It Was A Crafty Day

 GOOD MORNING sunny California.  It's July and that means it's HOT with a CAPITAL H.  We are up to the high 90's every day, all day.  I do everything possible to keep us cool-ER anyway, which seems to be working, though I haven't checked my bill this month.  It get's so hot here that it requires regular exercise every two hours carrying Mr. Cooper out across the WAY too hot concrete patio.  Even I have to wear shoes.

My morning routine now includes not only babysitting the sweet puppy and the garden, but babysitting the starter.  I do NOT remember this being such a pain in the patoo back in the day.  Every day for seven days it has to be stirred before it can finally become bread.  I've started this starter, so I'll finish it, but that sourdough bread has dropped considerably down on the list of OH LET'S TRY THIS!!

Truly, I only decided to try it since I heard someone say it's so hard.  You know I like a challenge.  At least I will be able to slice it nicely.  This WIDE one can be used for ALL types and sizes of bread, so it won't go to waste if sourdough drops out of sight.  I'll still use the bread machine here and there.

The first order of the day was to head out of town to the embroidery gal's teeny tiny apartment to drop off the last two pieces.  It's always a fun trip since I get my KITTY fix.  She has the most beautiful orange tiger striped girl I've ever seen.  And she LOVES to get scratches behind her ears.  

With that done, I made a big mistake.  Somehow, somewhere, I ran across a crochet pattern from ancient times.  I mean really, who do you know nowadays that crochets?  It's called the Magic Hotpad.  If you ever looked in my drawer, you would be disgusted by the hotpads I use.  Granted four are pretty nice quilted ones, but they are also not thick enough to keep you from getting burned.  

I still have one old ugly crocheted model from probably 30 years ago.  Wouldn't you know, there's a HOBBY LOBBY right down the street from the embroidery gal.  OMG ... this is the biggest hobby store I've ever SEEN!!  

I could spend a fortune there!!  But alas, I only spent $12.00 on yarn that isn't even CLOSE to the colors in my kitchen.  Their supply of 100% cotton was VERY short.  Anything else melts the first time you use it.  Ask me how I know.

It starts out like above and turns into this.  Keep going and it becomes a square.  A TOO SMALL square.  I used the measurements I got online, but they appeared too big, so I shortened it.  Now it's too small, but I'm NOT ripping it all out.  It will work just fine for my small pot lids.

As I walked through the store, I spotted this 108" fabric ... red with stars on it.  PERFECT backing for those Veteran quilts, of which I now have only THREE to finish and quilt.  The nice lady even gave me the end bolts for free!!  

Once back home, there was a flurry of crafting and crocheting.  This is a leftover I found while scrounging in the cupboard for yarn I didn't have.  Yeah, it's coming apart today to be reworked.  For one, the frame is too small, and of course the color divisions are awful.  

What it IS, is CHEAP.  The last one I purchased like this ran $65.00 for $20.00 worth of supplies.  On the other hand, it looked WAY better than this one, so maybe that extra $45.00 worth of talent is actually WORTH IT.

Not deterred in the lack of talent department, I finished up this quilt.  It's ready to hit the longarm possibly tomorrow.

Dinner turned out to be a surprise.  Remember those eight bags of frozen chicken I picked up?  WOW!  They are the perfect size and thickness and defrost SO easily!!  I turned one piece into two meals of chicken parmesan, along with some Rally's sweet potato fries.  

I was hesitant when I saw their fries in the store freezer.  We had a Rally's fast food restaurant here many years ago.  Their food was so bad they went broke and shut down.  Now they are back?  Really?  

All the Facebook reviews have been terrible ... bad food, bad service ... but the fries were on sale, so I picked up a bag to try in the air fryer.  Honestly, they were TERRIFIC!  Very thin and crispy when air fried.  It was the perfect ending to a VERY nice day.

On the other hand, I'm feeling really terrible.  I am so very lucky to live in an area where there are no major disasters, so I'm praying every day for the families and the flood victims in Texas.  It's simply crushing to think about the loss of lives.  Please say a few prayers for the children.