Crocheted Vampire Squid and A Blanket

 

Vampire Squid

The real life Vampire Squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) is a deep sea creature.  There is, also, a children's animation show in which there is a character based on the Vampire Squid and, apparently, it is a favorite of daughter's friend V's older daughter H.  Friend V wants to get a Vampire Squid as a gift for Little H's upcoming 4th birthday.  She asked daughter if daughter could crochet a Vampire Squid for her; V would be happy to pay her.

Tentacles on the Underside

Daughter said she would be happy to crochet a Vampire Squid.  She didn't want any payment for making it, if V would buy the yarn and other supplies.  She and V went shopping a couple of weeks ago and bought the yarn in the colors that V chose.  They couldn't find the appropriate safety eyes, so daughter said she could sew yarn eyes.  V chose the crochet pattern, too, and was willing to pay for the pattern, but, daughter found a free pattern online.  

Vampire Squid Hiding

Daughter finished crocheting the Vampire Squid on Thursday night and sent the above pictures to V for her approval.  Apparently, V is very happy with the crocheted version that daughter made.  She had also told daughter that daughter could keep the leftover yarn as daughter is more likely to make good use of it than she, V, would.    Daughter will be seeing V on Saturday and will give the crocheted Vampire Squid along with the felt activity book she made for V's younger daughter.  

In the meantime, I have finished crocheting the blanket I was making:

Stash Buster Blanket

The central black square is something that my neighbor S's mother had included in the yarn she gave me.  I decided to incorporate it into the blanket and crochet around it, using mostly the yarn that I was given and adding a few odds and ends that were in my stash, as well.   The yarn used is all acrylic

The blanket is more or less square and measures approximately 60 inches on each side.  I've spread it on the love seat and the throw pillows to photograph it.  I need to weave in all the yarn ends and give it a wash.  I don't normally block my blankets; I'm fine with the little bit of ruffling caused by the different thicknesses of yarn in the stash.

I'm glad I was able to get the blanket finished before it got too hot to sit with a lapful of blanket!  I look forward to continuing to piece my hexagon quilt top. 

June Meal Planning - Week 3 Review and Week 4 Options

Wednesday Dinner: Baked Chicken, Pasta-Roni,
 Sauteed Green Beans

First a review of my meal plan options for June Week 3:

 June Week 3 Meal Plan Options:

Brunches:  Tuna salad sandwiches; Scrambled eggs with tortillas and lunu miris✔; Cold cuts sandwiches✔; Peanut butter toast✔; Salad; leftovers✔Pancakes

Dinners: Baked chicken drumsticks✔ with rice pasta and mixed vegetables (green beans); Chicken curry with rice and vegetables✔  (broccoli, green beans, kale mallung, etc.); Chicken pot pies✔; Ham fried rice, Leftovers✔

Snacks/Desserts: Fresh fruit; Cookies; Crackers; Yogurt; Ice cream; maybe Flan, cheesecake!

Here's how that worked out:

Monday:

Brunch:  Toast with peanut butter (me); daughter had some leftovers

Dinner:  Assorted leftovers
Dessert:  Yogurt with jaggery (me); last piece of peach pie (daughter)

Tuesday:

Brunch:  Banana and cold cuts sandwiches (after the grocery delivery)

Dinner:  Chicken pot pies
Dessert:  Ice cream bars, grapes

Tortillas with scrambled eggs and lunu miris
(while cooking)

After cooking on both sides

Wednesday:

Brunch:  Tortillas with scrambled eggs and lunu miris (the egg mixture is poured on the top of the tortilla, cooked for a bit, flipped over and cooked on the other side until the egg mixture is set)

Dinner:  Baked chicken, pasta-roni parmesan pasta, garlic sauteed green beans

Dessert:  Ice cream bars; bananas

Thursday:

Brunch:  Cold cuts sandwiches (me); egg salad and cold cuts sandwiches (daughter)

Dinner:  Chicken curry and rice with the last of the sauteed green beans and peach chutney
Dessert:  Sliced apples with peanut butter; bananas

Friday:

Brunch:  Egg salad/cold cuts sandwiches

Dinner:  Chicken curry and rice with peach chutney

Dessert:  Cheesecake (me); daughter had a graham cracker crumb crust baked separately for her as she doesn't like cheesecake

Cheesecake: Just before taking out of the oven
(Forgot to take a pic of it after it had cooled)

Saturday:

