New Year's Eve

Another New Years Eve, only a few hours left and 2011 will come to an end. This will also end my worst blogging year since I started my blog December 19, 2005. It just seems to me that every year I have done less and have less to say. I did not make any progress in advancing my knitting or crochet skills, I don't think I did any crochet at all this year, I did not finish the sock's I started in 2009. I did knit 35 dishcloths, 5 baby washcloths, and half a scarf. I read 12 books and if you can count listening to books on cd 17. My finances and the roof are still in the same shape bad and no money to fix them, I am still praying for something great to happen. I did lose a few pounds so that is good. Just like last year I have the Champagne in the refrigerator. Well maybe things will change next year. Happy New Year.

Christmas Day!!!

Christmas Day It started out very quite and calm. Then I went to my Aunt's house had a very nice visit and dinner. Then off to the nursing home to visit with my Grandmother. Last night I finished a dishcloth and started a new one. Spent some of this morning working a few rows of the new dishcloth. I am enjoying my Christmas gift from my Daughter. She gave me a Kindle I have wanted one for a longtime. I would have never brought one for myself. I think I will enjoy it!.

It's Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve and I thankfully have the house to myself. I have spent most of my week with my Daughter. She has been on vacation all week and I started my vacation on Wednesday. We started with a trip to Piggly Wiggly in Siler City and to Compare Foods and I like Compare Foods. We did the shopping for the Annual New Years Day dinner. So we went in search of Pork Stomach (Hog Maws) then off to Walmart for Queenella Chitterlings(Hog intestines). If you have no idea what I am talking about visit YouTube. On Thursday we made a trip to Greensboro I needed to pick up a book on cd from the Library and then off to Harris Teeter, and several other stores. Once we arrived back at home I cooked a duck. It was the first time I have tried to cook one and I think it turned out great. Picture to follow. Another trip to Greensboro on Friday it was long and terrifying, traffic was awful and people everywhere and the constant feeling I was about to be run down by one of those damn triple or double decker baby strollers!!!!. I am not sure why people think just because they are pushing a baby stroller they have the automatic right of way. So today we enjoyed a nice quite afternoon and then my daughter left to spend the rest of the Christmas Holidays with her boyfriend and his family, my mother is off to spend tonight with her sister and her family and most of Christmas Day and I have the house to myself, well at least mostly the cats are still here and my daughters dog. At this time I am listening to a book on cd and blogging, my first in a very long time. No knitting or crocheting this week. Maybe later tonight. Happy Holidays.

A Great Weekend

Great weekend coming to a close. I wish I could have one more day off. Thanksgiving was okay it was not the best day in the world. I hate having Thanksgiving dinner. I love my family and enjoy spending time with them but I am tired of the same old same old of Thanksgiving day. Next year I plan to boyscott. I am knitting baby washcloths. A friend at works daughter is having a baby and I will attend the shower next Saturday. I plan to knit four washcloths. I am almost finished with one cloth. It is the sailboat, then I plan to knit the stork, baby bottle, rocking horse, and maybe the rubber duck. It is back to work tomorrow and I wish I would have asked for one more day off. I am posting a picture of my Christmas Cactus that never blooms during Christmas, but does bloom for Thanksgiving.

Another Weekend Coming To A Close

The weekend is almost over. It is Sunday evening I am trying to find something on tv and doing my laundry, and making Manhattan Catfish Chowder. It is a favorite of mine and most of the family. On Saturday we went to my Cousin and Aunt's church to the Festival of Tables it was a lot of fun and the food was great, The Pavilion did the catering for the event. First you had time to view the tables all decorated with different themes. All of the tables were beautiful. My Aunt and Cousin had two tables and my Cousin's Cousin on her Father's side of the Family had a great table also. After the viewing of the tables and dinner there was praise and worship and a speaker. I did not get the chance to hear the speaker but did stay for most of the praise and worship. I will post a picture of one of my Aunt and Cousin's table's. So no knitting or crochet this weekend. I am reading Unraveled by Maggie Sefton, I need to finish it so I can get started on The Wedding Shawl, by Sally Goldenbaum. I have not given up on How To Knit A Heart Back Home, by Rachael Herron, but I might have to start over. I feel bad because it has been weeks since I have worked on a dishcloth. I need a lot of dishcloths for Christmas. My Cousin Nicole has started a business Nikki Lynn's Cookies and Cakes she does a great job with the cookies and cakes and everything is homemade not from a box or mix. She's still working on her website, but she she has an email address Kima811@yahoo.com and a phone number 336-430-3475. The cake on the table in the picture I am posting is one of her cakes.

Farm Fest

Busy weekend most of the time on the weekends I go in my house and I don't emerge until Monday, with the exception of a quick trip to buy a Sunday paper. This weekend however was both Fall Festival and Farm Fest. So we made the trip down Old Liberty Road to Rising Meadow and The Goat Lady Dairy. At Rising Meadow they had music and several vendors selling yarn, fleece, soap, lots of things. Tinda Feir owner of Gate City Yarn in Greensboro NC was at Rising Meadow. It always surprises me that she remembers me and knows me by name. I have been in the shop several times and I took a sock class there a few years ago. I don't get to go visit the shop that often. I know it has been at least 2 years since I had the chance and the money to pay a visit. Also I am embarassed to visit because I never finished the second sock from the sock class. She was spinning yarn she is very good. The yarn was beautiful. The farm is beautiful. I brought lamb stew meat and wanted a leg of lamb but I could not buy both the stew meat leg of lamb and later buy goat cheese and The Goat Lady. Just not enough money in the budget. So after Rising Meadow we went to The Goat Lady they have a great garden, chicken, and of course the stars of the show the goats. Love tasting cheese. I brought two rounds of smoked and a spreadable cheese Triple Heat. Also brought hot sausage from Bradds Family Farm they had samples of their sausage and hamburger both sample tasted wonderful. I have a card and plan to buy again from them. I want to start buying more local meat and produce. The pork was Whey-Fed, and the Beef was Grass-fed. I am tired of buying beef, pork, and chicken at my local grocery store. If you look at the labels most of it has been injected with some kind of solution, if you have blood pressure problems I am sure meat injected with some type of solution does not help matters. The day was pretty good.

