Pokey Peas Challenge for May 2020

nylene - really hoping you can join us some Saturday for a hang-out scrappy session! I'd love to see a picture of your die box. Reading out loud is a chore for me...I remember when the kids were little, and we read out loud, and oh, I hated it. Not little kid books - those are fun! But chapter books. So I quickly made sure they could do their own reading If I couldn't read, I'd definitely want someone around who would read to me tho.

kellyr21, my fave apps are: weather. flickr. instagram. candy crush soda. netflix. youtube. facebook. starbucks. flipp (for flyers/shopping). headspace (for sleeping/meditation). my bank. yelp. zoom (that's a new one this pandemic!). myfitnesspal. amazon prime video. Pretty boring

patin, still thinking of you.

grammadee - you are a busy lady! Had to laugh at your dog story. We had a dog we had to watch closely during thunderstorms - he would bolt if he could. He made it 10 km from home once, across a highway to boot, and was picked up by police... poor thing, so scared. He also hated hot air balloons, fireworks, and...real estate signs in front yards!

I've been busy getting DS's birthday prepped today, and then celebrating this evening! All went well. It's awfully nice when it falls on a Sunday. And I've made 3 cards! Pigs be a-flyin'!

patin, thinking of you and your family.

nylene, I’m so glad you had someone to help you out. I keep saying I’m going to get on another hangout, but it seems our peas are night owls and not morning larks. Early mornings are easier for me to attend in my home. The teens sleep in a bit and DH doesn’t usually want/need anything as he does his own thing first thing in the morning. By evening, one or more usually wants/needs my attention. But they are fun to see everyone first hand. When DH & I were first dating, he’d often read out loud to me. I found it romantic. Of course, we often would take turns reading out loud to the kids when they were young instead of watching TV. We’d choose books that would hold their interest but may be a bit complex for them to read by themselves. Then DS advanced so much in reading ability that he couldn’t wait for us to read in the evenings, he needed to read the book immediately. I should have DH read to me again though.

gramma, I loved the cards you shared on flickr yesterday. I still have to leave some love over there.

kellyr21, I’m glad you are enjoying your tablet. I usually use my smartphone but I would download the Tapatalk app. It’s easier to see and use the proboard forum on that app, unless proboard has finally optimized for smartphones and tablets. They weren’t awhile ago. I tend to use flickr, Instagram, youtube, steps, facebook, pinterest, audible, kindle, YouVersion Bible app, Google Keep, Trello and my own games. The games get switched out as I get bored with one, delete, and download another. Oh and I keep the apps to my most used stores on there as well.
I do keep Netflix, prime video, and Disney + also on my phone, but don’t watch them much. Dd does watch on the tablet though and I’ll borrow it for watching on occasion.

grammadee, that sewing was from February for DD. The boys don’t leave until Tuesday (tomorrow). Yesterday was just a rainy day and everyone was chilling at my house which meant a bit of free time for me. YAY! Although you didn’t get any free time this weekend, I’m sure you took lots of photos. How scary to lose the dogs!! I’m glad they are home and safe.

kitbop, happy birthday to your son!! ..and, real estate signs in the front yard??? Why on earth would that upset him? Dogs are so funny. Our older dog dislikes heavy rain and storms. She’s been all upset for several days with all the rain/storms rolling through. When she was little I had to go out with her with an umbrella. Still last night after only going out twice, I had to walk out in the rain to get her to go to.

joyfulnana, I think it’s sweet that your son requested you not go. I’m sure he’s also worried about you. What prompted the apartment reorganization? How will it be different? I get teased as someone who reorganizes too much. Although I don’t do it as much anymore, I used to rearranged the furniture almost monthly. They family laments how I always change my kitchen cabinets. Really it’s just until I find the right organizational set up for the house. We’ve just moved a lot. Lol.

I’m off to finish my cinnamon rolls. I promised DS that I’d make him some more than a month ago and I’m just now getting them made. Bad momma! I’ve also got to marinade my chicken thighs as I’m making him fried chicken as well. He’s used to getting fried chicken from someplace at least monthly. I used to bring it home for him for a quick lunch after I finished grocery shopping. He’s been missing it.

