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. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Well, I crocheted a St. Patrick's Day thing. I don't even remember where I saw this pattern at.  It's on Etsy. But did I see it on Instagram? Facebook? I don't know.. Anyway. The back of the hat opens up, and you can put little things inside it. I was supposed to crochet a loop for it to hang. Oops. I don't even know what I am going to do with this...  I have so many things I crocheted, and they're just laying in my sewing room...  I've been in the mood to just throw everything away, lately. O.o  

Well, that's about all I have for St. Patrick's Day.  I'm not making corned beef and cabbage for dinner tonight. 😝 I'm not supposed to eat cabbage anymore. Which I don't really care about, since I don't like it anyway; except in cole slaw. 

~Until Next Time~

St. Patrick's Day Paper Crafts

I made a pocket letter. I don't know why.. I just wanted to do something crafty, and I was digging through my drawers of paper stuff..  I just used what I have to make this (and looked at a lot of pocket letters on Pinterest for inspiration). I sent this out yesterday. It cost $1.77 to send it.

The back/what I put inside the pockets. I didn't want it to be too thick to fold up. Oh, I forgot to upload the picture- it fit inside a business envelope. I haven't made a pocket letter in probably 10 years. Oh, I take that back. I made a mini pocket letter about four or five years ago. I don't have a picture of it, though.

And I made a Clover St. Patrick's Day card (Pinterest inspired also). I don't have a stamp that says Happy St. Patrick's Day. So I just cut a thin strip of paper for the bottom. 

And I used the same paper to make a "matching" envelope. 🍀

And I also made a little gift bag to put odds and ends in (some of it is pictured). I also sent this out yesterday.   

I'm already ready for Easter now. 😝🐰 I'm making an Easter envelope flip card with a Peep cut out I've had forever. 🤷 I don't need any more stamps or stickers, I have too much stuff. 

That's all for now. 

~Until Next Time~

Another Easter Puff Pal

I don't even know when I started this project.. Probably two Easters ago.. It's been sitting in a bag, all the parts complete, but not finished. I had to do the eyes and nose and mouth and sew it all together. I did one of these before.  I don't even remember why I started this. 🤷 It's a pattern from McCall's Crochet Magazine, April 1995, Vol. 9, No. 2 issue. Someone from a yahoo group I used to be in gave me the pattern. I haven't been able to log into that group in I don't know how long. I don't know if it's even still there. ~Anyway~  Another UFO finished. I was trying to find a Leprechaun Gnome I had started. I guess I should look for something else totally unrelated. Maybe I will find it.. 

I started a roast early today, so we are eating dinner super early. My husband came home from work early, it's rain mixed with (a lot of) snow. Yesterday it was 51 and blue skies. I was ready to go plant some flowers or something.. 😒

 

I Made Some Scones

After all that talk about scones in a recent post, I went and got some heavy cream to make some. 😋 Scone Recipe I used. It only makes eight. 

Up close (I sprinkled them with sugar). 

And, I made Devonshire Cream!!! 😄💖 It was not that hard (well... It wouldn't have been, if I had a mixer I didn't have to keep stopping and putting the beaters back into it... LoL). The day I made it (which was the day before I made the scones), I licked the spoon and I thought, "It just tastes like whipped cream cheese." 😠 I stuck it in the fridge, and thought maybe I will add some more sugar later. Then yesterday I made scones and put some on it. It's just about perfect. With the sweetness of the scone (which isn't a lot, btw). SO yummy!!   Making scones is not that hard, either if you have never made them. It's kind of just like making biscuits.

I was thinking some more (did you smell smoke? 😜) about Crochetville...  Where did all the patterns that were posted on there, go? There was a lot of patterns. It's annoying. Because it seemed like every time I posted something, I would get a message from someone (name starts with an A) about "You can't post that, copyright issues...".  So what happened to all the patterns, A? I don't know. I was just thinking about that..

Well that's about it for now. I could have swore I saw a Robin the other day. Only 22 more days until Spring!! 🎕

 

Another Boring Baking Post...

I made banana bread yesterday.  It came out good. Usually when I make it in a bigger pan (like the recipe says to), it doesn't get done in the middle, but gets almost burnt on the bottom and side/edges. This time it was done in the middle. Maybe I just needed a gas stove all along. Lol. 

