Just thought I would drop in and post again just for the heck of it. Had a good time yesterday at Mama's and took a bunch of pictures.

I'm slowly getting the final things done before leaving Friday for our cruise. I promise to post pics of it when we get back!

I've been told by 2 people that I haven't been 'rambling' in a while so I thought I'd better stop by. I didn't think anyone was reading this but me!

Anyway, life goes on. I have been crocheting (of course) and have gotten some Christmas gifts finished and made some more afghans just because. I'll post some pictures one of these days.

Going on a cruise in just a few days! Leaving home for Miami this Friday, will board the Liberty of the Seas Saturday morning for a 7 day cruise of the Western Caribbean. Going with our friends (who are also my bosses!) Mike and Sally. It is the first cruise for them and we are all excited.

Today we are going the Mama's to have a family birthday party for Kaitlyn who turned 7 on Oct 2.

Well, we all got Mama moved in this weekend. Her apartment is very nice and the whole facility is awesome! I think she is really going to like it there.

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since I had been here! Oops!

Anyway, been busy here. Trying to do some much needed house cleaning. And I joined weight watchers on line last week and started the program on Monday. So I have been busy reading and studying about what I needed to do for that and spending a lot of time on the computer looking for recipes.

Mama has decided it is time for her to move into assisted living so we are going to her house tomorrow and helping her to move in. Will be a big adjustment but I think she is making the right decision. Yesterday was her 85th birthday!

Have done very little crocheting lately but have done some.

Made final payment on our October cruise on Monday. That means it won't be long now!

We went to Mama's for the weekend and had a very good time. On Saturday we went to Cattleman's Steakhouse for lunch and then took Mama to Walmart for a bit. Then we just went back to her house and 'visited'. I crocheted 2 more chemo hats while we were talking. Sunday it was church, then the whole family came to Mama's for Sunday dinner. It sure was nice to see everybody. Kaitlyn and Jackson are really growing! Had a few minutes to talk to Mary Lou after the kids had gone. We don't get much of a chance to do that. All in all it was a very good time. I sure was tired when we got home last night!

I have the winterberry tote finished except for the lining. I decided I didn't like the lining material I bought for it so now I'm going to look for something I like better. Hope to find it this week but there is really no hurry on getting it finished.

This morning I went to HMH to meet the lady at the Cancer Center and to take 10 more caps. She was really nice and showed me all around the department and explained a little to me about what they do. I also explained about Hearts of Love and how wonderful and caring a group it is.

This afternoon I took out a bunch of rows I had done on the next purse I was making. I had already cut the size down a good bit from the pattern for a tote but I decided it was still too large for what I had in mind. I knew I would not be happy with it the way it was, so I took it out and ripped back to make a smaller base. Now I am starting up the sides again and think I will like this size much better. Now the base is about the same size as the purple ombre one that I just finished. I am much happier with what I have so far. I will just make the height until it 'feels right' and then do the handles. I'm going back to work some more on it as soon as I get of the computer.

New Purse

I got the lining put in my new purse (the Starling Handbag by Futuregirl) made with Peaches and Creme Dark Purple Ombre last night so I could carry the purse to church today and see how I liked it and the size. And the verdict is.....I like it! I might do the handles a little differently next time I make one of these but all in all I really do like it. It is approximately 9" wide, 6" tall, and 2" wide. Just enough room for the essentials without getting too heavy.

We saw something very unusual this morning. Maurice went to get the newspaper and when he came back in he said I had to come out and 'see this'. So here I go out the front door and into the yard, still in my nightclothes, to see what he was talking about. He had me turn around and look over the garage. We have a dead tree behind our garage and on a limb close to the top of it was a duck! That's right...a duck! I've never seen one in a tree before. He was just sitting there looking around. So I came in and got the camera and took about 3 pictures of it. Of course I zoomed in to get a close-up of it so you don't see any of the house but if I hadn't done that, you could not have been able to see the duck. Anyway, here's the proof that ducks do sit in trees!

FSC

I learned something new! I learned how to do foundation single crochet (fsc) and it rocks! Took a while and a few tries but it is great! I wanted to do the "Starling Handbag" from future girl and it uses the fsc so I had to learn how. Fortunately she also had great tutorials on her site on how to do this. The bag pattern is here: http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/downloads.aspx and the fsc tutorial is here: http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/2009/3/tutorial-foundation-single-crochet.aspx with the supplement here: http://www.futuregirl.com/craft_blog/2009/6/tutorial-foundation-single-crochet-supplement.aspx

I just love her website and tutorials. Lots of pics and easy to understand instructions and there are even some good videos, too.

