sandr032

I can't believe it's been a whole month since my last blog post. It's been crazy busy around here, that's for sure. I have to blog about this though, cuz it's so awesome. Two Saturday's ago (the 8th) our daughter, Ruth, graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in Computer Science and minors in Geology and Math. We drove down to Moscow, ID to attend the ceremony. I got a couple pictures with my phone, but they're a bit blurry because we were so far from her. She is the one in front of the young man in the blue suit in the below picture. The graduates were walking up to the stage to receive their diplomas. Here she is shaking the college President's hand. My husband and I admitted to each other that we were a little bit in doubt until we actually saw her walk into the arena. Then I just started crying I was so happy. It took a long time for her to get through college because it was very hard for her. I am so proud she finished. Afterwards, we w...

I'm working on the cardigan for Layette set 35. I'm loving the bright colors in this variegated yarn. I'm still working on the second of the socks I'm making for Frank. I'm about 20 rows from finishing the stranded pattern. I am having a somewhat miserable week. Last Sunday I took myself to my favorite Urgent Care clinic and was diagnosed with Shingles. Shingles is no fun. I've got severe pain that starts in the middle of my spine and radiates around my left side to my abdomen accompanied by a very painful rash that has spread around me. My skin feels like it's on fire. I broke out in the rash Thursday morning. By Saturday evening I was pretty sure I had Shingles. Thus, hauling my ass to the doctor early the next morning. I've been given a prescription for an antivirus medication which is supposed to cut the length I have this torture. Other than that, it's just waiting until it works it's way through to healing. I'm contagious as long as the...

My cell phone battery, in a Motorola Moto X, which I've had for a few years, would no longer hold a charge more than 4 hours. The battery could not be replaced because it was firmly glued in. (Needless to say, that pisses me off a bit. $500 for a phone and you can't replace the battery?). I've been living with it like that for months and months. It's been very frustrating. Well, I finally had enough and I bought a new phone. I looked for a smart phone that had good battery life, at least 32 gigs, a nicer camera than the old phone, a model from 2018, and all for under $200. I know that last one is asking a lot, but I found one! It's a  Motorola Moto G6 Play Indigo Blue .  Silly me wanted to know what that Indigo Blue in the name meant, so I googled it. Turns out, that is the color of the phone's case. I felt rather silly after that. I found the phone on Amazon. It's an  exclusive  Prime deal. So glad I'm a Prime member. My phone arrived Tuesday morning an...

As I said yesterday, It's been a busy summer. Here's an update. The Ocean Spray we transplanted has died. Gonna try again. My knee is healing, slowly. I have periods with no pain now. I've been getting Physical Therapy which is helping quite a bit. We went on our annual week long camping trip to Priest Lake. It was a lot of fun. I did a lot of walking, which was hard on my sprained knee, but I think in the long run it was good for me. Despite the knee, I find I'm in much better physical shape than I've been in a long time. For instance, the walk from our camp site to the beach involves a steep hill. I've always had to huff and puff my way up it. This year I didn't huff and puff. That was a surprise. One day we went on a hike up Lionshead Creek trail. I wanted to go up to my favorite place on this trail. I forgot my main camera, but I had my phone with me. It took surprisingly good pictures. One of the granite peaks viewed from the parking lot of the trail. I...

Making progress on the Mini Star Trek project. I've stitched the top words in metallic gold. Trying to decided if I want to outline it in black or not. Speaking of stitching in metallic, I did a bit of googling to see if I could find some helpful tips on doing just that. Metallic threads have been so difficult for me to work with. I found a fantastic one that is so helpful it literally has solved all the problems I've had with it. This really works! I wish I'd known this a decade or two ago. 3. Say goodbye to fraying, slipping and tangling: Use the slip knot method to thread the needle. This method is fool proof: Your thread will be locked onto your needle and there’s absolutely no risk of fraying.     Lock your floss onto your needle to eliminate any risk of fraying If you’re using two strands, cut a single strand, double the length. Fold in two. Thread as indicated above. Pull out about an inch and a half. Slip the tip of the needle through the loop formed by the thread a...

This is where I'm at on the Mini Star Trek cross stitch project. All the characters are done. I'm about half done with the names of the characters. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do for a border and I want to put something at the top. Perhaps the words "to boldly go" or something like that, and a little Enterprise ship somewhere. After a week of gorgeous weather, we are having a rainy day, which I am enjoying immensely. The cleaned gutter is working perfectly. There is no more waterfall coming down in front of the back door. It was worth the effort. The knee is healing. I have been able to sleep in my bed the past 2 nights, fairly comfortably too, for the first time since spraining my knee. I have enjoyed the sleep so much, and I think getting sleep is helping the knee heal faster. I've got times during the day with no pain. I'm also getting some energy back. I've come to terms with sweet hubby going back to school. It could end up being a ...

