Hanging In there

Just taking care of business. More later.

Experiments

I have a project that needs iron on vinyl.  Our Wal Mart does not carry iron on vinyl, and I don't want to order it online or drive to JoAnn's.  And not even sure that JoAnn's carrys it. 

So, this weekend I intend to experiment by ironing heat and bond to vinyl, then to fabric.  Not sure if it will work.  Probably not, but I am going to give it a try.

Mice, UPS, Stir Fry

Did that title get your attention?  haha.  Well let me start with the "mice" part.

I am not fond of mice.  I guess not too many people are, but I will just put this out there.  When I was VERY pregnant, I saw a mouse in our kitchen and leapt up onto the kitchen table.  Unassisted.  'nuff said? 

Well, my day yesterday started with the girls across the hall from our office informing me that they had a mouse in their office.  Ugh.  We are connected through the ceilings and vents, so if it's in their office, it has easy access to mine.  It makes me a bit uncomfortable.  I go over there three times a day for a report on whether or not the trap has caught anything.

UPS.  In general, I like the guys in brown and their big trucks.  They usually bring good stuff, right?  I had been waiting for a 'network extender' from Verizon.  This device helps boost the signal in buildings with tin roofs, as well as other things, I'm sure.  Johanna and Ben have a tin roof on their house and could not get phone calls or texts inside the house.  Besides being frustrating, it was unsettling thinking that if we needed them or they needed help, they had to go outside to get a call through.  I called Verizon a couple weeks ago and inquired about what we could do to solve this problem, and they sent us this device to use as long as we remain their customer.  Sweet deal!  They were going to send one out in a couple days.  Well, it didn't come, and didn't come, so I called them back.  Apparently they were in the midst of upgrading the network extenders and wanted to send us a newer version.  Okay, so send it to me!  haha.  It was due to arrive Monday, via UPS. 

Monday evening we went with the kids to Tilley's for dinner and when we came home, there was a note on the door from UPS that they needed a signature to deliver the package and would attempt again tomorrow to deliver.  Fine, I signed the back of the notice.  Tuesday comes and they again attempt delivery but won't accept just my signature on the note, we have to take delivery in person. 

Knowing that short of taking the day off work to wait for that big brown truck, there was only one other option and that was to chase down the driver.  I went home at lunch and drove all around town but didn't find the truck.  When Ev got off work he drove around and finally saw the truck heading out of town, toward two townd over!  He chased that big brown truck all the way there and when it finally stopped, he got the package, and being the good dad that he is, he took it up to Johanna and Ben's.

They hooked it up yesterday and everything worked like a charm! 

Stir Fry was what I had planned for dinner last night.  I had a couple bags of frozen shrimp that I wanted to use, so I had everything ready to throw in the skillet when Ev comes in the kitchen and asks what's for dinner.  I told him and he says 'can't you make scampi instead?'  Yes, I could, but I want stir fry. I got the puppy dog eyes from him, so I ended up making stir fry and scampi.  I'm such a sucker.  But it was all good!  mmmmm

Tonight I'm thinking home made pizza in air fryer again.  Maybe.  Hope everyone is having a good day and staying cool!

A Mini Vacation

Since the Fourth of July was in the middle of the week, I took the following two days off to have a mini vacation.  Was a little bit difficult to get up for work this morning...

Wednesday, the Fourth, we went to a couple of cook outs and then went out on the boat to watch the fireworks at Lake Lou Yeager.  That was the first time I had ever watched fireworks from a boat.  It was pretty neat.  The only bad part was that it was still very hot and humid, even at 10 p.m.

Thursday and Friday Ev had to work, so I did some sewing and video chatting with Mary, since she had the days off too.  Got quite a bit done in the sewing room, then later I even worked on Gemma, quilting some more on Johanna's wedding quilt.

Saturday we were busy around the house.  I managed to clean out several of my kitchen cabinets that were desperately in need of it.  Sunday I did a couple more cabinets.  The only food one left has canned goods, and I have a couple of them with pots and pans in them that need to be organized. 