Anyway, I just finished the bag (did the small version) and next is lining it; again with a tutorial from future girl.

Also, yesterday I got the nicest phone call from the lady at the HMH cancer center about the caps I donated last week. She was really appreciative of them. I am going in to meet her next Monday and see what else they need other than caps (She is only there on Monday and Tuesday).

Hearts of Love

I was remiss in my posting yesterday and did not mention a wonderful Ravelry group---Hearts of Love---so I'm doing it now. It is a wonderful group and I am proud to be a part of it. Here is an excerpt of the introduction of the group

"Being a member of our active knitting and crocheting group, Hearts of Love ♥, casts its primary focus upon joyfully creating a new wave of FASHION FLAIR chemo caps with designer highlights and touch of class in our beautiful creations. Our designer chemo caps are taking artistry to new heights and providing extra love and hugs in our creations.

In additon to the beauty and joy of making chemo caps for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, our members also enjoy making scarves, dishcloths, prayers shawls, ponchos, socks, washcloths, neckwarmers and lapghans and more to brighten the lives of our lives with a smile and a hug. Love is like a flower that blooms with our special creations here.

MEMBERS can make chemo caps here for anyone or anyplace that they wish. Our optional GROUP project, open to any members who are interested, supports the UC DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER CANCER CENTER located in Northern California. This Cancer Center provides us with the opportunity to make our chemo caps for all ages from infants to children to teens to adults."

If you would like to join this group on Ravelry, you are most welcome to do so. Here is a link to the opening group page:

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/hearts-of-love

Hope to see you there!

I got my order of Peaches and Creme late yesterday. Woo Hoo! Now I have more colors to play with! More choices for chemo caps and other things.

24 caps donated

I just got back from taking a shopping bag of 24 chemo caps to donate to the HMH Cancer Care Center here in E-town. This is my first foray into donating chemo caps. Hope the patients like them and are able to make use of them.

I think I will make a sidebar entry to help me keep track of what I have donated.

Added more chemo caps this week. They are in finished projects list but here are a couple of pics.

Tomorrow I plan on taking a bag of them to Hardin Memorial Hospital to the Cancer Ceter there and see what they think of them.

I have added to my completed items list and I think I am up to date with it at the moment. As you can see, I've been busy.


We had a great time at Myrtle Beach and Mama enjoyed it, too. Only took a few pictures, though.


I have been busily crocheting away on chemo caps and newborn caps that I intend to donate. Still working on the details on doing that but I'm making more in the mean time. Here are group pictures of the ones I've made so far...















The first picture is of the ones I made on vacation, the second is for newborns, the third is child sized, and the fourth is adult sized. Oh, they are all made with Peaches and Creme worsted weight cotton yarn.



edit: Oops! Forgot to upload one of the photos. Here it is..






Now that is all 31 that I have made so far.

Well, we are getting ready to leave again. Went back to Mama's last weekend. She said she would feel better if we were there with her. Still not real steady and having more tests this week. Haven't had time to post this week due to getting ready for this trip. We are going to Myrtle Beach for a week. I promise to get caught up with everything I've been crocheting and have pictures of items and pictures of the trip after we get back. Byeeee...

Got home from Mama's yesterday. Her surgery went really well and she is doing fine! I stayed with her to be sure she was okay and did the cooking for her (and anything else she needed done). I took her to get her hair done Friday and to get some groceries because she is not allowed to drive yet. We watched some reruns of "Reba" and loved them! Neither of us had seen the show so we really enjoyed these. So much so, that I am getting the DVDs of the complete seasons. I found seasons 1, 3, and 4 at Walmart today. Barnes and Noble has the other 2 seasons in stock on line (at 50% off!) so I'll probably just order them there. And the last season will be available at the end of June.

Got a good bit of crocheting done while there...I made 3 more angel wing shawls; one in hot rose, one in periwinkle, and one in peacock ILTY.

Tomorrow morning I'm going to the doctor for my annual visit and get my meds renewed. After that I plan on getting my hair cut. It sure needs it! Plus I need to go to AAA to get the Triptik for our trip to Myrtle Beach. Getting close now---we leave May 29!

