By the Way, I Need a Bigger Crock

I've been doing a good job of keeping myself busy. Mostly.

I may have found cabbage on sale and started another batch of sauerkraut.

I did some from the garden this year and it is not enough! Had to have more. I enjoy canning and otherwise preserving my own foods. This way, I know exactly what is in each jar.

I've been busy with yarn.
Crochet was always my go to, but I've been working on improving my knitting skills as well. I'm down to the finishing touches on the knit jacket.

Which means get those cords sewn on the rest of the way. (Sewing will never be my friend.) You can see I made a hat to match. There are a pair of mittens(or oven mitts). Those are likely to be unraveled and a new pair that are less large made. I also have started working on a matching purse. Yes, I know. I'm somewhat insane. But they made me buy way too much yarn!

Working on "scoodie's" for the grandkids. Have two done, but need to find orange yarn for the youngest. She loves orange.  How do I not have orange yarn?

Have the pink one for the middle kid. Her favorite color, or so I'm told.

And was able to modify the pattern into a kinda spiderman design for the boy. 

I may have some other patterns to play around with as well.

In other stuff, I signed up to do Nanowrimo. Again. (I may have mentioned that before.)

The big kick off is this weekend. Just maybe, I'm ready for it this year. Maybe.

As long as I keep writing.

I have managed to do some flash fiction over at the other blog, and have been working on a couple odd short stories that I keep hidden in the Scrivener.

Even doing the random rant here keeps me writing. So, wish me luck!

At least as the word count insanity ensues, I'll have yarn. Yarn is therapeutic. 

Wonder if that is tax deductible?

Another Day in Paradise

Yep.  I have been lax in the writing and posting thing.

Sometimes things just get away from me.

Life.

I have been jotting notes for the Nanowrimo coming up in November. Scribbling random ideas for other stories as the whoosh through my head.

Also working on that jacket I showed the first few pieces of in a prior post. It's coming along, just a few more finishing touches.

The pattern had me buy a carload of yarn. Much of which is left. So I will likely have mittens, a hat, and a scarf to match. And maybe a purse as well. 

Last week was spent working on my car.  I was drafted to help the husband install front struts and wheel bearings.  It only took two and a half days to screw up the right side.  We will be attending to that this week.  The left side only took five hours.  We learned a lot on the first side. And remarkably have spent less than half of what it would have cost to have done.

If you don't count the four fingernails I destroyed in the learning.

I also had the opportunity to read an advance copy of a book from one of my favorite people. I will have more on that later. Though I can say I giggle-snorted through the whole thing.  WIN!

Will have more to show and tell later!

Don't All Writers Hoard Yarn?

Here I am again at the Rants.

With nothing to really rant about.

Well...there is the fact that I haven't been writing my fiction regularly.  Sometimes it just doesn't come together.
So Elsetime & Otherwhen has been kinda idle.
And the Wattpad story, Renewal, has been on hold too long.
I have been working up an outline for a Nanowrimo project.
Yes.
I will be submitting myself to the insanity that is nano.
Fingers crossed for a first time actual completion of 50,000 words that may or may not make sense.

So I haven't been totally unproductive.

Doing stuff around the house.

Indulging in my yarn love.

I've been working on a broomstick crochet shawl for over a year that is finally close to completion,


And because I can't stand to do only one project at a time, I started knitting a jacket.
That may or may not be done before next spring.
Here is the little bit I have so far.


Yes, that is multiple patterns and colors. It's a free pattern at Lionbrand.com.

The link takes you to the free pattern page, the jacket is the second one listed.

Hopefully that's how the jacket will look. Except for a couple of colors changes where my local yarn hoarder's store didn't have what was asked for. And I'm all about instant gratification. So I picked what looked good for me.
I'm easy to keep happy if I have yarn and a new project.

Now off to maybe raid the new neighbor's grape vines and apple trees.
(It's okay, I have permission.  Really.)

A Return to the Rants for a Life Update

So here I am, back at the old blog.  It's been almost a year since I've posted here.  I usually spend my words on the sister blog, Elsetime & Otherwhen.  That's where I stretch my creative writing muscles.  Though lately they've been stiff and unmoving.

Doesn't mean I'm totally idle, though.  I have been busy.

The restaurant eats most of my time.  Seven days a week, ten to twelve hours a day.  For the last year.  We listed it for sale back in August.  I'm ready to move on.  Just waiting for a buyer now.

So, since the Muse has been silent lately, I've found other things to do to entertain myself.

***

My newest adventure is DIY-ing.  I've started making my own chemical free stuff.
Stuff like...laundry soap, shampoo, lotions, sugar scrubs, and shower steamies.  My next experiment will be in making my own soap.
When I started, it was just for fun.  It's also less expensive than the store bought products.  As I learn more about the chemicals and additives in the commercial brands, it is beginning to be a lifestyle choice.

