3 Hour Cowl... YAY For Knitting!

Hey Y'all!

For most of this morning I was glued to the Inauguration coverage. The pomp and circumstance was neat, but I kept thinking about how all of that money could have gone to such better use. I bet a lot of hungry and cold people could have been fed and kept warm with that expense. But. That is just my thought!  I mean, it is his SECOND Inauguration. They could have scaled back a bit. Anyhoo.

Today I finally finished the 3 Hour Cowl that I have been working on since Friday. My back felt much better today and I was able to finish the cowl quickly this afternoon. Today was our last sunny and warm day for a while, so I tried to make sure Pitty Pat and I went on as many walks as possible. That is why I didn't finish up until late this afternoon!

Here it is!

This was all of the yarn that I had left after binding off... YUP. I kind of cut it close! I used a ball of cotton yarn with 95 yards and I think I used at least 93 yards! I made a quick trip to the evil empire today to get another ball just to make sure I would have enough at the end. Turns out I did, by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin! :) Now I can make another. These colors just looked so pretty and springy together. Believe it or not, I have already casted on to make another on in another color way. These are just too cute!

Well, let me run. It is a school night AND tomorrow is my early morning duty day, so I need to get ready to go to sleep. I so enjoyed having a long weekend! I won't have another one until March, which is spring break. Oh my.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!
Tootles!
:) JKP

Lazy Daisy Weekend.. And Movie Reviews!

Hey Y'all!

I have really been taking it easy this weekend! I am worn out from trying to get report cards finished and just generally keeping up with school. My tummy pain is back, which has now caused some back pain. So since I have a long weekend this weekend,  I thought taking it as easy as I can should be the game plan. We had a work day at school on Friday, so I got a lot done. I had dinner with a good friend mine Friday night and I have been taking it easy ever since!

Yesterday, I ran a few quick errands and then stocked up on DVD's. I haven't watched or even gone to the movies a lot lately, so I had some catching up to do. And y'all know how much I love to watch movies! A few weeks ago, I became a beta tester for Redbox for their new streaming service. For my trouble, they gave me 4 credits to rent free movies. Since I am ending my free trail this week (it can't compare to Netflix) I thought I would use my credits to check out some movies. So far I have watched Hope Springs.. cute. Trouble With the Curve- really good. 2016: Obama's America ... VERY thought provoking. Next up for tonight is Battleship and then The Best Exoitic Marigold Hotel.

I also casted on for a new knitting project. With my back hurting it is hard to knit for too long, but this is a quick project. It is called The 3 Hour Cowl and it is a free download from Ravelry. Whenever I start a new knitting project, I always like to peruse Ravelry and see what yarns folks have used. I am on a yarn budget and can't always use a fancy yarn. I saw one of the cowls made from cotton yarn, which is perfect since I live at the beach. I am using Lily Sugar 'n Cream's Country Stripes to work on this cowl. I love the beachy colors and I think I will get some great wear out of this cowl.

The stitch pattern is just three rows, and once you have knit it once you have it memorized. It does knit up fast! Pitty Pat is still waking up at 3 a.m. and wanting to have a party. This morning I just got up and started knitting. I should be able to cast this off tonight. I am sure if I could sit for 3 hours this would already be finished, but I have had to move around today to keep my back happy!

That's about all that is going on here! I am about to watch Once Upon a Time... one of my favorite shows and then watch another movie. We do not have school tomorrow due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, so I am going to stay up a little later tonight.

What are you up to this weekend?

p.s. Have you made your own Pinteresting Lotion yet? YOU NEED TO! My feet feel like I just had a pedicure. And folks. That is a January miracle! This lotion is great!

Tootles!
:) JKP

What's Up Buttercup?

Hey Y'all!

