Rayen

My guy, our nephew and I went on a day trip to Cocoa Village last week, where I played guide and took them on the walking tour of the historic buildings in town. This time we were able to check out the Porcher House along the way, which is a gorgeous nineteenth century mansion. I stopped in at Hello Again Books , of course, and brought home a pile. If I lived any closer I'd be in trouble. On the way home we stopped by the Valiant Air Command Warbirds Museum in Titusville to hang out with some of my old friends, too. :) If you'd like to see pics of all the amazing aircraft this organization is restoring and preserving for future generations, check out my album here .

When last I posted about my February tote for the calendar project I was futzing around with the patchwork. I finally did go with this idea of traditionally stacking and sewing the fabric pieces. I also had to resort to using the sewing machine on a few bad nights when my fingers locked up too much to do hand work. I finally got the patchwork completed. It's not pretty, but it's done. I'm using the solver, copper and gold metallic threads I picked up at the quilt show last year to feather stitch the seams, as that's the easiest embroidery stitch I know. I don't want to attempt any beading on this go, so once that's done I'll be ready to assemble the tote.

Since I've learned it's almost impossible not to spend money (although I'm still trying to avoid that whenever I can), I'm changing my tactics to spend as little as possible. Since food is our biggest expense every month, I'm competitively shopping at three different supermarkets and beefing up my emergency pantry. The latter I need to do anyway in preparation for hurricane season, but it helps. I cook at home nearly every night now, and make judicious use of leftovers. We eat well, although beef is out of my budget for the most part. My guy and our nephew eat about twice the amount of food I do, so I'm cooking recipes for basically five. By avoiding convenience foods and purchasing whole foods instead I'm spending about $130.00 or less per week at the market, keeping us at about $500.00 per month for food. I am thrifting or buying at the dollar store everything I can these days: books, cleaners, clothes, certain foods (when they're cheaper...

I was able to watch three episodes of the c-drama Boss & Me before I finally had to call it quits. Here's the description of the series I copied from Wikipedia: "Feng Teng (Hans Zhang) is a rich heir and the president of a giant conglomerate. He has a younger sister, Feng Yue, with a very rare blood type. Therefore, he recruits Shan Shan (Zhao Liying), who shares the same blood type as Feng Yue, into the company to be a blood donor. Interesting anecdotes occur when Feng Teng intentionally tries to fatten up Shan Shan, who loves eating. As Feng Teng gets to know Shan Shan, he discovers her innocence and kind heart beyond her clumsy nature, and falls in love with her." Aside from the fact that someone thought it was fine to view a woman as a blood bank and a farm animal, the character of Shan Shan is depicted as the most clueless and mind-numbingly idiotic female of all time. She constantly loses touch with reality as she cheers herself on, and this is in almost ...

I bid on three different quilts at the thrift auction that I wanted but only for the price I was willing to pay, aka wannabuts. How did that go? Another bidder took interest in this green quilt I liked, so I wasn't sure if I'd get it. I finally won it with my max bid of $20.14. This skillfully made quilt had unusual colors, which appealed to me enough to bid ten bucks on it. Alas, I was quickly outbid, and then a last-minute sniper war ensued. The winning bid was $74.88. The colors of this vivid quilt were what convinced me to bid $9.99 for it -- and I won it for that price! I'm very happy I got two of the three quilts I wanted at the right price. That's a real streak of luck. :)

I thrifted for $2.99 a copy of Anna Black's A Year of Living Mindfully , which intrigued me the moment I picked it up. I got into slow stitch as a mindful practice, and I'd love to apply that to the rest of what I do. This is a guide with weekly activities and practices to weave mindfulness into your everyday life. Nothing looks too difficult for me to manage, so I thought I'd give it a go for the next 52 weeks. If nothing else I can figure out how and where to work on myself to become more mindful. I really appreciated this sentence in the boxed paragraph at the end of the introduction: "If at any time a practice feels difficult or brings up strong feelings, please just stop." You don't see that kind of practical advice very often in how-to guides. It struck me as very respectful toward the individual, so she's not coming from that horrid place of group-think. She shows caring for each person and what makes them unique. I'll re...

