Dogs and Chickens..

Well, Elsie went to the vet yesterday. She is really good in the car. Doesn't try and jump up in the front, waits until you open the door to get out of the car. She kind of growled at a person who was going to come in the vet (he wouldn't come in the lobby, he waited- thank God. The vet tech said that dog was 90 lbs and I couldn't understand the rest of what she said..) Anyway. Elsie gained 3 lbs since last year and has to go on a diet. 😒 I was like, "Yeah don't we all?" Gimme a break. And one of her teeth has a little chip in it, try to tone down the frisbee play. OMG.... (Yeah, I can't even afford to go to the dentist?...)  And she had a tick on her. ??? Yeah, that's literally why I'm here? We have ticks all over our back yard, and I pulled three off her the day before. UGH...  All that (which was what? She looked at her, felt her looked in her ears and at her teeth, gave her three shots) cost almost $300 and I only got one flea and one heartworm pill each. SHEESH!!! This is why I can't take Jaxson...  I don't remember us EVER taking our animals to the vet when I was a kid. We couldn't even go to the doctor, ourselves. It's ridiculous. Who can even afford groceries now, let along take their animals to the vet.. I feel like, it's not enough to feed your dog, brush them, and love them, and play with them; you have to monitor their play and brush their teeth check them for ticks (I do that),  they need to have their blood tested, their poop[ tested, give them all these pills so they can be around other dogs, measure their food every day (do you know how hard it is to keep track of that with two dogs, and they keep going to each others food bowls and you have each one measured out different?)... It's just a crooked money making scheme. And now I'm irritated. LoL

Anyway, here's a recipe for doggie ice cream treats. Now that Elsie is on a diet, I'll have to use "fat free" yogurt and peanut butter.. (Where is the eye rolling emoji??)  I made some treats in the ice cube tray for them last summer. I think it was similar to this one. I know I used banana and peanut butter.

Why did the chickens cross the road? I don't know, but when I was coming home from the vet, a chicken ran across the road in front of me. I had to slam the brakes on. Then I noticed there was a bunch of them on the other side of the road. This is just a couple houses down from us. They shouldn't just let their chickens run free like that, someone is going to hit one. And if they come down to our yard, Elsie will kill one for sure. It's all clucking crazy. 🐔

Sunday Drive (And Strawberries, Of Course)

Yesterday we went grocery shopping early. We got home and I was just like "UGHHHH I need to just get out of this house!" I asked my husband if he wanted to do anything. "Long boring drive?"  "Let me get something to knit"  I couldn't think of anything I wanted to bring. (Sigh...) So I just grabbed this dishcloth I had started, I don't know when. Or who for. Sometimes you just need to go for a long boring drive and knit to clear your head.  Since we went on Sunday I guess that means we're Sunday drivers, and officially "old". 

We did stop at the gas station and got a latte. Coffee and knitting. "Road trip". I guess life is good.

Look, the state flowers are blooming...

I was (long story) thinking. LoL I have a pattern for a Chair Caddy? I don't remember what it's called. It's called "Camp Chair Cozy".  Did I ever post a picture of the one I crocheted? Well, I was thinking, "I should crochet one of my fruit can cozies, and do a caddy with it. Because one of the versions is for a pineapple. I have a grape and orange can cozy pattern (in an old issue of Crafting Traditions) that was published. Well, I was thinking, "I could use the grape pattern for a strawberry cozy!" I tweaked my pattern a little, because it doesn't work. Maybe I used to crochet really loose. It looks too short, too. Maybe I should add another round.  Okay, I didn't post the chair caddy I finished. I posted that I started one. 

I noticed that the phone part is "inside out". With the wrong side of the work showing. I was reading through the pattern and thought, "No that's how she said to do it".. I will have to look again. I got two skeins of red ILTC at Hobby Lobby, to do a strawberry one. The can cozy above was a trial run in acrylic. It still is super cute though and I will probably use it. I don't know what happened to the grape and orange ones I crocheted. Probably never used them. I was thinking about those orange drinks that came in an actual plastic orange. Did you ever have those when you were young?

Something like these? 

