Showing posts with label owl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label owl. Show all posts

Monday, February 2, 2015

SuperbOwl

I really prefer owls over football. 

I especially find crocheted owls to be suburb!  This little guy is part of my 2014 Mood Blanket (that still hasn't been touched since February 2014).  Free pattern can be found HERE.

We don't really watch sports, unless it's the Super Bowl, or the Olympics.  I know we are in the minority, but I gotta say, as a non-sports watcher, I'm often SO HAPPY that Jonathan is also not into watching sports on TV all weekend.  We are able to get so many other things done!

We do always watch the Super Bowl.  Mostly because I say we need to watch it, and that's because I wanna make Super Bowl food and use that time to crochet (and watch out the commercials) <----did anyone have a favorite commercial?  I found many companies using millions of dollars in ad time to come up with the "oddest" thing they could as their way of being remembered by the end of the night.  I always enjoy what Budweiser does, the Snickers one with The Brady Bunch was funny, and the #withdad Nissan one and #girlpower ones just made me all weepy!  I've always enjoyed Katy Perry and found the Halftime Show to be very entertaining.  Plus all the special effects and quick costume changes always make this theatre nerd giddy!  And as a theatre nerd - hello amazing Idina Menzel singing the National Anthem!  Seriously, she can do NO WRONG as far as I'm concerned.  End of story.  Don't try and tell me otherwise, because you will not convince me, or win!

It was just the two of us (and the dogs) so we didn't make a ton of food.  We had these INCREDIBLE Chicken Nachos that I thought were going to end up being a snack, but were definitely enough food for just the 2 of us as dinner (we did have a late lunch too).  They looked so amazing as soon as Jonathan brought them in, I didn't even think to photograph them!  I was too busy cramming them in my face and keeping the dogs away from said face.  Seriously, they're amazing.  I just love Ree and her blog!

And for dessert were had these little beauties:

I've always been a big fan of No Bake Cookies, so when I saw this recipe on Maybe Matilda last week, I knew they were a MUST for the Super Bowl!
  

Next time I make them, yes! these will definitely be made again, I'm going to try just using 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with maybe a little less than 1/2 cup of peanut butter.  It was almost too over-powering for the yummy Oat mixture to have such a thick band of chocolate on top.  Jonathan agreed, and I feel like that's saying something because I didn't think it was possible for him to have TOO much chocolate!  It was probably also a combination of the fact that we used dark chocolate chips vs. semi-sweet and the only pan I had to use was like 11" x 6" instead of 9" x 9"..... SOMEDAY I'll have my own kitchen again (and equipment for cooking and baking!)

By the 3rd quarter I was ready for a snack:
Living in Western NY Bison Chip Dip and STBC are pretty much a way of life - and both are always so yummy!!  Helles (Where the Helles Summer?) is their new Spring Lager.  Tastes an awful lot like Bud Light, which I'm okay with.  I'm just not sure how frequently I'd pay craft beer prices for something I could get for much cheaper by purchasing Bud Light.  We'll see, this was only #2 out of my six-pack so I have 4x left for Helles to convince me it's worth it!

Speaking of Western New York, we got hit with snow last night and this morning.  We live about 70 southwest of Buffalo, NY so we missed the CRAZY November storm.  We're also 400+ miles west of New York City, so we weren't close to being hit by Juno last week.  In all honestly, this winter has not been that terrible "snow-wise" - not compared to what I remember growing up.  Jon and I constantly talk about how badly we want a big snow storm or blizzard - the kind that keeps you stuck in doors in your jammies all day!  Didn't quite get this, but this morning was a bit closer to what I remember from my childhood!

Here's the view out the kitchen window as of 7:50ish this morning!  Probably close to 15" of snow came down starting at 5 p.m. through the overnight.  Our driveway is approximately 1/4 mile long and it took Jonathan over an hour to slow-blow the bare minimum width for me to get to work this morning!  Only about 6 school districts in the county closed today, so many were digging out and on their way to work & school (as is life in these parts 6 months out of the year).  Roads were decently plowed (for the most part) - all came down to what Mom and I often refer to as "winter roads".  Always thankful for how WELL my Jeep drives in the winter!

