Hello April

 April is starting with showers!

 I love this calendar so much! Heather did a great job! She made one for us and one for each of her sisters and herself. What a great gift!

 

A bad pic of a stemmed glass in the criss cross coaster.

 

Baby Boone is the picture of her daddy in the top picture! And going by the caption in the bottom pic, she's a rabble rouser like her late Uncle Joseph! 

I've been watching Handiquilter videos to refresh my memory.

Quick Project

 Years ago, my friend Barbara or I found a free pattern for something called criss cross coasters.

 Here's a closeup of one. The idea is, if you take a stemmed glass like a wine glass, and wiggle it around where the colors join, you can life the glass with the coaster attached to it. 

We made them with charm packs. We each probably made hundreds of them, gifting them to our kids, family and friends. Each coaster used 6 of the 5 inch squares. I hadn't made any in years.  We have them all over the house, and don't change them out by the seasons.

The other night, Steph texted me that she had many more darker, wintery coasters than lighter, summery ones, and if I got into a sewing mood would I make her some?

 I went to the charm squares I have, and pulled 3 packs of them, and made her 21 light and fun colors. Ralph is at the post office right now mailing them to her, along with mailing the last 4 chemo caps to my friend. 

Today the HVAC guys are coming to do the preseason checkup on our AC. It's a beautiful, though chilly day out- blue sky, no breeze, but only 37 at the moment. The high today will be in the mid 50's and sunny.

Not much going on

 I just hadn't gotten around to blogging. Not much new or exciting, plenty to rage about with Prez Musk and the First Felon. 

Jul danced and acted in her final play at Oakcrest. Hard to believe she's a senior!

It's spring, and Weber's is open! We had our first lunch there of the season.

 

Baby Boone and her Pop, my little brother!

 Manda's beautiful Huckleberry got groomed!

And I finished the last of the chemo caps for my friend. We'll mail them out tomorrow. They were a labor of love.
 

One month old!

 That's how old this little munchkin is!

 Too cute for words! May she grow up to be a strong, opinionated, fierce woman! 

It's been a good week, weatherwise. In the 50's and 60's, so nice. But Mother Nature has been known to screw with us, so we'll see.

Government wise, not so much. How can two men screw up so many things in such a short time? And why the fect are the other men not growing a spine? It's so maddening.

I've been making chemo caps for a long time friend who's been diagnosed with cancer. So far I've mailed her two.

 We mailed them yesterday. 

I finished the multicolored one last night. From a facebook posting of directions. So easy, you make a big rectangle, seam up the sides, and gather the top. 

We/I am continuing to try to empty the big freezer, it's an ongoing project. I'm only buying replacement items that I'll need soon, I want to use up the stock of meat and veggies before replacing them. Last weekend we emptied the two lazy susans that I keep canned goods in, to see what we have. I only had to get rid of 3 very outdated items, and I found things that were on the shopping list. I have to do it maybe once a year.  

No sewing lately, I have the yarn for 3 more chemo caps that are the priority, and I've been reading.

Quiet week

 I did not turn on the TV at all Tuesday, didn't want to add to the First Felon's ratings for the dismal state of our union. I read snippets of the action on Facebook, and that was more than enough.

 Hello March!

 I've been going thru photos on google, and came across these. When Manda lived in FL, she and Steph were pretending to be lost in the jungle of her back yard.

And I assume Heather was going to a school function. The hair! 

We went to Shop Rite on Monday, and Hobby Lobby on Tuesday. I hate HL's politics, but I needed soft yarn to make chemo caps for a close friend. Now I just need to get butt in gear, stop reading, and start crocheting!

Hello March!

 March is bookended with brother's birthdays! Frank is 75 today, and Mike will be 69 on the 31st. We also have Jules turning 18 on Monday, and the sad one year anniversary of Big Ed's death, also on Monday. 

Another page on the family calendar!

 And another finish to my collection of baby afghans. The blue is actually a baby blue, it photographed darker.

I did my part for no spend February 28, I did not spend a dime! And my rage is increased exponentially after the fiasco at the White House yesterday, with the First Felon making even more of a fool of himself, and the spineless republicans falling over themselves to agree and defend his actions. We're a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. It's so disheartening that he's fecking things up so much.

A lovely weekend

 Steph was home for the weekend! She has meeting this week in Virginia Beach, so came here first, arriving Friday night. She was going to fly to VA, but Heather decided to drive her! About a 5-6 hour drive.

So we went to see Baby Boone! Turns out her full name is Mary Jade Boone Oehrl, which I love so much. Mary for my mom, J for Joseph, and Ade for Adeline, who was Samantha's grandmother. She's so tiny and sweet. Her father said she goes from sleeping to awake and screaming for food in about 30 seconds!

 

Every princess needs a crown, so I whipped this one out for her. Samantha loved it, says she'll put it on her when they visit her grandparents, so they know who rules, LOL.

Steph brought me a late Christmas gift and made me cry. It's a suncatcher with my parents pic. I love it so much!

 

I borrowed this pic of a Mardi Gras colored hat. I may make one in a bigger size for Boone.

Steph and Heather left after we visited Baby Boone, and got to VA Beach last evening. Heather will hang out with her between meetings today, and head home tomorrow. Lots of sister time! 

It was so good to see my baby, and I was so sad for her to leave, but she'll be back, maybe in April.

Windy Monday

 It was windy and rainy yesterday, and windy today. Like, 50 mph winds! Our trash cans blew all over the place windy.

 Baby Boone! That bow! 

Heather brought me beautiful roses for my birthday, they smell so good!

 Someone else had a birthday! Huckleberry was a year old on Valentine's Day! She had a party Saturday with 4 other puppy frieds and some two legged friends also.