Let me see if this will work, this is more like what I remember:

 I was thinking about them one winter and came up with the idea to crochet a pop can cozy like it. Then I thought of the grape one.. To be a kid in the 70's again...  Look what showed up on my news feed... A strawberry one at Kohl's. Proof the internet is spying on you.

We got some strawberries when we went shopping (of course!). Look how big they are! 🍓

This morning I made a strawberry lassi. That isn't actually the recipe I used. The one I used was just (for one): 1/2 cup chopped strawberries (I might use more next time), 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt, 1/4 cup milk, some honey (I didn't measure it), a few ice cubes and blend. The recipe I originally used to use is no longer available online, it used honey instead of sugar.  

Elsie has an appointment today for the vet, to get all her flea and tick meds...  And a check up. Eon is paying for it. (She is "his" dog, so...) I am just taking her. She loves going to the vet, and everyone there loves her. I want to take Jaxson, too but... 😞💸  I got them some collars, from Getfurlife. They're natural essential oil collars? If you get them, make sure you go to the correct website. I don't know. I think it's get fur life dot com. No spaces, and an actual dot not the word..  I think there is a couple fake sites, from what I read online.  Well, I guess we will see if Elsie has fleas today when we go. LoL I did pull three ticks off her fur the other day. (That's why I want to take her, her fur is so thick and long, and it's black and you can't see any bugs in it...) I used the "flea" comb I have, and was feeling around everywhere that was how I found three ticks. Jaxsons fur is white and tan and short and you can see any big bugs. But when I gave him a bath a couple weeks ago, I still saw about three ticks in the bottom of the tub. Ughhhh... I need to give him another bath. I'm paranoid about fleas and ticks, I don't want them to get in the house. We have enough bugs that get in the house. 

Fleabag One

Fleabag Two 

😂 I love them, I just call them that for fun...

Kick Off To Summer

I went "Garage Sale-ing" yesterday with Eon. I think we went to 90% of the garage sales. Even I was like "Do you want to go home now?" But he didn't. Even after all the garage sales, we went to three stores. 😳 I created a monster! 😂 I just can't do as much as I used to be able to, it wears me out. I shopped until I dropped, then I still had to make dinner and do the dishes.. 🥱 When I wanted to just lay on the couch and take a long nap. I guess I got retail therapy and then some, yesterday.  Anyway, this is all the things I got. Two books, a plant (OMG!!! I don't need another stinking plant, why?....) It's a "Wandering Jew" and I have been wanting one, okay? I used to have one that my SIL gave me a cutting from one of her plants. (SHE had a lot of plants! Well, she had a lot of everything... I honestly think she borders on hoarding..) Anyway, I got the "Verity" book, and the plant at one garage sale. Then the Gibson Girl wrapping paper at another one. And "The Fiery Cross" book and yarn at another one.

Don't ask me why I got more yarn... I don't even like the green. But... 🤷 It's really good yarn, and it was only $3 for the yarn and the little bag. 

The books. I read the first four of the Outlander series, I didn't even know that, when I bought the book. I was thinking "I'll have to go look, and see which other ones I need to read before this one." I read them all, and this is the next one. 😱 How weird is that? It's been so long since I read them though, I don't know. And I am almost positive that Verity is in my "Want to Read" list. I already started reading it. I have three books going right now.  Ugh...  I'm trying to stay focused here and finish "The Mirror and the Light" book. I joined the "2025 Reading Challenge" on Goodreads. I only committed to 10 books. (Wow...) It might take me all year to finish The Mirror and the Light, though; it's so boring... This is the third time I started to read it. I am almost half way done. I even started watching it on TV, to try and get into it.. I liked the first two books. I don't know why this one is dragging for me.

After we went to all the garage sales, we were going to go to Hobby Lobby. But first we had to go to Blains'. I don't know why, I think Eon just wanted to shop.  I wanted to go back and get the strawberry cookie jar. I couldn't stop thinking about it. 🍓 I don't know if I am going to totally redo the whole kitchen: Towels, hot pads, pans, plates, rug.... Someone I saw somewhere (online), just does her kitchen strawberries for June-August. Maybe I'll do that? I decorate for Christmas, Halloween, etc... Maybe I will just have a summer strawberry kitchen.  I wish I could get a whole new kitchen, but.... (This house is 125 years old, so...)  

