The weather can't make its mind up. It doesn't know if it wants to be warm or cold, wet or dry, or somewhere in between. So it keeps changing. It almost seems like from one minute to the next, though I know that's not quite accurate. This is normal for Spring, even the warm weather is in my comfortable temperature range, and we're not seeing any of the terrible storms and severe weather some places are, so I'm making an observation rather than complaining. Although, my asthma wishes it would quit, since it always takes me some time to adjust to weather changes, and when the weather keeps changing I don't get to finish adjusting to one kind of weather before it changes again and I'm back to square one. I know I'm not alone in dealing with this right now though. 'Tis the season for allergies and asthma to be aggravated after all.
Anyway, we're already a week in to April. Can you believe that? A quarter of the year has gone already!
During the last week in March I had a dentist appointment and
Kelly had a hospital appointment.Both
just for routine checks, and both went smoothly.Kelly also had to go for a routine blood test
this past Wednesday (and it really is routine for him, since he’s one of those
people who they have no trouble taking blood from, so is in and out in five
minutes; it takes them longer to process his paperwork than to take the blood).
I’ve also been pretty busy with Zoom calls, between the ones
I go to regularly just because I want to, ones I do jobs on, ones I was
hosting, and a couple where I stepped in to fill in for someone who was away
somewhere for a few days.
Plus, I went through some fabric, set aside the kinds that
would work well for me for a project I have planned, and packed up the rest for
my Aunt Bev to take, since she’s involved in a charity upcycling project where
they make use of any spare fabric to make things like special pillows for
people who have had mastectomies, tearing up what can’t be used for outer layers
to make filling.My Dad told me about
it, and I thought it would be a good way to reduce the amount of fabric I have
lying around.Especially since some of
the stuff I was unlikely to want to use, and only had because it came with the
stuff Dad gave me with Nan’s old craft stuff.
With my energy levels pretty low lately, those things –
along with those day to day tasks that always need doing, making sure the petkids
get attention, etc – have been enough to have me taking advantage of as many opportunities
to rest as I can most days.Something
Logan is a lot more enthusiastic about than Lilie, since he’s much more of a
fan of nap time than she is.LOL!
Although, I have managed to get some crafting in (mostly the
stuff I’ve worked on during the Zoom calls, but I’ve also made some progress
with the crochet blanket I’m slowly working on) as well as managed to fit in
enough reading time that I’m slightly ahead on my 2023 reading challenge goal
(I’ve read 18 of 52 books) including being ahead with reading April’s book of
the month for the ACB Crafters book club, and being on track with the book we’re
working our way through as part of the 18th and 19th century
book club I also attend.Admittedly this
is mostly because I can listen to an audiobook while either doing day to day
tasks like housework, or during those times when I’m resting but not
sleeping.But it all adds up, and it all
counts, right?
Interesting how it all seems somehow to be a lot and very
little at the same time when written down in a blog post like this.I mean, on the one hand the fact there’s
enough for a blog post that’s a few paragraphs long makes it seem like so much
I can’t help feeling it’s no wonder I’m tired, while on the other hand I wonder
how I can have done so little that I can sum up two weeks in just a few
paragraphs.Funny how that works.
As you may or may not know, it was the Summer Solstice on Tuesday. So, for those who acknowledge or celebrate it: belated blessed solstice to you.
*~*~*
We're starting to get some hot weather. Well, hot to us. I know some people wouldn't consider it hot, but for someone like me who considers temperatures in the 60s F to be hot, and a country like the UK with air conditioning usually not an option, it is considered hot.
Anyway, it's been in the 70s F too often for my liking, and creeping up to the low 80s a few times too. I really hope we won't be in for too much of those kinds of temperatures this Summer. I don't like hot weather.
Although, I expect Artemis will be glad if we do get a lot of hot weather, since Mediterranean tortoises like Hermann's Tortoises like hot weather. Mind you, even Artemis can only deal with so much heat, so I expect even Artemis probably wouldn't want it to get too much above 80 F.