Fall Festival

It is that time of year. Fairs, Festivals, and Open Houses. Today was the 39th Fall Festival held here in Asheboro NC. The Festival is held every year to showcase handmade items. I did not plan to go because I lost interest a few years ago because I felt like the festival had drifted away from it's purpose. I did not attend the last two years. This year however I notice a lot more had crafted items. This time I noticed a lot of knit and crochet items. Dish cloths, scarves, shawls, hats, and afghans. I did not buy anything because I had to save my money for tomorrow, and our trip to Rising Meadow and The Goat Lady Dairy. So no knitting, reading, or crochet today. I am listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I can listen to the cd's over and over again. I find it very relaxing to knit, crochet, or blog while listening to a book on cd. Happy Crafting.

The Downward Slide

Well I have made it through Wednesday and this means only two days left before the weekend. Something I have been dreaming about since Sunday afternoon. No plans for Saturday so far because I find it very hard to make myself do anything these such as all my crafting hobbies. Like crochet, knitting, and blogging. So on Sunday I plan to go to Rising Meadows Farm and Goat Lady Dairy open houses. I plan to spend money I really don't have on lamb and goat cheese. I need to get out and stop letting the day to day life sucking stuff such as trying to figure out how I am going to pay the bills and get out of debt stop taking over my life. Maybe I should buy a few lottery tickets it would solve a lot of my problem. You know I would like to use a lot of foul language but I am not sure I am allowed to do so anymore for reason I feel I am not allowed to explain. So many my freedoms have been sucked away for so very little. Oh well life sucks and then you die. So no reading yet and absolutely no knitting or crochet tonight. Craft on to all of you that can get over your daily life sucking events. Posting a picture from my visit to Char-Amra Alpaca Farm last Saturday.

It is a fine line between just enough and to much !

It is a fine line between just enough and to much rain. It was really dry here in Asheboro North Carolina. So it finally started to rain on Thursday and it has rained and rained. I wanted the rain because of the greens and spinach my mother planted a few weeks ago. Well it rained so hard on Friday that one end of the garden had water standing in it not a lot of water but enough to cover some of the spinach. It is still raining, we had a little sun today, but it is raining now. Today I cooked this is not a thing I do very often. While I was looking a cooking videos on YouTube I came across two videos one on how to cook rice and one to cook chicken. The recipes are in Spanish. So I was not sure of my quantities of liquid in the first recipe. When you go to YouTube and type in Pollo en Adobo you will find the first recipe, it is the one with all the chicken parts not just chicken legs. I know what the ingredients are because he shows them to you, but there is only one place that he makes a note on how much water to use. Since I cant speak Spanish this is a problem. I gave the recipe a try anyway and tried to guess at the amounts of water and white wine. The second recipe was how to cook rice. If you do a search you can type in carmenlacocinera and you can find how to cook non or no stick rice(arroz). This recipe is more about skill because she did list the ingredients in English. My rice did not stick but it was mushy. It had a great favor. I will try again. So far no knitting or reading today. I am posting a picture of my niece and a long horn steer. I took the picture yesterday at Char-Mara Alpaca Farm.

National Alpaca Day

Today is National Alpaca Day. In honor of the day me, my niece , and my mother went to Char-Mar Alpaca Farm in Liberty to see the alpaca. They are beautiful animals and I think very sweet and funny. Everybody was very sweet and friendly. We had a great time and I took a picture of my niece with a long horn steer and an alpaca. It has been a long time between posts. I have been reading. Knitting but not everyday. I am lazy and after I get off work sometimes it is hard to get motivated to do anything besides sit on the couch and drink wine and watch tv. I have 3 different books I am working on How To Knit The Heart Back Home, by Rachael Herron, Unraveled, by Maggie Sefton, and The Wedding Shawl, by Sally Goldenbaum. I need to start back with my dishcloth knitting but I have not knit a dishcloth all month. I did start a bias scarf but not finished yet.

A Little Shaking Going On

Well today here in North Carolina we felt and earthquake. I was at work sitting in the break room during lunch. When I felt something and I was not sure what happened. I did not see the furniture move or anything but I felt this shake and the the women I was sitting with asked if the building was shaking? I said yes and I also said I am so glad someone felt that too. Because for a minute I thought I was losing it. So it turns out that we had an earthquake. The center was in Virginia somewhere near Richmond. This quake was felt all the way to Canada. This was the first time in my 47 years that I have every felt the earth move. It was very light but it still moved. I guess it was a great way to break up the day. So now I am at home watching tv and knitting a Feather and Fan Dishcloth. My Mother sowed spinach, kale, and mustard greens for the fall garden. I hope they come up. Last year the fall greens did not do so good.

Long Hot Summer

It has been a long hot summer and I have not enjoyed my summer. I have been reading and knitting dishcloths. I am reading How To Knit A Heart Back Home, by Rachael Herron. It's taking me awhile to read. I don't read every night. It is hard to fit everything into the short period of time I have to work on my knitting, reading, blog reading, watching tv. I have not blogged much this year. I find it hard to think of things to talk about. On vacation or exciting road trips. Well maybe things will be better in the fall.