Speaking of old houses, one of the houses we went to yesterday (an "Estate Sale"- but it wasn't very much stuff...), it was a big impressive "Antebellum" looking house in town. But when we got inside, it was...  😳 How to describe it... The first room we walked into, there was a stove on the left and a sink/counter and some cupboards on the right. But, no refrigerator. It had pink and green wallpaper. And everything just looked crooked. Like one of those quirky upside down crooked houses you sometimes see for tourist things..  Then you walk through that room to another room. Then another "room" (but, it's all open). Then to your right, another room and stairs going up. Then to your right again, the living room. Then to your right again, there's another ("normal") kitchen.  It was a weird layout. It looked so big from the outside. But when you are in the house, it's not so nice. Old carpet, that wood paneling on the walls... Maybe it would have been if it was fixed up/ remodeled.  (Like this house.) I asked the woman, "So there's a kitchen there, and a bigger one here?" She said they made it into, and rented out an efficiency apartment out when her parents were there, but no one wanted to keep it up later on. So it's just there, still.  I just thought it was interesting. I would have liked to see the upstairs. But I didn't want to be weird. 😝  It looked so much bigger from the outside. Maybe there's a hidden staircase that leads to more rooms, that they don't know about.. 

Anyway, at Hobby Lobby... I got the soap dispenser, too. I filled it up with my $1.25 store liquid soap. 😝 I want to get some strawberry scented hand soap, that would be cool. But I already have the other kind in it. You can see the rooted plant I was going to pot yesterday (I couldn't find any pots I liked at any garage sales, I did look). 

I crocheted a "strawberry" Notepad Basket Fridgie. I still need to glue a magnet on the back. It didn't turn out as cute as I thought. The ribbon is crooked looking to me, and I probably should have fixed it before I sewed everything on, but oh well. I showed my husband and he kind of laughed, and said "You're going crazy with the strawberries". 

Our landlord asked my husband yesterday, if we would be interested in buying this house. (That is a loaded thought..)  I don't know what to do!!.... There's so many things to think about...   If we did buy it, we could remodel this kitchen. We could remodel a lot in this house...  Sigh....  I think I am just going crazy, period. 

School got out here Friday, and kids were everywhere yesterday. High schoolers at the gas station like it was a party in the parking lot. And the community garage sales. It feels like summer has begun. (Even though it's not technically the first day of summer yet.) 😉

Strawberry Summer

I can't stop thinking about strawberries. I think I need therapy. Retail therapy. 😁 LoL. I uploaded a picture of the display at Hobby Lobby that I was talking about a couple posts back. I keep thinking about that strawberry cookie jar. When I was a kid (12), my step-uncles' wife did her kitchen in strawberries. I went strawberry picking with her once, her mom and dad had a big field of strawberries. Realistically, the only things I would probably buy from this display are the hotpad, the cookie jar and the soap dispenser. I liked the towel until I saw it's that microfiber material and that stuff makes my skin crawl. I am thinking about doing my kitchen in strawberries. 😳 All my kitchen things were turqoise and grey for a few years. I don't know why... Probaby because our living room was grey and I was trying to come up with an accent color...   Well our kitchen and living room aren't all in one open area now. And, I can do what I want. I was looking at strawberry kitchen ideas this morning. Here are a few. I keep saying to my husband, "We need to paint this kitchen.."  Well maybe we could paint it red. 😀  I don't think that would go over too well with the landlord, though. I guess I could just keep looking for strawberry kitchen accessories. A lot my kitchen towels are turqoise. Dishcloths, too. Hmmm.... Well, they are old and stained and need to be replaced anyway. 😝 My kitchen used to be red, but apples and roosters. That was a while ago. I still have my apple tea cozy. I think I just did a post with it in the picture..

I found a couple places around here (searching online) that you can go pick your own strawberries. The only problem is, I don't think I could get down on the ground and pick any. Well, I probably could. But I would probably end up hurting myself in the end.. I can't do things like I used to, since my surgery.  My huband said he would pick some for me. 🍓

~Anyway~

I meant to post this yesterday/ But I was already rambling on about enough, anyway. I made a little mini pocket letter for someone. I did post about the little ??? things you put in the pockets. (The last four pictures.)