*~*~*
Lilie and Logan got groomed on Tuesday. Just in time for the worst of the hot weather.
We had a dog groomer come to the house to do them this time,
from a company called Dial A Dog. So far we're pleased with them. And we definitely love the fact the groomer comes to us, which is much easier.
Here are a couple of photos of my freshly groomed puppies.
Lilie:
Logan:
The dogs are booked for another grooming session on September 29th at 10:00am.
*~*~*
I have a couple of completed craft projects to show you.
First of all, I finally finished the loom knitted gloves I
was making.So, for those who can and
want to see them, here’s a photo:
I also made this little pillow.It’s a lavender pillow, and I made it while
teaching a class for the ACB Crafters on how to make one.Anyway, here’s a photo of that too:
I have some other projects on the go, but have been doing an
awful lot of starting but not completing projects lately.I’ll show you things as and when I complete
them – whenever that happens to be.
*~*~*
We’ve moved things around so my craft room is now also where
my computer is.It makes it easier for
me to access craft supplies when I’m on crafting calls, and at the same time
puts me in a room where the dogs are less likely to bark at neighbours who are
parking their cars outside our house when going to the local shop.
It meant a lot of moving about of things though, since the
craft room was rather full.But we
pulled all the books out of there to make space for my computer desk, and are
in the process of sorting through the books and papers to see what needs to be
kept and what doesn’t (which wasn’t actually done when I got the stuff from Dad
when he was handing me Nan’s stuff).The
books and papers we keep will go either in the bedroom with my Braille books
and the audio books I’m holding on to (I’m getting rid of any I have digital
copies of) or in Kelly’s office (formerly known as the computer room).
It was a lot of work, and we’re still not done sorting out
the books and papers (which are currently being sorted on the floor in Kelly’s
office, since there’s more space to do it in there) but we’ll be glad of it in
the long run.Besides, sorting through
the books and papers is a task we’ve been wanting to do, and this is one way to
force ourselves to do it. And, at the
same time, I get an office/craft room I can actually work in.
*~*~*
I’ve got some medical stuff going on during this next
week.Today I’m going to get blood taken
ready for my hematologist appointment next week, since apparently I need to
get the blood taken the week before these days, and my appointment is July 1st.And on June 29th I have an appointment
with my own dentist, which is the appointment I had originally that I decided
to keep, but since the packing that was put on the tooth beside the one the
emergency dentist had to pull has come out it’s just as well I did keep it.
Interesting timing, since we’re right in the middle of convention
activities with the ACB.There’s some
virtual only stuff going on right now, then a few days break, and then the hybrid
convention during the first week or so of July.And, since I’m not in a position to attend in person, I’m one of the
people who will be helping out with hosting the virtual aspects of it.
I’m also one of the winners of the International Voices
Contest they were running, so got my registration for attending any of those virtual
events I’m not hosting free (otherwise I’d have had to pay to be able to attend
any virtual convention events I’m not hosting).
It's going to be a busy few weeks for the ACB Community.
I’ll tell you one thing: I won’t be able to complain of boredom.LOL!
That basically covers what's been going on around here, so I'll let this do for today.
No matter what's going on in your life at the moment, I hope you're staying safe and well, and have plenty of things happening to stop you complaining of boredom too. Even better if they're things that make your heart happy.
Also, if it's hot with you too, I hope you're finding ways to keep cool.
The photos at the top of this post are just a couple of random ones I took with my phone's camera of Artemis climbing on a pile of throw pillows on the sofa. Just because you haven't seen an Artemis photo in a while, so I thought I'd take a photo or two to share with you.
***~~~***
The days are just flying by. It's hard to believe we're already a week in to April. But, here we are.
~
We got a little bit of snow just as we entered April. We didn't take photos, because none of it settled. We did get something like half an inch, but the conditions weren't right for it to stick around once it hit the ground. I got to have fun catching snowflakes though, so there's that.
