Holiday Chaos Part 1

I did finish my canal boat blanket after dinner last night. I do still have to weave in the ends on the border and will photo and post when I finish that. But I did use it for my devotional time this morning. Delight!

I was so excited to jump in and work on my Holiday Chaos blanket. These are the colors I chose from Hobby Lobby's I love this yarn, Japanese fields, Linen, Sage Advice, Dark Olive, Grey Beard, Aubergine and Cranberry. I will most likely need more, hopefully on a sale week I can pick some up. I'm using a 5.0 size hook, generally. Some stitches I guess I might need to size up or down.

I am using the beginner stitches that Michelle chose but doing my own draw each day for color, stitch and rows.  I decided each color and stitch would sit out a round so I don't have the same thing back to back. But otherwise I am leaning into whatever is randomly chosen. I am thinking about taking out the Single Crochet and adding something else but we'll see how this first week goes.

For my first day I got Linen, Half Double Crochet, 6 rows. Although when I moved upstairs I couldn't remember the number I drew and thought it was 5- so I have to do one more row of HDC before I move on. 😅 I'm pretty pleased with how its going to far.

My next pull was 4 rows of blueberry stitch in Cranberry. Which is the one I was most excited to try, but a lot of people in the FB group found it really hard and frustrating- so now I'm nervous. 😅

I probably won't share progress everyday but wanted to show you my start! 

How Chance is feeling today. It's pretty gloomy out there- I hear storms maybe in the forecast. 

Could be near 80 today and snow on the weekend?! But honestly that feels pretty on brand for Syracuse weather. 😆

I made a couple recipes from The Taste of Home Soups and Breads cookbook last night! They were delicious and I will be having them for lunch too. Potato Beer Cheese Soup and Pretzel Bites.

That's all for today. 💙

Happy Errands

I am having trouble wrapping my head around that it is OCTOBER!

Yesterday I had a half day because of a medical appointment- so I got to run some happy errands before hand.

I popped into the library to pick up our next cousin bookclub book and because I had time to browse I left with a stack!

Including this one that Laura and I were admiring at the bookshop last week! World of Bookish Places, it is full of beautiful color photos of so many bookish destinations. I think it is destined to become part of our personal collections and a travel journal of sorts.

And our next Cookbook Club Book! Taste of Home Soups & Breads - tentatively scheduled for Nov 7 in my cozy kitchen.

I also hit up Hobby Lobby for yarn to start the Holiday Chaos Crochet-along. I'm so excited to start this project! I did end up mixing it up a bit and choosing two different yarns- I mainly went the Classic Christmas pallet. But the Red was too RED for my taste and I grabbed cranberry instead. I also didn't care for cinnamon and picked a grey instead. I like the tweedy sage from Country Christmas one and subbed that for the light sage. I loved the Japanese Fields variegated one and I used that one to make all my other decisions. I'm still debating on my stitches, I think I might just follow the beginner ones Michelle has planned.

I also ran into a friend and another friend's son. So that was an added bonus. 

After my appointments I came home and we went out to dinner to celebrate 28 years of marriage! We also took great delight in the fact we could go out on a Tuesday night! Now that Rhett's no longer working two jobs everyday! We went to Texas Roadhouse and had a lovely and delicious dinner.

Hard to believe 28 years have flown by. 

We are so excited for this new chapter where we get to be Gram and Gramps.

Two new Bible Studies I am excited about coming up- one is the Making Your Home a Haven study. I have been doing this one every fall for years now! I recently started doing it in a Facebook group with friends. That has been a delight.  This year it focuses on The Lord's Prayer which we have been studying in Wednesday night prayer meeting. So I am extra excited about this. It begins Oct 26. 

Following that I will be doing the Advent study from Daily Grace Co. Again I will be setting up a Facebook group to do it in community.

Both of these feel so great for helping to stay grounded and focused as we head into the busyness of the holidays.

Be blessed today my friends. 💙 Talk to you soon.

It's Fall!

 And boy does it feel like it this week! Chance and I are not really digging the colder temps. I feel like the changing seasons gets me every time. I am having a hard time not wanting to slip into hibernation mode.

But I am excited about soups and baking. I made beef stew and popovers on Sunday and today have Buffalo Chicken Chili in the slow cooker.

Last week we celebrated September Birthdays! 

Dad

Rhett

Mikayla

Hannah made a special birthday dessert for each birthday recipient.

I took Tuesday off to spend with Mikayla on her birthday, and Phoebe. We had a great time, shopping and going out to lunch.

Sometime last week I got sucked into the chaos crochet side of Facebook. I spent way too much time watching reels. But I did also pick up my crochet again and have been delighting in it!

Watching to Fall Book Preview while crocheting and enjoy hot Chai-der.

It's feeling very blankety and I'm not sure how much longer to make it. I have just a few rows left on this section so maybe I'll decide after that.

I hope to find time to go to Hobby Lobby next week to get yarn to join a Holiday Chaos Crochet-a-long.

I'm still deciding on which colorway to choose or if I'll go rogue and choose my own! 😂

This weekend is Ladies Retreat with our church district and I am soooo excited for it! 

