Hurricane Sandy

The weather is starting to get bad.  Hurricane Sandy is due to strike almost head on here.  It is raining now with a heavy breeze.  After midnight, the fun is supposed to start and they say it will stop sometime Tuesday.  Bathtubs are full of water.  Jugs of liquids ready for drinking.  Doggie has food and water.  Let us hope the winds stay out of the north.  If they start, blowing from the south crosses your fingers – we have HUGE trees out back.  I hope they remain standing.

If the power decides to go out, I have knitting to do and a bunch of patterns to cut out.  If the power stays on, I am working from home.  Then I will play.

I am cooking up a batch of crabapple hot pepper jelly.  I used sugar for this batch because when I made the grape jelly I used Stevia and it never cleared up.  Tastes great but looks ugly.

I think I will make pizza for dinner.  A good comfort food.

Autumn 2012

Can you believe that October is almost over?  It is supposed to get up to 80 degrees later this week.  Where is the fall weather?  I guess the weather will go from summer to winter in a matter of days.

The leaves are beautiful here on the east coast.  If I were to design fabric, I would have all of the colors of the trees in it.  Actually, I would have four separate distinct fabrics.  One of the fall colors.  One of the spring colors - all of different shades of the new leaves.  One of the spring flowers in all of the different vibrant shades of the first blooms.  And one with all of the different shades of mature leaves.  Have you every just sat and looked at the different colors?  Amazing!

I have started to knit!  It really came back quickly.  I can now knit on the bus, even in the darkness of the morning!

December first is the largest local craft fair.  It is down at the Navy base.  I have participated for 3 years now.  The first year I sold a lot, so last year I expanded my inventory (and worked pretty darned hard too).  I sold nothing last year, which was very disappointing.  This year, I have everything from last year and more that I have been working on though out the year.  I hope sales improve this year, although the economy has not improved any.

Knitting?

September just flew by, here it is October! I had my first knitting lesson yesterday. How fun! Things came back to me rather quickly. My Grandmother was a knitter extraordinaire. She knitted clothing for herself, clothing for her kids and grand kids. She knitted little animals and nursery rhyme figures. Every Christmas was very special because Grandma would knit everyone something. We would often get sweaters made from variegated yarns, and they really stood out. Not really what a kid wanted, but still they were very well made and we knew they were made with love.

Grandma taught the "girls" to knit. 2 of my sisters and I would knit at night after lights out and compare out work the next morning. I don't think we every made anything but it was fun.

The knitting lesson yesterday was with a wonderful woman I met at my favorite thrift store. She is retired with children my age. We struck up a conversation one day and one thing lead to another and I have had my first knitting lesson is 40 years. I hope to join Sally's group that knits hats for the needy children in the county.

I am adding a new skill as another creative outlet. I did a little web cruising last night and found lots of free knitting patterns. I might just stick to hats and scarves for now. Once I get a few more stitch types down, I may try my hand at designing something else. I know with the grandbaby being in Minnesota now, she will need warm hats, scarves, and mittens.

More later this month!