Updates with some photos finally

I have been busy crocheting away. Since my last post I have made 2 large potholders and 3 hotpads in double weight cotton in blue swirls, 2 fold on itself potholders, 8 more small round dishcloths, plastic bag keeper bag in peppercorn ombre, 12 coasters, 2 tawashi flowers, 4 more market bags ( 1 in blue swirls, 1 in peppercorn, 1 in blue variegated, 1 in yellow daisy), and another red angel wings shawl. Wheww!

And, as promised, here are some photos.

First, some of the market bags.

These are in yellow daisy and peppercorn ombre Peaches and Creme.

And this one is in blue swirls.Some potholders.And hotpads.Plastic bag keeper.Coasters and dishcloth in blue swirls.Close up of one coaster.Close up of a dishcloth.Some more dishcloths.

I will be off line for the next few days. Mama is having surgery tomorrow morning early so we are going to her house this evening and I will probably stay with her until Saturday. She has no internet so I'll have a lot catch up on when I get home! I'm taking bunches of yarn and projects to work on while there, though. So I'll try to update when I get home!

I'm Baaack

Sorry I haven't posted in a good while. I have gotten a lot of crocheting done in the meantime though. I'll have to add the list to my side bar. But here they all are (I think!)--Last night I finished the big Granny rectangle afghan for Kaitlyn. I have also made 5 more market bags. Tried some different patterns and finally came up with one I like; it is actually a combination of a couple of them. Made 2 hot go cup cozies (like the cardboard wrap-around ones); 2 new dishcloths in a very different style. That's all I can remember at the moment. I'll have to check and see if I'm missing anything. (edited to add: Oh I also did a small bowl in daisy ombre to hold my Splenda packets. Turned out nice. Also did a small square potholder/hot pad.)

We made our weekend trip to Gatlinburg after tax season. Had a good time and relaxed. It rained on us most of the time but that was okay.

We did have an experience the week before we went to Gatlinburg. On the way to Louisville to visit with friends, a wild turkey hit us. Now you wouldn't think a turkey could do that much damage but it did! It hit our grill then slid over the hood and across the roof of my car. We had to have the grill, it's supports, the medallion on the front all replaced, it damaged the hood and it had to be removed, repaired and repainted. All in all, insurance allowed almost $800 after our deductible to get it fixed. And they provided a rental car for the week that my car was in the shop. I'm just glad it didn't cause a full wreck with us hitting another car or something. Luckily there was no other traffic around us at the time.

I ordered a bunch of yarn and it is due to arive today! Love getting more yarn! This is all cotton yarn on cones, with one exception and that is a cone of super petalspun rayon that I want to use for a shawl. It is all from Peaches 'n Creme. I'm gonna have fun!

I'm bad...I didn't take any pictures this weekend, either. One of these days, I'll get it done and have a huge post full of pictures of finished objects.

I made another market bag yesterday; it is a different pattern than the other 2 though. I don't like the finished product as well. I started another one today that is like the first 2 except I made the base larger. Still working on the sides and I think I'm going to run out of yarn before finishing. Yikes! I'll just have to finish with a different color of cotton yarn. I would rather it all be the same, but since this is bigger, it won't be enough. I'm sure I have some other that will blend okay with it.

My big news of the day is......We booked another cruise today! It is not until the end of April of NEXT year but we like to plan ahead. We will be cruising with some of our cruise friends on our favorite ship---Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas. It is at a great price right now and will be going to the Mexican Riviera. We've never been there so it will be all new ports for us. Just found out about the cruise this morning and booked this afternoon. So I've been excited all day and not able to think about much else (that's why the bag isn't done yet!).

Sorry I have been AWOL lately. I have been busy at work. I have added several finished objects to my list but haven't posted about them because I keep meaning to take pictures of them to post. By the time I get home in the evening, I forget about taking the pictures. I'll "try" to do that this weekend.

I will say that I started another afghan yesterday. I am doing a Grandmother's Flower Garden with hexagon motifs. The original pattern shows a cream or white background but I am planning to do mine with a black background. I think it makes the colors stand out more. I will need to make 473 hexes for this and I have made 35 so far. Still quite a way to go! This is one that I will probably work on a little at a time as I get the colors. I am planning on using left over ILTY yarn from other projects for the flowers. Hopefully, I'll only need to buy the black for the background.

I tried to get the yarn last Saturday to make an afghan for Kaitlyn but the Hobby Lobby I went to was out of the pinks that I wanted and I didn't have time to go to another one. And since she requested 2 shades of pink, that is what I MUST have! Don't want to disappoint her!

