Earthquake? Here in Oklahoma?

Holy Crap !!! Hubby and I were just heading to bed tonight.... when this very loud rumble felt like it was right under our house. The windows began to rattle. I thought that a huge water pipe must have broken.  Hubby thought it was a tornado coming down, and told me to get to the safe room.  It probably only lasted about 25-30 seconds, but I am just not in the mood..... Hope you all are well and safe tonight. I may be up a while catching up on my prayers:)

Glasses and Fleece Glass Cases for Haiti

I have been down for a bit with a bad reaction to an anti-biotic, so blogging has been at the

back of my schedule. Sorry all. Now I need to play catch-up reading everyone's blogs. There should be like an annual recipe book of all the shared recipes from bloggers for each year.

Not sure if any of you follow a food blog - insidebrucrewlife, but recently she has been

collecting glasses to take with her on a mission to Haiti. I had been cutting out hundreds of

sleep beanie hats out of fleece, and there was always this strip of material left that came

out right down the middle. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what I could do with that

piece, and I so hate to waste material.

We had already started buying reading glasses for Inside BruCrew to take on her mission,

and hubby asked me how I wanted to pack them safely for the trip. It just hit, that I could cut

the fleece and line them with cotton scraps. (Of course I was forgetting, the ironing,

pinning, sewing, pinking and turning all of these).

I think we made well over 300 of these glass cases. I think this might be a great project with reading glasses, for the shelters?  Though poor hubby had to help do the pinking on them. Both of our hands had these huge dents. I do really hope her mission goes well. If anyone needs a pattern for these, for your own missions, just let me know.

Baby Granny Afghans

I am still busy cutting fabric, for 2 major projects. (pics coming later, my dining room is a

total disaster, with piles everywhere, and I really hate to have anyone see it like that. My

hands are starting to bother me a bit. Seems like I always worry about carpel when I knit or

crochet, but I never thought cutting fabric would hurt so much.

I found this cute and easy free pattern up on the Red Heart Web Site. HERE. While you

are up there make sure you sign in for one of their 75 years sweepstakes. It's a trip and a

basket of yarn.. Two of my very favorite things.

I have always complained about never winning anything, but not anymore. I was like the

BIGGEST winner over at Bev's. If you haven't visited Bev's then you really must give her

blog a visit. Her Tunisian, crochet and knitting are superb and you can count on her jokes

always cracking me up !! Back in June I won her give-away, a $25 gift certificate to shop

at FiberOptica, the most luscious yarn shop on Etsy. Beautiful hand painted colors. I chose

a skein of Hand Painted Sock Yarn - in Rockin' Rose, a gorgeous color. I wanted to do a

shawl, so I ordered a second skein just in case. You can never run out when it's something

special like hand painted yarn.

A Curious Affair With The Postman

I should have known something strange was up today when I heard our postman honking,

and honking his horn. Here in the country they only honk their horn if there is something

important like a certified letter that needs a signature. I wasn't about to shut down alarms

and such and walk down to the gate, just for some business crap of hubbies.

On our stretch of road our postman has to travel down to the end of our road and then has

to return back past our house to get to one of the main roads. Today, he stopped again on

his return trip and just sat their honking again.

I must admit I was getting a bit peeved, but I managed to get to the gate, just after he had

pulled off and was traveling back into the city. Now I was really ticked, when I looked down

and sort of hidden just inside the gate was a package. Hmm?

We get little pink package slips here in the country, of when to pick packages up, not actual

packages. How very curious?

It was a very plain brown package. Ah a big brown package from one very special young

lady. If you haven't met Miss Pammy Sue, then you should and you can find her, most days

here. Don't leave now! Not until I show you just what was inside this package. Even the

postman must have realized how very special it was.

When I opened it I found the most beautiful pillow you can imagine.. Thank you Pammy, you

are such a dear. It is absolutely perfect !!! I love it so very much. So soft... and the colors...

I had to throw the new bedspread on in the Master bedroom, just to see it in all it's glory!!

Perfect.... One special 'Pammy Pillow'. Ha Ha!! Now that you have seen her gorgeous

crochet work , you can go see lots more over at Scotty's Place.

Starburst Down, Hexagon to Go

Crocheting rounds to each center, then re-pinning to a different color yarn, actually made this project (well actually 2 projects) go pretty fast.

