Trivia Tuesday a New Way

It was a good start to the day, but the afternoon wasn’t fun!

Exercise:

Dennis dragged me out to finish our run of the dyke. We had just one section on the right side left to do. Amazingly we managed 9km without rain. I was too hot, but then my hands froze, but I suppose if that’s the worst I have to complain about, that’s not bad.

This evening I did a longer workout to try and make up for some poor choices. I did a minute of jogging between these exercises: burpees, bent over rows, froggers, overhead tricep extensions, skaters, shoulder press, mogul jumps, bicep curls, front raises, dips, pushups, reverse lunges, squats, plié squats, deadlifts, hip raises, plank, crunches, reverse crunches.

My plan was to do more but then I heard from a friend and ended up venting for a while.

Knitting:

I have started a new sweater which is in my book New American Knits by Amy Christoffers. It is called Serra turtleneck and I am making it in my Maryanne’s Sock by Smith and Ewe in the Northern Lights colour way. I am done the collar which I modified slightly and am at the point where I need to put it on waste yarn and see if it fits like I want it to. I will tackle that tomorrow sometime.

Work:

It finally got to me! We have been receiving a million emails every day from the school district, the union and the ministry all saying different things. The only thing they have in common is they keep telling me to take it slow and we’ll work together and not to stress. I have been doing pretty good at that as I had thought about the programs they approved and picked one that myself and the children were familiar with. Then today I got an email that told me I couldn’t take an iPad home. Well my platform is iPad based. I spiraled. I admit it. I ate ice cream!

I have since calmed down, with help from my friends and realized that if all else fails I will put the program on my phone or use the program website- neither is as easy as an iPad, but I will make it work. The worst part is that we aren’t allowed to take iPads in case kids need them. Have they seen where I work now? The kids have more tech than I do!!! Ugh tomorrow is another day…

Reading:

I have finished a couple of books. I read Lean On Me by Lea Coll. It was a light, fluffy read, though I spent a lot of the book yelling at the heroine to not be stupid!

I also finished listening to Do Life. It is about a man who lost 120 pounds and took up running. I found the beginning to be quite a downer, but it improved as it went along.

Trivia:

Tonight trivia was done on YouTube. I guess that means you could all participate. You just need to search My Friend the DJ Entertainment. I wasn’t very smart today and only got a few.

How are Donald Sutherland and Keifer Sutherland related?

Father- Son

Who has won the second most World Series?

Saint Louis Cardinals

Which team did Brent Gretzky play for?

Tampa Bay Lightning

Which flag is white with a red circle?

Japan

On which day were fish created?

5th

What college did Bill Gates drop out of?

Harvard

What is the second largest city in England?

Birmingham

He says you can cheat on the first round, but I prefer not to. There is a second Kahoot round, but you need two devices for that so I only did the first.

I think I will take myself off to bed and read some more!

Have fun!

AJ

Day 16: Are these Answers?

All this is a day after spring break like no other!

Exercise:

It looked as though it was going to pour so I got out of the house for my run as quickly as possible! I told myself I had to do at least three kilometers but very easily did five, and it was beautiful out the whole time!

This evening I did a workout. A minute of jogging between each of these: burpees, froggers, bicep curls, deadlifts, plank, squats, plié squats, pullovers, dips, pushups, crunches, reverse crunches, reverse lunges, and hip raises.

I find I like these types of workouts better because it’s always changing and it seems to burn more calories than doing just the weights alone.

Work:

After a quick trip to the grocery store (and no the cute guy want there) I had to come home and take a survey for work.

It was the quickest work day I’ve ever had- seven questions. Of course I got a phone call immediately as the principal knows I don’t have WiFi or home internet. I’m so glad I got a new plan as my only other option was to go into the school each day😖

We got lots of emails today, but none of them gave answers. I don’t want to do too much as my district can be quite strict about resources so I’m waiting for direction so I only have to do things once!

I did find out that I get to go in Thursday morning for 1.5 hours to get everything I need.

My one worry is that we will just get this all set up and they’ll say,”oh you can go back to school now.”😖

Knitting:

To take my mind off work and look at the bright side (I have an extra three days of spring break) I decided to spend the day knitting and try to finish my Meditate Cowl. I thought I’d be done this morning but it was actually 5pm when I finished, but I did finish:)

This is the Meditate Cowl by Elizabeth Doherty done in Anzula Squishy yarn in the colour toffee. I loved the yarn and the pattern. It was quite an easy pattern to follow as she uses stitch markers so you don’t need to count. The yarn is absolutely fabulous- so squishy and soft! It turned out a little shorter than I was expecting, but I wore it tonight as a double wrap cowl and it worked just fine:)

Socializing:

I finished the night with the new form of socializing – a Zoom conversation with my friends from work, but it’s now time for bed!

Have fun!

