Word Cloud # 2

I did another word cloud just for fun.

Granny squares again.....

These are four granny squares I made to give to two women on my crochet board.
My motive you ask??
The purple squares (12 inches) are for a woman who's niece was robbed. The pink squares (7 inches) are for a woman who has a friend that is experiencing infertility.
On my crochet board, people post for donated squares for "comfortghans". Then whoever can, makes the squares, sends them to the original poster and that person puts together an afghan with the donated squares. I enjoy crocheting these squares becasue I know it will bring someone else joy to receive an afghan and that there are other people--total strangers, thinking of them!!

Life is too short--you just never know........

A friend of mine is battling cancer. She has two children.
This weekend she lost her 18 year old son in an automobile accident.
My heart just aches for her. No mother should ever have to bury her child. I just cannot imagine the heartache and pain. My heart aches for her right now.
If you pray, say a prayer for my friend and her family. God knows the situation and every one involved. Thankyou.
I pray for her peace and comfort.

Update--this woman lost her battle and is resting with the Lord now.

On having a Motive...

There are sometimes negative connotations to having a "motive".
Here is the definition of the word motive:
something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act

That doesn't sound very negative to me! Does it sound negative to you?
Have you ever had a motive for something?

I have a desire to act on something and that's why I crochet and give away afghans.

I crochet afghans. Big ones, little ones, baby blankets, afghans for adults. I give them all away or donate them. I rarely keep an afghan for myself.
I have no motive for doing that other than it brings me great joy to give them away and it gives me pleasure to create these blankets.
So why do people think there is a motive behind something that is done for pleasure? Is it jealousy? Dislike? Hatred? Envy? What is it?

For example, the afghan above. I have been wanting to make this pattern for years and I finally did. I didn't care for the way it turned out but, it gave me pleasure to create it and my daughter did like it!! I was going to donate it to a worthy cause but she decided that she would like it. So it is now my daughters blanket!!
That's my idea of a motive!!

Weddings...........

We went to a wedding late yesterday afternoon. We don't go to too many weddings lately.
This was a young couple. The groom we have known for about 9 years or so.
It was fun to be with people that we have known so long and have seen grow up. And there were other guests at the wedding we haven't seen in years. It was fun to catch up with everyone. The children aren't children anymore but young adults. It was almost shocking to see the young people grown up.
It was a simple wedding and reception. The reception was supposed to be outside but it was raining so it was in the basement of the church.
I've heard it supposed to be a good thing when it rains on your wedding day!

August 15............

Today is my Grandma's birthday. She would have been 99 years old today.
She died in January of 2005. I really, really miss her.
We were very close all my life. I saw her often. It wasn't until she was about 89 or so that she started failing. Not in health, she was always very healthy, but in her mind.
She had dementia and alzheimers and it was sad to watch her decline.
She went to live with my sweet aunt in 1999 and I flew out to Maryland every 3 months to visit with her and my aunt. It was always bittersweet to visit with her because she didn't really remember who I was the last few years of her life. That didn't make her any less my grandma, it just made it sadder to visit with her.
She loved getting cards and I would send her two cards a week. I miss doing that now too.
I am thankful for all the time I had with her and I cherish all my memories of grandma.
I am thankful she was at my wedding and saw my two children. I am thankful for all that she taught me and all the love she gave me.
I miss her......................

Another sweater!!

I finally got this crochet pattern made. I made THREE other sweaters of this pattern that didn't turn out before I figured out what was wrong. Dh helped me figure out what was wrong and I all I could do was shake my head.
It is a very easy pattern to make and I am happy to have finished this sweater.
It's supposed to be a size 4 but I really think it's closer to a 6. I didn't put any trim on the wrists, neck or bottom edge. But I will on any others I make.
The color is beautiful. It's called Russet. Brown with a hint of red in it.
I will keep this sweater since it is the "first" one I made, but any others I make will be given to the Guideposts Charity that sends sweaters to children that need them.
I will make one for my boy too.

Honeymoon Rental Cars.....

I was reading another blog and it mentioned the dreaded honeymoon car rental. The comments got me thinking about this.
Most of the people commenting had a terrible car/rental experience.
We were one of those people.
We flew to Boston and drove up to Maine in late September. It was gorgeous in Maine. A beautiful drive. Except for the car.
My husband had planned the whole trip and the rental. He rented a two door Hyundai Excel--turquiose. My husband is 6 feet 2 inches tall. It was ridiculous. I don't know why we didn't exchange it for something else. The stupid car had absolutely no power on any type of hill at all.
We still enjoyed our honeymoon and have never rented such a small car again.

