Squares and Diamonds, Blanket of Many Colors, WWII, Blogging Etiquette

 LOTS of headway made on The blanket of many colors since the last picture/post.  The individual squares have been completed from the 3 that were partial done in the last photo, and two rows of squares/diamonds have been joined, and 2 rows have been joined together.  Next up, played with color a bit more and have planned the next row of 3 diamonds which is 12 squares.  Once the diamonds are joined with the color of the diamond, the group of 4 squares is joined using dark gray to create a bit of a window pane effect.

No additional picture of the Blue Baby Blanket, as I've not worked anymore on it.  Next time should have an update.

Another good WWII book to recommend to you all.  War, Italy, Christian vs Jewish.  The layers of war, occupation, and resistance....and yes LOVE.  Our Darkest Night, by Jennifer Robson needs to be on your to do list.  I'm continuing to prefer audio books from the library using the Libby app.  It's easy, free, and keeps my hands free to do other things.  When indoors I knit and or do household chores; when outside, I listen while I walk.  

Exercising is continuing pretty well.  

From Jan 3 todate, have planked 8 days of 18 (through yesterday since today is not complete), have done a bike ride 4 days of 11 (didn't have a bike for 7 days), Have gone for a walk 8 days of 18, and have taken 179,997 steps in those 18 days for an average of 9,999 steps per day according to Fitbit.  The above map shows bike and walking paths/trails available to me currently.

Seven Rules of Proper Blogging Etiquette

• Always, always, always link back. Often bloggers will use photos from other blogs or sites. ...
• Only use ONE photo. ...
• Comment back. ...
• Don't copy. ...
• Cite your inspiration. ...
• Don't accuse someone else of copying you unless you are 100% sure they did. ...
• Be nice.

Been a long time since I've read about the above, or written about it.  Was thinking this am about the number of bloggers I visit, read, and comment on vs those that read, and comment in return.  That's what caused me to google blogging etiquette.  In all the years I've blogged, I've never heard anyone mention only one photo..........what's with that?  Beyond that, the list is as I remember it. I do wonder why people don't comment back, or worse yet those that comment with something that has nothing to do with the blog post...so you know they didn't read it at all.  Bloggers come and go, and I'm constantly updating my blog list.  Often I add new folks, but sometimes there's a need to delete someone because they're no longer active, never return a comment, or have stopped blogging.  So, over the next few days, I'll be reviewing and doing that to make my list more current.

Yarn and Audio Books a Plenty

 

Chipping away on A Blanket of Many Colors.  The squares closest to you are now joined together.  I tried stitching them initially, but decided I didn't like the look and so returned crocheting them together...which is what I do 99% of the time.  I like the ridge that's created on the front side.  

Row 2 is laid out needing one more square each for the left block (teal green center) and blue on the right side, while melon will be the primary color in the middle block.

The baby blanket is growing nicely too.  In my last picture there 71 stitches on the needles, now there are 100.  It measured 20 inches previously and is now 31 inches, and you can start to see the blue fading, getting lighter and some white is now showing up.  Stay tuned.

Yet another WWII book, this book, "The Things we Cannot Say is by Kelly Rimmer.  I've read others she's written and have enjoyed them all todate.  Warsaw 1942 15 year old Alina with plans to marry her best friend, Tomasz doesn't understand what war does to people, to family, to friends, to neighbors.  The cruelty of war is hard lesson to learn.  Secrets abound.  I highly recommend this book in either it's written format or audio.  Personally, I enjoy audio far more than reading.  I like to do multiple things at the same time, knitting, cleaning, walking and listening for example.  PLUS...I like the drama that you hear and feel with audio books, for me missing when you read.  To hear the accents and how words and names are pronounced is more to my liking.

I've continued my quest to walk or ride bikes almost daily and to do planks 2 days running with the 3rd day being an off day.  I can't say this has been 100% of the time in these past 2 weeks but, pleased to say I'm hitting 95%.  Good luck to all trying to exercise.  Let's encourage each other.

