Musings, Mischief and Mayhem

Too Many Crocheting Ideas

Karen — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:48:17 +0000

Monday I was following links online (America’s favorite exercise?) and discovered a Picture Tutorial on How to Crochet a Heart. I don’t quite know why, but the hearts got me to thinking about making/crocheting a necklace, something that I have never attempted before. I was doing so much thinking/planning, that I couldn’t sleep that night and ended up getting up at 1 a.m. and sketching out my ideas on paper. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours working on the necklace, only to decide that I didn’t have it figured out as much as I originally thought and ended up tearing it all apart.

I have been making hearts, though, while I cogitate on what needs to be done differently with the necklace. Here are sixty hearts in pink, red and white. Aren’t they cool?

I am using regular Size 10 crochet thread, but I can already see that if I go a lot further in this jewelry crocheting project that I will need some softer yarn than what I have on hand.

I have my new plan all written down/sketched out and will begin working on it again tonight. This is such new territory for me: I have never before attempted jewelry, nor have I attempted creating my own crochet design in anything. Wish me luck!! I really can’t afford to spend a lot of time on this project, what with a baby blanket only about one-third done.

I did finally use up all the yarn remnants from my Christmas gift scarf-making frenzy. I know how one full-sized scarf and five skinny scarves in my stash.

Here they are all folded up.

And here are the skinny scarves, full length. The colors showing here on this second picture are not very accurate; the first picture has much truer colors.

These scarves are super soft. I should start up an Etsy store and sell them, but I’ll probably just end up giving them away as gifts. I have tried wearing them, but while I love crocheting scarves and love how they look on other people, I find I am just not a scarf person.

Super Bowl Sunday

Karen — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:59:23 +0000

We went for a quick walk this morning and I do mean quick. It was a lot colder outside than we had anticipated and we quickly wimped out and headed home. But I had time to notice a cactus that I had not paid much attention to before. I’m sure someone can tell me what variety of cactus it might be!

We also still have some snow on the Huachuca Mountains.

Later today we will watch the Super Bowl, but we won’t be rooting for any particular team. I’m excited simply because Super Bowl Sunday means just three more weeks until the Daytona 500 and the beginning of the 2012 NASCAR racing season!

I began crocheting a baby blanket for my newest granddaughter, Liana Rose, who is expected to make her appearance around April 8, 2012.

It is coming along nicely, and while I really like the pattern, I do wish the colors that it called for were a bit brighter. I ordered the yarn the pattern called for, but the actual yarn does not seem to match the colors in the book. I doubt Liana Rose will mind, though.

World Without End Book Review

Karen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:31:23 +0000

World Without End by Ken Follett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, I was a bit disappointed, although I am not sure why. Maybe it was because The Pillars of the Earth was such a new concept to me when I first read it, a historical novel that dealt with everyday poeple and didn’t center around the royalty. The characters were compelling and I was extremely sad when I finished the book, knowing I would not be sharing their world anymore. World Without End did not affect me in the same way. The storyline was good, the characters good, and it was nice to revisit the town of Kingsbridge, albeit 200 years later, but the book did not captivate me. In fact, I almost set it aside in the first 100 pages. I am glad I did not, as I would have missed the storyline of Caris and her fight with the hierarchy of the church as she battled the Black Plague. That, alone, made the book worth reading. I wonder if Follett will continue following the town of Kingsbridge in another novel?

View all my reviews

Weekend snapshots of Sandhill Cranes

Karen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:22:56 +0000

This past weekend was spent mostly resting and catching up on some chores at home. Saturday afternoon we took a spur of the moment trip out to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area to view the sandhill cranes.

Our previous visits to see the sandhill cranes have been at mid-day when the cranes come in to feed at the wildlife area, so we thought it might be interesting to visit towards sundown. This visit, the cranes were closer to the viewing areas, so I was able to take some better pictures.

The water level was so much lower than in 2011. Here’s a picture I took in January 2011

And the same spot in January 2012

We did see a lot more ducks this year.

And this cute little guy.

Here you can see how shallow the water really was, as the previous bird walks past the ducks …

And on past some tumbleweeds floating in the water.

Last, but certainly not least, I snapped this picture of Bill and I. Can you believe it? I finally got a picture where we both had our eyes open and we were both smiling!

I love that our holding hands made the shadows look like a heart!

Working On Contentment

Karen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:56:37 +0000

Contentment was a good choice as my word for 2012. Even though I have accomplished very little of what I had planned for January, the month seems to be ending up well, with most of the issues that caused stress throughout the month finding their way to a good resolution. And by remembering my word, contentment, I was able to keep moving forward, look for the bright spots, and not dwell on what isn’t or can’t be. That is major progress compared to the last two months of 2011.

Last weekend Bill and I had a little getaway and attended the Tucson Area Square Dance Festival. We had great fun dancing to some excellent callers. Anytime we can dance to Nasser Shukayr, we will be there!

My first Amore Arizona post earlier this month highlighted Arizona’s sunsets, and we have certainly had some beautiful ones this month. Here are two pictures taken outside our house on different evenings this past week, the first from the backyard and the second from the front yard.

Putting contentment into practice, I have purchased several plants this month, including 5 African violets! As soon as I get them all in their new pots, I will be posting pictures. There is just something about African violets that makes a house feel like a home to me.

