AdSense Nonsense

I have not posted a blog here for years. Mainly because I remember google saying they were no longer going to support the platform.  Yet I guess they do because I got a notice I have to accept more AdSense changes to continue to be paid.  

Let's be clear here. I have never received any AdSense money.  So if there are ads posted on my blogs, it is not of any benefit to me. 

Summer Knit Tee-Shirt Project

After spending part of the week making swatches for this tee shirt pattern and working out the knit math to see what size to make with the gauge I got, I finally cast on and knit the first row.  I am making it with yarn I purchased for another project that was to be worked sideways.  I could not get row gauge, even though I was using the suggested yarn and needle size. In fact, I could not get the correct gauge with any size needle so I set the yarn aside to find a better pattern. 

The new pattern has a textured lace across the front and back yoke. While it is easy to memorize, it is taking time to complete because it is so easy to drop stitches.  Dropped and missed stitches are fairly easy to correct in stockinette stitch, but not so in a lace pattern.  This project is going to take some patience and the use of lifelines every other row, or maybe only every fourth row once I complete a few inches. 

This reminds me of Lao-Tzu's quote "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."  These thousands of stitches also begin with just one stitch. 

I am using Kala Crop Top by Pip & Pin Collective pattern and Cloudborn cotton dk yarn.  This post is not sponsored by either company. 

Good Riddance 2020 - Get Out of Here Already

New Year's Eve.  I wonder if they are having fireworks downtown?  I wonder if anyone is doing anything.  Our governor has the state locked down.  The news says that there is a new Covid Strain that is even more contagious.  More contagious, but no word on if it is really more dangerous.  Probably just more of the same let's keep the public scared BS and bunk that they keep spewing.  Our metro area has one person with the more contagious version.  A 20-year old that has not traveled out of the area.  I seriously doubt he has a different version.  I believe it is probably more of a scam so they can justify continued lockdowns.  I hope he is able to recover soon and without lasting effects. 

These lockdowns are killing the economy.  I tried hard to make sure my holiday shopping was done locally.  It wasn't easy.  The few mom and pop shops that were open had abbreviated hours.  10:00 to 5:00.  Can't go after work if they close so early. And when I went on the weekend the store was not busy and the inventory was not what it might normally have been.  I did make a purchase but still had to order from the mail order monopoly that we have all had to use this past year.  I don't know how businesses that do not have a robust web presence can survive.  Already many have just closed their doors and do not plan to open again.  

I buy take out from local restaurants, but I forget about most of the places I might normally go.  If they send me an email I try to put them on my list.  I cook at home more than I did before.  I am grateful that I replaced all of my large kitchen appliances before the virus hit.  I doubt that my original range and dishwasher could have kept up with the demand this year has put on them. 

My brother called to say he and some of the family had covid before Thanksgiving.  His family members are the only ones related to me who have had it.  I do know other people who have family members who have had it and one person who has had a family member pass because of it. The very few I know who have had it had very mild cases and have recovered quickly.  For those without co-morbidities, it seems more like a minor annoyance than a serious threat.  I will still exercise caution and look forward to the day this passes.  

I hope the lockdowns can end soon so people can go back to church, work, and school.  It seems more like political shenanigans than any actual health benefit. 

Even so, I wish you all a better, safer, and happier New Year!     

Life in a Pandemic Infected World

Masks

Masks, wear them, don't wear them, only use N95 masks, no you don't need anything that strong.  Make for your neighbors, make for hospitals, make for the world, and for yourself, or not. 

I am happy to make a few masks. I started making for a group in the neighborhood that was helping out hospitals, but the hospitals didn't want them. The hospitals are asking for surgical caps instead. Some people cry and beg for people to make masks, others will trash them so the fabric and time is a total waste.  I'm still making them. I sell them for what it costs to make them, not getting rich or price gouging, just have them available if someone needs one.

Just for perspective, farmers are having to plow crops under, pour out milk, cause piglets to be aborted, and otherwise waste perfectly good farm products and livestock because food processing plants and transportation supply lines are disrupted.  What a shame.  We will all feel the brunt of that soon.

Non-essential workers are required to stay home.  I am considered essential so I am working.  I am grateful for that, however, if I was "nonessential" I would be keeping myself busy creating at home.  I work with people 62 and older, so I don't risk going out except when I have to make a grocery run. The people I work with have to stay in too, but I see them going outside to hug grandkids or go to lunch with another family member. I understand their loneliness and desire to see friends and family.  I pray they do not get infected with the virus.  Because of age alone, they are all high risk even if they do not have other co-mobility issues.  I wish they understood that if they bring in the virus the risk to spread to all their neighbors is very high.  

