A Few New Decs

Hello!  I thought I'd share with you a few new Christmas decorations I've found.  I saw an ad for the Vermont Country Store and clicked through and saw this little light set of bubbling lights that reminded of days of yore.  I have always been fascinated with these but have never had one.  Little bits of glitter bubble up in the glass candles.  Isn't it cute and retro?

They also had a big Bayberry pillar candle which I thought would make the house smell holiday-ish.. and it does, it's very spicy smelling.  I set the candle in a crystal bowl that Dayle and I had gifted to his mother one Christmas long ago and were able to bring it home, now it will always remind me of his mom who taught me to knit and crochet.  :-)

They also had this cute little retro ceramic tree of which I used to actually think was kinda tacky.. but now I appreciate how it makes me think of the 50s, which I actually was a young child having been born in 1949.

And while I was fulfilling childhood dreams, I've always wished for a Christmas tree with a toy train going around it and thus I saw this little tree on Amazon and now it's sitting on the cabinet beside my easy chair and the lights flicker and a cute little train is going around the base and under the tree is a cute little lighted village, too!  :-D  The painting behind the tree is one I did many years ago - it's from a photo my sister-in-law D'Ann took of my grandparent's old farmhouse in Oklahoma when she was back there visiting.  I used octopus ink to paint it that my friend who was a fisherman in Alaska harvested from an octopus that they caught in their net and they ate him and sent me the ink.  Can you believe that they had 6 children in that little house and raised them all there?  Grandma raised chickens, pigs and grandpa raised cows to feed their family.

l want to thank all of you who took the time to leave a comment or email me support to continue my quest to get healthy.  It means a lot to me.  I am now down 5 lbs.  Not much for 4 weeks of deprivation.. :-)  But I'm sticking with it.  I might cry and be depressed and wish for days of hot biscuits and fresh bread (and sweets) but I will do this.. I will.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

Blanket and Hat Finish and New Book

There is nothing more satisfying than putting the final touches on a long running project.  My son's work and fishing friend Ernie and his wife are expecting their second son in a few weeks so I wanted to make the new little guy something special to keep him warm when he arrives.  Thus I made him a blanket using my "Sea Shell on the Half Shell" pattern and my roll brim hat pattern.

For the edging I did one row of double crochet and one row of picots.  The blanket looks odd shaped in this photo but I was not able to get my arms high enough to get a centered photo.  :-)

I used my favorite yarn right now.. the Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable in "Candied" color using my G hook.

Kristi put it in a gift bag with a cute little onesie she bought for the baby and Travis took it to work today to deliver it.  :-)

The weekend was busy with stowing away turkey decorations and getting the tree put up and some lights across the front of the house.  Kristi steam cleaned the carpet in the living room and our master bedroom, too.  I finished up the hat with Buddy on my lap.

This magazine arrived so I finished up reading the Coastal Living mag that was all about Hawaii and have not cracked open this one as yet.  I'm going to savor this one.

Tree up.. the box of decorations is out.  I need to put away my nautical decor on the mantel and bring out the wreath and little trees and stockings.  

This is how the mantel looks most of the year, two large pieces of coral, my two brass ship's lanterns and two prized Japanese glass floats from Kristi's grandfather's collection.  On the hearth is a vintage cast iron cauldron filled with large pine cones and a basket of white bark logs from our Birch trees and a brass fireplace set I got from a 100 year old friend of mine, Weltha Wilson, at her estate sale.  And the print is by Captain Lars, a noted nautical painter.  I got this print as a trade from him for making a website for him.. and I met with him at his house in California to discuss what he wanted on the site.  That was quite a memory!  He and his wife were very charming.

I'm reading a new book on my iPad, below.  I'm not far into it but I'm enjoying learning about first Key West and now we've just landed in Cuba and I'm learning a lot about that place!  Are you reading anything you would like to recommend?

Kristi is having a procedure done today so we'll be taking care of her for a while.  Our son Shawn is starting a new job today at Nabisco where our son Travis is happily employed.  

I am struggling staying on the low carb regimen.. to be honest it's so hard to think of things for my meals.  Yesterday I had a half of a KNOW cookie for breakfast and didn't have anything until 4 pm when I was starving but not one thing in the fridge looked good at all so I had a melt down.  It's very disruptive to a household when one person can't eat what everyone else is eating.  I'm honestly not sure what to do.  But I will be off to swim soon.  Wishing you a wonderful week.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

Thanksgiving 2017

What a wonderful Thanksgiving Day we had!  I snapped this photo when all the food was placed on the table and we were ready to take our seats.  Menu:  Roasted 28 lb. turkey, sage dressing (by Dayle), candied yams, green bean bake, mashed potatoes, gravy, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, rolls and sparkling apple pomegranate juice.  