LisaDV, I got a couple of 4 cube organizers for the living room, for album storage, and a new coffee table. That will free up space in the living room, but it also meant finding room SOMEWHERE in my apt, for this huge coffee table, short, and very wide, I had used as a TV stand. So that went into my office. Which meant taking down the big folding table that used to be my craft table and was now a catch all lol. I have piles of stuff everywhere lol. Now my craft space is piled with things and I'm rethinking all of that too. The big table in my office, is shorter and takes up a little less room than the folding table. So far everything feels more spacious, once I get rid of the piles lol.

My mom rearranges rooms all the time. Her place is in constant flux. I don't tend to change things much. I get it where I want it, and leave it lol. Except for craft supplies. I'm continually trying to find the best way to organize those so they flow. Still working on that.

We Create was cancelled yesterday. I'm relieved! I knew I wouldn't be comfortable with a crowd that size for 3 days, and apparently the ladies at SG weren't comfortable with it either, even if it would be allowed by September. They offered several options for us, including moving our spot to next year, or a full refund. Those ladies are a class act, and I can't say enough good things about that store. I'm not sure yet if I will move my spot or get a refund. They also offered putting all the funds on a store credit. I could do a lot of damage with a $300 store credit!

I have got to get over to the gallery and catch up today and take a look at the sharing thread. Have a great day!

Happy Tuesday! It is a beautiful day today and hope you are all enjoying your day! I am doing the routine and fun things today. I made a peach cobbler yesterday for the first time and it turned our soooo yummy. I can't wait for dessert time later! LOL! I want to scrap today but I am still waiting for my pictures. They should be here later this week. I got some new Simple Stories little die cut pieces just waiting to go on a layout. LOL! Also, I ordered a mixed media journal booklet. I am playing with it today. It has all sorts of paper in for painting and watercolors.

Here is a page I finished. I loved hiding the journaling. You see it in the first one?

Grace Layout by Kelly Roberts, on Flickr

Grace Layout Pt. 2 by Kelly Roberts, on Flickr

kellyr21 , your page is very pretty. How did your peach cobbler taste?

Good Thursday morning, Pokeys! How is everyone doing?

patin, we are still holding you and your family in our hearts. I have a sister-in-law in the hospital a few hours' drive from here, and any other year, I would have driven up there to see her. She was admitted for acute back pain, but her dd says that she has been declining ever since Christmas. She turned 80 in February. She has never liked going to the doctor, and these last few months she has used the excuse that they are only seeing emergency cases. Although they have finally let her dd in to sit with her, they will not allow anyone else through the hospital doors unless they are a patient, a staff member, or an approved visitor.

kellyr21, it is so good to hear you talking about baking adventures, see your scrapbooking pages. Now you need to scrapbook about baking!

How is your week of "just the girls" going, LisaDV? Great to see your creations, too. I have found a sketch for this Saturday's challenge, but not sure if I will get my page done on time, but will get the sketch posted tomorrow evening I hope. I know the topic I want to use it for, but don't have "the perfect photo" in mind yet.

Gloomy and drizzly morning here. So dark this morning that even the energizer bunny dgs slept in until almost 7AM. He is having breakfast with Grampa now. Not sure if I am still on tap for his on line schooling: dd does not have to work this morning, so she had planned to do school with him, but last night he said he really wanted ME to do it. That way she can spend the time packing up their stuff, as they plan to leave today. One of the things he really liked about doing school with me was that I was using a sheet of mini emoji stickers, getting him to count all his correct math answers, and giving him one sticker for each correct answer. We had a grid to put the stickers on, and although he had been whining about doing all the questions, when he realized he just had three more squares to fill, he immediately completed three more math problems! I have a pic of the grid and the math cards: think I will post it in the Photo thread.

