Crochet Time

It is slowly warming up. Thursday even the wind chill temperature was above zero for a while. I get out when I need to, appointments, groceries, trivia and the like. Must go out pretty much every day to refill bird feeders and water bath. Those little guys eat a lot during the cold. 

My family is scattered and they managed to get the big snow storm last week while I was in the cold. Grew up in snowy Wisconsin, so they know how to shovel and clear snow. Thankfully they didn't get ice or lose power during the storm either. Only thing is that they don't have the equipment to plow every street so the side streets are a mess until it melts. 

 I wish that could be true, but it is a nice thought. Plus as I get older I do enjoy just being at home. 

I sent an email to the food pantry director asking to drop off the blankets I have made since September. With the cold weather they might come in handy for someone. Hopefully I can drop them off next week sometime.  

Lots to keep me busy including the crochet projects. This one is made from Red Heart Yarn, color is Jeweltone. Nice bright stripey for a cheerful lap full of yarn. Like most of these stripey things I don't overly worry about keeping the color rotation intact if I switch from one skein to the next.  

 

Happy Weekend 

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

While it is still cold, below typical temperatures, it isn't as cold as it was last week. Still colder than I prefer for my old bones so hoping it gets warmer soon, at least back to more typical normal temperatures. The only good thing is that when it get this cold we get very little snow or that snow is super light and fluffy. 

In spite of the cold we met for trivia on Monday, did OK with one of our better scoring games. However we still ended up in third place out of four teams. Point spread between first and last place was only nine points. We had a sub moderator again, our regular person will be back next time. 

Since we had paid our entry fee for the trivia last time they held on to the cash and we didn't have to repay. It's only $1 per person to play.  

Our favorite wait staff person was on duty, we could catch up with what he was doing since Christmas, including a hunting trip to Texas and ice fishing in northern Wisconsin. School is back in session for him, so he is busy. 

The restaurant has a special menu for Mardi Gras season. Gumbo, jambalaya, po' boy and our favorite beignets. We had two orders of beignets, oh so good and gooey. This seasonal menu lasts through actual Mardi Gras, then they will switch to a St. Patrick's for a month.  

Affairs of Steak installment of the White House Chef mysteries. Due to staff being unavailable, Ollie is assigned to help plan an off-site party for the Secretary of State. A couple of dead bodies that have links to the White House are found at one of the possible locations. Lots of twists and turns to find the who done it. 

Ambition is an eight part series that has to do with equestrian eventing, horse farms, and romance. I read the last chapter of the book, didn't really care about it and my library only has the first two books. So why really get into the story I won't know the end!

The Price of Power a biography of Senator Mitch McConnell. I was primarily interested in his early life and early career. I'm old enough to have lived through his life during the last few decades. This is an authorized biography, author was given access to the subject, friends and documents. 

The Elements of Marie Curie a lovely biography of Marie Curie. She was a pioneer for women in science and a mentor to many. She was the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize shared with her husband in Physics in 1903. Then in 1911 she won another Nobel in Chemistry. First woman to receive a Nobel and the first two win two! Also the only person to be awarded Nobel's in two distinct sciences. 

 

Or prevent frost bite! Stay inside, be warm, be cool, be safe. Enjoy. 

 

 Happy Reading 

Crochet Time

Hello from the deep freeze. Staying in, staying warm. Have the shades and drapes on some windows closed to keep the cold from radiating in to the room. One thing when it gets this cold we do have sunshine, so windows that allow sun in are open while the sun is out. The worst of the cold snap will be done by Monday. I do have places to go on Monday. 

This week's blanket is made from Big Twist color Spa Stripe. Nice mix of blues, green and gray. 

I've been considering taking the blankets I have completed over to the food pantry so they can be given out to those who need them. That will free up storage area for the blankets still to be made. Crochet season will last until at least April. Unless we get a huge heat wave in early spring which isn't likely. 

Same applies with yarn. The entire house is not completely full of yarn. It is controlled to a few shelves in one closet. So not an addict. 

 

Happy Weekend. Stay warm, stay safe. 

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

Middle of January, our typically coldest time of the year and yes, it is being rather cold these days. Thursday night into Saturday may bring our lowest actual air temperatures and wind chills in the danger zone. I will be staying in and keeping warm.  

A few errands and tasks to get done on Wednesday and Thursday while it is still decent. Hair cut, monthly fill of the gas tank on the car and pick up the last of the books from the library.  