AJ

SAL update

Wow three weeks can go fast!

Stitching:

This is a picture of the project that has set on my shelf for the past eleven years). This year I am determined and it at least sits on my coffee table now. This is where I was at three weeks ago.

And this is where I am now:

I’m sorry for the poor lighting!

This is 203 stitches later. I feel like it should be more since I was on Spring Break, but I just haven’t been motivated to do anything. I did force myself on our bright, sunny days to get some stitches put in some stitches. This is actually my record for stitches so far!

I have found that I do not have a couple of the colours called for, but that will have to wait until I can leave the house again.

Be sure to check out everyone else’s progress! Welcome to our two new members of the SAL- Laura and Cathie! Welcome back to Linda:) There are some amazing projects! If you’re interested in joining, just click on Avis’ link.

Jenny

Avis

Claire

Gun

Carole

Sue

Constanze

Christina

Kathy

Margaret

Cindy

Heidi

Jackie

Sunny

Hayley

Megan

Deborah

Mary Margaret

Renée

Carmela

Jocelyn

Sharon

Daisy

Anne

Cathie

Laura

Linda

Stretching My Skills With Sally

Baking (Stretching My Skills with Sally):

Last year I tried a few of Sally’s Baking Challenge items and quite enjoyed the challenge of trying new things. Most of the people in my life asked why I was doing this, thankfully there are people like Abbey! I was talking with Abbey of Three Cats and a Girl and we decided to both try these challenges and then link up to talk about our results, so please check out her attempts too. I was really interested in doing this because I knew she would be doing the recipes as called for while I would need to convert them to gluten free and dairy free. I should say that I change as little as possible and just sub in gf and df ingredients to see if the recipe will still work.

For March the challenge was crepes!

I have never made crepes before and I was a little nervous as they seem so fancy!

With the situation we are in, I hit WiFi and took pictures of the recipe, but didn’t get to watch any of Sally’s videos so that probably would have made a big difference! I found the recipe simple and easy to follow and I liked how it could chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or up to a day. I made the batter in the morning but then had the crepes for lunch.

My batter used Bob’s Redmill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour, Earth Balance vegan butter, and Earth’s Own Oat milk that was unsweetened vanilla. Everything else was just normal ingredients.

My batter made six crepes and boy did I learn a lot between the first and the last. I started with a pan that was way too big so after the first crepe I switched to a smaller pan. After the fourth I realized it worked better to just pour the batter into the very centre and let it spread by itself. On the sixth crepe I figured out the crepe didn’t have to be the size of the pan.

Mine are probably more brown than they’re supposed to be, but they still tasted good!

I had no idea what you put in a crepe as I’ve never actually ordered crepes before so I did one with herb cream cheese, one with peanut butter and one with cream cheese and jam. I think my favourite was the cream cheese and jam.

One thing I definitely learned is that crepes are not a diet food! The batter isn’t bad, but the amount of butter in the pan is crazy!

It is so cool that when Kathy read about Abbey’s and my challenge she decided to join us so make sure you go read about her crepe adventures too:)

Thanks Abbey and Kathy for taking on this challenge with me:)

I obviously wasn’t finished on the kitchen after the crepes because I also made hearty beer bread from my book, The Allergy Free Cook Bakes Bread. I used ginger ale instead of beer and it turned out great! I think I will make more tomorrow to use up more of the ginger ale, but I’ll know to only leave it in for the lesser time.

Exercise:

I forced myself not to run today and to do yoga instead. I spent about a half hour this afternoon and did feel as though I was stretching some muscles out. I know I need to do more of this right now since I can’t go for massages, but it’s really tough to not run since I don’t seem to be racking up the mileage very quickly this year:(

Knitting:

The whole rest of the day was spent knitting. I was very determined to finish my newest sweater and I did!

I did the Love Note sweater by Tin Can Knits. I had bought the pattern at Knit City last year. I love Tin Can Knits patterns because they come sized from newborn to extra large in one pattern.

This sweater is done in Ancient Arts superwash Blue Faced Leicester in Water Lily Blue and Georges Picaud Tricheuse. I quickly learned that my mohair was obviously not lace weight as it’s much thicker than the pattern pictures, but I was determined to finish this sweater because I loved the colour it was coming out! I had to switch mohair halfway through but I can’t even tell where I did it so I’m happy. The modifications I made were to do short sleeves and I didn’t do the high low hem. I just knit until I was almost out of yarn and then did the ribbing. The sweater only took two days with this thicker yarn, but I still want to make a finer gauge one too!

It’s back to the meditate cowl for me now.

I finished the evening off with a zoom conversation with my friends from work. Boy did two hours go quickly!!

Well I have a run in the morning so I’m off to bed.

Have fun!

AJ

Day 12

Well just another day but now the rain has set in for the foreseeable future.