Out the backdoor, you could also see how much snow had accumulated up on the top of the garden gate.

Our metal roof collects a LOT of snow and ice in the winter.  This shot is looking out one of the living room windows.  I was sitting near this window during the Super Bowl last night, and a lot of snow and ice from the roof right above here came sliding down at one point and crashed to the ground scaring the bejezus out of me and the pups!

And, speaking of the pups - here's what Copper and Osa thought about watching football
such sweet dups :-)

Jonathan and I also both passed out before the game was over.  Woke up having missed the Patriots final Touch Down but did get to see what I'm certain will be remembered as one of the worst plays made in a Super Bowl and the "end-zone brawl".  As soon as it was all over, we switched back to Netflix for some of our favorite documentaries on castles in England.  Like I said, we don't care too much one way or the other!

I did do some crocheting.  Not a lot, so there really wasn't much to photograph and share.  I didn't even start crocheting until the 2nd half of the game because I was SO COLD!! Couldn't figure out why having a fire wasn't warming up the room, and me in return.  By the time we went to bed around 11 p.m. our bedroom was an ice box.  Turns out our gas was out and Lord only knows how long we'd been sitting around without heat.  I'm guessing mid afternoon cause it had been cold upstairs around 2, but we had a window open knocking down some ice so I didn't think much of it.  I didn't do any laundry that required warm or hot water so I didn't notice it then.  Even when I was washing my face at 11, I must have been too sleepy to realize that there wasn't really any hot water (probably just the little bit that was left in the hot water tank that was luke warm at best).  Jonathan trudged out into the snow to reset....whatever it is that has to be reset when that happens, and we warmed up quickly once the furnace kicked back on!  #superhusbandtotherescue!

Happy Whistlepig Day to you all!  We will be watching "Groundhog's Day" just as soon as I get home from my Board Meeting tonight.  and hopefully it'll be warm enough to crochet!  Today is one of Jonathan's favorite holidays, and this is definitely one of his favorite movies :-)

Up tomorrow - successes and pitfalls of January Goals and my February Goals!







Monday, February 10, 2014

Moody Monday - week 6

Another week has come and gone, and I've made great progress on my Mood Blanket!

For starters:
I have finally caught up!  Everything to date (through today) has been crocheted!  As you can see, no ends have been dealt with (well, some have) and I still haven't started putting my blanket together, but progress has been made there as well!

I did all the math, many many times to figure out how I wanted to put my blanket together, and tested out Lucy's joining for Granny Squares.  Still not 110% on my joining decision, and wanted to just look things over one more time in the light of day (AKA: Saturday).

Here's what I crocheted for week 6:

2/3: NOT FEELING WELL - woke up last Monday morning not feeling well at all.  Hopeful that I'm not getting sick and/or catching whatever it is going around my office.
2/4: FREEZING / THINKING OF GRANNIE - the sunrise on my drive to work Tuesday morning made me feel as though Grannie was looking down on me
It was, again, freezing cold but I immediately thought of my colors for freezing and thinking of Grannie, and they really match this sunrise perfectly.
2/5: SNOWY DAY / EXCITED - more snow in WNY and some exciting possibilities arose at work.
2/6: EXCITED - Wednesday's excitement continued into Thursday with good meetings at work, in additional to a few meetings I had outside of the office.
2/7: SICK - ugh....drove home Thursday night with a migraine, woke up with it on Friday morning.  Started to cough while getting ready for work, and definitely had a nasty sore throat.  Everything went downhill throughout the day on Friday, but I made it through my day in the office, came home and just C.R.A.S.H.E.D.  sore throat, fever, body aches, and cough
*BONUS HEX* refused to miss the Opening Ceremonies for the Winter Olympics, even if I did have a flu.  I had to make a TEAM USA hex for the day as well!
2/8: TIRED / SICK - didn't feel as terrible Saturday as I did on Friday, I even made it to my 10 a.m. nail appointment.  Came home and took a 4 hour nap, slept through most of the Olympic events that night, and still slept a solid 8 hours.  I clearly needed all that rest to get over whatever it is/was infecting my system.
2/9: FEELING CRAFTY / SICK - woke yesterday feeling around 75%.  Spent most of my day crocheting and watching Dawson's Creek on Netflix.  Slowly getting better (even if my voice isn't fully back)
2/10: PRODUCTIVE - "technically" this hex belongs on next week's post.  But it was already in my picture before I realized this.  So, you're getting it tonight.  You may see it again next week, if I remember.  We'll call today's productivity a variation on overachieving!

