Warming Up This Winter

Aaaahh.... Finally getting a moment to sit and write.  Last week, I was completely out of sorts.  I was really sick all week and also really busy.  Go figure.  I think that's just the way the universe works for women some times.  When we are most in need of rest and recuperation, we find ourselves worn thin with extra duties.  Or is it in my head?  I am just recovering this week, so it could be all in my imagination.  There is a very good chance that I am just a busy person and I never notice the toll it takes on my health and well-being until I am sick.  Then, once under the weather, I feel like my normal daily chaos morphs into a cyclonic shit storm.

I am functioning at about 85% now.  I have caught up with my housework and caught up on my homeschooling plans, so now it's finally time to catch up on blogging.  I am hoping that I will eventually get back to making a few posts per week.  We'll see though...

Right now, I am trying to keep WARM!  It's been unfathomably cold here!

Last week, we had a moment of sun and I took my Little Darling out for a short walk. Don't laugh, but I was wearing a shirt over my head!  I was so sick that it literally hurt to breathe in the cold air.  I know that I looked like a total crazy person, but there was sun and I had to get out for a moment.  But it was so worth getting out.  Everything was still completely frozen.  It looked like an exhibition of nature and ice.  I had to capture it.

 All of the trees and bushes were frozen and crystallized.  It was really beautiful.  The interesting thing is that I couldn't see anything.  All of these photos were taken with my iPod, and I couldn't see anything on the screen due to the glare from all the sunshine. I just snapped away, hoping that I would be able to see something when I got home.  I think I made out pretty good.

After it was all said and done, I came home and ate some soup.  I usually prefer ice cream on a snowy day, but being sick, I figured I should just have some warm broth.

 

It's an "Asian-inspired" pork and vegetable soup.  It has notes of curry, and is also laced with Chinese Five spices.  The veggies: carrots, onions, fresh garlic, kale, broccoli, and cauliflower.  There was some pork in it, but I guess you could use chicken, beef, shrimp.  All of those.  None of those.  It's one of the best soups I've ever made.  And it was so spicy, it cleared my sinuses.  So delicious, healthy, low calorie/fat and filling.  I never talk much about it on this blog, but I really love to cook and bake, so there will be more and more about food in addition to my crafty adventures.  Bear with me and keep in mind, as much as I enjoy an audience, this is also a sort of journal for me...

Now, on to the craft-life.  In my last post, I was working on a granny square quilt for a little boy.  Well, I finished it the other day.  I got this crazy spurt of energy and put all the squares together.

I had a hard time capturing the whole blanket, but this is the basic pattern.  This is the third blanket I made using this pattern.  I made two other ones, and I have two more in mind, using different colors for all of them.  In due time, I will show them here.  They are meant to be baby sets.  I am feeling inspired, so I am just totally going with it!

I have used this style of granny for other blankets.  I usually make each round in a different color, but I wanted to see what they would look like in a single color.  I was obsessed with granny squares for a long time and I had learned several patterns to make them.

...... And then I got my hands on this teddy bear!  Let's call him Lord Ricochet.

 He's soft, cuddly, and loads of fun.  I love his sense style, and he loves my baby boy quilt.



Lord Ricochet has fun playing in blankets!

 

Have a great week!  Hopefully, I'll get another chance to come back and share another blanket I've finished with this design.  Looking forward to another encounter :-)