Yarnjeannie's Crochet Cache

Wayne is a little nervous this evening. His total knee replacement will be done tomorrow. I feel for him, as I was very nervous this last time. But I am positive that all will go well. I made a nice dinner for him this evening, since he won't be able to eat anything after midnight tonight, and his surgery won't be until 11:00 am or later tomorrow. We had leftover turkey and duck, with fresh homemade mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing, gravy and brussels sprouts in tomato cheese sauce. The brussels sprouts are Wayne's favorite Thanksgiving dish. You simply take frozen brussels sprouts, cook them until they are tender, then transfer them to a microwave safe dish. Add a can of tomato soup and some grated cheddar cheese to make the sauce, and microwave them until the sauce is heated through. They are delicious! My friend's daughter was married last night. We didn't make it in time for the service itself, but we went to the reception. It was beautiful, with

It's been a nice day! I woke this morning and the house was filled with the aroma of turkey cooking in the crockpot. I put a turkey breast in last night before I went to sleep. It was cooking all night. Since our plans were to have dinner at my sister's house, I thought it would be nice to have some turkey on hand here for "leftovers" and sandwiches and even some soup. Just like in "The Christmas Story" - when the narrator talks about the turkey hash, turkey a la king and gallons of turkey soup! We had a nice visit with DS Dan and his girlfriend. I can see that she is good to him, and good for him! Before they arrived, I put two ducks in the oven to roast. DH Wayne just loves duck for Thanksgiving. They weren't quite finished by the time Dan and Nicole left, so we packed up the roaster and took them with us to my sister's, where the ducks finished cooking in her oven. My sister had a wonderful dinner for us, with mashed potatoes (or masha-t

Thanksgiving is next week! I can't believe it! It will soon be Christmas. Where has the year gone? This will be the first holiday without my Dad or my Mom. Mom passed away 16 years ago, and Dad in January this year. It's going to be a bittersweet holiday. For the first time, my brothers and sisters and I are on our own. They say you aren't really an adult until your parents are gone. But I truly believe that Mom and Dad are once again together. This week was fairly busy at work. It was the last of my physical therapy sessions. I'm supposed to hear from the therapist in 2 weeks to see whether or not I still have issues to resolve. The back of my knee had been giving me problems and I'll be back to wearing my casual dress shoes instead of sneakers to work. We'll see. Wayne goes into the hospital on Monday 12/1 for his surgery - knee replacement. I keep telling him he'll be so glad he did it, once it's over. I finished up a handful of face or

Last Saturday, I went to my friend's house. She said her daughter-in-law wanted to learn to crochet. So I took a hook and a book with some basic crochet instructions with me, and spent about 3 hours there teaching crochet. I had some reservations, as the DIL had plans to make mittens and hats! I told her it would take more than one lesson to be able to produce mittens! Anyway, she did settle on a scarf for a project, and with her K hook and blue yarn, she was off to a good start by the time I left. While there, I started 3 (yes, 3!) double-strand afghans for my friend's daughters to work on. I taught them crochet about 6-7 years ago. Neither of the girls can start an afghan off, but once I work the first row in half-double crochet for them, they are good to go. I have to admit - I was a taken aback when they handed me blue and orange yarn to make a "Mets" blanket - while I sat there wearing my Phillies world champs colors! But I was a good friend and started

First - My Humble Opinion A sad thought crossed my mind this morning, as I was listening to the news regarding the financial losses in the automobile industry. The automobile and its manufacturing process, introduced to the world by Americans, is now teetering on the brink of extinction while the rest of the world is excelling. What is wrong with this picture? It seems that Americans are willing to settle for "good enough" and "status quo". Instead of producing cars in the same way for the last 30 years, why hasn't the auto industry been looking for ways to make more efficient cars? I can understand the production methods for the first 70 years. Cars were designed to be faster, more powerful and more attractive. No one had been concerned about economy, emissions or conservation. But certainly since the 70's, lots of folks were aware of the need for more efficient and cleaner vehicles. Instead the US has sat on it fat haunches and watched as Japan and

Congratulations to Barack Obama on his historic win this evening! He was my candidate of choice, and I'm watching Sen. McCain's gracious concession speech. I give him points for that. Here's to hoping that all Americans will work, live and succeed together. And that our soldiers in foreign lands will be able to come home soon. God bless America!

Well, I've taken photos of the face ornaments again. The elf has had his eyes moved closer together. I think I like the look better. The snowman has bigger eyes. A little too big, compared to the "too small" before. I think I'm going to order the 9mm size, in between, to see how they work out. So my vote is elf eyes closer, and snowman eyes in a size in between the smaller and larger sizes. I hope to have quite a few of these made up for Christmas gift giving this year.