So. Are you settling into your January routine yet? I am, slowly but surely. We have had fantastic weather in the 70's and 80's here at the beach so that has helped with the January Blues quite a bit. This past weekend was so beautiful! After taking care of some school work, I happily sat out on my back patio with my Kindle and read to my heart's content. Lemonade by my side! And, flip flops on my feet. That makes everything better! :)

I have continued to work on a few New Year's additions. I feel like if I call them "additions" I will more than likely stick with them! I have started back with trying to fit in my 10,000 steps a day. I have shared this "addition" with my students and I have logged back onto America On the Move to track my progress. Since it is January, I have chosen to walk the Iditarod Trail. My students love for me to log on everyday and show them where I am on my trail. It also holds me accountable too! I have also been entering my data on Walker Tracker and that appears on the left side bar of the blog. So y'all can stay updated too! I have been doing really well. The weekends are hard but I am working on it. Today I am under the weather, so I have only gotten in 8,000 or so steps. I am really achy today and my tummy pain is bothering me. So. I am taking it easy and not pushing things tonight! Another "addition" I am working on is cutting out soft drinks. I have noticed a big difference in the way I feel. I am still drinking tea and coffee. I can't cut those out and teach! :) But I am adding more water and juice everyday. Lemonade is also becoming a favorite of mine!

A couple of weekends ago, instead of hitting the after Christmas sales, I hit my favorite consignment stores and found some really cute things. One of my best deals so far has been this sweater that I found. It is a Talbots sweater and it is BRAND NEW! The Talbots tags were still on! And. You know of my love of pink. Add the argyle and I am in heaven! I paid $8 for this $65 dollar sweater. YIPPEE!!!

I also picked up a few things for my Mom. Like me, she loves Correllware too. I happen to find some cute plates for her and a cute top too! I paid $2 for the set of four plates and $3 for her cute Van Huesen shirt.

This weekend I made a few quick stops and found some more cute tops. I love three quarter length tops because they are perfect to wear to school. Since I usually end up pushing up my sleeves anyway, three quarter length sleeves are the best for me!

One of the things that I was REALLY late with this year was Christmas Cards. I decided that a New Year's Card would work for this year, so I placed those in the mail last weekend. They turned out very cute. I used Snapfish and I was very pleased! I happened to end up with a half off coupon and free shipping. :)

Last but not least, I have picked up the knitting needles for a wee bit in 2013. I found this pattern that was so cute! Is it a purse?

NOOOOO! It's a Slipper! The name of this patter is Pocketbook Slippers. So cute! And, sorry if the yarn offends y'all. You know me and my BRIGHT colors! Actually, I am probably going to end up giving these away. I am a loose knitter and I used the size 7 needle called for in the pattern. These slippers turned out big for my feet, so I am going to pass them along and knit myself another pair with size 6 needles. Perfect fit! Also. This slipper is a little reminiscent of a Mary Jane. So. Of course I had to knit them! :)

That's about all that is going on here. I had some hope of a snow event next week in the long range forecast, but that has since changed. Hey. A girl can dream!

Have a fantastic night y'all!
Tootles!
:) JKP

Pinteresting Lotion! :)

Hey Y'all!

I hope everyone has had a good weekend! I got a lot done around the house, like cleaning and laundry. I also got my walking in today... I wasn't up to it on Friday and Saturday. Saturday I spent the day checking out my favorite consignment and thrift stores and found a ton of bargains. I will be back with those! :)

One of my favorite things to do at the end of the day is to log onto Pinterest and see what my friends have pinned. I have been pretty lucky, most things I try from Pinterest have turned out well for me. I have tried many craft and recipes from the site and have been pretty pleased. So when I saw a recipe for lotion, I was very hesitant. I am not a lotion girl. But. I have had to learn to be one. My skin is a mess from my Crohn's and it seems like I am in a constant battle with Eczema these days. I love smell good body sprays, but lotion and I are love/hate. I have had a lot of success with using Cetaphil and it has improved my legs and arms tremendously. But, my feet and hands have suffered. I wash my hands about 100 times a day. The Cetaphil works well for the Eczema, but no so much for dry, cracked skin. So when I came across a recipe for this lotion.. I thought I would give it a try. If it didn't work for me, I knew I could share it with my teammates at school!

The nice thing about this lotion is that 1) it is homemade and 2) it is not expensive to make. I spent more on the containers to put the lotion in than I did on the basic ingredients for the lotion.

To make Pinteresting Lotion you will need:

1 8 oz container of Vitamin E Cream. You can find this at Dollar General or Family Dollar. This is located with the skin care, not with the lotions. I paid $2 for the Family Dollar brand.

1 8 oz container of Vaseline. I paid $1.50 for the Family Dollar brand.

1 16 oz (or close to it) container of Baby Lotion. I used the Food Lion brand at it was $1.75.



