Birthday plans amiss but I'm on task for FINISHES!

I told you yesterday that I had the wrong needles to start my birthday cowl so I was going to work on my Cozy Memories Blanket as I had 2 squares done for this week and 2 more to go.....would you believe....I could not find the circular needle I use for it!  I always put it in my nightstand with the blanket....always!  It has disappeared and I am totally blaming leprechauns!  I had my soup for supper and was going to have dessert later but I didn't feel well at all so those plans went south too!
I am getting some FINISHES accomplished though each day....except for the day I went to Mountain Home. I finished this book last night and it was a fun read.   Stefanie, I think you would love this book and I think there's a series.  I'll be reading more.............

Today, I worked another 5 rows on the washcloth for my friend and also FINISHED the last of the 2017 Collectible Ornaments!  Since I can't work on my CMB until that needle turns up I worked on my sweater...........just a little more in the length and I will start the sleeves..........

 I did some laundry today and cleaned litter boxes and the usual household chores and listened to Daily Hope from Pastor Rick Warren..............

I think tonight I will start this book as Outlander is going to take awhile and I need some faster finishes if I am going to make my Goodread's Challenge this year.  I read some big books last year and I am a slow reader.  Outlander is over 600 pages so I will intersperse it with some lighter not so lengthy books.  This is the 2nd book in the Aunt Dimity series and I really like them!

 Did you make any resolutions for 2018?  Pick a word for 2018 or a first book?  How's it going?  Good I hope!
Happy Trails!!!

It's my birthday today.....I can't believe I've made it this far or that I'm this old! LOL!

 Count those candles....there should be 69 of them!  I feel young...it's only when I look in the mirror I am startled by the old woman staring back at me! LOL!
Yesterday I was gone to Mountain Home to the doctor for a 6 month checkup for the RA.  I'm good and I stopped at T.J.Maxx and got myself a few little items........some body butter.....lemon and sage....

and some really yummy pine scented candles.....I love pine but most candles are a sad imitation.....but not these....they are the real deal and I am lighting them tonight!  Probably not all of them though....

I also treated myself to a Starbuck's Holiday Spice Latte............and what a treat it was!  Yummo!
I was early to my appointment so I sat in the waiting room and read but I should have brought knitting as it was loud in there!  People talking and their phones going off.  I've never seen the waiting room so busy before but I managed to read quite a bit of Outlander and it is very engaging.  I didn't get home until 4:00 p.m. so I was pretty tuckered out by then.  I fed everyone, got my jamies on and had a bowl of soup in bed.  Did I mention how cold it is here?  I think as you age you cannot tolerate extremes of any kind.....too hot or too cold....too salty or too sweet...too well done or not cooked enough......evidently it comes with the territory.
Being gone yesterday I had chores to do but I planned on having a nice birthday regardless.  I fixed a nice egg McMuffin with bacon and then cleaned up the kitchen.  I needed to call in prescriptions and pick them up along with some dog food and cat food.  I also picked up some butter pecan ice cream which was on sale for $3.50 for a quart of Edy's who has the best butter pecan.  I get it at the Dollar General.  I planned on pretty much taking it easy and just doing what I wanted to do.  One thing I REALLY wanted to do was cast on my birthday cowl!  I saw Little Bobbins knitting a cowl with her Advent mini skeins and I fell in love with it. It is a pay for pattern by Helen Stewart who is famous for her clear and wonderful patterns and I have been wanting to try one.  The pattern is based on the Nutcracker and is called The Land of Sweets.  I was so excited and made sure I had the right needles and I downloaded the pattern.  I cast on the required stitches only to discover my cable was too long.

  It called for 24 " and I measured but they must mean from needle tip to needle tip as there was no way I could join them into a circle!  I messed around most of the afternoon looking through my needles and cords but no luck.  I'll have to order one.....oh well....I don't have all the yarn either as it calls for 24 mini- skeins and I only have 3 but it's a start! LOL! 

 These are all Maker's Haven mini's that I purchased awhile ago........I love her yarns......

   Here's a picture of the cowl.........Helen's...not mine............everyone says it is a really fun knit and that is most important in my book!  Plus, it's pretty.......

Tonight will be Zuppa Toscana soup (leftover), Christmas Crack and some butter pecan ice cream while watching When Calls the Heart Season 4 on Netflix.   Even the girls will get some ice cream!  I read a bit this afternoon and tonight I'll work on my CMB or maybe drag out my sweater.....remember that one? LOL!  Oh, I did 10 rows on the washcloth today because I did none yesterday so I'm caught up.  Tomorrow will be some actual housework, I think. 
Happy Trails!!!

Book Date and Good Read's disgrace!

