You can never have enough...

[Mica]

Morning all
Mild overcast no wind

Ohh like that embroidery KM
A bit of paperwork to catch up with while DH walks k9s and then pack the car for retreat over next 4 days I am looking forward to the break and having fun with my sewing buddies.
Enjoy your day

[popeye333]

Morning everyone.

The sun is up, Im a little chilly but only cos Im still not dressed and last night it was too warm for the winter nightie lol.

Missy seems to be having trouble climbing. No obvious sign of pain, so I now have a box beside the chair for her to get up easier. Shes always snuggly in the cooler weather , which I dont mind at all.

Lovely embroidery KM. Im sure you will master it.

I can imagine the fun you will have Mica. I need to do some more social things.

I do finally plan to get to bingo next month. It started as a craft group and quickly morphed into free bingo. But things have always gotten in the way.

I enjoyed the drive to Pukekohe yesterday, but Ohh I struggled with Pak n Save, even using my parking permit. I was shattered but I still went to reduced to clear. Ages since I went there and I took my time. Got some nice treats. Not that I eat between meals very often but I just wanted something different for a change lol.

Will make the birthday cake today, and I think Ill make some fruit loaves too. Its a super easy recipe using an orange jelly. And it makes 2 loaves. I never got to make something for Colleens birthday so this is sort of a catch up.

Better get myself sorted. Have a fab day everyone

[popeye333]

Morning everyone

A little cooler this morning and a slight pink tinge in the clouds.

My days are all muddled, that'll teach me for shopping on a different day lol.

Seemed to take me a lot of yesterday to measure the ingredients out and make the carrot cake and two fruit loaves. plus a big potato bake for a few nights tea. But it was nice to have a couple of slices of loaf after dinner.. Its a nice simple recipe that is moist and Im quite partial to it.

I have everything ready to ice the cake, and Ill finish packing everything up. Thank goodness walkers carry all my gear. The others are taking the Toasted Sammie gear, so it should be a nice day.

I say Should cos Apparently Colleen doesn't want to attend the lunch, cos she thinks David is strange.. This annoys me when he has done so much for her, and she has already signed his card... Cant tell me there's nothing happening in her brain. The last, ohh nearly a year now she has changed so much. But I wouldn't want be the one to suggest that to her, she would rip your head off in seconds.

Im not a huge cake person but its been a while since I had this cake and Im looking forward to it .. Must pack some forks too.

Have a fab day everyone

[kiwimade64]

morning ladies Winter must have kicked in, it's cold here. MrK and the Furry One are still tucked up in bed.

Finally, the rat has been caught No more dancing in the ceiling until the next one moves in. It has been a year since the maize was cut next door and we are slowly getting rid of the rats and mice. We haven't seen a rabbit either for months.

Housework today and I think I'll start with giving the kitchen a good going over. The garden and lawn are 'done' and now it's time for inside the house. The next few days are meant to be rubbish weatherwise anyway so a good time to start.

We had the Furry One at the vet again yesterday as he had a bone stuck in his mouth. Honestly, he must have eyes bigger than his tummy! He now has anti-inflammatories to help soothe his throat.

I did some more cutting on the runner and embroidered more pohutukawa flowers. The flowers can be done quickly, and they make a nice change from using white thread.

Happy crafting

[Roma]

Good morning.

Sunny but cool ... in for a nice day by the looks. 

Happy for you that silence has replaced the rat noise KM! I'm glad our ceiling vermin toll only included mice on the farm ... 1 caught in the trap most days once the cooler weather arrived. Not to mention the ones our beastie boy brought home regularly! 

Hope to get outside later once I've caught up on housework.

Will start the next jacket later for 18 mo GD.

Enjoy the day all.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

With that gorgeous fire coloured silk mohair yarn came a strip of lace edging which I used as a base piece for the scarf - it seemed a pity to waste it. As I knitted up the length my mind kept going back to that lace pattern - I have never attempted a lace before, but my monkey mind wouldn't let go of it. And, learning new and preferably hard things, is really good for the aging brain! So, I googled, found the pattern, all fourteen rows of it, and started this morning after transcribing it onto paper - very retro of me, lol...

