We took some things to one of the thrift stores to donate. DH had some lighthouse lamps that have been sitting on a closet shelf and never seemed to remember to get them out, but he did yesterday. He collects lighthouse stuff, but he never really liked the lamps -- they were gifts -- and he felt like that was a good thing to give away because they still worked. Maybe someone else can enjoy them.

We also had some other things to donate and it is easier to give a few things at a time...sadly the place we take them you have to climb up steps to take donations so it is a pain. Most of the volunteers are older than I am, so I don't feel like I should ask them to help either. So, doing it more often with less stuff each time seems to be the answer.

We went to our usual round of thrift stores on this cool, windy, rainy day. Did not find a thing we needed or wanted, but had a nice time looking. Of course when we donate, it makes me think how little we really need.

Yesterday I canned some applesauce and apple juice. Over the past couple of years I had given a friend some jelly and jam and had repeatedly asked that he return my jars and rings. I don't think that's much to ask -- just return them when he was done. Well, he didn't. Then he hinted he wanted more jelly. I made a comment that canning isn't free and besides paying for the stuff like fruit, sugar, petting, jars, lids, and rings cost money too. So, he made a big deal by going and buying some new jars. He bought a package of 6 and gave me three. I know this will sound like a snob, but they are not name brand. I've tried using generic jars and have not had good luck with them. I'm almost afraid to use them. I canned a jar of apple juice to see how it would work. They do not feel as heavy as my Ball or Kerr jars so I don't think I would want to use them more than once.

In other news, my knitting group at church met yesterday. We have over 1600 hats made. We are going to meet again in two weeks and that will determine our total for 2019. We will start in November knitting for 2020. We have chosen three schools, a preschool, the cancer care center, two classrooms of folks who attend our church, and a homeless shelter to receive our hats and scarves and we have a donor who buys gloves to go with the hats and scarves. I've contacted the three schools and have arranged dates to drop off the hats and show the kids the looms we use to knit. I know that is the teacher in me -- I think it never hurts to who kids how things are made.

Last week my church knitting group was featured on the local news as part of their weekly segment "Spirit of Central Illinois" which features people doing nice things. Here is the URL:

https://www.wandtv.com/news/knitted-hats-bring-love-comfort-to-kids-in-need/article_b5f32a56-317d-11e9-9633-4f4c24614ad3.html

I was featured as was my Pastor as spokespersons for the group. No one else wanted to talk and to be honest, I was scared to death, but the reporter did a good job of not making me look stupid.

So far we have made 458 hats for 2019. A guy at church asked me today where we get the yarn for our hats and scarves and I said most of us buy our own and he was shocked. I said we do get some donations of yarn here and there. He was really surprised.

Usually when we get some sort of publicity we have new people wanting to join and that's cool. Hope that is the case this time too.

What an interesting week!

Monday I went to Kroger to pick up my prescription. It is the one medicine my insurance doesn't cover and they have the cheapest price. I have a coupon from the manufacturer for money off, but still have to pay over $250 for it. I had to wait a bit so I decided to pick up a couple of things while I waited and holy cow, did things get crazy. I bought my items and took them to the car and came back and in that short bit of time, the parking lot went from calm to crazy. People were circling looking for places. I went back in to get my prescription and while I waited, there were people who would get a card and almost run, throwing things in the cart. Really? Nothing was happening yet weather wise. The Polar Vortex wasn't even on our doorstep yet! Egad!

DH and I did a few errands on Tuesday and came home and stayed there until Thursday. Tuesday night the weather got colder and Wednesday wa the extreme below zero wind chills. Fortunately we did not lose power or have pipes freeze. We were happy to be home and safe and felt sorry for those who had to get out in it.

I've been looming and crocheting trying to use up yarn that I have purchased for the hats and scarves I'm making. DH and I cleaned house on Wednesday so that kept us busy and gave us some exercise too. DH normally goes to the mall to walk, but he didn't want to get out with it being so cold. So, not the same exercise, but better than sitting around.

We have been enjoying our Netflix subscription. I turned to DH last night and said who would have thought 20 years ago we would "stream" movies in our house. I remember thinking the VCR and tapes was pretty darn cool years ago and now you just sit home and the movies come to you.

We did spend some money today. We took our cars to the place where you wash them yourself. We did both cars to get the salt and grime off until the next go round. We also went to a flea market and I found some things to use as Christmas gifts and they were either 50% or 75% off. Last year I collected lots of little items and wrapped them up individually and gave them to a friend so she had 25 gifts to unwrap from December 1st to the 25th. She really liked it so I wanted to do it again this year. I don't want to give her junk just to give her a gift, but things she might use. She likes Curirier and Ives stuff and I found two trivets that were still in the containers. That will be two gifts and she can use them on her table for hot stuff. I found a box of Christmas mugs like new and it was 75% off.

I'm still doing the Ibotta thing and it is slow going, but hey, it is free money. I guess doing most of our grocery shopping at Aldi keeps me from cashing in a lot, but we also don't buy a lot of the things they give you cash for.

We had our weekly date night last night. We had gone to the bank and DH doesn't carry money in his wallet, but all those plastic cards like his license and loyalty cards. I saw he had a Cracker Barrel gift card and I suggested he use that when we ate out. He said he didn't think there was much money on it and I said well, whatever it is, it isn't helping him by staying in his wallet and even if it is 50 cents, that 50 cents. We went there and ate and when he ran it through, there was $4.70 on it. For a $22 meal, that was $4.70 he didn't have to spend out of his pocket.

The other day we were watching one of those daily programs where they have snippets of different things to improve your life and this one gal was talking about organizing your pantry. I always perk up when those things come on because my pantry is overcrowded and I clean it out and try to organize it, but it never looks wonderful. Anyway, this gal was talking about getting these containers and doing this and that and when she showed the pantry, there were like 4 or 5 things on a shelf. Really? Yeah, it looked tidy, but not a whole lot of cooking going on there. That's how she wanted it to look. I'm going to say it out loud, my pantry will not be looking like that.

I saw an article claiming January was the best the DOW had since 1987. I'm not really sure of that, but guess we will see when we get our financial statement.

Awoke this morning to a water main break in our subdivision. As cold as it is, I guess it shouldn't be a shock. We did make it to church, but decided to spend money and eat out since we weren't sure if/when we would get water. We tried a place for breakfast we had never eaten before and it wasn't bad. Not planning on making a habit of it, but it was something different.

We were supposed to get 4-7 inches of snow yesterday and we got a light coat of freezing rain. After last weekend's snow, it was a nice break, but sorry for those who had to be out in the mess south and north of us. We stayed in because we weren't sure how the roads were and we didn't need to get out. Instead of we cleaned house and I pulled some stuff out of the freezer for lunch.

I am trying to use up small amounts of yarn before I start new skeins. There's not enough to a hat or scarf, but I've made a lot of dish cloths as well as small facial tissue holders for one's purse and then two Barbie dresses. My two little friends are going to have quite a wardrobe for their dolls. Maybe I should start playing with my Barbie too. I bought one at a thrift store for 75 cents to use as a model.

Yesterday we received over 9 inches of snow. A neighbor graciously used his new snow blower to clear our driveway. I'm so glad because I was really wondering how that was going to play out. We did get some snow last night and DH and I did manage to clean it off today. I don't want him shoveling much and I am asthmatic so it becomes a worry, but I think we did OK.

