arrived right on time and I had agreed not to open mine right away.  There were 6 of us from my favorite shop who ordered it and we agreen to all meet at the shop and open at the same time.  Mine arrived on Thursday and on Friday we all met at Shawn's Sewing Center.  We all wore our masks and sat 6 feet apart and on the count of 3 we all opened out boxes.  

Wow!  is all I can say.  They outdid themselves.  There were 7 projects with all the wherewithall to make them except for thread.   They introduced some new products that haven't even hit the stores yet....and showcased some items that are already in the product line.  I decided to work on one right away...and boy did it come out cute!  

The project itself is the little pen holder made from embroidery leather.  Made in the hoop except for actually constructing the bow.  It has elastic that goes around the journal cover so you always have a pen handy.  So Stink' Cute!  I've said before and I'll say it again, Kimberbell never disappoints!  

Thanks for stopping by! 

Even More Social Distancing

With everyone still social distancing, the days seem to meld into one another and there just isn't anything to separate them.  We get up, we eat, we watch TV, we eat, we watch some more TV, and then go to bed.  When we awake, we do it all over again.  I throw in some knitting and sewing and machine embroidery...mom throws in some reading and some online solitaire.  Mr. Wonderful is still working - he IS essential personnel! But there isn't anything to make each day special.  Probably, that's my own fault.  Whatever!  I am just getting tired of not being able to jump in the car and go to the yarn shop or Hobby Lobby or even the library.  I'm really DONE!  

Okay, rant over....breathe.....I'm almost over it.  

John and I had been talking about the idea of getting a new car.  Since he has a company vehicle and doesn't need his own anymore, we decided we would trade in his car and my car and get a new one for me. If he needed to go somewhere, he can always use the truck.  We mostly use the truck for farm hauling - feed store, lumber hauling, that kind of thing.  But it's perfectly beautiful and doesn't look like a 2005 vehicle. We both agreed that I wanted another Ford Edge...the 2008 Edge was such a great car.  It wasn't showing any signs of needing to be replaced...but we knew that we wanted to do it BEFORE we needed to do it.  Car prices continue to go up...John is still working so his income would be nice on a loan application...we decided that NOW is the time.  We found exactly the car I wanted - 2020 Ford Edge Titanium in Starry White....so many excellent features that I wanted (backup camera, bluetooth phone, foot-activated rear liftgate) and even more that I didn't know I wanted till I got them.  Took us about an hour to decide we wanted the car.  Went home, John made arrangements for the loan, That was Friday the 8th of May.  We got the check on Tuesday the 12th and picked up the car on Friday the 15th. I just can not get over how fast it happened and what a lovely vehicle it is.  

I have not only the backup camera, foot-activated rear liftgage, bluetooth phone, and water sensing front window wipers.  I also have blindspot alarm, remote starting, electric seats for both driver and passenger, seat position memory settings for 3 different drivers, and driver lane alarm and correction.  I'm sure there is probably a door with warm chocolate chip cookies and another with cold milk somewhere in there but I just haven't found it.  Here is a picture I snapped of my new car, which I've named Sparkle!

I'm sure I won't be over the initial love affair anytime soon...you will hear more about her.

Today is our youngest grandson's birthday.  He is 10 years old today.  He is smart, funny, loves Legos and sciencey stuff.  He never hesitates to tell folks how important they are to him (like his grandparents!!!) and has a wicked sense of humor and the quickest wit that I've seen in a very long time.  Deadpan and hyterically funny.  What's more, he is kind and compassionate and an all-around really nice person.  We love you, Big H.....happy birthday from Nana and Papa. 

Missouri is slowly opening up after nearly 8 weeks being closed.  Not everything is open but things are starting to open up.  Hair salons and nail salons, restaurants, bowling alleys, but not bars, concert halls, music venues, or movie theaters.  We took mom out to dinner the first night our one and only restaurant opened to the public.  All of the servers wore masks and gloves.  Only half of the tables were available to the customers.  But I was still uncomfortable having mom out in public.  I've taken her out a couple more times but each time I've just not been totally at ease.  I don't mind taking her with me if I need to go to the store - she sits in the car and reads a book while I'm getting what I need...at least she has a change of scenery and some fresh air.  Until things settle down a bit more, the picture below is still my mantra:

My favorite yarns shop recently posted some new items they'd put in stock...I could NOT resist these awesome stitch markers.

Bottom middle is my favorite! 

Hoping anyone reading this is safe and well and healthy.  It's becoming a dreaded cliche, but we ARE all in this together and we will ALL get thru it together.  There will be no new normal, nor a before normal...we can all decide what normal is for each of us.  

Thanks for stopping by....See you soon!

Still Social Distancing

Honestly, I'm getting really tired of social distancing.  I realize, I'm not the only one.  I thought being a mostly introverted, hermit-like person, I wouldn't have a problem spending lots and lots of days at home, away from the human race.  I find that, for the most part, that's true.  However, I also find that there are times that I crave human contact. Forced hibernation is no longer working for me.  

