Monday Musings, April 20

Despite everything else being canceled, you know what is not canceled? Monday Musings! Monday Musings will not be canceled! Take that Coronavirus!

So, my friend, are you adjusting to this new, hopefully temporary, normal?

Other than not being able to see our daughter and my parents, we are doing just fine. I could certainly use some recommendations for Netflix and Amazon Prime if you have them!

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I am reading a lot! I’ve always had books on my nightstand, but I have carved out a bit more time for reading in the past month. I just finished Roseanna by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall. It was originally published in 1965 and is credited with fathering the Scandinavian detective genre. It was a good read!

And now I’m on to a little fluffier book, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. It had been in my library queue for too long and I finally just bought it on Amazon since my library is currently closed. So far, so good.

So, two weeks ago, I proposed my ‘I did this…’ list of accomplishments I could claim once we were free to go back to our ‘previous-ish’ daily lives. Well, suffice it to say, reviewing this list is a good motivation as my accomplishments have been meager.

• Make pita bread...eh, decided I really didn’t want to do that.
• Make yogurt, without milk since we don’t have any...ditto. I mean, they both sounded like good projects in theory, but… Actually, I am going to swap out pita bread and yogurt for my sourdough starter which I have been attending to for the past week!
• Finish 2 paintings…I’ve got some ideas…but haven’t put paint to canvas yet.
• Make a sofa table…actually, I’ve been toiling away on this! Hopefully, we can make some good progress today. Fingers crossed! In my mind’s eye, I will have a faux marble-topped table. I have done the faux marbling and am thrilled with how it turned out. Wanna see? Here are the top and sides of the table, stacked with one of the paintings that will be reworked.

• Paint a chest that belonged to my dad…I have filled in some gouges and took off the hardware, but there it sits.
• Create 3 new knit and crochet patterns…I did one! See below!
• Create a video for my knitting friends who want to learn to crochet (because many of you have asked!) Woot! Can cross that off of my list!
• List some stuff on eBay...nope
• Go into the woods and ‘harvest’ some ferns since I can’t get to the garden center...did this, but they died! I am going to attempt it again, this time, trying to keep the root system more intact.
• Read “Atomic Habits”…nope

How is your ‘I did this…’ list coming along? Have you crossed anything off over the past 2 weeks?

So, yes! I did publish a new washcloth pattern! Thus far, every washcloth pattern I have posted has been a knit pattern with a wee bit of crochet on the edge. But now I’ve ventured further into crochet, and this washcloth is entirely crochet.

Several readers asked for some basic crochet instruction, so if you have never crocheted before, then this simple washcloth is the project for you! I made a video showing the basic stitches you need for this sweet Lemon Peel Stitch Crochet Washcloth Pattern! And if you are familiar with crochet, then this is right up your alley too!

Oh, and you can download these little ‘wraps’ if you want to gift them. These are actually going to a friend of mine who is sewing us some masks! Strange times indeed…crochet washcloths in exchange for face masks!

This Margarita recipe is one of the blog’s all-time most popular posts! And for a good reason. My dad painstakingly perfected this recipe for years. Cinco de Mayo is in 2 weeks, my friend…surely we will not let COVID-19 rob us of well-deserved Margaritas!

Are you pining away to get your hands in the soil? We can still plan, right? In fact, my caladium bulbs arrived this past week and I’m expecting some perennials I ordered to arrive this week. Start planning your Container Gardens with these tips and suggestions.

Well friends, I am off to work on my table and make my son doughnuts for a late breakfast. These are ‘cheater’ doughnuts that use refrigerated biscuit dough. I’ve never made them before, but we are going to give them a whirl.

Stay safe, take care of yourself and each other.

Hugs,

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!