Bird one

Changed the pink to blue, used Belfast Flax.  I tried the other linen colors but didn't have the patience to change all thread colors to those that would be appropriate.  I am meeting with an old friend that I lost touch with when I became Mom's caregiver.  She co-owned the only needlework shop we had here decades ago.  These birds along with a velvet berry would be a nice gift and I decided to use the lighter linen and follow the chart colors (except for the bird). 

 

 

Hope you're enjoying the weekend.

 

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These will be so tweet!

Hi everyone.  Received my gift of BBD and started pulling fabric for the Tweet hearts.  I would love to do a few in different colors, change a bird to a blackbird and another to a cardinal.  Instead of the 32 count which is too bulky with two threads and too skimpy with one, I chose 30.  During this task, a closer look revealed two 13 x 17 pieces that are clearly marked 32 count, and are in fact, 28.  Not happy and it's too late to return.  From now on I will check very closely because this has happened before, but seriously doubt any future orders will be placed since I have plenty of linen and colors.  These are my choices for a Tweety quartet.

 

 

But you know that I may will can probably undoubtedly change my mind, don't you?

This is my first inside look of a BBD book and they do a wonderful job of photos and instructions.  Very nice. 

 

For those interested in the Day Clock, it is here, available in several frame colors.  And I received a note from Martha about cold brew coffee, she helped a lot!  I was following several major online food sites for instructions, no one told me that there are filters you can purchase to make it easier.  So thank you very much Martha!  Here's a few options, also Amazon.

A long filter to use in a 2 quart mason jar here.

A very fine mesh bag to hold the grounds here.

And a different method, also to use with a mason jar here.

Cold brew is less acidic, concentrated, sweeter.  You can add boiling water to the brew for a hot cup, or ice for cold.  Another tip I received from Lenore is to make ice cubes from coffee to prevent diluting the drink.  Mine is sweetened with cream added.  I have the flavored syrups (Torani) in vanilla and hazelnut but prefer plain.

The amount of water to coffee varies depending on individual tastes, but having a pitcher of concentrate for an anytime treat is very appealing.  Must be kept in the fridge and I prefer glass so until I find a nice container, the mason jar will work.

The snow and ice yesterday is probably the reason we saw a young doe with a broken front leg today.  She was fine two days ago. 
 

Have a great end to your week folks.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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About that coffee

it is strong!  I added a little water with ice, or just lots of ice and no water, lots of cream and my sweetener.  The flavor is very good and I can adjust the strength.  I will do this often and save a lot this summer and not have to make a trip to get a very good iced coffee.  Only one issue.  I used the standard drip grind and there was quite a bit of sludge that needed lots of coffee filters to strain.  It's recommended to use a medium grind which I will try next.  We are lucky to have a local coffee roaster and can buy fresh roasted to be ground as you wish.  And Giant Eagle still has a grinder for whole bean bags.  I buy DD bags, I wonder if they would grind it for me in the store?  Would it be easier to just make a double strength pot in an electric maker?  Maybe.  Cold brewed is supposed to be strong without the bitter taste but I'll try both.  My first attempt a few years ago was a mess because I wasn't thinking.  I doubled the scoops with the same amount of water and the basket overflowed.  Just use half the water amount for the recommended scoops.

 

I saw this on Pinterest but it didn't lead to any information.  Isn't this scissor case sweet?

 

I found out from my new xrays at the doc today that my clavicle on the bad shoulder side is a half inch from the sternum where it should be attached.  The muscle and ligaments are holding it there according to the doc.  Could be from the accident when the seat belt dug in or related to the impingement.   Too bad one doctor isn't thorough enough and you have to get bits and pieces from several.

 

Stopped at Sherwin Williams since our car was fishtailing in that direction anyway.  The roads were horrendous this morning.  Found two dark colors that may work for the house, would still like the windows painted to match instead of the windows' high gloss finish, the dark sample.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May be taking Carole to the doctor tomorrow.  She had a really bad night and the cough is worse.

 

And....

my aunt has trouble with knowing what day it is.  She looks at her calendar which is marked with doc visits and such, but it doesn't help if the day is wrong.  So I found this clock for seniors, perfect.  It clearly shows the day and the date so she can use it to check the correct day on her calendar.  It's called a Day Clock.  If you've never seen it and think it could help a senior in the family, a great gift idea.

 

That's it folks.

 

Hope your week is going well.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Spring?

Looks more like Christmas coming than Easter.  And it's continuing throughout the day.  But.  It's not as much as some of you have been getting, so I should shut my pie hole. 

 

The bottom fence rails are covered so we're getting close to 8", hope it ends soon, and your day has some sunshine.  We have appointments and need to go out in this.

 

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The Clinic

Monday Monday.  I went in with the intention to be kind and patient.  And I was.  Since they changed settings on my nephew's pump, he has been in distress from low numbers four times in one week so his visits there were frequent.  And each time he explained their error of sending his insulin Rx to his old insurance.  Nothing changed.  Except she became more belligerent, nasty, and unprofessional.  She insisted it was done properly and the pharmacy is the problem.  She hung up on him when he called to check the status.  His last visit he said "my Aunt Marlene checked too and it still hasn't been called in, I'm running low on Novolog".  To which she replied, "tell your Aunt Marlene that it was taken care of and if she thinks she knows more than me, have her come in".  Invitation accepted.

