Shocked It's Still Here

Wow! I am surprised the blogger peeps haven't taken down this inactive blog.

As always, this blog is a sporadic hot mess. I'm not a good blogger or journaler and I knew that when I started this blog. But occasionally I feel the need to post an update.

I'm still knitting as my main hobby but I have picked up the needle to do some cross stitch. I actually started a new piece Suffrage Act by Little House Needleworks. It's a sweet piece celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the passing of the 18th amendment. As a history teacher, I knew this would be a way to add a little stitching to my classroom.

I've also worked on a small quilt project I started last year. It is in blue and green batik fabrics and it has a variety of log cabin blocks. I'm piecing the last of the border blocks and soon I'll start sewing all of the rows together.

I'm typing this as I sit at home during a global pandemic. I find that I am having a short attention span as I self isolate at home. During my normal summer routine I stay home a lot, but I do get out twice a week to go to knitting and church. During this time, I can't do that and so I'm doing this as a way to temporarily get my mind on something else.

Reading has also taken up a lot of my time. I started getting back into reading two years ago when I was staying with my uncle during his last few weeks fight lung cancer. I've kept my kindle full thanks to kindle unlimited and the local library. If anyone actually reads this blog, I suggest you read Kathleen Brooks and Penny Reid for some romance and belly laughing. Both authors have a wonderful way with words and setting the scene.

Off to do a little reading and occupy myself with something else. :)

Poor Little Blog

I haven't forgotten this blog exists. I'm just a horrible blogger. (:

Knitting update for 2016 - 7,036 meters in 22 projects

Quilting - not one quilt quilted and this makes me sad

Sewing - unfortunately I didn't count the number of project bags I made in 2016 but I'm guessing 10+ bags and 5+ needle minders

Reading - I read 39 books, nine were repeated books 

Reading stats were really low, I've already read ten books in 2017 and read two books 1/3 through before deciding I wasn't interested enough to finish them. I'm hoping I will continue on this reading kick throughout 2017 because I've really missed reading for pleasure.

I've currently have three knitting projects on the needles, two pair of socks and a set of knitted knockers (breast prosthetics for cancer patients). I have a goal of twelve pair of knockers for 2017. This summer I will be attending SSK in Nashville and I'm looking forward to meeting lots of knitters. I've been attending the Cookeville Sock Club for over a year and have really enjoyed getting to know these ladies. I hope to be able to go to a Thursday night meeting soon.

Kitties are doing well and are waiting patiently for me to get off the computer and give them some cuddles.

Pray all is well with all who read this.

Reading Challenge

I don't normally do well with challenges, but I saw this one on Facebook and decided I liked it enough to try it.

 I'm a reader, a voracious reader. I laughed privately at some of the folks who talk about their reading goals on podcast, blogs or other social media. I know the book numbers seemed high for them, but I was like Pssh I read that many last month. That being said, the list for this challenge will by absolutely no means be the only books I read.

I also have a habit or rereading books. I reread Dee Henderson, JK Rowling and Dana Stabenow often not just annually. I tend to reread Dana's Shugak series more than her others, but I've reread Campbell's series several times and I currently have her science fiction series ready to go in my iPad. I'm not a science fiction fan, but I like her writing a lot.

My GoodReads books list really needs to be updated. I don't do a good job listing what I'm reading. I will go through two or three rounds of books from the library and never put them on any list. I may try to put all of my 2016 reads in this year because I'm curious as to how many books I read a year. I need to figure out how to put in books I'm rereading and how to tag books with a year read. I've been unsuccessful in getting books that I've stopped reading off my bookshelf in GoodReads. I've created a shelf that is just for that purpose, but apparently I have to also have the book on one of the default shelves.

I already have the first book from the challenge picked out. For some reason I started  Robert Galbraith's The Cuckoo's Calling when it was first published and when the news came out that it was actually JK Rowling, I stopped reading it. As I said, I reread her Harry Potter series every summer, it's usually how I start my summer break. But I really didn't like her first adult book The Casual Vacancy, it just had too much cursing in the first few chapters and I wasn't impressed at all.  I was afraid to continue with the book. But a friend who isn't a Rowling fan suggested I read what is now the series. She'd picked it up not knowing it was writing using a pseudonym. I am going to restart the book tomorrow.

Journal Jan 21

Made cinnamon rolls with the extra dough. Very yummy. Back to school. But huge temp drop along with precipitation sent us home at 12. Spent the afternoon reading.

Journal - Jan 19 &20

Jan 19

Great morning at church, I wasn't working media and I sat in a different part of the worship area. I was closer to a speaker than I'd been in months. I could really hear the music and it was awesome! A quick lunch and I decided I was going for a Sunday drive. I really took the long way home and drove out to an area near the lake and I think I may have found a new "peaceful" getaway. It is only 25 minutes from the house and I used to make the drive all the time because is was near my parents farm. But yesterday was the first time I remember driving to the boat access area. The water was so quiet and green yesterday. I will have to go back again.

I spent the rest of the afternoon at my friends house and played with baby Claire. Nice day!

Jan 20 

I spent the day reading and trying to make bread. It hasn't done a lot of rising and I'm really thinking it won't turn out the greatest. I'm going to make a stomboli for dinner using the dough. I'm going to put a twist on it and use a tex-mex filling. We'll see how it turns out. I also did a little productive sewing today. I made a new ironing board cover for my pitiful ironing board. It is extra wide which is great for quilting but hard to find a new cover. I could have ordered one from Amazon but I decided to whip one up myself. I love it!

Book Review - Jennifer

I have a few favorite genres that I read. I love mysteries and suspense as well as christian fiction and I really like it when they are blended. One of my favorite authors who does this well is Dee Henderson. She has recently released a new book - Jennifer. This isn't a mystery or suspense but it is a prequel to her O'Malley series which is full of mysteries and suspense.

This series is about a group of orphans who decide to adopt one another and form a true family. Little sister Jennifer is the last to be adopted and her story is told throughout the series. Her book describes how she found her husband to be and how this relationship leads her to a relationship with Christ. The author introduces us to the O'Malley family and as she weaves the story you feel like a member of this family. What I really like about the story is that it can be read as a stand alone or as part of the series. Dee does a great job of describing Jennifer's busy life as a doctor and her commitment to her patients as well as her family.

If you are like me and love to read great fiction, I suggest you pick up this book by Dee Henderson or any of her books. She has more than one great series.