I have ripped it down twice because I couldn't get it to work. Changed needle sizes twice, and finally decided to check my transcription.. Sure enough, row 11 my error, not the pattern. So, I am about to start again, they do say third time lucky!

[kiwimade64]

ohh yess! A lace pattern will be lovely with the mohair. Once you have done a couple of repeats, the pattern will make sense and you'll be clicking away with your needles without even looking at the instructions

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Fourth attempt is a wash out but the new needle size does help, this is harder than I thought! But interesting, and you are right, some of the rows are embedded in my brain, but I am still having difficulty understanding the structure - I do not have a logical mind. I keep asking my grandmother to channel some of her skills from the Beyond, but she is too busy laughing at my clumsiness...

Ah well, I shall try again tomorrow!

[kiwimade64]

morning ladies Typical Waikato winter's morning - fog and more fog

Hang in there OHH Knitted lace is beautiful when conquered and your fine mohair will look stunning. The bigger your needles the more open your lace. Have you tried having a practice run with 'ordinary' wool and leave the mohair for when you have figured out the pattern? This will save wear on the mohair from unpicking and plain wool will let you see the pattern easier. I often have practice runs at new things using leftover fabric/yarn/thread. It's a good way of using those scrappy bits too.

Kitchen and dining room are done, sort of. Only the cupboards to empty and clean and the windows to do. We bought a new step ladder for inside and this makes a huge difference for this short person to reach even the top of the fridge lol. The cupboards won't take long to do then it's on to the laundry, porch and entranceway. Then I'll dig out the karcher and do the windows.

This afternoon I'll cut out MrK's cushion. At least that's a start And some more work on the runner. I've found my rhythm with it now.

Happy crafting

[Roma]

Good morning. 

Lovely sunshine this morning ... am relishing it while reading an article on GRG (grandparents raising grandchildren) while having my cuppa. Feeling thankful to be in the situation of handing mine back again at the end of the day!

You are good emptying your cupboards to clean KM. I tend to push things to the side to clean when I notice some dust or crumbs!

No plan for the day ... we enjoyed coffee out yesterday ... after 11am a good time ... the lull between morning tea and lunch. 

Another good watch last night on the GBSB. 

I hope you get your rhythm with the knitting OHH. It's hard to stick with a pattern when there's plenty of unpicking involved!

Enjoy the day all.

[popeye333]

Morning everyone

Sunny out. Was chilly earlier tho.. Missy snuggled in and we have had a very slow start.

I agree, using some other wool as a trial run Hunni.. It will sort out the pattern, now that you have the needle size sorted.

I dont really have plans for today. I do need to tidy the kitchen tho. I sort of iced and ran yesterday.

The birthday went well. the cake was yummy. Colleen joined us, but near the end was getting grumpy with the label being on the table, kept trying to over reach to pull it off. I didn't want her tumbling out of her wheelchair so pulled it off and gave it to her. It will probably hit the fan, but Ill deny doing it if she blames me. She will most likely get away with it.
We were talking with her daughter and she agrees, something is changing in her mums head. She has played her kids against each other all their lives. So I totally understand that. Caron gave us all some fresh home grown eggs, so that was lovely.

I need to find some inspiration and get on with getting rid of stuff. Just do what I can in this state.

Have a fab day everyone

[kiwimade64]

I usually push things aside to clean as well, roma but we have had a little four legged visitor in the cupboards and the Furry One is ignoring it. Seems mice aren't good enough for him to chase and catch, he prefers the bigger prey thank you very much. It's that time of the year where mice like to come inside.

[Lilith7]

Its good to know that I'm not alone in pushing things to the side! The thing is that I doubt very much that we'll all be lying on our death beds wishing we'd sent more time cleaning, so to hell with it, it can wait.