Enjoy the rest of your week my friends. 💙

Leaning into the cozy...

Winter is not my favorite.  But this year I am trying to be intentional about looking for the good. A couple weeks ago I asked google to make me a personal curriculum on "Wintering"- I was actually pretty pleased with what it came back with.  Some of the things I am trying to implement are-

1. Culinary Arts: The Soup & Bread Lab
   Assignment: Every two weeks, master one new homemade soup recipe.
   Extra Credit: Bake a loaf of focaccia or sourdough to accompany your meal.
   
   Obviously this is an assignment I can fully get behind. This week I made a delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup from The Real Food Dieticians- although admittedly I did not follow the directions per say- I just dumped all the ingredients in the crockpot and hoped for the best, I was not disappointed.  We had leftover sourdough from Sunday, so that accompanied this meal. 
   
   
   
2. Humanities: Deep Reading & Philosophy
   Literature: Choose a "winter classic" (e.g., Katherine May’s Wintering or a Gothic novel) and read it slowly, one chapter at a time.
   Journaling: Use weekly prompts to reflect on what this "wintering" season is teaching you about slowing down and letting go.
   
   
   
   
   I am currently reading Wintering by Katherine May and not loving it- I decided to give it one more day but if tonight I still feel the same I will set it aside for something else. I have a library stack out right now on Hygge and a book of poems.
   
   
3. Physical Education: Gentle Movement
   Mobility: Practice 10 minutes of "legs-up-the-wall" or gentle stretching to reset the nervous system.
   
   My goal if you recall is to exercise 3-4xs a week- mainly that has been yoga, and last week I only hit two days. Today is a new day to try again.
   
   
4. Social Studies: Intentional Connection
   Outreach: Reach out to one person a week via text or call just to say "thinking of you".
   Community: Host one small, low-pressure gathering, like a cookie decorating night or a soup potluck.
   
   This one is one of my favs! Just this weekend we had a cookbook club at my house and I had 6 of my favorite ladies join me for a night of cozy food and conversation. We all picked a prepared a recipe (or two) from Good Lookin' Cookin', everyone brought their prepared recipe and we all sat around chatting and enjoying good food and company.
   
   
    

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   One of my favs was the creme brulee Stacey made- it was so good!

   
   
   
   I also had tea with a friend on Saturday which brought such refreshment and encouragement to our spirits. 
   
   
5. One other thing I added myself is Crafting- my FB feed lately has become a wealth of quilting and sewing reels. I am here for it!
   
   This week I cleaned off the counter in my laundry room (which adjoins my craft room) so I can once again use it for my cutting counter.
   
   
   
   

   I went fabric shopping with my Mom and got fabric to make lil granbaby's quilt. I am beyond excited about this project! This is probably the only peek you will get until after I gift it to my lil mama at her shower this spring.
   
   I also want to make this Block of the Month quilt with Emily. I am thinking about doing a Christmas themed one with my plethora of leftover Jammie fabrics and scraps from through the years. 
   
   

   
   

   
   This week I (finally) finished week 2 of (last year's) Canalboat Crochet-a-long. I love this years pattern but decided I needed to finish this one before I would allow myself to purchase it. Very hard when I got the email last week that kits were back in stock! 
   
   Part two- I wove in all the ends during this weeks book club call before I started part 3. I am enjoying the coziness and the process. Crocheting the shell rows are my favorite. 

   

   
   
   
   
   
6. I am enjoying our Church 2026 Bible Reading plan. It's such a delight to study God's Word in community.  We have a facebook group to daily discuss what we reading, learning, noticing, etc.. and this Sunday will be the first of our monthly fellowship dinners after church. I so enjoy this community. This could also be nestled above under #4. 
   
   
   
   
   

   My husband is also part of the group and I can not even begin to express the delight of seeing him digging in his Bible, and also being a part of a Sunday School class.
   
   

   

I hope this winter you are finding ways to thrive and be cozy. Feel free to tell me in the comments something you have done or would like to implement. 💖 Until next time.

more crochet progress, a book rec and puppers

Our January got off to a bit of a rocky start. I'm trying to reset my mindset today.

I spent a lot of time at this place this weekend- an my heart feels so happy about it. And I'll be back again tonight for Yoga 💖

Yesterday I finished Part 6 on my Sungold blanket! I am so excited that it so close to completion! I just have to weave in all those ends- which is gonna take some time- I seriously regret not doing it as I went along. And then the border and then ITS DONE! I can't wait! 

I already have the next project on deck ready to go- I am already behind as the crochet a long started Friday. 

I finished my first 5star read of the year! Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee.  It was so good! It is sent in the mountains of Tennessee in the 1940s and also 1970s - funnily enough I had to keep reminding myself when the 1970's part was set- I kept thinking in a modern mindset of cell phones and google. It deals with adoption, one of our main characters found out as an adult that he was adopted and is shaken to his core and now trying to find out more about his birth parents.  So good, an emotional ride and strong faith themes woven through out as well.  Also I just love the cover!

The boys keeping cozy today-