Dumb moments

it seems as though any time I take pictures while in the car, parked of course, I get one good picture and then end up with three blurry pictures of my car.  I can be anywhere else and get a decent shot but most of my car pictures have issues.

Yesterday before choir rehearsal, I was quickly putting in earrings and chose some yellow flower studs. One side went in ok but the other side gave me fits. I finally left the back of the earring dangling in my rush vowing to pitch the earrings when I got home.
After church I removed the right one only to realize it had no back. That confirmed my decision to throw them out. Reaching for the left one I removed the wonky back and the earring wouldn't budge. Earrings tend to do that when they are attached to your ear with a back. What I'm trying to say is I had one earring with no back, one with TWO. Because apparently after 37 years of pierced ears I apparently forgot how they function.

I did manage to get a couple of good "beauty in odd places" shots.
The curve of the cactus was so pretty, how could I not take a picture!

Is fall here?

its nearing Halloween time, people are asking "Do you have plans for thanksgiving?" And of course thoughts turn to what gifts can I make for Christmas? We will be in the 90's today but when I got a craving for fall soup, I made it anyway.

Tried the first sample with cheese-something I don't usually do...and won't do again. Soup should not string when you eat it!

It starts out like chili but I like a bit of pasta in it so by day two it looks less like chili and more like goulash.

The underlying fact here is I cooked! The scales and I had a talk Saturday and we are not friends right now. Thus, cooking needs to happen more and less of the "I'll just have a sandwich" mentality.

Today I don my work armor and will attempt to complete the workday with grace and dignity.

Sunday morning reboot

there seems to be endless possibilities today.

Yesterday I started some work with tiny skeins of yarn. I'm not far into it so I can still kill it but it was fun to get creative with a three inch skein of yarn.

I sewed a little on my miscellany project. Some leftover patriotic stripes and I started putting those ugly mystery squares together. Sometimes you have to start off wrong to get to the right path.

I finally used my gift card and bought an adult coloring book and some markers. I had fun coloring last night. I'm no where near perfect but boy was I having fun choosing colors and letting go of the frustration of the previous day.

I let my mistakes get to me. I got knocked down a peg. I was condescended to (is that even proper grammatical usage?) and I let it get to me.  Forging ahead blindly (which is not my forte) can be dangerous as you can't see obstacles in time to avoid them or minimize the hit. I barged in, plowed through and was somehow surprised by the backlash. Lesson learned and I remembered that I don't take making mistakes well and struggle even more when they are pointed out by someone I don't respect.

So. Sunday morning reset.
God bless those in stitches ladies. RH you rock!

It's all Tay tay's fault

choir night. Three weeks ago I was going to quit. Stress had made the director a right bastard and quite offensive. I'm not embarrassed to say that I considered quitting, I considered telling him off, I considered finding another church just to get away and told my loved ones I was done. I am a little embarrassed to say what caused me to turn around. That darned Taylor Swift did it.  It's her fault. Haters gonna hate hate hate and I decided eventually to shake, shake, shake. Shake it off.  I realized that I was enjoying singing again. I had begun to realize (not for the first time) that I'm never going to be perfect or sing professionally and that's ok. I'm also going to sing or not but no one is going to tell me I can't. No one. This little light of mine WILL shine, dagnabbit!

Fast forward to tonight. I did well. I was the only alto and I held my own. Oh Taylor, ooh, look what you made me do!

Butterscotch drop

i finished the butterscotch drop prayer shawl from the four sweet rolls that I had gotten as a birthday gift from the maternal unit. I looked the colors but the yarn would narrow down to super thin in a random pattern and if there were a few ties that appeared in the middle of a skein which wouldn't be bad if the color was the same. No wonder they were on clearance. As pretty as they are, there will be no more sweet rolls of the yarn kind being purchased by me.

It was nice to finish after the debacle of the QOV. A lemon size ball of string had to be cut off as the edging of all my pieces frayed. One turquoise strip will have to be removed in its entirety. Sad but fixable with a lesson learned. I'll work on the fix tonight.

This was started in August with needles given from a friend and yarn given from the maternal unit. It started life as a blessing and ended up being a comfort to me last night as I finished. I hope it brings comfort to its forever home, too.

Beauty and a beast of a mess

I clean the lint trap on the dryer with each load. With furry critters and the dust that invades every crevice here, it's necessary. So a couple of days ago, this is what I found.

Instantly I thought how pretty. It was a lovely design for a sweater, I thought.  I'd apparently washed a disposable tissue. It just made me realize how you can find beauty anywhere, even in a lint trap.

The fast forward a few days and I thought I needed to wash my quilt top. I cried when it came out. One strip is disintegrated and the whole border is missing at least a quarter inch. I could barely see where I was trimming because my eyes were so wet. The dryer just buzzed so I'll see how bad the damage is now that it's dry.  More tissues are on standby.  If it's bad, I'm not sure I can bear to snap a picture.

personal status

Lots have been happening but not much of it craft wise.  Two ER visits did cause a new knitting project to get started but that mostly the last week was an experience in just getting by. Lack of sleep and worry about loved ones will flip the switch on your mood and giggles turn to tears or growls in a heartbeat. Added to this is the near breakdown of the communication between maternal unit and sibling. Things have never been perfect but it's taken a hit recently and it feels like my younger self again trying to make peace. Uber stressful.

New employment is wearing down to be less strange every day but the "newbie" moniker is starting to chafe a little. I've asked for more to do and it's a lesson in patience to wait until it's approved.

In the meantime, my mil approved of the QOV top so that was pleasing. The fabric I wanted for the back has gone MIA. You can't trust online inventories. Grrrr.

Guess I better get started on the day outside this chair.
Have a great one y'all.