I'm presently bidding on three different quilts at the thrift auction; I want to use these for my home office and the pups' crates -- but only if I can get them for the price I'm willing to pay, aka wannabuts. :) I liked this green quilt from the moment I saw it, but I may not win it due to another bidder taking interest. This is a very skillfully made quilt, and I like the unusual colors. If I can get it for the minimum bid I'd be quite happy to own it. The colors of this vivid quilt just jumped off my computer screen. It's really neat -- as long as the price is right. Stay tuned to the blog to find out if I win any of these quilts.

How lucky have I been with my thrifts lately? These Women's Sketchers D'Lites Fresh Start sneakers are wide fit, my size, in white (the color I most like for sneakers) and almost brand new; from the faint soiling on the soles they must have been worn once and returned to the store. They retail for $75.00; I paid $8.99. This miniature kit was an open box, but happily included all the parts to make it. The kit retails for $21.79; I thrifted it for $12.99. My small lot of yarn included multiples of I love this yarn in white, gold and chestnut, which alone retail for $4.99 a skein. Altogether the lot totals $61.15 retail; I got it for $8.99. Bottom line: when you can get $157.94 worth of goods for just $30.97 it's always great luck. :)

I'm mostly posting about my thrifts over on the crochet blog, but since I've been having a lot of good luck with thrifting at the online auction lately I thought I'd do a post here. My old walking Sketchers are starting to wear thin at the soles, so I found this pair of Women's Sketchers D'Lites Fresh Start. This small lot of yarn included multiples in three colors, which I'm always on the lookout for these days. The fun thing is that almost all the yarn is in colors I need for one of my bucket list crochet projects . I regularly search for miniature kits as gifts for a family member who loves them, and this one was an open box but contained everything needed to make the little house. Stop by tomorrow to see what everything is worth, and how much I saved by thrifting them.

I was looking through my photo archives for quilting projects I did last year, and one of my favorites is the one I made from a vintage embroidered napkin and a doallar-fifty bag of thrifted fabric scraps. I didn't plan it and the way it came together was almost magical (it also helped that it was small.) The quilt I made for Halloween also made me quite happy. It's probably one of the last of my hand-quilted pieces, but I'm glad I made it. Halloween really boosted my spirits last year, especially with all the fun projects I made. My mini-quilt calendar project of 2025 at times grew difficult, especially during the nights when my arthritis was giving me a fit, but I managed to finish it and I'm very happy with the results, mixed as they are. To be honest, I am struggling with this year's calendar project, making one quilted tote per month, and looking back on what I managed last year helps quite a bit. It's reassuring in a way nothing else can b...

I started watching the first season of the medical romance k-drama Hospital Playlist but stopped when it triggered some bad memories of my own experiences; although I like romance it's hard for me to watch any medical-centered drama for those reasons. I did like the cast and the story, however, so I eventually I got over myself, went back and watched both seasons on Netflix. The series follows and the professional and personal lives of five very young-looking physicians in their forties; four men and one woman, all of whom work at the same hospital. They're all brilliant doctors, of course, but they also have fairly significant issues in their personal lives (one is divorced with a child, one is divorced with a domineering snooty mother, two are romantic disasters for different reasons and one is actually thinking about becoming a priest.) The thing that makes this series different is that the doctors have been friends since college, and have the kind of group relationsh...

I've often heard creative people talk about "the well" as being the source of their creativity. The well overflowing, the well running dry, refilling the well, etc. I went along with this because I had never met another writer until after I got into the industry. I thought they knew more than me, and creativity does strike me as flowing like water. Yet all this time the well analogy has never really suited my own creativity. I'm not someone who hides their creativity; I've made it part of my daily life. I write every day, and when I'm not writing, I'm usually thinking about writing. That happens even when I'm quilting, crocheting, doing housework or even riding in the car. It's the only part of my life that never bores, hurts or disappoints me. I've always had a fascination with fountains, and only recently have I realized why: for me creativity is more like them. What I do is a flow that comes from inside me, streams up, b...