Speaking of today's productivity, I've gotta show off my favorite hex to date:
TOO CUTE, right??  Jonathan asked me if the owl was because I was feeling crafty.  I told him it was because I bought an Owl [decoration] that day!  I'm just realizing now that the owl was supposed to be happy / feeling crafty, but that I crocheted it happy / thinking of Grannie.  Maybe she wanted to be part of today's crocheting - or she was a part of my crafty shopping trip with Mom back on January 18th.




Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Two on Tuesday



Things that are making me happy today:

1.  Finding a new blog that I've never read before while browsing crochet patterns online.  While searching for a football applique yesterday, I clicked on a link for an owl applique (I LOVE owls!!), and I came across Laura's blog at Love the Blue Bird.  I'm in love!  Laura's crochet work is beautiful, and after spending quite a bit of time reading her previous posts, I didn't come across a single photograph that wasn't an outstanding representation of her work.  I may need lessons!!  Thanks for the patterns and ideas you've shared as well Laura, I've definitely added a few more projects to my ever growing to-do list!

***Just had to add in two more new blogs that I came across today***
I haven't had the chance to do much more than read their "about me" and scan the most recent posts, but I've started following both on Bloglovin' and wanted to share with you all as well!
Sarah of Sarahndipities
Chi Wei of One Dog Woof

2.  I think 2014 is really gonna be my year for the blog, ETSY shop and Facebook page!  I've been having so much fun linking them together and coming up with more creative things/ways to blog.  Here's hoping the excitment lasts past January ;-)

Speaking of, I'm asking my Facebook friends to vote on which caption they like best for the photo I posted yesterday.  Hop on over now and be sure to LIKE the photo (not the post) for your favorite caption!  Please spread the news too - little Elsie is toooooo adorable to not share!


Option One:


 Option Two:


The polar vortex has made it's way to WNY.  My jeep said -18 on my way to work this morning and the wind chills were said to be around -34.  I've yet to warm up from my venture from the car to the office, and I'm convinced that it should be illegal to have to leave your house (or jammies!!) on a day like today.  I hope that all of you are safe and warm, and if you're really lucky, crocheting in front of a warm fire!



Monday, January 6, 2014

Owl you need is LOVE

Over the summer I received a request from a good friend, and former colleague to make an owl hat for her very adorable baby girl!  She had seen pictures of the hat I'd previously made in purple (posted here), and thought it would be adorable on Elsie.  
 
Thankfully she's a patient and understanding friend, cause it took me about 4 months to get Elsie's hat in the mail!!  
 
 I just LOVE this pattern from Sarah over at Repeat Crafter Me!!  It's easy to follow, provides sizing for newborn through adults and looks totally different (at least to me) with each new color it's made in
I can't wait to find some "free" time to make a few in adult sizes.
 
I am happy to say that the finished product made it's way to Virgina before Christmas and the DC metro region is getting all this cold weather (along with basically everyone in North America!) so there are still loads of opportunities for Elsie to get lots of use out of her new hat.



Her mom sent me this picture yesterday and I just can't get over how CUTE she looks!!

Hop on over to my Facebook page today, and help me caption this photo!!


And a big thanks to her mom for letting me share these pictures with you.