Knitting, Reading and Decorating

 

Plymouth Encore, 200 yard skeins WW yarn.  Washable 75% Acrylic and 25% Wool.  This is my go to WW yarn.  LOVE the colors.  28 skeins here. 5,600 yards of yummy.  These colors were calling out to me, even though I have an afghan in the works that's close to being done.......AND a 2nd WIP, The Buckeye scarf (scroll back one post).  Have made progress with the scarf, it's bigger than it was in the  previous post; but I haven't taken another photo.  Maybe next time.  AND...do swing back to see what I'm doing with this 5,600 yards....or at least the first project using some of this.

The first book in 3 book series by Ken Follett.  If you like anything about history, the coming of age; you MUST read and or listen to this series.  I really enjoy listening to books and get them free from the library and use the Libby App.  The app is easy to search, to borrow, or be put on a waiting list.  Book 1, follows the lives of families in Germany, England, Russia, and a small Welsh coal mining town.  I highly recommend this book and the entire series.

Book 2 in the series, follows the lives of families in England, The United States of American, Russia and Germany.  And how what happened in their lives was dictated by events in and around World War II

Book 3, the final book of the series involves the same families (the 3rd generation) and the same countries: England, The United States of America, Russia and Germany during the cold war and lots of historical events including The Cuban Missile Crisis, The British Invasion, The Kennedy Administration, Watergate, and The Civil Rights Movement.  If you're my age, you lived through this period.  If you read or listen to these books, let me know your thoughts.

Decorating has begun at my house.  How about yours?  Do you decorate the same each year?  Do you buy a real tree or have an artificial tree at your house?

Hope everyone is getting their Boosters and getting the young ones vaccinated.  As the numbers of cases, and hospitalizations has risen in many states.  Sadly, my state is one of those.  And just a few days ago, the states first cases of Omicron have appeared here.  Oh how I wish I could wave a magic wand and get rid of this virus in all of our lives.

Snow Go Away, It's Spring, Full Body Vibration Plate

 

Dinner is served.  This was a quick, and easy dinner.  Panko crusted friend shrimp.  Very good, and super crunchy.  Didn't bother to dig out the toaster oven/air fryer.  Putting them on a cookie sheet in the oven actually works better.  Broccoli 4 minutes in the microwave (very little water is needed).  I never cook broccoli in a pan on the stove top anymore.  Comes out much better and not mushy in the microwave.  Salad is fruit and cottage cheese.  Here I used canned Mandarin oranges.  I really like almost any fruit and or a good ripe tomato with cottage cheese.  Topped off with a nice glass of Pinto Grigio.

Mother Nature got confused.  This was just a few days ago.  We had about 3 inches, I think.  It was a very wet and heavy snow.  This tree branch is hanging about 3.5 feet below where it normally is.  This is the Crap Apple all pretty with it's pink blossoms, but heavy laden with snow.  Argh.  Hope it doesn't get ruined.  This is late April for crying out loud, we shouldn't be getting snow this late.  This photo was taken through the window of my deck door and this tree made us feel almost locked in.

I finished this book..........learned so many things about this courageous woman.  I highly recommend this book to read or listen to.  I really enjoyed listening, as the lady reading it did a wonderful job changing her voice when she was speaking as Eleanor or as her Mother-in-law, Mama etc.  Put it on your list.

Started this book, but am sorry to say I stopped it.  I found it a bit long in the tooth, which disappoints me, as I think she was an incredible woman.  I've listened to 13% of this book and then switched to

listening to this book, read by Stacey Abrams and am really enjoying it.  I've just over 1/3 of the way into this one (32%).  While I say I am enjoying it, am also finding it maddening.  I know voter suppression exists, it's in the news all the time.  But, I had no idea how badly Republicans push to keep people of color from voting.  It's beyond shameful and repulsive.  Not just in her state of Georgia, but she speaks about that the most.

Perhaps, when I finish this, I'll go back to RBG and try a bit more.

No new pictures of my teal shawl, though it is growing in size.  (see previous post).