I read "Nextdoor" a website where neighbors can connect and share news or useful information, but they mostly complain about their neighbors who do not wear masks. We all have to get through this, it is hard on those who stay home, it is hard on those who are on the frontline.  I don't know how to make it easier, but maybe we can all keep the snarky comments to ourselves.  Masks are uncomfortable.  I don't know how they wear them and run or bike and I don't blame them if they don't.  When outside it is easier to stay your distance, but when going into public buildings and closed spaces then certainly be respectful and wear a mask.  

End of 2018 Beginning of 2019

Wow, a year that zipped by faster than I would have imagined possible. 

I wrote almost nothing to share, knitted a lot, sewed a little, and probably produced more work than I have in a while.  There were mitered squares - I probably have enough for a quarter of a blanket and need to get on that little project again.  Because it is with scrap sock yarn though it will be a while before that one can be finished.  

                       

Mitered Squares collection

There were fingerless mittens, neck warmers, hats, and a Santa bag.

                              

Fingerless Mittens

These turned out to be quite popular.  Some people remarked that they could not see the point and that your fingers would be cold so they would never wear them. Others snapped them up like gold and wanted more.  Several who have purchased them asked me to please make them another pair or two.  It is a nice size project that I can take along where ever I go so I will continue to make them.  I wear full gloves under them sometimes but other times it is nice to be able to text, dial the phone or just be able to keep your hands warm while you work in a cooler area.  I even wear them when I knit if my hands are cold. 

Neck warmers, in all varieties, were a big hit too. 

Neck warmer

Neck Warmer

Flower Neck Warmer

Hat

Santa Basket Cover

I really want to make some sweater jackets and thought I would knit something for me soon, but I have to finish three more pairs of fingerless mittens before I can work for me.  

Happy New Year, May you always be working on something you enjoy.

Late Summer Thoughts

Petunias - summer 2018 on Patio

Although it is still plenty warm outside, the neighborhood kids have returned to school and soon I will have to bring in all of the plants. While it is still warm, I am enjoying watching the hummingbirds visit my flowers. I gave up trying to raise any vegetables on my balcony patio because I just don't get enough sun in the summer.  It is nicely shaded most of the day and plants that like partial sun/partial shade do well out there. I figured that even if I could not actually grow vegetables I could help the birds and bees. I was pleasantly rewarded with a little family of hummingbirds that visited several times a day. That did make a little extra work keeping the kitty in though because she loves being on the patio as much as I do.  Unfortunately, she also thinks it is ok to attack birds.  

Zenias - summer 2018 on the Patio - Hummingbird Favorites

Outside plants did well, but none of the orchids rebloomed this year.  Not sure what is making them unhappy so I may have to visit an orchid specialty shop and get some information. I did receive a couple of new mini orchids as gifts so there were some orchids in bloom for a little while.  

New orchids to my collection.

I have been writing up some knit patterns and trying to describe things I just do so that someone else could duplicate the work easily.  That is much easier said than done.  Here is the latest knit project.

I think it is easier to knit, making up a pattern as I go, writing some notes and duplicating it from my notes than to actually list things like CO X# of stitches, work in K1P1 rib for 1 3/4  inches etc. Once I actually write it out I think I have a few things to add to it that will make it easier for others to duplicate. This yarn is kind of wild and crazy, but someone suggested these colors and it has actually turned out much prettier than I thought it would.  Here is a photo before I finished both sides and started weaving in the ends. 

Mittens in progress.

I highly recommend stitch holders over waste yarn. There is a stitch holder on the one on the left above for the finger stitches and waste yarn on the thumb. This is such a quick and easy project - even for beginners. I think the fingers are far easier to do than turning the heels on socks, but mitten and sock projects are wonderful small projects that can be worked on the go. I am also working on a sweater - with a chunky yarn. This is the first time I have worked with a chunky yarn and the project is going very fast. I am working to have some things for an upcoming craft fair, but really I need to be working on what I would like to give away for the holidays. 

I am sorry not to be blogging much, but there are a lot of items in progress right now plus several things I plan to sew soon. It seems to be one or the other, either just do it, or talk about it.   

