Starts and Finsihes, Irish Afghan, Always Audiobooks, and The Bathroom Project

 

Quite some time ago I designed this afghan along with many others.  People used to send me pieces parts and I would design and join the pieces parts to make warm afghans.  I always named them, and called this one Wee Bit Irish.  As you can see the pieces parts vary is style and size, and color.  Most are crocheted, but a few are knitted.  I've made over 70 of these throughout the last 14 ish years.  Once I need new projects to work on, I get the bagged designs out and find appropriate color yarn to edge and join them.

 Founds some light green/mintish in my stash.  Though in this picture (apparently a brighter day) the pieces parts look less green.  I bagged it up to take on the road as one of my winter away projects.

Step 3, I've begun edging the pieces/squares.  I begin with the largest squares and edge, then know the other squares have to become the same size.  Thus far, I've edged about 9-10 of the 25 pieces.  I think it's looking less Irish and more minty...how about you?  Think I'm going to change the name to Minty Irish.  Any thoughts?  Once these afghans are completed I donate them to a local homeless shelter.

This knitted teal and gray scarf was a car project.  I started it in the car when hubby and I were going to Williamsburg this past summer and finished it in the car on our way to our winter quarters.  It might get donated also, as I don't think I'm in need of another scarf.

A fun, but perhaps a bit bizarre book about coming of age, dealing with grief, learning about responsibilities and what is real love?  I say a bit bizarre because a daughter on a summer vacation seems to meet her mother....time travel.  I don't know.  Not really a believable book, and not my normal type of reading; but I did truly enjoy the book, gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.  I also enjoyed it because I've traveled to Italy and would like to go back.

A weird/sad version of Ground HOg Day.  I can't say I enjoyed the book, only gave it one star; but I also couldn't stop reading it...as I kept thinking things would be made right and I wanted things to be resolved.  It got much higher marks on Goodreads from others, so you might enjoy it?  If you read it, let me know what you think....I'm curious.

More my normal type of book.  Takes place during World War II in London in 1938.  The coming together of people taking care of each other, learning to love and trust during difficult times.....even for a German refugee.  Highly recommend this one.

More of a fluff book than I often read/listen to; but I LOVED it.  A fire, a chambermaid, love lost, mystery, a ghost, money, love, lust, and......well, a bit of everything.  Put it on your list and have fun!

A bathroom project.  We have a small bathroom, very much in need of being redone.  Removing the old heavy tub and putting in a shower is only part of the work that needs doing.  The tiles you see here are from the front of the picture back the flooring, the tile in the shower, and the small design for accent.  It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but the tiles are mostly white with a bit of gray.  The walls will be gray, the new vanity and commode etc will be white.  A long awaited project.  It's hard to remodel your bathroom when you only have ONE!

Still blogging about my 14 day tour of The UK

New Years, Stash Busting, Exercising and Books!

 

Happy New Year to you all.  This was a LONG time ago, neither hubby or I had gray.  Plus, we no longer party out over New Years.  We were skiing in Holiday Valley back in the day, had party hats, noise makers etc.  Hope you all had an enjoyable and safe New Years.  We had a nice meal, toasted in the New Year with some bubbly, then called it a night.  I'm feeling tired today, not used to staying up that late.

Sherbet Baby Blanket is finally done!!  It's drying and being slightly blocked.  I edged with a small crocheted ruffle.  Need to get it in the mail for my great niece.

Haven't recorded exercise in a while.  October I knew was well down, but hadn't recorded the stats.  81.05 miles (average of 2.6 daily), November was better 99.4 miles (average of 3.31 daily).  December was up at 109.15miles (average 3.5 daily).  My high for December was 23,341 steps (10 miles with a low of 4,019 just 2 miles.  I'm pleased that steps/mileage is up...AND Starting Dec 1st I was able to start doing planks again...my elbow no longer a problem.  Before the injury I was doing 55 second planks with 14 seconds of rest x 4.  When I restarted I started with 30 second planks with 10 second rest x 4 and managed to do that 10 times in December and then upped to 35 seconds x 4 and did that 6 times.  So 16 planks throughout the month.  I also restarted doing knee lifts a count of 50 and did that 12 times in Dec, along with a fast count of 100 walking in place 9 times in the month.  Let's see what January brings.  

This is what 41.5 pounds of yarn looks like!  This is a drop in the bucket of my yarn stash.  My daughter convinced me to do some sorting.  I had lots of baby yarn, variegated knitting worsted, and tons of white and off white yarn that was left from projects, and a good deal of yarn that was donated throughout my 14 years of running a charity that benefited Homeless.  The 41.5 pounds is being donated in multiple places where it can be used.  This is all yarn that wasn't suited to my particular charity.  It took multiple days to roll the yarn in balls after doing lots of detangling.  My daughter will distribute this once back from the holidays in St. Louis.

An interesting historical fiction about a woman, a Black Woman passing as White and being a part of Old Hollywood with all it's glamour.  Very insightful.  I enjoyed the story.