I have picked up on my yoga again, trying to do it more often.  On nicer days getting out to do my walks and get my steps in, and have done some yard work.  I've ordered a full body vibration plate/whole body vibration plate.  Several of my Fitbit friends have them and swear by them.  Have you heard about them?  Do you have one?  

This is the one I ordered.  99.00 at Target, and Walmart, and Amazon.  But, the return policy on Amazon was very bad, so went with Target which is close to home, should I need to return it.  It's being shipped in about 10 days.  Has 99 speeds, and 10 presets.  The LifePro is what my friends have, but I opted for the lesser expensive brand. (Saved $50.00).  They appear to be very similar in terms of size and options.  One big difference is LifePro has a community component to it, and the lesser expensive model, Best Products doesn't.   

Knitting and Listening and Getting Inoculated.

 

This is my latest project.  Not the best picture, but if you click to enlarge you should be able to see some detail with regard to texture and color changes.  Lots of different shades of purple.  Basic garter and stockinette stitch provide a bit of texture.  This is probably going to be a gift for a very sweet lady at my Dad's assistant care facility.  We've not seen him since last March when the lockdowns of nursing homes and assisted living centers happened.  During that time she's extended herself by allowing families to schedule facetime visits with their family members.  My older brother does Monday, my younger brother schedules on Wednesday and I schedule on Friday.  You get about 15-20 minutes and she's been doing this for lots of families.  She takes an ipad into the rooms and her cell phone for back up to allow us to communicate.  Most of the folks living there are like my Dad and would never be able to do that on their own.  He's 95,  

Recently,, they've opened up limited in person visits with restrictions and she's taking care of that as well.  They have one room where people can sit at a table about 8 feet apart with masks on and they sanitize the room before and after.  She's made a very big improvement in the lives of those living there and their families.

I mentioned in my last post that I was reading/listening to this book.  I have now finished it and highly recommend it.  They tell the stories of 105 incredible gutsy woman who've made wonderful contributions to the world, even though they had to fight tooth and nail to do so.......simply because they were women!  Add it to your reading

I'm currently listening to this book and am really enjoying it.  The reader does a wonderful job of speaking like "Winnie", Winston Churchill.  I thought I was fairly knowledgeable about Churchill, and The War prior to The US entering it; but have really learned a great deal more.  It's a long one and I'm 77% through the book, with just 4 days left before it's due, so plan to pick up the pace of my listening.

The Brown AFghan pictured in the last post is at a standstill, in that it's folded and in a project bag.  I got a bit tired of working on it, so put it aside for now.  Oh I did make a decision on what to name that afghan, Coffee Break.  Thanks for the inputs folks, much appreciated.

Many of my friends and family are now getting their vaccinations!  Thrilled and relieved, hubby and I get our 2nd one tomorrow.  We did well with the first and anticipate doing well with the 2nd one.  So far, next to no one I know has had a bad time with reactions or after effects.  The best vaccine to get is the one you can get first according to Dr. Fauci; so don't delay folks waiting on the one you think you want.

Many of my

Knitting, Crocheting, and Listening to Audio Books, During Covid

 

This is the book I'm currently listening to.  I'm really enjoying it.  History hasn't taught us much about how many women made important and long lasting changes to our country.  Some of the women discussed in this book I know of, but even those I've heard of I learned new things about them.  This book seems particularly important to read or listen to right now, given the state of things in the country.  With the push of the far right and trying to remove safe guards and progress women have made.  Please put this on your list to purchase or check out of your local library.

When you read do you stick with a subject, or author or do you read randomly?  I've never been a big reader; but am loving audio books.  I find them enjoyable because you can do multiple things at one time.  I got into audible books first to have something to listen to when I take my daily walks.  Was getting great step counts and listening a lot........then came the winter......argh.  Not a fan of winter.  I do sometimes force myself to outside if there's not snow or ice on the ground for fear of falling.  I use the library app Libby.  Originally I used Over Drive but found Libby is more user friendly, so switched.