Last week while thrifting in Lady Lake I was able to pick up this brand new roll of knit fabric for $3.18. That's $1.59 per yard, which is quite a bargain. I'm going to use it to clone a tunic I love that is sadly falling to pieces. I removed all the cobbled patchwork from my February tote, and tried one more time to accomplish what I envisioned with blind stitching. That worked a little better, but I still didn't care for how it looked with my less than impressive stitching, so I tore out that attempt, too. It happens, even to a non-perfectionist like me. My third attempt using the classic crazy quilting stitch and flip method worked so much better than the first two I'm sticking with that. I also found some striped floral pieces in the scraps, which are probably pieces from some vintage napkins or a tablecloth. If I can cobble these together and use them for the lining I think I will.

I've been slowly stitching on my February tote, which is not turning out like I envisioned. The idea I had was to make use of these shabby vintage fabric scraps and do some raw-edged crazy patchwork, ala Japanese boro. My version just looks messy, probably because I'm using all patches and no solid fabric underneath. I'm also having a lot of trouble hand stitching the fabric down. Anyway, I'm going to think about it today and maybe start over tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day! Image credit: Jess Bailey from Pixabay

Everyone lately (including my nephew) has been telling me and my guy how young we are for our ages. We're committed to staying active, eating healthy and going on little adventures and having fun whenever possible, but being 76 and 64 we're obviously not young anymore. We've seen friends and family pass away at ages younger than we are because they gave up, became sedentary and refused to accept the realiy of ageing. That's not us. At 64 I still have a full-time job, and although he's retired he works as a handyman around our neighborhood. He loves to talk to people every day. Although it's more difficult for me to communicate because of my hearing impairment, I am still active on social media with my blogs and over on Mastodon, and through them I can talk to people all over the world. We don't really think of ourselves as seniors, either. In most aspects age really is a state of mind. Here's an amazing video by a 100 year-old woman who t...

After destroying the big canvas tote I'd originally selected for the February installment of my calendar project, I went with a small off white canvas tote, which was actually better since this is a short month. As usual I deconstructed the tote, ironed it and basted some scrap batting to the front of it. I don't know if this will work out like I see it in my head, but I'm stitching layers of vintage reclaimed fabric to the tote. I'm also leaving raw edges because I want a shabby look. Once I have everything stitched down I will embroider on top of the layers, and (if I have time) perhaps bead it a little.

I like to think that I don't fall in love easily, but when it comes to crochet and quilting actually I do. Sometimes despite my best intentions it happens at first sight. That's why I'm careful not to get on Pinterest or Instagram and start envy-scrolling through all the crochet and quilt pics. I do love seeing what others make, but I also can and will fall in love with something and then become obsessed with making my own version. It's the same way I can get distracted by story ideas, and why I have to jot down the bones and file them away. If I didn't I'd never get anything done. For some reason pattern books are safe for me. I can see a gorgeous project like this crochet moorish mosaic throw and love it without having to go and pull yarn and start working on one right away. Maybe it's because I own the pattern and I know I can get to it any time. There are still some quilts I would like to make that I fell in love with at first sight, like ...

Here's something you might not know about my novel series tricks: I get photographs made of body models (people that I think look like my main characters) and keep them in my series notebook to look at while describing them. These are also good memory jogs when I'm writing as to what that particular character looks like. Before my arthritis got severe I used to sketch and paint them. I don't know any other writer who does this. The Iris throw is coming along nicely, but I'm also doing a mini side project. I do not like boucle yarns, as they're fuzzy and crinkly and the stitch definition when I crochet them is absolute crap. So of course as the most contrary person on the face of the planet I'm currently experimenting with three boucle yarns (two in colors I really dislike) to get over myself and see if I can make them into something useful and attractive. Last night I deconstructed an ivory canvas bag for my Feburary tote, and now I'm lining...