So many hobbies!

Why are my weekends so weird?

I spent Saturday morning working on getting rid of my old mattress and box springs.  I decided I needed a new one and my sister had one only a few years old that needed a new home.  I put an ad on Craig's List for a free mattress and box springs and, eventually, a couple arrived to take them away.  A few hours later, my sister and BIL arrived with the "new" mattress, etc.  The old mattress was a full/double and since we all thought the "new" one was as well, I bought sheets, mattress pad and memory foam mattress topper, all in a full-size.  The "new" mattress is a queen.  <sigh>  After much ado, my sister, who plans on eventually buying a new full mattress for a guest room, agreed to take the stuff that's now too small and an agreement was made.  The search is on once again for sheets, mattress pad and a queen-sized memory foam mattress topper, all on sale.  Crap, I'm going to need a new blanket, too.  <sigh>  I'm sure it'll all work out, especially since I really needed a new blanket again anyway.

Speaking of blankets, or, in the case, quilts, I'm trying to come up with a pattern for a Halloween quilt.  I already purchased some fabric for one

but I still need 2 or 3 more.  A couple of solids, green definitely, and maybe another pattern.  A trip to the quilt store is in my future.

When I wasn't moving mattresses around my condo, I was knitting.  I just finished binding off my second Mendocino Shaped Shawl but it still needs the ends woven in and a wash and block. 

While I was knitting, I was being supervised, in case you were wondering:

And while not a chaperone, Galen was with me the whole time:

I got a package today...

Sorry I've been gone

I spent the Memorial weekend at my sister's in Pennsylvania.  These pics are a pretty good summation of the weekend. 

My sister loves to garden.

This is Snookums.

She's been completely spoiled

and is a very happy kitty.

 

Sadly, Snooky's brother, Tuxedo, had to be put to sleep Thursday morning.  Tuxey had been sick for about a week and was very uncomfortable.  Going to PA, I was looking forward to seeing Tuxey as much as my sister.  He was a special boy.  I miss him.

Maryland prep continues

These are the freezer bag meals that I put together Saturday.  The cans are full of chicken.  Sheri joined me and we got our dinners ready for our upcoming camping trip.  We decided to each try two of them for lunch and to split them, to see if we like those recipes.  I have to tell you, I wasn't expecting them to be that good.  I was hoping but I was erring on the side of caution so I wasn't too disappointed if they were terrible.  I was suprised at how good they were.  Sheri made Ginger Lemon Chicken and I made Bacon and Cheese Pasta.  They were surprisingly tasty.  Dinners should be pretty good in Maryland.

One of the things I learned is you can make your own instant rice if you own a dehydrator.  All you do is cook the rice, then spread it out on trays in the dehydrator until dry.  You can use some pretty tasty rice and make instant rice that tastes so much better than the instant rice you buy in the.

Just to add some variety and veggies to future meals, and 'cause I felt like playing, I dried a sweet red pepper and a small zucchini along with the rice.  The dark bowl at the bottom is the rice.  Just add hot water and I have rice with my dinner.  I can't wait for Maryland!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I had supervision the entire time:

Chosen Path Shawl

I'm so very happy to have another project to work on.  I found the Chosen Path Shawl on Ravelry this week and instantly bought the pattern.  It looks like a fun knit and I'm enjoying it so far.

I've finished the first stockinette section and the first lace section, after much tinking and ripping back.  It took me a while to figure out the repeats within each lace row.  There are both asterisks and brackets within each row and the two together were confusing.  But, I've finally got the hang of it so things should cruise along nicely.

Most of my weekend was spent cleaning and picking up my condo.  My parents finally came by to see my nice, new bathroom.  Between jobs I worked on the new shawl.  I can't work all day on Saturday, especially after working all week.

Oh, and Tyr likes the bathroom, too:

Knitting, not eating

I get bored in the evenings and boredom leads to snacking.  This is not good.  My knee is still messed up from my spinning injury in June so lots of spinning is out.  I realized I needed another knitting project so I started knitting this hooded scarf.  I've had it in my project queue for a while.  I'm using my own handspun.  One ply is a Cormo/silk blend and the other ply is 50/50 Polwarth/angora.  It should be nice and warm.

It's now the end of November here in Michigan.  It's cold.  As you can imagine, pretty much everything is dead and brown.  And yet, this is a picture of the front of my neighbor's condo:

I took this picture two days ago.  (The cat is Oliver.  He waiting for his mom to come home.)  I had no idea pansies were that hardy.  There have been quite a few frosts since the seasons changed.  The flowers are a wonderful touch of color and cheerfulness amidst all of Michigan's gray weather.  Enjoy.

Cats on Thursday

Galen found a new bed

As for me, I spent too much time napping on the couch with the kids and not enough time quilting.  I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I did get a little quilting done but not really enough to post about.  Saturday I was at my Guild's monthly meeting.  I spent all day with my friends and didn't leave until 5:00.  We did a lot of talking and spinning.  It amazes me how conversations can flow from one subject to another.  We talked about everything from gay marriage to our ancestors.  My friends Eric and Terry went to New York and got married a few weeks ago.  Congratulations, guys! 

Picture Thursday

Not much but a pot of soup

 

Putting the border on the blocks is just about all I managed to get done this weekend.  Well, that and a pot of split pea soup. After a long summer of being pretty busy, I'm really enjoying some downtime.  My weekends usually include long naps at the bottom of a cat pile.  Those are my favorite kinds of naps.  I tend to sleep better when the cats sleep with me.  And since I refuse to turn the furnace on yet, sleeping with the cats is warmer than sleeping alone.  They're like little furnaces all on their own.