Lunch:  Sri Lankan rice and curries at a friend's house (mutton biriyani with boiled eggs, chicken curry, spicy sauteed potatoes, mint sambol, gotu kola (Centella asiatica; sometimes known as Indian or Asiatic pennywort) sambol with grated coconut and minced red onions, and peach chutney)

Dinner:  .Leftovers from lunch (which we brought home)

Dessert:  Tiramisu (which my friend had made), another type of cake from a bakery; oranges

Sunday:

Brunch:  Pancakes

Daughter's with Peach Compote

Mine with Fish Curry Gravy

Dinner:  Assorted leftover rice and curries

Dessert/Snacks: Cheesecake (me); graham cracker crust (daughter, who doesn't like cheesecake); oranges; bananas with peanut butter; crackers with peanut butter

Moving on to June Week 4, here are my meal plan options:

Brunches:  Tuna salad sandwiches; Pancakes; French toast; Boiled Mung beans with lunu miris;  Leftovers

Dinners: Chicken curry with rice and vegetables;Stringhoppers with chicken curry; Ground beef keema curry with rice; maybe patties (savory turnovers) and salad; Ham fried rice

Snacks/Desserts: Patties if I make some; Cheesecake; Crackers with peanut butter; oranges

Or, I could go off the plan and have something quite different!  That would be fine, too.  LOL.

As always, I am grateful for:

- Having enough (more than enough, actually) to eat
- The luxury of variety

- Leftovers and planned overs
- Daughter is not fussy about leftovers
- Being able to go off the plan if I so please!

Are you making a meal plan for this week?

My Third Weather Vane!

 

My Third Weather Vane Sighting!

On Saturday, my daughter and I were on our way to a lunch at a friend's house and I spotted another weather vane on top of a commercial building.  I was stopped at a traffic light and my daughter was able to take a couple of pictures of the weather vane for me.  The weather vane features a flag with PL written on it (for Penny Lane, I believe) and a bird with a wide open beak.    The building is rather interesting, too, and has been described as, "fairy tale Tudor".

"Fairy Tale Tudor" Architecture

The lunch at my friend's house was lovely.  In the invite, she had stated that the theme will be Sri Lankan and to come in Sri Lankan attire (although, she had also stated, "No pressure", in parentheses).  Well, I don't need a second invitation to wear a sari, so, I happily wore one of my saris to the gathering.  I took a jar of my homemade peach chutney to the gathering and it went well with the Sri Lankan rice and curries my friend had prepared.  It was a small gathering of eight people, including two of my cousins, another good friend and her husband; I felt comfortable enough to be without my mask.

After lunch, we were all given containers to take leftovers home with us and I received a bag of oranges that were freshly picked from my friend's tree.  

I might have caught a glimpse of yet another weather vane on the drive back, but, I was in a construction zone with the road narrowed to just one lane and I wasn't able to find a convenient spot in which to park.  Besides, I would have been rather conspicuous traipsing around in my bright purple sari, so, I will try to drive past that building another time and be prepared to take a picture, then.

In the meantime, I am thrilled to have found the weather wane pictured above!

Do you see many weather vanes where you are?  Are they fairly common in your area?

Another Activity Book

 

Cover Page

My daughter made another felt activity book for another friend's daughter who is turning two.

Page 1 - Tiered Birthday Cake

To be taken apart and put back together

Page 2 - Shape Hedgehog

Match the colors and the shapes

Page 3 - Slice of Watermelon

Count the seeds

Page 4 - Mail Box
(Daddy works at the post office)

You've Got Mail!
(Pull down the mail box flap and find the envelope)

The 'stamp' is removable

Open the envelope...

There's a card inside!

Page 5 - An Apple Tree

Let's Pick Apples!

More Apples to Pick

Sort by Color

Daughter also bought a printed preschool activity book for the birthday girl's older sister (who will be 4 in July) so she will have her own activity book and won't feel left out.  No doubt she'll be helping her younger sister with the felt activity book, too!  LOL.

Daughter found the inspiration for felt activity books online and adapted them.

Here's the card she made to go with the gift:

Birthday Card

I love this birthday card.  

Birthday Card

Itty Bitty Taters and Pests

 

Potato Harvest

When I reached the end of the last bag of potatoes I had bought, the remaining four potatoes were not only starting to sprout, they were starting to spoil, as well.  I planted them, one in a pot and the other three in the ground, to see if they would grow and three of them grew.  The one I planted in a pot had started to die back, so, M and I pulled the plant up and found it had grown three potatoes!  One of them was a decent size, the other two were tiny.  We've a long way to go before we can call ourselves potato farmers!  Nevertheless, my daughter and I are thrilled with our homegrown potato harvest!  