I also made some whipped honey butter (pictured on the banana bread above). I need a new mixer. Sigh...  I've had that one since I got married. 😵The beaters keep falling out. And one of them won't even *go*.  For the honey butter, I just had written it down: 1/2 cup butter (softened and whipped-which just means beat with the beater), 1/4 cup honey and 2 tsps grated orange peel mixed in. That's it. I didn't have any orange peel. So I washed an orange and made my own...  There's literally one slice of banana bread left. And it's only three of us here now... 

Then I made some tea and had my own tea party. (Sigh)... How depressing is that? When you don't have any money, you make banana bread and have a tea party by yourself..  Then take pictures of it and blog about it. LoL. I need some real tea cups with plates. I don't even really actually like tea. Unless it's herbal/flavored.  But I had too many flavors going here: Banana bread with honey butter and orange peel in it- wouldn't go too good with peppermint or lemon tea. Scones and Devonshire Cream would have been a little better. But this was pretty good.

I mentioned in my last post I found a wheelchair caddie I had started. I knew I had some other ones I had finished, too. But I could not find them anywhere. Today I was looking for a certain shade of purple yarn, and guess what I found? The bag of wheelchair caddies I had done. Never fails. I can't find anything when I'm looking for it (well sometimes I can), then when I'm looking for something else totally unrelated, I find the thing I was looking for before. But not the thing I am currently looking for. O.o  Another thing I found (that I wasn't actually looking for) is the tunisian scrap strips I had started. I don't even know how long ago I started these (second picture down). Like when our oldest son and our middle son were little.  Anyway, these are the caddies. The pattern is no longer available online. It was from "Around the Crochet Table". I was trying to find out what the copyright laws are about a pattern that used to be online, but it's no longer available...  It wasn't a vintage pattern. It was from 2002. I wonder what happened... Anyway.  These are for the Oglala Sioux Nursing Home, for a group I'm in on Ravelry. I want to get more chapsticks, and little Kleenex packs and whatever else I can think of to put in them. Little lotions? Hand sanitizer? And I was going to put a card in each one; "Thinking of you, hope you are having a nice day"..  God knows I have enough cards, LoL. And I want to make some more caddies. I had started a square to make a lapghan to match, the one on the top left. Well, I actually finished the square. I didn't finish the lapghan, though.. 😝

Well I guess that's all for now. 

~Until next time~

UFO's

Not the alien kind...   I went through a long phase of not wanting to crochet or knit anything. But, lately; I am wanting to crochet everything again. I drive myself nuts! I don't even know what I was looking for on my blog, but I saw a picture of the scrap strips afghans I used to crochet. And I was like, "Oh yeah... I should do another one of those!" (Sigh..) Meanwhile I already started working on another baby bunting I had started a long time ago. And while I was trying to find something in my sewing/crochet room, I found a wheelchair caddie I had started. So I finished that. (I haven't sewn the buttons on yet but..)  Ugh. It's no wonder I go through a phase of not wanting to crochet. I burn myself out doing too much at once. But, at least (except for this scrap strip) I am trying to finish up old UFO's. The pillow cover for my bed is on hold. I don't like how it's turning out. I did all the ribbing, and when I started the body of the pillow (?), it isn't even with the ribbing. It should all be even. (Sigh..)  I'm glad my husband doesn't get mad about all my projects all over the house..   I have bananas and all the ingredients pulled out to make banana bread today. Last night I was laying in bed thinking, "I want some scones. And some Devonshire Cream." 😀 I was googling recipes for it and I don't have any of the ingredients.. (Sigh) Then I was trying to figure out how many bananas I had in the freezer. And I thought, "What about that whipped honey butter I used to make?" It's not scones and Devonshire Cream, but... 🤷

I Cleaned My Desk

Alert the press..  I know, it doesn't look clean? But trust me, it's cleaned. I just have too much CRAP! I already had too much stationery. Then when my aunt passed away, I got all of her stationery too; when my cousin had an estate sale. She invited all the family over beforehand to go through and see what they would like. 

This is all the stationery my aunt had. TONS of envelopes, cards, two boxes of adorable cards. 🩷

I didn't take a picture of how messy my desk was (picture the first picture, but piled up in a MESS). This was the top of my desk, though. 

