four things | thirty-six

It’s been a few weeks… Mr. Aitch and I were on two mini vacations. The first weekend was with his brother and wife, and the next week was with my brother, his wife, and our sister.

I had every intension of posting about those times as well as about the week my BFF and I spent at Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio.

I’ve been busy. Our patio project is finally finished and I’m waiting to take some new pictures of that as soon as some grass grows back from the construction. Quality work takes time and we are so pleased with the outcome.

Last week was a week from, well, it wasn’t good. Mr. Aitch was outside with Pepper doing some yard work. I was ready to leave for a church meeting when we c realized she had wandered off. Forty-five minutes late we found her down the street at our neighbor’s house. i missed my meeting.

The next day our email wasn’t working. “Your credentials do not match our system records.” Ummmm. Several friends were also without their email access as well so it wasn’t just us. So many services we use are tied to our email address. Mr. Aitch has his pretty much back to normal with a new email address but I’m still working on some of mine.

Thursday, I got some expected but still distressing news about my hearing. On Saturday the printer decided it didn’t like the paper I was using and kept jamming. Sunday morning I was teaching a craft with our Women’s Ministry group which was more suited for a one-on-one session rather than a group session. Everyone still had a good time and at least 3/4 of the women were successful with their project. I texted each one individually on Monday to let them know I was available for a refresher course at their convenience.

So I was stressed last week that spilled over into this week. That was all in the past so lets see what I’m reading, watching, loving, and working on this week.

what I’m reading

Our Book Club met this past Monday. The book was The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge Selleck. The events took place in 1975-76 and Ora, the narrator, is recounting the tale 25-years later. After reading the brief summary of the book, I didn’t think I’d like it. I was wrong. It was very moving and and about doing the right thing when it’s the most difficult to do so.

what I’m watching

Mr. Aitch and I just started watching The Last Detective on Brit Box. The main character, Dangerous Davies, get handed the detective cases no one else wants. He’s good at solving them with little or no recognition.

what I’m loving

One of the shops at Bemus Point on Lake Chautauqua has the BEST cards. When I saw this quilling card, I knew it would be the perfect thank you note card to send to my brother and his wife for their hospitality during our stay at their cottage.

what I’m working on

Mr. Aitch has misplaced his hand-dyed, hand-knit 1898 hat I knit for him several years ago. I wanted this to be in the blue range as that’s his favorite color. I didn’t have the right worsted-weight yarn so I’m holding a DK weight together with a fingering weight yarn to get the right thickness. I’m also using a US# 8 needle instead of the #7 called for in the pattern as it should be a better fit for him.

I’m really liking the marled look of the yarns held together. And the knit-in ear coverings really keep the chill out.

Have a good week.

Patti nona

Goodbye, Walking Buddy

My Walking Buddy had to leave. It was her time.

I hadn’t seen her since last December but we would text and talk on the phone. I knew she wasn’t doing well when I received her last text on April 30. I wished her well and told her I’d continue to pray for her.

Her funeral was yesterday and her family knew who I was though I had only met a couple of them a few times last summer. Every day that we walked we talked about our families. I knew their names and where they lived. And when I saw them at the funeral home, it was like we were old friends.

My Walking Buddy’s mother told me she loved the hat and mittens I gave her in February.

I was hoping to get a picture of her wearing them but that didn’t happen.

Goodbye, Carole.

A trio

I finished the third in the series of striped 1898 hats.

This one is two shades of blue: a soft heathered medium blue (Wool-eze) and navy (Red Heart Super Saver).  Same stripe sequence as the others though I only played yarn chicken with the first hat.

I’m going to toss these in the washer and dryer to soften up the acrylic Red Heart yarn…unless you know of another way to soften them.

Oh, and I decided to follow Jude and Salpal’s advice.  Leave the green hat as is and not be concerned with the wonky stitches.  It IS for a child after all.

 

Green cap

I loved the two-toned striped 1898 cap I finished earlier so I decided to do another one in two shades of green.  No yarn chicken game needed with this cap.

Not sure what happened here but the stitches look a bit wonky.

Add some buttons to hide them…

…or fuggetaboutit?  I do have a tendency to over think things.