My Afghan Has A Hole In It

😭

One of the animals no doubt.. Probably this one..

Maybe it wasn't him, but he is always "making biscuits" on his blanket I gave him (not the one above). And he probably was doing it on my afghan, too. I don't even know if it's fixable. This is it. It was a lot of work crocheting that! And a million ends to weave in.  Sigh...

Can you see how terrible our couch looks? Ugh... We only got it about five years ago. It broke like the day or next day after we got it. The long ?? part (I have no idea what it's called) where you can put your legs out, but it doesn't have an armrest? That part broke. And it's been breaking more over the years. Every time we moved, my husband would have to do something... (See the 2x4 he put on as a leg?) Yeah. It looks terrible. Not to mention the scratched up armrest from the cats (the one laying on it, so innocent looking..) would climb up. Instead of just jumping on the couch cushion. 

Well. All that to tell you, we are getting a new couch. It actually looks just like our old one did when we first got it. But, the sectional part is on the opposite side. I hope this one doesn't break in five years, too. We're supposed to get it in 2-4 weeks.

I was trying to change the sheets on this bed yesterday, and the cats wouldn't get off. So I just laid down. And I looked at the cats and saw they were both putting their paws out like this. Same paw, it was so cute... I said "Synchronicity Cats"

I'm A Day Late Again..

I'm a day late a lot, lately... Yesterday was 7 years since I adopted Cosmo! He does not look amused, does he? 😄 He's a grumpy looking boy. But I love him. He's really a sweetheart. Spoiled rotten, but a lovebug. He's my buddy.

I haven't felt like crocheting or knitting lately. Or baking. But, I have been doing paper stuff. I saw this on social media, somewhere... It's a card that you add things to. Just take an existing notecard you have, and add the little pockets.. And flap.

The flap folds out and there's a little pocket. And you glue an envelope to the back of the card, for another pocket. And there's a little pocket on the inside cover. I thought it was cute.

And another thing I saw on social media.. I actually traced a sticker I have, and made a little bunny head to put on the front. Edged around everything.

The front and back covers have little pockets. You make these out of index cards. 

And glue the two sides together to create a pocket for the middle. I love it. I made a few, and have a few ready to make.. I have neon colored ones from a card making project our son had to do for school. I was going to do Halloween ones with those. Neon green and orange..

This is another thing I saw on social media. It's actually supposed to be for junk journaling. But, I thought it would work to send happy mail to people, too. It cost $1.25? I think? To mail. I have a couple more of these I'm working on, too. I'm making one for myself, for my junk journal.

There's two little pockets. It's made out of a little paper bag. 

Our son and I went "thrifting", on Saturday. I had actually wanted to go to the dollar store and maybe get a massage in the massage chair at the mall. But he said "I was going to go to thrift stores, do you want to..." "YES".  😁 (He didn't even finish the sentence..) I trained the boy well. I used to go to all kinds of thrift stores and garage sales when he was young, and he loved it. This is one stamp I found that I liked. There were SO many stamps! We went to four different thrift stores. Can you believe I only found one stamp I bought???  LoL.  I have so many stamps, though. 

And a corner punch I bought. 

I used them both, right away. I had been watching You Tube videos, and one I follow was making ATC cards. So... I made an ATC card with the stamp and the punch. Our son was fooling around with it, when we got home. I had punched the very corner of a piece of paper, to see what it looked like. Then he took it, and punched it inside the corner. I was like "Ohhhh, I like that!"   After I made it, I was sitting there thinking, "What could I put with 'hello'?"  What about "Hello summer", because summer is coming... I was thinking about making these into a mini pocket letter. Then I made a flip flop one with a scrap of summer paper I have. I want to add more to that, maybe. Like a solid border? I don't know. The summer and flip flop stamps are from a dollar store stamp I have that I got a long time ago.