Lilie and Logan love when it snows too. Partially because they do play with the snow a bit (though Lilie wasn't so interested in it this time) but I think mostly because I'm never in any hurry to go indoors when there's snow, which means they get to stay outside longer. LOL!
~
Since then it's been alternating between rain and hail storms, and sunshine. And the temperatures have been all over the place as well, so that one day we're opening the windows to let a nice breeze in, and the next we're making sure the windows are firmly closed and looking for warm blankets to snuggle in because it's so cold.
***~~~***
I've been doing a lot with the ACB Crafters. I'm now part of their admin team, so helping to run some of the classes. So much for my not wanting anything to do with all this when I was first told about the ACB Community calls about a year ago. LOL!
~
Anyway, I have some photos of finished projects to show you.
First, here are two different loom knitted shamrocks I made:
Next, here's a crocheted shamrock and a crocheted mini Easter basket:
I'm thinking of putting the shamrocks on some fabric and turning it in to a shamrock themed throw pillow. The crochet and smaller loom knitted ones are close to the same size, and anyway all three of them are slightly different, so I thought it would look nice with the big loom knitted one in the middle, and the smaller two one on either side of it.
Anyway, I also made a couple of Easter cards... One with a rabbit head on it, and the other with two sheep on it... These were my own designs, and not following the ones the class was doing, because I didn't have the kit. Anyway, here they are:
And this is the party hat you'll have seen if you read Lilie's post last week:
~
I also sometimes attend classes via Future In Sight, which Kaila (one of the ones in charge of the ACB Crafters) works for. Those are held via Zoom like the ACB Crafters ones, and are also aimed at visually impaired crafters.
Anyway, I made this rope coaster in one of those workshops recently:
And, while trying to get the rope coaster made, I somehow made this cone shaped thing, which reminds me of the kind of hat you'd see on a garden gnome, so I've been calling it a gnome hat, and am thinking of making a gnome to put it on. Anyway, here it is:
I got two Christmas cards too late to get them in my post about the holidays.
Both cards came from online friends. So, before I tell you what's been
going on in 2022 so far, here's a photo of the two cards:
*~*
It tried to snow late on the evening of January 4th. But it was more sleet than snow, and didn't come to anything.
They promised it would try again over the following few days though, so I was hopeful for snow to enjoy. It was certainly cold enough for snow...
Finally, on January 7th, all my hoping and wishing paid off, because we got some actual snow!
Which, unfortunately, we forgot to grab a photo of.
Admittedly there wasn't much, and the ground having been rained on so recently when the snow fell meant most of it was gone as fast as it fell. But there was enough so I could go catch some snowflakes as they fell, and I managed to scrape together a small snowball. So at least it was snow worth mentioning.
Of course, I'd have liked more. And it would have been nice if it hadn't warmed up just enough that what I woke to the following morning was rain rather than more snow. But you can never have enough snow in my opinion, so I'd be telling you I wish we'd had more even if we had a foot of snow. LOL!
Besides, the rainstorm we had next day was awesome to listen to.
*~*
I've used most of my Christmas money to get a few craft supplies I
want for spacific projects. In particular wool in certain colours to
knit a cosy for my new teapot. My old teapot has a purple and blue cosy
to match the fact it's purple, so I want to make a black and orange one
to go with my black "Witches Brew" teapot. I thought those colours
would be appropriate for it.
I haven't started making the cosy yet, but it's right near the top of my crafty to-do list.
Well,
I don't actually have a to-do list exactly. I've not bothered to make a
list of the projects I want to get done. Though several times I've
wondered if maybe I should. But there are a lot of them, and this tea
cosy would be right near the top of the list if I did sit down and make
one.
*~*
I've been learning to play the keyboard since some time in December.
I'm
not all that good yet - in fact, far from it. And half of what I can
play is only the start of various songs. But I'm slowly making progress, and trying counts. So, here's a clip I did at the
start of January of me playing the only things I can play in full (though hesitantly, and far from perfectly).
*~*
Another new thing I've started doing is learning to loom knit.