What I put in the pockets. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid...  Tea and a "scripture" card, because she likes those things. The other pocket is for a letter.  

This weekend is our "Community Garage Sale".  I was thinking about going to a bunch. Maybe I'll find some strawberry stuff. I was thinking yesterday, about my little notepad basket fridge magnet on our fridge. I thought, "Oooo. I should crochet a red one, and put one of those strawberry buttons I got at HL on it". 😀  I am so glad I printed that pattern out. It's not available online any more. 

 

A Garrulous Speech

 

I don't even know what to make the title for this post..  I'm still in strawberry mode... I came up with this card. I don't know... It looks "okay". I kept adding to it. Then I added some of the paper I used, to the back flap of the envelope. 🤷I couldn't find any strawberry paper. With strawberries on it. So I bought the red and white polka dot paper.  

I started a little (??) I don't know what this is called. And Index Card book? Mini Journal? I have no idea. I saw it on Tik Tok. The only reason I got back on there is for junk journal/card making/paper stuff tutorials.  I used one of the strawberry stickers I bought for the front.

I still need to do more for the inside, and put more stuff in it. 

Here's another thing I did with index cards. I think I saw this one on YouTube. I've already sent this one in the mail. 

I sent it in this. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the inside!! I am really losing it lately. 

I did it like this one (I found the picture on Pinterest). I have been trying to use up some of the envelopes I got...  

And I used this idea to do the persons' name. And I did the little slot on the bottom left, too. I don't know if I will be doing that again, though. It cost over $5 to send in the mail. Don't get me started on the mail...  

This morning, I was thinking about potting a plant cutting that has been rooting in a pot on the windowsill (forever..). I was looking for a pot under the sink. The one I have down there (I bought it at DG) is too big. Then I remembered my Calla Lily that died but the pot was still on top of the cupboard... I got it down. Look what is growing in it. I don't even know how. I haven't watered this in months. I put the picture in to my Leaf Snap app and it says it's a wild onion. 😂 Okay..... Well, I watered the wild onion and we'll see. I guess I will have to get a different pot for my plant cutting. Ugh I have too many plants...

Guess what? We have another stray cat outside!  My husband the other night said "Tina come here". I went and looked out the window and there was a deer, but then this guy (or girl?) was under my husbands' work van! I went downstairs and stood by the door, waiting to see if it would come on the porch. Jaxson had been barking like crazy the previous night (maybe at this cat). So maybe it knew about the food. That's the third cat we've seen here. I don't think I posted about the other two. One is a grey tortioseshell, Eon opened the door and it ran away. The other one is a black one, it was getting in our garbage one morning when my husband was going to work. And I've seen it walking down our road. Now this kitty! 

It wasn't as afraid as the grey one. It just kept sitting there, and it would look through the window at me and just look at me. I wanted to let it in, but I know that would not go well.... Fleas, ticks, fight with our other animals...  I let a stray in one time when the boys were little and it peed on everything, our couch, our bed... We had to go get new stuff it was not good. I will just keep feeding it.

Our one cat Eri was looking at it in the window, here and it was looking back like "Why do you get to stay in a house?"... 😞  We think they are "staying" in the ?? outbuilding down at the bottom of the hill. (Long story...) It's like a big carport, but really long. It's not technically part of our property. Even though it is the landlords... (It's for his business-they put suppliles in there).  It's a pretty kitty! It's not a tuxedo, but it's black and white. I don't know if I ever posted about our tuxedo cat we had, Mercedes. 

This is Mercedes. Our middle son couldn't say Mercedes, and he called her "Mert". So that was her nickname. She was a cool kitty. She was one of my Mom's (actually my brothers') cats kittens, Heather. She was a mean Siamese. They kept letting her out (or, she kept getting out- knowing how some cats like to go outside), and she kept getting pregnant... Every time, my Mom would ask me if I wanted a kitten. We actually did take another one, after we had Mert. An orange male. He was INSANE!!! I think we named him Beemer. He would climb the curtains, I don't even remember what he did; but I couldn't handle him and I gave him back to my Mom. (I don't think Mert liked him, either. That was probably another thing why I gave him back.) Before Mert, I had a grey cat I named Paxton. I didn't have him very long, I had to give him to one of my Mom's friends when we moved.. I was mad about that fot a long time.