I have had to change my thinking regarding shopping.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love shopping via the internet so I don't have to deal with crowds and traffic.  I love nothing better than ordering from a shop and having them deliver a few days later to my home.  BUT, I draw the line at groceries.  I just don't want anyone else picking out my fresh veggies.  I want to do that myself. Before the Plague made its way around the world, I would decide what I wanted to make for dinner and if we didn't have all the ingredients, I'd hop in the car and go get them....along with other stuff, of course.  NOW, however, I have a different mindset.  Now, I figure out what we have and when I can make using those items.  If there is something that I'd like to make, and we don't have all the ingredients, the items go on the shopping list for when we DO go to the shops.  We try to go food shopping only once a week or every 10 days-ish if we can.  That seems to be working for me at this time..not that I could change it if I could.  The less often I shop for groceries, the less money I spend.  

We got a new storm door for the back deck recently. It has a doggy door.  Shiloh only took less than a day to figure out how to go out and come in all by himself.  Unfortunatley, so did Skipper!  I think Skipper figured it out first.  

Can you see that black smudge just under Shiloh's belly?  That's Skipper outside on the deck.  Just after this picture was snapped, Skipper jumped inside right under Shiloh's tummy.  Shiloh turned around and came right back in.  At least now I don't have to get up and go out to let him out every time he rings his chimes....I've taken those things down and the door stays open all day.  In, Out, In, Out.....you get the picture, I'm sure.  Skipper is spending almost all day out on the deck, or going down the stairs to explore the great outside...John said he found the barn.  I'm just hoping he doesn't start a fight with the neighbor cat.  Well, we will see how this goes.  

Shiloh is growing so fast.  He turned 5 months old last week.  He's so stinkin' smart.  He learned to sit in about an hour. He learned to shake on the second try.  He learned how to go in and out the doggy door in less than a day.  He's sweet-tempered, too.  And playful.  He never carried just one toy around with him...almost always has two toys in his mouth at the same time.  I got a photo - a bit blurry cause he was, as usual, in motion.

The blue ball has 'holes' so he can grab it with his teeth and still hold the little green one in his mouth.  He's a pip!

I spent a lot of last week using my embroidery machine.  Here is one item I made....it's a small hanging.  

It measures about 6 inches by 9 inches and I've hung it on a wrought iron hanger that sits on a table.  A welcome sign of Spring.  I have patterns for the other 3 seasons and will get them done soon.  I also made a banner for the front entry. Another welcome sign for Spring. 

I spent yesterday working on a couple of quilted items.  Can't show them yet cause they aren't done.  I will definitely show them next time.

Hoping you are all well and safe.  Maybe by the next time I post, we will have relaxed the Stay at Home orders and social distancing a bit.  I am not advocating relaxation till it is safe to do so.  But I sure do miss some of my former activities - like going to Shawn's Sewing Center and working on projects all day with my friends around, listening to women talking and solving the problems of the world.  Or stopping at a store that I see while in town just because I haven't been in there for some time to see what they have new.  I will say, the Plague has saved us a bit of money, now that I'm not stopping at stores willy-nilly.  

Please be safe and well. Thanks for stopping by.

Still Social Distancing

Honestly, I'm getting really tired of social distancing.  I realize, I'm not the only one.  I thought being a mostly introverted, hermit-like person, I wouldn't have a problem spending lots and lots of days at home, away from the human race.  I find that, for the most part, that's true.  However, I also find that there are times that I crave human contact. Forced hibernation is no longer working for me.  

I have had to change my thinking regarding shopping.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love shopping via the internet so I don't have to deal with crowds and traffic.  I love nothing better than ordering from a shop and having them deliver a few days later to my home.  BUT, I draw the line at groceries.  I just don't want anyone else picking out my fresh veggies.  I want to do that myself. Before the Plague made its way around the world, I would decide what I wanted to make for dinner and if we didn't have all the ingredients, I'd hop in the car and go get them....along with other stuff, of course.  NOW, however, I have a different mindset.  Now, I figure out what we have and when I can make using those items.  If there is something that I'd like to make, and we don't have all the ingredients, the items go on the shopping list for when we DO go to the shops.  We try to go food shopping only once a week or every 10 days-ish if we can.  That seems to be working for me at this time..not that I could change it if I could.  The less often I shop for groceries, the less money I spend.  

We got a new storm door for the back deck recently. It has a doggy door.  Shiloh only took less than a day to figure out how to go out and come in all by himself.  Unfortunatley, so did Skipper!  I think Skipper figured it out first.  

Can you see that black smudge just under Shiloh's belly?  That's Skipper outside on the deck.  Just after this picture was snapped, Skipper jumped inside right under Shiloh's tummy.  Shiloh turned around and came right back in.  At least now I don't have to get up and go out to let him out every time he rings his chimes....I've taken those things down and the door stays open all day.  In, Out, In, Out.....you get the picture, I'm sure.  Skipper is spending almost all day out on the deck, or going down the stairs to explore the great outside...John said he found the barn.  I'm just hoping he doesn't start a fight with the neighbor cat.  Well, we will see how this goes.  

