Let's Play Catch Up

It has been very hot and humid again here in NH. So humid that it can get a bit hard to breathe outside so I have been working on my afghan after the outdoor chores were done in the semi cool mornings. Yesterday I finally finished it!!!

Last week,Rick and Zach were gone to Boy scout camp in Maine. Zach applied to be a Counselor In Training for next year. We are not sure when they will pick through the applicants. They had a great week,and lots of fun. I did miss them,and am glad they are back.

My cukes have started growing,and I have one little green pumpkin on the vine. The peas are doing great,as are the green beans. I had no luck with carrots or spinach. My summer squash and zucchini did nothing. I normally have tons of them,but this year,not one took.My lettuce has done well,and my tomatoes are nice and green. My corn ears look a bit small,but we have never had much luck with corn. We keep trying,however.We have begun getting strawberries for the second harvest.

The Little Girls and The Big Girls are all together,and though there was some indignation from the Older ones,the flock has melded together pretty well.

This past week,the menfolk have been working on building our new deck. Our friend Glen,who owns his own business remodeling,deck building,etc.,has been coming over to help out (and letting us use his air tools!) I found a picture  (this one to the left) of what I wanted and the deck will be pretty similar to it. I can't wait until I can sit on my new deck! It's been two years since I sat on the deck. It was bowed and just nasty-the old owners pretty much just slapped it together and it sank several inches. The new deck is seven inches higher,so one no longer has to to step down with a big old clunk!

Have a fabulous day wherever you are!!!!

Finished!

As I mentioned yesterday, I finally finished the shawl I was crocheting...a year after I began it. :)

I had a lovely model........

A close up of some of the stitches. It was mostly single crochet,double crochet,chains,and fans...

On to the next project!! Have a fabulous day!!!!

What's Still On My Needles

Back in late fall or early winter, I posted "What's On My Needles." It was a Friendship Shawl that I was attempting to crochet.However,I still had the second sock out of the pair for Brother B that I had to knit,so I abandoned the shawl and knitted his sock. I finally finished it about two weeks ago.Brother B was mighty happy that he had an actual pair of socks a year after the first one was done :)

Now I am determined to not let anything side track me for finishing the shawl. I really want to start making an afghan,but I will not start until this project is finished.

Being new to crocheting,I made mistakes. Sometimes reading the instructions was like reading a foreign language. This is what the shawl looked like on that first posting:

See how heavy and wavy the edging looks? Imagine it about four more inches long.Not only was it getting very heavy,it was taking me over an hour just to do one row! Well, I finally figured out why. The description for making shells was a 5 DC in a 3 chain space.I thought that meant 5 DC's in EACH chain space,making 15 DC's in a small space of three chains. 

When I sat back down last week to finally finish this shawl,I reread the instructions,looked at the picture of what it's suppose to look like,and unraveled the edging. A light bulb went off in my head. Of course!! The shell is 5 DC in a 3 chain space...meaning,one shell in the 3 chain space. I split it up as 2 DC's in the first chain,1 DC in the second,and 2 in the third chain. It looked much better and I could zip through the rows much faster. I finally finished the first half:

Looks more like a shawl,doesn't it? And it actually looks like the photo! Amazing how sometimes we get stuck in the wrong pattern,but then the right pattern just clicks! Much like life :)

If you knit or crochet,what's on your needles? 

Bear With Me

My dear readers,please bear with me. My headbone is still very foggy and I really don't have the wherewithal to attempt to chat about what I want to...my thought process is pretty much null and void and I would not give it the justice I want to. More coherent ramblings are coming soon,I hope.

Zach has gone to school for the first time since Monday.He has a horrible cough,and we told him if he felt like he had to come home to call us.

I thought I would show you the dishcloth I made this week.It took me several attempts,and it still looks a bit rough,but I don't think it's too shabby.I changed up the colors at bit. The blue is suppose to be white and the white trim is suppose to be green.I discovered that  loved creating flowers! This proves I haven't been completely useless this week!! :)

Hope all is well with you,and if not,I hope they get better soon!!!!

