Gearing up with Projects Galore, 2025 Has Arrived

 

The color on this ghan is a bit off.  I brightened the picture as it was a dark gloomy day and there just wasn't enough light to get a good picture.  The squares are sized, edged and tied together.  I just need to crochet it all together.  Should get it finished in a day or two.  Calling this one Crayons.  The teal looking squares in the picture are actually Kelly Green

This ghan is knitted, the yarn is called Pastel Tulips, so I guess I'll use that name for it.  It's hard to see the colors in this yarn, believe the colors will show up better as the afghan grows.  It's currently 7 inches in depth and I've used 5 or 6 of these little skeins.  Doing the math, I hope I have enough to make this a square afghan.  It's super bulky yarn so it quite solid in it's feel.  I'm using a size 10 needle, probably could have gone with a size or two higher; but went with what I had on hand, as I was beginning to pack for our winter away.  Started this in the car so I would have a small project that suited car travel.  I plan to work on it in between working on assembling the afghans (pieces parts) I brought for the duration.  Both ghans will be donated to Homeless Families Shelter.

This is book #6 in The Bess Crawford Series.  Home on leave, Bess is asked to accompany a solider to Buckingham Palace to assist in his care in the wheelchair.  Is he faking his injury?  Has he simply vanished, or was he kidnapped.

Book #7 isn't available as an audio book, and it's quite small.  I didn't see it listed until I was several books beyond this point.  The Maharanr's Pearls.  In retrospect, it didn't seem like I missed anything, as there are references enough in each of her books to things that happened before in the series.

This is book #8.  Visiting a family friend Bess is met with open hostility, but why?  100 men were killed in a mill explosion years before, but why now are people being blamed?  Pitting neighbors against each other, a man is arrested......but is it the right man?

Book #9 A  badly wounded solider is found wearing such a tattered uniform no one can tell if he's English, French, or German.  He doesn't speak, but one night making her rounds, he screams out in a dream.  Bess thinks it sounds like he's speaking German.  But, how will they find out who this solider is?

If you're my age, you well remember this horrific day in Ohio.  And depending on your political views at the time there are several views about what happened that fateful day.  AND remember news wasn't 24 x 7 back then; nor were there as many options for getting your news.  To this day, I still get cold chills and will NEVER be able to forgive Governor Rhodes for sending armed guards to the University.  I've often wondered if the person who fired the first shot ever admitted to himself that he did it.  Did those around him know who fired the first shot and never came clean?  Did they band together to cover it up, like so often happens today with good cops covering for bad cops?  May 4, 1970, I was just out of high school, now as a 70+ adult, I found this an important read.  I had friends, and classmates that attended Kent State.  

• I hope everyone had a good holiday season.  Our daughter was able to come home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we had good visits.  There were large family gatherings for both occasions.  Including a visit from family living in Paris.
• I was so saddened with President Jimmy Carter's passing.  What a true servant of the people he was.  I believe history will remember him for a long time to come as a good, kind and decent man who accomplished a lot.
• I'm dreading beyond words to express, how I loath the fact that it's almost time for a convicted criminal to take the oath of office.  How far we've come from Jimmy Carter to the orange nightmare.  I will NOT be watching the Inaugural.  I believe this will be remembered as a very dark day in the history of our nation.

Go Buckeyes beat Notre Dame!  This was our set up for one of the cold tailgates awhile back.  Inside our partial enclosure is a propane heater.  The last couple of games in the playoffs have been fun to watch, as well as bit nerve racking.  National Championship Playoffs...one game to go.

• I've restarted doing planks, wow really starting over after too long.  I started with 30 seconds x 3 repeats with 6 seconds between, and have in recent days been able to up it to 30 seconds x 4 repeats, but I did increase the rest period between to 12 seconds.
• I'm back to doing my leg lifts 50 x 2, and hope to raise that to 3 repeats in a few more days.
• I have planned to get back into walking, but frankly the weather has been an issue.  Even though we left Ohio for the winter, this cold snap across the country has hit SC.  Hoping that passes soon