I put some of it on my table (which is messy, too). I know it looks hoarderish, and horrible. But, I have to say in my own defense.. Even though we have been here two years (sigh), the place we lived before (not the house right before this one) had a bigger  basement that wasn't freezing cold, stone, and scary to even go down into, that I had a lot of my card making supplies and I had a huge cabinet to put things in. Which (of course) got thrown away, so we could move back here before my Dad passed away. And, the room where all this is at, is freezing cold. And has the computer desk and other stuff in here. 😡 So it's not exactly "my" room... And, I can't even get to my desk to even sit down, because everything is packed in here. So I was just throwing all my stuff on it even after unpacking (which I didn't organize while I was doing it in here, because I was focusing on the rest of the house). Then two years ago, I got diagnosed with cancer and was going through chemo and everything else...   So, I am not a total slob. 

~Anyway~

I don't think I posted this snowman card I made. ?  I sent this one out already. I thought it came out cute. Even though it is simple. I was going to put more on it, but I thought "I always do that then it costs more to send.." 

Like this one- I put the flower and gems on it. I think it came out so cute, though. I'll just have to go to the post office to send it. (Sigh.. I hate going there lol.)

And, a cute picture of my kitties. My husband (FINALLY) brought the cat condo in from the garage. Our cat's eyes got HUGE, and he jumped right in it. (The brown tabby in the middle cubby). 😻 The tortie doesn't come downstairs during the day, while our one dog is out. (Sigh...) She hasn't liked that dog since we got her. So when our son lets her out of the kennel (he has her in his room, long story) our cat runs upstairs and stays there. 😞 Until she goes back up for the night. It's crazy. She isn't afraid of (or, dislikes more like) our other dog. Obviously this was one of the times when the dreaded dog was upstairs. 😝

 

Bear Sweater, Now With a Hat

You guys! I have posted in the past about all the baby things I crocheted (some knitted), for a group I was in. Well the OB Unit stopped taking donations for some reason. And I was bummed. Even though at times I got burned out and overwhelmed, I loved making things (and buying-when I had any extra money) for the babies. Well!... Another group I am in is have a baby drive for 2025. It made me happy. 😍 I have at least four things/projects crocheted for babies, that I was just going to save for if I ever have a grandbaby. Well it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon....    Not to get off track here. The sweater pattern is from Yarnspirations. And the bear hat pattern is from ktandthequid, there's a bunch of different sizes which I love. I made the sweater size 6 months. But, it measures 10.5 inches across the chest. So it's a 24 month size according to size charts. So I made the hat the same size.  

Other projects I have to send are the four color baby sweater, a baby bunting, and a Patti Cake Cardigan. This sweater measures 13 inches across the chest which according to size charts is a size 8. That does not seem possible. It looks so small to me. Maybe because my babies were so big. LoL I don't know...  

 

Happy Valentine's Day

 

Well Happy Valentine's Day. I'm not really excited about it. I used to do stuff (mostly for the kids-make heart shaped pancakes, buy them little Valentine candies and other stuff- they didn't really care half the time-except when it was candy or toys). But, they're all grown. And my husband hasn't gotten me flowers or candy in years. So. 😞

I finished a dishcloth today. It's the Ribbed Dishcloths pattern. It was the first week of February's dishcloth (knitted) pattern in a dishcloth group I'm in. This week the knitted cloth is the Manuela Dishcloth.

Happy Teddy Day

Teddy Day was actually yesterday, February 10th. I didn't even know there was such a day. But I was driving home from my doctors appointment, and on the radio the woman said "Today is Teddy Day", in preparation for Valentine's Day. I told my  husband, but he didn't buy me a teddy bear. 😒  (Even if I tell him flat out, he still can't take a hint sometimes. LoL)

So I came home and got all my teddy bear stamps out (all two 😝), and made some cards.. I have had this bear stamp forever. I think it was one of the very first stamps I got, when I started making cards. One of my friends (when I was a kid), her mom made cards. And when I was an adult, she had me over to make cards one day. And I was hooked!! 

And my other bear stamp..  I don't know, I might add more to this one? A sentiment? "Hello". It looks like the bear is waving hello.  I also need new ink pads. 😭 I have one more bear I stamped before my ink pad was done. I might finish another card today. I have a black ink pad, and other colors. But none that I could stamp a bear with. Unless I did a turqoise, red, or purple bear. Hmmm... A purple bear. 💜😀🐻 I'm going to have to make an envelope for this card, too.  Well... Maybe I will have another crafting day today.    Totally not related to anything but since we're doing special days... We've been in this house for two years today. That's a record for us, lately. If I start hanging pictures, though; we'll probably move for sure. 😉

P.S. Today is also Hug Day