Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Happy Week

 I went to The Cheese Emporium again.  It's quite a journey so I only go there when we are up that way anyway.  I spoke to the owner who goes by the name of Pinkie. This is really her life's work, this little building full of Paris.  I thought you might like to browse.




 The real reason we were there is because of this one.  Yay for a sweet visit with our Brad.
 Birdie was in a play!  She's the skeleton.  Now that I've been costuming Peter Pan (not the whole thing - just a small contribution) I notice all the clever ways to create an effect.  This is brilliant, don't you think so?
 Oh, the sunny days.  Lunch outside.  Best.
 While I was in "Paris" I picked up six Van Gogh placemats. 
 Sweet little Noah still likes the Wendy house.
 James helps Grampy with chores. 
 Hard work deserves popsicles.

 I'm trying to finish up the other sock.
 Bill took my bike off the garage ceiling hooks so I had a bike ride on Easter Sunday.
 My grandmothers did a lot of baking, but this Granny doesn't do as much because in our family there doesn't seem to be a huge appreciation for cookies. 
 Even most of my wonky hot cross buns are now in the freezer.
 I would like to introduce you to Nana, the Darling's dog.
 Gluten free oats for breakfast.  Just right.

This is show week, so Bill and I are hustling to be where we can help and praying for Kelli as she pulls it all together.  What an accomplishment.  She has kept all the details in her amazing brain and it has all come together beautifully.  The sets are clever, the costumes are darling, and the children are absolutely precious.  I can't wait to see the show on Friday!
I'm headed down to the basement to sew a few seams.  I'm making some elastic waist jeans for me.  They are so comfy and they stay UP. This granny isn't posh and fancy.  This granny is comfortable.  Yay!
Our gardens are all ready for seeds and annuals.  Bill loaded so much new dirt into all the flowerbeds.  He's very nice.
Take care, sweet reader.  I hope I have the commenting fixed.  
Thank you for popping in! 

Sunday, April 14, 2019

April Stuff

 I don't think I told you that April and I met up at the Interweave Yarn Festival in Loveland, Colorado. Oh, it was inspiring to see all of the lovely wool and other fiber treats.  You pay to get into the marketplace, so I didn't feel compelled to buy anything, but of course I did!  The yellow fingering weight skein on the right is as soft as a feather.  I think I'll use it in a shawl.  My favorite wool is Nebraska based Brown Sheep.  I always buy their wool when I go to the fest.  The prices are very reasonable. 
 Isn't this a gorgeous shawl?  I think I have a similar pattern in my collection, so I may copy.
 They had rabbit yarn, too.  I was reminded that even though I almost always use wool or alpaca yarn, I do not like to pay high prices. 
 April and I had our own little knit along.  We both made the Flax sweater by Tin Can Knits.  She was finished with hers way before I was, but I DID finish.  While she waited for slow Granny to get her project off the needles, she made a Flax for Cadence!  Here we are in our twin sweaters.
 Brad and April's church put on a conference and Bill spoke for one of the sessions.  I rode along and stayed with the kids while the adults attended the event.  FUN! 

Bill had two little garden gnomes help him rake up dead pine needles. 

 After that we went to a nearby school to play.  It was lovely THAT Saturday, but THIS Saturday was cold and a bit snowy.
 We needed two new screen doors.  Now the warm spring air can blow through the house. 


I'm working on my colorful sweater and I am nearing the finish line.  It's so very bright and random.  I'm not sure I'll be wearing it out where it might draw attention to me.  I do like the way the Brown Sheep wool knits up.  
 I decided to make a few changes to the pattern.  I wanted to tone down the shape of the sleeves so I added some corrugated rib and a picot hem.  Do you like it?  It's very heavy and it hurts my arms and elbows when I work on it for too long. 
 Sometimes I like to get things I've made out of their hiding places and just gaze at them.  Even though I made some mistakes on these two pair of socks, I am still happy with them.

Kelli and Bryan's Christian theater company is going along well and it's almost show time!  Jenny has been helping with scenery.  All five local granddaughters are in the show.  
Would you like to see some of the mermaids?  They like their skirts I made.  Yay!
 Here is Mr. Lazybones. 
 Our Jenny just returned from a Florida vacation.  She said it is HOT in Florida and necessary to stay at the beach. 
  I think the girls had LOTS of fun, don't you?
 Brad and April took the kids up to Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday for a sledding outing.  They enjoyed a tea party, too!
Kim for My Field of Dreams gave me a delicious dairy-free/gluten-free carrot muffin recipe.  She told me that gluten-free baked goods can be sticky so I ordered silicone cupcake tin liners.  Wow!  They work so well!  The carrot muffins/cupcakes were delicious!  Thank you, Kim!

Well, I've been knitting, cleaning up my computer (it's running faster now!) and doing other inside things.  It's time to go outside and walk.  As things green up around the neighborhood, I'll start bringing my camera along.
Spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner (gluten-free pasta is pretty good!)
Oh!  I finally made friends with my food processor.  It scared me for the longest time, but I realize now that it is an amazing little kitchen work horse, so I gave it some room on the counter.  I plan on stretching my cooking to include a little less "easy" and a bit more "doing".  
Thank you for popping in today.
I hope your spring (or your fall if you are a down under friend) is going along well and that you are finding happy things to do and that you are encouraged that you are deeply loved by the KING of the universe.  It's almost Easter! 
Note:  I changed my comment settings so only members (followers?) of my blog can comment.  We'll see if that works.  I don't like getting spammed by bots.  

Monday, April 1, 2019

Sponge Success

Finally I achieved sponge making success!  I used my Italian flour and Lynn's recipe and it worked!  I made the smallest little cake and tasted it.  YUMMY.  It was scrumptious, but with all that butter it's pretty much a no-no for me (dairy does NOT agree with me) and even with Italian organic flour, I still felt the inflammation.  No fun. Oh well.  I'll just save my suffering for Easter when I WILL bake something or somethings very delicious and I WILL eat them.  



 My laptop is old and slow, so I've not felt like fussing with it or waiting for it to do its job. I haven't been doing things that require a computer, so that's why I haven't been writing as many posts.  

But I have been sewing up a storm and I am finally finished with the costumes that were my responsibility.  Whew.  It was hard.  I don't sew on slippery fabric and my sewing machine did not like the mermaid knit.  Now I can knit, knit, knit and go back to sewing when I feel inspired.
A friend in my bookclub told me about this book. It's fascinating.  It reads like a textbook but I don't mind.  

I'm tired from feeling stressed about getting the sewing finished and lately I've noticed that I have residual flusters when responsibility oriented tasks are finally completed.  I don't just finish, enjoy the sense of relief, and move on.  I have to have time to recover.  Ha!
So tomorrow I am going to do cozy things (drink coffee and knit) and inspired things (make the guest bed and rearrange a few tabletops).  It's still too early to buy plants at the garden center.
Happy April, friends!
Thank you for popping in to say hello! 

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