They
do it on one of the crafty calls via the ACB, so I decided I'd go along
and see if it sounded like something I'd like to have a go at. It did,
so I used the birthday money I hadn't spent yet to buy myself a little
set of knitting looms (since it was one of the few things I didn't
inherit from my Nan when I got her craft stuff).
The
knitting Zoom classes/sessions are usually held on Thursdays (needle
knitting one week, loom knitting the next) but they had a special
beginner loom knitting class planned for the second Saturday in January (so, this past Saturday)
and I was able to get my loom in time to join that.
During the class we did a small piece with just a couple of rows to learn how to cast on, knit the basic "E wrap" loom stitch, and cast off. Now I'm attempting to make a scarf with the loom. It's one of those that will be double thickness, because I'm knitting a tube, and will darn the ends closed when I'm done. Since scarves were what I did first for both needle knitting and crochet, it felt appropriate. Only this time the scarf will be for me, rather than for my doll, Jo (who no longer has the multiple scarves I knitted for him growing up, but is currently sporting the crochet scarf I made last year)
*~*
I'm also working on two crochet projects.
~
One is a crochet blanket, which I started working on at the end of last year.
Originally I was going to
do several squares and stitch them together, but then decided to do it differently. If I just
keep going with my square so it gets bigger and bigger until I'm happy
with the size of it, I won't have to worry about sewing the squares
together, so I'm doing it as one solid piece instead, because I liked the idea of avoiding needing to sew the squares together later. LOL!
It's
coming along slowly, partially because I'm working on so many other
things, partially because I'm very slow with crochet, and partially
because I forgot which way around the differences worked when it came to
US vs UK terms for the crochet stitches, so am doing UK double crochet,
which is US single crochet, instead of US double crochet, which is UK
triple crochet, which makes the stitches more tightly woven (if you know
what I mean) and the rate it grows at a little slower. Oh well, never mind.
~
The other is a mug hug, which - for anyone who doesn't know and would like to - is essentially a mug cosy.
That's about half finished, even though I only started it on Tuesday with the ACB crafters in the most recent crocheters call, because it's a much smaller project so obviously takes a lot less time to complete.
*~*
In other crafty news: I finished the pillow cover I was making out of the tortoise print fabric I got for my birthday.
Well, one side is tortoise print. The other side is plain purple. Either way, here it is:
By the time you're reading this post, it should be among the throw pillows on my sofa.
*~*
Another thing I finished is this baby cardigan (sweater to
those of you outside the UK).
The cardigan was among the partially done projects I inherited
from my Nan along with her craft supplies, so I wanted to finish it anyhow,
because I’m trying to finish up some of the partially completed projects – Nan’s
ones, as well as my own – in between working on new craft projects.But, on top of that, a family friend is
having a baby in a couple of months, so I wanted to finish it to give to that
person for the baby.I won’t name them,
since – though chances of them doing so are slim – there is a chance the friend
in question might see this, and I don’t want them to know for sure it’s for
their baby until I’m ready to give it to them.
Anyway, Nan had knitted most of the cardigan, but I finished
it off and put the buttons on it.
*~*
I made a decorative round dishcloth/doily thing too, which I haven't had a chance to get a photo of yet.
It was one of the projects the ACB Crafters knitting group
was working on, and it sounded like it would be a fun one to do, so I decided
to make one with them.It’s a really
simple pattern, so was quick to knit up (even for the beginners in the group).
It’s officially actually supposed to be a round decorative
dishcloth, but because of the type of wool I used it’s better as a doily than a
dishcloth - something I was aware of when I started, but decided I didn’t care
about.I could have gone and fetched a
ball of my cotton yarn so it would actually be a dishcloth, but decided to just
use the first kind that came to hand for my first time doing it, and use it as
a decorative doily this time instead.I
can always make another using cotton yarn at a later date if I want one to be
an actual dishcloth.
Anyway, I'll get you a photo of that soon.
*~*
And, yes, I've also been writing from time to time, though admitedly not a lot.
