The 4th Friday of 2017

I don’t know about you all, but I am more than ready for this weekend.  It’s been nonstop it seems for me, but I have been oh, so, very productive these last couple of weeks.  Sorry last Friday’s post was MIA; I am going to try and make up for it today.

With the help of my handy dandy iPhone, let me fill you all in with some of the details of life the last couple of weeks.  Here it goes:

The weekend before last, I started on my hexagon quilt.  I’d been cutting pieces for it for the last three years and finally had enough to make a good sized blanket.  This is how it looked laid out on the living room floor and I have since put a few rows together.  It’s three years worth of dressmaking scraps which makes it seem kind of special to me.  I think I am going to love it even despite the fact that there really isn’t any consistent color pattern to it.

Next, I’ve finally made it back to the gym for a full week of working out.  It’s been months since I’ve gotten in a whole week’s worth of gym time.  I am somewhat injured though, my right forearm to the elbow got tweaked a couple of weeks back.  I ignored it for about a week and managed to overwork it in its strained condition and made it worse.  I’ve let it rest as much as possible this week, even despite being in the gym, and it’s feeling a lot better.  There’s been lots of cardio these last several days and not much weights.

Dinner has been a breeze lately, and I couldn’t be happier about that.  No crying over meals that don’t come out as planned.  (I really do cry over that; kind of pathetic, isn’t it?)  Any who, my guy had been wanting a sous vide cooker and finally had me order one for him a couple of weeks back.  It is so neat!  It’s basically a heating element in a water bath, where you submerge your meat and let it simmer for however long the recipe calls for.  Then when it’s done you pan sear the outsides and voila, perfectly prepared dinner that is never overcooked.  We’ve had roast, venison, pork chops, and chicken this way and I’ve loved it all.  Plus, it makes meal prepping meat a whole lot easier.  This in the picture was my guy’s lunch through the week that we made last Sunday.

Then there was that video that I got finished up.  It was actually very easy to do and didn’t end up taking near as long as I thought it would.  I worked on it Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday evenings and that was it.  I’m happy about that because part of the reason I procrastinated starting it was because I thought it would be a bit overwhelming.  Not at all, and now I am thinking about the next one. It might not even be too late to start one for 2017…

Also in the creativity department, I made a calendar.  Big deal, you all might be thinking, but it’s kind of like the video to me: a nostalgic look back on last year.  I spent several days looking through and uploading pics for it.  I had a free calendar coupon from Shutterfly and decided this year not to pass it up.  I do love how it came out also.  Now everyday I get a little reminder of things I did last year as seen by several of my favorite photos from the year.

And lastly for today, I saw this while out in the yard yesterday.  We’ve had some pretty nice weather and even some sunshine the last few days, and seeing it made me happy to have a little bit of color amongst the drab winter landscape, even if it was a dandelion.

That’s all from me.  My coffee mug is empty and I’ve got wine to go start making.  Finally, I am getting to all those elderberries that have been stashed away in my freezer from the summer.  Have a great weekend, everyone!