Friday, June 23, 2023

Killer Hooks


 

 Yay, Hooray and all that.  I sent in Crochet Mystery #15 and my 29th book.  Proof  reading became tweaking and I was bleary-eyed by the time I finished.  But it's done and on my editor's desk.  He's already let me know I'll get back around July 4, with the edits.

I still have to add the pattern. which in this case is more a an explanation of how to make something, rather than for a specific item.  I also have to add the recipe after I test it which my family is looking forward to.  The bookstore cafe specialty are cookie bars and I thought why not make a breakfasty thing of eggy squares.  But I'm giving myself a few days off before I work on the those two additions.  

Between my trip and focusing on finishing the manuscript, a lot of other things got pushed aside.  I spent the afternoon doing the exciting chore of clearing off the kitchen table.  "There was a mountain of junk mail and I had to sort it to what could be tossed and what had to be shredded.

What a world.  You have to shred mail and be careful where you drop off mail.So much time wasted trying to keep the scammers and crooks at bay.

My fingers are crossed that my editor won't suggest any big changes. Then once I finish up, it's time to work on the next Yarn Retreat book.  I already have a general idea for it.

Now that I have put my head up away from the computer, I realized that summer had officially begun, though you wouldn't know it by the Southern California weather.  The gloom part doesn't seem as predominant, but the temperature has stayed moderate. My tomato plant is covered with ripe tomatoes all of a sudden.  The strawberry plant seems to be sticking to just leaves.  A nice surprise are the wild flowers that show up on their own.  I don't know there real name, but I call them Molly Pinks, well because they're pink.


10 comments:

Patty said...

Good morning -- Hurray for your book being sent -- hope nothing major is needed.

Eggy squares sound good -- I have several breakfast casseroles that we really enjoy. My late husband loved going to bed and breakfast's -- we always had to check to be sure they served a "real" breakfast and not just sweet rolls, coffee and juice!

The Molly Pinks are very pretty -- look a bit like wild morning-glories. Home-grown tomatoes are always the best -- my grandpa grew the most delicious Beef Steak tomatoes -- they would be huge and so sweet. Have you ever made a tomato quiche?

It is definitely summer here -- temps are predicted to be in the 105 to 111 range all next week. I water patio plants as needed first thing in the morning, do any errands, then stay in with the a/c on and a crochet project to work on. I finished the bulk of a royal blue cross stitch blanket yesterday -- just have to put a row of single crochet around the edge to finish it -- have a blue variegated for that. Next blanket is a granny rectangle in teal, purple and a multi-colored yarn that has those colors in it. There is a shelf unit in the walk-in closet where I store my yarn -- I love seeing the skeins transition to finished projects that are stored on the shelves.

My condo is a two bedroom, two bath unit -- the floor plan was well-planned and it is very functional with an amazing amount of storage. My hundreds of skeins of yarn are on shelves or in clear plastic bins. I used to cook and bake a lot and have lots of equipment for that -- there is a floor-to-ceiling pantry where all that is stored. Nowadays, the most used thing in my kitchen is the microwave. I do miss all the meals I used to make, for both family and friends. When we were at the university, there were always hungry kids to feed -- those were fun times.

Enjoy your day and eat a yummy ripe tomato.

Betty Hechtman said...

Patty, It sounds like staying inside is a good plan with those temperatures. Your yarn storage sounds great. Mine is in chaos because I had to move everything out of the room I kept it in when it became Jakey's room. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep it so I can see what I have.

Those beefsteak tomatoes sound delicious and remind me of the gardens we used to have. We had a cottage in Indiana and grew tomatoes and picked blackberries that grew wild. Also wild strawberries. Most of the time we lived in an apartment with no yard, so it was magical to have a place to grow things.

I love having backyard orange trees now. The fruit is sweet and right there for the picking.

I used to do a lot more cooking, too, though it seems like I do a lot of feeding everyone.

Happy crocheting

Linda O. Johnston said...

Congrats on sending in your manuscript, Betty. How fun that you got time to go through your mail and do some shredding!

Patty said...

I bought half a dozen Sterilite 66 quart Clear Plastic Lidded Boxes with Blue Latches from Walmart -- $9.28 each. Hold a lot of yarn and being clear, you can see what you have. I also have a large basket with odds and ends of yarn and about six shelves of skeins, grouped by color. Works well for me.

It was supposed to be 103 today but is only 93 at the moment. I was on the patio in the shade and it's quite pleasant.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Sally Morrison said...

Really looking forward to your new Molly book. I just finished re-reading all of them and enjoyed each one again. Your Molly pinks are lovely. I'm still adjusting to Florida and how most anything grows here. And it grows fast. We are into full-on summer here. Fingers crossed that we don't have any serious hurricanes this year. Though I'm in Orlando where we rarely get direct hits, I hate to see the destruction in other places.
Cheers!

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda, thank you! It's nice to have the time to do other stuff, but I'm sure you know that it doesn't take long before you miss working on something.

Betty Hechtman said...

Patty, I have some plastic boxes with yarn and stuff, but I think the secret for me is that need to organize the stuff better. I was so intent on just getting stuff out of the room for Jakey that I was a little haphazard how I arranged the stuff. But I have hopes to do it soon. It's still nicely temperate here. I'm enjoying it now because the weather people say heat is coming.

Betty Hechtman said...

Sally, you must have a growing season year round, though I was surprised when we went to Disney World in January and it was cold. As an after thought I packed a jacket and was really glad. I always thought of Florida as being tropical until I went there. I hope there aren't any bad hurricanes this year.

Patty said...

You're mentioning your Jakey made me think of a little six-year-old named Jake we knew in Stephenville. His mom and I worked together. They were invited to a neighbor's for supper -- the kids were playing in the backyard with the dog, a black Lab also named Jake. When it was suppertime, the woman called them in and said "Leave Jake in the yard -- he'll just beg for food." Poor little boy Jake started to cry and said "Please let me come in -- I promise not to beg but I'm hungry." She felt awful and told him he could have all he wanted and an extra big scoop of ice cream for dessert. The little Jake is now a grown man and the pastor of a small town church in the Texas Panhandle.

Betty Hechtman said...

Patty, loved the story!