Shiloh is growing so fast.  He turned 5 months old last week.  He's so stinkin' smart.  He learned to sit in about an hour. He learned to shake on the second try.  He learned how to go in and out the doggy door in less than a day.  He's sweet-tempered, too.  And playful.  He never carried just one toy around with him...almost always has two toys in his mouth at the same time.  I got a photo - a bit blurry cause he was, as usual, in motion.

The blue ball has 'holes' so he can grab it with his teeth and still hold the little green one in his mouth.  He's a pip!

I spent a lot of last week using my embroidery machine.  Here is one item I made....it's a small hanging.  

It measures about 6 inches by 9 inches and I've hung it on a wrought iron hanger that sits on a table.  A welcome sign of Spring.  I have patterns for the other 3 seasons and will get them done soon.  I also made a banner for the front entry. Another welcome sign for Spring. 

I spent yesterday working on a couple of quilted items.  Can't show them yet cause they aren't done.  I will definitely show them next time.

Hoping you are all well and safe.  Maybe by the next time I post, we will have relaxed the Stay at Home orders and social distancing a bit.  I am not advocating relaxation till it is safe to do so.  But I sure do miss some of my former activities - like going to Shawn's Sewing Center and working on projects all day with my friends around, listening to women talking and solving the problems of the world.  Or stopping at a store that I see while in town just because I haven't been in there for some time to see what they have new.  I will say, the Plague has saved us a bit of money, now that I'm not stopping at stores willy-nilly.  

Please be safe and well. Thanks for stopping by.

Easter Season

Today is the day before Easter Sunday.  I don't know of any church in this country that will be holding Easter Services.  However, a lot of them are holding Easter Sunrise Services using YouTube and other media devices.  Our nephew, Thom, is the pastor of a church in Iowa and he has been posting some short daily messages on a YouTube channel.  While we are not of the same faith as he, his messages are so informative and comforting, I look forward to hearing them every day.  If you go to YouTube.com and type in Thom Bryant, you will find a plethora of his 'sermons'. 

I seem to be seeing so many 'memes' on social media...a lot of them are funny, some are apropos of the time.  Here are a couple to help you thru the "Emergency" as they call it in Ireland (or so my friend tells me).  

       

I never thought much about the idea that we are all in shock.  Shock that our world has changed so much and so quickly.  Here's another idea - colroing books or even coloring pages downloaded from the internet.  Use crayons or colored pencils or pens.....I even found a set of recipe cards that lend themselves to coloring.  Might need to get those down and de-stress.

For funny, here are two that struck me.

Sadly, this one is rather true in a lot of cases.  The longer we ignore the stay at home orders, the longer it will take to flatten the curve. Only then will we be able to resume whatever we call normal.  Although, they are saying that our normal before wasn't working (obviously) and we now have an opportunity to carve out a new normal, one that might actually include leisure time, and spending time with family, and reading, and crafting, and gardening, and, yes, even praying! Write letters to friends and family.  Send cards with only your name if you don't like writing long letters.  Make time for yourself, as well.  We all need time for ourselves.  

I want to wish all of the readers of the blog a most Happy Easter and a healthy rest of the year and beyond.  You all really do matter to me.  I don't even know everyone who reads this cause you don't leave notes - and that's ok.  Just know that I value every single one of you.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Just Keeping on...

Well, it's been about 2 weeks...we are still social distancing.  I leave the house only to go to the market, about once a week.  John is, of course, still considered essential so he's going to work every day.  I'm not happy about that but he is being careful.  His temp is taken each day before he enters the hospital and he really doesn't have any contact with anyone who might be sick.  Mom is being really good about being kept inside the house. I took her for a ride yesterday but didn't let her out of the car.  We drove thru Braum's and got ice cream sundaes then ate them while parked in the parking lot.

It has been reported that the US was more prepared for the pandemic than a lot of other countries...yet we are still seeing so many cases and deaths.  I know that we are doing all we can to 'flatten the curve' here.  But there are so many people who are just not getting that it takes everyone participating to be successful in the shortest amount of time.  The longer it takes for everyone to stay at home, the longer the quarantines will last!  

I was able to finish my Round 1 socks for Sock Madness 14 and get accepted into the next round.  I admit I really don't care for colorwork, and these were a trial for me.  And I had to perform some sock surgery before they were finally accepted by the moderators.  But they are done and that's all that counts.

The legs on this pair are almost 9 inches long...not quite knee highs but definitely longer than normal.  The round ends early Thursday so I only have a few days before the next round begins...hopefully no colorwork this time.  I'm on a faster team than I've ever been on before so we will have to see if I go further than Round 2.  I'll keep you up to speed.  Promise.

A cuteness picture...no explanation necessary.

He's over 4 months old now and quite cute.  His feathers are coming in on his belly, ears, tail and butt.  And he's so smart!  My buddy in the studio during this time of quarantine!  

Thanks for stopping by. Be safe. Stay Home!