I had decided to partake of the feast and resume my low carb regimen today, the day after.  I did not have a roll!  :-)

My favorite memory is when 8 year old Caleb wanted to say a prayer first so before we began our meal he said this - "I want to thank the Indians for teaching us how to make this food, and for my family."  Hayden who is 9 said - "I want to thank my great grandfather for fighting in World War II and for this home and family."  Then we all went around and said what we were thankful for and mostly we're thankful for each other.  :-)

We all pitched in this year to help and it made the preparation so much easier!!  Dayle did the dressing and turkey, but our son Shawn chopped the vegetables for the dressing the night before.  Shawn and Caleb peeled and cut up the yams and potatoes for cooking.  Hayden and I set the table.  Kristi made the deviled eggs and did the dishes after dinner.  Shawn made the green bean casserole and I put the candied yams together with brown sugar, butter, a sprinkle of cinnamon and mini-marshmallows on top.  I also mashed the potatoes and Kristi and I made the gravy together.  With all the help, it was the easiest dinner ever!

After dinner we watched a heart-warming movie "Eight Below" about 8 sled dogs that got left on the South Pole during a storm emergency.  They were left tied up on a chain to be rescued the next day but the storm closed in and they could not be rescued.  The story is about how they fared for 6 months alone.  I would recommend this movie.  

Today I got this delivery from Wool Warehouse in England!  :-)  I am going to participate with Lucy at the blog Attic24 in a blanket "crochet-along" making a blanket.  Kristi just spotted the bag and said.. "More yarn????"  :-D

So, back on track I had warmed up turkey and the green beans only.  And I'm off to swim soon, too.  Yay me.  lol.  I hope you had a great day if you celebrate Thanksgiving.. if you don't.. I invite you to try it!  You'll like it!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

Giving Thanks and Baby Blanket Edging

Our 8 year old 3rd grader grandson brought this amazing artwork home yesterday.  My heart melted.  :-)  The tablecloth is being laundered to put on fresh tomorrow morning at which time I will request that my tall sons get the Thanksgiving china out of the cabinet above the fridge, and I'll set the table for the dinner.  Dayle will be up early making his sage bread stuffing and getting the 28 lb. turkey in the oven.  I will make the green bean casserole, candied yams and mashed potatoes.  I'm the gravy master which is accomplished when the turkey is done.  Then voila! A FEAST!  

I'm working on the edging of the baby blanket for our son's friend's expected baby.  Being that it's a boy, I'm doing a simple border.  I've done double crochet so far.. I'm thinking one more row of picot?  Any suggestions?

I hope there is not too much pink in this blanket for a boy!

I'm totally sold on this shell pattern for blankets.  It's lacy but tight, easy to make, warm and pretty.  I added the pattern to the bottom of this post in case you'd like it.

New growth on the Hibiscus.. love.

I do love my crocheted rocks.  I am not sure where best to display them.  One on a desk as a paperweight would be lovely.  We used to have them on the windowsill but the new windows don't leave as big of a ledge.   Would it be weird to hang them on a wall?  Ideas?

Well.. I have to get some low carb lunch in me and pack my swim bag and head to the pool.  

If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I am sending my wishes for a wonderful day full of good food, friends and/or family and loving fellowship.  I give my thanks for my warm home, family, grandkids, friends and the ability to still volunteer and be of service to my community. I'm also thankful for you, my dear readers - the best part of doing this blog is the friends I've made from near and far, circling the globe.  :-)   What are you thankful for?

((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

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“Shells on the Half Shell” –  Blanket Pattern by Teresa Kasner

I am sure someone else has written a pattern similar somewhere – but I made this up as I went along and I love how it looks like rows of shells.

I used worsted weight yarn and a size G hook.  You could use finer yarn and smaller hooks or heavier yarn and a bigger hook if you’d like.

I chain as long a chain as I want my blanket to be wide – I don’t count and it always works out.  But if you want, you can chain in 3s until the width you want.  For a baby blanket you could do 90 chains.

Once you have the chain as wide as you want – then chain 2 more – turn and do 3 double crochets into the 2^rd chain from the hook, skip one chain, do one single crochet in the next chain, skip one and do 3 double crochets – and on across.