Sheesh this is a rambling post...  My brain never shut off, you're lucky you're not in my head. Lol If you've read this whole post and are still awake, you're a good listener. 😝

Strawberries On The Brain

I can't believe it's June already. It felt like winter would never end...  Even though it's not technically "summer" yet, it is to me.  I don't exactly love summer here because there's so many bugs here. But, I HATE winter.  I saw a really cool moth the other day, I guess that's a cool bug. (The bugs I don't like are fleas, ticks, mosquitos, and those big black flies that bite.)

My husband said "There's a white moth out here come look." I was like "Ugh, so what, a white moth.." But this one is kind of cool. I've never seen one like it before. I googled it and the only thing I could find was "American Ermine" moth.  

The next day I went to take the garbage out and it was laying on the porch like this, with it's wings open. 😀Now that's really cool.   Another thing June means is strawberries. I have been looking for strawberry themed anything lately, stationery, paper, rubber stamps, stickers. I couldn't find anything online that I liked. Hardly any stickers. Maybe I didn't look long enough.  

But my husband took me to Hobby Lobby Friday. 😀 And I couldn't believe all the strawberry things they had. I was so excited. They had a display of strawberry things: Dishes, towel, hot pad, cookie jar, etc... A butter dish, a soap (or lotion?) dispenser.. But this is all I got. I love it. 

When I was little my Mom would take us to a strawberry farm to pick strawberries. There was just strawberry plants forever. I hated it when I was a kid. LoL. (Why do we have to pick strawberries?....) When I would close my eyes to go to sleep at night, all I could see was strawberry plants. LoL. Well when we moved back here, I wanted to go there. But it closed a long time ago. 😒 So we have to buy our strawberries at the store. I thought, "I haven't made strawberry shortcake in a long time". So, I made some yesterday.  I had to go to the store to get more strawberries, though; because by the time I thought about making strawberry shortcake, there was only five left. (Sigh..) And I had to get whip cream, too.  Last year I was a little bit interested in strawberry things. I saw a strawberry bucket hat someone crocheted and I thought that's cute. And I got the pattern for the square she used. I still have not made anything with it. Not even one square. I should do that. (If my stupid printer would work, maybe I could print the pattern out.) She used that strawbery square pattern, and this bucket hat pattern.  Well this year, I am obsessed. I started looking for strawberry crochet patterns on Pinterest and Ravelry...  😐 I didn't realize there were so many!! I liked this bag.  There was a post by Yarnspirations with a bunch of strawberry crochet patterns, but no links to the patterns. I like this strawberry bookmark. I went and looked up the people/patterns that Yarnspirations had posted about. This is one of the patterns, a strawberry purse. Nothing like spending a half an hour trying to find one pattern, but I found it! It's called a Fruit Jam Bag. There's a bunch of different patterns I was only interested in the strawberry, but that's the pattern link. 🍓 Ugh... Now I want to crochet all the strawberry things. I did crochet a strawberry bag last year. This pattern looks similar to the one I made, but I don't think it's the same person as the one I found originally. I think I sent it to someone though. I sent the blueberry one to my daughter in law. Now all I have is the one I liked the least. Maybe I will buy the Fruit Jam pattern and make one for myself. OMG Why did I go on Etsy and look for strawberry crochet patterns??? This is never going to end... 

Strawberry Granny Square Book Kindle Ereader Sleeve Pattern

Strawberry Keychain Pattern

                                                            Strawberry House Box pattern

                                         My brain is going to turn into strawberry jam... 🍓

 

Scones and Crochet Fails

Well, I made scones yesterday. But not the ones I had posted the recipe for. These are Raisin Scones. I've posted about these before. This recipe is exactly the same as the one I used. The only difference is that the recipe I used, you have the oven at 425* for 12-15 minutes, instead of 400* for 15 minutes. 

I made some tea to go with it. I bought the Tetley tea a while ago at Meijers. And then last weekend we went to World Market, and I found the Yorkshire Tea. I wanted to try "British Tea". To see if it's any different than tea in the US.  😐 I mean... It's good. But. Meijer brand is all right, too.  I still have my apple tea cozy.  

