Snowway....

My daffodils on the hill are finally starting to bloom but guess what??? we are in for 6 to 8 inches of snow starting tonight into most of the day tomorrow uggggg!

 

Sat was fabulous! We were outside all day I worked in my gardens. I worked mostly in a garden that was a complete mess and had been neglected for a long time. It is starting to look good again. After feet up, sitting on the porch. We even had dinner out there! Our first one of the season.

I am still working on my rug. I was not that happy with the black background so with some help from my fellow hooker friends I am adding some very dark blue plaid. I have not done much as I have been watching a french show on Acorn TV and I have to read subtitles so no looking down or you lose the whole conversation. 

Wed I went to a small little grocery store to pick up milk and bread. I thought I would check out the flour since I have not seen any and I was on my last bag. Bingo!!!! one bag left 10 lbs!!! I felt like that ad for Ikea where she thinks they made a mistake on the prices and she yells for her husband to start the car. 

I saw this on facebook this week Stephen King had to have a tree taken down near his house so why not hire someone to carve the stump? Just fantastic!!! click on it to see all the detail.

As most of you know I run a bookstore with developmentally handicapped adults. This young woman who gives me the business when she thinks I am not doing something just right has been writing to me. I guess absents makes the heart grow fonder. Really she is sweet and funny and could run the bookstore with one hand tied behind her back.

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Before this covid hit I ordered pants from LLBean. when I got them I tried them on and could not get them past my tiny little hips (not).

Well I did not get them back to the store so I decided to dig them out to maybe motivate me into losing a bit more weight. Well guess what they fit??? I have lost about 4 lbs not enough but I have been walking 3 to 4 miles every day! What ever happened I am grateful I like those pants. 

***

Have a great week and stay healthy!

Progress

I did get more of my rug done. I have chosen a black background.

Because I wanted some mottling I threw the black wool in a pot with some tide and let it bleed some color. Then I transferred to another pan put in some vinegar to set it.

I had a pan of black dye left so I pulled some wool I might not use as it.

And threw it in the pot and let it go. Good results!

And this is my wool before and after. Next time I might scrunch it up with elastics to get a more even mottle.

We had a beautiful day today so after a walk I pulled out the cleaning supplies and attacked the porch. I had to get all the winter dust and dirt off but oh I am so happy to see it come to life!

a spring wreath on the door

And a bunny on the door step voila ready for warm weather!

I finally baked something I am proud of! I have had a tough time baking. I do ok but not to what I usually do. These a Japanese milk bread rolls. 

Sooooo good. And because of the process of how they are made.  they stay nice and soft. 

Fish was hard to find this week, but I was able to get some scallops.

I wrapped them in bacon voila yummy appetizers.  

Not much of a picture but our peas went in today.

It makes me hopeful, I am not much of gardener but I usually do some tomatoes, cukes, and basil so I thought we would branch out a bit.

That is my week of making progress.

My sweet B was sad that school has been canceled for the rest of the year. On line only. this is when being an only child can be hard.

But gramie and Pepe to the rescue I found a local book store that was doing orders I ordered a couple of Lego sets and had them sent to her.They arrived the next day! Sadly she had one of them but she had a big smile and was doing the other one. I promised once this is over we will make a trip to that store and she can exchange it for what ever she wants! 

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I hope you are all happy, doing well. and making progress.

Easter In Quarantine

This pretty much summed up our day wishing we were with our family. There is usually 25 of us for dinner and a egg hunt. So it was very quiet.

There are some things starting to bloom..

And the forsythia that I forced last week is blooming..

My daughter hosted a zoom for the family. we all made it 

and we were all talking at once. But it was so nice to see everyone's healthy and happy faces! I miss them all so much.

We have had crazy weather this week we had about 3 inches of snow but it was gone by the end of the next day. More bad weather is coming in tonight but hopefully it is just rain. But sadly it will be to much rain and cause flooding.

We have been keeping ourselves busy with baking...

And hooking. Not sure about that wing yet that is why the arrow. I am really enjoying this rug. 

I got two new puzzles for husband

He started the 1500 piece one, just looking at it overwhelms me 

but he is enjoying the challenge. 

While cleaning out some more of my crap I found this price sheet for cushings from the good old days of 1989 

31 years ago did not seem that long ago did it?

I have not been hooking that long so not sure if it came in a used cutter I bought.

***

I have seen a return to blogging which I love! I am seeing lots of long time bloggers back at it.

We are healthy and doing well the being home part is no big deal for us ,it is the missing our loved ones part that is getting the better of us. 

I hope you are well and keeping busy.

have a wonderful week!

Lessons I Have Learned

This is my first full week of not working and I have learned a few lessons. I miss my friends, especially my closest friend, we use to go for walks or drinks and do really fun things together weekly.  We are in touch but still not the same. She had a birthday and I couldn't treat her to dinner or give her a birthday hug. (she is a nurse working with elderly she is my hero)

The next lesson is no matter how many miles I put on these shoes it matters more what I eat. I am doing about 3 plus miles a day. But because I am baking bread etc. I am not losing but I will say I am not gaining so I guess that is something.

And speaking of baking, my baking has not been up to it's usual standards. The next lesson is keep your mind on what you are doing and shut off the news while baking. 

This is not a lesson as I knew this but I have great neighbors! This neighbor put out a little cart of books for anyone to take. Now granted we are on a little dead end road but I am sure some of the other neighbors are taking them up on their offer. I did not take any as I have a stack of books that shames me each time I walk by.