Setting Myself Free

Well yesterday I let my daughter cut out the rest of my hair that still had relaxer(chemicals). She wanted to flat iron my hair after so I let her flat iron. So for now I have my Natural hair just straighten with a flat iron. Next weekend I will have to try and get a good picture of my self with my Afro. I finished reading the Help on Friday it was a great read and it remind me of going to work on weekend's and during the summer with my Grandmother. My Grandmother and My Mother worked as maids. I Grandmother worked as a maid until the late 80's. My Mother through the 60's and some of the 70's. My Mother went to Illinois and worked you got paid more in the north for the same work. I remember summers and weekend's playing with the lady my Grandmother worked for Grandchildren. When they came to visit or stay a few days during the summer. I remember once Grace who was this ladies Granddaughter asking if why I could not eat lunch with them I don't remember Mrs McDuffie's answer or if I ate lunch with them but I don't think I did because even though no one ever told me I think I knew it was a rule not to eat with them. Like I say the memory is fuzzy on that part. I might go to the movie next weekend we will see depends on my funds. The bad knitter has returned and I have not knitted this weekend. I did start reading How to Knit a Heart Home.

Yes I am still here

I am still alive and kicking. Just to tired and lazy to post. I really don't have a lot going on at this time. It hot as hell and my air conditioning in my car is not working so not to many weekend road trips. I am still knitting dishcloths. I am almost finish knitting a Hot Blue Frog dishcloth the pattern is from Garden Dishcloths to Knit by Melissa Bergland Burnham. Summer reading going slow and that's my fault too. I started reading How To Knit A Heart Back Home, by Rachael Herron over a week ago and only on page 36 not because it is a bad read but because I have come to a point that I have to make myself do simple things and also all the things I enjoy. This weekend I finally brought the Help, by Kathryn Stockett. Yes I know should have read the book a long time ago and why did I wait until a major movie is about to come out? I don't know I have picked the book up so many times at my local bookstore and put it back down. It is a great read! I am caught up in the story already. If I am finished with the book in time I might go see the movie. I gave up on Little Dorritt, by Charles Dickens for now. However I will go back to Little Dorrit before the end of the year. I think I might give Jane Eyre a try. The tomato's are finally coming in out in the garden and they are wonderful. I love a tomato sandwich.

Boring Saturday Night

It is Saturday night and I am bored. I am watching Primetime with Diane Sawyer it is the interview she did with Jaycee Dugard. It is a sad story and I don't know how this young women did not go crazy. Such a strong person. My favorite show comes on at 10:00 48 Hours A Mystery so I will watch that show. Thinking about casting on a dishcloth. I was working on a dishcloth last night and I don't know what went wrong but I had to rip it out. Still reading A Stitch Before Dying, by Anne Canadeo. My Grandmother had to go to the hospital on Friday so today my daughter , her boyfriend, and my niece went to visit. She was upset and I am not sure she knew who I was and she thought my daughter was some woman from the nursing home. My Grandmother is 95 she has dementia so this is why she can remember some of the family and not other's. I love my Grandmother and my Sister and I grow up in the home with our Mother and our Grandmother but she was and still even at this stage of life is a hateful woman. I am not saying she did not love us because I know she did, she was and still is a hateful woman. It is distressing to see her in this condition. Growing old if you are not in good health can be a hard thing. I am not sure I want to live to be very old if quality of life is not good. So far things have not been the best as it is . My plans are to go to the movies tomorrow with my daughter to see the final Harry Potter movie. A few weeks ago I made a vegetarian lasagna I found recipe on http://www.news14.com/ the squash and zucchini take the place of the lasagna noodles. It was a great recipe and my Mother and Sister really enjoyed it. My daughter did not she said she missed the noodles. My sister said she liked it a lot and did not miss the meat. We are both big meat eater's and I did not miss the meat either.

Back To Work Today

Well I did not sleep very well last night thinking about the fact that I had to go back to work after a nice long week off. I enjoyed my week of sleeping and watching old movies on tv. I really need to start buying lottery tickets and pray for a little luck. Maybe I could win and be able to spend all my time reading, watching tv, knitting and crocheting. So when I got to work today I had a nice surprise my desk had been moved. This is due to the work being due on the heating and air conditioning system. I am happy about the change I feel better now that I am facing the door instead of having my back to the door. I have a lot of work to do to get caught up. So I will have to push myself this week. That is the trouble with taking time off the work you have to do when you get back. The tomato's in the garden are doing well, but this year I am not to sure about the Sweet One Hundred I have on the deck. It has grown a lot but leaves have stated to turn yellow and die still have tomato's coming and the vines are going a lot so I don't know what's going on. I still have 4 more Sweet One Hundreds so hopefully I will have cherry tomato's. Picture of our Whooper Tomato's. Still knitting dishcloth's and reading A Stitch Before Dying, by Anne Canadeo. A great easy read. It takes longer to read when you have to make room for work, knitting, blogging, cleaning, crochetville, and ravelry.

butterflies are Free

It's Saturday and my vacation is almost over. Today was a not so bad day. I have added a few rows to a dishcloth I am working. Spent time working on my bedroom and watching Harry Potter Movies on the Family Channel. My daughter sells Scentsy Wickless Frangrances , she brought my order in today. I had a few people at work buy a few things and I was able to receive a few free items and some for half price. They are great scents. Love the plug ins. My daughter has a website. https://KendraBruton.Scentsy.us . It is a great way for her to earn extra income. She delivered the items today and on Monday I will take the things my friends ordered to them. This is a great picture of a butterfly I took this week. Craft on!

Still cleaning my bedroom

Well the work continues on my bedroom. I have picked out all the magazines to keep and the one's to give away. Slowly but surely I will get my bedroom clean. Tomato's are on the vine in the garden and in the container garden. Cast on a dishcloth tonight the dishcloth is from the night a pattern a day calendar 2008. Pattern name Texas Sun Dishcloth. I spent time today putting away the magazine's I plan to keep. Spent a lot of time watching old movies with Leslie Howard on TCM today while working on my bedroom. It has been a stormy day rain and storms on and off all afternoon. A storm brewing right now. A picture of the white lily in my yard. The lily is beautiful.