Many of the churches cancelled services, but ours didn't. We could get out and go and it was nice after being home yesterday. Not that we had any place to go, but I think sometimes when you can't go somewhere, you just want to go somewhere.

I pulled chili from the freezer for yesterday's lunch and made Italian wedding soup and homemade bread for last night's supper. I will be freezing the rest of the soup for another meal.

Alliecat79 blogged about trying to realize how much stuff was bought. I really understand that because I struggle with this issue, especially when it comes to Mason Jars. I guess I'm an addict. I really like them and in all sizes. I can so I use a lot of them. But I also use them for storage for other things. Friday we went to the thrift stores and there was a brand new case of them, unopened and I am ashamed to admit that temptation was strong. Brand new. Still in the plastic. Jelly Jars with lids and rings. It was only $4.50 which is cheaper than new. But, I'm proud to report other than picking them up to look at them (they were amber and I wasn't sure what color they were), I left them on the shelf. I don't need any more jars and it was silly to even consider buying them.

Besides cooking yesterday, I worked on looming and crocheting. I have bits and pieces of yarn here and there so I made some baby hats to donate to a local agency for preemies, crocheted some dish cloths, and then crocheted a Barbie dress. I also made a regular size hat for my group for church. We have made 252 hats so far for 2019. I have also been making scarves to go along with some of the hats. I won't ever have as many scarves as hats, but it also gives me a break from making hats. I have plenty of yarn, I just hate to waste any of it. So, I don't need to buy any, that's for sure.

I'm supposed to volunteer first thing in the morning at a school, so I'm going to get a pork roast with potatoes and carrots and put it in the Crockpot to put on before I leave. I have an afternoon appointment too so that will make supper easier when I get home. I know many of you are singing the praises of Instant Pots, but I think I'll stick with my Crockpots since I'm retired and really don't have to rush to get supper done.

I blogged earlier about crocheting some clothes for a friend's granddaughter's Barbie. Well, they were a big hit, and it seems the dress that has some glitter to it was a favorite. Seems the Elf on the Shelf even wore it one morning to greet the little girl.

Friday I found two skeins of yarn that had a silver cord running through each of them. One was Christmas red and the other was white. I found them at one of the thrift stores we frequent and the cashier asked me what I was going to use it for and I told her for a Barbie, she took off a dollar so I got both for $3. I made 6 dresses for Barbie and apparently that Elf is going to go "shopping" and surprise our little friend. What a hoot. I guess the lavender dress was not the right color for the elf according to our little friend so hopefully the Christmas colors fill fit the bill. Of course I have taken some verbal abuse from the grandmother asking me if I wanted to keep these clothes and play Barbie. All in good fun.

A few weeks ago I found some baby bibs that can be embroidered so I have been working on them. One of the young ladies at church is expecting her second child and I thought I would finish these and give them to her. My only complaint is who in their right mind would decide to have 5 different shades of pink on a pattern? Egad.

Tomorrow night a friend is coming over for his birthday dinner. He was given the choice of our meeting him some place of his choosing or eating here and he said he really wanted a home cooked meal. So, I need to bake a cake for his birthday and he requested meatloaf. It should be a fun time.

We did spent quite a bit at the thrift stores this week. Well for us we did. I think we spent close to $15. Some of that was for yarn for the hats. Plus the yarn for Barbie clothes. DH found a couple of kids' books he wanted for his personal library. He reads to 5 classes and he likes to keep an assortment besides the ones he get from the library. I'm sure if we had purchased these items at retail, it would have been far more.

I did order a music CD for DH for Christmas. We tried to order it from a local CD place here in town, but he said he couldn't get it. I prefer shopping from brick and mortar, especially if they are small business, to support them. I kept checking Amazon and they finally got the CD in. I had some cash back money on my Discover card so I wound up paying $3.50 for part of the postage. My shopping is completed. Yay!

Like CreditCardFree, I finally got to $20 on Ibotta. It seems to take forever since I don't buy a lot of the stuff they give rebates on.

I found 14 cents in a parking lot yesterday. It goes in the wooden box DH has for change. We usually take the majority of the change in in the summer and apply part of it to Christmas and part of it the home improvement fund.

Haven't posted for awhile. I guess it is because I didn't think I had much to write about. It isn't that I haven't kept busy; I have. Maybe this post isn't exciting either.

Our neighbor is a dichotomy. A couple of weeks ago she posted on Facebook she wanted a part time job...anything...cleaning, secretarial, etc. Then she leaves for a cruise. Just she and her friends. Her family stays home. When she got home, she posted about all the things she was doing out and about which was basically partying. She and the daughter went out the night before Thanksgiving to have a drink. The daughter is 16 yet she took her to a bar and said the daughter's drink was a virgin. Now she and the daughter are out of town partying with some friends while hubby and son are home. And the neighbor and her friend just got matching tattoos. Guess she didn't need that part time job after all...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not jealous of her life. I am not a party person. I don't drink alcohol simply because my mom was an alcoholic and I have read that it can be hereditary. I don't have a problem with someone having a drink or two, but the getting drunk part, not so much.

Have I kept busy? I think so. I crocheted two pairs of slipper socks for Christmas gifts for a local charity, have my Christmas cards addressed, just finished crocheting 100 dish cloths for the local food pantry to put in their Christmas baskets, and am now crocheting Barbie clothes for a friend's granddaughter. DH was laughing at me last night when I said I sure knew how to spend a Saturday night...Barbie and I playing dress up.

I haven't blogged for awhile because life has been busy.

My doctor's office called and said that my insurance had told them they would no longer pay for a cholesterol medicine I have been on. The medicine is over $300 and they were paying about $100 and I was picking up the rest. So, I spent a lot of time going to pharmacies asking what the cash price. I have found around here trying to call pharmacies is crazy because they put you on hold and then may or may not get back to you after 20 minutes or more. Anyway, I found the pharmacy at Kroger had the cheapest price in our city. I then was researching to find coupons or whatever to lower my cash price. Good RX had a decent coupon, but the drug company offered an even bigger coupon of $75 off. It brought it just under $300 for a month's supply. The generic stuff the insurance company wants me to take had a bad side effect -- it raises my blood sugar to the point where I am pre diabetic. Although the doctor's office explained why I was put on this other medicine, the insurance company wants me to try three other ones that have similar side effects before they will even consider paying what they were paying. At this point, we think my health is worth more than gambling with this.

I know this isn't the end of the year according to most calendars here in the states, but we are ending our hat making year at church because we want to deliver hats to the kids before the weather gets super cold. So, I spent time going over poverty rates for the local public schools, then presenting this to the ladies in the knitting group and decided on the schools we would "adopt." In the mean time I was also fending emails from a church member who graciously lined up funding to buy gloves to go with the hats. Once we decided on the schools, I contacted principals. Two were easy and responded. One I had to contact over and over. I know they are busy, but it shouldn't take more than a minute to say yes or no and if yes, how many students? Then to line up dates when we can drop off the hats, scarves, and gloves.