Seven things week 52!!!

This is my last week! I can hardly believe I did the whole year. My total items out the door in the year is 505! Wow. And my home is less cluttered.
This weeks seven, really eight though.
*Black purse
*black shoes
*black vans
*black diaper bag
*pink tank top
*bra
*baby shower thankyous
And a fold up tricycle that dh put out to the curb was taken yesterday!!

Seven Things Week 51

From the kitchen again.
*Seven tupperware bowls with 3 lids.

These went to DD again. She has a nice collection of tupperware now!!

A baby sweater!!!

I made this baby sweater!! It's the first "wearable" I have ever made!
It is crocheted.

Seven Things Week 50

This week is from the kitchen again.
* Seven tupperware bowls with lids.
That's it for this week.
But I have a confession to make. Although I have been doing this project for a year almost, I have been bringing new stuff into my house. My DH reminded me of this today.
I have been buying YARN!! And a LOT of it. But he also reminded me that I use the yarn too, so that gets rid of it.
Do crafts count in the Seven things project?? LOL

Kilowatt update

So, it's been a while since I updated on my Kilowatt usage. This month marks a full year that I have been tracking my bill and usage. I've been surprised at some of the numbers.
Here is the full years worth of usage. From March til now are the new ones I haven't posted on. Notice April! I was surprised.
August---- 1481 kilowatts
September--1980
October----1210
November---1010
December---1006
January----1080
February---1018
March------1231
April------902 (WOW)
May--------1027
June-------1150
July-------1447
Total usage for the year--14,542 Kilowatts
Average---1211.8 Which is high I think.
So I am going to try again this year to lower my usage. It's kind of hard when my husband isn't as on board as I am about conserving. But I'll give it a go again and see what I can come up with. The April number was the most shocking to me.

Seven Things week 49

This week is kitchen stuff again.
*green vase
*flower picture
*sandwich toaster
*klipies (to use with restaurant napkins for use as bibs)
*sippy cups
*hot mitt
*slow cooker.

Seven Things Week 48

This week is clothing and a sheet.
*one fitted sheet (plaid twin, it's on the bottom)
*one pair lounge pants (dark blue)
*4 button up shirts
*one pair blue leather flats.
Thanks to my ever growing feet the flats don't fit anymore.
The button up shirts my MIL bought for me in my early days of nursing my little boy.
The lounge pants don't fit anymore.
Only four more weeks left of this project! I can hardly believe I have been doing this almost a year! My closets and drawers look good. My kitchen cupboards aren't as crowded and my daughter has received a bunch of stuff out of this project!

Seven Things Week 47

Wow, only FIVE weeks left of the Seven things project!!
This week is from the kitchen mostly again.
* 20 pieces of silverware
* safety latches
* cupboard safety latches
* butterfly suncatcher
* hummingbird sun catcher
* sun sun catcher
* hummingbird window hanging
These are all going to charity.
Any ideas of what to do with my blog after the project is over?? I'm not a super writer either. I am open to ideas! :)

Seven Things Week 46

Kitchen again this week.
*dutch oven
*cake pan
*pot
*2 fry pans, one cast iron
*2 rubbermaid containers
These are all going to my daughter.
We also had another curbside recycling item, an oldish filing cabinet. YAY.

Seven Things Week 45

From my kitchen again.
*salt and pepper shakers
*microwave bacon cooker
*pillbox
*napkin holder ( it is clear, the pillbox is on top of it)
*parmeseancheese holder
*birthday candles with ballerina holders

One week ago today............

Last week at this time we put our 13 yr old Bordie collie to sleep. She started getting ill and seemed to go downhill very quickly. I picked her out from a newborn pup out on a sheep farm near us. She had plenty of room to run in our yard and she was a very good pet.
That's her in the pic--Maddie, and the little Jack Russell is Otis, one of my other baby's!! They were good freinds and I think Otis and the other 2 dogs miss her.

Seven Things Week 44

This week is linens and towels
*4 white fitted sheets
*3 kitchen towels

We also had 2 items for curbside recycling! This works so well for us since we are on a busy road. You might recall the childrens toys/swing that we curbsided and got rid of!
So, we put an office chair and a shelving unit out there and they were taken to a new home!
The last room in our house to be re-done was the "office" space that is really a pantry type area. We re-carpeted, painted and got new shelving and cabinets for storage.