My Good Reads performance last year was despicable as I pledged to read 75 books and only read 37.  This year I have pledged the same but I am determined not to end 2018 in disgrace!
 I know it's Tuesday but ever since the holidays I can't seem to keep track of what day it is! LOL!
My word this year is FINISH and I finished a book yesterday. another ornament and a square on my Cozy Memories Blanket so I'm off to a good start!
The book I finished was this one and it was one of my Christmas reads.  I gave it 4 **** as I really enjoyed it.  It was a romance too but it wasn't too 'mushy' like some of them can be.

Amazon states: "
The perfect recipe for hygge this autumn: make a hot chocolate, draw the curtains, snuggle under a blanket and read your way to happiness!

It's autumn in Yulethorpe and everyone is gloomy. It's cold, drizzly and the skies are permagrey. The last shop on the high street - an adorable little toy shop - has just shut its doors. Everything is going wrong for Yulethorpe this autumn. Until Clara Kristensen arrives.
Clara is on holiday but she can see the potential in the pretty town, so she rolls up her sleeves and sets to work. Things are looking up until Joe comes to Yulethorpe to find out exactly what is going on with his mother's shop. Joe is Very Busy and Important in the City and very sure that Clara is up to no good. Surely no one would work this hard just for the fun of it?
Can a man who answers emails at 3 a. m. learn to appreciate the slower, happier, hygge things in life - naps, candles, good friends and maybe even falling in love?"
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 I picked my first read for 2018 and it is this one.  I know I'm probably the last one on the block to read or watch this series but I've has so many of my pod casters recommend it that I thought I would try it.  I ordered it from Thrift Books and it came today!  I read the first 4 chapters and I had a hard time putting it down!  Little housework got done today!

 Amazon states:"From Book 1: Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, and a lover in another... In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon—when she innocently touches a boulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an "outlander"—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of our Lord...1743. Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny in soon inextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch. She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life ...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives."

It looks like there are 8 books in the series so I may be ordering more!  We shall see.
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 I haven't finished my annual read of this book yet.  It seems that over the holidays I start lots of books and projects of all kinds....so fun!  It's my Christmas present to myself.

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I've been staying true to reading the Bible and I'm in the book of Samuel 1 right now...........moving right along...........the New Living Translation makes it read like a 'good book'...lol!  Great pun, huh?

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I'm still slogging through this one.........never try reading a book written back in the 1700's......I will finish it though on the slight chance that it gets better.  After all, it must be good as it's still around!

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This is the magazine I am reading but actually it is more like a book as it is thick but there are individual articles like a magazine.....more like a journal, I guess, and written about Iowa and the Midwest........a little bit of home.........

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When I was going through my books I ran across this one that seemed very timely for the beginning of the New Year so I am reading a chapter a night................

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Last but not least this one was sitting on my shelf and I thought I could put it to some practical use!  It is a compendium of advice from readers of Yankee magazine....who can't use a little Yankee ingenuity!

So, as you can see I have my reading cut out for me!  But then 75 books in a year is more than 1 book per week so I should probably take a speed reading course too! LOL!

Happy Trails!!!

Happy New Year!!!!

I wish you all the best the New Year has to offer!!!!!
Happy Trails!!!

YOP Week #27

and Blogmas Day #31.  I hope you weren't looking for Blogmas Day #30 because it didn't happen! LOL!  It was Craft's Day but I realized that if I posted what I did there would be nothing to post about today.  But here's what I've been up to......
my Christmas Eve cast on socks.....using Cherry Heart's My First Socks pattern but not the design on the socks just plain as I want the yarn to be the focal point on these socks.....I am working them concurrently on Chiagu lace needles....my favorite in the 2.75 mm size.  The only thing I will say is that the 32 inch cable is easier to work socks with than the 40 inch, IMHO.  I have both.

 Here's a closeup..I have both cuffs done and am now working on the leg.....

I know I worked 4 squares/1 row on my CMB but not sure if I did anymore but here are the last squares......still working on the width....

The X's and O's washcloth for my friend is coming along but boy do I dislike the old aluminum needles!  They were all I had but I am ordering some wooden ones A.S.A.P.......how did they ever knit with those things?  Too slippery for me and you can't seem to control the tension with them.  I am using a free pattern on Ravelry and the yarn is Hobby Lobby cotton which I really like.

Can you make out the X's and O's yet?

I finally decided and started on the 2017 Collectible Ornament....I had tried miniature mittens but they were taking too long so I opted for Susan Anderson's  Santa Hat ornament.  I have only 1 of 4 done so far but I should be able to get them done this week.   Again working with 'fiddly' aluminum needles.....yes, my Halloween ornament is still on the tree too.....what can I say....

Here's a closeup of the hat and it is a free pattern on Ravelry.....this one will be mine as the first one is usually the worst and I get better as I go along.....

I made some Christmas Crack to keep me going.....it's like a Heath bar...it may still rot your teeth but at least it won't break them! LOL!  Here' s the recipe

Happy New Year and Happy Trails!!!!