We've been busy this week, daughter and I, waging war against some itty bitty pests!  Even though Dancer is no longer with us, the garden cats are still there and they have fleas.  A few of the fleas seem to have made their way inside the house!  They probably hitched a ride on our clothes when we came inside after being in the garden, but, we didn't realize it until my daughter noticed one and then another and yet another!  We have been spraying and vacuuming and washing all the rugs and sofa covers, etc. in an attempt to get rid of them. The house has been vacuumed twice over in one week and the kitchen and bathrooms mopped.  Today, we vacuumed under the sofa cushions.  I'm checking spring cleaning off my To Do List!  

I am grateful for:

- Our potato harvest!
- Flea sprays
- Daughter's help with vacuuming, etc.
- M's help with spraying the garden
- Getting my spring cleaning done in record time!

Do you grow potatoes?  If so, do you buy seed potatoes or do you plant the potatoes you buy from the grocery store?

June Grocery Shopping - Part 3

June 16 Groceries  (1/2 gal. half & half not pictured)

I ordered groceries on Monday night and they were delivered today (Tuesday, June 16).  Next day delivery is free with the basic paid membership, so, that's the delivery option I choose.

I wanted half and half (not pictured above as I put it in the fridge right away) for my daughter's coffee, another loaf of bread as we are coming to the end of the previous loaf, some bananas as I am running short of fresh fruit and we haven't had any bananas, recently. some convenience items (cold cuts & frozen pot pies), canned meat (SPAM. 2-pack) for the pantry (plus it was cheaper than the canned corned beef I was also considering buying),  and I wanted to take advantage of a few sales to stock up.

I had come to the end of a 10 lb. bag of rice and I wanted to buy another bag to replace it.  The 5 lb. bags of store brand white long grain rice was on sale with a coupon, making two of them (= 10 lbs.) a little cheaper than one 10 lb. bag of rice.  We go through a lot of rice, so I stocked up and bought four of the 5 lb. bags of rice, for a total of 20 lbs. of rice (only one bag of rice is pictured, above).

The cold cuts were on sale, too, and I bought some for easy brunch sandwiches and the frozen pot pies are for an easy dinner on a night when I don't feel like cooking.  

The ice cream is a treat, of course, and so is the can of coconut water (I ordered 6 cans of it, but, apparently, they only had one can left! )

Here's the receipt:

Order Summary

Original Item Total$77.59

Item Coupons/Sales-$21.55

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.10

Sales Tax$0.00

Order Total$56.14

---

Item Details

19 Items

CA Redem Val$0.05

1 x $0.05 each

Cucumber, 1 ct$0.59

1 x $0.59 $0.99 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.40

Fresh Bunch of Bananas – 5-7 Bananas, 1 bunch$2.21

3.21 lbs x $0.68 each (approx.)

Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream, 14 Oz., 14 fl oz$2.99

1 x $2.99 $6.49 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$2.50

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.00

Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Milk Chocolate Ice Cream Bars, 3 Count, 3 ct$2.99

1 x $2.99 $6.99 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$3.00

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.00

Kroger® Cage Free Grade AA Large White Eggs, 18 ct$2.00

1 x $2.00 $3.69 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.69

Kroger® Half and Half Half Gallon, 1/2 gal$5.49

1 x $5.49 each

Kroger® Long Grain Rice, 5 lb$13.96

4 x $3.49 $3.99 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.50

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.50

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.50

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.50

Kroger® White Sandwich Bread, 20 oz$1.99

1 x $1.99 each

Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie Frozen Meal, 10 oz$9.50

4 x $2.37 $3.99 each (approx.)

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.00

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.50

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.49

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.00

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.49

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.00

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.49

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.00

Item Coupon/Sale: -$0.49

Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Oven Roasted Turkey Breast & Smoked Uncured Ham Thin Sliced Lunchmeat, 9 oz$3.49

1 x $3.49 $6.99 each

Item Coupon/Sale: -$2.50

Item Coupon/Sale: -$1.00

Parrot Coconut Water with Pulp, 16.6 fl oz$1.49

1 x $1.49 each

SPAM®(fo Classic, net wt 12 oz (340g)$9.29

1 x $9.29 each

---

Other Fees

$0.10

Bag Fee$0.10

1 x $0.10 each

My total came to $56.14. 