I am so lazy

So I spent most of the morning watching tv. I watched teen mom and true life. I have decided that I could spend my entire day watching tv and laying in the bed doing nothing. If it would not lead to me becoming homeless. I went through all my knitting and crochet magazines and I have decided on the one's to keep and the one's to get throw away. My plan is to go by Goodwill to see if I can donate the magazine's. The thought of throwing them in my recycling bin bothers me. Someone might want the magazines. Re watching once again the Harry Potter movies. So no knitting or reading today. Our Trumpet Vine has started to bloom it is the deep purple. Getting closer to a clean bedroom.

I am on vacation.

Really it is a stay at home vacation. I did not go anywhere. I am here at the house. I did not have the money to go anywhere so just hanging out at home. I will return to work on Monday. It has been a long time since I have had a week off. I am trying to get some reading and knitting done. Today I watched old movies on TCM so I have not achieved any of my cleaning goals. I will do better tomorrow. I need to get my bedroom clean. My bedroom looks like an episode of Hoarding Buried Alive. I know what I need to do to make this stop. One get rid of most of my knitting and crochet magazines. Really hate to let go of them. I will never be able to knit or crochet all or half the projects. My intentions were good. Two get rid of some of my yarn. I have a lot of yarn mostly acrylic. Still knitting dishcloths. My Daughter put in an order for potholders. The lilies in the backyard bloomed this week very pretty.

A Harry Potter Weekend.

My Niece and I are preparing ourselves for the part two of the final Harry Potter movie. We are watching all the Harry Potter movies. We are watching the the first movie now. This has been a slow month for me. I have been a bad blogger. I don't think I will get in more post this year than I did last year. I am knitting dishcloths. Still building my stock for Christmas. I am still reading A Stitch Before Dying by Anne Canadeo. So far a great summer read. It is hard to work in reading, knitting, sleep, and work. Also I have to spend time working in the garden. It is another hot dry summer in my area of North Carolina. You have to water almost everyday. The weeds are taking over one spot in the garden. I pulled weeds yesterday and I plan to spend the week of the fourth pulling more weeds. We have a lot of leaves in the yard and we are using them to keep the weeds out of the garden. I have no plans to go anywhere during the week of the fourth no funds for a vacation. My plan is to work on the yard, garden, and the inside of the house, knit and read, maybe add in crochet. I wish I could go to the beach but I can't afford a trip to the beach. This is the third year at my job without a raise. I am thankful to still have a job but it would be nice to have a raise. Living expenses are going up but not my wages. It it is hard to keep your spirits up thinking about all of these things. Oh well craft on. I am sure things will improve soon.

The last few hours of my weekend

It is Sunday night and my cloths are clean and I am getting myself ready for the work week ahead. I spent most of the weekend alone which was great. My Mother was in Candor with her Sister and visiting their Mother. So I spent most of the week alone and loving every minute of my time alone. I love to come home after a long hard day at work to an empty house and for that house to stay that way. I watched tv knit and read a book. I finished the book this weekend. It was a great easy relaxing read. It was 3 books in one by Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, and Christina Skye The Knitting Diaries. Spent time watering the garden trying to keep all the tomato's that I said I would not plant this year but planted anyway alive. Some of the petunias and marigolds we put in planters are dying. I am not sure why. We brought them at Lowes Hardware. I am not sure whats going on. The Patio tomato and Sweet One hundreds are doing okay, I am worried about one however. The Swiss Chard looks great! I am watching Sister Wives love the show. A special episode comes on at 9:00. My Daughter, her boyfriend and her dog Cece came by on Saturday. We put hamburgers and corn on the grill. I knit two Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloths and just finished a Sunflower dishcloth from Garden Dishcloths to knit. I found peaches and creme cotton at the Walmart in Randleman on Saturday. It was on sale for $1.00 per ball. I found the Sunflower color I need to finish a dishcloth I started and a very pretty Gold. I needed the Sunflower because I had a ball of Sunflower and I had knit one Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth and I wanted to know how many dishcloths I could get out of one ball of variegated yarn. Well I could get almost two. Almost two means that I need another inch and a half to finish the cloth. I am knitting dishcloths for Christmas so this is why I am trying to get as many dishcloth done as I possible can. So tomorrow I will force myself to not be lazy and cast on another dishcloth. I have a pattern for a dishcloth with a cat design in the middle. I might cast on at lunch tomorrow. I will need to find a very quite place to cast on . That is hard at my job. The break room is very loud and not very relaxing. It is already to hot to sit in the car at lunchtime. Maybe I can find an empty meeting room. My visit to Books-A-Million was great I found two books that I want to read. A Stitch Before Dying, by Anne Canadeo and How To Knit A Heart Back Home, by Rachael Herron. I plan to start A Stitch Before Dying tonight. Great weekend and I am living for Friday. Craft On!!

Memorial Weekend

The long weekend started with a trip to our local farmers market here in Asheboro. Then we came home because we brought flowers and did not want to leave the flowers in the car on our trip to Greensboro and the farmers market on sandy ridge road. I love going to the farmers market on sandy ridge road the flowers and fresh vegetables are great. Today we ate at Moose Cafe it is country food but it was good and loved the service. Spent some time later today working in the yard. We brought a beautiful Patio tomato at the farmers market in Greensboro and I plan to plant it tomorrow it was only $3.00 and a good size. I have a trip planned to Lowes Hardware to buy potting soil. Maybe tomorrow I will post a picture of the tomato. So far no reading knitting or crochet.

