Ups and Downs

I should have mentioned when I posted on January 5th that so far in 2017 I hadn't spent any money! Five No Spend days in a row! I wondered how long I could go this month without spending anything at all and well it was Jan. 5th :)
My friend Julie was back from LA and had an empty fridge so I picked up food from Hong Ping and we had a feast! Definitely a money-worthy event.

And it was all downhill from there...as I checked in my local thrift shop for a warm brown hat. There were tons of hats but nothing that suited me or went with its intended brown coat. Oh well, might as well have a wander...

I love metal decor of all sorts and I like watching pieces get weathered.

This will go out on my patio to keep DREAM company.

Now I won't just be dreaming I'll be hoping and dreaming:)

I seem to be lucky lately finding silver filagree work. These 3 flowers are displayed in a shadow box.

Remember this one? Same store. 

And also for my patio - 2 cast iron birds/candle holders - extremely heavy. 

Okay, I'm ready for summer! Too bad it's about a hundred below zero today!

Speaking of the cold... 

I managed to finish a crocheted headband for Kazi.

It looks amazing on her, me not so much.

I'm making one for Hannah too; it's almost done except for 

sizing and sewing on the buttons.

I'm also back in the workshop and have 4 carvings under way - they still look like blobs at the moment so I'll wait til I get to the polishing stage before taking any photos.

Over all I'm happy with how the week went - played volleyball 3 days and rode my stationary bike a couple of times while watching "Trapped" on Netflix. I really love Scandinavian crime shows! This one takes place in Iceland.  And I did my stretches every day (for my sad knee) and my sun salutations as soon as I get up, even though it's still dark out! The result - less pain. Who knew? Well, I guess my physiotherapist...

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Once upon a time there were three balls of wool.

The first one was a beautiful grey with a bit of a sheen to it.

Instead of being one thickness it changed from thin to thick throughout the ball.

Goldilocks thought it would make a nice warm headband for winter. She decided NOT

to use the recommended crochet hook size and chose her favourite hook instead.

She followed the instructions but found it wasn't nearly long enough to fit around

her head and the variety of wool thickness created a somewhat frilly edge.

So Goldilocks set that bowl ball aside.

So then Goldilocks decided to try a second bowl ball of yarn that was a 

consistently thick grey/black wool with a bigger 

hook she randomly chose.

The wool was a bit tricky to use and it took a lot of wool to

make one row.  And she wasn't always sure she was poking the hook

into the right space due to the colours of the wool.  This would make a very

chunky headband and no doubt it would be thick and warm.  But not very 

attractive. Even though she counted the stitches very carefully the resulting band

was way too long to wrap around her head.

Finally Goldilocks decided to check the instructions to see what weight of wool

and what size of hook she was really supposed to use for her 

headband project. (It was getting mighty cold in the forest and the three bears

didn't have a furnace as they always hibernated through winter.)

Of course that meant a trip to the craft store because she didn't have either the 

right weight wool or the suggested hook (even though she had a TON of

hooks she didn't have the one she needed!)

So even though Goldilocks had tried to save herself a trip to the 

craft store she ended up wasting a lot more time by thinking

she could "wing it" instead of reading and following the

instructions. 

Stupid Goldilocks.

It remains to be seen if Goldilocks managed to crochet a headband of the
correct size or whether she ended up losing her ears to frostbite. 

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Once upon a time there were three balls of wool.

The first one was a beautiful grey with a bit of a sheen to it.

Instead of being one thickness it changed from thin to thick throughout the ball.

Goldilocks thought it would make a nice warm headband for winter. She decided NOT

to use the recommended crochet hook size and chose her favourite hook instead.

She followed the instructions but found it wasn't nearly long enough to fit around

her head and the variety of wool thickness created a somewhat frilly edge.

So Goldilocks set that bowl ball aside.

So then Goldilocks decided to try a second bowl ball of yarn that was a 

consistently thick grey/black wool with a bigger 

hook she randomly chose.