Oh, yes, I will say that Patti was surprised and really liked her angel wings shawl. She has been telling me at work all winter that I could make her a shawl and her favorite color was yellow. So last weekend I decided to make her one. I made it Sunday afternoon and gave it to her on Monday.

I found another 'green' bag pattern this morning that I want to make. I really like the ones I made last weekend but this one is bigger. I'm thinking about making it to carry yarn projects. I couldn't lift it if I put groceries in it like it was intended! May try it this weekend if we don't make it back to HL to look for Kaitlyn's pink yarns.

Another Finished Object

I just finished my jacket in light peach. Which reminds me....I still need to do the seams on the last poncho so I can officially declare it 'finished'...will try to remember to do that tonight. I think I will start on another shrug like the periwinkle one but in red this time. I need something easy to work on this weekend as we are going to Mama's so don't want anything that I have to do too much counting on while there. Whew, that was a long sentence! Hope it makes sense.

Just a quick note before I leave for work.....

My fingers are working again! I was able to crochet last night and this morning! Gee, I really missed being able to crochet! It is one thing when you decide on your own to take a break for a couple of days, but when your fingers just won't work without hurting is a totally different thing!

That's all for now; time to leave for work.

Just a short post today.

The garbage cake was a hit yesterday.

I've worked some more on the jacket. I need to make it longer than the pattern calls for because I want it to come at least to my waist; I don't want it to be cropped. But it is slow-going right now. My fingers are bothering me today (dear old Arthur!) so not feeling much like crocheting. That usually makes my hands feel better and loosen up some but not today. So spending more time reading or surfing the net. Been looking at different afghans and deciding what I want to make. I've been thinking about a scrap yo yo design for a while but think I might get too tired of it before I ever got it finished. Or maybe a hexagon granny. And I have several other ideas in the thinking stage, too. Don't have to decide anything yet at any rate.

Wow, it is hard to believe it has been a week already since I last posted. I still haven't gotten a picture of my shrug. But since then I have made a poncho in Montana Blue Homespun; well, all except for sewing the side seams at least. And last night I started another jacket. I have most of it done already. I am within 4 rows of finishing the body unless I want to make it longer (which I probably will) and finishing the sleeves to whatever length I want. This is made out of ILTY in a light peach. Looks nice and spring-y.

I took a vanilla candle in to work last week. It about drove the ladies crazy; they said it smelled like birthday cake. So they said I had to make a cake and bring it to the office to make up for smelling the candle all week! So this afternoon I made a cake to take to work tomorrow. It's not a birthday cake, but it is a cake, all the same. It is called "Garbage Cake" and is a really rich coffee cake with lots of brown sugar and cinnamon in it and in the topping. The recipe is from my cookbook that I published in the early 80s. Hard to believe that was almost 30 years ago! Time sure flies!

Only one more month to go and tax season will be over! Yippee! And that means we'll soon be going to Gatlinburg for a long weekend to celebrate another season being finished. And I'm thinking about what project I want to work on while there.

Oh, I added some 'blinkies' on my sidebar last night. Hope you like them.

It is a very blustery day here today, temps are in the upper 60s, and we are supposed to have some thunderstorms later but so far, so good.

I think my body has announced that it is officially spring, regardless of what the calendars say. My head is stopped up, eyes are watering, sinuses are draining, and I'm coughing....in other words, spring allergies have started. I noticed a few days ago that the trees had started to bud so I was expecting it. Still, it has put a damper on crocheting; just haven't felt like doing any today. I'm going to try to do some in a little bit, but I'm not going to push it. I have started on a mitered poncho in Montana Sky Homespun. I love this color.

We took Mel and Linda out for his birthday last night. We had a good time but the restaurant messed up both of their meals. Linda sent hers back and it still wasn't right the second time; Mel tried to go ahead and eat his, but he just couldn't do it. The waitress wanted to get them something else but by then, they had both lost their appetites and didn't want anything else. At least the manager took their meals off the bill.

It is beginning to thunder off in the distance now so I'd better close and do what else I needed to do on here so I can shut it down.

Another Finished Object

I finished the shrug/jacket yesterday morning and wore it to work. It is very comfortable and warm. I really do like it. Sally intends to herself one, too. Haven't gotten a picture of it yet but will as soon as I can. I know I want to make more of these! Just have to decide on colors.