A long weekend

I am so happy with the long weekend. So far no knitting or reading. I plan to spend some time in the garden tomorrow. Get up tomorrow and go to the farmer market. Then start a cleaning of my bedroom. Knit and read. Happy long weekend.

Summer Garden

We made a big start to our summer garden and summer flowers. Most of our flowers are perennials and will come back every year. I love them the best because if you can get the plant to live you don't have to worry about the plant again. We always plant a few hanging baskets with petunia's and begonia's. In the vegetable garden we planted 6 Whopper tomato's, 8 Roma tomato's, 1 banana pepper, 1 chili pepper, 6 Swiss Chard , 1 Red Sorrel. We cleaned up the garden space that we won't use this year. I planted 4 yellow pair tomato's in hanging baskets, and another Sweet 100 cherry tomato. I have two Sweet 100's left to plant and I will have to wait until payday to buy more potting soil. The pot I plan to use takes about one and a half bags of soil. I finished another apple dishcloth and added a few rows on the slanted diamond. Still reading The Knitting Diaries great read for me. Summer is in full swing here in North Carolina.

My Weekend

It is Saturday night it has been a long quite and boring day. I love the time I get to spend alone, but today was not the best day. Fund's are low due to the fact that I have to pay bills. I wish I did not have to pay bills. It has always been my dream that I could find a Sugar Daddy to pay my bills. This has never happened because I am not the most outgoing or attractive person in the world. So no Sugar Daddy. So the day after payday I am broke and it looks like I will not be able to attend The Carolina Fiber Fest in Raleigh next weekend. Oh well it could be a lot worse and I could have no job and be homeless. I am still reading Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens it is a very, very slow read, and I am reading The Knitting Diaries, by Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, and Christina Skye. I joined a group on Ravelry that involves dishcloths and cast on the Grandmother's Favorite it is the dishcloth of the week. Still knitting the Slanted Squares dishcloth from Leisure Arts Kitchen Bright Dishcloths. So far so good. Today it cost me $35.76 to fill my gas tank. So I am trying to conserve this tank of gas and make it last until the next time I get paid. So no out of town trips which would have made my Saturday a lot better. Asheboro just has nothing to offer if you want to enjoy your weekend. Went to the library today had a few patterns I wanted to print off. I am out of ink so it is cheaper to print patterns at the library than to by ink. I want to grow as a knitter this year. Go beyond dishcloths and scarves. So sometime in the near future I plan to work on cables and circular needles.

Mother's Day.

This weekend turned out to be okay. My daughter came for a visit on Saturday she took me and my mother out to eat and then spent the night. Today we got up spent the morning together and then went to the store to prepare for a cook out. My sister came over with her family we all had a great time and now my mother is getting ready to go to montgomery county to spend time with her sister and their mother. All around great weekend. My mother and I picked up a few tomato plants and herbs to plant on Saturday and a few flowers. I am working on #8 Slanted Squares dishcloth from Leisure Arts Kitchen Bright Dishcloths. Picked up Debbie Macomber, Susan Mallery, and Christina Skye The Knitting Diaries. Just a few pages into the book. I will have the house to myself for the next few days. Happy Mother's Day!

Easter Sunday

Well a great end to a nice long weekend. The weekend started on Friday with a great day off and a trip to Costco and Harris Teeter. The samples left something to be desired but that's okay. I still love Costco. We had to pickup olive oil, chicken stock, butter, and laundry detergent. Then off to Harris Teeter, miss the Harris Teeter here in Asheboro. It closed years ago I think Walmart took it out years ago. It was the best place to find that hard to find ingredient for a recipe. Then I moved on to Saturday and spent most of the day cleaning the garage again. I think I can get it finished by next Saturday. Then today off to church with my daugther and then to lunch. All around great weekend. So far no knitting or crochet. I knit baby washcloths for my daughter to give to her college friend for her baby. Well when my daughter asked me to knit the dishcloths they thought the baby was a boy so I knit cloth's in boy colors. Well the baby is a girl and now my daughter has a blue stork washcloth to give her friend. I wish I would have asked for the day off tomorrow. I need to spend a little time reading tonight before I go to bed.

A Busy Day

Well today has been a busy and rainy day. My daughter paid a visit to help me clean the garage. We made a pretty good start on the garage and still have something to do to get it clean. My daughter plans to come next weekend to help finish the project. I have been able to spend most of the day today alone. after my daughter left to go back home. I really enjoy my time alone. My mother spent most of the week in Candor with her sister and I love it. I love and get along very well with my mother but I love and enjoy greatly living alone. After a long hard day at work there is nothing more that I enjoy than coming home to an empty house. I love this because after working I don't want to talk to or interact with anyone. I just don't have the energy to do so. This is the reason I don't try to date or put myself out in the dating world. I don't have any thing to give to anyone after working all day. My knitting project baby washcloth's . I need to finish them by Friday. I am working a Sailboat baby cloth. This was cloth is from leisure arts #4352 , by Melissa Bergland Burham. Still reading Little Dorrit, I've made it to page 60.

What I am working on

I am working on baby washcloth's. My daughter has a friend and her friend is having a baby. The Baby shower is this month. So far I have to cloth's ready. I am using Kristie Knits washcloth's I brought the patterns on Ravelry. So far I have knit The Rattle Cloth and The Baby Feet Cloth. I have started and put to the side for now The Pacifier Cloth, and recast on The Carriage Cloth. Still trying to read Little Dorrit wow it is a hard read. I think it is the old English the way people spoke during this time period, I am finding it very hard to follow and keep up with the flow of conversation. The plan is to press on and maybe things will get better.

Taking On A Classic!