Soap and Snow

Wow,it's already been a week since I posted! Whoops. Some of that was me,some of it was due to the fact that we lost phone and Internet service for a couple of days because the AC adapter that we plug in for the phone/Internet box had exposed wire and stopped working. Our friendly cable guy came and replaced it yesterday. :)

My strawberries,garlic,and carrots have a nice layer of straw on them,which is a good thing,because a few days ago,things looked like this:

This morning,they looked like this:

A bit of snow fell last night,but now that the sun is out,it's already melting. While snow at this time of year is not completely uncommon,it is unusual. It's too early for me!

Earlier this week,I made some hand soap. I wanted to try something different this time around. I did use the same basic ingredients:

You can't see the coconut oil container behind the canola oil,but it's there. The day before I made my soap,I took cinnamon sticks and whole cloves,heated them in the canola oil for while,then put the pan (covered) into the fridge overnight so the cinnamon and clove scent would seep into the oil.

It didn't make an overpowering scent,just a few light one,which was fine,since this was a first attempt. I heated the Crisco and coconut oil over low heat until melted,then strained the canola oil so the cinnamon and cloves were removed. I then poured the canola oil into the  Crisco/coconut oil and heated it. I added a few drops of Patchouli oil ( AKA "Dirty Hippie Scent"). The lye was dissolved in water in a separate bowl. When the temperatures of both the oil combo and the lye were around 80-100 degrees,I poured the lye into the oil,then using an old hand held mixer,mixed it until it came to trace,then poured it into my silicone 8x8 pan.

It has been resting now for a few days,so today I will cut it into squares,and let it cure in our bedroom,which is the coolest room in the house. It will cure for a few weeks.

I have the recipe in my Sept 2009 post,Homemade Lye Soap. I tried to put the link in,but it doesn't like me for some reason.

I have been working on my shawl,and it's getting there.Rick's truck is in the shop. He and Zach were out hunting last weekend on Youth Weekend (no adults are allowed to hunt,only kids under 16 with a licensed hunter) and he heard a CLUNK in the back of the truck. Come to find out,the U joints need to be replaced. Bummer. They didn't get anything either all weekend. Double bummer.Tonight Zach has a Halloween dance and he is going as the slasher from the Scream movies. Monday is our Troop Halloween party,and Rick and I have our costumes,but we aren't telling what we are going as yet. :)

Have a fabulous day where ever you might be!

What's On My Needles

Day Two of The Plague...today I am not quite so achy,but my headbone in feeling rather fuzzy.Looks like it's another day to lay low. Since I wasn't up to snuff to do much yesterday ( a pattern that apparently will be continued into today) I spent the day curled up in my recliner with a blanket,a pillow,and my crocheting.

I started teaching myself how to crochet a few weeks ago,and I must admit that so far I enjoy it more than knitting.My first project is a Friendship Shawl:

Of late I am fascinated with shawls. I started loving them watching my "Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman" DVD's. I noticed the wonderful patterns on the shawls,and thought they were gorgeous.How wonderful to be able to create something like that! I went on line and looked up various patterns on various sites,and put the ones I liked the best under My Favorites file. Some of the instructions aren't the best,and thankfully I have my sister Linda to help guide me through some tough spots. Others were just trial,error,and redo. I have started and restarted this shawl about eight times.Videos on line have also helped,especially when figuring out shell stitches. Shell 5 in three ch space was confusing until I saw it online.

The second thing on my needles is the second sock in the pair I am making for Brother B:

As you can see, I haven't gotten too far with the second sock because I am all into the shawl,but I have assured Brother B that he will get his sock before there is too much snow on the ground! :)

Today is another lovely day,and I am not happy that I am still under the weather. Days like this will be few and far between pretty soon. Why couldn't I get this when it's zero outside and there is snow on the ground? Sigh.