Slow day at work today. I've only done one return so far and have one appointment (at 12:30). I get to leave at 1:00 today.

Maurice is not feeling very well today. He either has a bad cold or sinus problems. Probably spring allergies are starting for him. I've noticed some of the trees starting to bud. I've been sniffling more than usual, too. I always do when the trees start to bud in the spring.

Second post today!

I got Maurice to take a quick photo of me wearing my blue sweater when I got home from work this evening so I could post it here. So here it is.....

I was also able to finish the main part of the shrug/jacket just before leaving work. Tomorrow I intend to sew the sides together and start on the shell trim.

I'm wearing my new blue sweater today and it is nice and warm. I am pleased with how it turned out.

The shrug/jacket is coming along nicely; just a few more rows and I'll have the basic body done and ready to sew the sides together. Then it is on to the shell borders. If I like this as well as I think I will when it is finished, I can see myself making several more of these in other colors and for gifts.

It is still cold today but the weather people are promising a warm up starting tomorrow and we are supposed to be in the upper 60s by the end of the week.

Back to working on the shrug.

Another week gone

Well another week has passed and I didn't 'ramble' on here at all.....Sorry Linda B!.....So to catch up some on what has been happening....



I finished the sweater that I had to restart. Had several bumps along the way and had to take out and redo some but I made it. The first bump was I made the sleeves too long. I shortened the first one when I made it but I forgot to take into account that the shoulders of the sweater would hang past my shoulders (I have almost no shoulders!) so I had to take the top half of the sleeve out and redo it. Then the neckline of the sweater was way too wide so I improvised...I added some rows of dc aroud the top of it to fill in some; now it is better. And last, I decided I did not want the scarf attached that went with it. So I just didn't make it. Anyway, it is done. I'll try to take picture later today and post it. After all of that, I'm not sure whether I like it or not. It doesn't fit quite like I wanted it to but it will work.



So yesterday afternoon, I started going through patterns trying to decide what I wanted to make next. Nothing I had grabbed me so I went surfing for patterns. I found a shrug/jacket at Maggies Crochet that reached out and grabbed me.....luckily it was a downloadable pattern so I didn't have to wait to get it. I ordered it, printed it out, and got started. I carefully checked my gauge and began last night. I'm using ILTY in periwinkle for it. It calls for LB wool-ease which is the same weight as ILTY. When I did the yardage comparisons, I found out I will need 5 skeins of ILTY and I have 6 of the periwinkle so I'm off and running.

Here is a picture from the front of the pattern just to have an idea of what it should look like. That is definitely NOT me in the picture and mine will be periwinkle instead of the white pictured.

Work has slowed down now....that is normal for us....March is usually slow....so I am getting some time off. I still go in all 5 days, but the days are shorter. Suits me just fine. Mondays I go in an hour later, Tuesdays and Thursdays I get off an hour earlier, and Wednesdays and Fridays I only work 9-1. Sounds good.


Friday I started researching places to stay in Miami in October the night before our cruise. Found one place that sounds very interesting and the price seems good, too. Also began looking at flights. Nothing decided for sure yet though. Want to coordinate with Mike and Sally too.


Today I'm going to try to get reservations at Gatlinburg for the weekend after tax season to just get away and unwind. (Like we really need an excuse to go there!) Edited to add: I just made our ressies, got what we wanted, so we are booked!


But enough rambling for now. Try to not be gone from here a whole week this time.

Picture of Poncho

I finally got a chance to take a picture of my poncho. Here it is:

The color is called Barrington. It isn't quite as purple as it looks on my screen; it is acutally a tweedy mixture of purples and teals. I really like the color. The photo doesn't really do it justice. I needed a model for it but no one was available when I took the picture.

I did get the next sweater started Thursday but I had a major problem with it. I measured it after I had almost all the back done and it was not matching my gauge swatch! It wasn't even close! I have no idea why that happened. I did a swatch and it was right on the money but when I measured the width, it was almost TEN inches narrower along the bottom edge than it was supposed to be! So I took another skein of yarn and started swatching again with larger hooks. I never could get it to match. I was really getting frustrated! So I put it aside and thought about it for a while. Then yesterday afternoon I got it back out again and did more measuring. I figured out how many stitches I needed to start with using the same hook I had originally used. So then I frogged it all and started all over again last night. You'd better believe I did a LOT of measuring as I went this time! And I'm matching the measurements just right. I have the back and the left front completed and they match up just fine! Next will be the right front and then the sleeves.

