A Bit of This and A Bit of That

Yesterday it was 85°F ... beautiful sunshiny day.  Last night was thunder rolling, raining and very cold.  Today is overcast, cold and was 28°F when I got up and took the dogs out at 7:15am.   Right now it is 30°F and overcast with wind gusts up to 50mph..  My friend posted on facebook that it is snowing in Amarillo and that's only a couple of hours away.  Welcome to Oklahoma... roflol

The daffodils are the first to show their little heads early in the almost spring.  I noticed them a couple of days ago and today .. after the short rain last night.. they have grown at least 2 inches.  I surely do hope we have more rain today. 

I got so tickled when I looked for new growth on my irises... looks like the tiny new "flags" are unhappy that the Magnolia tree is encroaching with its dropping leaves on her bed.. lol  Looks like "scissors" wins.. 

I searched for Autumn Joy sedum for years.  Finally found  some only to have a gardener pull it up thinking it was a weed.. 😧  I finally found some somewhere else and have managed to keep it alive.  Always so happy to see those little rosy faces peek out .  :)

Years ago when I first began to spin, I made my spindles from a toy wheel, a dowel rod and (thanks to my sweet husband) a cup hook screwed in the top of the dowel rod.  I have recently joined a page on facebook for spindle spinners and have renewed my interest in spindles.  However, I'm finding it difficult to maintain the same counterclockwise spin.. ughh If you spin the wrong direction after starting, it all comes undone and drops the spindle on the floor...   :(  Must work on that.. sigh

Every now and then some yarn is spun that is just not what you thought it would be.  This was that yarn to begin with.  I really hated did not like it.  It was just totally blah.  I read about something called corded yarn where you take the 2 or 3 ply yarn, respin it tightly and then ply it again.. VOILA' !!! I LOVE IT!  Just unimaginably perfect!  I will try this with several others that I have had sitting in my storage box for a while. 

Time to get up and accomplish something.  (Probably not).. but will make the (littlest) effort anyway.  lol  Have a wonderful day.. :)

Doing a Bit of Cooking

Thursday Feb. 3, 2022... Cold, cold, cold.  There is now 5 1/2 inches of snow on the ground with ice crunching underneath the feet as we try to take the dogs out.  It's a pretty useless effort since neither one of our little poodles likes the cold at all. So we are sitting in our chairs for the most part watching the fireplace and being totally glad to  have it. 

Yesterday I made a large "soup".. I'm not sure exactly what to call it.. lol  Hamburger stew and to this one I added Ranch Style Beans... Lovely!  Tastes a bit like taco soup, but much more subtle.  Yum .. 

Jerry decided he wanted a pumpkin pie so I found a recipe for a butter pie crust.. my first.  Not my first pie crust... first butter crust.  It is truly wonderful. Can't seem to find the recipe I used ..but..sigh... this one is almost just like it.   Perfect Pie Crust ... give it a try!

Feb. 4, 2022... Several years ago I found a "tip" on the internet about how to sharpen knives if you don't have a sharpener.  The original idea was to run the edge of your knife around the top of a stoneware crock while turning it over and over.  I've seen my grandmother do this many times over the years.  Since I don't have a crock sitting on my counter, I turned over one of my coffee mugs... worked perfectly.  I do this often now. 

Well, the snow is still with us. The sun is out today but the temp is barely supposed to reach freezing.. it's 11 degrees right now.  Probably not much melting happening today, but maybe a little.  Hoping for enough to allow the doggies a place to go do their business! 

Have a great day today.  Drink lots of hot whatever you drink... I would say hug all your family and friends, but with Covid everywhere that's maybe not such a good idea.. but virtual hugs are ok...