Buffalo West Wing - next installment of the White House Chef mysteries. The staff is adjusting to a new First Family and they are adjusting to life in the White House. The family decides to bring in their family chef to handle their meals, but he thinks he is getting the top chef job, causing tension in the kitchen. Plus someone brought in outside prepared chicken wings which get eaten by the staff and not the family. The staff gets sick. Who brought the food in and exactly what made everyone sick? 

Giant Love - is a book about the author, book and movie Giant written by Edna Ferber. Author is Ferber's great niece. Combines the earlier life of Ferber, her researching and writing of the book and then the movie. The movie is known for containing the final acting of James Dean who was killed late in the making of the movie. 

Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words - an extensive biography of Ira, the man who can be credited with many of the works that are now considered the American Songbook. Includes lots of references to his brother George as well. Interesting book. 

The Queens of Crime - historical fiction with five real female mystery writers in the hunt. The male dominated writers group, The Detection Club, which isn't that thrilled with the women. So to prove their mettle they find a cold case and solve it to prove their worth. Set in 1931 the five writers were Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh

The Sirens' Call author is Chris Hayes who has an evening show on MSNBC. The siren, the alert, calling our attention to whatever. Hard to miss in our society. Phone, internet, breaking news and we all have a hard time tuning any of it out as much as we try. 

 

 Happy Reading.  

Crochet Time

It is a snowy and cold day. Glad I don't have anywhere I need to be today. I can stay inside, snuggle with Ducky, read, crochet, maybe even have a nap. I even went to the library last night to gets more books. 

With the football games both college and pro, that means lots of crochet time. Although I have to watch how much time since my hand gets crampy at times. When I did my monthly massage this week I had her work on my shoulder, arm and hand. They all felt much better after she was done.  

One of the more recent creations was made with Red Heart yarn, color is White Speckle. I have been starting to keep track of where yarn is made. Growing up Red Heart was one of the main brands and probably the best "average" yarn. Now I find this brand to have yarn that is thicker, coarser and stiff. All of the yarn from Red Heart has been made in India. Other brands that I have checked have been made in Turkey. 

  

Now I did a special project for a friend. She has arthritis and her fingers from her hands go off at an angle instead of straight. Gloves don't work because of the angle of her fingers off of her hands and commercial mittens weren't working either. I had seen things for hand warmers so decided to make some for her. Made them long enough that they totally cover her hands and sent yarn along if she wants to stitch the ends shut. Yes, the thumb sticks out, but you can bring your thumb in if you want. Here is the pattern. 

She called me on Thursday afternoon, so I know she finally got them. Post Office sent them on the grand tour to get to the final destination. So I can post about them.  

 

Happy Weekend. 

 

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

We have had some nice days with much warmer than average. Lots of sun too. That is changing today with much colder temperatures.  

Trivia was an adventure this week. We get there, get settled, ordered our beverages and hadn't decided on what food to order. Trivia actually started and three questions in, the fire alarm goes off. We had to evacuate the business. No super rush as we had time to get our stuff and get our coats on. I wanted to get out quickly as I was parked in the business parking lot and was afraid I would get trapped in the lot. 

I counted three fire engines and two ambulances and I made a second loop to check all the equipment out. Some people who had been inside were hanging around, maybe hoping they could get back in. I came home to watch the football game since no more trivia. 

I also know the fire department will do a thorough job checking things out and that takes time. I know from personal experience when I had a smoke detector go off. They were here for 30-45 minutes, I am sure it was more than an hour at the restaurant. The restaurant posted about 2 hours later that the issue was because of a minor issue with the HVAC and they would be closed for the rest of the day. They would reopen the next day. 

Now the fun thing of this is that the restaurant is located in a building that served the village as a fire station for many years. Originally it served as a fire station, village hall and the library too! It was sold to the private business about 10 years ago for a conversion into the restaurant which opened in late 2019.   

The Reflecting Pool Marko Zorn is a DC homicide detective with tastes of the finer life. Sometime taking on private jobs to help pay for his high end tastes. Then there is the regular job, finding the who and why a Secret Service agent was killed. 

Superbloom is a look at how new communication technologies, which are designed to connect us, are in fact tearing us apart. Interesting book. 

Accidentally on Purpose is a memoir of Kristen Kish the current host of Top Chef. A trained chef and also a winner of Top Chef back in 2013. Book outlines her life from being an adoptee raised in Michigan, culinary school and her growth as a chef. 

The Amalfi Curse - Haven is set to lead a dive off the Italian coast near Positano. Possibly finding gems her father couldn't get to on an earlier dive due to health issues. As she is set to begin her dives strange happenings begin to occur and she must figure out the history and past of the sea witches. I liked her previous books better but still a good story. 