MAKE IT WORK

New Look 6250, its old now, but a favorite

This is one of my favorite patterns. New Look 6250.  There is nothing special just a plain shirt, no collar in four views, sleeveless with a deeper scooped neck, a long sleeved and short sleeved version with front buttoned down and a woven t-shirt view which I have also altered without sleeves at all to wear under business suit jackets. There are no darts it is a simple loose fitting shirt with a slightly dropped shoulder, and originally made in the early 90s with shoulder pads. I don't think this pattern is in print anymore and it would look rather dated with large shoulder pads, but simple alterations will keep it looking classic. 

I purchased this wild Hawaiian style print last year then promptly lost this intended pattern.  When I re-arranged things so I could make room for a quilting table (that will have to be another post) I found the missing pattern. Now I am going to make this shirt so I have it for next summer.  I have two yards of fabric and it must only be about 42 inches wide.  The pattern calls for two yards of 45-inch wide fabric in the size I plan to make. 

I have enough fabric for all of the main pieces, but I am going to have to cut the pockets on a fold and the sleeve is a little wider than the half fold on the fabric.

enough room for pockets if cut on the fold

• Pockets on the fold so I have enough fabric, no big deal I can do that.

enough fabric on this strip for the underarm splice

• A splice under the arm so the sleeves are wide enough, also do-able. 

Careful placement may let me match the front

• Front not matching, well that is much less desirable.  Or is it possible I can make that match?

There is a 12.25-inch pattern repeat, so if I think this out properly, (lay it out so that the 12.25-inch repeat starts and ends on the center front (button line) I probably can get the front to match too.  I am not sure if I will still have fabric for the pockets, but it is certainly a make it work moment.   

Lacy Shrug

I think this is the longest it has ever taken me to knit something, or maybe I should say this yarn knew what it wanted to be and everything I had planned for it was not it. I purchased the yarn for a loose fit summer cardigan but no matter what needle I used I could not make it produce the necessary gauge to fit the pattern. I finally gave up and got a different yarn to finish the original plan.  

Then I decided I should use this yarn for something else. I started this pattern shown below.  I had made a mistake in the length of the project before adding the "sleeve" width section but decided it would be okay. It probably would have been, but there was that nagging thought in the back of my mind that perhaps I would be just a few inches short on yarn. Plus, I kept making silly errors in the knit pattern. I worked the project until it was about 20 inches long and set it aside while I decided if I was going to rip it back and make it the original planned length. Last blog post I had decided to frog the whole thing and start over.   

Once I made up my mind, the whole project was a race to the finish. It must have been what the yarn was meant to be because when I committed to starting a new project, it was finished within a month.  

Here is the next project.  It is going pretty fast too.

Frogged

I started knitting a shrug in Tahki Cotton Classic over a  year ago. Then I made a mistake on it, actually, I made several mistakes on it and ripped it back several times to the errors, made the corrections and continued on. Truthfully, I had made an even bigger error on it somewhat near the beginning but decided I would just alter that into the pattern and match the front side. This error was at what length to start the sleeve. 

The project at about 12 cm

The sleeve was to start at 12 centimeters, but I started it at 12 inches. That is a full 19.5 cm, or 7 3/4 inch mistake(15 1/2 extra inches to knit for the whole garment). I told myself I could live with this alteration, but the longer it got the more it bothered me so I set the whole project aside and pondered the decision for a long time before I ripped it back to the beginning of the error, 12 cm from the start. After such a long time since starting the project, of course, I made a mistake in it right after increasing at the correct place for the sleeve. So I ripped it back again and made yet another mistake.  

Today, I ripped the rest of it back and decided I would try it over again with different needles. The original pattern was an open diamond lace, the yarn is meant for a size 6 US needle and I was using an 8 US to get the gauge. The result was a very soft lacy loose knit pattern and it looked nice on the needle. The smaller needle will make the yarn behave better and be a little firmer knit, but I will have to make more stitches to get the same size.  

Now I have to decide if I am going to use the same open diamond pattern or maybe pick something else. The texture will be different because of the smaller needle size but I think it will be easier to read the knit and not make the same mistakes I kept making earlier. Thankfully, it is a shrug, fit is not tight or exact and I will be altering it to fit the measurements, not the stitch count. I am sure I will be happier with the results but I am making something with bulkier yarn for the next project so it goes much faster than this re-knit is going to be.  

Ah Summer

Container Gardening in a Small Space

Petunias

In the winter my balcony patio is bathed in sunlight that spills into the living room and gives the benefit of passive solar heat. I appreciate the help from the sun and it is noticeably colder on cloudy days. It makes me think what a great place to grow some things in the summer. But in the summer it is a shady patio which makes it a wonderful place to be outside without being sunburned. 

