Smart Cat

Today is a dark and rainy day. When I was looking earlier for Miss Kitty, I found this:

What a smart cat, she found the best thing to do on a day like that. :)

Monthly Goals - February 2009 - How Did I Do?

First I was sick for almost a week, then Del got sick and I got into some kind of February Blahs and did not do much of anything.

Around the house:
Clean all woodwork (window frames, doors and door frames, base boards, there is an awful lot of it in this house, I plan on doing one room per week) - still working on it
Deep clean the fridge - Done! It was not bad at all, nothing growing anywhere. :)
Grow herbs on the kitchen window - Done, just starting to grow.

Crafty stuff:
Finish one UFO - nope
Make a few blocks for my Civil War Diary Quilt - not in the mood
Make something for Valentine's Day - Did that. Results can be seen here.

Books to read:
Dragonfly in Amber (continue) - I am on page 368.
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World
On to Oregon
I did not get to read the other books, I was either too busy or too sick.

Personal:
Keep my daily quiet time
Do a Bible study
Let's not even go there.

What's Cooking?

My meal plan for the coming weekend and week.

Leftover Chili and Corn Bread (as usual I made way too much chili)
Stir-Fried Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce, Brown Rice and Veggies
Baked Spaghetti with Mushrooms, Romaine with Lemon Dressing
Sweet Rice Casserole with Apples
Broccoli Soup with Garlic Bread
Mushroom Pizza
Egg Sandwiches, Veggies and Dip

Knitting

I finished clue #6a of the Knitalong project and it is getting really big now, if all else fails I'll just call it a blanket. ;)

I like the pattern so much that I started a second one, don't have a picture of it yet but hope to get one soon.

Meal Planning

My meal plan for the weekend and the next week.

Baked Potatoes with Cheesy Broccoli Sauce
Spiced Salmon with Mustard Sauce, Brown Rice and Spinach
Pasta with Potatoes, Romaine with Lemon Dressing
Carrot Soup with Garlic Bread
Ham Pizza
Chili with Corn Bread

Little Curtain

The little crochet curtain is now completely finished and hangs where it is supposed to be, on the shelf in the pantry that holds my most used cookbook and my teas.

Meal Planning

Most of the stuff I had planned for last week did not get cooked because I was out sick. So, some of it will be cooked in the coming week. Here are my planned meals.

Cabbage Soup
Whole Wheat Pasta with Tomatoes and Mushrooms
Pizza with Tuna, Onion and Olives
Rice with Peas and Mushrooms and Green Salad with Lemon Dressing
Rice and Beans with Mexican Fixings

A Day in My Life - February 14, 2009

So this is the last time for a day in my life, we have done it for a full year now and it was fun. Thank you, Jenny for the idea.

Here are some glimpses of my day. We got up at 8 am, had whole wheat cinnamon pancakes with bananas and homemade orange flavored syrup for breakfast.

After breakfast we spent some time messing around on the computer. I soaked some broccoli and radish seeds for sprouting.

Then we headed out into the garden to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We cleaned out the carport and I took a few pictures of budding plants, supervised as usual by the little brown cat, barked at by the neighbor's (really dumb) dogs and watched by Miss Kitty from her favorite sunny spot in the porch.

camellia buds

There is nothing more romantic than spending Valentine's Day doing some dirty work together. :) I also got a little not so sweet indulgence for the occasion.

We had hot and spicy shrimp skewers with sweet and sour sauce and brown rice for lunch, canned pears with chocolate pudding and store bought cookies for dessert. After battling that nasty bug all week I did not really feel like baking anything.

After lunch we watched the NASCAR race on TV and I finished clue #5 for my knitalong project.

Now Del is washing dishes which means a lot more to me than a dozen dead roses would have. I am so thankful that Del never bought into all that stuff surrounding Valentine's Day.
Later we will have some nibbles and share a bottle of sparkling cider.
A nice relaxing day, perfect for a weekend.

Knitting

Just finished clue #5 for the Knitalong project. There are over 340 stitches on the needle now and it gets rather difficult to take a decent picture of the whole thing so I just took one of the last pattern set. I am really curious to see where it will go from here.

Library Haul

Last Saturday we spent some time at our public library and I came home with these goodies.

I found two projects that I really like and have put them on my todo list. ;)

I'm baack!

Oh yes, I am back up and running. :)
This morning I washed a load of laundry and while I was hanging it I decided to stay in the garden and do some work there. I disentangled my poor lilac bush from the overzealous honeysuckle, serenaded (and cussed at) by lots of birds, supervised by the little brown cat and barked at by the dumbest dogs in town.
It is a beautiful day, sunny, warm, breezy, the kind of day when you want to open every window in the house and just let the breeze blow out every bit of Winter.
While I was washing dished I noticed that the redbud across the way is blooming and my camellia has big fat buds. I sowed herb seeds in the little green planters on my kitchen window and I am also growing some nice juicy cat grass.
Miss Kitty is happily basking in the sunshine in the porch, I have a bread dough rising and a new knitting project to work on. Yeah, I am definitely back.

