A to Z 2019 April Blogger Challenge The Letter C - Hooks and String

It's April - That means I will be participating in the A to Z Blog Challenge.


I will be posting six days a week for the month of April - (with a rest day on Sunday).
Each post will begin with the corresponding letter of the alphabet beginning with A and finishing with the letter Z.

I began participating in this challenge in 2012.   With the exception of last year, I believe I completed the challenge each year.   Last year I lost steam somewhere around the letter W.
Let's see how far I get this year.

Crochet

I've been crocheting for 40 plus years.  I started when I was pregnant with my first child, Jennifer.
I became interested when I saw the beautiful items my mother-in-law made.

I think the first thing I learned to crochet was the "Granny Square".  And at the time mostly grannies were the only ones crocheting.

I've made many afghans over the years.  My most ambitious project was this one.  It's pretty cool, don't you think?

It is made up of granny squares.

Each square is about 3-1/2".  There are 17 squares across and 17 squares down.  Which means there are 289 squares.

There is one odd square.  Can you spot it?

It's kind of amazing what one can create with a hook and string.

When I first started crocheting, the only places available to buy hooks, string or yarn was the local 5 & 10, the drugstore, or a general all purpose store like K-Mart.

The hooks were plain - steel for fine cotton work, aluminum for heavier blanket acrylic yarn.

Now, of course there are many different styles of hooks and many different choices of yarn. Both can be found at a local yarn store or online.



Crocheting has made a come back and is quite popular among people of all ages and genders.




I am mostly a knitter now, but I still love to crochet and when I get a little bored with knitting, I'll pick up a hook and string.

A cozy crocheted shawl for spring

A to Z 2019 April Blogger Challenge - The Letter B - The BlueJay and the Cardinal

It's April - That means I will be participating in the A to Z Blog Challenge.

I will be posting six days a week for the month of April - (with a rest day on Sunday).
Each post will begin with the corresponding letter of the alphabet beginning with A and finishing with the letter Z.

I began participating in this challenge in 2012.   With the exception of last year, I believe I completed the challenge each year.   Last year I lost steam somewhere around the letter W.

Birds

My All Time Favorite Photo

About eight years ago I began to notice birds.  Before then I never paid much attention to them.

I believe my mild fascination began when I received a Canon Rebel camera with an amazing zoom lens for Christmas.  Also, around that time my son was battling cancer.
I think the combination of both of these things heightened an appreciation of my surroundings.

I am not a member of the Audubon Society. I don't go out into the wild with a tripod or binoculars. Other than the most recognizable and common, I don't even know the names of most birds.

My favorite is the Cardinal.  Because of its brilliant red feathers the male is easy to spot.  The feathers on the female are more of a golden color with red wing tips.

When I realized that I could zoom in with my camera on their perch from quite a distance and still get a detailed shot, I was hooked.
I then began to notice their call or chirp or whatever the proper name is for the sound they make.  As I said I don't have much detailed knowledge about birds.
When I go out in the morning to retrieve the newspaper from our driveway,  I will stop to listen.  The cardinal male to female call is distinct enough for me to recognize.  Eventually, as I follow the sound I will spot them.

 I don't believe in such things, but there is a common folk lore that goes like this:

“When a cardinal appears in your yard, it's a visitor from heaven.”

Another easy one to spot is the Bluejay.  According to my recent research, there is no difference in appearance between the male and female bluejay.  While writing this post I found an interesting YouTube video by LesleytheBirdNerd called "How To Tell Male And Female Blue Jays Apart - Is It Even Possible?" 
I see other birds with blue feathers, but I know enough now to recognize that they are not Bluejays.

At certain times of the year I may get to see yellow birds.   Yeah, that's all I know about them, they have yellow feathers.

I find some of the less colorful birds still interesting to photograph.  It may be their pretty songs or they way they perch at the very tops of the trees.

I have a dislike for turkey vultures.  I find them to be creepy.  Lately we seem to have many of them hanging around.  They spend most of their time swooping and gliding.   I guess they are constantly searching for their next meal.

 I feel the same way about crows.  They seem to be aggressive birds who prey on the nests of the smaller birds.

Some of my more unusual finds.

A few of the many many of my favorites 

That's all I have to say about Birds.

A to Z 2019 April Blogger Challenge The Letter A - Adelaide is Missing

It's April - That means I will be participating in the A to Z Blog Challenge.

I will be posting six days a week for the month of April - (with a rest day on Sunday).
Each post will begin with the corresponding letter of the alphabet beginning with A and finishing with the letter Z.

I began participating in this challenge in 2012.   With the exception of last year, I believe I completed the challenge each year.   Last year I lost steam somewhere around the letter W.

Monday, April 1, 2019

Absent

Addy was not feeling well.  Her head was hurting.  She was still in bed and had been awake for several hours.
Holding her head, with a palm pressed on each side of her temples, she admonished herself. "It's your own fault!"
Her mother's words echoed in her throbbing head,  "Adelaide, when will you learn?"
She painfully turned and looked at the old fashioned clock on the bedside table.
The clock was one of her treasures.  It used to sit on the dresser in her grandmother's bedroom.
She groggily thought about the rainy days she once spent in the big stuffed chair in Nana's room, reading and listening to the tick, tick, ticking of that clock.
Now, squinting through bleary eyes, she could barely make out the numbers.
She reached over, picked up the clock and brought it closer to her.
"Ohh," she groaned.  It was 6:59.  Sixty seconds before the alarm would sound its loud vibrating ring. 
She felt around the back of the clock to find the off switch.
Aspirin. She needed aspirin and water.  Aspirin, water, and a shower.
She promised herself that she would get up in a minute or maybe two. 
For the last two months Addy had not been herself.  Or, as her mother was only too happy to point out, she was too much like herself lately.  Well, her old self that is.
Addy ran her fingers through her unruly thick curly red hair.  She moaned.  Even her hair hurt.
"You have to get it together, Addy," her boss said to her.
It was a warning about the number of days she had recently called out sick.  She had missed 6 days alone last month.
During moments of clarity, of which there were few recently, Addy knew that her behavior was destructive on more than one level.
She tried to justify it, though.  It was too hard to be present when her life line had deserted her.
Smiling ruefully, she obviously knew it wasn't desertion.
Propped on her elbows, she pushed herself up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
After resting there for a minute or perhaps two, she hoisted herself up, slipped her bare feet into slippers and warily made her way to the bathroom.
She remembered how proud Nanna was that long ago day Addy showed her the certificate of excellence she had received.  It had her name written in fancy letters with a raised golden stamped seal.
Nanna smiled and with that always present twinkle in her eye, she said, "Adelaide, I knew you could make a whole year of school without being absent one day."