Ms Grundy again

Pretty proud of myself- Jerry and I got our taxes done yesterday. As usual, we owe the fed and get money back from MO. Ben (our son) n Heather have chickens. Today they discovered a Husky in their yard. He broke into their pen. Someone visiting a neighbor. Seven hens missing, three dead, and lots of feathers (Ben was at work) Heather and all her family were out chasing the dog. Her dad, who is very ill with liver failure, fell. He was a little banged up, and someone called an ambulance ( He’s okay now). The ambulance driver went to school with my daughter Rebecca, and knew Ben and Becca's husband David. ( Ah, smaaall towns!) The dog had an air finder tag. Police were called to find out what to do. Luckily they are outside city limits or they would be fined for having chickens without a permit. But then the policeman discovered that some of the hens were special breeds and were worth $100. But Heather said she didn’t want to press charges Meantime Ben is working on a road cul...

 There's a ravelry group I have just joined :  Quilters Knitting They have a UFO challenge by quarters.  The UFOs I want to work on for myself are: 1. Celtic Solstice (from 2014??)- nearly done-needs maybe two more passes quilting  https://caro488.blogspot.com/ 2014/04/celtic-solstice- update.html?m=1 2. My grandson ( then age 11) sewed one of these blocks. Neither he nor I can tell which one. I want to finish this for him. Top and backing ready to go  3. Waterford -need at least 14 more 25-patches-then I may want it bigger- https://caro488. blogspot.com/2025/10/ waterford.html?m=1 4. Tulip Time- ready for sashing  https://caro488.blogspot.com/ 2025/10/bonnie-hunter-again- tulip-time.html?m=1 5. Moonflower - Top and backing ready to go — https://caro488.blogspot.com/ 2024/12/bonnie-hunter-you-got- me-again.html?m=1 6. Indigo Way(from 2024)- Top and backing ready to go—  https://caro488.blogspot.com/ 2024/01/blog-post.html?m=1 7. Daughter’s thrift store...

 

 

 A long time ago, I thought, Well, I sew the rest of my clothes, including underpants,  and bras are expensive…. So I bought a pattern, watched a bunch of videos, looked at fabric sources, and figured out what size underwire I needed, and ordered a set.  I had a couple of bras that needed repair, and immediately realized that my machine would not, could not sew close enough to the underwires to make a neat ( or even passable) row of stitching.  Do all those people who make bras and post on Insta or on their blogs, have industrial machines, not wear underwires, or just don’t care? Thus ends my saga of braking. Haven’t bought a bra that wasn’t on sale for years. Waiting for VS annual bra sale…

Re: Karen Brown decluttering challenge From:  Caro Dean Date: Fri, 26 Dec 2025 15:44:15 CST  One of my Stashbuster friends made a comment about Flylady. Oh my gosh, I hadn't heard of FlyLady in ages! I read all her stuff at one time, and really resonated with the idea of shining your sink. She didn't say "Clean the kitchen!" or "Wash everything!"  The idea was to just get one thing you were proud of, not overdo it or try to change everything all at once.   I never subscribed to her idea of constant email reminders, though. Or even scheduled cleaning. I rebelled against anyone telling me it was time to mop the floor! I can see the floor, and I'll decide when to mop it, and it might not be Tuesday.   When I was younger, I would scrub the tile with a brush, then rinse it more than once, dry it with towels that were about to go in the washing machine anyway, and seal it with (what was the name of that semi-permanent stuff - had to be removed with ammonia???)...

Winter's Frost is the name of the pattern (from Ravelry), for Denise, Lynnette, Rebecca, Bev, and me, respectively. (I rarely knit socks that have a specific Left and Right.)  

 I see a pattern here: Gründl - for Denise (orange), Lynnette (lilac), and Rebecca (aqua) Also Pairfect for Bev. (I know that you don't have to include the yellow that marks the start of the stripes patterning(so that you can easily calculate matching socks), but I CAN use the yellow yarn if I want.) And Hawthorne for me. (I know it says Stroll, that was the label that was with the yarn, but it feels and looks more like Hawthorne Handpainted.)

 So, there I was, sitting in my rocker, reading and knitting, when I glimpsed movement out of the corner of my eye. (Now, I get this often, because I have a lot of floaters in my eyes, which leads to moving shadows in my peripheral view.) But this time, when I looked to my left, this guy was watching me. Isn't he gorgeous? He's not as big as he looked to me at first - about the size of my pinky fingernail. (The scratched brass is the foot of my lamp, and the Huntington is actually from a yarn label.)   But he was clearly watching me. If you search for Malachite spider, you get   " Bold jumping spiders have chelicerae (CH-lis-a-ray) or mouth parts are often metallic blue-green"  Phidippus audax https://infinitespider.com/bold-jumping-spiders/ He saw me looking at him, and disappeared quickly- but then, so did I. I'm not afraid of spiders, but maybe I am afraid of JUMPING spiders!