Sick

I was hit with a nasty stomach bug over the weekend and spent a night and a day mostly in the bathroom. Today I feel completely wiped out. I had no idea how many muscles are involved when throwing up. Yikes. I am off to settle on the sofa with lots of tea and some simple knitting (although I will probably sleep).

Stuff Happens

When I got up yesterday the house felt a little colder than usual so I went to turn up the heat a little and noticed that the thermometer said 60 and the thermostat was set to 62, not good. I turned it up higher and nothing happened. Our furnace has stopped working - again. This time it was an electrical problem. 2 hours and $ 350,- later it was up and running again. I am glad we had the money even if it means that our emergency fund is now exhausted.
Del took the day off and we got all our grocery shopping done and treated ourselves to a lunch out.

On a brighter note, I finished clue #4 for the knitalong project. The rows are getting very long and I timed myself while knitting. It takes me 20 minutes to finish a pattern row and 10 minutes for the back row which is just purled.

And here is what I plan to cook in the coming week:

Chicken with white beans and olives
Pasta with bacon and tomatoes
Pizza with tuna, onion and olives
Cabbage soup with homemade bread

February Decorating

I decorated my mantel for February, all hearts and pink and red. ;) I even made a new frock for my little dolly (I plan on making him a new one for each month).

Monthly Goals - February 2009

Around the house:
Clean all woodwork (window frames, doors and door frames, base boards, there is an awful lot of it in this house, I plan on doing one room per week)
Deep clean the fridge
Grow herbs on the kitchen window

Crafty stuff:
Finish one UFO
Make a few blocks for my Civil War Diary Quilt
Make something for Valentine's Day

Books to read:
Dragonfly in Amber (continue)
Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World
On to Oregon

Personal:
Keep my daily quiet time
Do a Bible study

Small Projects

Yesterday I finished two small projects, one knitting one crochet.

The first one was these love birds, a pattern from Lion Brand. They will be part of my Valentine"s decoration this year.

And in the evening I knitted this penguin washcloth.

Monthly Goals - January 2009 - How did I do?

Setting monthly goals instead of making long term resolutions seems to work for me (so far). Here are my goals for the past month and how I did with reaching them.

Around the house:
Rearrange the pantry - done (and I am even brave enough to post before and after pictures ;) ).

Deep clean the stove - done, discovered a very sharp piece of metal in the back of the oven, ouch!

Crafty stuff:
Finish one UFO (any kind) - I finished the little crochet curtain for the pantry shelf, now I have to figure out a way to hang it.

Knit one item for charity - got a bit carried away with that ;)

Make a few blocks for my Dear Jane Quilt - I have one completely finished and three more are ready for hand applique, I just did not feel like hand sewing.

Books to read:
Dragonfly in Amber (very thick, will take longer than one month) - I am on page 244 (it is not quite as exciting the second time around but still very entertaining).
The Power of a Praying Wife - I did not like it at all and decided to abandon it and donate it to the church library.
finish Women's Voices from the Western Frontier - finished it, liked it a lot.

Personal:
Keep daily quiet time (I plan this for morning after Del leaves) - I admit I am not doing it daily or at the same time every time, some days my mind is too full of other stuff in the morning and I need to work some of it off before I can settle down, but I am working on it.
Read more, spend less time on the computer (playing games) - I am doing okay with that.

Knitting

I finished clue #3 for the Vernal Equinox Shawl Surprise Knitalong. If you want to join the fun just click on the button in my sidebar, it will take you to the pattern.

Meal Planning

Our planned meals for next week:

Veggie Rice with Green Salad
Paprika Chicken with Noodles (I did not cook it this week, we had more leftover chili than I thought, I really need to use a smaller pot next time ;) )
Austrian Style Pancakes
Pizza with Ham
Thai Noodles
Pinto Beans

Money is a bit tight this week so I have to use pantry staples.

This and That

The purple scarf I knitted for my friend Anni in Vienna arrived exactly on her birthday, it took only five days to get there. My Christmas mail to Germany took a full month, go figure. And now that it has finally arrived I can actually post a picture of the gift here. ;)

I am itching to get back to sewing. I found a huge piece of upholstery fabric at the thrift store before Christmas and I plan to use some of it to re-upholster the little stool I use with my desk. It was left behind by the previous owners of the house and I like it. I plan to paint it white to match the desk (which was also left behind) and then cover the seat with the purple fabric.

I also picked up three skirts at the thrift store with plans for re-purposing them. I planned to turn one of them into an apron but at closer inspection I decided that it is too pretty and too well made to be cut up. It is a wrap skirt and too small for me, but when I turn it into a regular skirt it will fit. Sewing project no. 1. The other two are mini skirts, one is a soft corduroy and I really like the colors, the other one has lots of embroidery, I am not sure yet what they will become but they will be transformed into something else for sure.

Another thrift store find were these vases. I used the milk glass ones in my Christmas decorating.