Speaking of tea cozies, I had been in the mood to crochet one for a while. And I did. But....  I don't even know where my brain is sometimes. First off, you would think I would be able to tell as I was crocheting it, that it wouldn't fit any tea pot anyone has, unless it was a kids play set tea pot! I was supposed to use bulky weight yarn. I only did one strand of worsted weight..

And, it also should have two holes one on each side? 😟I don't even know. I must have been in La La Land...  I guess I will have to just throw this away. It looks more like a preemie cap than a tea pot cozy.

Then there's this. It's supposed to be a keychain purse. Look how small it is! Could I not tell when I was crocheting it, that I was going blind trying to see what I was doing? 😕 I put a bottle of nail polish and an old wine cork next to it so you can see how small it is. I don't know...  I think I need to take a break from crocheting for a while. 😝 At least the sky is blue today. Maybe I can go for a walk.

Rainy Day Plant Post (Again)

I hope you're sitting down for this one... It's another Breaking News story about plants. 😜 I bought this plant a while ago, it's a Jade plant. And one of my favorite plants, if not my favorite.  I used to have one, but it died when we moved. It was in the car and it was a freezing cold night. We stopped at a hotel. I should have brought it in the hotel with me, but we were all exhausted.

Anyway! I repotted it because it was getting too big for the pot it was in. Well, since I took this picture, it is almost too big for this pot. It must like the window I put it in. And the messy table I put it on. 😝 I honestly don't know how I am even keeping my plants alive, let alone they are doing good. I have a couple that aren't doing good, actually. My Calla Lily plant I have upstairs. I think it just needs better light. I don't have a good place to put it. Unless I bring it down here with my other plants. I don't have a good place to put it. This plant is getting too big for it's pot too. I could take a picture of it but this blog is already boring enough. 

These are some purple wildflowers I see all over here. I don't know what they're called. I want to take an up close picture and put it into Leaf Snap. This was down a road near our house a couple miles away.

It's raining and grey skies again today. This is about the third day in a row it's been like this. I am soooooo sick of grey skies. Grey skies and winter and bitter cold. Grey skies and rain. And mud...  Maybe I'll bake today. This was in the news feed this morning when I went on the computer. I've never made "true" Bristish scones, that look like biscuits. They probably say "American biscuits look like scones." And what they call biscuits are cookies for us. Ugh it's too early... 😝 

Okay, I went and got my Calla Lily plant upstairs, and brought it down and took a picture of it - next to my other one, that is doing all right. You can see it is not doing well...  I guess I will keep it in the computer room with my Jade plant and Christmas cactus.   

I also ordered a Life Alert bracelet. So if I ever get a life, I will be notified immediately. 😝

Bee Calm and Carry On

I wasn't going to blog today. But, I've had this card by the computer to send to one of my pen pals. And I got to thinking, "Where did I get that paper at?"  I googled online, I couldn't find anything. I went on Facebook to one of my card making groups, and the only thing I could find in the post about this card was "paper from Big Lots". I don't know if it was this paper, or the other card I posted about. Sigh...  

This is the whole sheet of paper, I was going to try and make a slimline card but it was too big. At least, I think that's what I was going to do. I only made this in 2022. I don't know where the heck I got the paper.  But, I also looked on here to see if I posted about it, and I hadn't. So I thought I would post about this card.

Since I am on about bees... This is another bee card I don't think I ever posted about. It's a trellis card.  I made it with what I have..  I wish I took better notes somewhere. 

This picture is with the card opened a little so you can see, the front "trellis" is open. I don't know if I sent this to someone or what. 

I've been attempting to clean my table off in here. What a mess. Oh, I guess I did post about how messy it is (it was worse than this yesterday..) 

In other breaking news, I never posted about my "new curtains". I might have written about them, but not posted a picture. We finally got some new curtains for the living room; because our animals destroyed the curtains that were in there, getting up on the couch and looking out the window. And by animals, I mean Elsie. Long story short, I said I want some for my sewing room too...   They match better than the ones I had, anyway.  And, the cats have already snagged these up. They lay by the window to get in the sun, and Eri gets in the window sill. Ugh...  This is why we can't have anything nice in this house. They were only cheap Walmart curtains. Oh well. Bee Calm and Carry On, right? 😜