The wool was a bit tricky to use and it took a lot of wool to

make one row.  And she wasn't always sure she was poking the hook

into the right space due to the colours of the wool.  This would make a very

chunky headband and no doubt it would be thick and warm.  But not very 

attractive. Even though she counted the stitches very carefully the resulting band

was way too long to wrap around her head.

Finally Goldilocks decided to check the instructions to see what weight of wool

and what size of hook she was really supposed to use for her 

headband project. (It was getting mighty cold in the forest and the three bears

didn't have a furnace as they always hibernated through winter.)

Of course that meant a trip to the craft store because she didn't have either the 

right weight wool or the suggested hook (even though she had a TON of

hooks she didn't have the one she needed!)

So even though Goldilocks had tried to save herself a trip to the 

craft store she ended up wasting a lot more time by thinking

she could "wing it" instead of reading and following the

instructions. 

Stupid Goldilocks.

It remains to be seen if Goldilocks managed to crochet a headband of the
correct size or whether she ended up losing her ears to frostbite. 

Here We Go Again...

Or as it goes in the Whitesnake song - here I go again!  The heat...the heat is back with a vengeance!! What fun things can I do inside today?... tomorrow ?... Saturday?...  I've cleaned all three floors of my house! I've made tuna pasta salad, scones, salsa etc. I've laundered everything that could possibly be laundered, dusted everything that needed to be dusted blah blah blah...

Well, I do have a lot of computer-related tasks to work on such as my itinerary for the upcoming trip to Ireland. I like to have my entire plan on one piece (or 2) of paper so there is no guess work. For example, once I land at Dublin Airport, go through customs and nab my suitcase I have to find my way to the first B&B so I research buses and trains to find the most direct and closest route to the B&B. Then when I'm panicking I can check my little list and see where the bus/train terminal/station is and which # to take.

Doesn't she look just like me?

And I haven't blogged for a week! I think about it but have no consistent plan about when or how often. So I get lazy. There's no big news so it's hard to get inspired....

• Spool knitting - still working on that while I watch TV at night
• Carving - nope, not in the summer - who wants to sit in a windowless room and create dust when I could go outside and bike/read/walk/hike in Kilally Meadows etc? Not me. That's a winder pastime. 
• Reading - Ken Follet's "The Pillars of the Earth", and "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, and "The Swans of Fifth Avenue" by Melanie Benjamin. And numerous non-fiction books. I put books on hold at the library (online) an often get 2 or 3 all within a few days and then it's a reading marathon!
• Crocheting - going to start something today
• TV - currently watching "Broadchurch" a great British detective series
• Travel - in the past couple of weeks I've gone to the beach once, to a summer festival or two, hiking in Kilally, out for lunch

So that's my life. What have you been up to? What do you do when it's 40c+? (104F) 

Maybe I should go to the movies!

This, That and the Other Thing

Today was a day of getting things done around the house. It's cold and gloomy outside and I just didn't feel like walking/running in the woods. Brrrrrrrrr! Yes, I'm doing some trail running. I've only fallen once! And it didn't hurt too bad! Damn tree root!

Among my other trail injuries is a Harry Potter lightning bolt shaped scratch on my forehead from pushing into a thicket to get some a--hole's empty water bottle. I HATE litterers! As soon as Kazi saw it she asked (sensitively-HAH!) "how'd ya get the Harry Potter forehead?" I also have another scrape and bruise on my forehead from bending over to clean out the kittys' litter boxes and I whacked my head on the laundry tub!

So I have to stay home til I get healed up - I'm not allowed out in public!

So here's what I accomplished today (so far...):

• made oat scones
• made granola

I think I should be called Oaty McOatface!! Hahahahahaha! Click HERE if you're not sure of my reference :)

I think I hit my head too hard!

Carrying on...

• I finished my first infinity scarf - now that summer's on its way..... 