 

First visit (last week) was very pleasant with a clerk, who checked records and found that 4 weeks ago "Emily" did indeed send to the old pharmacy.  Good thing I went in with a pleasant attitude (rare) because this clerk was not the focus of my ire.  Assuming it would be handled, no need to confront Emily.

 

Second visit, Monday. Back down the hallway to the same clerk.  All is cordial, I hand her several order forms for faxing completely filled out except for the signature.  I remind her that nothing has been done so I took the liberty of preparing everything for them, all they have to do is push the button on the fax machine, if they can handle that.  She then informs me that Rx faxing is done at the front desk, and that correction was sent to them after my first visit.  She said I needed to go there and ask for Emily.  Point the way.  Let's talk to Emily.

 

When I asked at that front desk if I could speak to Emily, I had full intention to be nice.  A woman immediately came over and as nasty as hell said "who wants to know?"  Nice was slipping away quickly.  "Why?  Who told you to ask for Emily?  What do you need her for?"  All gone.  Come at me Bro.  I knew immediately I was standing in front of a women named Emily who would rue the day.  The rest as they say, is history.  His mail order Novolog will be delivered the 26th, and I will accompany Chris on his next visit.  I understand we all have bad days.  But every single visit?  Unacceptable.  She is representing this medical group with a horrible attitude, and no patient should be treated this way, or prevented from receiving life saving medication because someone thinks they know it all.  She will be dealt with, I guarantee it.

 

 

Someone else was getting on my nerves this morning.  And this is what you can see, the other floss skeins are under the sofa looking like fusilli.

 

Guess who?

 

Happy Spring.  Snow this afternoon.  Yippee.

 

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Befuddled (thanks Deb!)

Hello hello!  How's it going?  Hope your week wasn't stressful and you did something special for yourself.

While reading Deb's blog http://dhenders.blogspot.com/ and watching progress on her remarkable sampler project, she used the word befuddling.  Oh my!  It's been a long while since I heard or used that word and I like it.  And it's appropriate when describing my recent months.  The Eliquis is thinning my blood but also thinning my hair, and I think may be thinning my brain.

 

To Kathiquilts (no-reply!) and anyone else inquiring, those Tweet Hearts are from the Blackbird Design book, For My Friend.  I was very lucky to receive offers from several readers who are done with the book and willing to share.  Thank you all!   I don't know if I mentioned this, but recently I loaned an OOP chart and put my return address on it with a sticky note.  Weeks later when I opened the mail and saw the chart, I wondered why I ordered it and where I found it since it is OOP.  Good thing the sticky note was still attached or it would have bugged me for days. 

 

I was looking through charts to sell and all the little freebies and such that I keep in a folder.  For a number of years, Mary Monier has been a bug in my brain.  I would catch a glimpse of her name on a file, think about stitching her, but something was never right.  I still can't figure it out.  Yesterday I came across my working copy, marked with red, notes in ink, highlighted areas, obviously used.  This tells me I did in fact stitch her many years ago.  ????  She left without saying goodbye.  Was it something I said?  Were there threats of flame?  Not only is the chart missing, but the sampler itself.  Tells you just how bad my memory has become.

Did you see the FB post from NeedleWork Press?  They are offering a darling freebie that you can find here https://www.facebook.com/needleworkpress/, and if you aren't FB'ers and can't access it, here is the free chart (I hope it's OK to show it).

 

And the finish they featured from Terry Warburton using her own colors.  Isn't this sweet?  If I'm infringing by showing this from NWP's Facebook post, please let me know.  I would like to schedule a haircut before I'm hauled off.

 

To add even more confusion to my already befuddled mind, it seems some clothing articles are now gender neutral.  The men's hoodie on clearance for my brother zipped on the opposite side of the standard for men, and the women's zipper was also reversed.  When I inquired, I was told that gender neutral is being introduced in clothing that can be worn by either.  Then put half of each closure side in each department because some of us with arthritis and brain fog prefer what we are used to.  And if this will be case, I hope they increase the hip width because women's hips need a little more room.  Or in some cases, a lot, but I won't mention my name.

 

As for the emails to absent bloggers, I found that many were changed by Google to no-reply.  Julia had a great idea that never occurred to me, just leave a note in the comments of the last post.  Mine come through to my email (except for AOL and Yahoo customers) so I assume everyone's would do the same.  Thanks Julia for a solution when we have no way to contact or don't want to feel we are intruding.  From what I've read, most would welcome a note and not think it to be such. 

And for the experiment of the day.  I found a bag of outdated coffee and decided to experiment with cold brew (instead of wasting the fresh). I only purchase the regular iced coffee at Dunkin because cold is not offered in decaf.  Many versions of coffee to water ratios online, I'm using 1 cup of ground to 4 cups cold water.  Cover and let sit overnight, then strain several times, the last one with a coffee filter to remove sludge.  Mix 1 to 1 ratio of brew to water, add sweetener and cream if desired.  I'll let you know how it comes out.

Have a great start to your week.

Thanks for visiting.

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