I have decided to read another book by Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit. I want to read this book because over a year ago Turner Classic ran what I think was a mini series every Saturday for several weeks the movie Little Dorrit and then PBS did an updated version and I really enjoyed both and wanted to read the book but every time I was at a book store looking for the book I could not find it. Well on Friday I went to Greensboro to Barnes & Noble it had been awhile since my last trip and I wanted to give the store another chance. So I look around and of course I started in the craft section, then made my way to magazine's and then fiction. What did I find but Little Dorrit. I did not realize how many pages I would have to read 844 pages! I have watched a lot of movies based on Charles Dickens books but I have not read many of the books. I think I read some of Great Expectations and I did read A Christmas Carol. So after I finish A Crafty Killing, by Lorraine Bartlett. Row 46 on my Shapley Diamond dishcloth. I knit a few rows tonight. While I was knitting I listened to last weeks YarnCraft podcast. I really enjoy listening to the podcast and knitting. Very relaxing. Yesterday I finally planted my lettuce and I hope it lives. I think I waited to long to plant it. This weekend I will plant the Swiss Chard.

The weekend is oh so close

This is the eve of my weekend and I am happy about it and past ready. It has been a long week and I am tired. Just a few more hours. My Mother's birthday is on Sunday she will be 75. So this weekend on Saturday we plan to go to her favorite restaurant Arigato's . Tonight is the results show on American Idol two people go home tonight. After all these years I still love the show. This year all the talent has been great all the top elven are really good. I am not sure who I would like to see win. Still adding rows to my dishcloth. Still reading and getting ready to watch Grey's. The lettuce I have to plant this weekend.

The Middle

It is Wednesday the middle of the week. I am still feeling somewhat in the middle when it comes to getting over my funk. It seems to be getting better as the weather warms up. This past week has been a little rainy and cold. I am 19 rows into the Shapely Diamond dish cloth that I started and then restarted last week and weekend. So far no crochet but soon I have a pattern picked out for a ripple and I need to make myself go to the library to print off the pattern. I am out of ink and it is cheaper to print a pattern at the library than it is to buy printer ink. I am still reading the first in a new series by Lorraine Bartlett it is A Crafty Killing - A Victoria Square Mystery. I am on chapter seven great and entertaining read. I hope the second book in the series is in the works. When my mother moved in with me in 2006 she brought a purple iris and it finally bloomed this year. I am posting a picture.

Scentsy Home Fragrance

Hello Friends, My daughter has started a wonderful new business venture with Scentsy. It is a fragrance company that sells home fragrances, travel fragrances for your car, gym lockers, and more. Please take a moment to check out her website & help her save for her wedding & pay those student loans! https://kendrabruton.scentsy.us Thanks blog spot friends!

It's Friday Eve!

It is time to get happy. It is the moment I have been waiting for since Monday morning. Last night I cast on for the first time in a very long time, just a dishcloth. It is the Shapely Diamond from Leisure Arts Kitchen Bright Dishcloths. Maybe tonight I will knit the first row. I have two current reads, the first The Ex Files, by Victoria Christopher Murray, and the second is the first in a new series A Crafty Killing it is A Victoria Square Mystery, by Lorraine Bartlett. I picked up the book today at Books-A-Million. So just like always here in North Carolina we go from the 80's to the 50's during the day and tommorow morning we have a chance to go down to freezing . I have trays of lettuce that I want to plant and I think I should wait a few day. I hope my fig tree will be okay. Just because I think this post needs a picture I am posting a picture of the salt fish (salt mullet) we brought about 2 weeks ago to cook. It was great we had fish and grits(its a southern thing) The pictures are from before cooking. Happy Friday Eve!

Let the planting begin!

On Sunday I put a few tomato seeds in starter pots. One of the tomato's is a grape type tomato, Jelly Bean Hybrid and a Red Cherry. I hope I have better luck than the last time I had no luck at all trying to start seedlings. This weekend I plan to put my lettuce in pots and the arugula seed I brought this past weekend. Still no knitting or crochet but I am trying to get in the mood again. Just finished reading Acting out, by Benilde Little. It was a great read and tonight before I go to bed I plan to start reading The Ex Files, by Victoria Christopher Murray. I am trying to plan my container garden and my in the ground. I plan to cast on by this weekend. I am glad tomorrow is Wednesday and the week will be half way to the finish, it has been a long week already.

Birthday Girl

Today is my Daughter's birthday. She is 24 today. She was born exactly one month after my birthday so every year except during Leap year her birthday an mine always come up on the same day of the week. She was here yesterday for the Kwanias pancake day. We have been to almost every pancake day since she was 3 she missed one year while she was in college. The Kiwanis do great things for the community. One thing they do is give scholarships to high school seniors for college. My daughter received one her freshman year and it was a big help to her. I plan to go every year that I can and buy a ticket even if I don't eat the pancakes. Still no knitting or crochet, but I am reading. I just finished reading Good Hair by, Benilde Little. It was a great book and good read. My current read Lady Jasmine, by Victoria Christopher Murray. I had never heard of this author but I am enjoying the read. I picked up today from the I library through inter library loan Acting Out , by Benilde Little. I plan to start the book this weekend. My plan is to do a little yard work and plant some lettuce in a round planter, then get back on my Christmas gift dishcloth's that I started at the beginning of the year. I am still trying to work my way out of my funk. I brought the new one- skein wonders book and it is great. I have my eye on a project may be two. One on page 210 and the second on page 221.

February is a bad month for me.