  I just love that stamp.. This is the one pictured above, I stamped it to see what it looks like on paper. It came out good, so I just cut it out. 😜    

I didn't think I had anything to blog about today, but I kept finding more pictures..  😄

I just wanted to add, the little preemie baby that I made the hat and booties for is doing well and gaining weight. 😍 He is over four pounds now, out of the incubator, and in a regular bassinet. He is still in the special care nursery, but doing well. 💖

Happy Easter, A Day Late

Yup, a day late and a dollar short. 😏 

It's just the three of us now 😞  I've been struggling to not think about us all not being together so I'm not going to go there. We had ham, cheesy hashbrown casserole, green bean casserole, candied yams, dinner rolls. My husband cooks for Easter, and other holidays. And I do the desserts/extras.

My husband said he wanted pineapple upside down cake for dessert this year, so I made that. This is the recipe I used. I forgot to upload the picture; but I made pickled eggs, too. 

I don't know if I ever posted a picture of my Easter salt and pepper shakers I got this year. And some Easter napkins I got at Meijers (to make cards with actually, not for Easter dinner. 😝 But I figured I would use them.)

I have had this picture waiting to hang it in the kitchen (to try and cover all the holes in that wall ugh.. It didn't even cover it all..) Anyway. The "artwork" (?) is a dirty dishes poem I think I've posted about before:

"Thank God for dirty dishes, they have a tale to tell; while others may go hungry, we're eating very well. With home health and happiness, I shouldn't want to fuss. And by the stack of evidence God's been very good to us."

I wrote this poem to my husbands' late aunt, years ago. And she printed it out and drew the dirty dishes and leaves and everything on it and sent it to me. It was in a protective sleeve. Well, after moving 800 times it was getting ruined. I thought, "I should put it in a frame and hang it in the kitchen." Duh... So I finally did. Now I just need to fill in the holes and paint that wall. LoL. (It should have been done before we moved in here, so it's not really our responsibility. But it bugs me so bad!) 

Anyway. I was walking out to put something in the mailbox to go out today, and I saw these flowers 😀 I could have sworn they were not there last year. We have tulips and grape hyacinth that come up here in the Spring. So I was happy to see these. The tulips don't have any tulips on them yet. One has a big bulb but it's not opened yet. Coincidentally these are hyacinth, too. According to my Leaf Snap app...  

After we ate Easter dinner yesterday (we always eat early for some reason on Easter), my husband said "Do you want to go for a long boring drive?" We always used to go for long drives, and I would say "Why are we doing this long boring drive? Are we actually going somewhere, or just driving? This is just a waste of gas.. I should have brought my crocheting (or knitting).." I don't know why, but I would bring my crocheting, and it became "Long boring drives". Sometimes we do actually go somewhere. We found a candy store once when the kids were little and that became a thing.. Mostly we just drive and look at things and find new places. 

We went for one yesterday. I didn't actually bring this to work on. I actually started a different pillow. (Sigh...)  I was going to frog this, because it is not going well. I pulled the sides out for the picture. But, they are about two inches ? narrower than the ribbing and it irritates me so bad. But, I was looking at the pillow I had started on our long boring drive, and it is almost the same stitch. Sigh.... I thought, maybe I will just block the hell out of it and figure something out. I got this far on it. So, I actually frogged the other pillow that I just started. 😝 I drive myself nuts. 

I don't know if I ever posted the link for this pillow. The Pillow Cardigan. I hope it enjoyed it's time in the frog pond.🐸  Ugh that makes me want to crochet a frog. I actually have one started somewhere...  Focus, focus, focus.. 😣 

Flowers, Cookies, And Dunes...

Well, get ready for another super boring blog post..  My African Violet keeps getting more flowers on it! 😁 It has more buds, too.

And, I made cookies. 😱 Oatmeal Raisin. I hadn't made those in a long time. I know why, they never turn out good. I tried a thing I saw somewhere, where you form the cookie dough into a tall ?? tower? instead of a ball. Then it will bake up thicker. I don't even know where I saw it, I just spent a half an hour looking.. I don't know how to describe it either. It did help a little. The cookies were just flattening out and getting almost burnt before that.  

~Anyway~

My youngest son and I went to a dune state park last Saturday. I almost didn't want to go. It's two hours away. And two hours back...)  And I knew it would be a lot of walking...  But, I brought a crochet project and a book to read. And I wore my tennis shoes. 😝 These are just a couple/few of the pictures I took. The trail with a view of the lake.

