Happy 2016!

Hello, dear readers!

Sitting here looking out at my snow-covered lavender field and happy to be on winter vacation, I am in a reflective mood.  2015 was a year of ups and downs for me, as I'm sure it was for lots of people, but I am very much looking forward to what 2016 has to offer.

One creative project I am looking forward to making is a Temperature Blanket.  This is an unfortunate name, in my opinion, so I will likely end up calling it something else.  The basic concept is every day, I will crochet a row according to what the high temperature of the day is.  I may end up adding a color or two, but here is a quick chart I made:

So, for the next 10 days, the high temperature here will be in the 30's.  That means my first 10 rows of 2016 will be Lavender Blue.  I have joined a Facebook group to crochet along with others, and many people are using lots more colors.  I think I will stick with just these.  I intentionally chose more purples and greens because those are my favorite hues. I hope to not have too many rows of red, but I guess we will see next summer what will happen.

One problem is going to be making sure this baby doesn't get too big, but with 366 rows,  how can it not?  Perhaps I will make two afghans, one from January 1-June 30 and the other from July 1-December 31.  This might be a good way to tell just how quickly climate change is taking place.  ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd like to wish health, happiness, good fortune, and joy to you and your family!  Happy 2016!

Ozzie wants you to have an excellent 2016!

*********************************************************************************

PEACE.

                    LOVE.

                                        KINDNESS.

                                                                     COMPASSION.

                                                                                                       CREATIVITY.
                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                        COLOR.


*********************************************************************************

Kitty rolling around in the grass

This is completely senseless and silly, but my kitty cat Storm was pretty adorable today.  :)

#SmallBizSaturday

Greetings!

#SmallBusinessSaturday was started a few years ago in response to the insanity of Black Friday here in the States.  The day after Thanksgiving is a huge shopping day with great deals, but some people want to support small businesses more than the big box stores.

Well, I can think of one small business that would appreciate your patronage:  Prairie Sunshine Soaps!

Prairie Sunshine Soaps was started by my husband and me in 2012 in our kitchen.  Although Chris supports me in my endeavors, I'm the one who runs it now.  I currently have 79 items in my Etsy shop:  45 different soaps and 34 different crocheted washcloths/soap savers.

Making soap came as a response to my Aunt Sara's question about all the lavender we were harvesting in our front yard flower bed:  "What are you going to do with all that lavender?"  Chris had seen an article on The Art of Manliness about making your own cold process soap and so we decided to give it a shot.

We have five types of lavender soap and so many more, such as Pink Lemonade, Sandalwood, Orange Clove & Cinnamon, White Tea & Ginger, Crisp Anjou Pear, and Lime Mint, just to name a few.  It is always wonderful to mix colors and fragrances and see what the soap will look like when it's taken out of the mold.

And here are some of my crocheted items:

Right now, I am running a special for #SmallBizSaturday:  Spend $15 or more and get 15% off if you use coupon code SMALLBIZ2015.  This offer is good through Monday, November 30.

#shopsmall  #smallbusinesssaturday

Thank you so much!

**************************************************************

PEACE.

                                             LOVE.

                                                                                 SMALL BIZ SATURDAY.


**************************************************************

Je pleure avec vous, Paris.

I was saddened to hear about the deadly attacks on Paris yesterday.  Deadly attacks anywhere are clearly horrible, but I have a special connection to the country of France.  I am a French teacher and I have been to France several times, my most recent visit being just this past summer.  I have only ever encountered friendliness and wonder in my travels to this beautiful land.

My heart is with the victims and their families, as well as all my French friends.

I am crying with you, mes amis.   Paris, je t'aime!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



PAIX.

                                      AMOUR.

                                                                             PARIS.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oui, je l'aime.

Oui, c'est vrai.  Je l'aime.  Apres tout ce temps, je l'aime toujours.  Et la chose la plus incoyable, c'est qu'il m'aime aussi!  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


PEACE.

                                                   LOVE.

                                                                                              AMOUR.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GO, ROYALS!

I'm still rooting for the Kansas City Royals, my hometown team.  I know I'm a Jenny Come Lately to this Royals team and I know I don't attend (m)any games, but I hope to change that next season.  My brother and his wife are huge fans, as well as many of my Facebook friends.  I love seeing pictures of them enjoying Royals' games at Kauffman Stadium.

My fair weather fandom doesn't matter during the next several days because our boys in blue have made it into the World Series yet again, and they even won the first game in 14 innings very early this morning.  During that game, I couldn't stand how close the score was and I needed something to do with my hands.  So I went in search of blue yarn and I decided to make a crocheted cowl.  I used Lion Brand's 45-minute cowl pattern, but I used Homespun yarn instead of Amazing.  The reason for that is I already have cowls with nearly every color of Amazing, and I had some seriously gorgeous Homespun yarn just calling out my name to be made into something #Royal blue.  I used Montana Sky and Windsor held together and crocheted with a Q-size hook (16 mm).  One way to ensure your crochet project whips up nicely is to use a huge hook.

I really like how it turned out.  How about you?  I wore it at school today because the heat in our 53 year-old building is having a hard time finding the rooms in my hallway, but that just makes for an exciting day.

If tonight's game is close, I will most likely make some fingerless gloves to go along with my Royal blue cowl.

**

I remember when the Royals won the World Series in 1985.  Thirty years ago, I was in high school, um, I mean Kindergarten--LOL!  It was a surreal experience then and it is electrifying living through it again.  I'd say thirty years is enough time to go without a World Series win.  Let's bring it back home again, lads!

**

Go, Royals!  You are the scrappiest team in the major league.  Your hearts are in the right place and you make us Kansas Citians proud!


#ForeverRoyal  #TaketheCrown  #World Series  #KansasCityRoyals



***


PEACE.



                                        LOVE.




                                                                             KANSAS CITY ROYALS!






***

Go, Royals!

We love our hometown Kansas City Royals!  We've got Royal Fever.

Go, Royals!  Allez, les Bleus!  Beat the Astros!  #TakeTheCrown