WEEKEND RAMBLINGS NOVEMBER 23

Part of my fall decorations in my living room

Update: I have fixed the last post.  I'm not sure what happened with part of it to make it unreadable but I played with a couple things and the portion that was unreadable can now be seen.  It's not perfect but it's readable.

It's been busy here.  The last couple days have been beautifully sunny and temps have ranged in the upper 30's, downright balmy.  I noticed this morning the dusting of snow we'd had has totally melted. Temps otherwise have been ranging from teens to low 30's with frequent windchill readings below zero, which makes it cold to walk the furkids.  It was really cold one night when I was walking the pups and a guy getting out of his truck said he thought it was too cold to be out walking.  I laughingly told him I agreed but the pups thought otherwise.  Oreo was shivering so bad I broke out her fleece coat and put it on her and she hates wearing coats but she quit shivering.

My birthday was Friday so I had the day off.  Matt took me to see Mockingjay.  We're both looking forward to the last installment of this series.  After Jordon got off work we went out to eat.  I'd been craving pizza so we went to IDK for supper and then my request was to go bowling so we did that.  I really need to bowl more, my score was horrible!  I didn't break 100 either game although the last game was close.  Matt gave me a gift certificate for Duluth Trading.  I love this company for great clothing.  I bought Matt and I shirts from them last year for Christmas and we both really like the quality and warmth.

I decided to pick up a temp job, at least through the holidays and possibly through spring.  I desperately want a camper this year and I don't want to take a loan out for it so another job was needed since all overtime at my regular job has been cut.  I'm working 20 hours at the temp job and I'll have them drop it to 16 after the holidays are over. My schedule now is 8 hours on Saturday and 2 to 3 four hour shifts during the week. Yesterday was my first 8 hour shift and I am definitely feeling it in my back.

Matt has been working at his new job for about 6 weeks.  I think we're doing pretty well with working around schedules so far, especially with adding my new schedule into the chaos.  Our biggest problem so far has been Lacey of all things.  She has taken to really creating a disturbance barking and growling when Matt comes home at 3am and again when he comes to bed.  I'm not sure what is causing this and it's so out of character for her.  It's taken 8 years to get her to bark and I'm not sure how to stop it so as not to cause her to stop barking totally again.

READING:

I'm sure I've finished several books since my last post but these I finished this week.

Plain Jayne by Hillary Manton Lodge - Excellent Amish read.  Jayne is a journalist for a newspaper in Oregon and gets put on forced leave so she decides to go check out an Amish community and see if she can do a story on it.  I enjoyed this book so much I'll be buying the next in the series.

Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Trumbull - Another good read about an Australian woman who is traveling and meets a Frenchman.  She goes to France to visit him and then returns.  I've heard it can be really difficult for people to learn to live in France and she gives a glimpse into the problems of learning to live in a new country as well as having a relationship with someone from another country.

CRAFTING:

I bought some fabric to start a quilt with.  It will be a star pattern with dark red, natural muslin and dark blue with star fabric. I've got the fabric washed but it appears I may have to re-wash one of the pieces as it appears one of the cats (Moo) has been laying on it and it now has a coating of fur. Maybe this week I'll start on this project. I'd really like to try using my treadle machine to sew this quilt top and then I plan to hand quilt it.

Tip and Oreo hanging with me while I work

I finished my second rug on my frame this week!  So excited.  Now we have matching rugs by each of our chairs.  I really like how much better this one came out using the fabric to warp the loom with instead of yarn.  No breakage of the warp threads and the rug is a bit thicker.  I also didn't use the artist tripod with this one and instead sat on the floor and laid the loom across my lap.  It could get a bit rough on the tush and back.  I bought the black pillow pictured above to sit on but Oreo claimed it so I need to pick up another one.  It was much easier to work on this way while I was watching TV at night.  The pups seemed to like it since I was down on their level.  It wasn't uncommon for Lacey to have her muzzle resting on my leg while I worked.  This was taken just before I took it off the loom to finish up the last couple rows.

HOUSEKEEPING:

I forgot to pick up bathroom cleaner and didn't want to run out Wednesday night (my night off) so I decided to try some new homemade cleaners.  I went to Clean Mama's website and tried her Lavender and Lemon Bathroom Disinfectant Cleaner, Soft Scrub, and Lemon and Clove Floor Cleaner.  I really liked all the cleaners.  I'd love to get the glass spray bottles she recommends.  In the soft scrub I used my Bonner's Peppermint Soap so it had a nice peppermint scent.  The soft scrub worked great on the soap and oil buildup around the tub from when I soak.  I plan on trying her daily tub and shower spray next.  I need to get another spray bottle though. If you don't like the essential oils she suggests you can always use different ones.  I decided to try them and liked them.  I may try Orange and Clove for the next floor cleaning.  I have a caddy in my master bath with cleaners but need to make up a second caddy for the other bathroom so I'm not having to carry things back and forth.