Back to Routine & a Bit of Knitting

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

After having a visitor for a few weeks, I'm catching up on my own schedule of things.  I've actually been very busy with household work, doing my laundry and trying to clean my carpets; vacuuming and steam cleaning, vacuuming and steam cleaning and so on, until the high traffic areas are clean.  I have one of those small steamer (steam-tek mop) that works with just water in it. I like it because it is very light and easy to use. It isn't for heavy duty jobs but it helps a lot.

Following my post yesterday, I've also been spending a lot of time trying to implement my new blogging approach by deleting many of my subscriptions. One thing I've learned is that although there is a place to manage one's subscriptions in Google Reader, it actually doesn't work that well. I've been trying to delete certain subscriptions since well before yesterday and they continue to appear in my dashboard. Has anyone else experienced this? So much for efficient computer use. Though I will keep trying I didn't expect it to be so difficult to delete blogs!

I've also been fitting in a bit of knitting which I find so relaxing. This time I made two dishcloths in this rib knit pattern which I found here last year. I use size 6 mm needles rather than the size 4.5 mm called for. I really like my 6 mm needles because they are bamboo and so comfortable to use.  I really should try knitting with the proper size needles to get a neater look (I need all the help I can get) *smile.

Since I first printed the pattern for the washcloth in the photo, the author has made corrections to her pattern but I am still using the old one! I'm such a newbie that I didn't notice anything wrong with the pattern other than it isn't as neat around the edges as I'd like and that is perhaps due to my lack of skill. I'll have to try the new instructions and see what a difference it makes. I just finished putting the crocheted edge around the dishcloths today. Later I hope to go downtown and continue the sofa search I started last month.

As I was looking for the yarn to make these dishcloths I realized I still have my small afghan to finish. It was going to be a baby afghan but now I will turn it into a lap blanket for my mother.  Sadly she didn't get to use the crocheted afghan I made for her (photo of the work in progress here).  The very day I gave it to her, someone rolled it up in a bunch of things they donated and we never saw it again. Mom didn't even have a chance to get a label put on it so that she could be identified as the owner.

I hope you are all having a good week. Enjoy!

Ch-ch-changes

Hello friends and fellow bloggers,

One of my goals this year is to use computer time more efficiently and effectively. Saving time in one area will help me spend more time in bible study, and general reading.  One of the things I've decided, is to reduce the number of blogs I follow, and also the number of blogs I comment on.  I've been subscribed to literally hundreds of blogs at any given time.  In addition, I participate in many weekly memes.

I've made it a practice to read most of the new posts on these blogs and memes.  If I take time to read a post, I also take time to leave a comment.  I've been doing this for years. As you can imagine, it takes a good chunk of time from my week but I do love to read and learn from others, and share a bit of myself.

I have no problem in doing this and for the most part have enjoyed it. However, I've decided it is time to make changes.

So along that vein, and with very few exceptions, I will no longer be commenting on blogs that I used to follow quite closely and blogs on which I used to be a frequenter commenter. I will also experiment with reading posts and not commenting quite as frequently.  This practice seems to be quite common. On my own blog, I no longer reply to every comment left for me. I used to reply as a matter of courtesy. However I'm not sure how many people come back and read the response and I've also heard it said that it annoys some people to no end. I will leave replies from time to time but more as an exception rather than the rule. That will save me time and hopefully annoy fewer people!

I have a blogging philosophy in which I try to "connect" with other bloggers and develop a bit of a relationship with them.  Relationship building requires something from both sides.

After years of visiting some blogs and hearing nothing, I've begun to feel like a voyeur and an intruder in the lives of people I do not know. People who write freely about intimate aspects of their lives or share freely of their knowledge but they never take time to say "hello, welcome to my world" or never come by to see what I'm up to. So I'm moving on.

With a few exceptions, I will be concentrating on following bloggers who take time to connect in some way.  I don't mean we have to become "pals".  I know everyone is busy. I am just saying let's show common courtesy and take time to encourage one another's blogging efforts through showing appreciation of each other's efforts from time to time.

I will continue to participate in weekly memes which I also love. However, I will again be limiting my comments to those bloggers that show reciprocity now and then then.

