WIP and health update

Hello, dear friends. These past few days have been busy. Unfortunately, not a lot has gotten done on the crafty front but I have been able to catch up on some other work. After I retired from almost 25 years of bookkeeping and running my own business, I continued to help a couple of non-profit corporations here in town pro bono. I enjoy having something to do and since bookkeeping seems to be my forte, it made sense to help them out if I could. However, feeling sick and tired all the time made me consider giving it up entirely. It's really hard to stay on top of things and get reports out as due when you just don't feel like doing anything at all. But I am happy to say that the inhaler is working its magic and I'm feeling much, much better.

I didn't realize how much I was struggling to get air in until I started using the inhaler and suddenly, I was breathing much easier and not feeling as tired all the time. Amazing! I just didn't know how bad it was, but it is soooooo good to be able to walk to the mailbox and back without having to gasp for air. I've even managed to do a little housework (not that I'm all that eager for that) and not had to struggle. I still get tired easily but that's because I also have other health issues. I don't like to talk about my health issues much because I don't want to be a victim. I feel that life is what you make it and as long as I can laugh and see the up side of life, I will be okay. I'm easily entertained so laughing isn't much of a problem. The last couple of months have been hard to keep that upbeat attitude, but it has helped most days.

Onto other things. We had some really good beef stew on Sunday. I have been wanting some good hearty stew for a couple of weeks but haven't felt like taking the time to get it going. I was not as pleased with this batch as I normally am. It lacked something. I will have to tweak and try again. I also decided that I wanted crescent rolls with the stew. Now I'm not a bread baker. I think that gene was left out when I was being put together. I commented to my daughter (she of the domestic goddess sort) that it took quite a while to find crescent rolls without hydrogenated oils. We try to avoid foods with this. She told me I could make them and not have to worry about what was in them. Nope, ain't gonna happen. As much as I would love to bake my own bread, since I gave away my bread machine, that hasn't been happening around here. I do, however, have a simple recipe that the domestic goddess left with me the last time she visited. I might give it whirl one day.

Let me tell you about my daughter. She is 26 weeks pregnant with our 4th grandchild. This is her first and she is just glowing. She posts a photo each week on her Facebook page and her smile just gets bigger and bigger. She inherited her paternal grandmother's homemaking skills. Heaven knows she didn't get any from me. She (and her hubby, he's a great cook) bakes their own bread, cans and freezes tons of things during the growing season, knits, quilts, etc, etc, etc. They belong to a CSA and get boxes of fresh locally grown produce from spring to fall and they make the most of it. She and her hubby are vegetarian so she is always looking for ways to change recipes to suit their lifestyle. I am so proud of this girl. We had our problems when she was a teenager and young woman, but we are now very close. She lives 4 hours away and we talk at least 2 times a week if not more. This is her glowing beautiful self at 26 weeks. That's Hobbs the Cat looking out the door. They also have Calvin, Gracie and Buddy (all cats) and Daisy (sweet dog). Daisy is usually in the pictures but she was out barking at something so Hobbs filled in.

This was made last week on their 1st anniversary at the park where they got married.

Progress on Jellybean's blanket is moving along. I'm afraid I'm going to run out of yarn. It's not even close to being square yet and the balls are dwindling fast. This is where I am so far.

There is one more color on the fourth repeat of colors and it's a rectangle. I'm not sure what I will do. I bought the yarn when I visited Abby in June. I know the lot numbers won't be the same IF she can get the same yarn but maybe it will be far enough apart that it won't be too noticeable. I will just have to wait and see what happens.

I'm also working on some snowflake items for a Snowflake Christmas swap I've joined. I can't show those since I don't know yet who I'm paired with and I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'm enjoying this one just like I did the Autumn swap. I've so loved looking at snowflake patterns and trying to decide what I'm going to do. My biggest love is snowmen and I'm finding all kinds of them to do for me but they will have to take a backseat for now.

So there you are, all caught up in the twists and turns of my life. Thank you all so much for your kind words and comments while I was struggling these past few weeks. I so enjoyed hearing from you and each of you touched my heart and made me smile when I so needed it.

Thank you as always for stopping by. I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are in this great, big, beautiful world.

Hugs,
Sharon