February is a bad month for me. I was born in February and every year I feel so depressed. I am happy that I am not dead, but I spend most of my time wondering what purpose I am serving. I have not spent any time crocheting or knitting the entire month. I have spent time reading. I have read The Itch, by Benilde Little and I am reading Who Does She Think She Is? by Benilde Little since my last post. A lot has happened since my last post. A very dear friend of my had what I think was a stroke. This was very upsetting because less than two hours before this we were together and did not seem to have any problems. I get a call from my daughter and she told me I needed to go to the hospital. Life is a fragile thing. I need to knit or crochet. If I could push myself to knit or crochet I think I would feel better. It is very hard to do the things you enjoy when you feel like your very life is being sucked away almost seven days a week. My mother and I went to Costco and Harris Teeter this weekend. I love both stores. I paid a visit to Borders too. The Borders in Greensboro is closing. When the store closes the closes store to me will be in Winston Salem. I brought the book Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders. I feel so sad that at 47 I am not in a better place. I feel bad that I don't know how to move into a better place and be satisfied with my life. I still can't help but wonder how things would have been for me if I had been born smart enough to go to college. I got rid of my gray today. I put a semi permanent dye on my hair. I am trying to go natural and I am afraid to go ahead and do the big chop. This means cut all the relaxed hair out and just leave the natural unrelaxed hair. My plan is to make myself knit or crochet next week. I need out of this funk.

Birthday Girl!

It's her birthday! Her first birthday one year old! She is such a big girl now. She weights 3 pounds! Cece is the birthday girl! I finally finished A Holiday Yarn, by Sally Goldenbaum it was a great read and I could not believe who the killers was it took my by surprise. I feel lost now with no book to read. I received a postcard about a book in the mail last week, The postcard states it is a new series from Lorraine Bartlett, it is according to the postcard A Victoria Square Mystery A Crafty Killing as stated it is the first in the new series. Watching American Idol and I love the show. I plan to knit a few rows on my scarf tonight. It is almost done.

A lot of Rain

We have had a lot of rain this weekend. My daughter modeled brides maids dresses today. It was during the Carolina Bride Show. We had a great time at the show. I thought my daughter looked great all the brides maid dresses. A lot of the people at the show had samples of food you could have at your wedding. So after the show I came home and knit a few rows on a scarf I started a few weeks ago. I am still reading A Holiday Yarn, by Sally Goldenbaum. I finished reading Spun by Sorcery , by Barbara Bretton. It was a great read. I loved the end of the book. I think another book in the series is coming. If you have not read the series you should read it. Start with Casting Spells, then Laced With Magic, the third is Spun by Sorcery . This is a picture of my cousin Meaghan Ayala she is holding a Gingerbread Man Rice Krispies Treat my daughter made over the holiday's. Meaghan is my Aunt's Granddaughter. She loves to spend time with her Great Aunt Peggy, my Mother.

Quick post !

My knitting and crochet have shut down. Over the last almost 2 weeks. I have spent most of my time reading and watching tv. I am reading my copy of Spun by Sorcery, by Barbara Bretton. It is a great book and I am really enjoying the read. I need to get back to my knitting. When you have to work you can't spend a much time as you would like on things you really care about. I have a job because if I did not I would be homeless. I need to start buying lottery tickets and maybe one day I will win big.

A Cold Day

We had a very sunny but cold day in our area of North Carolina. We got up got dressed to and made a trip to Costco. On the drive to Costoco we listened to CarTalk. I love the car guys and love to listen to them on Saturday they are so funny. The samples did not seem as good today. Still I enjoyed the trip, had to get more chicken stock and garlic powder. We decided to try out the Kirkland brand dish washing liquid. Brought a great looking pork roast and cornbeef brisket. After the mail ran today I received a wonderful surprise the book I have been waiting for Spun by Sorcery, by Barbara Bretton. I have read the first 2 books in the series and love them. Who could resist a witch that knits and owns a yarn shop. Tonight we made sausage and kale soup. I found the recipe in Woman's Day the November issue. It is a great recipe and we enjoyed it. Added a few rows to a Feather and Fan Dishcloth, I started last night. My plan is to knit a lot of dishcloths through this year and stock up and then I will have a ready made supply for my sister and mother in case they want to give them out as Christmas presents this year.

A Night Out

I was very lazy today and spent most of the day in bed. I did not go to bed today until 3:00 am and then I woke up at 10:00 turned on the tv and watched an old movie after the movie was over, I cut the tv off and went back to sleep. I got up in time to shower and get ready to go out to eat with some of my fellow co-worker and some of their family. We went to Synder Farms restaurant. I had never been to this restaurant and to tell the truth I had never heard of the place until a few weeks ago and I have lived in Randolph County for 24 years in July. The food was good just simple home cooking, the salad bar was very good. I had a good time talking and visiting with my co workers and their family. How I am at home knitting,watching 48 hours A Mystery. Last night I cast on another Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth in the Christmas mix yarn, and I tried to knit a Bias Scarf out of the Pomp-a-Doodle yarn my daughter brought me for Christmas. I might try again tonight. I think it is possible if I concentrate. Still reading A Holiday Yarn, by Sally Goldenbaum. I called Books-A-Million to check on the book I ordered and found out they did not have my order on file so the book was not ordered. I had to reorder and will have to wait almost 2 weeks to get my book. It is Spun By Sorcery, by Barbara Bretton. This is a long weekend our office is closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Holiday. I am not very sleepy so I need to find a good movie.

I am ready for a warm up!

It is cold here and I am ready for things to warm up and thaw out. We had snow early Monday morning and on and off through out the day, ending with a little sleet and freezing rain very early Tuesday morning. It was not a lot but just enough to make driving hard and getting into my drive way very hard, my driveway is not paved so this makes it hard to get back in the driveway after I get out. So I am ready for the temperature's to stay above freezing at night so the snow and ice that melts during the day will not refreeze. Had the chance at lunchtime today to knit and talk with my fellow coworkers. A woman that use to work at social services died Sunday, she was only 42 and had a lot of health problems. I wanted to go to her visitation tonight but since I had such a hard time on my icy driveway and worrying about black ice on the roads I did not attend. I really liked her a lot. She was to me a very warm friendly person, and funny. I always enjoyed talking to her in the hallways and during lunch breaks. She was a pretty woman with a great smile. She will be missed. This is the scarf I cast on Monday during my snow day. It is coming along nicely and I want to finish it this weekend. It has grown since this picture. Even with the knit two edge it is curling just a little but it is all good. I am on my way to bed to do a little reading. I am still reading A Holiday Yarn, by Sally Goldenbaum it is a great read. If I could spend all my time reading I am sure I would have finished the book by now. I need to check on my book I order at Books a Million. I think I will stop by after work tomorrow.