On another note, the guys finished getting all the yard debris cleaned up Friday night. It looks so much better! And the plumber came by to see just what he needed to get and will be back Wednesday to put in a new hot water heater and a new sink and commode in the bathroom. The water heater replacement was due to the storm; the other part wasn't. We had intended to replace them this spring anyway but decided to go ahead and have him do it all while he was here this time.

We had more snow last night. At least it wasn't much and there was no ice to speak of with it so it wasn't bad at all. I am ready for spring!

The poncho is done! I can't believe how fast it went. I just started it over the weekend. Haven't taken any pictures of it yet but will post them when I do.

Since we've gotten our insurance money from the storm damage (did I say that before?) we got in touch with the guy that we wanted to do the tree/limbs removal and he will start either today or tomorrow. I'll sure be glad to get rid of all that debris! I'm sure our neighbors will be glad, too. I think we are the last ones on our street with tree debris still in the yards (except for what is at the curb waiting to be picked up).

I'm going to try to get the next sweater started here at home this morning before I leave for work. I'd rather start them at home where I can concentrate on getting the first little bit done without interruptions.

I've almost finished my poncho. The main body is done and I'm working on the cowl collar. I'm guessing I've got about an hour of stitching left to go on it. Hopefully I'll get it done before work tomorrow morning. Then it will probably be on to the Vintage Tie Jacket from Lion Brand. I have Homespun in cobalt for that.

Work is calming down now and I sure am glad! I'm still very tired when I get home but it isn't as bad now. The worst part about it is when I get so tired my stinosis acts up more and I'm in more pain. But at least now I know what it is and I have medication that helps with the pain, too.

I'm still waiting on my patterns that I orderd from Annie's Attic last week. They have been shipped and I should get them some time this week. I ordered a basic cardigan, a basic pullover, and a vest pattern.

Gonna go catch up on emails and then call it a night.

Day to Day Poncho

No, that is not a typo! I am doing the Night to Day Poncho (or is it Day to Night?) from Lion Brand but I am doing both halfs in the Day version; thus the Day to Day Poncho. Can't believe I forgot to say I had started this. Anyway, I started it Sunday night. Instead of making 2 halves just alike, I am doing them both together as one big item (no sewing it together that way!) It is coming right along. I am using LB Homespun in the Barrington color. I had never liked using homespun before but I'm trying it again and it is going better now. I guess with more experience it makes it easier. I had trouble before seeing where to put my hook or needle with the boucle style yarn. Plus I had trouble with the ends. But since I learned the Russian join, that is not so much of a problem any more. I have always liked the way anything made with homespun felt--it was always so soft and cuddly--that I decided I had to give it another try. So far, so good. I am almost finished with the second skein now. Will probably finish up that skein before going to work today--I don't leave here until noon today.

I finished adding more rows to Maurice's VVS last night. He says it is perfect now!

Gonna go get dressed and then back to the Poncho until time for lunch and leaving for work.

It took me longer to get the pictures taken than I expected but here is a picture of my teal matinee jacket.


And this is a closeup of part of the bottom trim that I added.

The color doesn't show up accurately; it really is a true teal in real life. It looks more blue in the pictures than it is.

I also finished a small blue varigated basket like the larger one that I had made. I did it just like the large one except I didn't do as many rounds for the bottom. Here is a pic of it.

Yesterday we went to Mel and Linda's where she was cooking a birthday dinner for me since we didn't get to see them last weekend. It was great! She makes the best hamburgers! (And I'm not just saying this because she reads my blog!) Supper was great, I really liked my gifts, and we had a good time. We watched two movies--Space Buddies and Open Season 2--and they were very enjoyable. The guys watched another movie that Linda and I didn't care to see. We went to the computer and I showed her some crochet instruction sites so she can learn some more stitches. She is doing great so far and what she is doing is looking good! Then we just talked and visited.

Work had calmed down a little bit by Friday afternoon. I certainly hope this week is calmer than it has been. I'm ready for a break!

I bought more yarn over the weekend. I got enough Homespun in Barrington color to make the Lion Brand Day to Night Poncho all in the day version and enough Homespun in Cobalt to make the Vintage Tie Jacket also from Lion Brand. Think I'll do the poncho first.