I also started cleaning out the back porch, but that was kind of catch as catch can.  Best thing to happen to it would be a bull dozer... lol.

So all is good on this end.  No big changes, so I guess that's okay too.  Hope everyone is having a good Monday.

Flowers

My flowers love all this wet weather!

Holiday Week

This week is going to be a short one at work for me.  I am only working Monday and Tuesday, then off the rest of the week.  Ready for some R & R!  Hoping to get some sewing done, but no promises.

If the weather cooperates, maybe we will get out on the boat.  It has been way too hot lately for me to be outside very long, but maybe it will cool off a bit.

The past weekend was a good one to spend inside.  We had high temps, high humidity, and then thunderstorms that did nothing to cool it off, just fuel the humidity.  Ev and I went to the movies on Sunday afternoon, which was a nice treat.  Johanna and Ben joined us.  Nick was at Lake Carlyle enjoying the beach.

Tomorrows Lunch

Going to try and eat healthy.

All American Burger

We had a simple grilled burger and fries for dinner. Too hot for anything else.

Zippered Pouch

Here is one of the zippered bags I have made.  Found the instructions on Pinterest when we were in Mattoon.  Which led to a midnight purchase on Amazon of 100 nine inch zippers.  Don't ask.... Lol

Heat Advisory

We have an excessive heat advisory for the next couple days in our area.  This gal will be hibernating inside with the air conditioning cranked!

Road Kill Wednesday

I know, disgusting title.  However, that's what popped into my mind on my way to work.  There were several animals that met their maker overnight on Old Route 66.  Food for the buzzards.

I was very pleased to see that the big pothole that cost me over $125 in the form of a replacement tire was repaired.  I called and asked the city if they could please do it, and lo and behold they did it!  Very happy.  That pothole could have swallowed a volkswagon...

I made pizza in the air fryer last night.  It was very good.  I've made it this way several times now and it is always a hit.  The crust is made from the same dough as the bagels.  It's equal parts self rising flour and plain greek yogurt.  I use one cup of each and let it rest for a few minutes, usually while I chop up the veggies.  One cup of each will make enough dough for two individual sized pizzas.  My air fryer has mesh racks as well as a basket, so I make the crust the same size as the racks.  The dough is baked 5 minutes on 375 deg, then flipped over for another 5 minutes.  Take the dough out and add toppings, then bake for about 5 minutes at 400 deg.  Yummy goodness!  Try it, you will like it!

It was a Meat Loaf Monday

Over the weekend Johanna asked if I would make meat loaf and mashed potatoes for dinner on Monday and her and Ben would come over.  Well, I can't say no, so last night was a Meat Loaf Monday! 

I realized last night that I have been making meat loaf for 40 years.  Wow.  When I was in High School I would get home from school before my parents and I would make dinner most week nights.  I didn't have to do it, I just loved to cook.  It became a standing joke that Mondays we would have meat loaf. 

So after 40 years of making meat loaf, I think I have the recipe down.  Ev paid me a pretty high compliment when he said that would be the one meal Johanna would always remember me making.  He remembers his mom's fried chicken, and I remember my great grandma's lentil gravy. 

About the time Johanna and Ben were leaving, Nick pulled up.  He had some mail at the house to pick up.  It did me a lot of good to see my kids.  Nick looked good last night. 

Something else that makes me feel good are these flowers.  I started these African Violets from cuttings and this is the first time they are blooming.  My Great Grandma used to grow them.

Oh and here's a quick pick of a project I was working on a while ago.

I ended up changing the top a bit, but basically it's a hanging kitchen towel.  The topper is material instead of crochet.  I used to crochet the tops years ago, but this was much quicker.

Sure hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

Miss Addy on a Sunday Afternoon

Happy dog!

Quick pick

Quick post.  Here is the churn dash before borders.

Day 2 of Summer Feels Like Spring

Today has been better, weather wise, than the past few weeks.  The high was only supposed to get into the 70's, which is a real nice change from the 90's we have seen lately.  I'll take it!