June Grocery Budget (for food items only) = $250 - $26.13 (spent in May) = $223.87

Spent to date = $59.60 + $57.80 + $56.14 = $173.54

Balance left in June Grocery Budget = $223.87 - $173.54 = $50.33

Oh-oh!  Only $50 left in the grocery budget with half the month still left!  I am going to have to keep the $50 for fresh produce, dairy, and bread, do minimal grocery shopping, and eat from the freezer and pantry for the rest of the month, if I want to keep to the budget!  No more stocking up for the rest of the month!

As always, I am grateful for:

- Being able to order groceries online and have them delivered
- The availability of groceries
- Sales and offers
- Being able to stock up from time to time
- Really pleasant grocery delivery people 

Do you have a monthly grocery budget?  Do you include household supplies in it or just food items?  Assuming you do have a grocery budget, are you able to keep to your budget?  

June Meal Planning: Week 2 Review and Week 3 Proposed Plan

Tuesday Dinner: Salmon, Broccoli, Rice/Wild Rice Mix

This was my list of meal plan options for June Week 2:

Brunches:  Burgers and Fries; Egg salad sandwiches; Pancakes with sausages and peach compote; Boiled mung beans with lunu miris; Peanut butter toast; leftovers

Dinners: Assorted Leftovers ( We have a lot of leftovers in the fridge, including Smoked Sausage stirfry; Hamburgers; Sauteed Salmon steaks; Pork fajita; Chicken drumsticks) with sides of rice/pasta/tortillas and vegetables (broccoli, green beans, cucumber, carrots, salads)   

Snacks/Desserts: Fresh fruit; Assorted nuts; Cookies; Crackers, Cake, Peach Pie

Here's how that turned out:

Monday:

Brunch:  Hamburger (daughter), 1/2 Spicy chicken burger (me), fries, milkshakes (vanilla for me; chocolate for daughter - a treat after my dental appointment and fillings)

Dinner:  Leftover 1/2 of chicken burger (me); not sure what daughter had, might have been rice and salmon
Dessert: Milkshake

Tuesday:

Brunch: Curried chicken sandwich (me); leftover rice and smoked sausage strifry (daughter)

Dinner: Salmon with broccoli and boxed long grain rice & wild rice mix
Dessert: Peach pie

Wednesday Brunch: Hamburgers

Wednesday:

Brunch: Homemade hamburgers (using up the last frozen hamburger patties); I ate only half of mine

Dinner:  Other half of my hamburger (me); salmon & 

Dessert: Grapes, peach pie; peanut butter & toast (late night snack)

Thursday:

Brunch:  Pancakes with fish curry and seeni sambol and/or sausages, peach compote and strawberry compote

Dinner:  Tortillas with pork fajita
Dessert:  Labne yogurt with jaggery; rose syrup faluda

Rose Syrup and Iced Water

With Milk Added

Friday:

Brunch:  Egg Salad Sandwiches

Dinner:  Pork fajita and tortillas

Dessert:  Galia melon (compliments of M who shared some produce he was given by another client), 

Galia Melon

Saturday:

Lunch:  (Friend R was visiting): Rice, pork fajita, chicken drumsticks, cucumber salad, peach chutney

Dinner:  Assorted leftovers - rice with salmon (daughter) or last bit of tilapia curry (me); peach chutney, cucumber salad, etc.

Dessert:  Peach pie & cake

Sunday Brunch: Scrambled Eggs and Fried Potatoes 

Sunday:

Brunch:  Scrambled eggs and fried potatoes 

Dinner:  Rice, salmon, cucumber salad, peach chutney
Dessert: Yogurt with strawberry compote; peanut butter toast for a late night snack

June Week 3 Meal Plan Options:

Brunches:  Tuna salad sandwiches; Scrambled eggs with tortillas and lunu miris; Cold cuts sandwiches; Peanut butter toast; Salad; leftovers

Dinners: Baked chicken drumsticks with rice and mixed vegetables; Chicken curry with rice and vegetables  (broccoli, green beans, kale mallung, etc.); Chicken pot pies; Ham fried rice, Leftovers

Snacks/Desserts: Fresh fruit; Cookies; Crackers; Yogurt; Ice cream; maybe Flan

Or, we might go off the menu and have something different!  

Are you meal planning this week?   If so, what are you planning to have?