I also purchased facial tissue and hand sanitizer for each classroom. Then came the actual counting and sorting of the hats. Last week we delivered hats to three schools and then to two individual classrooms to people who are affiliated with our church and who teach in the public schools. The remainder of the hats will go to a neighborhood organization that helps in a high poverty neighborhood. So, we are cleaned out of hats for this year and what a glorious ministry it has become. We made 1202 full size hats for the schools. We also made a good number of scarves. Plus, every kid who got a hat got a pair of gloves. Good thing, because things are getting cold this week. Here is a photo of some of the hats, gloves, and scarves:



The local paper came out and did a story on one of our schools that we dropped off to:

https://herald-review.com/news/local/education/mount-calvary-lutheran-s-stitches-of-love-delivers-more-than/article_7af09cb1-c288-5be1-94d2-d9c47e2a1926.html?fbclid=IwAR1wECcBbYYSr_ikcjK6ICLazbYOgpr7Wo9eIRmZ-XsmIeRasLjkIInfmP4#1


The neighbor is helping her mother-in-law declutter her craft room so she brought over some cotton to make dish cloths. I have made 36 dish cloths to donate to one of the local food pantries. I can honestly say I'm seeing dish cloths in my dreams. Here are some of the dish cloths:



Our church is having a Christmas tea for the ladies guild and they are collecting baby items for a local non profit that helps moms. We have been asked to donate baby items so we are now making small hats for this. I don't think my life is going to get any calmer in the next few days, but that is OK. I'm blessed to be able to do all this.

I'm not talking about the Glenn Miller piece either!

It's funny how so many things revolve around how we feel about something. I know I have really been in the mood to can and fill up the pantry with home canned items as well as things that are on sale. I know by the middle of the summer when stuff starts coming on, I really am in the mood for canning.

I have also been working on Christmas gifts. I like to have them finished before Christmas. I'm not a person who handles working under a deadline that is stressful. I've finished all mine and I'm making some for a friend for her stocking stuffers.

DH is starting to clean up the yard and garden for winter. He surprised me today by cleaning the siding and the windows. He normally doesn't notice stuff like that, but he did. I do think "moods" truly effect many of our actions.

Tomorrow is garbage collection day and I've already planned on decluttering some things that cannot be recycled or reused. I'm in the mood for a tidier spot, that's for sure.

So, what motivates you?

September is half over, and I continue to stay busy.

I feel really blessed to be retired. It enables me to have time to do a lot of things I wouldn't have had time to do.

We are still getting some tomatoes and bell peppers. I made and canned some more spaghetti sauce. I had given some to a friend for her pantry earlier.

Last year when I was making hats for our church group, I had leftover yarn that there wasn't enough to make another hat from, so I crocheted dish cloths. I have donated them to our church rummage sale. I know this may sound petty, but it kind of hurt my feelings when they only put a quarter each on them. I don't think they are worth tons, but at least 50 cents. But a quarter? The local thrift stores sell smaller ones that are just a mish mash of colors for $1 and I at least try to make mine pretty. Well, I decided this year I'm just going to make them for friends. That way I don't get my feelings hurt. I asked a couple of friends who like them if they would like some for stocking stuffers and they were grateful. So, I feel like I'm using up the yarn and it still does some good.

I have a bunch of rubber stamps. I decided to get them out and start using them again. I bought a blank ink pad and then stamped a design and then colored it with colored pencils. I can say I don't care for the stamp pad. It didn't really ink the stamp very well. Anyone have some suggestions?

We did spend some money, but hopefully it will benefit us in the long run. We paid a guy who does guttering to replace our downspouts with larger ones and to put gutter guards to hopefully keep leaves and debris out of the gutters. We had the money saved so it wasn't a debt inducing project. I called a company to come out and give us a quote on mending the ceiling in the family room where we had a leak a couple of months ago. They will have to patch it. We have popcorn ceilings and there is a small hole so it just isn't painting.

We have stayed busy.

On Saturday we took a bus trip to a city about two hours away to go through thrift stores. We visited 7 shops. Four were actual thrift stores and 3 were consignment shops/antique malls. But it was a fun day. The trip also included a box lunch and it was really good. There was a choice of turkey and cheese, chicken salad, or ham and cheese on a croissant, and then pasta salad, a bag of chips, fruit salad, brownie, and a small peppermint. The lady who runs the travel agency also provides water for us as well throughout the trip.

DH and I did find a few things, but we were not the big spenders on the trip. I think we spent less than $20 total on our purchases, but it was fun to look around. We were on a different bus than what the travel agency normally uses. Sadly, the bus company she had been utilizing suddenly shuttered after 75 years. Two years ago the owner sold the company and the investment group that bought it ran it into bankruptcy. I just hope this doesn't make this travel agency owner also have financial problems because she had paid for many of the trips in advance.

The funny thing about the trip was the fact we were on a bus, but these folks shopped. At the end of the day, there was a church pew, a rocking chair, a couch (yes, a big couch), an end table, a floor lamp, and a child's ride on motorcycle toy under the bus besides all the boxes and bags. At the last stop, the antique mall folks said they would stay open past their closing time and they had bags of popcorn, cookies, and water for us. Pretty nice gesture, for sure!

Yesterday we had church and after we came home and had brunch, DH watered his garden and then picked tomatoes. Finally we are starting to get more tomatoes. He also picked bell peppers. I used a bunch of the tomatoes and peppers to make a spaghetti sauce. I canned that today and realized 2 quarts and a pint of it.

Our knitting group met last week and we are up to 895 hats. Our goal if 1000 seems attainable. We have had some problems though with people bringing donations of yarn. I am trying to think positive, and hope they are just being nice, but three of the last four donations of yarn were really nasty. One smelled of mildew and the yarn was filthy. Another smelled of smoke. The last one just smelled and the white yarn had yellowed. You would hope people would realize no one would want to work with the yarn in this condition and hopefully they didn't use this as a means to dispose of it. I would hope not. But, yuck.

It's really hot and humid here in Central Illinois. Many of our schools had early dismissal today and plan to do the same tomorrow. I no longer work in those schools, but I'm glad for the students and the staff because I remember how miserable it was working in those conditions.

I feel like I've hit the bonanza the past couple of weeks in thrift store shopping.

I write 3 ladies each week. I try to have different cards and stationery because I think it adds to the experience. Two of the ladies are 95 and one is 88 and they like getting mail. I found 4 sets of brand new blank cards and envelopes for 50 cents each and some stationery also for 50 cents. So, I'm set for a little while on that.

I have almost finished most of my Christmas gifts for this year. I have a couple of things to crochet, but have been on the lookout for some other items to start for 2019 birthdays and Christmas 2020. At one thrift store I found a bag of cross stitch items for $1. There were two hot pads to cross stitch on and 5 bibs. Well, I didn't need the bibs, but for a buck, I figured I can work on them and donate them to the church bazaar. I gave two of them to another crafter so she can work on them. I found another brand new craft kit for $1 for hot pads, and a new kit for a table runner that you cross stitch on complete with thread for $1. I also bought two towels that you cross stitch on (kitchen towels) for 50 cents each. Fortunately awhile ago I bought a bag of embroidery floss for 50 cents and it has a lot of different colors, so I should be set. Just need to find some patterns for them, but I think I can find some free ones on Pinterest.

I have also found quite a bit of yarn for the hats I make with the knitting group at church. So far, I've made 7 hats from the yarn, and because one place had the new skeins of yarn half price, I think I paid $1 or less for the skeins. I still have quite a bit of yarn to use. I try not to stash too much because I have limited space and I don't want to have drawers and bags full of stuff not being used. Our knitting group met last week and we have 831 hats made so far this year. Our goal is to have 1000 and hopefully "adopt" three schools this year.