Oh, Maurice decided he would like his VVS afghan to be a little wider--6 or so inches--so I have been adding on to it, too. Since I did not put any kind of border around it, it is no problem to make it wider. Have added about 4 more inches to it so far.

Jacket is Finished

As I hoped, I finished the matinee jacket last night just before CSI Miami. No pictures yet but I will take some soon and post.

I think I'm gonna make another basket like the blue/white one only smaller while I decide what other project to start next.

It was crazy at work yesterday. Thanks to the computer problems last Friday, I had THREE appointments for me at the SAME time! I had one right after another all day yesterday. And these were all my regular customers that would not let anyone else do their returns. I got them done and no one had to wait very long. Hopefully today will be a little calmer; I'm still worn out from yesterday.

Teal Matinee Jacket

Tonight I finished the matinee jacket. At least I finished the pattern. I want it longer than it turned out so I am going to add a border around the bottom to make it 2 or 3 inches longer. I'll probably also add some of the border to the collar to tie it all together. Hopefully I'll get that done tomorrow and can post a picture of the finished item.

Friday was my birthday and it was wild at work so no time to post. The main problem was the computers. Our program crashed! Tech support was working on it all day. They did get it to where we could do tax returns before too long, but we could not transmit anything. It lost our scheduled appointments list so we had no idea who was supposed to come in. So we had no idea if we were double booking anyone or not. Then it kept locking up and we had to reboot the server and start over again. But I think all is fixed now.

Maurice and I went to Stone Hearth after work Friday for a very nice steak dinner to celebrate my birthday. I was so tired when we got home that I fell asleep in my chair a little after 8; woke up around 9 and got up and went to bed! I'm such a party animal!

Got a call from the insurance people tonight and someone is supposed to be here Thursday morning to assess the damage. So maybe we can get started on getting things back to normal soon.

I spent over $200 restocking the fridge this weekend. Yesterday afternoon I made more soup and put it in the freezer and I cooked another ham in the crock pot overnight and it is packaged and in the freezer now, too. Slowly getting it all together.

Back to crocheting.....since I am almost finished with this jacket, I need to decide what I want to do next. I have the yarn for 3 more projects so I just need to decide what I want to start next. Decisions, decisions......

Trying again...........

Had a nice post and when I hit publish, it vanished!

The rush is on at work so not much time to post. It will slow back down soon, though. Very little internet time at the moment. Still trying to work on my sweater when I have time. Finished the first sleeve last night so that just leaves the other sleeve, putting it all together, and adding a small collar. Then I'll decide if I want to add some kind of edging around the bottom or not.

Back to work now.........

Power is back on!

We just got our power back on tonight after 5 days. We hung in there and managed to get through it all. The temps inside here got down to 40 degrees but didn't go any lower than that. I promised some photos as soon as I could post them. Again, these were all taken from either my front or back doors. This just gives a little idea of the total disaster in our area. Many, many people still do not have power and some may take another two weeks before it can be restored! We are just thankful that as many have it back as they do.

We were lucky with all the trees in our yard, that only one tree did any damage to the house. We had one limb go through the roof and leave a hole about 3 inches in diameter. One of our neighbors came over today and did a temporary patch to it to hold it until we can get the insurance people to check it out and see what kind of damage was actually done. And we lost all the food in the refrigerator and freezer. But it could have been so much worse and we are very thankful that it was no worse than it was. Our neighbors seem to have fared okay, too, in that we did not see any major house damages.

Ice Storm!!!

Man, did we get hit! The pictures I posted last are nothing compared to what we got. Total devastation and loss of power and water. We still don't have power at home but we did get water back last night so at least we can flush the commode now. I'm at the office today where it is WARM! We are managing at home even though we are cold. The house temp was 42 when we got up this morning. Thank goodness for all the afghans I've made recently! We had them all piled on the bed on top of our regualr bedding. We stayed toasty enough as long as we could stay in bed. Hopefully it will be back on soon. Utility workers have come in from several states to help and are working 19 hour days for the duration. I will post some more pictures when I get power back on at home where I can.

But while I'm at work, I'm getting a lot of crocheting done! Already have the back, all the right front, and half the left front done on a sweater.

Okay, I took some pictures from our front and back doors. I didn't venture any further out than the doorways! Here they are....

This is icicles hanging from our front porch.



This is looking out toward the street from our front door.


This is looking toward our neighbors house.

This is looking toward the same neighbors back yard.





This is a bush behind our garage.

Icicles on the back roof.

Close up of ice on some trees.