The Start of May

    This is going to be very short but I thought you might want to see what is new at my house.

  That's right.  Her majesty had two kittens.  The top one I am calling Sly.  Sly is sneaky and he (or is Sly a female?) his full name will be Sylvester the 3rd.  The other one is called Sandi (yeah I haven't checked to see if  if it is a he or she).).   They like to play on the porch but are still very skittish.  Sandi  is VERY skittish.  Sly is the braver one and I saw him nibbing on a little bit of cat food this morning.  That is, he was trying to nibble until he tipped the cat food bowl over on top of his head.  Mom had to go over and help him escape the mean cat food dish. He swatted it before he ran off though.

You will see more pix in the future.  :)  So that is my quick update for today.  I hope everybody has a great day.  

Mid Month - sort of - report

    Hi everybody:

   Sorry it has taken me so long to get another post in.  Between the SCA and crafts, I have been busy.  Where to start.  Let's start with some pictures that I took when Dan and I went to check out a site for our SCA event in October.  While we were not impressed with the site, it was a wonderful day and very scenic.  Here are some pictures that I took.  The car was moving so they aren't the best but still I like them.

 I will try to get Dan to make the drive again closer to our event.  Hehe.  We saw some roadkill and birds and such on the way down.  I think the most interesting, in a weird way, was when we saw 20 buzzards gathering around something.  That raised the question of...What do you call a bunch of Buzzards?  A quick Google search gave surprising results.  It isn't just one answer, it is 3 answers.  If is called a Wake if they are feeding; Kettle when they are circling in the air; and a Committee when in trees.  That is  different right?

  Did I show you my progress on the Bunny table runner?  I'm not sure so here is the sneak peak  of my progress.

     I am all caught up on Blackwork but I won't show it until after I finish next week.  

     I almost forgot to post my picture of the finished mug rug.   Here it is.

Hmmm.  I thought I had more to report but I guess not.  That means it is time for me to take a nap.  :)   I hope everybody has a great day.  what is everybody working on?

Mid to late March update

    Hi everybody:

       Wow, can you believe that we are working on the second half of the month?  This month has been pretty active.  Here is the quick synopsis.  I know that I have told you some of this before .

   1.  Finished the St. Patrick's Day Table Runner.  I believe that the picture of that is in the previous post.

   2.  Sewed two ravens (SCA project).  My goal is to sew 2 a month if not more.  Then I can hand the project over to somebody else for the next step.

   3.  Did updates and repairs on Sholom's SCA gambeson.

   4.  Finished an Easter themed candle mat.  I totally love it.  It is one of my better projects.

   5.  Started a bunny table runner.  Rosie, the supervisor, is finished.  I have two more blocks to embroider.

   That's a pretty good list, right? 

   Now let us talk bunnies.  It is that time of year isn't it.  Easter is right around the corner and in between plotting my Easter dinner, I have been working on embroidering bunnies.

   First up is Rosie.  Rosie is the supervisor at one of the Easter bunnies Easter Egg factories.  My plan is to take her pix and put it in the center and have two of her line supervisors on either side of her waiting for her excellent orders for the day.

  That is Rosie.  This next picture, which is a in progress picture, is Violet.  

  The bunny that I am most proud of, though, is my bunny on my candle mat.  

     That is it for my  craft update.  I did get a new ladle and I love it.

  I think that is it for this update.  If I remember something, then I will post it next time.  I hope you all have a great day.

Happy March !

     I just discovered that I never sent my welcome to March post so I will start over and say Happy March!  So what have I been working on?  Trying to et more organized and be more productive.  I have been semi successful with that and since it is still early in the month I am happy.  

     First up is my finished table topper I did out of three blocks from some exchanges from a couple of years ago.  It is all done now and I like how it looks on the table.

Here is the back of it.  If I keep it on the table for a meal with Dan, I will probably flip it over and have the trees face side up since it won't show stains as much.  LOL.

  This is one UFO that I can cross off the list.  I will pick out another one to work on.

     I am working on the raven roundels  for our SCA group.  I need to make 10-12 of them so if I do two of them a month, they should all be done in time. I think that I can keep  up that schedule.  

   I think my UFO this month will be to finish stitching down the 12 inch applique blocks.  Then another month I will be ready to move on to the next step.  

   I have also been having fun cooking up some new recipes.  Mostly soups and stews.  The next one up will be Kielbasa Potato Soup,.  I will report on it after I make it.

  That is all I have to report this time.  I hope everybody has a great day.

The Day After...