•  the cats got into a hissy fit over the cat beds so I had to separate them. For some reason they both prefer the FIRST bed I bought and neither wants to use the other two for Pete's sake! So Lily "volunteered" to use one of the newer beds and of course I had to take cute pet photos :)

Lilypad

Luna- the big fat balloona!

Maybe it's because Luna needs two!!

• a piece of paint got chipped off my LOVE decor item so I mixed up some green and blue acrylic paints and touched it up!  

• I worked on  couple other things in the workshop - the piece below fell and got chipped so I had to smooth that out plus I'm flattening the top (it was rounded) so that it can hold a beautiful rock once it's polished. 

•  I worked on another small piece and have the final shape figured out - it's going to be a shadow box carving. (I didn't feel like polishing today.

•  I went around the entire house to find the perfect spot for this little art piece below - it's one of my Talize $1.99 finds when my seester and I went thrifting - I haven't shown you ANY of the great stuff I got - that's another post I guess. I hope I can remember what I bought! I fell in love with this - the frame is great and the silver/silver-plated/steel??? work is so intricate and far eastern-ish. 

 Here's a closer look:

Isn't it great?
The photo below shows its new home.

So that's my day - it was pretty productive. Oh, and I also read for awhile. See, I get a lot done when I don't go outside!

Did you have a productive day? Any new injuries lately? 

Now for a beer!

Cheers!

Just another Money Monday

Don't you just love the end of a month?  I put my nice clean (for now) budget page for March on my clipboard, forever consigning February 2016 to my filing cabinet. I know March isn't until tomorrow but I actually closed February last Friday. I had $60 in my wallet plus $150 in my snowflake box just in case of emergency. And I still had $120 in my chequing account.

So I did what any sane person would do - I went shopping!! No, I didn't go wild. I bought some super bulky yarn at Michael's for my next project - an infinity scarf for Kazi. And I bought a cute little book with a nice variety of crochet projects including a SUPER darling pair of baby shoes :) Well, I can dream can't I? I wonder if they have a kitty-cat version??

Now THERE'S and idea....nope, just couldn't do it!

I used money from my wallet for the yarn and book which came to about $22. Then I danced a jig over to the Currency Exchange store at Masonville Mall and purchased 100 euros!! Woo hoo!! When all was said and done I withdrew the $120 left over in my chequing account and put it into my snowflake box towards my next purchase of euros! I should be able to buy another 100 euros by the end of this week or next! As long as Murphy doesn't rear his ugly head! Thankfully the euro is dropping too which makes it a bit cheaper than a few weeks ago.

My February budget goals were met: a Christmas present for my great-nephew was purchased and I donated $25 to United Way. What really helped me out in February was the weather and the price of gas. We had a bad storm that kept me home for a few days - with another one due tomorrow!! And with the price of gas being at its lowest in years I only spent $68 for gas for Dougie the Dodge. Unheard of!

The big grocery shop in the middle of the month ($102) is still feeding us! And my heating bill was at its lowest in years as well (for a January!) I'm curious to see what my heating bill will be for February - yes, it's a shorter month but I tried something a little different. I set the thermostat at 19c and didn't touch it once! If I got chilly I put on a sweater or put a quilt over my lap. When we watch TV we have an electric fire to keep us toasty. So, happily, I ended up with surpluses in both the gas and grocery budget lines :) Yippee!!

Savings increased by about $550 which was then used to pay for some Ireland-related expenses. Easy come, easy go! Still awaiting my whopping tax refund of just over $200 plus I have some good RSP interest due this month. That will all go towards the trip. So that was February! I think March is going to come in like a lion according to the latest forecast. That's ok, let's get it over with - only 3 weeks til SPRING!! 

Once again my snowdrops are blooming but if tomorrow's forecast is accurate they'll be covered up for the second time. (Just checked - we're in for anywhere between 15 and 30cms)  Crap.

My First Scarf!