(And it's fun as well.)

***

Of course, I still have my ongoing love affair with yarn.  And bowling (a love/hate relationship).  And I'm already starting to get spring fever.  Ready to start sorting seeds and get the gardens going.


In the last month I read several books, which was wonderful.  It had been far too long since I just curled up and read.  Most have been books by my writerly friends.

Eric Storch's "Impenetrable Falsehoods"
Cameron D. Garriepy's  "From the Earth to the Moon"
Lance Burson's "The Ballad of Helene Troy"
"Echoes in Darkness" an anthology featuring many of my writing friends.
"Precipice 13" the second collection from the Write on Edge group, where I post my stories when I can find them.
"Embryo 2" by JA Schneider

Next on the list is Stephanie Ayers' "Til Death Do Us Part"

There are so many more I've read or are on my to read list.  Most of them by indie authors I've met on Twitter or Facebook.
Patricia Lynne, Andrew M. Crusoe, Tui Snyder, Molly Campbell, Shelton Keys Dunning, JM Gull, Rayne Hall....I can't name them all.  But, give the indie authors some support.
Someday I hope to be one of them.

***

As to my own writing, I have been slowly working on cleaning up a few stories.  Trying to put something publishable together.
A friend has also been trying to construct a real live web site for me.  Hopefully it'll be up and running in a few months.  I will undoubtedly make her crazy with tweaks and whistles and bells and stuff.  Between her job and mine, the building will be slow and careful.  Fair warning, when it is done, I'll be trumpeting all over the social media.

***

That's about it, I think.  You may see me lurking in the corners of Twitter, @2old2tap, or hanging around the Facebook sharing cat pictures.  I have even been know to haunt Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, and even Tumbler every now and then.  Don't hesitate to wave if you see me.

Random Rambles from a Day Off

I should be ashamed.  I haven't posted here since February.  I have been writing.  Sort of.  On my other blog. Elsetime & Otherwhen, where I practice my writing.  Cause I am a writer.  There.  I said it, or wrote it.

Now, from the more mundane world of me.  I was going to do this yesterday, but just didn't get it done.

Yesterday was my day off.  And it was a good one.  I managed to get the kitchen cleaned, again.  Get a roast in the crockpot and write a couple hundred words on a story I'm playing with.  All by noon.  Go Me!!

Then I did a lot of nothing.  Isn't that what days off are for?

Yes.  I thought so.

I have been busy though.  The restaurant takes a lot of my time.  Worrying about the restaurant takes a lot of my time.  Although things have been going a lot better than this time last year.

And the garden is doing well.  Already harvested radishes and peas.  The green beans look good, and the tomatoes are blossoming already.

I canned some peas and froze some.  I've eaten most of the radishes.  I have this awesome recipe for cooking them. 

Just take some radishes, small can be left whole, halve or quarter larger ones, add some green onion, saute in browned butter for a bit.  Then add about a half cup of water, salt and pepper to taste, cover and simmer until fork tender.   MMMMM!

I've also been obsessively been spinning yarn.  I have a drop spindle and apparently way to much time to waste.

Next I want to save for a ridiculously expensive loom so I can weave my yarn into something useful.  I had the opportunity to play with a loom a couple weeks ago.  So much fun!

What else can I babble about?

Hmm.  Oh yes.  Grandchildren. (You knew that was coming, right?)  The grandson is my great love, he's so smart and quite the character besides.  The granddaughter, (yes I love her too) is such a handful!  Very independent and headstrong.  She has to be watched all the time or she's into something.

That's about all the excitement in my world.  How about yours?

My Intro

Hello Story Dam Peoples!

I'm Renee.

I'm looking forward to meeting everyone over the next couple of months.  I'm doing the insanity called NaNoWriMo, so I may be a sporadic poster in November.

So far? It's good days and hard days.  It's really not as easy as I hoped to write crap!

I used to write in high school, but then got involved with a job and life.  I returned to writing, after 40 years, through The Red Dress Club, now known as Write on Edge.  I have enjoyed it thoroughly, and am looking forward to get into writing with Story Dam.  Brandi and Brandon have really put a great thing together here.

Besides writing, I enjoy bowling and crocheting, and all other fiber arts.  If there's a hook or needle and some kind of string, yarn, or thread, I love it.  I've even spun some of my own yarn with a drop spindle.

Oh yes, and my BIG enjoyment right now is my grandkids.  Because they are just awesome.

I keep two blogs, one (this one) for everyday stuff, I call  Random Rants
The blog I use for creative crap, er writing is Elsetime & Otherwhen

I also spend a lot of time on Twitter  @2old2tap

Thanks again to Brandi and Brandon for this opportunity!