When you do the last 3 dc shell and the last sc – chain 3 and turn, do 1 dc in the base of the first chain, sk 1 ch, sc, sk 1 ch, do 3 dc in sc of last row, or the “ditch” between the shells on the first row.  Continue on until the end where you’ll do 2 dc in the last stitch of the shell below. 

On that 2^nd row, the 2 double crochets on the beginning and the end are what I call a “half shell”.  Each row is either all shells or one that starts and ends with a “half shell”.

3rd row, chain one, turn, do 3 double crochet in sc or "ditch" of last row between shells.

Just keep going until the blanket is the size you want.  You can do a square or a rectangle depending on it’s use.  Baby blankets are nice in squares while lap blankets are nice in rectangles.

You can leave it as is or you can do shells around the whole blanket when done to make it look a little prettier.

--> Copyright by Teresa Kasner, May 24, 2017

Hibiscus Bloom and Lazy Weekend

I was so happy on Saturday as my beloved Hibiscus gave me a bloom after I'd repotted it and severely pruned it.  I admit, I left one stem uncut and this is the one which flowered.  I used my iPhone on all the photos in this post.  I'm very pleased with the results from my iPhone 7 plus.  Look at this amazing bloom!  See the fuzzy end of the stamen?  A truer red cannot be found.

I sidled behind the dining table to get up close and personal with this flower for it's photo shoot.  :-)  It's aiming it's face at the sunshine and light through the window.

A side view to show the long and amazing stamen of the flower.

As you can see I pruned it a lot.  

It's exciting to see the new growth coming below all the cuts.

We had a nice easygoing weekend.  I had subscribed to Victoria magazine after not getting it for years and I was pleased to see how many interesting articles and photos in this issue.  Here is a wool, yarn and woven goods mill in New England.

The cover is beautiful with a lovely bouquet in a hollowed out pumpkin.

They also visited a farm store in Washington State that looked amazing.

The autumnal photos were stunning.

Another article with a beautiful barn, horses and an outdoor table all set for a dinner.  I couldn't help but think the barn would have been much prettier in "barn" red with white trim.  :-)

Another of the magazines I subscribe to.. the cover thrilled all of us being VW bus lovers.  My son even enjoyed reading through this issue having just visited Hawaii for 10 days.  I'm still at the beginning of reading this.. I'm looking forward to more photos of a Christmas in Hawaii.

When clearing the TV cabinet for the changing of the old TV to the new one.. I put my collection of crocheted rocks I did on the dining table.  I noticed that the boys had stacked them up.. so I decided to see if I could get the smallest one to stay long enough for a photo.. lol.  Success!

I finished the body of the baby blanket this weekend and now will do a border edging in blue as the baby is to be a boy.  I'll get some photos when that is done.  I am off to swim soon.. the morning began grey and rainy and now it's kind of sunny.. I hope it stays that way for my swim!!  Have a great week.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

Colorful Leaves, More Parade and TV

Our trees are holding on to their leaves for a long time this Autumn, this is a Sweet Gum I think.. in the parking lot of the pool/gym where I swim.  Isn't it a beauty?

I'm amazed at the colors this year.

I got a comment on my parade post from a photographer, named Lloyd Smith, he gave me a link to his photos from the parade.  I grabbed a few to show you but want to give Lloyd Smith the photo credit for them.  This first one is the Sons of the American Revolution who marched ahead of our car.

Here we are, Dayle driving, me as passenger and our two grandsons in the back seat tossing candy to the kids along the parade route.

Here is Caleb.. he wasn't in the other photos we got.  :-)

Kristi loves her VW bus.. so when she saw this pillow she snapped it up.  Isn't it cute?

Dayle and Travis went shopping at Costco yesterday afternoon.. and look what they brought home.  A new 75 inch TV.  Really?  It barely fits across the corner!  I'm having to get used to the life size people on there.  LOL!  Does your husband ever bring home something like this?  

I'm heading off to swim soon and Dayle is dropping me off at the pool and then running some errands, then he'll pick me up and we're heading to my younger sister's house in Hillsdale, OR.  My brother and his wife are passing through town and wanted to get together with his 3 sisters, so Denise is making dinner for us all.  :-)  I've been on low carb for 2 and a half weeks now and have lost 3 or 4 lbs.  Gadzooks.. at this rate I will take forever to trim down.  Wish me more luck.  Do you have any fun weekend plans?  We don't, just relaxing with the family.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)