The layout was actually the hardest part for me, with 2 squares just alike, I had to be careful not to get them close together.  Having tons of safety pins left over from my quilting days, really helped. I pinned the longest strips first, and pinned a paper number to each row. Then because I don't have any short-term memory, I drew a map, and finally pictured the layout. 

The border on the starburst is more solid stitches. I wanted more of a frame, then a border. I am still sewing the hexagon afghan together.

I am still in the cutting phase of my sewing projects, so no pics just yet.

Gathering Yarn -- and a Bit of Sewing

Gathering Yarn --

I started out a while back by gathering one skein of each color in my stash, all that was

worsted weight. I came up with the following:

Caron® One Pound: Azure
Caron® One Pound: Cape Cod Blue
Caron® One Pound: Claret  -
Caron® One Pound: Country Rose
Caron® One Pound: Deep Violet
Caron® One Pound: Gold
Caron® One Pound: Lace
Caron® One Pound: Leaf Green
Caron® One Pound: Nutmeg
Caron® One Pound: Peach
Caron® One Pound:  Purple
Caron® One Pound: Rose


ILTY  050 Cranberry
ILTY  080 Royal
ILTY  090 Navy
ILTY 102 Soft Pink
ILTY 130 Dark Olive
ILTY 140 Mid Green
ILTY 150 Toasted Almond
ILTY 160 Brown
ILTY 170 Dark Raspberry
ILTY 180 Forest
ILTY 190 Light Gray
ILTY 200 Grey Mist
ILTY 230 Light Peach
ILTY 280 Periwinkle
ILTY 310 Peacock
ILTY 320 Sea Blue
ILTY 340 Buttercup
ILTY 350 Hot Rose
ILTY         Dark Teal
ILTY 789 Pistache
ILTY 290 Orchid

RHC 0338 Teddy Bear
RHC 0360 Wood Brown
RHC 0737 Pink

RHSS 0254 Pumpkin
RHSS 0256 Carrot
RHSS 0319 Cherry Red
RHSS 0320 Cornmeal
RHSS 0321 Gold
RHSS 0322 Pale Yellow
RHSS 0324 Brt Yellow
RHSS 0327 Light Coral
RHSS 0334 Buff
RHSS 0336 Warm Brown
RHSS 0341 Light Grey
RHSS 0356 Amethyst
RHSS 0358 Lavender
RHSS 0360 Cafe
RHSS 0366 Mint
RHSS 0368 Paddy Green
RHSS 0373 Petal Pink
RHSS 0374 Country Rose
RHSS 0375 Raspberry
RHSS 0376 Burgundy 
RHSS 0378 Claret
RHSS 0380 Windsor Blue
RHSS 0381 Lt Blue
RHSS 0382 Country Blue
RHSS 0385 Royal
RHSS 0387 Soft Navy
RHSS 0388 Teal
RHSS            Dark Teal
RHSS 0389 Hunter Green
RHSS 0390 Hot Red
RHSS 0400 Grey Heather
RHSS 0505 Aruba Sea
RHSS 0512 Turqua
RHSS 0530 Orchid
RHSS 0579 Pale Plum
RHSS 0624 Tea Leaf
RHSS 0633 Dark Sage
RHSS 0656 Real Teal
RHSS 0661 Frosty Green
RHSS 0668 Honeydew
RHSS 0672 Spring Green 
RHSS 0718 Shocking Pink 
RHSS 0722 Pretty ‘n Pink
RHSS 0724 Baby Pink 
RHSS 0774 Light Raspberry
RHSS 0814 Robin Blue
RHSS 0885 Delft Blue 
RHSS 0886 Blue

TLC          Taupe
TLC 2368 Dark Brown
TLC 2673 Medium Thyme 

Then I started out making 4 centers from each color yarn... 2 for a hexagon afghan and 2 for a starburst afghan, that I had seen over at Crochetville forum..

I then pinned 2 centers to each skein of yarn in it's box, making sure each skein had a set of centers pinned to it before, I started crocheting the first row.

I have a sewing project that I am working on right now so I have taken a break from crocheting and knitting. It's a charity, and even though I said I won't get involved with anymore internet charities..... well, this one is more of a hands on.... details tomorrow...