Exercise:

It’s a good thing I had arranged to meet Dennison the dykes as I don’t think I would have gotten out otherwise. He always makes me run faster and longer than I do on my own so it’s never a bad thing to meet up with him. We ended up with 6.35km at a pretty good speed. I have to admit I wasn’t feeling very energetic when we started out. I had to laugh though as we agreed to run to the marina gates and turn there today. It used to be that the marina gates were too far for me, now it was a break to stop there and not carry on to the far trail marker that is several more kilometers away🤣

This evening I did a workout that my friend L sent to me. She never lets me down with good workouts:). I did a warm up of high knee marching, arm circles, reverse lunges and jumping jacks.

Then: 24 step ups per leg

48 dips

48 squats

48 mountain climbers

A high knees running cardio interval.

24 pushups

48 plank shoulder taps

24 bicep curls

48 toe taps

20 reverse crunches

20 crunches

24 plié squats

It was quick, but I was sweaty!

Reading:

I finished the book, Loved By You by Kate Perry. It was an easy and enjoyable read, but way too insta love for me.

House:

I did no housework other than turning on the dishwasher. I did however call my cell phone provider and got a new plan so now I don’t have to worry:)

Knitting:

I had come up with a plan in bed last night that made me feel much better about my Love Note sweater. I loved the colour that was being produced so really didn’t want to rip it out. I had decided that I would knit the body with the turquoise and cream and then do the ribbing at the hem, neckline and sleeves in a gray and turquoise.

Tonight i ran out of the cream about an inch and a half earlier than I was hoping too. I found a partial skein of cream mohair, and knitted a few rounds in it, but now think I need to wait for daylight to see how noticeable the change is!

I’m back to my meditate cowl or the puzzle for now.

Have fun!

AJ

Day 11

Wow this is going slow and yet my days go so fast!

Exercise:

I got out for a run quick when I looked out the window as it looked like rain. Sure enough, I got my 3.25km in, but it was raining the rest of the day. It was definitely not a fast run, but it was a bit more mileage.

This evening I did a quick countdown workout. I had plans to do go down and then back up, but I guess it wasn’t a working out day as I only went down.

I did: 100 skaters, 90 bicycle crunches, 80 squats, 70 crunches, 60 plié squats, 50 reverse crunches, 40 bridges, 30 dips, 20 froggers and 10 burpees.

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day!

Cooking:

After a quick stop at the bench at Starbucks to use their WiFi, I spent some time in the kitchen. You’ll hear about my yummy cooking on Saturday.

Knitting:

I have done a bit of my puzzle but have spent most of the day knitting. I started the Love Note sweater late this afternoon and love the combo of a turquoise yarn and white mohair, but have quickly come to the realization that I don’t have enough white mohair to finish and may not have enough of the turquoise either. I’m so disappointed as it looks amazing!! I’ll take a photo and add it to this post when I get on WiFi. I’m either going to do the turquoise alone or go back to the mauve.

Work:

We got an email today telling us that we will be assigned a time to come in next week to pick up a laptop and learn how to use Office 365 and we will then be expected to work from home. I have no idea how this is going to work, but I do see a phone call to the phone people in my future:(

Well, have fun!

AJ

Day 10

I never knew my running buddy was so obsessed with coffee!

Exercise:

We went out further on the dyke today and did 8km. I was laughing inside as I was literally counting the meters when Dennis decided we should check out a side trail. I was cursing him at the time, but it was probably a good thing as otherwise we would have been short.

It was a gorgeous place to run and busier than I expected though that only amounted to meeting 8 people the whole time we were out there, and yes a wide distance was maintained!

This evening I did another short workout. I find I prefer these and are willing to do them more often than a longer workout, so hopefully they equal out. This evening o did my regular minute of jogging between each of these:

Burpees, froggers, skaters, squats with weights, plié squats with weights, reverse lunges with weights, curtsy lunges with weights, Bridges with weights, crunches, reverse crunches, static lunge with scissor legs, bicycle crunches, plank, pushups, dips, pullovers and rows.

I feel like I should do more arms! As I write this I just remembered the countdown workout I used to do regularly and maybe I’ll try that to change up my workout a bit.

Knitting:

I got a picture of my spindrift shawl finally this morning. I am hoping that all these cowls and shawls will help keep me warm as we move into a season where I would look weird wearing wool sweaters.

This is a pattern by Helen Stewart that you can get free if you sign up for her shawl workshop. It only amounts to a few emails so I’m glad I did it. The yarn is once again recycled yarn from my stash.

I have been working on the Meditate Cowl by Elizabeth Doherty today with the Anzula Squishy yarn. I picked this pattern up for free this week and was excited to make it as the Yarniacs talk about this designer. The yarn is amazing- so soft and I like the looks of the pattern a lot, but it is moving very slowly.

