Random Thoughts

Let's see....how many different things do I have swirling around in my brain as I try to drain every precious moment out of my Saturday?
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I have started doing the laundry.......which is enough to keep me busy all the day long, especially if I can get everyone in the house to strip his bed and bring me the bedding. And then there's the added work if I can get them to rake the carpet of dirty clothes off their floors. It'll make for interesting mornings next week if they don't have their favorite clothes clean to wear to school. Still waiting for that connection to sink in..............
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This morning I scrubbed surfaces in the kitchen with bleach and detergent. Great feeling of accomplishment. In theory, I do this every Saturday morn. In theory. Got the floor mopped too. Haven't yet cleaned out the fridge. Got to, though. Will be doing my grocery shopping tomorrow afternoon. I'm getting back to using this book: Saving Dinner by Leanne Ely. I used her menus and recipes last week, and what a relief to know each day coming home that I know what to make, and that I have the necessary ingredients.
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We need a cow.







Or even a goat.



With 3 teen-aged boys in the house, we never have enough milk. When I was growing up, we raised a few dairy goats, and had fresh goat's milk for a few months every year. Didn't think I'd like it, but I did. Every spring when the does freshened, it took a few days to get used to the goats' milk, but when they dried up in the fall, it took a week or two to get used to cows' milk again. My brother and I shared the milking, twice a day.
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Evan turned 16 on Monday. He had hockey practice at 5:30 in the morning, and sprained his left ankle badly. Has been on crutches all this week. Happy 16th birthday, Evan. (Evan is the cutie in this pic.)

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I started a new spiritual discipline today. I found a program online called "Prayers for Your Husband" with 31 things to pray about for your husband, one for each day of the month. I am adding this to the reading of 1 chapter of Proverbs daily. There are 31 chapters, if you aren't familiar with it. I never cease to be amazed at the wisdom in those verses. It has also given me great insight into literary references and quaint old idioms. Makes me realize how much "common wisdom" is rooted in the Bible. (Found on a link from 50's Housewife 's blog; I'll try to re-locate it....) ETA I found the link, here.
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Still pondering knitting, crocheting, and stitching projects.
1. Knitting: Jeff could use another pair of socks, or a few, even. For that matter, all the boys have an endless need for good, sturdy, warm socks. As you may recall, I have a pair of Jaywalker socks started and hibernating, pending a solution for not enough yarn. Last Saturday, I alluded to making the pink, ruffly sweater in Vogue Knitting. But I am also trying to knit solely out of my stash, mostly single skeins, bought out of admiration for the color or the feel or the bargain-clearance price. Most are old enough to have been discontinued, so they are destined to be small accessories, or used together in some sort of stripe-y or block-afghan way. I really need to channel some inspiration on this if I ever hope to earn the right to buy new yarn for a project like the sweater in the mag. (And not only that, you should see the new book I just got. I'll save it for another post, but I just drool at the beautiful sweaters that I really must knit.)


2. Crochet: stash-busting principles apply here as well, but additionally, I have way too much cotton for kitchen towels, potholders, etc. I don't love working with it, as cotton doesn't have much elasticity, but it suits for practical items. I like the idea of making items that can be re-used, in favor of buying disposable things. I will soon start making some "facial pads" to use and wash instead of cotton balls for eye-makeup remover and witch hazel. It won't take long to whip up a dozen or so, and also not very interesting. I did see a clever hot pad on Mary Grace McNamara's site "Hooked on Needles", which she in turn got from another blog. It's a good pattern for using little bits of 3 different colors. Need to give that a try. And then there's always a project which I like the idea of , but don't much enjoy doing. I make "plarn" which is plastic yarn, out of those ubiquitous grocery shopping bags, and crochet up re-usable market bags. I kind of like making plarn in the summer when it's hot and a lapful of afghan is too warm. The kids and I work on it together when watching Red Sox games. (Doesn't everybody?) But crocheting it is hard work, and the hands and forearms will only tolerate so much at a stretch.


3. Stitching: No idea, really, where I'll begin. I read Mary Corbet's blog regularly, and I just want to stitch and stitch on something beautiful...but no idea where to begin. I have a kit I bought last year from Alicia Paulson, and still haven't opened. There's no good reason not to work on Christmas ornaments in January, right? After all, unless the good Lord comes again before next December, I expect 2010 will have a Christmas and we at our household will have a tree to decorate. I didn't buy the kit this year (being on a spending Austerity Plan!), but I think if I am successful with the 1st kit, I can buy the pattern and make it with my own materials. I'll be interested to see if she does another kit next fall.

What projects are you getting started on?