Being a plus size gal, it is often difficult to find clothing at thrift stores in my size that isn't worn out. I did find a nice blouse for $4.99. It was a name brand blouse and didn't look it had been worn a lot. It is a summer one and as warm as it has been, I'm sure I'll get enough use of it before putting it up for the winter.

I did score a small plastic thread holder yesterday. It is just an oblong box with spools sticking up and a lid. I have thread in a drawer and it is difficult to see what I have. For $1.50, it will help organize some of the thread.

DH found some like new kids books at a couple of the thrift stores. He reads to elementary classes throughout the year and although he often checks out books from our library, he likes to have some at home in case he doesn't get to the library. Most of the books were a quarter each. He also found some like brand new Wimpy Kid books to donate to the library of the my former school. They replace the worn ones with these books he finds. We figure it helps the school's budget by doing this and we aren't out much.

One of my friends teases me I always find great deals at the thrift stores. I tell her it is entertainment for me to go through stuff and look closely. Sometimes people go for the bling of things that are out in the open. I like to paw through some of the stuff and find things. I know I found some Christmas stuff awhile back that was reasonably priced to begin with and then they were having a sale for half off. My kind of deal!

I haven't blogged for awhile because I really haven't too much exciting going on.

I have kept busy knitting hats. Our total as of last Thursday was 745. Not bad for a small group of ladies. We are getting close to our goal of 1000 hats this year. I have also been busy making different things for gifts. I embroidered a canvas bag. I bought the bag at a thrift shop for 99 cents. It was new -- no one had started it and it still had the starchy feel to it. I had the embroidery floss so other than the 99 cents and tax, it wasn't an expensive project. I need to iron it and put it in my stash for Christmas. I finished crocheting a towel and dish cloth for a friend as a house warming gift. I think I will include a jar of jam with them.

We had a lot of hot, sultry days and the tomatoes really came on. I canned 6 quarts of tomatoes and 2 quarts and a pint of juice this week. I had also made chicken broth and canned 3 quarts of it since I had the canner out.

Have you ever noticed that any time you do a home improvement project it never is just that one thing? I know I blogged about the new driveway, but when it rained a few days afterwards, all the soil around the driveway washed out. With the extreme heat, DH knew he couldn't get grass growing fast enough and if you want sod, you have to order it and it takes days to get it. So, we decided to figure out something else. Menards had a sale on edgers that are oblong and sort of fit together. We bought enough of them to do both sides of the driveway and then some bags of soil to fill in. We worked two different days on that project. It rained this morning and we didn't have any soil wash out so it must have worked.

Just when we think we are on easy street, I looked up at the family room ceiling and noticed we have a leak. Go figure! So, we will be calling someone tomorrow to come and check it out.

I have kept busy the past few days working around here.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon doing some canning. Nothing big like bushels of anything, but small portions of things.

DH has had quite a few tomatoes come on and since he prefers larger tomatoes for slicing, I had quite a few cherry tomatoes. So, I juiced them and realized a pint and a half pint of tomato juice. I so enjoy tomato juice during the year.

A friend gave us some black cherries, but we weren't eating them quickly enough, so I juiced them and then made jam. Only realized two 1/4 pints, but they will be added to the gift stash.

I had some grapes that I wasn't sure how much longer they would be good. Again, not a lot of them, but thought, why not juice them. I realized a half pint and 1/4 of grape jelly. Another addition to the stash.

I had made apple juice and DH couldn't drink it all in a timely manner. So, apple jelly came about to the tune of 1 pint, 6 half pints, and one 1/4 pint.
Yep, you guessed it more stash!

I also made sweet pickles yesterday -- 1 pint and 2 half pints.

Between the green beans I've canned and some of the spaghetti sauce I made, the pie safe we use as a pantry is full. And I'm not complaining. Some of these items will be consumed here at home, but others will be gifts at Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I have also been working on items. I use a Swiffer duster and I just hate the waste of them. I was looking at the handle and I think I figured out a simple pattern to make my own using the oblong knitting loom. Between using a very soft yarn and then crocheting a piece for the handle, I think I figured it out. I showed it to a friend of mine who thought it would work. I didn't tell her I planned to make her some since I know she uses the duster too. I crochet the Swiffer mop pads out of leftover yarn when there isn't enough to make hats and she says she loves the fact she can use it and throw it in the wash. So, the same will be true of the duster.

I have a bunch of crochet thread in different colors so I have been crocheting ornaments to try and use it up. I was thinking of a friend who has a small apartment and thought if I could find a small table top tree, it would be ideal for his apartment. One of the thrift stores had all their Christmas 50 to 75 percent off so I scored a small tree for a quarter. It was like new.

I also finished a scarf in the Cubs colors for a friend to match the hat I made him over a year ago. He had picked out the colors. I thought this would be a nice Christmas gift.

I have also found a few items here and there on sale and have been squirreling them away for Christmas.

So, are you getting ready for Christmas?

I have been in Christmas mode. By that, I mean I have been trying to work on things for Christmas gifts. I do not like to procrastinate.

Yesterday I canned a few items, some of which will be gifts. DH's tomatoes are starting to come on. When given the choice, he would prefer slicing larger tomatoes than eating the cherry ones. I juiced the cherry ones and made tomato juice and canned that yesterday. I realized a quart and a pint for our pantry.

A few days ago a friend gave us some black cherries. We were not eating them fast enough and I didn't want them to go bad. So, I juiced them and made black cherry jam. Only realized two 1/4 pint jars, but they will make a small gift.

Each week I make a fruit salad and we had more grapes than I could use. I wasn't sure how much longer they were going to be good, so again, I made grape juice and then made jelly. There weren't a lot of them, but I realized 1 half pint and 1/4 pint of grape jelly.

I also made apple jelly out of some apple juice I had. It was from the juice I made. I have to add extra sugar because when I make the juice, I use very little sugar. So, there are 7 half pints and one 1/4 pint of apple jelly.

I also made sweet pickles. 4 half pints of those went into the pantry. We use a pie safe for most of this and with the green beans I have canned, and a couple of jars of spaghetti sauce I made last year, it is full. What a great problem to have.

I have been crocheting simple Swiffer mop covers for my friends. I use leftover yarn from the hats I knit when there isn't enough yarn to make another hat. Some of them are in odd colors, but they are used for the floor so who cares. Anyway, I often use a Swiffer duster and I just hate using them and then throwing them away. I was looking at the oblong loom thinking I could make a cover. I figured out a pattern and it takes both the looming and then a little bit of crocheting for the handle to fit in, but I'm thinking I can use these for gifts for a couple of people since I know they use the dusters. I showed one to a friend and she admired it. I didn't tell her I was going to make her some for Christmas, I just wanted to see if she thought it was a good idea. I have a bunch of white yarn that I bought at thrift store so I can make quite a few of them for very little money.

One of the thrift stores had a huge sale this week. Everything Christmas was 50 to 75 percent off. I have been crocheting small ornaments using crochet thread and I was hoping to find a very small table top tree. I found one and the total price was a quarter with the sale. It was in nice shape. I have a friend who has a small apartment so I thought this might work and wouldn't take a lot of storage after Christmas.