Combine all ingredients into a mixing bowl. I did not use the bowl that goes with my Kitchen Aid. I was a little leery with the Vaseline  I didn't want to take a chance that it would ruin my bowl. So I just used a regular mixing bowl with my paddle blade on my Kitchen Aid. It worked just fine. And. The lotion mixture didn't hurt the regular mixing bowl at all. But. I was making lotion, not food so another mixing bowl worked just fine!

I let the mixer mix about 4 minutes. You want the lotion to resemble frosting. Once it resembles frosting, use a spoon or spatula and place a small serving of lotion in an air tight container. I used the small Ziploc snack sized containers. That way I can leave a lotion by all of my sinks that I use when I wash my hands. I placed a bigger container by my bed to use at night on my feet.

I just made this a few hours ago and then I took my shower. I placed the lotion on my feet and then covered them with socks. My feet feel divine. My hands feel great too. Several bloggers have mentioned that they have placed the lotion on their Crow's Feet at night and they have noticed improvement there too. I will just take the soft hands and feet!

So this lotion gets a definite thumbs up from me. It really feels nice and smells nice too. If you wanted to, you could use the lavender scented baby lotion and that would be quite nice. Also, you could use the cocoa scented Vaseline for a different smell too. I like the regular baby smell, so I may stick with that. Each batch makes about 4 cups, so you will have plenty if you want to share. This would make a great Valentine's Day gift for the special folks in your life too!

Well, I am off. Time to go to bed... we have a full week of school this week, so I need to rest up! I hope y'all have a great Monday! I will try and pop back on tomorrow and show you some of my "thrifty" finds. I found some good ones!

Tootles!
:) JKP

Crockpot Hoppin' John

Hey Y'all!

Did you catch that Carolina Football game yesterday? It gave me heart palpitations! But, it was a great game! I love to watch football games, especially when they are close. :)

I woke up yesterday and decided that the Christmas decorations had to come down. It made me very sad, but I knew with me going back to work today and the kiddies coming back on Thursday that all of my energy would be ZAPPED by this weekend. So I took my trees down. I leave up white lights on my entertainment center until February and of course, I have my snowmen out. I just can't go cold turkey!  I also have some "mini" trees with white lights that I like to leave in my kitchen window. The white lights bring a little light into the dark days of January and February. I love lights and wish I could have them all year long!

It is a tradition in the south to eat collards and Hoppin' John (black eyed peas and rice) on the first of January. I couldn't do the collards this year, (tummy issues) but I found a great recipe in one of my Christmas gifts for a crockpot version of Hoppin' John. Now, you can eat this other times of the year, it is just tradition to eat it on January 1st!

This is a really quick dish to throw together. Since it has sausage in it, I used it as my main meal this year. I added butter beans and yellow squash to my New Year's feast.

To make Crockpot Hoppin' John you will need:

Crockpot liners (this makes for quick clean up later!)
1 package of smoked sausage (I used Turkey Kielbasa)
2 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth (divided)
2 cans (about 15 ozs) of black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 box of dirty rice mix
1/2 cup salsa
*You can add 1/2 cup of lump crab meat if you wish. I didn't due to my MULTIPLE allergies.

Go ahead and slice and cook your sausage on medium heat for about 5 minutes. You really just want to make sure the sausage gets brown on both sides. Then, using a slotted spoon, place the sausage in the Crockpot.

Then place the pan back on the burner and add 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Stir it around to get all of the bits that the sausage left behind. Pour this over the sausage in the Crockpot.

Add your black eyed peas, 2 cups of chicken broth, 1/2 cup of salsa and the dirty rice mix. Mix all the ingredients together.

Cover and cook on low 3 to 4 hours or until your rice is tender. While this is cooking, make up some cornbread. You won't be sorry!

This is a great dish for New Year's Day or Sunday supper. It has just enough kick to it and it is very flavorful. I will be making this again!

And y'all! I was on Facebook today and discovered that Leslie Sansone (Walk Away the Pounds) is doing a mile a day challenge this year. You can join her site for free and have access to walking videos online! Since I can't Zumba with my foot and tummy issues, this is a good way to get some daily exercise in! I did one mile today streaming on my ipad! :) Check it out if getting more exercise is on your resolution list! Check it out here..

Let me run, I hope y'all are having a good day!
Tootles!
:) JKP

Why Hello 2013!

Hey Y'all!
Happy New Year! I haven't done a Currently in a while and January seemed like a good month to get back to it! If you want your own Currenlty.. visit Farley's blog... they are so fun to do!!