 Happy Reading.

Work in Progress

It might be after Christmas but that doesn't mean the tree gets put away quickly. I like having the bright colors in my living room. It will be doing back into storage soon in the dungeon as Ducky likes to call it.  

I was in error last week. I have made a yarn purchase since last May, but it was for me to make me hats! I even mentioned it in a post on December 19th.  I haven't purchased anything for blankets since May. 

Yes, I kinda like to get the storage space mostly empty. Then go nuts buying yarn. I found this chart somewhere as to how much yarn to buy.  

I did go to Michael's last weekend to look around. They have been advertising their Knit & Sew Shop and I wanted to see if anything was different in terms of the yarn available. I didn't see that they had any more display yarn out where they had in the past. There were some large displays of the really bulky yarn but I don't use that weight of yarn. 

 

 Happy Weekend.  

Wonderful Wordy Wednesday

First post of the year and I have already read two books this year and started the third. I also added two items to the spreadsheet I keep for the list of books that I have read. First column is the approximate time frame the book takes place, second is the location. I saw items that had reading challenges, one for reading books of certain time frame, another for locations. Sounded like something interesting, so adding it to see where I go this coming year. 

Weather has decided to warm up again, snow is melting, not that we had much snow on the ground anyway. It will soon be back to just the snow in the piles where the plows put it. 

Still have my fiber optic trees out and lit up, just a little extra brightness inside the house for a few more days. Do want to get them tucked away before my cleaning people show up next Monday. Still have the outside lights on as well. They are just multi-colored lights and again, something bright. 

Ducky photo bombing the book picture. He is doing OK for being 17.5 years old. He had a few days last week where he wasn't eating much but now seems to be eating his usual amount. Some days I worry about him and know that we are closer to the day when I will need to say goodbye to him. Just hope it isn't too soon.  

Gingerbread Danger - it's Christmas time in Ohio Amish Country. Bailey is working her candy making miracles for the Candy Land themed pageant. She didn't want an over sized game piece on her roof and asked an employee Zeph to get it down with help. Only Zeph falls, or was he pushed. Speaking of pushing, Bailey's parents are in town and her mom is pushing a wedding planner at her. 

Scandalous Women - mid 1960s, Nancy moves to New York City to get a job in publishing. Given more clerical work but she is assigned to help out when author Jacqueline Susann takes a shine to her while her new book, Valley of the Dolls, is being edited. As Nancy's career progresses she also works with author Jackie Collins. Over time with her experiences with women authors, Nancy sets up her own publishing house. 

A Messy Murder is an installment of the Decluttering Mysteries. Ellen is asked to help downsize the house of a well know journalist. She starts her job the day after the 80th birthday party of the man. When she gets to the study she finds a dead body. Looks like suicide but some think its murder. 

The Grim Reader time for the first book festival in Dharma and Brooklyn's mother, Becky, is the chair of the committee. A few problems arise at the last minute, the festival money being gone, someone trying to run Becky down, and a couple of murders. Never a dull moment. 

 

If just the first letter of my name, either first or last, the total isn't anywhere close to my typical amount. Now if I add up all the letters in my first name I get to 126 (five letters), middle name 211 (eight letters) and last name 135 (four letters). If I average those I come out to 157, which is a pretty decent total for me for a year. 

Happy Reading.  

State of the Stash

Happy New Year!

 The yarn stash is pretty good. I haven't purchased any more yarn since my last clearance purchases at JoAnn's in May. I get a printed catalog from one of my sources every month, so keeping track of what is available. However, I do have enough yarn to keep me occupied for the rest of the blanket making season. I think!

I haven't been into my local Michael's since they opened their "Knit & Sew Shop". So I don't know if they have expanded, I should wander in and see how things look now. 

Left hand shelves is yarn that I have already made one blanket already this season, or have a duplicate on the right side. Some of the left hand side yarn is also for hats. I sometimes pass my excess yarn to a friend who knits scarves for the needy, or it goes to her church group who makes prayer shawls. The brown cakes on the second shelf on the left might end up with her. I already did a blanket and had way more yarn than I needed. 

Right side is the to be worked on and there are 13 different colors there. So if I get all of these done, what has been done and the one in progress, that would make 27 blankets for the season. Wow.   

Then there is the leftovers, the odds and ends that remain after I finish a blanket. This is what I make my hats with in the summer. I didn't go through these but it seems like I have more than I usually do. Maybe some of this will get passed along too. 

 Since I made my donation at the end of August I have completed 13 blankets with one in progress. 

 

Happy Weekend.