Another historical fiction post World War II.  A story about a rather dysfunctional family, their lives from being rather poor to becoming rich.  Lots of entanglements between family members.  Extremely enjoyable with Tom Hanks being the moderator.  

Classified as historical fiction.  This book takes place in Georgia in 1958 during the horrible Jim Crow period.  10 children, different fathers, and a horrible mean spirited and aggressive controlling mother.  A story about survival.

Another historical fiction.  A lot going on in this book, betrayal, love, isolation, and adapting as one comes of age.  The Marsh Girl is a naturalist...self taught.  You root for her throughout the whole book.

Still blogging about my tour of The UK, The Military Tattoo

Raindrops on Roses, No Whiskers on Kittens, but Other Things

 

Because it's ugly, drab, cold, wet outside many days now we all need some beauty and color in our lives.  Hubby brought these home for me a few days ago.  Aren't they glorious!!  The edge is pinkish, but the rose is purple.

If you're looking for a festive dish to make for Christmas and or New Years, I highly recommend this veggie mix.  It's so pretty, colorful and yummy.  The bonus is it's healthy and easy.  Cranberries, squash, Brussel sprouts.  I took 2 large casserole dishes for my Thanksgiving family gathering at my youngest nephews house.  Everyone brings something.  I cooked them at home and used those Pyrex heat things you put in the microwave and an insulted carrier.  You season with salt and pepper and olive oil, cook for about 45 minutes on 375, stir a few times.  Test the sprouts to see that they're soft...and browning if you like them a bit more cooked.  You can also add a bit of orange juice, but watch it because it can cause it to brown up too quickly.  I've made it for us before, but this was the first time I made it for the masses (26 people at the gathering), and it was a big hit.  So, I'll be making it again for Christmas Eve.

I realize I never noted my exercise for October or November.  October was really down due to weather, my elbow still not being 100% and it was a month of lots of doctor appointments...routine stuff, but everything came due at once.  Only managed 81.05 miles in October truly down.  November was better with 99.4 miles, but still down from my average.  The good news is, on Dec 1st I started doing planks again, and knee lifts and a few other exercises.  It was like starting over again.   Before hurting my elbow I was doing 50 second planks x 4 with 14 seconds of rest between.  On Dec I started with 30 second planks x 4 with 10 seconds between, and just the other day I was able to up things to 35 seconds x 4 with 10 seconds of rest between.  So, hopefully things are looking up.

An interesting book.  I'm not a tennis player, nor do I even watch it on tv, but thoroughly enjoyed this book about the will power and drive of a professional tennis player.  There's a family story with it, and a love story as well.  A totally different type of book for me; but sometimes you need a bit of change.

This story about Audrey Hepburn was fascinating.  I knew a little of her background, but didn't know how involved her mother was with the Nazi's, or how much she herself was involved with all things happening around her during World War II.  I highly recommend this book.

What a let down this book was.  I sorta forced myself to read/listen to the whole book, only because I LOVED Diana Babaldon's Outlander Series so much, I thought perhaps it would get better.  It didn't!!  Part of it might have been my expectations.  Things were left very much up in the air with Lord John when Outlander came to a finish, and I wrongly assumed this would pick up the story from there.  It didn't.  I don't know how many books are in this series, but I won't be searching them out.

Came across this picture from a hundred years ago.  Christmases of my childhood looks so different then Christmases of today, lol.  I think the dress was yellow, and probably flesh colored tights.  I hope you're all gearing up for a festive holiday season, whatever holiday you celebrate.

Not much progress on the baby blanket, but hopefully the next picture will be when it's completed.

Still posting about my 14 day tour of The UK.  Here's day 8, part I, Edinburgh, Scotland

Gobble Gobble and More

 

Happy Thanksgiving one and all.  Spotted this turkey while out walking the other day.  Normally, I'm not a fan of blow up directions; but thought the turkey was sorta cute.

Making headway with The Sherbet blanket.  The bright pink section I'm working on now is the wider section you see towards the bottom of the picture, then light pink, green, and bright pink edge.  I think it's going to be a bit smaller than I anticipated; but was trying to be careful and not run out of yarn.  That's the problem when you're using up this and that and don't know how much yarn you have and wing it.

Leaves before raking.  It takes generally 3 rounds of raking to get all the leaves from these 2 trees, then another couple of raking and or mulching with the mower those that blow over from the neighbors yard.  His trees drop later than ours, and he tends not to rake until they're almost totally down...meanwhile they blow in my yard.

Switched out the pumpkin placemats for the more fall looking leaf mats.

These are my birthday roses from hubby.  They were called Hot Sauce.  I've never seen such a color combination with the red and yellow.  Gorgeous, and they go so well with my fall table.

I almost didn't read this book, given the title; but the look her face made me curious.  Jennette McCurdy was child actress, later a writer and maintains a podcast.  This book is a New York Times Best Seller and International Best Seller.  It's funny, it's sad, it's a autobiography of her growing up years, dealing with eating disorders and the toll that took.  It was enlighten for me, as I've not known someone who suffered from an eating disorder...at least not to my knowledge.  The audio book is 6 hours.

