Ahhhhh

LUMS POND STATE PARK

Bear, DE 19701

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RV LIFE:

Ahhhh, we are sort of back to our "normal" RV lifestyle. Our trek from NV to NJ is over. Our social and medical obligations are almost over. This week we will be visiting Scott's parents and possibly some friends in DE. I know it sounds terrible to call visiting family & friends "obligations", but it's just that it came all in a 3 week span. if all this activity could be spread out in a 3 month span, that would have been more enjoyable.

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CRAFTS:

Let the crochet marathon begin! A little catch up first.

I brought stash with me when we started F/T and packed them into ziplock bags with coordinated patterns. My last two projects have been with new yarn. Sigh...The storage unit in NJ has the rest of my stash, as well as a tub of yarn and patterns at a friend's home. I haven't made much of a dent in the projects in the RV. But a year living in the RV, I've found some more "hiding places" for more stash.

Kimono (finished): Not sure if I'm repeating myself, but...I recently finished a KAL (Knit A Long) with a small group of ladies that are also RV'rs. If you are a crafter and an RV'r, check out CAMPGROUND CRAFTERS. We knit the BRIGHT & BREEZY KIMONO, which is a free pattern from Caron Yarns.  I made mine in variegated pastels for the summer. Others made in a deep rich, autumn red and 1 person in an ivory color.

Bright & Breezy Kimono

Excuse the lady modeling in the fat suit. Maybe next year I'll have a better model.

A post taken from KNICE KNITTIES BLOG

Yes, I am a plus woman. I've learned to live with it. I used to be hot, but now, that just comes in flashes. One of these days, I will make peace with my figure and have a better body image. But for now, I will use yards and yards of yarn to cover up.

Shawl (almost finished): CLADONIA SHAWL is a small striped shawl with lace edging. I'm on the final picot edge of the lace. I've purchased some beads to give the picot some weight, so it will block nicer.

GAAA (ongoing): GREAT AMERICAN ARAN AFGHAN was supposed to be a 2 year KAL. I started it in January of 2008. There are 24 blocks, 1 block a month = 2yrs. Should have been finished by January of 2011. Not! I'm still determined to finish this, but I do maybe 2-3 blocks a year in between other projects.  Here's a sample of a couple of finished blocks.

CROCHET MARATHON: While in NJ, I quickly went through my stash and pulled out some FUN FUR and LB HOMESPUN. Back when I lived in a house, I would volunteer to do Fundraising and Rescue awareness events for our rescue, ABOVE & BEYOND ENGLISH SETTER RESCUE AND ADOPT-A-SETTER, IRISH SETTER RESCUE OF NJ.

I went through a faze of making ponchos for kids, but people thought they were some sort of dog sweater, since I was representing dog rescue. So then I started crocheting dog sweaters. I thought they would sell great, but most events were in the summer, so who is thinking of a warm dog sweater when it's 90° out! I made these sweaters with LB Homespun yarn, & edged with fun fur, which produced great looking washable sweaters

My pile of Homespun, soon to be dog sweaters.

So I have plenty of this yarn, but no need to make dog sweaters, until I gave an couple to Birgit from FOUR PAWS KINGDOM. She was able to sell them out of her RV Park/Dog store. Since we're working there this fall, she asked for more! Great! Get rid of my LB  Homespun!!!!! Destash!!!!! So I'm on a mission to just make these dog sweaters until the Homespun is gone. So no new projects for a while. 

I am also crocheting 6"x9" rectangles for a charity project that make afghans for the wounded soldiers in the Veteran Hospitals in the US. This is their last year of doing this after sending out over 8,000 afghans over the years. So, I'm determined to use up my acrylic yarn for this charity. More destashing!!!!!

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BUSINESS REVIEW:

Ray's Service Center 85 Steiner Ave. Neptune City, NJ 007753

5 out of 5 stars

We have been going to Ray's for years. He has worked on all our used cars. Family run business, reasonable (for mechanics' prices) prices. TRUSTWORTHY! Most services done within a day. They keep you informed and give you the option of how much you want done or spend. Now that we have moved out of the area, we really miss this business. Everyone is friendly and take the time to explain things to you.

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RESTAURANT REVIEW:

A & S Pizza 5 out of 5 stars

While staying at the local County Park, we ordered take out a few times.

GARLIC KNOTS: The best I've had. Little knots of home made bread covered  with parmesan cheese, oil and garlic . Wonderful combo. The garlic is always sweet.

CHICKEN FRANCESE: 3 pieces of chicken breast, lightly breaded and pounded thin. Covered in a delicious light lemon/butter sauce. Absolutely delicious!

FETTUCCINE ALFREDO: Nice cheesy and creamy dish.

EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA: Wonderful. Great combo of thinly sliced eggplant with just enough cheeses and sauce so the eggplant taste still comes through instead of being hidden with gloppy cheese and too much sauce. 

SALAD: Their house salad was a surprise. I expected some lettuce and tomato. But their salad had crisp iceburg lettuce, with thinly sliced onion, tomato, cueumber and black olives. House Italian dressing was tasteful also.

BREAD: The bread that comes with the dinners is fabulous! It is like a dinner roll with the combo of olive oil, garlic and cheese on top. 

We never did try the pizza because there were so many other items to choose from.

How could we pass up pizza while in NJ???Duh! There's only so much we can eat.

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BOOK REVIEW:

Right Next Door by Debbie Macomber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I started this book, I thought, ugh another typical romance. Seems I haven't read a good murdery mystery in a while. But I am 40 pages into the book and loving it as I usually do with those "harlequin type" books. I think I'll be sick of the same basic story, but each time, I get caught up in the fantasy and remember back when I was young and desireable.

This is your average romance novel, but completely innocent, meaning no hot love scenes, just some "petting" that I would let my daughter read (if I had a daughter).

Two stories in one book, both single people with a kid. They live either next door or in the same neighborhood.

The author portrays single parenthood as if it's a fairly easy lifestyle. I would think not. Also, the children in the books are WONDERFUL! They interact with their parents, ask how they are, are concerned for their parent's welfare, don't really act up except in the most benign way. I may have been tempted to have kids if it was really that easy and my kids would be that nice.

Light reading, sometimes can be too predictable. I like to read a book of this type for a break from more involved books.

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