I didn't have the TV on all weekend, I can't stand hearing about Prez Musk and the First Felon. Just too disgusting and enraging. Sigh.

 

It's my birthday!

 72 today, yikes! How did I get so old, so fast?

Last night my niece Samantha gave birth to Boone Oehrl, 6 lbs, 3 oz, so a teeny one. I asked my brother about the name, he said it's French for good, but a different spelling.  Being Mike, he said Boone is short for Baboon. Smart aleck. 

Squeaky in her cat bed. They also have a cat teepee that I sent a while ago, so she and Storm each have a hideout.

I have to get some thinner yarn and try to make these for Baby Boone.

 

I finished this yesterday. She's an automatic read for me, her books are filled with humor, romance, families, and pets, and a little smut, LOL. 

We got about 5 inches of snow, followed by rain, and it'll be 50 today, so melt that white stuff!

And President Musk and the First Felon are trying to melt our government, and the spineless Republicans are letting him. I just hope the First Felon keeps shoveling in the cheeseburgers. 

February

 

I'm front and center, because it's my birthday month! I was almost a Valentine! And it will be Baby Girl's birthday month, her mama is probably being induced the night of the 11th.

 This was on Deals and Steals, so I sent it to my Seattle grandkitties. Manda said Squeaky has taken up residence in it.

 April's pic was just released, these are so adorable. My pattern should come next week.

And February is again/still/yet filled with rage. I feel like I'm watching a slow moving train as President Musk gets ready to steal from all of us, and the First Felon fiddles. And yet so much of the country thinks it's just great. Sigh. 

And for even more fun, there were fraud charges on my credit card statement, which led to a half hour on the phone, cancelling the card, a refund, and a new card being sent. Sigh.

February!

 January lasted soooo long! Especially since President Musk and the First Felon took over and are trying to dismantle the place. Every day it's some new felon.

I gave up on Canalboat, it just wasn't doing it for me.

 I started this one over the weekend. 

I bought a new Kindle, which should come tomorrow. I traded in my Kindle Oasis, which was 4 years old, had terrible battery life, and took too long to change pages.

This morning I had a foot doctor appointment, and we dropped off books at the library. Of course we got re-routed by construction. 

At least the snow is all gone. Finally. 

Finally!

 January has been 3 years long, at least. I have the TV on in the background, talking about the awful crash in DC. So terribly sad, and so preventable. I'm just waiting for the First Felon to blame it on Joe Biden. 

I have watched the news in very small doses. I'm so sick of the fecking republicans, such a spineless group. The decisions that President Musk and FOCUS are making are so awful, and the republicans smile and pretend they don't know what's going on.  And so many people are defending the cruel decisions- no wonder I'm still full of rage.

Anyway.

 Canalboat is the name of the baby afghan that I've started. I'm having some trouble getting into it.

 Our county library is running a craft supply swap! Such a great idea! I have a bunch of kits and materials that I will donate, and I don't want anything in return. Since I don't think I'll live to be 300, I guess I have no chance of using up everything I have. And I had brought a lot of things home from Mom's house.

Warmer today

 It's going up to 42 today! Melt the rest of this ice! 

We just got back from errands. Haircuts for both of us, Aldi, and paid the property tax for this quarter. 

 Ralph hung this for me this morning. For years it hung in the family room, til we had it painted. The old hanger was in poor shape, so we got a curtain rod yesterday and he hung it up. It's one of the favorite things I've made. If I remember right, it was done with thangles. 

I also went thru the box of things for the midarm and put them in a drawered cart. 

I was a slug all weekend, no crafting. I think I slept half of Saturday, and read the other half.

99% done

Brrr, another cold one- 5 degrees this morning! But it's going up to 32, a full ten degrees less cold than yesterday. 

  The denim and flannel quilt is 99% done. I just have to run a row of stitching all around the edges so the fraying will be controlled. Snipping the denim will be done by Eddie, Steph and Jules- I haven't told them yet. It's shown on my queen bed, and Eddie has a full bed, due to space limitations in his room. The plaids are leftovers from my late dad's flannel shirts. I'm happy how it came out. I did units of rows of 3, sewed them together, then sewed the two units of 6 rows together. It was like wrestling an alligator! So heavy and unwieldy. My Janome 6500 handled the thickness like a charm, with the aid of a jeans needle. 

And I still have stacks of denim squares, and denim/flannel squares! I'm not ready to tackle another one. Maybe when Garrett, who's 9, is a teenager. 

 Canalboat is the baby afghan I did the first row on last night. I actually had all the colors needed! 

Ralph is at breakfast with the Veterans. When he gets home we plan to make a Sam's Club run.

Are we really only on day 4 of President Musk and the First Felon? My despair has been overshadowed by my rage at this point. I can only watch the news in about ten minute spurts. I'm trying to not let them keep me up at night, but it's hard. 

Brrr!

 The high today will be 22! Yikes!

 We got some snow, 3-4 inches. Because it sleeted first, it's a frozen mess. The boro plowed last night around 1 a.m., so the sun hopefully can do some melting. The sky is a beautiful blue at the moment.

 Another 3 rows done, and sewed to the first 3 rows. It's like wrestling an alligator to get the heavy rows sewn together.

 Finished! I'm happy with the non-traditional coloring of this baby afghan.

 I ordered this yesterday, after thinking about it for a day. It just speaks to me.

 And I signed up for these cuties. January and February are ordered, and I'm on the list for the rest of the months. 

Sigh. And we get a FOTUS today. What a not funny joke. I'm not watching a second of the proceedings today, and I'm off Facebook til tonight. What a sad state of affairs.