 This 9 hour audio book was a Pulitzer Price winning book.  A historical fiction that takes place in Alabama with a look at generations of White vs Black, backward social norms and what finding out the truth can do a family that for years was entrenched as a leader in the community.

A 4 hour Novella filled with intrigue, duty, money, flooding a rescue ? And of course love interest.......then throw in the criminals and you have an enjoyable griping story 

None of these 3 books are my typical genre; but I recommend the books just the same.  Sometimes you need to change things up.

Making my Way to Edinburgh, still blogging about my touring The UK

Voting, Knitting, Fall, Fungus, and Civil Rights

 

Voted today and have my fingers and toes crossed, that issues 1 and 2 in Ohio pass.  I'm tired of the government telling women what they can do with their bodies.  What happens should be between the woman and her physician.  The far right needs to stop with all the disinformation.

The Sherbert Baby Ghan/blanket is coming along, but slowly.  Got the large center pink section completed and am now working on the mint green section you see on the far right.  So, 2/3rds of the blanket is done.  Been doing lots of yard work, so haven't spent much time knitting of late.  But, now the fall clean up is almost complete.

I don't tend to decorate except for Christmas, but do like to change out the placemats seasonally for the various holidays.  Pumpkins have been out for about a month for phase one of the fall decor.

Had some pretty mums on the front stoop, until just a few days ago.  After several hard freezes they have gone by wayside.  Too bad, they did provide some color.

In my last post I posted an interesting fungus I spotted one day on my walk, here again is another one.......totally different.  These, I think are far more "Normal"?  Looks like Chinese writing almost on the cap of the mushroom.

Another must read book.  A good follow up after A Fever in the Heartland, that I blogged about in the previous blog post.  This will be an eye opener for many.  Even though as a young teen I saw some things on the nightly news, I did not see how truly cruel White Men in Power were.  Birmingham Alabama was a very dangerous, poor city with one of the lowest literacy rates in the country.  973 children....yes children were arrested by Bull Connor in a single demonstration.

Wanting to absorb a bit more of this horrible time, I watched the movie The Long Walk Home about The Montgomery Bus Boycott.  It's very moving.  Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek were both phenomenal in their rolls.  If you're much younger than me, you might not have seen these 2 historic events during your lifetime.  

My steps for October are down considerably and I'm still not doing yoga or planks due to the elbow injury.  Sigh.....I did what seemed like lots of yard work, but that doesn't necessarily give you lot of steps.  And now, the weather is getting cold...so, I'm not optimistic about steps increases.  On a good note, I did manage a handfull of days with over 14K in steps for the day.

I'm continuing to blog about my 2 wk tour of The UK

Lack of Exercise, A Book for our Times

 

Fun Halloween decorations spotted in one of my neighbors yard.

No, I'm not yet back to doing yoga.  By elbow still isn't 100%, but I might try and just see how I do.  Maybe some of the moves won't bother me.  My mileage is down from Aug, from 126.58 to 105.69.  I've been doing lots of fall clean up in the flower beds, so haven't gone for as many walks.  And am mowing less, since the grass is finally slowing down.  Must see if I can kick things up a bit in October.

No updated pictures of my knitting, as it doesn't look much different.....probably because I haven't been knitting as much....did I mention the fall yard clean up? Trying hard to get it all done this year before it gets nasty.  Didn't manage last year and then it was beyond a mess in the spring.

But, when I have gone out walking, I've spotted some interesting things.  I've seen acorns on the grown once they've been partially eaten or broken; but not when still on the tree.  I thought this was pretty cool, because Ohio is The Buckeye State.  Buckeyes are suppose to be good luck.  These are rather small trees along one of my walking areas, perhaps that's why I was able to see them vs a large tree where they're well above my head.

And this Fungus/Fungi totally fascinated me.  I thought it was quite pretty.  Reminded me of tree rings.  No idea what this is called; but I'm sure there must be categories of different kinds of fungus/fungi?

I recently read this and can't stop thinking about it.  If you read one book, or listen to one book............this should be THE ONE!  I don't like to read reviews of books that tell you too much about them, particularly when some people give away really key pieces of information rather than letting the reader/listener find out themselves.........But, as bad as I knew the KKK to be; I had no idea they were this powerful, that involved in our government.  In light of Governor DeSantis and Abbott and book banning, The Oath Keepers, The Proud Boys, The Blood Tribe and The MAGA hat wearers who want to control what teachers can teach, THIS book is very timely.  It's truly frightening, but eye opening hopefully for some who thought the insurrection were tourist having fun in DC.

The book was a NY Best Seller almost over night.  I encourage you all to read/listen to this.  I actually had to join 3 libraries to get it, as the wait list was long.  I don't know if the ebook list was as long as the audio or not.  The book is 432 pages, or 10 hours in the audio format.

I'm continuing to blog about my 14 tour in The UK, come travel with me, this is an active link.