Last year I planted cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, basil, rosemary, and cantaloupe. The cucumbers grew up the railing and created a pleasant shade, pretty yellow flowers and maybe two cucumbers. A spider claimed the basil and it was too cool for the tomatoes to produce more than a handful of very small fruits. The cantaloupe grew but no fruit. Lesson learned. This year the plan was for maybe a tomato, and more flowers. I picked larkspurs because they grow tall and would have enough sun to create shade and privacy and produce pretty flowers, coleus because they would do well in the shadow of the larkspur and have beautiful multicolored foliage and birdhouse gourds because they could cover the railing and maybe produce some gourds I could decorate in a couple of years after they dry out. 

House plant, with coleus, two ivy plants, and the cat's favorite, a spiky plant.

For mother's day, my daughter got me a decorative pot and my son got me a hanging basket of petunias which we picked because of the color, vibrant purple with white spots. The petunia plant is quite large, especially for the small space, but we could not get that lovely variety in a smaller version. I planted a tall spiky plant, a couple of decorative ivy plants and several of the coleus in the decorative pot. It will be very pretty when the coleus plants grow bigger, and if the cat will stop trying to ruin the spiky plant. These both go very well with the flower plan. 

Purple petunias with white spots, 

Then a co-worker gave my son some acorn squash seeds that do well in container gardening. Only 10 seeds. I figured if I planted them maybe three of four would sprout, but they all sprouted. I transplanted some of them which are not doing quite as well as the direct planted ones but all of them grew. Every single seed, I should be so lucky to have that much success from seeds. I also planted two small watermelons, some peppers which I will be moving into larger pots soon. Even though I only planted 5 birdhouse gourd seeds, all of them sprouted too. Because space is limited I will have to string climbing twine and creating hammocks for the acorn squash, mini watermelons, and birdhouse gourds. In addition, I have two tomatoes that are loaded with blooms so maybe we will have tomatoes before too long.    

Acorn Squash

Tomatoes and birdhouse gourds

Yellow and Red Bell Pepper Plants

Larkspur and coleus

Orchids 2017

This is the last bloom on my orchid for spring 2017. In its wilted state, it is a pretty sorry sight.

The last orchid bloom of spring 2017

It makes me a little sad when the blooms fall away because they are so lovely and delicate and I know it will be a while before the plant produces another set of blooms.

Spring 2017 orchid at peak

 The blooms this year were extra special. Dot, the resident kitty, decided to walk on the orchid shelf and managed to knock the orchid pots to the floor last fall after blooming season. There was damage to both plants and I was not sure they would recover enough to bloom. One did not bloom, but I am hopeful it will bloom again in the future.

Close up of first bloom of the season

The plant that did bloom, bloomed in late February and has lasted until now, which is about two months longer than usual. I expect the last boom to fall off any moment. They are like tree leaves, once the blooms start to fall they all drop. Sometimes I have kept the blooms. They will dry and look nice in a flat dish, last season I put them on top of the potting mixture in the plant. Maybe that was a good thing because the plant that made the beautiful flower stem with the blooms also created a Keikis on the other flower stem.     

Spring 2017 Keikis

Keikis, Hawaiian for baby, usually do not bloom for about two years. Friends tell me I am really good with orchids, however, I am sure it has less to do with me and more to do with the environment. Orchids like bright, indirect light, in a warm humid environment. I live in an arid dry environment, but I have a south facing room that heats up nicely, especially in the winter. I keep the orchids where they get bright natural light but no direct sunlight.  

When they outgrew their original pots I moved them from the potting bark mixture to bare roots in glass vases. I set up a watering schedule reminder on my calendar and soak the roots for 30 minutes once each week. Because they are in vases, if it gets extra hot, I will splash about a tablespoon of water over the roots and into the vase during the week. This water will evaporate around the plant creating a slightly more humid mini environment for them. I think they are happy in this environment because they reward me with blooms and new plants and that makes me happy.  

Just a quick catch up post

1st Orchid bloom of 2017

First, one of my orchids has bloomed again. I was a little worried as the cat had knocked them down and damaged their leaves last fall. I think this one bloomed in February, near the one year anniversary of my Father's passing. This orchid usually blooms twice a year for me, once at the end of the summer and once early in the year. This one has a stem of about 6 blossoms and they all still look almost as good as the day they bloomed. The blooms usually last about two months so we may be nearing the end of this batch of blooms. I don't have a green thumb. I am just lucky to have a room with the right light and humidity that the orchids love. My other orchid is struggling as it took a little more damage. I am hoping with a little tender loving care it will be better soon and maybe bloom next blooming cycle. I am planning a series of small  "picture" quilts and this is one of the subjects I am considering. 