Have a great first day of 2013! I plan to spend it knitting and watching football... GO CAROLINA GAMECOCKS!

Tootles!

:) JKP

Happy New Year! Bring on 2013!

Hey Y'all!
Happy almost new year! I can honestly say, I am ready to say goodbye to 2012! This has been an interesting year. I hope that next year is so much better!

After I last blogged, I ended up in the CVS Minute Clinic with a double ear infection and a sinus infection! What a way to start off Christmas. The antibiotic made me feel better and it also helped my tummy too! I was able to enjoy Christmas Dinner. Which is why I am sitting here in my stretchy jammies typing this post!

I was able to get a few last minute presents knitted up before I hit the road for my holiday travels.

I worked on a sparkle cowl for a friend of Mom's. This friend has been like an aunt to me my whole life. We knew she would appreciate the sparkle! This was knit in the round on a size 13 needle with two yarns held together. I used Rozetti Cotton Gold in the 1096 color. The other yarn I used was Berroco Elements. This was a reddish color.

Another quick gift that I knitted up was called the Wasabi Cowl. I just love that name! It literally took one rerun of Castle and one episode of Rizzoli and Isles to knit up. The pattern is free and so easy. It also goes VERY fast. You use a very bulky yarn and a 19 needle. I used a 17 needle since I am such a loose knitter. The pattern calls for a fancy yarn, but I had some Loops Jubilee yarn in my stash and used it. The colorway is fire red. It turned out so cute and I ended up giving it to my mom for Christmas. It matches her pink coat!

I spent a few days after Christmas in Beaufort. We hit the movies and saw The Guilt Trip. It was very funny. Very rarely do I laugh all the way through a movie, but with this one I did.
Believe it or not, I had a packed knitting basket but I haven't touched it! I started reading a series of books by Dee Henderson and I can't put them down. I have read four books over this break. It has been so relaxing!

One thing we did get accomplished during my visit was a picture for my New Year's cards! I was a little late with Christmas ones this year, so I decided we would send out New Year's ones. It will be some happy cheer in the mailbox along with those Christmas bills! The shot below is one I used on the card. Pitty Pat and I both are smiling and he looks so cute!

Also, if you have seen the Mermaid special on the Animal Planet channel.. there is supposed to be a LIVE mermaid living on the Naval Base in Beaufort. So. Of course, Pitty Pat and I had to go on a mermaid hunt. We found one!

The Friday after Christmas I hit the road for Columbia. My best friend's son got married on the 29th. I enjoyed my time in Columbia and I even hit The Needler for their year end sale! I picked up several cute knitting patterns and some beautiful yarn. I have some more baby gifts to work on and I picked up the cutest hat pattern! I am sure I will be getting alot of use out of it!

The wedding on Saturday was beautiful. The reception was held at Saluda Shoals Park and we got to enjoy the lights as we drove in to the reception. We had a great time. Here's a shot of Toni, Marie and I from the reception. Marie looked so pretty!

 I was very sad my time in Columbia was so short, but also happy to get on the road to pick up Pitty Pat! I left Columbia yesterday morning at 9:30, met Mom in Charleston at 12 to get the Pitty Padster and got home to the beach about 2:30. I was so tired!

Today I spent the day getting groceries and running errands. One of my sweet students gave me a gift certificate to Abuelos, my favorite restaurant. I picked up lunch from there today and then enjoyed a two hour nap! I am not a big New Year's person. I hate to be out on the roads tonight, so I plan on watching the Clemson/LSU game, knitting and reading. I am so tired I may be asleep before midnight! My Christmas decorations are still up and y'all know how I love the lights. I just can't bear to take them down. I have a feeling that may have to wait until this coming weekend. I go back to work on Wednesday for a workday and then the kiddies come back on Thursday. Then we are back to the hustle and bustle.

Looking back, I only managed 57 blog posts this year and that makes me sad. I hope to be a better blogger next year. I just kind of felt like I didn't have a lot of good to share this year. Don't worry, I am not going anywhere! And. I received THREE Crockpot recipe books, calendars and recipes in a box this year. I am sure looking forward to cooking next year. In fact, I am cooking my Hoppin' John in the Crockpot tomorrow!

Happy New Year and thanks for sticking with me this year!
Tootles!
:) JKP