 As I have said before, Bonnie Hunter's quilts grab me. This one I purchased at the same time as Tulip Time. It was inspired by an Irish tiled floor on Bonnie's trip. This is 3 large pieces, each made from 4 identical squares. I now have 3 more - total 6 done. I posted to Stashbusters group, and someone messaged me not to get discouraged, because this quilt is "labor intensive." I'll say! Each 'block' is 5 by 5 - 9 squares and 16 Half Square Triangles - each 10 1/2" 'block has 41 different pieces of fabric! Wowsers!

  Another quilt I copied - saw one, graphed it out using 2 1/2" strips... Jacob (age 12) saw me sewing, and asked if he could help. (He has sewn with me before, when he wasn't tall enough to reach the foot pedal. He put the pedal on the table, and pressed it with his right hand while guiding the fabric with his left. He was pretty good at maintaining a 1/4" seam!) He sewed an entire block. I later put these together, and then asked him which block he sewed. He couldn't tell, and neither could I. So he's a pretty good quilt piecer! I added another row and borders, and intend to quilt it and give it to him.

  Made from parts of 2 or 3 Layer Cakes - saw the quilt and wanted to try it.  I graphed it out, and calculated sizes of the pieces. If you know the name of the pattern, please let me know...

 Judy Bowman gave us 2 large trash bags full of quilt parts. This kit was included. One Layer Cake ( 10" squares) and one matching set of 5" charm squares Doesn't look very appealing at first...

I bought 2 more Bonnie Hunter patterns. They both grabbed me at the moment I first saw them.  I truly don't mind - I've made several of her free mysteries over the year, and I want to support her.

I read 170 books in 2022, 223 books in 2023, and 200 books in 2024. (Goodreads) Just found a notebook in which I listed 543 books that I read in 1993-94. I added a description of each, but rarely left stars, except for 5s and 2s. Do you think I should add them to my Goodreads and Librarything? Hahahahahaha

 Here's a truly Random scrap quilt made from 2 1/2 by 4 1/2" pieces and 4 1/2" squares pink plaid backing - tied with pink For some reason, someone gave me 2 Supermario panels, and one Wonder Woman panel. By just adding some 3 1/2" borders, they were large enough to make a small child's quilt. I decided that the Mario quilts would be all masculine - no pinks, pastels, or florals. I also found some navy solid fabric. That turned into pinwheels of navy/brights. I did the binding on that one yesterday.   I am still cutting navy and brights for the second.   Wonder Woman may be the same - dark/bright pinwheels, but this time including more "girly" fabrics - depends wht I find in my scraps.   I also had a big bunch of super bright orange pieces ( I don't like orange)  cut to 2 1/2 by 6 1/2" - that have become lightning stripe 6 1/2"squares. I just turned around, and a piece of green fireworks print fabric jumped out at me and demanded to be add...

cleaning up leftover sock yarn  

 I have done several Bonnie Hunter Quiltville mysteries over the years: Easy Street, Celtic Solstice, En Provence. I bought a few fat quarters for variety, but mostly had all the fabric I needed for them. I started Rhododendron Way, and still have several Blocks of tiny burgundy triangles with white backgrounds. But I didn't like the pink parts and the tiny aqua strips, so I never finished that one. I could, or I could change the colors, but I haven't yet. Last year, Indigo Way grabbed me - I had lots of those colors, and finished the entire mystery with just the scraps I had on hand This year's mystery, Old Town, the color combination puzzled me. I wasn't sure about the coral/peach and aqua with the bright red, but I had some coral and some aqua, and lots of red, so... But, then she asked us to make 4-patches that will end up only 2" square in the quilt, and I think that's too small for me. I have already got some parts done, so I'll get all the steps, but...

 Cleaning up and reorganizing fabric has its benefits: first, a navy skirt that I had never worn, and a Supermario panel became pinwheels with a red-bordered back Then a pile of odd 5 1/2" squares needed a couple added to make this (with a dusty pink floral back): Then a pile of peach tri-strips just weren't enough, but I found some pieces to add. These also ended up a strange size, since the lightest peach strips were NOT, in fact, 2 1/2". So the squares were 6 1/4" - which I trimmed to 6" before cutting more pieces.  

 Gothic Lace Doily by Elizabeth Ann White  There is only one row remaining to do, and have about 12" of thread left. But I think it looks fine just as it is.  It was not lying flat until I wet-blocked it. Super easy to do - finished it in 2 days