DEEP FREEZE

 Oh. My Goodness!

We have had almost 2 weeks of sub 0*(degree) temperatures and it felt like there was no end in sight! We also got a bit of snow here and there, but not a lot.  Just a skiff to a couple of inches... But there was NO going out for a walk - going out at ALL was highly undesirable!  DH had very few working days, so that was good.This past week the kids were out of school a couple of days, so that reduced the number of times this old granny had to wait out in the deep chill for school pick-up!

We have a new toy for the kids here at granny's house.  I am picking up Brio train and track sets second-hand and they are quite popular.  Just takes a little help to get them started, but it is something new and Grandson #1 likes to know what he's doing...

I have had The Littles a couple of times.  It is a long day, but they are so much fun.

Two babies in a boat.

This is why there is no dust under their sofa...

 

I loved watching her figure this out!

But we are through it now.  Today is a balmy 23* and DH and I took El for a walk.  It was very nice and felt so good to be outside!  We only walked .8 mile,  but stopping for El to relieve himself and have an occasional sniff, it took us 20 min....

Of course, I was behind, taking photo...

It is important for me to get walking... I got the results from my Cholesterol re-test and it was not good.  HOW does cholesterol go UP when you have precious little butter, red meat only twice a week, no baked goods and generally practically starve yourself???  Well, it did!  And I am totally peeved.  My triglicerides DID go down, so giving up baked goods (butter and sugars) made some difference...  But Cholesterol needs physical activity, which could not happen with such horrible cold.  I DID try to walk by going to the Mall or a Big Box store and walking a few laps around, but the flooring in those places really make me ache!  Not encouraging. Getting outside will work better, (I hope)! And forget the low cholesterol diet. On the advice of my previous cardiologist I am going to try low-carb again to get some weight off, then slowly switch to a more vegetarian, less meat diet.  For me, carbs are the problem, and I KNOW this.  But sticking to anything when you are stuck at home is tedious....

Other activities do include some cooking.... I made this recipe of Roasted  Root Vegetable Soup a couple of times. I'm trying to have these kinds of vegetable dishes for lunches.  I think this probably has too many carbs, but it is full of nutrients and fiber. And it makes me feel almost full...

Roasted Root Vegetable soup:
Carrots, golden beets, parsnip, turnip, onion, garlic, herbs
chicken broth

Other activities: 

Knitting: I finished a pair of socks for me, and decided to start something that took a little more thought.  I pulled out the pattern DS#2 gave me for Stephen West's Thendara shawl and got started.  It's going pretty well.  I got myself through a couple of hang-ups and now it is just knitting along... for a while....

Just some cute yarn and my basic sock pattern.

Thendara shawl started.  Yes there are a couple of mistakes, but now I can avoid making them again. 
 I was NOT going to frog this all out!

I've been sewing some.  I got started this time with a cardigan.  It was from fabric purchased online and this fabric turned out quite odd.  It is a nice thick french terry, but the surface pattern is knit one direction, and the knit weave goes the other direction!  It took some thought to decide how I wanted to cut it out.  I finally decided to make the surface pattern go the right direction - chevrons going up and down, but that meant I was actually cutting cross-grain.  I was afraid it wouldn't hang right, but it is ok.  The pattern itself is too long on me, (and not big enough around), but I just plan to wear it around the house as an extra layer, so it's okay.

 

I also made up a jumper that I had to re-size (I think I made it once back in the 90's?) so I made it up in some old curtain fabric (lovely and soft, but a bit loud for a dress). I'm calling it my Von Trapp Family dress! It's a wearable (around-the-house) toile! 

                         No photo.... It is nicely made and fits well, but it's quite ugly.....

Then since that didn't turn out quite how I imagined for the fabric that I really wanted to use, I hacked a couple of patterns together to get the look/size I wanted.  I used some fabric that I had recently ordered online... it was supposed to be corduroy KNIT, but instead it was stretch corduroy.  Not what I wanted, but I thought it could make a nice jumper.  It did.  All finished and I'm wearing it now.

Sporting my new jumper (and my long "Covid" hairstyle.)

As it turns out, I had just purchased (at a great discount) some tops from Lands's End that will go very well with it, and lo and behold, my Thendara scarf will match this top, too!

And last (for today) is minute progress on my quilt.  I have a stash of little half-square triangles made in lots of color combinations, and here are the first two rows starting at the top and working down...

It's going to take a while.... But I'm in no rush.  I just want to do a little at a time and keep it handy and neat - not strung all over the sewing room like it is right now.  Next up... tidying the sewing room.  I've pulled out lots of things that I thought I would like to work on and have just left stacks everywhere.  Maybe now would be a good time to do that????  Or tomorrow.....