Dresden Doll blocks before sashing.

with sashing

Second, While looking for a specific fabric I found the pieces to this quilt that I started in the 80s. I had taken a class with a co-worker who wanted to attend a learn to quilt class. I cut out and pieced these Dresden dolls but left the project unfinished when I realized I really did not like doing applique. Then I saw a quilting you-tube video where the quilter said a finished quilt was better than a perfect quilt so I used the blanket stitch to applique the dolls. Now I just need to add a border then get it quilted. I may even do more applique with the blanket stitch in the future. 

Log Cabin Heart Blocks

The bottom block is sewn with a better quarter inch quilt piecing presser foot.

Third, I am working on this log cabin heart quilt. I was having quite a bit of trouble with it until I started using a different quilt machine that has a proper quarter inch piecing presser foot. Notice the difference in the top and bottom pieces. The bottom one is going to square up much easier than the first few, like the top one. I wanted to have this one finished in February, but it took me a while to figure out how to easily make this log cabin heart quilt block. Believe me, this one has a few tricks and will probably get a full post later. It is not a quilt in a day quilt for me. It will be an ongoing project where I only sew a block or two in between other projects. 

Fourth, working on this wild and crazy kitty cat quilt. This one is going to look like an explosion at a crayon factory. My local craft scraps store had this little fat quarter bundle of kitty fabrics and the stripped fabric. I added the bright solids this one will probably need a pair of sunglasses for viewing. 

There has been at least one quilt project each month, and I am working on some options to be able to quilt these myself. I will have several to quilt so I am hoping that will happen soon I am looking forward to having several quilts completely finished. 

And just a couple of simple projects that brightened up the sewing room:  

Mug Rugs. Fun, small, and easy to quilt on a regular machine. Subject matter, color, size are limited only by your imagination. They are wonderful to have available for gifts. They are useful and fairly quick. I have been practicing my binding skills on them. Here are some I made in February. 

And yo-yo covered metal washers for pattern weights these really bring some color to dull muslin pattern tests. It also speeds up the time it takes to get to sewing instead of pinning and cutting out patterns with scissors because you can use the rotary cutters. 

Starting a new quilt

Anita's Arrowhead Quilt Block

Instructions here

I love quilts, especially ones that are not just a simple four or nine patch or some variation of same. I usually pick complicated patterns that require a lot of cutting and piecing. It is after all a quilt and should require some effort, right? Or at least that is what I thought.  

A friend posted the photo above with the links back to the maker and the designer's instructions. It looks a lot harder than it is. It was designed by Anita Grossman Solomon who has written quilting books and offers classes on Craftsy.  

The maker, Karen Martin, said in Quilting Digest's article she had used her least favorite layer cake cuts which she had rejected from other projects. Loving scrappy quilts, this was just the inspiration I needed. I sorted through all of my fat quarters, and loose scraps from my own and inherited projects. Without regard to any color theme I just matched two colors per block for the most interesting contrast and started cutting squares.  

I had everything cut out in just a short time, and have all but about six of the blocks completed. I suspect block placement may be harder than anything else on this quilt. If  you like easy to construct quilt blocks then you have to give this one a try.  You will be doing a lot of pressing, so keep the iron hot. 

Some of my higher contrast blocks.

I am not receiving any compensation for telling you about this block, but I have included the links back to the article in Quilter's Digest, to Anita's Grossman Solomon's class on Craftsy and her pdf instructions. If all quilts were this easy I would have a lot more quilts. 

Sharp Scissors

My mother sewed. She sewed a lot. The month before school started she would sew all our school cloths on her little black singer sewing machine. She had six kiddos and sewed for every one of us, including herself, dad and our dolls. When I was a senior in high school a friend told me she and our friends had been envious of my cloths and my Barbie doll's cloths too. That is not really too surprising though because mom was quite the perfectionist and everything we wore was an original. 

Mom laid down the law when it came to her tools though. We were not to touch her dressmaker scissors. When I started sewing she insisted that I purchase the best pair of scissors I could afford. I still have them and they hold on to a sharp edge for a long time. I had not used them in some time and pulled them out to use today. I do not remember when I last had them sharpened, but they are much sharper than my less expensive scissors that I use as decoys. 

