Back Home To Indiana Day One

It has been a while since I have written on my blog.  A little over four years ago, God called my husband and me to move to Florida.  We made a new life there and we thought we would live out the rest of our days there.

Fast forward to now and God is calling us to move back to Indiana.  My youngest son and his wife have been wanting us to come back.  When we were in Indiana in October for my son's wedding, we saw that my mom needs us back due to her health.  So we are moving back to our old house and a new/old job for my husband.

It has been quite an adventure to get us back to Indiana.  My husband is driving our motorhome aka The Beast and pulling a trailer and I'm driving our Suburban while also pulling a trailer.  Lucy, my dog, is riding with me. 

We are in Macclenny Florida when my husband sees smoke coming from the back.  He smelled rubber burning before he saw the smoke and he thought it was a trucker on the side of the road.  No, it was him.  The brakes on the trailer engaged and caused everything to heat up.  The tire blew.  Thankfully he had a spare and off he went to replace it.  We did have to make a stop at a shop for them to remove the broken brake pads.  Jorge didn't have the tools to do it.  They did a wonderful job.

Now fast forward several hours in we are in Atlanta Georgia.  I'm a few miles ahead if Jorge when he calls me to tell me the motorhome dies on him in the middle of I-285.  He suspects it's the fuel filter.  Thankfully a State Farm tow truck came and pulled him off the center Lane and onto the shoulder.  I'm in Marietta waiting on what he wants me to do.  The tow truck driver recommended a mobile mechanic and Jorge called him.  He came and brought two fuel filters and got everything going again.  We ended up spending the night in Acworth Georgia.

We were all tired but happy that everything was better.  We decided that night that the next day we were going to use it as a vacation day and head on off to Chickamauga Battlefield!  I was already there but Jorge had never been.  I was looking forward to it.

CHANGES IN THE BACK YARD

It's been kind of hard trying to get motivated in doing

any kind of landscaping or yard work in my back yard.

I have such a long list of things that I want to get done.

When I look at that list I just get unmotivated

because of all that I would like to get done.

I would especially like to get it done

before it gets horribly hot here in Florida.

The last two weeks I started pushing myself in

getting started and checking off the things

on my list to get my yard the way I want it.

Last year I took out two very large bushes 

next to the back porch.

That was a lot of work, but I got it done.

It laid bare for a year because

I had not decided what I wanted to do

I would keep changing my mind.

This week I finally decided what I wanted to do

and off I went to the nursery to purchase my plants,

soil, and black mulch.

I had been amending the soil because for a long

time with shredded leaves  and grass cuttings

because it's all sand.

At the nursery I bought three roses, two small dahlias, and five hostas.

I was very happy to get started on working

in the back yard and making it look like the way I want.

It took me pretty much all day to get everything done.

I'm very happy with the way things turned out.

 The area where I was making  the changes.

 After 25 years of service, my back hoe broke.

The three roses that I purchased are yellow and smell so good.

 The yellow rose is called Patrick.

 One of the dahlias

 Finished project.

The shade garden in a corner of the backyard.

I  am very pleased with the way things have turned out.

This has motivated me to continue my work

in the back yard and get it to look like I want.

Off to my next project!

BAVARIAN CROCHET

This new year I've been challenging myself to learn new stitches.

I'm a member of a crochet group on  Facebook

and one of ladies posted a picture of an afghan

she made using  the Bavarian crochet stitch.

I fell in love with her project that I had to make one.

Again, I went to Youtube to the Crochet  Crowd channel

and found the video with the step by step instructions.

To see how this is made, click the link below.

Bavarian Crochet

I'm making a  baby blanket for a friend of mine.

She and her husband are expecting a baby boy

and the colors that they both like are blue and gray.

I'm really pleased with the way it's turning out so far.

Have fun!

DIVINE HAT

Cancer is a word that just about everyone dreads.

Many people's lives have been affected by cancer.

I have a friend who is battling cancer again.

When I heard her cancer came back,  I was very sad for her.

She is a fighter and she's fighting this again.

She shared that she has shaven her hair off

because it was already coming off.

That's when I decided to make her a hat.

So off I went to make her a hat.

This hat is very easy to make.

I found the pattern on Ravelry.

Click the link below for the pattern.

Divine Hat

I added extra rounds to make it a bit longer

than what the pattern called for.

Now off to mail this and keep praying for my friend.

MEMORY QUILT

I have made many quilts for family and friends.

I have also made many baby quilts.

I have always loved making quilts

for people because it is one of

the ways that I can show them 

how much  they mean to me.

A couple of months ago,

a dear couple that I've known for a long time,

asked me if I  could make a special quilt for them.

This was one of the hardest projects that

I have ever done for anyone.

You see, the reason that this quilt was so hard for me to make,

is that this wonderful and lovely couple

lost their baby while she was five months pregnant.

Both my husband and I know how hard that is

because we went through that several times.

The father sent me a picture of what the nursery

was supposed to look when they would have brought

their son home from the hospital.

This was one quilt that I was determined

to make exactly how they wanted.

It took me many weeks trying to find

the zig zag fabric to match from the picture he sent me.

I am so glad that I got it done exactly how they wanted.

Now I just need to quilt it and put it in the mail.

This couple is very dear to me

and I hope that this is a blessing to them.

SCRAPPY YARN

I'm a quilter, and when making quilts,  I have leftover fabric.

I can't bring myself to throwing away the fabric.

I am always coming up with ideas of what 

I can make with the leftover fabric.

Well,I have the same situation with my yarn.

I can't bring myself  to getting rid of the yarn

once I am done with a project.

I  came up with an idea and I'm liking the way it's turning out.

I am  crocheting granny squares using

the leftover yarn from previous projects.

I am going to make 120 granny squares

and join them with black yarn.

My goal is to get this done before Christmas

and give it as a present to a friend.

Making a granny square is a very easy

crochet pattern to make.

There are many YouTube videos

that can teach you how to do one.

My favorite YouTube Channel is Crochet Crowd.

Click the link below for their instructions.

Granny Square

 What I did yesterday after we got home from church.

I was watching football and crocheting.

One of the bags filled with yarn that I'm going to use.

It's definitely going to be a scrappy yarn blanket.

I can't wait to see how it's going to look when I'm done.

I SO LOVE YARN!!!!!!

I so love to play with yarn!

I so love to play with fabric too!

I'm a member of a group on  Facebook that loves to crochet.

One of the members posted a picture of a scarf

they have been working on.

I absolutely fell in love with it

and I knew that I had to make one.

I found the tutorial on YouTube.

I have learned that I'm a visual learner

so I need to see it being done so that I don't  make mistakes.

I'm  so happy YouTube exists.

I found the pattern under Crochet Crowd.

Click the link below:

Corner to Corner Scarf

Once I finished the scarf, I decided to make a hat.

I made the Messie Bun Beanie.

I found the pattern on Ravelry.

It's a very easy pattern to make.

I made this bun in about three hours.

Messie Mom  Bun Beanie

Enjoy and have fun making these items.