Tomorrow is Day of Caring

Tomorrow morning I will be going over to the Civic League Building owned by the historical society to take part in Day of Caring. I'm not exactly sure what we will be working on this year, but the place will for sure get a good house cleaning. This building was built in 1915 and really needs work on floors and some other things. I'm pretty sure that the floors aren't getting done, except sweeping and mopping, but plywood and 2x4's were delivered this week. Some kids from the culinary arts department of the high school are coming to help. They will be working outside cutting away debris and bushes that have grown up on the property. I just wish that it was going to be warmer. It's only supposed to be 27 when we get there in the morning and the temp isn't supposed to get too warm during the day. It would be great if it would at least get up to 65 or 70, but it's not supposed to do that.

On Valentine's Day, I went with dh, dd and her bf to the Camping World Nascar race. We had won 4 tickets from a radio station, so with a little extra money we were able to go to the infield. It was a beautiful day, and we got to look in the garages at the cars being worked on. We also got to watch how they are inspected before the race and see them driving around the garage area. It was also fun looking for the drivers walking around chatting in the garage area. Later, they opened the gates and we were allowed onto the infield where the cars were lined up in preparation for the race. They had ropes up so that you couldn't get right next to the cars, but we got close enough to get some good pictures. Next we went and stood on the racetrack at the start/finish line! The track is banked, so standing there trying to look normal is a real accomplishment. When dd loads the pics, I'll post them. When it was time to go to our seats, after the driver introductions, we walked down the track and across to a ladder up to the stands. Our seats were on the 4 th turn so we got to see them race to the finish line! I lost my voice yelling for my driver, Tony Stewart. He won the race, which thrilled me!

Before we had gone over to the infield, we looked at all the Nascar trailers filled with stuff you could buy of your favorite driver. Then we roamed around where the sponsors had things set up. We got samples and played games and just had a great time!

As far as my crocheting and knitting go, I'm working on something in both right now. In my crocheting, I'm making a scarf in a pretty blue. For my knitting, I'm making a wrap that has cables and a collar in a dark green. If you're on Ravelry, you can see them in my project pages.

I did make a dishcloth and a dishtowel in knit for my friend for her birthday. I used the Peaches & Cream pansy varigated and she loved them.

I've recently joined Facebook. My cousin asked me to join so that we could stay in touch, so that's what I did. To my amazement, I've found more of my family on there plus friends from Ravelry! It's a good place to go if you just want to catch up and have a little fun. I'm loving it.

Have a great weekend! And think of me working in the cold on Saturday morning! lol

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all theings, endures all things. " 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

When I think of Valentine's Day, I think of love. When I think of love, I think of this passage from the Bible. Love is a wonderful thing, and I hope that everyone gets to experience great love in their lives.

Have I experienced such love? Yes, I have. I had parents who loved me through thick and thin. They were always there to help me and comfort me when I needed it. Now, I'm surrounded by a wonderful loving family that I'm very thankful for every day. I have a dh who loves and cares about me, as I do him. My children are wonderful people who I'm very proud of having as friends now. As if all of this wasn't enough, I'm also lucky enough to have wonderful loving friends who I enjoy being with whenever possible.

I may not live in a big house with a beautiful yard (always a dream of mine) or have a lot of money. But I am surrounded by love which makes me very happy!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

Comfort Foods

As part of a blog ring for my Ravelry OT: Insanity group, a topic of comfort foods has been selected as our next subject. With the cold weather, many comfort foods came to my mind. My mother used to make wonderful pot roasts with potatoes and carrots. When I lived in New York, I used to love to put on a big pot of chili and let it cook all day! But what I finally decided on is something that EVERYONE in my family loves for me to make, chicken and dumplings. This is not a hard recipe and can be found on any Bisquick box, but my family thinks I'm the best cook in the world when I make it. So here is the recipe:

Chicken---can be breasts, thighs, legs, whatever you like--I usually use breasts or thighs with the skin removed
Onion--chopped
Bisquick---2 cups
Milk--3/4 cup
{you can double this to make more dumplings, which is what I always do}

Place your chicken in a large pot and cover with water. Add onion and bring to a boil. Reduce heat so that water is barely boiling and cook chicken for 10 minutes.

While chicken is cooking, mix Bisquick and milk in bowl. Mix well.

Add by spoonfuls on top of the chicken and cook uncovered for 10 minutes, then cover and cook for 10 minutes more.

I always have a problem because I make so many dumplings that I need to cook them a little longer covered to make sure that they're done. If the pot starts to boil over, reduce your heat.

These taste great and you usually have a nice gravy also when they're done. Enjoy!

On another topic, I just added pictures to my other site if you'd like to take a look. If you're on Ravelry, your name could be there. http://ibbyfl.tripod.com/ibbyscreations

Goals for the New Year!

Since a new year has started, I decided it would be a good idea to make some goals for myself for this new year.

• make hats for Christmas starting in January. I think the first one will be the Official Kittyville Hat. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/official-kittyville-hat
• next maybe I'll make the Owata Hat http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/owata-hat
• Of course it goes without saying that I'll be making fingerless gloves. I'm not sure which patterns, but I'll be doing the Mystery CAL at the FGF group on Ravelry and maybe even the Mystery KAL.
• I also want to make a cowl. Don't ask me who will get it because we don't need them too much here in Florida. But there are so many pretty patterns, such as the Arboreal Cowl by my fellow FGF member. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/arboreal-cowl
• Also I will make a couple of scarves. I want to make the Garter Snake Scarf for my grandson http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/garter-snake-scarf
• On the non-knitting or crocheting side, I want to work on my geneology a little more because I've got new info on my grandfather that may help me
• Also would like to make some cards again
• Read Sue Grafton's T book! U will be out before I've read T at this rate!

That's about all I'm planning for now. It's going to be a busy year!