Dressmaker scissors are flat, with the handles off to an angle. This keeps your fabric as flat as possible so you get an accurate cut. Precision matters when it comes to fit. Sharp matters too, as it makes the job easier.  

Here are my favorite dressmaker scissors

• Top left - the decoy pair. I got these from a SewFro or Clothworld promotion. They are very inexpensive but do a good job if they are sharp. I use them more to cut the pattern tissue than actual fabric cutting. If someone finds them I am not going to worry about it. 
• The orange handle ones on the top right are Fiskars. They are relatively inexpensive but are easy to resharpen with the Fiskars sharpening tool. I do not want someone to use these for anything else, but I can resharpen if they do. 
• The ones on the bottom left are the Farr scissors I purchased when I started sewing. I will not mention exactly how long that has been, but I think the company that made them has gone out of business.
• The last pair is a set of Gingher scissors. 

I have the Farr and the Gingher sets professionally sharpened when needed and without a doubt, they will outlast me. 

Welcome to 2017

Time to welcome the new year, change a few habits and move on with goals. I have decided to make it up as I go along this year. Yes there are goals, but I am not going to let them get in the way of anything. Since they are goals, I will be free to add more as the old ones are accomplished and new ones are presented. May we all accomplish more than we have planned. 

Almond Crescent Cookies

While I am still thinking about it let's talk about holiday baking. Just before the holiday week I told my son I would be making "Christmas cookies" today. In my mind, that means I will be baking all of my favorite cookies. He immediately ask if I was going to make Almond Crescents which were a favorite his grandmother made every year. Almond Crescents melt in your mouth and taste like they were created by the Angels and blessed by God. Even though they are that good, I do not like to make them and they were not on my cookie goal list. 

Most cookies have a moist batter because you start with butter, sugar and eggs. From there you add wet flavorings like vanilla, then spices, baking soda, baking powder, flour and sometimes chips and/or nuts. Almond crescents do not have eggs, or baking soda, Instead they have ground almonds, so starting right there the "dough" is much dryer and takes on the texture of sand. Something about this texture is displeasing to me and I think I tossed out the recipe last time I made them. I had to hunt all over the place to find it. In fact I did not find my copy and finally located one on line. You can find Almond Crescent Cookies here. They turned out to be easier than I remember, but maybe it is because going into it I knew I would be working with a dry sandy dough instead of more traditional dough. I doubt that I will incorporate them into cookies that I make for anything other than very special occasions though. 

Almond Crescent Cookie Dough

Quote for today:

Barbara Johnson -  “A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.”

Goals or Resolutions? It's that time of year again.  

I don't like resolutions. Goals however are required. I like goals better as goals don't need to be made at the first of the year, since a new goal can be added as soon as the need, plan, or desire is recognized. Each hour, day, month, season, year, decade can have new goals, and somehow it seems more positive than a resolution.    

I just found this blog today by Judith Francois at The Quiet Girl Diaries. Judith has listed her goals and included a free goal setting worksheet. Since one of her goals is to grow her blog I am pretty sure she will not mind If I share this link so you can pop over there read and subscribe. Don't wait too long though. One of her goals is a blog update and name change.

I hope you accomplish all of your meaningful goals in the new year.


Inspirational Quote for the Day

C.S. Lewis -   "You are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream."

Just stopping by

Winter is here, officially, although it seems to have arrived a few days early with snow and bad weather. Today it is much warmer than predicted and I am just stopping by to see if my own blog is even still here.  How pathetic is that? 

Google has changed a few things so I also looked in on the bloggers I once read as soon as they posted anything new.  It seems that I am not the only one not posting very frequently any more either.  Many of those I followed do not have a valid site any more and others post even less frequently than I have.  I will make it my plan to find more to blog about in the new year.  In the mean time, Happy Winter to those of you in the northern hemisphere.  Enjoy your summer to those of you in the southern hemisphere.  

I am busy baking this week, have been busy knitting most of the fall and plan to sew a little more next year.  This afternoon the kitty, Dot, has a follow up with the vet. She has been in a cone most of the autumn because of an injury and subsequent surgeries.  She is finally almost healed but I don't think she will be out of the cone yet because as it heals it is super itchy and she will not hesitate to re-injure it by scratching.  She even seems to understand that the cone is for her own good.   

Dot in soft cone after 2nd surgery, looking sad.

     

Annoyed Dot with hard cone and drains in her ear.  Third time is a charm?