I finished crocheting a scarf for a friend in the Cubs colors for Christmas. I had made him a hat last year in these colors that he helped pick out.

We had our knitting group at church last Thursday and we are up to 644 hats. We probably would have had more except a lot of our members are on vacation. One lady at church said she wished she could join us, but she babysits the grandchildren on the days we meet, so I offered to teach her how to use the knitting loom at a time convenient for her. She said that would be wonderful and she would work on hats at home and give them to us for our mission.

Here in the U.S. it is Independence Day. We are blessed to have so many freedoms. Hope your day is a great one!

I've been keeping busy. On Monday I wanted to crochet so I tried to find something on the television to watch and found a run of Extreme Couponing. I watched 3 hours of it. I know they are older shows and I also know that there is no way we could ever do the deals they get. Our newspapers coupons are pathetic. I didn't realize that there are actually different coupons depending on what the paper purchases. We used to get the Chicago Trib on Sundays (long story, but can't get it by subscription and our Walgreens doesn't get copies or get enough). It would say the same brand of coupon flyers like Smart Source or Red Plum, but there would be far more coupons in those than the ones in our local paper. Plus, none of our stores double coupons. Anyway, It was interesting to watch. I'm not sure I would want to make a full time job of coupons and I look at the shelves of things they have and wonder if they honestly use all the stuff they swear they got for free. I mean, how many toothbrushes does one really need in a year?

I did get one scarf crocheted and I crocheted a dish cloth. We went out to eat with friends at Olive Garden and it was a belated birthday celebration. The dish cloth was part of her birthday gift. I had crocheted a hand towel that hangs over a drawer or stove handle, I made the gift bag, and the card was from a set of cards that I bought for $2 at a thrift store. All in, I had less than $3 for her gift. Sadly, if she knew that it wasn't an expensive gift, she probably wouldn't like it, so I didn't share that.

I did hit Walgreens yesterday. The first Tuesday of the month is senior day and they give 20% off of things not on sale. It doesn't cover prescriptions, but we didn't need any so that was OK. I made my list, took a few of the coupons, did some digital coupons, and did my shopping. Between the 20% off, the coupons, the sale prices, and the $50 rewards credit, the original $127 plus bill was $53.78 out of pocket. I didn't think that was too bad. I can't do that every month, but then again, some of these things I don't need every month.

Today is supposed to be, as they say, "hot as a firecracker" here. The forecasted temperature is 91, and the humidity is supposed to make it feel like 110. I don't think I will be doing much outside.

Last week our knitting group got together for our bimonthly meeting time. Our goal is to make 1000 hats for 2018. We will choose high poverty schools in which to gift them. We have a couple of ladies making scarves. I can crochet, but one of the other ladies wanted to know how to knit a scarf on a loom, so I looked up the YouTube instructions and taught myself and then taught the ladies.

Anyway our hat total as of last Thursday was 533 hats! Not bad for a group that averages about 8-9 people.




I did score some yarn the other day at a thrift store. It was new and packaged, but they wanted as much as I could have purchased it at a fabric store on discount. I said something to one of the ladies and she said, well, if that is the case, let's just cut the price in half! No complaints from me!

It's been awhile since I've written anything. Nothing really very exciting going on, but that's fine. I am not complaining.

Have had a couple of expensive things, but not unexpected things come up. Our property taxes are due and we save all year for them so we have the money for them. Plus I made an appointment for DH to have his eyes examined and told him it was time for new glasses. His glasses are years old and I had him get out a pair of some of his older ones and he realized if he broke his current ones, his older ones wouldn't be much help. His eyes are weak and there is only so much one can do with the prescription, but the eye doctor did say they could add to the prescription this time so that might help with his vision. Plus, with the new technology and different frames, the gal helping him pick them out said that the glasses will be lighter weight so he's pleased about that.

I went through some items the other day to donate. I struggle with giving up things. We have more things in this house than we will ever use. I think it is the Depression Era mentality that was drilled into me by my parents. They lived through the Depression and had little. We need to drop those items off and get them out of the house.

We hooked up the rain barrel, but haven't had any rain in a long time. Hope we receive some rain soon because things are getting very dry and the corn leaves are starting to curl in many of the fields near us.

Last week one of the thrift stores had books on sale and hardbacks were 49 cents. I normally don't purchase many books and instead check them out of the library, but I did see a John Grisham that I had not read. It is "The Innocent Man" and there was no book jacket. I read the first couple of pages and realized I had not read it. I started (and finished) it this week and realized it was nonfiction about Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz and how they were convicted of a murder they did not commit and how DNA 12 years later freed them. I think I got my 49 cents worth and now DH wants to read it. We will donate it when he finishes.

I used a YouTube video to learn how to knit a scarf on a rectangular loom. The loom came in the package I bought over two years ago and it was a new challenge. It turned out well. I used some yarn I bought at a thrift store that was still in the package so I have less than $3 invested in my new scarf. I do need to take my coat to get it dry-cleaned. I haven't had it cleaned for a few years. I brush it every so often, but it does need to be cleaned.

Hope everyone has a delightful weekend.

Recently I discovered an author new to me. Her name is Betty Hechtman and she writes cozy mysteries with characters who crochet. There's usually a pretty good twist to the plot and the characters are both believable and likable so I'm enjoying reading through this series.

I read about one of the characters crocheting a granny square bracelet and I then researched it online. Sure enough, there are patterns to make these bracelets so I made one for myself the other night just for fun. I already had the crochet thread so I thought it would make a nice little activity. I then looked on Etsy to see if there were any there and didn't see any, so either they aren't a big hit or maybe something new to hit the scene. I'm curious if people would purchase these at our church bazaar so hopefully you will give me some input. I don't imagine they would go for more than a buck or two, but I have lots of different colors of crochet thread so other than my work, it wouldn't cost me anything to make them.

Here it is Wednesday. It's gloomy. The thermometer says 57, but it is a chilly 57 with the wind. Winter just doesn't want to give way it seems. We had snow Sunday night/Monday morning. Yesterday it was at least sunny.

The past couple of weeks have kept me busy. We received our tax refund and decided to use it to replace our freezer that is in our garage and our refrigerator. They were to deliver them both a week ago last Sunday so we left church early to make sure we were home.

They called to say they would be there between 10:30 and noon. Guess 1 p.m. was close enough for them because that is when they arrived. The freezer was fine, but the fridge had a wavy side panel and was dented. I said I didn't want it. The delivery guy said they would probably give me some money off and I said I didn't buy a new fridge to have it dented and I refused it. I called the store and talked to the manager and explained why I felt the way I did and how I wanted to make sure the next one would be dent free. The earliest we could come to a delivery date was Friday. And then we weren't guaranteed anytime which makes DH froth since he hates having to stay home and wait. Add that to forecasted heavy rain.

Well, they delivered it by 11 and beat the rain. No dents, no wavy side, no scratches. So, I am very pleased. I really like the freezer as well. It is a little larger than our old one. They no longer handle the kind we had before in the size we had that is frost free. I have no desire to defrost a freezer. So, I feel that was a good use of our tax refund. Since last year was our first year of us both being retired, it was tough gauging what we needed to have taken out.