Spring Fling Blanket

A while ago I saw this afghan pattern here at Scotty's Place quite a while ago, where Miss Pammy had done it in such lovely soft colors. I really needed an afghan that could go anywhere and be thrown right onto the ground. Be it a picnic, or an early morning soccer game, I knew this afghan would be washed and washed almost every weekend.

The Spring Fling Afghan is made with Red Heart Super Saver, in Spring Green. The original pattern which you can find here has a plain center. It was too plain for me so I just used a yarn needle and embroidered a center ring of stitches, to give it more color.

These are some beautiful tomatillos, that I had to buy at the grocery store for my Salsa. We planted the purple variety in our garden, but they didn't do as good as the old fashioned green ones.

'Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving', has a recipe for Tomatillo Salsa on page 82. It uses both vinegar and lime juice (probably the new regulations on changing the ph). Needless to say this recipe isn't very good, not at all good with Tostitos. But for some strange reason it is soooo good when it is cooked. We have tried it on chicken (slow cooked), fish (pan-fried)....

This is good Old Catfish fried on a layer of sweet onion, with the Tomatillo Salsa spooned on top. Hubby and grand sons, loved this one, with its absolutely wonderful flavors.

Crochet Diaper Cover & Hat for the Bearghan

Just using up the excess yarn from, the bearghan project... The diaper cover is an old pattern, but any diaper cover pattern will do.... check out Crochet Central if you need one.

I simply added the same bear face to the tush area.

Now the hat was one of those failed experiments. I had wanted it to look like the tail end of the bear. So when baby crawled,  Oh well you get it... Finally I gave up threw on some eyes, and we now have perhaps if you squint your eyes.... A Potato?

Oh well no looking back and on to other projects

The Crochet Bearghan

I made this cute baby's afghan last month, but sorry, just finally getting around to showing

you. Do you remember this pattern? It's been around forever. The first version I remember

seeing was done out of fleece, with crocheted parts.

This pattern is totally fun. Of course a few small changes were made along the way. I

made it rounder than the original, by using a half-granny square and sort of fitting it to the

beyond the edge. Changes were made the facial features, and head. Add as many rows to

each square to up the size of the entire afghan, so it will wrap around baby. A border goes

from ear to ear, changing colors as needed.

This is good old Red Heart Super Saver. I like using this yarn for charity items, because

you just know a baby's blanket is going to at some time of it's life get thrown into a washer

and dryer. This yarn may not be fancy, and is sort of looked down on..... but it sure does

hold up.....

You can find the patterns

Here :

Here:

Garden Shade

I am so tired of this heat. Today they said it was only 99 degrees but I swear it was 120....

If it wasn't for the crepe myrtles, and the magic lilies, there wouldn't be much in bloom. The

Autumn sedums flower heads are evening burning brown in the summer heat. Not much

fall color, I suppose.

This weekend is the Cherokee National Holiday and our town will be filled to the brim. It's a

good weekend to just curl up in the house and crochet. Did I tell you I really, really dislike

crowds? I look at the lovely pictures of everyone on vacation. I'm thinking I really need

one. I am honestly thinking of taking one without hubby this year. Hmmm Has anyone out

there done that? Just curious....

Owl Hats for Little Ones

I Love these little owl hats that I have seen all over the internet... then I came across a freebie for the pattern from a very generous designer, wholewheat.   This pattern is for little ones, from 12 to 24 months. I used good old RHSS and an I hook.  I have one that I am hooking with an H hook, just to see the difference.


You can find the pattern here 

Afghan Finished at Last !!

 This is the heaviest afghan, I think I have ever made.  This Pretty picture square was fun to make. I sort of wish now that I had done a more random layout.  It definitely should keep my grand daughter nice and warm this winter. Ha!

 I did a very simple border, this thing didn't need anything fancy. It says it's 108 degrees outside, so I took inside pictures. When it cools down some I will play catch-up and take them outside.

Pattern is here

This afghan ended up being 80 x 60 inches.  My squares were 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 inches and there were 96 of them. my border was a simple 3 rows of dc and 1 final of sc.

Now off to work on my Hexagon afghan...

What do you think? A Bit to Bright?

My grand daughter Lindsey has just moved from her dorm into her very first apartment. Needless to say it is totally an off-white with drab beige carpet. I thought she definitely needs some color in her life. Ha ! Here is my version of 'this pretty picture' afghan. I have it joined, now just working on the border.....