Thanks to everyone who posted in the comments.  I, along with my family, appreciate all your thoughts and prayers.  Don't really want to get into it too much right now.  Hard to talk about, so please bear with me.

Anyway...  Last night I changed the crochet square that has the little balls on it to a simple v stitch block.  Three out of three people did not like the little balls, so I figured since I wasn't that nuts about it either, I would change it up.  That color scheme of gold, green, russet, and beige is for Nick's afghan.  Johanna's squares are already crocheted, but not put together yet.  Her's are made up of two different greys and a country blue color.  I haven't decided if I will sew the squares together or crochet them together.

Mary and I will be going back to Mattoon in a little over a month.  I am determined to have a project cut and ready to sew for our weekend retreat.  Thinking of a pattern I saw with snowball blocks called Pretty Posies (at least I think that was the name).

Dinner last night was extremely boring.  I didn't want to cook, so we just had tuna fish sandwiches!  Hey, it's better than nothing, right?  haha.

Want to fill you in on my air fryer saga.  Yes, it has been a saga.  Argh.  A year and a half ago I got a Go Wise brand air fryer and fell in love with it.  I used that thing constatly.  Then one day, out of the blue, it quit working.  I was not happy.  I called Go Wise and they agreed to replace it, IF I paid the shipping.  Well, okay, shipping was $33, but I figured I couldn't get a new one for that price so I sent the old one back and waited, rather impatiently, for the new one to arrive.  When it did, I immediately TRIED to use it.  It did not work.  Hmmm.  Okay, I thought maybe it was just a fluke so I tried something else a day or two later.  Nope, not working right.  Tried a third thing with same bad results.  Called Go Wise and asked if they had sent a refurbished unit, or what.  Nope, they said it was new.  After much back and forth they offered to replace it if I again would pay for shipping.

Nope, not going that route.  Not throwing good money after bad.  I thought I was just going to be air fryer free, but then one Sunday morning I turned on the t.v.  There, in all it's infomercial glory was the POWER AIR FRYER OVEN!  It could air fry, it had a rotisserie, it had a basket, it could dehydrate, it had a mesh cylinder, it had mesh racks, it had skewers, it could do the laundry and the dishes.  Well, maybe not those last two, but let me tell you, that salesman on t.v. could have convinced me of it if he wanted to, he was that good.  You know I ordered it, right?  Yup, I sure did. 

And I am very happy with it!

If you have an air fryer and it's collecting dust in a pantry, do yourself a favor and dig it out.  Make some two ingredient bagels in it.  They are my current favorites.  Equal amounts of self rising flour and plain greek yogurt form the dough.  work it into sections, forming ropes then rings.  Brush with egg whites on top if you want, and top with poppy seeds or whatever you like - again, all according to your preference.  Bake in air fryer on 375 deg for around 13 minutes.  That's it!  Yummy yummy yummy.

First Day of Summer

Been out of the loop for a while now.  Not sure if I can keep up still but going to try. 

I hardly quilted at all last year.   Our family has been going through a rough time.  Our son's addiction has greatly affected all of us. I turned inward. Had a hard time just getting through the day. Blogging was more of a chore than something I enjoyed. But now I'm going to try again.

Rained last night again.  I have flowers planted again this year so the rain was welcome.   Planted some Hyacinth Bean seeds along the fence.  Sure hope they flower this year.   Last year all I  got was vines.

Went on a weekend retreat at the beginning of the month with Mary and Marla.   We rented a room in Mattoon and sewed like crazy.  We also visited Arthur and the Amish shops.   I worked on the Christmas Churn Dash top.  All the rows are seen together.  Need to add a border and it will be ready for the frame.

I have Johanna's wedding quilt in the frame now.   Yes,  I know it's late. 

Been doing a lot of crocheting lately.   That seems to take up my time in the evening while watching t. v.  With Ev.  Making squares for afghans.