Still Waiting To Hear From Family Members And Friends In Florida

September 11, 2017 

Good morning.  The weather here is really nice today.  The sun is shining, there's a little breeze and the temperature is supposed to reach the low eighties.  Temps are supposed to be this way for the next few days before dropping back down into the seventies. 

I spent most of yesterday and last night watching the weather channel, following the storm's path all the way through Florida.  As of yesterday afternoon, both my boys were still okay.  (as well as could be expected)  I just heard from Gary Jr, and he says he's okay.  I still haven't heard from Sean or my friend Rhoda.  Hopefully, I'll hear from them soon.

There are more than six million people without power so far, and that number will be increasing as the storm continues on into Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.  This has to be one of the worst hurricanes we've had to date.  So far, we've had two category 4 landfalls (Houston and Marcos Island) in just a few days, while there is another storm  (category 2 already) brewing in the Atlantic. 

I can't imagine the devastation to the Florida keys and the Bahamas, and the other small islands that were hit by this hurricane, and to the folks in Texas and Louisiana that were hit by the last hurricane.   God help everyone as they try to rebuild their lives and homes.

Has anyone noticed that we've lost about three hours of daylight so far?  Yup, the seasons are changing whether we're ready or not.  There's no more daylight till around 6 a.m., and the sun is setting at least two hours earlier now.  Here's a photo I took last evening around 7:15p.m.  You can see that it will be dark very soon.  Already the outside house lights are on.  (bottom right corner)

Joe went to the park again yesterday, and sent me this photo of one the ducks that comes to greet him when he gets there.  The ducks know that Joe will have some food with him, and they walk right up to him and take the food from his hand.  How awesome!

Now I'm going to make a fresh cup of coffee, and catch up a bit on my blog reading.  So till tomorrow, Y'all be safe and have an awesome day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Irma Is Ghastly!!

September 10, 2017

Good morning.  It's quite lovely here, but down South, Hurricane Irma (Cat 4) has made landfall in the Florida Keys.  The winds are horrific, and are being felt throughout the southern part of the state.  I'm watching storm videos on TV.  It is showing how bad the winds (gusting over 100 miles an hour) are in Miami along with some flooding, and Miami is one hundred miles away from the center of the storm. 

The eye of the storm is heading to make landfall in or near Naples, in the southwest part of Florida.  I have a stepson and two grandchildren living in Naples, and my son Gary Jr. also lives on the West side of Florida too, only he's further North.  I also have other grandchildren and some very dear friends living in Florida.  I pray that they will all come through this wicked storm safely. 

There's not much happening here.  I've been crocheting, trying to finish up these hat and scarf sets.  The blue (Lapis Lazuli) set is finished, and is really quite pretty.

I started working on the pink set (Tourmaline) and after just a few rows, I ran into some really bad yarn.  It just wasn't workable and there was quite a lot of it so I called the company where I bought the yarn.  They were really nice and are sending me two new skeins of the yarn. 

I've been looking over the yarn color pages in the Herschners catalogue, and I'm trying to decide which colors to order for another afghan.  Some of the colors are so yummy looking, they could be served up on a platter.  hahaha.

Daughter Deanne and Janice stopped by a couple days ago, and brought me a new little solar thingy for my porch.  This one is a scarecrow and pumpkins for Autumn, and is ever so cute.

Today I have a new quick page for you.  This one is just a bit of "watermelon whimsy."  Have fun with it.

 
Here is your download link:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/4q45onpqj2ylz9l/EB_-_QP_2017_-_26.zip

Now I think I'll make a fresh cup of coffee and do a bit of blog reading.  So, till tomorrow, Y'all be safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Hurricane Irma Leaving A Wide Path Of Devastation

September 8, 2017
.
Good morning.  Tis a wee bit chilly this morning.  Only 59F degrees.  Granted, it will warm up to the low seventies later today, but this is a bit cool for me.  It's great for sleeping, but when I wake up I like it to be just a tad bit warmer.  I can feel Autumn sneaking in!

I took a break from watching the Weather Channel for a while, but now that I've turned it back on, it is so much more depressing.  This Hurricane Irma is a really huge, nasty lady!  It looks like it's going to hit all of Florida, as the storm is wider than the state of Florida

This storm has already taken several lives, (at least seventeen)  so let's all pray that no more lives are lost.  My prayers go out to all the animal shelters too.  May all the animals and workers make it through this storm safely.  I've been watching to see if and/or when this storm might turn and go out to sea, but it looks like it is travelling inland.  We'll just have to wait and see.

I wonder how this storm will affect all the birds and wildlife in the southern states.  I have plans to vacation to Florida next March.  I'm wondering how many of their beautiful birds will still be there then.  This is a photo that daughter Audrey took of one of Florida's beautiful birds.  I am so looking forward to seeing lots of them next Winter.

Last night, I worked on the blue scarf and hat set.  For some reason, this set is giving me problems.  The yarn has been splitting so I have to keep ripping out whole sections and redoing them.  Even closing a seam is being difficult.  I have to assume it is me, so I've set this project aside for a while. 