Yes still preserving. We have already made our jams, White Peach Jam, Peach Cobbler Jam, Peach & Pineapple Jam, and of course good old peach preserves.  Today I have a kitchen filled with wonderful fragrant peaches today.... not canning them though (too much sugar). I will be freezing them for winter eating.

Still Canning & Freezing.....

 I am freezing tons of Green Pepper strips to have this winter. I diced all the first ones, now strips, next they may just go in whole.

My cherry tomatoes are getting oven-dried and then just tossed in a freezer zip-lock, into the freezer. I read on someones blog, that they cut theirs in half. I am trying that on this batch. Usually I just throw them in whole.

I am still working on putting squares together. Nothing exciting in the crochet department. Its still too hot outside to try and get photos. I am ready for fall.

Did I Tell You?

 Yep Hobby Lobby is having a clearance sale of so many yarns....  I also grabbed a couple of books too from Annie's Attic, filled with hats and scarfs.

I totally filled the dining room table, with my haul. Even found some Paton's Bamboo Silk in the bunch.

This is our poor vegetable garden trying to stay alive, in 100+ heat here in Oklahoma. Watering has kept most plants alive, but production is low. Our Okra is starting to come on strong, we finally got a taste of our mini-watermelon, that are the sweetest I have ever tasted....

Well Back to canning.....

May is Stroke Awareness Month

May is Stroke Awareness Month

There are many different kinds of stroke. One of the most lethal is Brainstem Stroke.  Ninety percent of brainstem strokers die in the first month. Congrats to all our members who have made it!

This was taken this week from my StrokeNet, newsletter.

They say women are more likely to stroke then men, and if you are black, your chances almost double.  I have come along way since I had a Brain-stem Stroke (Bleed). People always ask me, How did you know it was happening, what are the signs?

One night in May,  I woke up with the most bitter taste in my mouth, the kind that no matter how many times you spit, or rinsed your mouth out, the taste was still there.  I walked in and turned on my computer thinking that if I sat up awhile the bitter taste would go away.

The computer never got past the Windows screen, when the nausea hit me hard, double vision set in, I was having trouble breathing and I couldn't quite feel my right side. Then, I suddenly felt extremely calm, almost euphoric and knew I just wanted to lay down, it was such a peaceful feeling, and then I became extremely tired. Just as suddenly, something must have kicked in and I think I went into survival mode. Yelling for my husband as loud as I could muster, it came out like I was speaking in tongue.

My husband is a very heavy sleeper and was in the master bedroom at the end of the house. Somehow he heard me. He came out and I tried to tell him what was happening to me. He started dressing immediately, but time went into slow motion and I yelled at him again 9-1-1, don't ask me what came out but he called and the ambulance was there before he finished dressing.

The young EMT's, gosh looked so very young, they but the Blood Pressure Cuff on me and suddenly I saw them look at each other. The young man went to our phone and called the hospital. I couldn't tell what he was saying, but he returned to the BP cuff and went back into the kitchen. When he came out he said to the young lady, just pack her up and let's get her there. Later I found out my blood pressure had risen to 387/285.

The rest of the story... you know how there is always a twist at the end.... I had been prescribed, just a couple months prior to this, High Blood Pressure Medicine... That night it sat in my cupboard, unopened.. Silly huh? But people had told me not to take it, I would never get off it, I would gain weight, I would feel run down and tired.... Just watch your salt intake..... exercise more....

For Stroke Awareness month I just ask for you to know your numbers and take your blood pressure medicine if needed. Forget the Magazine myths that float out there, forget those helpful friends....listen to your doctor, before your life makes changes, that you can never imagine...

Knitted Fish Tawashi's

Sunshine was back today, perhaps things will dry out so I can get back in the garden.

These are little knitted fish tawashi's from a Japanese pattern book,  the pattern have been

translated and you can find the pattern here.

They are a quick and fun project.  I think I am going to make some for gifts, just trying to

think of what else could go into the gift basket with them.

These are our fish in the backyard pond not wanting to come close to the surface, with it

still being a bit chilly.

I Wish Those Dang Texans Would Keep Their Rain

Yep, It just keeps raining and raining and yes it's all blowing up from Texas.... It's so cold that I am wearing a hoodie in the house.  I just know all my little seedlings and plants are drowning. I can't bear to look out the back windows.  TV Sucks.... Rain Sucks.... I need a hot cup of tea...or a drink, or pie... I like pie....