Other than that, I've been busy working around the house. Since we had to move furniture twice for the fridge, it meant cleaning under and behind stuff. I then cleaned out the shelves in the Hoosier cabinet (far easier to move if it doesn't have stuff in it. I went through the spices and herbs I have in there and got rid of some stuff that was way beyond its freshness date. For years I had used a lazy Susan two tiered shelf in there and I thought since I'm going to take everything out, I wondered if I needed it anymore. I had a hard time finding stuff on it. Well, I don't need it. I washed it and it went in the pile for the church rummage sale along with a couple of other items.

A couple of months ago I hit the jackpot on some material at a thrift store. I found 8 yards for $5. My goal was to make some table runners for the dining room table, the island, and the shelf of the Hoosier cabinet. I made those as well as 4 napkins. I think there is enough to recover a pillow. I have a pillow we have for years and I no longer like the covering on it. It was bought to match a couch we no longer own (and haven't owned for years). So, I'm going to remove the cover, wash the pillow, and then use some extra filling to plump it up before I make the pillow covering. I think little changes like this make other things look different. I finished the pillowcases I worked on and they are now on my pillows on my bed. I've two photos, one of the pillowcases after I ironed them and one of the table runners on our island.










Our knitting group met last Thursday at church. Our new total is 320 hats. We are a third of the way to our goal of 1000! I have since completed 3 more hats. I like to make at least 5 hats every weeks. Last time I made 7 full size hats and 5 baby hats to donate to a local nonprofit that works with mothers and babies. I don't count the baby hats as far as the total.

For the past few years I have corresponded with a friend of my mom's. She is close to 90 and her health continues to fail. I know mail is a day brightener. So, I dug around the garage to find a small box and sent her an Amish fictional book, a devotional book, 5 dish cloths (I use the leftover yarn from the hats for these) a bar of natural soap, and some flavored tea bags. I received a note today exclaiming how much she appreciated everything. Her daughters come in and clean her house for her so I suggested she share the dish cloths with them. She said she really enjoyed finding everything in the box. I am going to have to do this more often if it brings such joy to her. I guess we should all remember how a simple card or letter can brighten the day of a shut in.

Sorry this entry is all over the place. Just a catch up, I guess.

Each Wednesday and Thursday is what I call the Grocery Game. The Aldi ad comes out on Wednesday and then on Thursday the Kroger ad comes out. I make my lists so we can grocery shop. Kroger sent an email saying I could download a coupon to my loyalty card to save 5% on my total bill this week. You bet I did that! It's not a whole lot, but 5% is 5% off.

We get the local Sunday paper and the coupons are pathetic. Every so often there are a few coupons so I did get a couple of them for my grocery shop today. I also did the digital coupons. I know that today's two grocery bills will be substantial compared to what we have bought recently (we were using stuff up from freezer and pantry), but I'm looking at it a way to restock my shelves. We eat at home quite a bit and I figure in the long run it saves me money.

A little over a month ago I started using Ibotta. I finally got to the $20 savings. The problem is so much of the stuff they offer rebates back on is stuff we don't buy. We buy an awful lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. For awhile they were offering 25 cents on bananas, but that was short lived. There's another app called Saving Star that I looked into, but have yet to find anything that we buy that is eligible.

Kroger often has a free Friday download and you can get a free item from it. A lot of it we don't want, but if it is nonperishable, I get it anyway and donate it to the basket we have at church to donate to the food pantry. A couple of weeks ago it was the new Hershey bar with chocolate and peanut butter. I'm sure it is good, but I figure someone might like as a treat at the food pantry. Another week is was a Larabar.

In other happenings a few weeks ago we were perusing one of our favorite thrift stores and I saw a package of pillow cases you embroider upon. They were still in the package except there was a opening in the package where the person had bought the embroidery floss. The package was 69 cents. I walked by it at first thinking I didn't need to buy another project since I had other projects to do. But I went back and figured for 69 cents, I couldn't get hurt too badly.

I set a goal of knitting 5 hats every two weeks for my knitting group at church. Then, I feel I can work on other stuff. I use the leftover yarn from the hats that there isn't enough to make another hat from to crochet dish cloths which I either give to others or I donated a huge stack for our church's rummage sale. So, I decided since I had my five hats done and I have crocheted dish cloths with the leftover yarn, I could start on the pillowcases. It took me over a week to finish both of them since I didn't work on them 24/7, but I completed them yesterday. They are washed and I need to iron them. I still have a bunch of embroidery floss left over so I can use it for something else at some point, but I think I got a good deal on these pillowcases for 69 cents.

One of my mom's friends is a shut in and she enjoys getting mail. Her daughters come in and help her so I'm going to mail her some of the dish cloths for them to share. I also am sending her some tea bags with different flavors. I figure a nice package should brighten her day.

The big news around here is snow is predicted for tomorrow and Sunday. Measurable snow. We are sick of winter and especially any chance of snow. We received some Sunday. Fortunately not a lot and it melted by Monday afternoon.

The church knitting group is up to 253 hats made so far for 2018! We met on Wednesday and that was our count. Not bad for a small church and a small group.

We have had the opportunity to work with another church. One of the ladies called and asked me about our knitting group and I told her about it, where to buy the looms, ask for yarn, and some of our ladies went and taught their group to knit on the looms. Last week their group came and joined our group and we had a delightful time. It didn't matter that we are Lutheran and they are Baptist. What mattered was the work -- we want to provide hats for as many kids in poverty in our public schools!

Anyway, the newspaper came out and did a sweet article on our groups. Here is the url if you wish to read it:

https://herald-review.com/lifestyles/hats-off-decatur-group-gets-to-looming-for-a-good/article_2cb206cd-1704-5e7a-9ed9-ad3b0270bb08.html?utm_content=bufferc724d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=LEEDCC

The 253 hats are just from our church. Awhile back Bluebird graciously donated money for yarn. Our ladies bought it on sale as well using the tax exempt and I can tell you that yarn has been made into many of those hats. Thanks again, Bluebird!

My goal is to make ten hats a month. The ladies set a goal of 1000 hats this year. We made 957 last year. The exciting thing is we have had some ladies who don't go to our church decide to join our group as well. It's just a fun get together. So, other than than the purchase of yarn to fill in, it's a pretty economical way to be entertained as well. We laugh and kid each other, and support each other. It's pretty cool over all.

Yesterday it sort of felt like spring. One thing I really like to do when it is decent is take the vehicle and wash it. There's a coin operated car wash not too far from our house and I like to wash my vehicle and get all the salt off of it from the winter. We splurged the $1 for the vacuum as well to get all the rocks and dirt off the floorboards as well and when we got home, I wiped the outside down and then took some of the Armour All and went over the tires and the plastic on the outside and then wiped down the console and the doors on the inside. It sure made it look nice and made me appreciate what I have. DH was pretty impressed.

After that I worked in the garage and swept it out. That seems to be an ongoing battle because leaves and dirt seem to blow in every time we open the garage door. I also cleaned out one corner where we have a standing rack to hold rakes, shovels, brooms, and my mop. I took everything out of the rack, cleaned it, cleaned the corner and then tried to put everything back in a way that looked a lot tidier. I threw away quite a few things that DH put there. I don't know why he didn't throw them away to begin with. Maybe there is something about taking something a few extra steps to the garbage can.