The next lesson, never put off something you wanted to do.

I wanted to plant at least 50-75 daffodil bulbs in the front yard on a hill. I planted about 25 a few years ago and it makes everything so happy when they start to bloom. But I put it off and now I do not have those plants pushing through the winter soil. 

There is joy right in my own yard! I have a forsythia bush and I took some cuttings smashed the stems and put them in warmish water to force the flowers. I have spent the day uncovering flower beds and generally cleaning the yard after winter. Blessed to have a safe place to garden and enjoy the outdoors.

Another lesson is just how blessed I am to have this hobby.

It keeps my hands and mind busy when life is closing in.

Not to mention my rug hooking buddies! We have an on going group chat that I just love. Such a blessing!

 I have a much better stash of wool than I thought! I found several piece that are wonderful that I kind of forgot about.

***

 I was so excited to get a pick up slot at the grocery store so I do not have to go in and shop, they will do that for me. It is getting scary out there and I worked very hard to get that slot they are very hard to come by. So that is my final lesson for now I can be very thankful for the smallest things. 

I am keeping a diary every night but it has to be what I am thankful for, I have lots to write, I am blessed.

***

 I hope you are all healthy and doing well with this I found if I shut the news off after a morning update I have a better day.

Be Careful What You Wish For..

My Mom always said "Be careful what you wish for you just might get it." She was right! I have wanted to retire for some time now. But this was not what I had in mind. As of Friday the Governor ordered us to basically close. Part of me is happy, I would go to work and worry every day is this the day I get exposed? and the other part of me is like what! I need that constant in my life. 

On Tuesday morning when I got up we had 6 inches of new snow.

And by Friday it had melted and 50! We are no where near porch sitting weather. In fact today we have had rain and sleet with some snow expected over night 1 to 2 inches.

I have been baking it helps to me to relax. I am good for awhile but the minute I put the news on my anxiety gets going and then I don't sleep. But in the interest of not being an ostrich I try to get my news early in the day and let it be enough for the day.  

My husband has been so busy sprucing up the house.

I wish I had a before picture. We started out just wanting to paint to a gut job. But it looks so good! A gray color scheme with a black check curtain to bring all the grays together. 

We took out the tub shower combo to just a shower unit so much better!

So how do I plan on passing the time? Well old movies...

I started a new rug. ( I took out the seed)

Reading.

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I cleaned our bedroom Sat. It was loaded with dust from the bathroom renovation.My plan is to take a room at a time and clean it all. I do have quite a pile for the thrift store when they open back up.

*** And lastly

I get an email each Sunday from Joy the Baker

It has lots of wonderful things but this seemed very appropriate:

In one of my posts this week Suzy Parker was kind enough to help me switch my brain with a blog comment.  She left a comment with a “modality to get back to the present moment”.  I’ll leave it here for all of us.  The invitation is to read it through and call it up in your brain whenever you might need it. It’s a reset button to be sure.

Sit quietly and look around you for 5 things you can see and identify
Now identify 4 things you can hear
3 things you can feel
2 things you can smell
And 1 thing you can taste

Joy the Baker if you want to visit.

I wish you a healthy happy week!

Locked In With Left Over Candy

As most of you know we usually host a very large Easter celebration at our house each year. About 30 family members attend and we have a large egg hunt for the kids. But sadly since that is not going to happen we have a large stash of candy that I bought left over from Valentine's trying to save money. YIKES! The good news I hate Twix and Kit Kats! 

The other good news is that I can walk and not bump into anyone near my house...

Three miles of just hearing the birds, the trees squeaking in the breeze, and the brook running.

Not even cows in the pasture.

This is a very old cemetery do you think if they could talk there would be some wise words of comfort they could impart? 

Just past this is a local farm that I have been buying eggs from for a couple of years now. This morning I went to get some eggs for my daughter and there was a line!!! What???( you actually knock on their house door and they bring the eggs, no farm store) There are no eggs in the stores here they have found my farmer. He could sell me one dozen to get me through. 

We took the hours drive one way to my daughter's house today to drop off all the Easter basket items that were dropped at my house for Sweet B and I added the few things that I got. We had books for Sweet B and a puzzle for them and some odds and ends plus the dozen eggs. We set it on their door step,waved to them from the windows and set off back home. My arms ached to hug them all especially sweet B.

Being a baker I always have supplies in the house when I heard rumors 2 or 3 weeks ago I added more supplies. So I have plenty.

So I made Golden Pita bread from King Arthur Flour. 

They came out pretty good if I do say so myself. 

A facebook friend made bacon wrapped dates. So I made Gorgonzola cheese stuffed, bacon wrapped figs very very good.

I made homemade breaded chicken tenders last night so with the left overs I made a large salad and warmed the chicken,put it on top of the salad. I chopped up a couple of left over dates on my salad voila delicious!

I have been cleaning out like most of you and I found a whole drawer of letters that our daughter wrote to us from sleep away camp with a few letters to the Easter bunny and Santa thrown in. It has given me a laugh and I take a picture of a funny letter once in awhile and send it to my daughter. Truly a snap shot of time and so sweet.

Just what we need in these times. 

***

I am still working but not sure for how much longer. Part of me is happy I am working but another part wants to go to bed and wake up when it is over. I hope you are all taking care and healthy.

Let me know what you are cooking or doing to pass the time. 

Stay well my sweet blog friends.