The doll bodies that I ordered a while ago are taking forever to get here.   Maybe I'll take a look at my yarn stash to see if there's a color just begging to be made into a dolly dress.  Or maybe I'll go online to see what new colors I can find for a new afghan.  I've made so many afghans that it doesn't feel right not to have one in progress. 

Today I have a couple photos that Joe took a few days ago at one of our local parks.  If these ducks and geese were not here, I would miss them terribly.

Last night I watched my favorite program, Project Runway, on TV.  This year, the program seems to be missing a sense of fashion and style.  By that, I mean that a lot of the new designers seem to be creating really messy styles of clothing.  Some things look just like rags hanging, with torn areas and a few well placed knots. 

What is happening to the fashion world?   Last night, the contestants were designing sleepwear.  I have to say that there were only a couple outfits that I would consider wearing to bed.  The rest wouldn't even be considered casual wear as far as I am concerned.  But, of course, I'm sure they are not wanting my opinion.  I do hope that next year's show returns to classier fashion styles.

Now I think I'm going to make a fresh cup of coffee and maybe sit out on the porch for a while.  So, till Sunday, Y'all be safe and have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Just Add Hot Water....How???

September 7, 2017

Good morning.    Well, our part of the storm did not last very long yesterday.  The skies got really dark, the wind picked up, then came the thunder and lightning.  Next the rain poured, but only for a little while.  When the sun came out again, I thought I might try posting here, but then the sun disappeared and I decided to leave the computer alone. 

We got bits of rain on and off through the day, then at night it rained enough to leave a few big puddles.  This morning the sun is doing its best to come out from behind the clouds and warm things up.  It's looking like it might be a really nice day today.

I've been following the hurricane news.  It's really not very good.  Evacuations have begun in the southern part of Florida.  These storms are getting much worse than they ever were before.  I read somewhere that the climate changes were going to bring on much more severe weather.  And, it seems to be happening right now. 

To answer a question left in my comments area, Yes, Dee, I did check my gun case and I don't have one of those gadgets that helps with loading the magazine.  Drats!!  It's amazing.  I did not have any problems loading the plastic practice bullets during our "hands on" class, but at the shooting range, I was all thumbs and could not load the magazine with the real bullets.  Hmmm, I definitely need to practice more.

....I just took a few moments to order a magazine loader for my gun.  Thank goodness for Amazon.  They have just about everything you could need.  I'll have my new magazine loader this weekend, and I'll be able to practice with it for a few days before our next time at the shooting range. 

Well, yesterday I did finished the green (Peridot) hat and scarf set, and last night I started the blue set.  I'm not really a green person, (although there are several greens that I really like) but this set is quite pretty. 

It's time to order my newest blog book while there is a 25% off special.  For anyone else thinking of having a blog book printed, the special is on through September 12.  (blog2print.com)  I'll need to decide on which photos to put on the front and back covers, then I can get my order started.  (This also means that I'll be removing all the links for QP's and kits through August.  So if you want these, get them now.)

Folks, I have this adorable photo of Pogo to share.  I was trying to show him how to take a "selfie" but he really wasn't interested.  This was the best photo that we got, and I just love it.  He seems to be saying "For the last time, leave me alone!!"

There is an ad on TV trying to sell you packaged foods to be eaten during a major storm.  You just open the package, add hot water and stir.  Voila!  A tasty hot meal!  Now I ask you, a major storm usually comes along with loss of power and sometimes loss of drinking water.  How, exactly, would someone boil the water to add to this food?  Not only does the stove not work, but the microwave doesn't work either without electricity.  And if you had electricity, why wouldn't you eat the food in your refrigerator or freezer instead of this packaged "emergency food?"

While you ponder on that, I think I'll wash the breakfast dishes, make a fresh cup of coffee, and catch up on some blog reading before I get started on my crochet project.  So, till tomorrow, Y'all be safe and have a fantabulous day. 

Hugs, Edna B.

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings Here

September 6, 2017

Good morning.  Well, we started out sunny with temps in the low 70's.  They have been issuing "severe storm warnings" for us all morning.  This will be a rather short post.  The sky has turned really dark and it looks like the thunder storm may be close by.  The warning are on till 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. 

I'm not sure which weather system is bring us this rain, but now it is becoming quite dark outside so I'll end this post here. 

So, till tomorrow, Y'all stay safe and have an awesome day.

Hugs, Edna B.

It's Back To School Time

September 5, 2017

Good morning.  It's looking beautiful outside my door.  Today the temps are supposed to be getting back up into the mid eighties.  There's a nice breeze so it won't feel too hot.  It's definitely great weather to sit out on the porch.

Yesterday, I decided to play on my laptop for a while, and the next thing I knew a few hours had flown by.  I brought up a few old kits to play with and ended up with a couple new quick pages.  Next, I repackaged my parts of an old kit that I had made in collaboration with some other designers on our forum "Magickal Scraps."   The title of the kit is "September Song" so I thought it would be appropriate for now.  (Sad to say, the forum has been defunct for a few years.)