We went to that home show I wrote about earlier and admired the Amish made cabinets and furniture as well as looked at the booths of doors, windows, lawn stuff. I even won a door prize -- a small bag of cashew chew which is like peanut brittle, but made with cashews.

Before we left, I had put a pork loin roast in the Crockpot with carrots, onion, herbs, and small potatoes so I didn't have to worry about cooking supper in case we got home late. A little planning guaranteed we weren't tempted to eat out. Plus, we will realize another meal from the pork and carrots. Can't beat that!

I asked a friend if he would be willing to fix a door on our Hoosier cabinet. It has become unglued and I'm afraid it is going to fall apart and the glass pane will shatter. I will not be able to replace it if it does since there are two doors with the matching panes and are original with the piece. We worked out a deal -- he will glue and clamp it. I gave him some sugar free candy we had bought for him and I will bake him some homemade bread for his trouble. I'm excited about getting it fixed.

After supper we relaxed by watching Hinterland on Netflix. Intense would be the word to describe this series. I worked on using up some yarn and making dish cloths. I had some purple that there wasn't enough to make a hat so I used it up and then had some blue from a project I had crocheted for myself awhile back. I had crocheted a cover for a pillow and had the yarn left over. So, I used some of it to trim around a dish cloth and then used some other yarn up as well. I finished 4 dish cloths last night and used up some yarn that wouldn't have been enough for anything else.

It was a fine day.

Today has been great too, so far. We went to church and then went to Walgreens to pick up a prescription for DH. He also had them print his 2017 prescriptions. We have a home health care policy for him that if you don't use it in the calendar year, they will give you a refund of what you paid on prescriptions. It won't be a huge amount since his prescription plan covered the lion's share as well as all of them being generics, but it is nice to get a rebate of sorts. I have to get that ready to mail in.

We came home and I fixed brunch and had the opportunity to watch new episodes of Barefoot Contessa. I like her calm manner and I seem to learn stuff from her episodes. I've missed seeing her so I was glad we could catch these. I still do covet her walk in pantry. A girl can dream, I guess!

Tonight we are supposed to go and have dinner with some friends at their home. We take turns hosting each other. It is a casual evening and plenty of fun and other than the food, pretty reasonable.

Not a whole lot of spending going on, but some fine times!

My desk looks like it is awash in papers. Egad, I'm getting overwhelmed!

Sunday afternoons are usually bill paying time for the week. So, I have a few things made out and ready to mail. Some other things I paid online.

I have been working on publicity for my church for Holy Week and Easter as well as a rummage sale coming up in June. I am not a procrastinator so I feel better when I have stuff lined up, even if it isn't submitted yet.

Pretty soon I'm taking out the accordion file so I can start organizing tax papers. We don't receive some of our documents until the middle of March. I like to have things organized so when we do get them, we can take them to our tax preparer and get them done quickly. I'm curious how our taxes will look this year since this is the first full year I've been retired. We talked to our tax guy last year and he made some suggestions on what we could do, so hopefully we did what we needed to do so we don't owe a lot.

I have been decluttering a little at a time. We took in a box of really good stuff to church for the rummage sale. Our ladies aren't procrastinators either and have been asking for stuff already so they can get it marked ahead of time. This was the first year they had a "do not donate" list. Unfortunately there are always some people who want to "donate" things that really aren't good stuff, but just a way for them to get rid of junk and not have to deal with it. I checked, none of my donated stuff is on the do not donate list. I crocheted 3 towels for the rummage sale and I pinned the washing instructions from the yarn covers on them so the new owners will know how to take care of them.

Well, back to the papers. Hopefully I will get things straighten up so it doesn't look like a file cabinet exploded.

I really have the best intentions to declutter. Really, I do.

I start and then something else comes up. Darn it!

A week ago I started on the linen closet. I boxed up two boxes of things to donate to the local thrift store. I put some things in the laundry to see if they would come out OK. I need to iron them except for the two pieces I threw away. They were not salvageable. I could not get the stains out. I don't like to donate stuff that other people wouldn't want.

I also have good intentions of getting some projects done. I finally finished crocheting a dish towel last night, I'm making some things for the church rummage sale.

My intention is to use up the craft stuff before I allow myself to buy any more. So far, I've behaved. I don't want to wind up being one of those ladies who has a ton of yarn, material, craft stuff and when I die, none of it was completed. I did have to buy some embroidery floss the other day since I needed a color I didn't have, but I figure it was an end to a means. I found it at a thrift store so I didn't pay much. But that was a few weeks ago. It is for Christmas so I have a little time before i have to start on it since I'm doing stuff for the church rummage sale.

So, guess I should take my good intentions and get off the computer and get busy.

Like many states in the Midwest, we have had plenty of rain and gloomy days this past week. The sun is out and although it is cool, it looks to be a lovely day. I know people at church were talking about their attitudes changing because the sun had appeared.

It's been an interesting week on the genealogy front. I had the opportunity to spend over an hour at the library in the local history room using the free local paper archives. I discovered a few more tidbits from my family. My mom always acted like my dad’s side of the family wasn’t very good. Yet, from what I’ve figured out so far, my dad’s side a couple of generations back, did have some wealth and prestige. His mom and her parents and siblings came to American in 1902 from England and located to Albany, Georgia. Why there of all places, I have no idea. And how they wound up in Decatur, Illinois, is another story I will never know. But I guess when they were in England, they did have some money and a fancy home. But, things got tough here in America for them and hard scrabble would be an accurate description.

My mom has a couple of generations here in America before her. My great grandfather was arrested for stealing brass from the Wabash Railroad which is where he worked. My grandfather was arrested as a teenager for being in an east side of Decatur gang. My grandmother was arrested for shoplifting in the 1920s. My mom was arrested for disorderly conduct in the 1940s. Kind of sad to learn this, although this was way before my time. As they say, you can’t pick your relatives.

Another thing I discovered was that many of the relatives on my mom’s side were railroaders. Two cousins a time or two removed who were brothers worked for Wabash and one saw the other crushed between two rail cars as he was trying to hitch them together. That had to be horrendous.

Dh teased me I was a cheap date for a Saturday. I was happy to go to the library, check out a couple of books (I scored the last Sue Grafton!), and then spend time doing some research. He spent the time in the children's section finding books to read out loud to the classes he reads to each week. We came home and I spent a couple of hours updating the family tree. I fixed supper and we spent the evening at home.

On the knitting front, we have 135 hats made so far in 2018. The church ladies are teasing me they are hoping to get to 1000 by the end of the year. Wouldn't that be something?

Every fall I try to purchase some name brand chicken noodle soup to have on hand in case one or both of us get sick. That seems to be a comfort food for each of us if we have colds or sinus infections. I try to catch it on sale and use a coupon and that's what I did last fall. So far, we haven't need to eat much of it. So, I'm going to heat some of it up with sandwiches for supper tonight.

It is hard to believe 2017 is almost history. DH always gives me a new calendar for Christmas and I was copying birthdays and anniversaries to it from the old one, I also noticed all the other things I had written on it. DH and I had the privilege to do a lot last year in day trips and even a couple of other trips. We went to Tybee Island and stayed in a condo last January. That as amazing because after being a teacher for over 30 years, a vacation during the school year is not possible. Well, if you follow the contract it isn't. And, I'm a rule follower.

We've been blessed that we have been able to live on our pensions and Social Security (DH's) and not hit any of our retirement accounts.