The dunes at the top. I wasn't going to go down. It wasn't super far, but... It's sandy and hard to walk in. And I knew coming back up would be even 40 times harder than going down. 

But I went down. 👀 Not for the view... My son had gone down with Elsie. And I was getting nervous standing up there by myself waiting. (Like going down on the beach waiting would be any different...? I don't know..)  If you can see a black spot down the beach by the water, that's about where he was. Then he disappeared and I started to walk back to go up.  Well I couldn't remember which trail up to go on to get back to where we were! I started to panic. I was walking in the sand which was hard enough. Then I walked back ("I know I didn't go this way that far").  Ugh, I am losing my mind. Then I remembered I took a picture of some logs that were laying on the dune..

This is the picture. See? Taking pictures of everything does help! OMG. I am losing my mind. I was bad before chemo...   Anyway, I saw the logs and went back over to that trail and started to walk up. Just then I saw Eon walking down the trail. ?? He had walked in a big circle, back up another trail and over to the trail we were on. Kid has no fear. (He didn't have his phone with him, even though I told him he should bring it-and I didn't want to get separated in the first place because of that.)  So, it was all good in the end. I just about died going back up the dunes, though. I am still not back to normal/in shape from my surgery. 😟

I'm glad I went, though. We went into town nearby and walked along another (small) lake, and went to a Farmer's Market. We got "natural" treats for the dogs, and Eon got some goat soap (there was a goat there, too)

I think she said it's a Nubian goat? That has to be a lot of work. Not only going to the Farmer's Market and setting up your stall, but bringing a big fence and straw ? hay? (I don't know what goats eat), and your goat! 😐  

We got some lunch (even though it was 3 pm, we hadn't eaten though..) at a food truck, too. 

I finished the crochet project I brought, too. (Four hours of driving, I would guess...) It was just a hat. 

~Well that's all for now~

Hello. It's Me.

I'm back. I bet you didn't know I was even gone. Well, technically I wasn't. We just didn't have internet for a few weeks. 😒 Thankfully my crochet hooks and yarn still work. I had gotten this out to try and finish it. In an attempt to clear out the extra bedroom. (Sigh...) I looked *everywhere* for more of the purple yarn (the grey was in the same bag as this afghan.) I couldn't find it. I went to Walmart they (of course!!) didn't have any of this shade (I had gotten it there to begin with--well, not at this Walmart. But..) Then, I went to JoAnns. Their yarn racks were almost all completely empty 😞 Michaels doesn't have anything, either. I know Hobby Lobby doesn't have it. They only have HL brand yarn. Then, somewhere in my muddy brain... I thought, "What about that new bin you put all that yarn in, under the bed?" 😀

Yup!! I had a skein in there! Yay!! And I finished the afghan. Yay again. (I just have 800 ends to weave in.) 😁

I literally had just enough! This is all that was left. 

This is one of my plants that came in a (??) plant arrangement (?) my Mom and sisters had sent to me when I was going through chemo last summer. An African violet. It had flower on it when I first got it. But, I am really bad keeping house plants alive. So I was SOOO surprised, when I saw it was getting flowers on it again! And African violets are hard to keep alive. Well for me they are. I read about what to do with them; so... I must be doing something right.

After I finished the afghan, I didn't have any motivation to do anything else. Then my friend (I've known her since we were in fourth grade together) posted that her daughter was in the hospital (she was pregnant) and having an emergency C-section. The baby is premature. I instantly thought, (besides "I hope he will be all right!") "Preemie hat!"  I used the Preemie Jester's Hat pattern (only on Ravelry, but it's free).  Hers is soooo much cuter. I wanted to do one like that, but I have to use what I have for yarn. It still came out super cute I thought. Then I thought, "What about booties? It's hard to find preemie socks.." I used the Carewear Preemie Bootie pattern (the smallest size). Trying to get them to her is another matter... I only live an hour away from my friend, but I am going to mail them. I hope they still fit by the time he gets them.   It's been a loooooooooong time since I've done any preemie things. I looked on here. I don't think I knew what size to make the afghan then. It only measured 13 inches? LoL.  