Yes, I took a lot of photos of my newly crocheted scarf!! It took a couple of weeks of evening TV watching to complete it. I used 2 skeins of acrylic yarn that was on sale in the clearance bin for $1.49 each! So...it's a $3.00 scarf!

 I didn't follow a pattern. I just used a double crochet stitch from start to finish. I don't know how many stitches per row as I just did a row of chain stitch until I thought it was wide enough :) I'm
such a rebel!

I know there are sections where my tension varied a bit...but who's gonna know??

 My scarf is kitty approved!

 It's nice and long for only 2 skeins of yarn! Hmmmm...my coat seems to have grown a tail!

It's long enough to double it and pull the ends through :)  Do you see kitty legs?

Wherever gramma goes....

...a closeup - it has about 4 different colours in it....oops, I see a spot where I need to trim. One of the skeins had a few knots in it :(

Peek a boo!

I see you!  Whatcha doin' gramma??

It goes around my neck several times. I've been wearing it proudly!!

Such a poser you are Luna! With her favourite toy - a piece of ribbon :)

And that's that! Next up is an infinity scarf using a super bulky yarn. I've found a youtube video that I'm going to follow...unless my inner rebel takes over! I bought 3 skeins of a black/grey blend which is all the way down in the TV room or otherwise I'd take a photo of it! Well, it is Sunday ya know - I'll take photos later :) It's supposed to get up to a whopping 12c today so I'll be rambling through Kilally meadows again.

Here's a few photos from my last hike through (last Tuesday I believe...)
If I get tired  I can have a little sit down.

Some trees have been trimmed and an enterprising soul built a little lean to.  It looks kind of cosy in there!  From the front (can you see my little head?)

From the side...

 I think the bridge is going to need some repair this year. I posted a pic of this bridge a couple weeks ago and the water was almost at the top of the bridge! I'm glad the flooding is receding but it is leaving a mess in its wake.

Loch Nessie?

Normally this area isn't under water but we've had a lot of rain this winter.

What's your Sunday game plan??

The Cost of Christmas

I really don't want to know!

Actually, it's not that bad. I started December with a misc budget of close to $1,000.00. That had to cover all gifts (Kazi, her boyfriend, neighbour, 3 girlfriends, 2 brothers, 1 sister-in-law plus her mother and brother, my nephew his wife and their son - my great-nephew). Oh...and me!! (my gifts to me are all from the used bookstore! I hope Luna doesn't pick the one I want to read first!)

And let's not forget Luna and Lily...I bought some treats and toys for their stockings...sorry, Lily, you have to wait til Friday!!!

But that's not all. My misc budget also covers entertainment - eating out, going for drinks etc. It covers decorations - I bought a new (fake) Christmas tree (40% off) and light up wall decoration...(70% off!)

...and then there's the baking supplies...Bulk Barn LOVES me!

...and the Christmas candy...yes, they follow me wherever I go! (Bulk Barn)

...the craft supplies... (Walmart and Michael's)

...and the liquor too! (tastes the same as Bailey's at a third of the cost!)

Christmas can easily get out of hand - I saw in the financial news today that Canadians are the worst abusers of their credit cards....in the entire WORLD!!  So...I must confess....that I used my President's Choice Mastercard for ALL of my purchases...then went home and promptly paid them off! Why? So I would have enough points to purchase Kazi's new comforter set and new pillows, new sheets and all of her stocking gifts!! That's what saves my bacon every year - POINTS! 

My cheap thrifty ways continue into retirement! My gift giving this year includes crocheted wash/dish cloths along with new Body Shop soaps and lotions;  homemade treats and 2nd hand books. Points bought the new stuff and my baking supplies were bought in bulk. I'm not a label whore so Cartier's Irish Cream is very satisfying. 

I am proud to announce that I still have $$ left in my chequing account! Not a huge amount but enough to get me to the end of the month. My fridge is stuffed and my truck has a full tank of gas. I vowed to myself I wouldn't take money out of savings and I didn't. Yippeeeeeee! 

Did you have a Christmas budget? Did you stick to it?