And here is another self-care step towards contentment:

Pink and red tulips

The pink tulips were barely open when I put them in water yesterday, and they are all drooping more than I like, but they are still lovely.

Thursday’s Treasures – My 2011 Santa

Karen — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:46:11 +0000

Here is the newest addition to my Santa collection.

Frohe Weihnachten” German Santa, designed by Jim Shore.

We were walking the mall in Tucson after the New Year when I spotted a collection of international Santas on sale. I just happened to have tucked away in my purse the money my mom sent to Bill & I for Christmas. And now this wonderful German Santa sits in my living room! Thanks, Mom!

As January Flies By

Karen — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:58:12 +0000

Here it is the 18th of January and I have only posted four times this month, and all of those were in the first week. Can you hear the big sigh of dismay? So far I have accomplished very little that I had planned for January. My time, energy and focus have all been centered on replacing a vehicle that was lost in a traffic accident on January 3rd, a situation complicated by the distance of 1800 miles. But finally, this morning, it sounds like we may have resolved all the issues and now we just need another several days to let progress continue.

I signed up for the January Doodle that the Kelly and Tracy at The Dao of Doing are coordinating this month and, as with everything else this month, my commitment and progress has been sporadic at best. You would think 15 minutes of exercise each day would be easy to accomplish, but so far I have only managed about half the days of January. I did get signed up for a yoga class and actually made one (yes, one!) class last week. Tomorrow I will make it to my second class, as I don’t see why I should have to put it off while waiting for insurance adjustors or bankers or anyone else to call me!

One of the highlights of the month was been visiting son David last Saturday in Phoenix. It was a spur of the moment trip to visit a car dealership (that was not so pleasant!) and we took advantage of being in town to take David and his roommates out to supper. We let David choose where to go and we ended up at a Japanese restaurant that specializes in sushi. I think next time I’ll choose where we go – I learned I am definitely not a sushi-lover!

I took this picture of the Huachuca Mountains last week, on one of our many cloudy days this month (we even had rain!).

Amore Arizona – Beautiful Sunsets

Karen — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:51:15 +0000

One of the very first things I noticed about living in Arizona that delighted me were the beautiful sunsets. Out on the desert floor, where the skies tend to be clear and the mountains are off in the distance, the sand in the air causes some brilliant reds and golds. I took this picture coming home from Phoenix this past Monday, somewhere just slightly north of Tucson, looking to the west. I think Bill thought I was crazy as I rolled down the window while we were going down the Interstate and began holding my camera up and out the window! Don’t worry, I wasn’t driving!

Here in Sierra Vista, at our higher altitude, I think we have more clouds than many areas of Arizona, and clouds can contribute to lovely sunsets. These two pictures were taken this past Wednesday evening, just standing outside in my front yard, looking to the Huachuca Mountains to the west and southwest.

You can just barely see the white of snow on the peak in the above picture.

And this is my all-time favorite sunset picture:

This was taken October 2010, on our way home from a trip to the peak of Mount Lemmon. As we headed east on the Interstate, Bill said, “Look behind you!” By the time Bill was able to find a place to pull off so I could take some pictures, the sun had dropped below the horizon. I have used this picture as a background on my computer desktop and also sliced it to use as one of the rotating header pictures here on Musings, Mischief and Mayhem.

Do you have a favorite sunset picture?

This is the first in my Amore Arizona series that I mentioned in my January 4th post on Contentment. In this series I write about and post pictures of the things I love about Arizona.

Do It My Way

Karen — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:14:45 +0000

I was going through some old emails (trying to pare down my Inbox!) and came across this from earlier in December:

Do it your way, Karen.

That’s what you’re there for.

Ciao,
The Universe

Words to Live By.

2012 One Little Word – Contentment

Karen — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:11:26 +0000

Last year was the first I heard of choosing One Little Word to focus on for the coming year and I thought it was an interesting idea.

As the author of the “One Little Word” blog posts explains:

And what do you do with this one little word?
You live with it. You invite it into your life. You let it speak to you. You might even follow where it leads. There are so many possibilities.

For 2011, I chose Clarity. At the time, I stated: “Clarity is something I have been seeking for a while now; clarity of mind, clarity of goals, clarity of purpose.” And while I kept clarity in mind throughout the year, instead of gaining clarity, more often clarity was a wisp of fog, drifting further from me as the year progressed. It wasn’t until the very last week of 2011 that I experienced any sort of clarity of mind or purpose, which I may write about more in depth later this month.

That last week of December did reveal to me my word for 2012:

Contentment

I realized that I need to gain some level of contentment about living in Arizona. For two years I have mentally and vocally protested to The Universe about living in Arizona and this has not been healthy and was one large factor in the level of stress that I experienced in 2011. I need to quit living in the future, putting today on hold while I wait/wish to be where I want to live. I need to find reasons why living in Arizona is a good thing and voice/think those thoughts. I need to gain contentment. This is a lesson The Universe has tried to teach me many times before, but obviously one I have not sufficiently learned yet.

To help me focus on contentment, I will begin a new series here on Musings, Mischief and Mayhem, Amore Arizona and I already have a few posts queued up, complete with pictures! Do you think I can surface enough things to love about Arizona to blog about all year?