Freezing again. The entire week has been really grey,cold & overcast apart from drenching rain (on the day i do groceries, naturally) & about an hours worth of sun yesterday, just long enough for me to hang out washing & then have to bring it in again.
I don't think we're having autumn this year, winter's arrived early dammit.

[Jan]

Hunni your lace knitting brought back an excruciating memory - I thought I had a bargain buying a whole set of DPNs on eBay in Oz - didn’t realise the significance of the word lace in the description- they were so sharp I had to buy those stick on finger patches thingees as I continually stabbed myself - no wonder they were so cheap their use was very limited .Obviously designed for the very clever crafters who knit 2pky shawls you can pull through your wedding ring

[Oh_hunnihunni]

My grandmother knitted me one of those for my 21st... It was a beautiful thing. I passed it onto the kid so who knows what happened to it...

I use interchangeable bamboo needles, a second hand set from TM, they are wonderful tools. Gentle on the hands and light to work with. I am on attempt number six, and I think I am starting to get it. After each row I push the piece of paper with the 'destructions' up to hide the previous row and that is making it easier to keep rows organised. My other challenge is making sure a few stray mohair fibres do not fool me into thinking they are a stitch when they aren't... And here was me thinking a seven stitch pattern row wouldn't be that hard...

Going to roast my huge P&S bargain chook for dinner this afternoon with all the trimmings, meals for days, so I should get a lot of knitting done with leftovers all set in the fridge. And her feline self will be pleased, she likes a bit of fresh roasted chicken!
Four sections done without an error, only eight more to go, lol!

[Praktica]

How do you process the chicken, Hunni? When we have one, we roast it with a handful of garlic, salt and a pinch of herbs inside, have it hot as a roast the first night, then the next 2 nights either as a pie (with leeks etc) or as a stir fry with cabbage. We usually buy the 1.5kg bird. Will you freeze the leftovers in gravy?

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I stabbed one of our home grown oranges to let the juices out and shoved that inside the chook, a good fit in this big bird, sprayed the pan and the bird with olive oil, popped a butter paper on top and put it in the oven at around 175 for two hours. Vegies went in half an hour later in a separate dish , no room alongside the bird... It made heaps of stock and fat, so that dish has gone into the fridge with the stripped bones to be resuscitated in a day or so and made into stock with any other leftover bits I can't recycle into pies (mushrooms and bacon maybe?), or stirfries - more veg, lol, , and of course cold chicken salad sandwiches if I'm feeling lazy...

Cat approves, the roast met with her approval. So yum...

Oh, and no gravy. I am on a weightloss journey now I can walk without serious pain, and I am watching the inputs to encourage the process. Hit 11 kgs down this morning, since November, very happy with that progress. I was tempted to do baked beans, but went for extra pumpkin instead. And kumara, cauli, potato, red onions, carrot, and a small beetroot...

Burp! Happiness is a good roast, but no doubt I will get sick of chook in a few days!

[Lilith7]

These days I usually do chicken with orange juice, rosemary & a bit of garlic, & no longer bother with a whole one, I just use drumsticks. Somewhere I have a recipe for Clarendon chef's chicken which uses mushrooms, tomatoes,onions, & white wine; I keep meaning to find it.
Feeling quite virtuous, have managed to sort out about half of my jewellery, most of which needs a good clean which I must get to in the not too distant.

[Praktica]

Thank you, Hunni, it sounds good.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

I sorted my jools, kept the ones I wear all the time and sent the rest to Perth for the kid and her kids to deal with. It is a great pity the Chinese box the kid made me buy for an extravagant amount of money is too expensive to post, I guess it'll end up on Trademe, or at the Hospice shop sooner or later. It just has the broken bits in it now. The bits I keep thinking I should assemble into something or other.... But won't.

I must fix the two busted bracelets though, I miss them in the clutch on my wrist. My rewards for good behaviour...

---

Thank you, Hunni, it sounds good.

Lazy... but very tasty! I might steal your leeks idea though, a chicken and leek pot pie maybe!