Martini's and Face Masks, Strange Times

It's only happened once so far.....but it was nice to sit outside and have cocktails.  Life has been crazy for all of us lately, so this "normalcy" was very much enjoyed.  We love our cocktail hour, and we love to be outside, and so this was a bonus.  Short lived for sure, been cold, windy, and wet pretty much since.  **Edited to add I'm join The Flaunt it Friday Linky Party** A first for me, but sounds fun.  I'm Flaunting my bar tending skills.  Which are so good, truly...even if the bars were opened, we would cocktail at home before going to dinner.

Double thickness, with a pocket where a filter can be inserted, and nose clip.  I've tried multiple times to order masks on line without much success.  Sarah S a lady who's donated through the years for Bridge and Beyond made these.  She sent 2 for me and 2 for my husband........Thank you Sarah S.  These masks are so well made.  I had purchased some from a lady in the neighborhood, but they were too big for me, and too small for my husband, no pocket and no nose clip...soooooooooo appreciate having one that will work for us.  Dr. Brix indicates social distancing is going to be with us for a while...throughout the summer.  So want to be prepared.

Don't know how well you can see this. Remember you can click to enlarge it to see it better.  It's a start, a slow one for another afghan.  20 stitches garter, followed by 20 stockinette and back to garter.   Once I get a good amount done to have a block (every other), then will switch and do stockinette, then garter and back to stockinette.  The 2 small sections at each end are 5 stitches of garter so when the stockinette block is the end block it won't curl.  It's not coming a long very quickly, as the brown is hard to work on at night and even during the day we've had so much rain and gloomy days lately, it's not as easy to see.  When I put this brown yarn in a project bag I wrote the name Brown Marble...but I'm not sure I like that name.  As most of you know, I always name my afghans...suggestions anyone? **Edited to add I got 2 suggestions in the comments thus far, one from Elephant Child who said something about coffee, and one from Ellie Foster suggesting something about chocolate.  I'm not a chocolate lover, so decided I'd go with the coffee idea.  I recently completed an afghan I named Coffee Latte, a mix of browns and variegated.  So settled on Espresso for the name of this afghan.  It's not completely solid brown, but very close and is dark...strong, like Espresso.  Thanks ladies for the suggestion.  AND my knitting would also be something I'm flaunting.

One needs to keep laughing during these strange times.  Now I'm not a beer drinker, but could put a Martini in one room, or perhaps 

A Manhattan, and or an Old Fashion

Variety is nice, don't you think!

**Some Monday Fun** Click on the picture for the linky party

Easter, Brickyard, Be Responsible, Stay Home and Stay Safe

My Dad got a visit 2 days ago from The Easter Bunny.  Dad is 94 and is living in an assisted living center.  Despite being on lock down during the Covid period, the staff has really gone out of their way to bridge the gap for residents and their families who can't get together for visits.  Loved the teeth on her mask.

So you can see her full costume.  Pretty cute, don't ya think!  They passed out puzzles, coloring pages, and some Easter Candy.  I'm sure most of the residents got a nice lift from seeing the bunny.  I happened to be doing a video chat with my Dad on Facetime when she happened into the room, so I got to see.  Then nabbed these pictures from their FB page.  Despite being busy, the staff is willing to set up video chats for families who can't visit.  My Dad doesn't have a phone in his room.  Having a phone earlier caused him great confusion, so we removed it.  The video chat is initiated by the staff on a cell phone or ipad.  

Did you know how the Easter Bunny came to be a part of Easter?  In the 1700's German immigrants to Pennsylvania brought their tradition with them.  An egg laying hare called "Osterhase" or Oschter Haws visited nests that children in the various villages made and left eggs.

In the 19th century it was common that rabbits gave birth to litters of kittens, (baby rabbits) thought to be a symbol of new life.  The eggs they laid were also symbolic of new life and thus the tradition of bunnies, and eggs, and Easter.

Brickyard is completed.  It's laid out here drying and being blocked, after being laundered.  It will soon be donated through my charity, Bridge and Beyond.

Haven't yet decided which project to work on next.  Took some time earlier today to watch some video's of a possible knit stitch I might like to use as well as a crocheted one; but.........I also still have many project bags with pieces parts and yarn to join, sooooooooo we'll see what I feel like when I get this up and folded after it dries.

I liked this chalk art, but blocked out the face of the artist, as she's a teen and I don't know her to know how she would feel about her picture being out there.  Please stay at home as the orders indicate for everyone's safety.  Only leave for essential grocery shopping etc.  AND make sure your trip is in fact, essential.  Minimize your time away, wear a mask, and wash your hands.

This is NOT the way to wear a mask.  Wearing one correctly is imperative.  If you're not familiar, please google or search u-tube video's.  If you're not wearing correctly, you're not protecting yourself or anyone else.

PLEASE!! Don't be self absorbed and think the rules are for everyone but you.  PLEASE stay home, you put yourself, your friends, your neighbors, and your family's at risk when you ignore the rules/laws/orders.  AND then you shop for groceries and put all those in the store also at risk.  

Brickyard and Corona Virus

Have made some headway on my current project.  This afghan named Brickyard.  You can see some are edged, some are connect.  I named it Brickyard because of the red and yellow bricks that the Indianapolis Race track had originally been made of.

I intended to blog after taking the first picture several days ago, but never got that far.  So since then, you can see further progress has been made.  The colors in the first photo are a bit more accurate.  Natural day light vs the light on in the evening in the 2nd picture.

I've not worked on my scarf now for quite awhile, but perhaps I'll work on it again after getting this afghan finished.  If you've visited my blog before you know I donate the afghans through my Charity Blog, Bridge and Beyond, that benefits the homeless.

I know we're all dealing with a lot of changes in our lives due to the Corona Virus.  Most of us are under stay at home orders.  There are only 11 states that have yet to join the rest of us.  I don't understand why they haven't.  To be successful it seems to me everyone needs to be on board.  

Thought this was food for thought.  There seem to be too many people who think somehow their are magically protected and fail to understand it's not just about them, but about their friends, their neighbors, their family, and perhaps people they don't know.  We really all need to fight this.

Thought this was cool, spotted it on Facebook the other day.

PLEASE, stay home and wash your hands.  Stay safe.  Do your part.