~Well I guess that's all for now~

Waterfall Journaling Space For Junk Journals

I thought I had blogged about these. But I guess I didn't. I was trying to find where I saw the tutorial and searched on here and there was nothing about it. I did these a couple years ago. I couldn't remember where I saw the tuturial. But I did another search (LoL) and I had said either You Tube or Tik Tok. It was Tik Tok. Kaylnicjournals. If you want to go look. It is so easy. I might do some more soon. Our youngest son is home sick today from work. So I might do quiet things (yeah, that's my excuse- and I'm sticking to it 😝). I think I did this one first.

Then I did this one, narrower to fit in my junk journal. The first one was too wide, and I sent it to someone who I had made a bigger journal for. Hmm, I should post that, too.

This is inside my junk journal. You only glue the two sides, and bottom. Leave the top open for a pocket to put things inside. I love this one because you can just use note paper, or whatever paper you have. 

This is the journal I made to send (the same person that I sent the first waterfall card to). She is into bible journaling. I just traced the letters "Prayer Book", from a letter stencil I got from the dollar tree. And the cross, I just traced one on scrap paper to use as a stencil. The "girls" are ones I got in a pack at Hobby Lobby, I think.

The inside, I made a little pocket. It's just a $1 something notebook I bought. I covered the front and back covers, inside and out.  

I made all these last summer. Speaking of my junk journal, I haven't posted about that either. 

It all started with a cereal box. 

And a coffee bag. And a You Tube tutorial. 😁

The outside cover.

The inside..

The finished journal. 

I forgot to post the picture of the side. It was a lot of work. (For me.) I made the "signatures" out of "junk": Newspapers, magazines, old business envelopes..  People post these junk journals with all this fancy paper and things. Um. It's a JUNK journal...   I did use "fancy" paper for the cover and the inside, but.. Not for the signature pages. 

Well that's all for now. My cat(s) jumped up here. The one is little, and she was just in the way. Well then the other one (big boy) jumped up here (I didn't even know he was in here), and spilled my whole glass of water all over the place. Well I cleaned it all up and closed the door. Now he's out there clawing at it and meowing. Mama's boy.

Moving Right Along

Now that St. Patrick's Day is over, it's time for Easter stuff! Even though our boys are all grown, I still do Easter crafts, cards, and crochet things..  This was an idea I had, using the peep outline I made to cut cookies out with,.. (I traced one out of paper, too.) It's an envelope flip book card? I have no idea what it's called, but someone sent me one and I loved it. I "inked" around the edge of the whole bunny with a marker. I was thinking about adding a sentiment in the middle of the bunny. I kind of like it just like it is, though. I had some Easter paper from last year that I used.

And the envelopes are ones I got from all my aunt's stationery/envelopes. I got some Easter stickers at Meijers for $3. Little peep bunny stickers. I will probably cut out at least one of the bunnies I put on the front, too; to put inside. And who knows what else.   

These pictures are out of order. Oh well. We went to Frankenmuth, and went to Bronner's. It's the world's largest Christmas store. Yeah. And I got Easter salt and pepper shakers. Well, if they didn't sell Easter stuff then I wouldn't have bought them. Lol. Supposed to be a Christmas store. Anyway. I didn't see anything I wanted Christmas. (Can you believe that? I can't... LoL) 

I made an Easter card out of a napkin. I was going to take a picture of the napkins, too. Oh well. 

I made some muffins yesterday. They're St. Patrick's Shamrock Muffins. Just kidding. They're chocolate banana muffins. I used six bananas (all I had in the freezer) to make these. I got the recipe from this book. I've had it forever.

I took this picture yesterday. I think my Christmas cactus is confused. LoL. Actually, I think it's a Thanksgiving cactus. But when I bought it, it said "Christmas cactus.". You can google the different types of cactuses. ~Anyway~  Mine has been blooming, or had buds on it, since last Thanksgiving! 😕 This cactus has only bloomed once before. It must love the new window I put it in. It's been in a lot of different windows and houses. Well, it's pretty, anyway. I had a piece that fell off, that got flowers on it in the jar I put it in to propagate. I potted that one to give to my Mom, next time she comes up here. This one looks like it is going to have to be repotted soon, too.