A part of this kit was given away each day during the month of September.  This preview is made up of all the daily previews that I made for my contributions to the kit.  Have fun with it.

Here are the new links:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/hbj4nlx37a4tjnk/EB_-_September_Song_2017_Elements.zip

http://www.mediafire.com/file/9y0qhzjh3qfntm5/EB_-_September_Song_2017_Papers_-_3.zip

http://www.mediafire.com/file/c35rvqjrvddmt77/EB_-_September_Song_2017_Papers_-_2.zip

http://www.mediafire.com/file/9a29mh7ld0c9cha/EB_-_September_Song_2017_Papers_-_1.zip

By the time I was finished and had uploaded everything to MediaFire, it was time to make some supper for Pogo and me.  I wasn't up to cooking anything special so I made us hamburgers.  Pogo was hungry and gobbled all of his right up.

It's back to school time, and Audrey sent me an adorable photo of Alena all dressed up and waiting for the school bus.  This is her first day at kindergarten.  Isn't she just the cutest in her "owl" outfit? 

Remember the mosquito (citrus) plant that I brought indoors last winter to see if it would live through the winter?  Well, the plant thrived, and once the warm weather was here I trimmed the plant way back and put it outside near my porch.  I'll bring it inside again for this Winter too.  I'm curious to see how long I can keep it alive.  (It's an annual plant)  Here's a photo of what it looks like now.

While I was taking photos of the mosquito plant, I shot a few of the Evening Primrose plants.  It's such a pretty plant, and the birds love it.

Gosh, I must be thirsty this morning because I just went to take a sip of my coffee and the mug was empty.  Hmmm, let me take a moment here to refill my cup.  I'm getting in the habit of having two cups of coffee a day.  This is a far cry from days gone by, when I used to drink coffee all day long.

Today is trash and recycle pickup day, so Pogo has been busy all morning barking at all the big trucks and scaring them away from our yard.  He is such a protective little fellow.  Right now, he's taking a break from barking at the trucks to finish his breakfast.  What a good boy!

I've already started collecting photos for my next calendar.  I'd like to be able to have the calendars and Christmas cards printed by the beginning of November.    It's a good feeling to have all my holiday things done early.  At least, it looks like I may be. 

I did not have time yesterday to get any new patterns uploaded to the Pattern Page, so I'll try to do that today.  I also have to spend some time practicing loading my gun's magazine.  It's not as easy as it looks.  I did pretty good at the class we had a couple weeks ago, but once we got to the shooting range I was all thumbs. 

Now it's time to do a bit of blog reading while I enjoy this second cup of coffee.  So, till tomorrow, Y'all have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.

Happy Labor Day

September 4, 2017

Good morning (for about six more minutes).  Gosh, I tried so hard to sleep in this morning, but Joe was up early and making coffee out in the house.  Of course Pogo could smell the coffee, plus he heard Joe out there, so he started barking and eventually I had to get up.  I took Pogo out to the house to have his turkey treat and then I went back to my nice warm covers.

Today is looking like a gorgeous day outside.  I poked my head out for a minute and the temperature felt really nice.  The sun is shining and there's a nice breeze.  I'm thinking that Pogo and I will be able to sit out on the porch for a while after I finish my post.

Today is Labor Day here in the United States.  It's a day set aside to honor the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws and well being of the country.  (info from Wikipedia)  And this is the flag that waves over our beloved land.  (photo from Google)  May she always wave freely.

Last night I finished the second hat and scarf set, then took photos of the two sets that I've finished.  The first photo is the Sandstone set, and the second photo is the Almondine set.

While Pogo and I were out in the yard the other day, I spotted a couple of bumble bees enjoying the nectar from some of the blooms.  I took some photos with my phone.  This is not easy because the bees never really sat still long enough for a photo. 

It's good to see the bees enjoying my flowers.  Last year we hardly ever saw any bees.  This year, we've had a few of them in the garden.  Hopefully next year there will be even more of them.

Last evening, I started a new scarf and hat set in the Peridot color yarn.  Gosh, it really is pretty!  After this one is done, I'll make one in the Lapis Lazuli color yarn.  I'm hoping that my order of dolly bodies arrives by then so that I can switch back to finishing up my dollies. 

Later this afternoon, I'll see about posting the next pattern on the pattern page.  Then maybe I'll play a bit on my laptop and make a few more quick pages.  I haven't done that in a while.  I think I'll even re-package one of my older kits to post here.  Hmmm, tis going to be a busy afternoon.

Joe just got back from the store and Pogo is barking up a storm.  I think he just loves barking at Joe.  We have a special type of light bulb in the upstairs bathroom, and the bulb blew.  So Joe was out shopping for a new bulb.  He also picked up a couple cases of water for me.  Woo Hoo!  I've been drinking less water lately because I was getting down to the last case.  Now I can splurge a bit and drink lots of it.

Well, that's about all my news for this morning.  Y'all be safe and have an awesome day.

Hugs, Edna B.