A Wonderful Snow Day!

Early this morning it started to snow. When I woke up around 6:00 am the street in front of my house was covered with snow, so I turned on the TV and watched to see if our office was under a delay I could not believe it when our agency was closed.So I went online to our website and all offices were closed. We are under a 2 hour delay tomorrow. The day was great because after finding out the office was closed I went back to bed watched the new, listened to the radio, I went back to sleep. When I finally got out of bed for the day I had the house to myself. My day was spent watching it snow, watching old movies, on the Internet, and knitting. I really needed a day to myself. My Mother left yesterday to stay with her Sister for the week. While she is in Montgomery County she will visit with her Mother, My Grandmother. So I will have the house to myself all week. I really enjoy time by myself. My knitting was nothing major, I finished another dishcloth and I wanted to cast on a scarf but a friend called and spent some time on the phone. All of my Monday night show turned out to be re runs so I watched another old movie. Well off to spend a few minutes reading before going to bed.

A Very Cold and Windy Saturday

Today has been a very cold and windy day. Today was sort of grocery shopping day. We needed to pick up a few things we started at Walmart, then on to Bottom Dollar, Lowe's Food, and Food Lion. When you live in a small town it is hard to do one stop shopping. We decided to do a stir fry of sorts for dinner tonight and I wanted bean sprouts well Walmart, Bottom Dollar, Food Lion out of luck they do not have bean sprouts only Lowe's Food in this area. The winter mix missed us yesterday so no snow flurries. I am not so sure we are going to be as lucky on Monday! Finished up the Pomp A Doodle Scarf last night and I think it is to short. The pattern on the band only calls for 1 skein of yarn and on the RedHeart website the pattern calls for 2 skeins. I plan to use it anyway. I brought Cece a snuggy sack for Christmas, so I am posting a picture of puppy cuteness.

Pomp-a-Doddle Part 2

It is Friday Eve and I am very happy about this fact. It has been a long week at work. My Pomp-a-Doodle scarf is progressing. It is so cute. I know it is knit out of a novelty yarn but who cares. This is North Carolina and it is only a few weeks out of the year that we have seriously cold weather and need true natural fiber heavy duty scarves and hats. The plan is to finish this scarf and try a crochet scarf out of the same yarn just a different color. Still reading A Holiday Yarn. Updated picture of my scarf. Still trying to get over my disappointment about not becoming a millionaire. My daughter brought two Mega Millions lottery tickets and we planned to share the winnings, but no such luck. Well we plan to try again later.

Pomp-A-Doodle

Cast on for the first time this year. My daughter gave me four skeins of Red Heart Pomp-A-Doodle yarn in different colors, I already had one skein that I had purchased. So when I purchased my skein I could not figure out how to get started and was about to lose hope when the thought came to me to go to YouTube, found a video on how to knit with Pomp-A-Doodle. I watched the video over and over again, but I did not start a scarf because I had a big dishcloth project going. Well tonight I watched the video and cast on using a skein that my daughter gave me for Christmas. It took several attempts but I think I have figured it out and have added a few rows. I am using the Red Velvet, so far so good. The pattern for the scarf was on the back of the band. You cast on twelve so the scarf is not very wide, the picture on the band looks a lot wider than my scarf. It does not matter I think the scarf will turn out great. I am trying to decided if I will keep the scarf or give it to my co-worker she wears a lot of scarves to work. The video was a lot of help. It took a few viewing before things came together. Still reading A Holiday Yarn.

So Not Ready

I am not ready to go back to work. We have had a nice long weekend the office was closed on Friday. Now it's back to work on Monday. Slept late today talked to my daughter around 1:00 pm and then got up got dressed went to Walmart and to get the Sunday papers. Not much in either one that was interesting. The only thing was a woman gave birth to twins one born at 11:58 and the other 2 minutes later. So she has one new years baby and on tax deduction. How cool is that. I cooked dinner tonight nothing serious just Manhattan Catfish Chowder it is an old recipe that I have done several times. No knitting or crochet today. I did read a few pages of A Holiday Yarn. I will read for a while later tonight. I am watching OWN the new network that Oprah started. So far so good. I want to have a better year this year. So I want to work very hard to figure out what to do to have a better. If I could find a part time or a work at home job to get a few of my bills paid that would help. if I became healthier that would help, lose some weight , cut down on my wine intake, knit and crochet more, exercise more. So tomorrow after work the plan is to go to the gym and renew my contract. Then make myself go and exercise weather I want to or not and I hate exercise. Tomorrow in your department we are planning to try something different to get all the new and ongoing cases processed. We are hoping for this plan will work. My plan is to knit or crochet with all the yarn I currently have in my stash and not spend any extra money so that I can get out of debt. We shall see how things go.

Happy New Year

It's the New Year!!! and I am trying to stay positive and not get depressed on the first day of the year. We just finished the traditional New Years Day meal. My sister, her husband and their children. It is also my sister and her husbands anniversary, they have been married 26 years today. So no reading crochet or knitting today. My sister and the the girls just left. We had a champagne. It turned out to be a pretty good day. I did not get anything done in my bedroom, my plan was to clean my room. I did get some of the recycling out of the room and most of my towels washed. I think I will settle down and read tonight.