Not doing much blogging of late, not that I haven't had something to blog about. I have had lots to blog about. Just haven't been able to sit down at my computer. It's actually a bit frustrating cuz I want to blog more than I have been. I have been doing lots of knitting, cross stitching, and embroidering though. I've got layette sets finished. Here's number 29. The Cardigan Pattern :  Super Natural Stripes  by Fawn Pea Size : 0-6 months Yarn : Jojoland Invention Content : 80% Acrylic/20% Wool, worsted weight Color : 3 Wva Yarn : Unknown Acrylic Content : 100% Acrylic, worsted weight Color : Black Needles : Circular size 5 and 7 Started : May 10, 2018 Finished : May 18, 2018 Comments : I started out thinking this yarn would look good with some fabric I already have, but it knit up quite differently than I thought it would and looked horrendous with my fabric. So I decided to knit everything up, then go find fabric to match. The yarn is plyed to have 2 variegated col...

I've got 2 knit projects in the works for this post. First, I've started the second of a pair of gold child's mittens. They'll be size 4-6. I've also got the knitting done for the matching hat to the entrelac cardigan. Just needs blocking and sewing together the pieces. Still haven't found a pattern I like for entrelac booties. This week we are having glorious spring weather. Sunshine, blue sky, and fluffy clouds. It's very warm. I've been opening windows and doors and blowing out the winter staleness. The hot tub is leaking yet again. I've told sweet hubby I give up. I'm tired of dealing with it. The damn thing is over 50 years old and it's reached the end of it's life. He's not willing, yet, to let go, so I leave it to him as to what to do next. If we could just figure out where the leaks are, we could probably fix it, but alas. I had some problems with my new vacuum cleaner over the weekend. It would not suck. I discovered that I...

Outside my window...  It's a gray, damp, cold, dreary day out there, but the birds are happily feasting at the Parkarosa Bird Buffet. Most of the snow had melted off. In fact, there isn't any on the back deck. Now, if temps would get above 50, I could start enjoying the deck again. I am thinking...  it was a very wise choice to hire an accountant to do our taxes this year. She just finished them this past week. She is awesome. She found ways to save money on our taxes that we would never have known about. Well worth the fee she charged. We'll have more of the severance pay left in the bank than we thought we would. I am thankful for...  the fact I got to go on that Star Trek cruise last year. I know I didn't blog much about it, but it was so much fun. Definitely something very special. We were fortunate to have William Shatner as our host. He just turned 87 a few days ago, so I know the days are numbered to see him. From the kitchen...  It's nice and clean in there ...

I spent the weekend working on my Etsy shop , amongst other things. I finished up the following two outfits to fit Iplehouse JID dolls, photographed them, and entered them in the shop. I sure hope they sell. Sierra is modeling them. I think she looks very elegant. I plan to make some jewelry and hats to go with a few of the doll dresses I made last year (Or was it the year before?) and getting the dresses up on Etsy before the end of the month. Hopefully, I will start generating some sales. I kind of loathe knitting doll hats, but I feel the need to have them. The weather warmed up over the weekend and today was glorious. I actually sat out on the deck and read a novel in the sunshine for awhile. It was so nice after the last 2 weeks of snow and cold. The sun was warm, and the air smelled nice. I think spring is finally coming. I was surrounded by piles of snow, but the sun was so warm it didn't matter. The snow is melting like crazy. I gave the scarf to Jim yesterday and he loves...

Hello! It's WIP Wednesday again. It's also me and sweet hubby's 36th wedding anniversary.  I can't believe it's been 36 years. He's the best husband a woman could ask for and I'm super thankful he married me. So, I was working on the Mini Star Trek doing the backstitch outline on the pink dress Mudd's lady and I thought to myself that things would look much better with more outlining than I've been doing. I've just been outlining the outside edges. That kind of looked weird on miss pink dress lady. So I outlined everything and she looked so much better. Then I spent the next couple hours doing the same thing to the whole project. Didn't take very long and it all looks so much better. 10 characters are done. 9 to go. I've started number 11, the green dress lady, with her arm. ('Scuse the shadows. The sun is shining.) Someone told me they didn't like this cuz it's "too cartoony". I said "Duh. That's what I lov...

Outside my window...  Brilliant sunshine and blue sky. However, it's only 32F degrees out, so I won't be going out on the deck to knit for awhile. I am thinking...   that I've not been very good at getting the doll outfits I've made into my Etsy store. My heart doesn't seem to be in it. Sigh. I am thankful for...  our house being paid for. We'd be having a very hard time with Doug not working if it wasn't. So far we're managing okay. From the kitchen... I made Spaghetti Pie for dinner last night. It was so good. I should make it more often. It's not difficult to make. I am wearing... blue jeans and a navy blue and white print t-shirt. I've had the shirt for ages. It has a crochet lace embellishment around the neck. I am creating...    the Entrelac baby cardigan. It's going very well. I forgot how fun Entrelac is, and it's knitting up fast too because I'm using worsted weight yarn. As i've been working on it, I've been thinki...