I was thinking the other day at how fortunate I truly am. Although DH and I buy each other Christmas gifts and we tell each other ideas, there really wasn't anything that I was so desirous that I would kill to have. When I was younger and struggling, it seemed like there were always things I just had to have. Looking back, I realize how silly that was. Maybe with age comes contentment.

it's been bitter cold here in Central Illinois. It's supposed to continue for the next few days. We did get out and hit the thrift stores yesterday and I felt like we really rocked them. One store had Christmas gift bags that looked like new...9 cents each. I bought over 15 of them. They had a crocheted stocking for 9 cents. It looked like new too. I bought it for the pattern, but will be able to use it as well. All Christmas stuff was 50% off and I bought some small dessert plates to use for cookies and fudge for next year. I washed them when I got home and will store them until next year. I also found three pint canning jars with rings and they were half off so they cost us 60 cents for all three. At another place I found some greeting cards for 15 cents each. I bought a bunch of birthday cards, some Valentine, Easter, and sympathy. I guess I'm not a card snob. One friend says he only buys name brand ones. Good for him. I buy nice ones and try to write something appropriate in them. I figure no one keeps the cards anymore. I know i don't. I read them, appreciate them, and recycle them. DH reads to classes at two schools and he scored some children's books. Allin all, I think we spent less than $20 and felt like we hit the jackpot.

Last summer we were thrifting and I found a kit that had a pattern and medium weight yarn to crochet kitchen towels. It was $2.50 and supposedly had enough materials to make two towels. I took a break from hats and made a towel. I felt it was a success. I made a hat and then made the second towel with the kits. For grins I decided to look up the company. Seems it is a company that you buy a yearly membership in for $9.99 and then each month they send you a kit for a project at the princely sum of $19.99. As much as I liked the kit, there was no way I would have paid almost $20 for it as well as the yearly fee. I felt like I had a good deal. So, one towel will be part of a friend's birthday this spring and the other is a Christmas gift. Guess I've already started my Christmas shopping for 2018!






Hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

This has been a whirlwind week and I'm tired, but it is a good tired.

It started last Sunday with a blessing of the hats that were knitted by our group at church. Then after church, a friend and I counted out hats to the two schools that would receive them. One had over 220 kids and the other over 440 kids. Plus, we needed to count out the gloves.

On Monday we made our first delivery. Our Pastor and some of the ladies went with us and we walked around to the rooms and showed them a sampling of the hats and showed them the knitting looms we made them on. After we left, the ladies and Pastor were shocked at the poverty so many of our children live in. They said they realized why I had suggested this project. We did the same on Thursday for the other school. Again, the folks were surprised at the poverty and how many kids had so little. I guess if you don't work in this environment, you don't always realize it is there. On Monday the local TV station came out and did a very short story and on Thursday the local paper did a story. Here are the urls if you wish to see these:

http://herald-review.com/news/local/education/stitches-of-love-delivers-a-load-of-hats-to-franklin/article_30e028e5-fd19-5af2-a10a-7a3ef2cf8ba0.html

http://www.wandtv.com/story/36834283/decatur-church-helps-keep-kids-warm

I know I've been blogging a lot about this project, but it has been near and dear to my heart. I just wish we could have done more. We are a small church and I feel at least we helped some children.

In other things, DH and I had two day trips this week. One was to St. Louis and the Italian neighborhood called "The Hill." Part of the bus trip included the lunch. We had a grand time exploring the Italian groceries and other shops and bakeries. Yesterday we had another bus trip to Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. DH usually picks out some clothes he wants at the Penneys there. We no longer have a Penneys locally. So, we came home exhausted from that, but it was a great time.

Pastor stopped me at church today and said that because of the publicity on the hats, we have had phone calls to church and that people are wanting more information about joining out knitting group. So, that made me happy...maybe we can reach more kids!

I'm still tired from everything this week, but it is a good tired. It was all good this week, from the knitting, the delivering, and the eating and shopping.

I have blogged here and there about the knitting group at church and the fact we have been making hats to donate to high poverty schools near us. We have a total of 805 hats sitting in tubs ready for us to count out and deliver. This total was made in less than 12 months and it was fascinating to see how people wanted to be a part of the action.

Last spring I contacted a friend who writes for the paper and she came out and interviewed and did a story. Our group was averaging about 4 people every other week to come and knit. The reporter commented we welcome others and could use donations of yarn or money. There was a sudden influx of yarn and I think we had about $40 donated as well. The best part is we had some new people join the group. Plus we had some other people contact one of the ladies and say they wanted to knit and give us hats and they did.

Then I was watching the local news and the sports director made a comment that it was going to be a boring sports night and he might take up knitting. I challenged him to come and join the group and he did and he did a sweet story on us. Our group grew again. And, we received even more yarn donations!

One of my friends who doesn't have time to knit or come to the group buys yarn and donates it because she feels it is such a worthy cause. Another of my friends doesn't belong to our church but she has been a faithful knitter.

Our original plan was to adopt a few classrooms and give them hats and then find funds to buy Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and pencils.

One member of the congregation said he would like to purchase gloves to go with the hats as long as no one knew he did it.

Then some other folks decided to knit some scarves. We don't have a ton of them, but we do have some to match some hats.

Anyway, next week we will begin our deliveries. We have enough hats to adopt two schools kindergarten through sixth grade with hats, gloves, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, and pencils. We have 74 other hats to go to a school down the street from our church. And we are going to give 22 hats and matching scarves to a case worker for a child and family service agency.

It is amazing how this little project has snowballed in less than a year. We started with four regulars coming to the knitting group and we have between 12-16 attending and knitting. It is heart warming to see how so many wanted to become involved not for the recognition but because it touched their hearts.

Not a whole lot to report. I've kept busy doing this and that around here. Today I'm doing some cleaning. I have a tea pot collection. I like blue willow and through the years I have been given tea pots and we have bought some. I have them displayed on a shelf over the sliding glass doors. I asked DH if he would get them down so I have them washed. They weren't really too bad, but I like to keep on top of things so they don't get really dusty or dirty. As I washed them, it made me think about the lovely designs and where they were made and what company. I had forgotten that one of the more unique ones was designed in England but hand painted in the Philippines. Pretty cool

I also starting addressing Christmas cards. Yes, I know it isn't even the first of November. I just dread addressing them. I know they are an expense and the postage keeps going up, but most of the people we send them to are not online. For some they are our annual catch up time. Anyway, I feel better having started them. I found a couple of boxes of new cards at thrift stores this year for little to nothing. I feel that helps with the cost. I have been crocheting small ornaments to put in each card. The ornaments are basically free other than my work. I am using crochet thread I already had. I will need to iron and starch them, but I have enjoyed making them so hopefully people will enjoy receiving them.

Other than a few items for DH for Christmas, I have the bulk of any shopping finished. We do give tips to the gals who cut our hair. I buy a few gifts for friends, but supplement them with either things I've canned or made so it keeps the cost down. I enjoy doing this sort of thing and hopefully the receivers enjoy getting them. We have a Christmas club so whatever we spend, the money is there so we don't go into debt. I just can't fathom going deep into debt for Christmas. I like being generous, but I don't think I could handle seeing a big debt.

It's a cool, dreary day here. Just the right kind to make me want to clean so our home feels cozy.