I'm
not sure what to say about that though, because there's not really
anything to report other than the fact a bit of writing has been
happening here and there. I'm slowly moving writing projects closer to
completion, but nothing is at the point where I really have much to
share with you about it yet.
*~*
Other than reading (I'm on my third book of the year, and so far enjoying what I've read this year) the general day to day tasks, playtime with the petkids (Lilie was almost as excited we got snow as I was) and the other ACB calls I've been attending (which include Saturday night kareoke) that's pretty much what's been going on around here since the start of the year. So, 2022 is off to a great start for me.
I hope you can say the same, and have been enjoying plenty of the things that make you happy.
It was my Mam's birthday on December 19th. She wanted a birthday cake I could have some of, so I made her a vegan one. It's a two layer ginger cake with vanilla buttercream icing between the layers, and pink icing in various shades on the top and sides, some of which spells out the words, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAM" with a couple of little hearts below the writing. Here's a photo:
*~*
I forgot to have Kelly take a photo of the fake mistletoe hanging above our living room doorway when he did our holiday decoration photos, so here's a photo of that:
Also, we got a pine reef for the door, so here's a photo of that too:
*~*
As you may or may not know, Kelly and I celebrate the Winter Solstice, so for us the holidays kick off a couple of days early. But the rest of the family celebrates Christmas, so most years we end up doing both. This year was one of those years. We had our own celebration on the 21st of December, exchanged gifts with my Mam Christmas Eve, and exchanged gifts with my Dad and Wayne (one of my brothers) on Boxing Day. In between those things I was involved in various festive calls with the ACB, including a virtual tree lighting on Christmas Eve, which was great fun.
~
Lilie was really excited when she realized Santa Paws had been, and eager to get hold of whatever treats he'd left for her. Logan was rather confused by the whole thing, but eager to accept any treats and toys on offer. Logan's always happy to be involved if there's something in it for him, even if he's not sure what's going on - especially if that something involves treats.
Anyway, here are our stockings and gift bags all set out on the chair and sofa ready for us to open. There's a gift bag and stocking each for me and Kelly, and a gift bag and two stockings between the petkids (one stocking is for Lilie and Logan, one is for Mollie and Artemis, and the bag is for all of them).
And here's a clip we took when Lilie realized Santa Paws had been:
The dogs also got some tennis balls, and some squeaky snowballs...
As well as a toy goose each that's a cross between a cuddly toy with a squeaker in it and a rope tuggy toy, which I'm giving to them in this next photo:
Plus a honking pig toy each, which I didn't get photos of them with, and a load of treats, including the rawhide candy canes I'm giving them in the first of these next photos, which they're each enjoying in the two following it (at least, that's how it will be if these post in the order I'm uploading them).
Mollie and Artemis got some raisins and some dried rosepetals to share. Mollie also got a willow reef to gnaw on. I didn't end up getting photos of Mollie and Artemis though.
~
As for me...
I got a potter's wheel and some clay to use with it, bath/shower stuff, plenty of vegan friendly treats, a whole load of Burrows & Badgers figures to add to my collection, a snuggly blanket, a bird sounds CD, two pairs of Disney socks (Dumbo and Eeyore) and some money.
I also got this Discworld themed bookmark and cuddly toy of "The Luggage" (a character from the series that's basically a magical trunk with loads of legs on its underside that gets in to mischief)...
A black "Witches Brew" teapot...
A wooden ornamental Hogwarts Express...
An oil/wax melts burner with oils and wax melts to use with it. Plus the dragon shaped incense holder in this next photo, with some incense cones and sticks to use with it.
And some cards from a few of my family and friends...
Speaking of cards: if you didn't get one from me, that's because I only ended up doing them for immediate family, because I left it too late and didn't have the time or energy to even get them made before the holidays in the end. I'll try to do better next year.
*~*
Whatever you did to celebrate them, how were your holidays? Did you get anything nice?
Also, since it's New Year's Eve, I'd like to wish you a happy New Year! Stay safe while doing whatever you might be doing to ring in the new year - if you are doing anything, I mean. See you in 2022!
