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.

Rollins Hills, How to Burn Calories During Covid 19

This was step 1 of the afghan I named Rolling Hills.  These strips were donated, to me through my charity, Bridge and Beyond, intended to be scarves, but weren't sized appropriately, so I am re-purposing them into an afghan.   I tucked these strips aside until I could work with them.  

Here's the completed afghan as it's being blocked and drying after being laundered.  The colors in the first picture are more accurate.  So weird how differently light affects these pictures...even though I tried to edit it.  It was pretty narrow, but I was able to add several inches to each side to make it a nice size.

Little different view.  Now, what to work on next?

Tried a new recipe.  

1. 6 thin sliced chicken breasts
2. 1 container green onion cream cheese
3. 1/4 cup olive oil
4. 1/2 cup chicken broth
5. 1 Large package sliced mushrooms
6. 1 small bag fresh baby spinach
7. 1 dash Weber Herb and Garlic Seasoning
8. 1 dash pepper
9. 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
10. Mix seasonings and liquids into the cream cheese. 
11.  Place chicken breast in dish, cover with lots of
12. spinach and mushrooms, poor liquid over.
13.   Cook on 375 covered for 20 minutes, uncover, add
14. Italian cheese, cook another 10-20.    I served it over Polenta to keep it low carb.

Hubby and I were able to vote early...right before the Covid 19 restrictions.  Glad we were able to vote in the primary with things being on hold for so many areas.  I hope many of you were able to take advantage of early voting in your areas.

A graphic I thought was very powerful during these times of social distancing and staying at home orders.  I hope you and yours are safe and healthy.  Stay home, wash your hands.

And because we must not lose humor, it helps to keep us sane.  Burning calories with bad weather is difficult, so I've been in a lot.  I caught a cold, so even before the stay at home orders, I wasn't going out.  Gym's of course are closed.  My Echo Dot (Alexa) is helping a bit with 5 minute plank routines, and 7 minute work outs.  You can find them in the skills section of the Alexa app.  Exercise also helps us stay sane and healthy.

Crocheting for Charity, Yoga and Wash your Hands!

This is one of my current projects.  Like the strips turned into an afghan in my previous post, these are strips that were donated as scarves, but weren't suitable given size etc.  I've titled this soon to be Afghan, Rolling Hills.  Brown and green, earthy.....so that seemed appropriate.  As you can see they aren't the same size, so will need work before they can be joined.

The colors in the first picture are a bit more accurate than this picture, but you can see headway has been made.  4 strips have been edged and joined and so I'm not quite half way there.  It will still be too narrow and will need some extra work on the sides once it's all put together to make it an appropriate size.  I'm using both tan and green for sizing, edging, and joining.  This will also be donated through my charity, Bridge and Beyond.

Last week I shared the funny woman with a Martini glass sitting at the gym......so I'm kinda on a roll here.  I think I also shared I was trying to do yoga via a skill on my Echo Dot (Alexa).  So seeing this made me laugh.  Yarn yoga.

And then............some of you know how I LOVE my wine.

After reading today's news.......and it's still early in the day, the numbers for The Corona Virus are causing concern to almost everyone.  In a matter of a view days the US death toll has jumped to 17 (2 days ago was 10), the number of states with active cases has jumped to 28 (doubled what it was yesterday), and only a handful of days ago there were about 100 cases in the US, that count is now 330.  So, please do wash your hands for the full 20 seconds multiple times a day.  Try to keep your hands away from your face.........I know I'm really struggling with that.

I recently shared a photo of my Valentine's Day table decorations.  So thought I'd share my current Spring placemats.  I intended to buy flowers for the center of the table, but somehow never got around to that.  We're still having cold, gray ugly days here in Central Ohio........but I do have hopes of some colorful flowers.....hopefully soon.

Busy Hands are Happy Hands!

OMG!  Spotted this the other day on Facebook and just had to share it with you all.  It's been YEARS since I've gone camping...pup tent, sleeping bag etc.  My card is fully punched on that with no desire to do it again; but this.....what can I say!

 Finished my potato chip scarf yesterday.  Love the colors and the way the yarn drapes, but not the way it looks on me...even if the picture weren't blurry and I knew how to take a decent selfie, which I don't.  The color is more accurate in the first picture, not the one with me wearing it.

Believe this is going to be donated to Bridge and Beyond, think a teen might enjoy it.

Finished another afghan.  This one is called Pippy Longstocking.  It too will be donated through my charity, Bridge and Beyond.  It was assembled from strips that were donated.  Had to do a fair amount of over stitching...as the person who donated it did the dreaded cut the yarn right after the knot and left no tail.  I shored the edges up as best as I could, but you can see in some places it's not super straight...due to the over stitching and extra stitches to fortify it.  But...I put it in the wash with fingers crossed.  Here it is being blocked....it made it fine through the wash, so I think all is well.  I named it Pippy Longstocking because it's so mixed, wild, un-tamed...a mish mosh.  When I designed it, looking through lots of different colored strips, thought it would be fun and funky.

LOL!  Anyone relate?  I've been doing a 5 minute plank routine, a 6 minute full body stretch, and a 7 minute work out daily here at home, so haven't actually made it to the gym....but what can I say.  Actually I had tried out several different apps, but din't find one that fit my need as a senior.  Did you know you can exercise with Alexa?  If you have an Echo Dot, or other Alexa model check it out.  In the menu area find skills.  I really like it and am finding it motivating.  

Continuing to work on this jewel toned scarf, it's grown a couple of inches, but is slow going with this very thin yarn.  My needles were a 4 wooden knit pics, but they kept coming apart, so I switched to my turbo's which are a 5, doesn't seem much different to me size wise.  But, it's easier to see without the green cord and dark needles.  The silver needles is an improvement.