So I listened to, as you can see, a bunch of political stuff.  Given all that we've been through these past 4 years it seemed wise to read/listen to get more of the nuts of bolts of all that went on.  WOW!  Not sure though I would say President Obama's first book, Dreams of my Father is a political book.  It's was very much about his life, from childhood on.  I found it fascinating how he lived in different worlds.

The Room Where it Happened got a bit long in the tooth.  I listen to about half, then switched to another book and then came back to it.  I don't agree with  Bolton on much of anything, but it points to how truly dysfunctional trump was/is.  And how much all those around him thought so.  Puzzling why so many tried to defend him.

I do tend to stick with a topic for awhile in my reading/listening.  These are I think important to help us understand better what our Black American Citizens deal with, both in the present and in the past.  I mentioned above how I like listening as I can do multiple things at one time.  In addition to listening while I walk, I listen while I knit, while I do things around the house and often while I'm doing dinner prep in the kitchen.

These 3 books about Scientology are a real eye opener.  It is such a horrible cult it's frightening because it has such a huge membership.  The original founder, L. Ron Hubbard was a huge huge narcissist and reading about him reminded me so much of trump.  It's disappointing to me how this huge wealthy business gets treated like a church in terms of taxes.

Again focusing on a subject/topic.  I found these books by the same author riveting.

Since I often was listening and knitting or crocheting, these are 2 afghans I worked on.

These bright colored strips were donated to my charity, Bridge and Beyond and I crocheted borders for each strip, and then crocheted them together.

And this brown knitted afghan has been in the works for a long time but, listening and knitting I've been able to make good headway.  I'm also working on a purple scarf, but haven't taken a picture of it yet.  Need to do that.

I'm happy and excited to report hubby and I got our first Covid Inoculation and are scheduled for our 2nd.  I hope you all are staying safe from Covid and getting your vaccinations.

It's been ages and ages since I've blogged on a regular basis, and I've really missed it and visiting and reading and commenting on each of your blogs.  So, I'm recharging now and plan to get back to it.  Please let me know how you all are doing.

Merry Christmas, AND

 

Our tree is a bit smaller than normal, shaped nicely.  Lots of ornaments from places we've traveled, some special ones from when our daughter was young representing her school days, and plays she performed in.  One ornament left from when hubby was a child.  So each ornament has meaning.  No designer tree here, but a rather old fashion one.  The candy canes are always the last I add as a special tribute to my Grandfather.  My Dad's Dad loved candy canes and he would sneak them to my brothers and I while Grandma would scold him about us not needing candy.  

Dining room, but I don't know if you can see the snowflakes on the window.  No need to make it look like snow now though, our rain yesterday turned to snow as the temperatures dropped mid afternoon and into the evening on Christmas Eve.  Only 17 now that it's warmed up, so the snow isn't going to melt anytime soon.  Boooooooo

There are tiny lights in my pot design that weren't on when I took the photo.  And battery motive candles inside the candles on the mantel which we only turn on at night.

I've continued to work on Coffee Latte, the afghan, but haven't taken any new pictures.  It's measuring about 19 inches now, so good headway...considering I've not had as much time to knit of late.

This is one of the books I've recently listen to as I walk.  I found it rather enlightening and recommend it for some insight into Racism in our country.    I used the library's Libby app and find the time goes quicker in my walks then it previously did.  I've found the selection for audio books to be very good.  I've read/listened to:  The Room Where it Happened (well almost all of it, need to get it again to finish), A Warning, Unhinged and both Michelle Obama's book and one of Barak's earlier books, Dreams of My Father.  Was on a political bend for awhile then switched gears to 

which I really enjoyed.  After finishing this one, I read another from the same author, Everything I Never Told You.

Then moved onto 

A fascinating read that is both sad and uplifting.  I highly recommend this book.  Next on my reading shelf is another by the same author Cilka's Journey.  But, I'm a bit boggled down as I'm using a 30 day free trial of Audible so I can listen to Obama's new book.  It's long, so hoping to get through it before my trial runs out.

****85 Days til Spring

The family and I did not get together for a family Christmas, all choosing to do our own thing and not mingle to stay safe as we await the vaccine.