I have been making so many accessories lately that I really want to make a sweater so I am thinking that I will break my rule and cast on a sweater to knit at the same time. I am going to do the Love Note sweater by TinCanKnits as I love their patterns and I already own it. I just need to decide between a very light purple or a turquoise. I think it will be cast on tomorrow though.

Other than knitting I have read a bit, but haven’t finished the book yet, and I have worked on a puzzle. I love doing puzzles but dislike when I get to the end and disassemble it and have nothing to show for my time. 🙄

I have to apologize that I haven’t been visiting any blogs lately. I never realized how small a data package I really had until I have to do without my work WiFi. I am hoping to remedy this situation in the next few days and will be back to catching up on your lives. I hope everyone is well!

Have fun!

AJ

Day 9

Another solitary day.

Exercise:

I got my butt out for another 3k run to the park. I want to get caught up on mileage but I’ll be chasing Dennis down the dyke tomorrow which made be conservative on my mileage today.

One thing I noticed was that my pace was very consistent. I ran with a podcast rather than music today and I wonder if that made the difference.

This evening I had the time to do a workout and completed this with a minute of jogging in between:

Froggers, burpees, pushups, dips, mountain climbers, squats, skaters, plié squats, curtsy lunges, crunches, reverse crunches, static crunch with scissor legs, and a one minute plank.

Something is always better than nothing!

Reading:

I started anew cook but haven’t gotten past fifteen percent so I’ll wait to tell you about it.

Knitting:

I would like to know why my projects always take longer than I expect. I thought I’d be finished my shawl this morning, but it wasn’t until 2:30 this afternoon that I actually finished. The shawl is blocking g right now, but hopefully I’ll get a picture tomorrow.

Now comes the difficult choice of what to make next? The options:

1) Wolkig shawl out of ancient arts fingering in turquoise

2) meditate cowl out of anzula squishy

3) rolled neck sweater out of Smith and Ewe fingering

4) Love Note sweater out of vegan yarn in Logwood

I’d love to hear any opinions:)

This evening I have started a puzzle and come to the realization very quickly that I’m not good at these without my mom!

Well that’s my excitement for today😜

Have fun!

AJ

Day 8

Well another quiet day of the usual.

Exercise:

I got out for just my usual 3km run to the park and back. It was super quiet and it didn’t rain on me- both of which were a bonus!

On the way home I stopped in for some veggies at the grocery store. Yes I made sure I was there about the same time as last Monday when I talked to the cute, nice guy, but alas, I didn’t see him today. It seems as though flour is the new thing that everyone is hoarding. I am definitely not normal if this is normal behavior!

This evening I managed to get my butt off the couch for a workout using my stability ball. I did anminute of jogging between these exercises:

Adductor squeeze, burpees, pushups, sit ups, hamstring curls, froggers, pikes, reverse crunches, Russian twists, pullovers, mountain climbers and a plank.

It made it fun to try and think up moves to do using the stability ball:)

Knitting:

I have spent another day knitting and reading and thankfully I finally have a finished object to show off!

This is the jeweled cowl which is a free pattern on Ravelry. I was thinking it was too wide, but it turned out exactly 14″ which is what the patten calls for, but I’m 14″ short in length. I have no idea how that happened as I definitely don’t have a tight gauge. Oh well, hopefully it will dress up a black shirt:)

I am back working on my spindrift shawl by Helen Stewart as I’ve learned that I don’t like having multiple projects going at the same time I can’t wait to be done this so that I can start a sweater!

Reading:

I finished Dare She Date the Dreamy Doc by Sarah Morgan only to have Goodreads tell me I had already read it. It was a good, basic romance. I saw it all coming, but it was just what I needed right now.

Well that’s another day of physical distancing (that’s what they’re calling for here now instead of social distancing).

Have fun!

AJ

Solitary Weekend

This may be the shortest post I’ve ever done!

Exercise:

I did a workout on Saturday afternoon. I really do feel like I was getting stronger and into better shape when I was doing my short Hallmark workout each day. I will be starting to watch movies again once it starts raining and will share my workout plans then.

I also went for a walk and did a yoga workout that came as a podcast. Pretty cool!

Reading:

I hit some WiFi (safely in my car) and downloaded some library books. I really just need a good book to get me out of this slump. I’ll let you know if one succeeds!

House:

After a full week of ignoring everything I could be doing, I got my porch swept, my living room vacuumed, the dishes done, and my kitchen floor washed. I’m hopeful that I can do one useful thing a day. It’s not like I have a full day to work around 🤣

Knitting:

I am so close to being done my jeweled cowl, but it just hasn’t quite happened. I have ten rows left and I’ll have to tackle them in the morning. Right now it seems way too wide, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to block it longer and narrower. If it works, I think it may be a cowl I get a lot of use out of.

Well that’s it for me.

Have fun!

AJ