      I survived another Valentine's Day.  That is something.  LOL.  I had a good time with Dan.  We ate enough that we were full and almost stuffed but I sent him home with a bunch of leftovers.  I kept part of the roast for my leftovers along with a little bit of green beans.  We both decided that if I make the little red potatoes again as well as the green bean recipe, it will be the ones I used this time.  Do you know that I like best bout eating with Dan?  It is what we have in common.  We both aren't comfortable with eating in large crowds although we can eat out in restaurants (our favorites of course) because we have a little spacer in between tables etc.  We both realize that if we ate at an SCA event we would be crowded and he admits that he would ha e to get up from the table after a bit to go outside and get some breathing room.  He would use smoking as his excuse which is also the reason.  At my place he knows I don't care how he is dressed.  I don't care how the tablespace looks (that took a bit to get used to and realize) and it is nice to hear his critique of my cooking and what might be changed.  It is good to hear what he would like to eat and he also contributes to it.  After eating he goes outside to smoke a cigarette, which is why I have a chair on the porch but don't tell him that, which is fine.  I know he needs space sometimes.   Well enough getting lost in memories or whatever.  He is a pix of dan sat our table (yeah, he doesn't dress up and neither do I)  and a [ox pf what was on my plate.  No dressing this year.  No starchy bread just simple food that we both ate eating.

     Now to get on to crafting again...after getting caught up on dishes...and one of the projects is putting the ravens on the black fabric for the upcoming SCA event this year.  I need to do around 12 of them s I am taking my time.    I will show a pix eventually but my job in this is to get the applique sections  ready to put on the tabards.  I will not be making the tabards but if I get this done ahead of time, it might inspire the group to get the tabards made.

     In t he meantime, I have been enjoying going through my cookbook of Medieval recipes.  I made one of them which would be translated as a pork pie.  I used 2 pork chops in it and it turned out good.

I will be making another recipe soon.

     Another recipe that I will be making soon will be.

     I guess the only other thing that I have to report on is my Blackwork.  I am happy to announce that now that I have changed to 11 count canvas, which is much easier to work with.  I am all caught up.  Here is m progress picture..

     Oops.  I just noticed that I missed posting a pix of my midnight star project..  I guess that pix will have to wait until another time.  I will stitch down the stars first but then it was suggested that I use beads or something on each point in the stars to highlight them a bit more.  I am still thinking on that one.  Anyway, I hope you all had a good Valentine's Day. 

Love ya all.

Valentine's Menu

I think that I have my Valentine's Day menu figured out  Dan has decided he will come over so I quickly had to figure something up to feed him.  LOL.  It really wasn't that hard since he knew three things he wanted on the menu.  He wanted Pork Roast, baby red potatoes and green beans with bacon.  He even furnished the pork roast and the baby red pottos.  That made it hard to say no to cooking them up,  That being said, here is my menu:

My Valentine’s Day menu is 95% set which gives me a little bit lead way to account for Dan’s fluid awake time. We will have:

Roast pork

Baby Red Potatoes

Green Beans with Bacon

Gravy (of course)

Cornbread (still deciding)

Garlic Knots

Red Velvet Jelly Roll with Cool Whip on the side if we want it

What do you think?

word of the year

      So this year, I am joining some people who are doing a thing where you try to live up to an ideal.  There is a website that shows the words etc.  So my word that I have is serenity.  That's an interesting word.  Each day I will try to write how serenity features in my day.  Does that make sense?  You know how bad I am in explaining things.

     According to an internet search on the meaning of serenity:

             "Sarenity" is a modern spelling variation of Serenity, meaning a state of being, calm, peaceful, and untroubled....It signifies a deep inner peace, a lack of agitation, or a calm environment, often sought through mediation or nature, and calm."   \

     In other words, the core meanings  are calmness and peace, tranquility and composure.

     All that is good and well but it isn't that easy which I guess is the reason why we need to work on it.  The basic things that I need to work on, for various reasons, are crafting, SCA, budget, food, and friends.  What are my plans to work on it?

     Crafting:  even if I don't do anything except wind bobbins or reorganize my floss, I need to keep crafting in the forefront of what I think on or work on.  Why is this?  It actually does make me feel better.  I feel accomplished and don't get stressed as much when I see a stack of unfinished craft items.  It is time to open my eyes and just work on it a little bit at a time.

     SCA:  This causes me stress for more than one reason.   At our SCA Business Meeting on Sunday, some of the stress has backed off.  Now there is movement again on what needs to get done for an event in October.  It is still stressful but part of it is getting  resolve.

     Budget:  What is there to say.  I'm retired and on a limited budget.  I survive and life isn't too bad.  Dan has assured me that if, for some reason, I lose my housing here in Trumann (and no, I am not in danger of that) he would make sure I had a place to live even if I had to move in with him (he owns his house).  While I appreciate it, neither one of us wants that to happen but it is nice to know it is one thing I don't have to worry about.  Other budget things is just normal stuff.  Slowly paying off credit cards, refrain from ordering more than what I can pay for, etc.  On the good news is that I am slowly adding to my silver stack.  I did have to cash some in to cover a bill but that is also why I have a small amount of silver.  I will survive but it is still something I have to keep a close eye on.

