I am Back

I know it has been a while, but I'm back.  I have a new laptop, new internet provider and I am happier than a puppy with two peckers. LOL
  I will be getting back into my monthly squares as soon as I can.  I will be able to post pics along with my patterns.  I will also try to post a few recipes every now and then.  I bake everything from cakes to bread.  All from scratch.  I bake klockes.  They are a Czech pastry.
 I hope everybody has had a happy new year.
 Wow half of January is already gone. 

Cold Weather

 We are getting a little cold weather here.  I enjoy the cold.  We don't get a lot of cold weather in this part of Texas.  It cracks me up to see everybody act like it is 20 below when it is in the 30's.  I do have to admit that it feels a lot colder because of the humidity.  When the wind blows it cuts into you.  We have had visitors here when we had a cold snap and they were surprised at how cold it felt.  We are going to be a little cold here for a while.  Then it will be typical Texas weather and get back up in the 70's.  That is the part I don't like.  If it would stay cool and not bounce around it would be so much better.
  I had to pick my bell peppers and eggplant from the garden so the frost didn't get them.  I have an eggplant plant the is the biggest thing I have ever seen.  My daughter put hay around the trunk, yes I said trunk, and covered it with a blanket.  I have been getting a lot of the purple goodies from that tree.  It is still full of small ones and I hope they make it.  It gets compost and water.  Nothing else.  I try to keep my garden as organic as I can.

Hands

 Have you ever looked at your hands?  I mean really looked at them.  Who's hands do they look like?  I am one of those crazy people that notices hands.  I look a lot like my mother and her side of the family, but my hands are like my fathers.  Long fingers and they come from his mother's side of the family.
  I see all the hard work on hands, or the care that some take in there hands from painted nails and well manicured cuticles.  Scars on some and age on others.  There is nothing like the love in a grandmothers hands.
  Now that I knit, I try to take care of my hands. Smooth nails so I don't snag my yarn and soft skin so the yarn glides through the fingers easily.
  Who's hands do yours look like?  Have you ever thought about it?  Take a look.  Crazy as it sounds you my see something in your hands that you never saw before.

Crochet is Back On

 I was having some thumb pain after I worked on a Tunisian crochet project.  So what do you do when we have aches that we didn't have before? We blame what we were doing in the past few days.  Well I put the hook and project up thinking it would get put in my next garage sale.  The pain subsided after a few days. Then to my surprise when I went out to do a little gardening, the bloody aching pain hit me like a ton of bricks.  It was the hoe, or the way I used the hoe that caused the pain.  Ok so it wasn't the crochet's fault. Now what to do about my garden?  I have had this pain before.  Back when I played softball, the way I gripped the bat caused me thumb joint pain.  They make these thumb guards for batting.  I used them before, but not for gardening.  I will have to give it a try.
  I did get my crochet project back out.  So far no pain.  I just hope that I get a thumb guard before the weeds take over my garden.

Ouch

 My thumb is hurting.  I did a little crocheting and now the joint where my thumb and hand come together are hurting.  I had giving up crochet because it made my hands ache if I did to much.  I am trying some stretches to see if I can loosen it up.
  I wont give it up all together but I won't spend as much time on it.  I will post the pattern details for the #2 square.  I is a five stitch repeat and will be easy.
Knit 4, Purl 4 then you move over one and you purl one k4 p4 to the the end.  I call it ribs in motion.
 I have an idea for the next square already.  If I don't get it done on my schedule oh well I will get it done soon enough.
  If you put to much pressure on yourself it takes the fun out of it.  I will be back tomorrow to post my #2 square pattern.

Bird of Thought

 Have you ever saw something that made you think of your childhood?  I had that happen in an odd way.  There were scissor tail birds lined up on the power lines by our house.  Why would it make me think of my childhood? Well when I would come spend the summer with my grandparents the scissor tails would wake me in the morning with a get get get get up.  At least that is what it sounded like to me.  They are very neat birds. We had very few around here for some time and then they came back.  

German Cooking

 I grew up around German food.  I talking the stick to the ribs heave in the tummy kind of cooking.  There were home made sausages and sauerkraut, and yes I can make it.  There were also kolaches.  Yeast rolls with fruit filling.  In my family there was rolache, that is like a cinnamon roll but you put a poppy seed filling in it.  Ground poppy seed and cooked in a sweet milk and sugar mixture until the are thick.  It is awsome.  I had to give it all up.  Not because I wanted to healthier, but because I have a gluten intolerance.  No bread no wheat. I thought I would go crazy.  I did in a way.  I tried every gluten free recipe I could get my hands on.  That is not always a good thing.  Most of the bread recipes have a lot of added sugar.  Well I found out that with time you loose the cravings after a while and you don't eat that stuff.  Now it is a lot of fresh vegetables and fruits and cheeses and nuts.  I have even lost a little weight.
  What gets me that there are a lot of people out there going on a gluten free diet to loose weight.  Doctors are even putting them on these diets.  In a way it is good, but for those of us that have to be gluten free, we get the oh you are one of those.  I say one of what?
  Try having to run to the bathroom after you eat.  Having bad gas and pain.  Not only that but joint pain.  You got it is funnnnnn.  I am three years gluten free and I feel  better than I ever have.  My allergies have even gotten better.
  So why am I going on about this?  I don't know. I guess I just wanted to go on a rant.
  I am going to do a little tunisian crochet.  It is a fun change.  I like the crochet but almost knit look of it.  I have found a lot of videos online.  When I first started tunisian there was not a lot out there.  I wasn't sure if I was doing it right.  Now that I have something to go by I enjoy it a lot more.
  I could go on and on about it but I am going to work today.  So I will be back later.  I have to finish the next square of my afghan.  I am also doing a loom knit version.  They look so much alike that I decided to make them different colors to keep the squares straight.  I guess it wouldn't matter if I got a loom knit square in with the needle knit squares, but I would like to keep them separate.
 Ok I am out for now.