I do love blogging and reading your blogs. I get inspired, I learn something, I cry with you, pray with you, relate to you through your stories, want to "root for you", laugh with you, etc. I look forward to reading more of your posts and leaving comments or encouragement.   If I haven't visited you in the last few days please know I am a little behind due to family obligations but I will be by very soon.

I'm very thankful for those of you who do take time to come by and read my posts or view my photos.  You encourage me on my blogging journey.

Have a great week!

An Oasis on a Hot Day

One day my niece and I went to a local park for a picnic. I think it was one of our hottest days during the two weeks she was visiting. I don't have air conditioning and the fan wasn't enough to keep the condo feeling fresh and cool. It turned out to be a good decision to go the park.

The small park was busy while we were there but not too busy.

I also took cushions and books.  I wasn't up to reading but my niece looked at books while I relaxed.
 

We munched on mini meatballs, potato and egg salad, cheese, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes and grapes. We brought water to drink and a soda each.

The black crow in the tree next to us seemed to be waiting for some food.  We didn't
encourage it by throwing scraps of food but my niece loved to watch this bird and two others that joined it.

The shady trees made a refreshing change from the condo. It's always lovely to get out for a picnic but I seldom do these days.

Join in here to see what others are up to on Our World Tuesday.

A Short Update

It's been a busy week and it continues to be busy.

My uncle Ted died after complications arising from several surgeries in a short space of time.  He was laid to rest yesterday. We will miss him.  Mom and I were talking about how quickly he slipped from our lives.  We only found out 7 weeks ago that he had colon cancer and then we waited for his surgery.  Sadly, he did not make it through the surgery even though initially it looked like he would.  I think most of the family is still in shock about the speed of events.  I am happy a brother and I made a point to visit him (well) before his surgery date because we had been told he might not make it. It was nice to see him smile and hear him laugh and see how much he was looking forward to getting back to normal.

The reason it's been a bit hectic here is I had to help mom put some words of remembrance together for her brother and we don't live in the same city.  I also had to put my own remembrances together and look after my niece who is visiting at the same time.

Nothing seemed to be working right with the technology.  My cousin who was trying to receiving the document the day before delivering the eulogy, couldn't open the document and kept missing me by phone to tell me.  The next day, when she reached me I was asked to save the document in a different format.  The problem/challenge was that the night before I'd splashed some iced tea on my computer keyboard which made it stop working.  I wasn't even able to log onto the computer as some of the keys on the keyboard worked but others didn't.

I was feeling flustered and was under a time crunch.  I had to remind myself several times to stay calm.  I also had to pray for help and for everything to work as it should.  My dinosaur laptop helped me.  Even though it is extremely slow and needed updating, I was at last able to get it to work and reformat the document before sending it off.

I mentioned that I was so busy and flustered because my niece has been visiting for several weeks and we've been very busy. She is  not functional on her own so that means I need to do everything for and with her and so the document and technology issues were happening while I was trying to get her groomed and fed before we left the apartment.

I had a lot of fun with my niece and I think she had fun too. I took a lot of photos and my brother printed some of them today so I could place them in a photo album.  My brother also made a video for my niece of her birthday party (she loves to celebrate birthdays) and some of her other favourite things, Snowbird jets and helicopters. She loved the video and "begged" to see it again before bed time tonight!

While she was here we went to see "Mary Poppins", a live musical.  I was surprised to see a lot of adults there without children.  Even men attended the show. My niece said said she enjoyed it better than "Beauty and the Beast" which we saw years ago. I think she only said that because she is more "grown up" now and thinks "Beauty and the Beast" is for kids.  As I remember, she LOVED "Beauty and the Beast", and so did I. 

My niece's visit has come to an end but I may have another out of town visitor though he and his wife won't be staying at my guests. I do hope they have time to squeeze in a visit.

Just in case you don't hear from me for awhile, please know that I am catching up with work and appointments.  But I will be by to visit you as soon as I can. Have a wonderful week.

A Solo Yellow Lily

I made this photo extra large so you can see the bugs and the ant or small fly, at work, deep within the flower. Can you find them?

You can see some fantastic flowers at Floral Friday Fotos here 

And join in with Tina and her Weekend Flowers here.