     Food: In today's society, Food is something that coms and goes.  What is available at the store?  What WILL be available at the stores? There is a lot to think about when you are a limited budget and don't always have access to a store that has somewhat decent variety.  It isn't as bad as it sounds.  Dan and Shalom makes sure that I get to Walmart or wherever O need to go to get groceries and meds.

     Friends:  Yes, I worry about my friends.  That is a good thing as long as I don't over worry about them.  Obviously Dan and Shalom are at the top of the list of friends that I worry about at times.  I have others also.  That is ok.  It is also by worrying about them it tells me how good of a friend they are.  You guys know which friends I am talking about and I will look sternly at you if you think I will EVER stop worrying about you.  :)

     All of that is enough to interrupt anybody's serenity.  I have some plans though.  I will take some more naps and light some candles  and just relax.  I also need to send a note to my brain to tell it to relax also.  LOL.

     That's it for my meandering today.  It is time to take a nap, light a candle and relax for a bit.  Hang in there everybody!  Hugs to all.

Another Great Day...

   I had another great day.  Dan picked me up and we made our way to Jonesboro and to the  coin shop.  That didn't work out, however, since they weren't back yet from the coin show out of state.  We will try that again.  I'm going along to keep Dan company.  This is not my time to buy some silver.  I have to wait until I get my water bill and electric bill which are my highest bills.  

   Since we couldn't go the the silver shop, we went to the bank instead so I could get some deposits done for our SCA group.   

   Our next stop was Hobby Lobby  which was both exhausting and fun.  I  was glad that Dan was with me because he was handy figuring out how much fabric I would need for some SCA projects.  It was fun and funny.  He would hold up the bolt of fabric against his chest and see how much I needed.  Then we had to walk ALL the way across the store to get some other things.  That was ok.  it was so much fun being able to use some gift cards I received for Christmas!  The best pat is that Dan paid for some of the fabric which meant that I still have $12 left on one of the gift cards.  :)  I would take a pix for white fabric isn't that exciting. We were working up our appetite and off to Kandala's we went. 

   

 I think it was one of our best meals there.

What was NOT to love?  Chicken on the bottom, steak on top of that and on top of the steak was shrimp.  It was so good we ate the plate (he ordered the same thing) without having the tortillas or eating up all the chips and salsa!  The seasoning  was perfect and we will make sure to order it again.

  

    The good things weren't done yet.  When my mail came, it had my patterns from Bird Brain Designs!  I haven't decided what color I will do them in but I have plenty of time.  Here is what came.

I have plenty to work on now.  I just need to have the weather and my hands cooperate!  LOL.

I hope you all have a great day/night.  I hope you all have a great day/evening.

YIPPEEE!!!!

    Today was a good stitching day.  Even though it was cold outside, I had a good day of napping under  warm blankets.  Then my mind finally decided hat it wanted to do.  I pulled out my LeFleur blocks and am back to stitching on the two that need it.  Once I finish stitching down the two blocks, I will put them up on the wall to make sure I get them right before sewing.  I think I have to cut out some of the mini filler blocks on rows etc.  We'll see. how it goes.  I  have an online stitching session on New Years Day but I have decided that I won't be doing the Mayhem Mystery Quilt.  I will show up and do some hand sewing though..  

   The other thing I am working on is blackwork.  Instead of working on 16 count or 14 count (per inch) I will be working on 11 count.  I will be using 3 strands of blackwork.  Right now I am starting on the border.  The design I am using is a little different but I think I might like it in the long run. Working with 3 strands will be different but it seems to look nice so far on the 11 count,  I'll let you now.

I had a great day!

    Yes you read that right.  I had a great day.  It was a cold night and was still cold this morning but I was warm enough.  Then Dan called and asked me if I wanted to go to Jonesboro with him.  He had to  do a bank run and one other stop.  Of course he knew I would go with him since we had already talked about it.  LOL.  I had to pick up some meds at Walmart so we did that to.  Even though it was a cold  day, we both were nice and warm.  Of course that could  have ben because we were talking a lot of BS.  LOL.  Anyway, it was a fun day and nice to get outside with a friend.  Even when he took the wrong turn on the way home after all these years and he had to figure out where to do a U-Turn to get back on the right side.

   That is it.  I felt it was only right to let you guys know that I had a good day and actually didn't have anything bad to report.  That's not a bad way to end your day or eve your month or year. My brain is mush right now and I can't remember what else I was going to say so I'll sign off and go take a nap,  I hope everybody has a great day and if I don't post again this year, have a safe holiday and I'll see you in 2026.

Merry Christmas

    I know this is a little early but I know that you will forgive me for posting early.  I haven't been working on anything but I did get some new Aida cloth in.  It is 11 count.  I haven't used that size before so we'll see how it goes. 

   I just wanted to say I hope you all have a Merry Christmas .  Thank you all for reading my blog.  It keeps me going and I hope that you might get some small enjoyment from reading it.