Breakfast is over and I have been paged to start lessons... TTYL.

patin , you, your dh, and family are in my thoughts and prayers. I know I keep saying it every time I post, but I just want you to know as grammadee said, our hearts are with you.

kellyr21 , I'm glad you enjoyed your cobbler. I don't eat cooked fruit (texture thing), and DH loves cooked fruit - cobblers, pies, just cooking it in a pan for an easy over ice cream topping. I only made it a few times. I don't have to make it at all now, as DH taught the kids as soon as they were old enough since they like it as well. He thought he'd get it more often which they probably make it a couple of times a year. So it worked.

grammadee , I thought when you signed up for Sketchy Saturday you already had your layout made. Do you want to take the 6th of June instead that way you can just enjoy the dgs and then just REST after he's gone. I have one ready to go so it's not a problem. You just let me know.  Nevermind, I just saw that you already posted your sketches. Both are great).

When I read about you with your grands, I have often been envious. My kids didn't get a helping or playful grandma on either side. I love that you dgs wanted you to do his math and you made it fun for him. You really are a wonderful gramma!

nylene , that flooding is crazy. There is flood warnings in so many places in Michigan right now. But the flooding you saw are 2 rivers over in the northeast area that overflowed and a dam failed close by as well. It is east of both of our homes. Those poor families.

DH said that the rivers up north are way up. A park in Frankfort was completely under water. Frankfort sets on Lake Michigan and has the Betsie River run on it's south side forming a small lake (Betsie Lake) which empties into Lake Michigan. The park was on the Betsie Lake side of things. Here I haven't been out to check, but have had flood warnings on my weather app. It wasn't suppose to rain last night, but it did.

Our girls week hasn't been going to plan. Not that there was really a plan. DD was sick on Wednesday as she didn't sleep well. So she played on her phone and I watched a movie next to her. Yesterday she had an early morning "town hall" meeting for school. She's running for 10th grade class rep. So I woke up at 5:30 to use the restroom and just stayed up to make sure the pea birthday thread was finished, the dogs went out, all the animals were fed and then to make sure I had a breakfast made she loves (peanut butter banana pancakes). She was very active on her school teams yesterday and kept me apprised of the goings on. She has a science project that we need to do outside but the weather and her health have not cooperated with us over the last couple of weeks. We should have done it yesterday as the weather was perfect and although she was tired, she was okay. Hopefully the ground wetness on the driveway will disappear before this afternoon. As the rain is
suppose to start back up Saturday and looks like it'll go through all next week.

Happy Friday to all! I'm kind of shocked that we're going into the last week of May. March lasted like 3 years and April and May just kind of went by in a blink.

Happy Friday! I hope you all are having a good one. I have been a busy bee today. But the work part of day is almost over. I am working on making my first process video and it is not as easy as these YTers make it look!!! LOL! But I am figuring it out. So today was a practice run. Note to self: Make sure my camera card has enough space to film a video. LOL! I was just talking away and then I looked up and saw, "CARD FULL!" Not sure how much got filmed but I will try again tomorrow.

Here is a new lo I finished this week. I added more pictures and the story behind the picture on my blog K. Simone Designs

Be Brave LO by Kelly Roberts, on Flickr


Also, check out both of my blogs for new posts on wellness and crafts. One is called "Permission to Rest & Art" and the other is "Housework or Handcrafts?" (links below)

LisaDV- I didn't know your dd was a leader??? So proud of her! I hope your weekend makes up for the little let downs you had during girl's time.
Your dh was smart to teach the kids to make his desserts. I am not a big fan of super sweet dessert but my dh loves it so I had to give it a try. Oh, the things we do for love!!! LOL! Yeah, this month went so fast after March and April taking like forever! LOL!

grammadee- Glad you got some rest and what a fun day you have planned. Waving hi to you and justjac! I can't wait till we can shop and visit here.

nylene- Enjoy your new haircut. I had my dh trim mine. It is sooo long and I needed some help!

Waving hi to you all and have a restful evening!

Hey Ladies.  The Hangout link is open already!  You can find the latest one if you scroll down in THIS THREAD  Just click on the link msliz posted and it should give you a chance to join the conversation.

That would make me nervous about venturing out! I know it's harsh for those in cities right now, but I feel like the hot spots really need to isolate from the rest of the country to make sure they don't spread it! It might be OK to open up more rural areas, but not if city-folk come dancing in and seed you with virus! Of course, that's unenforceable - we need to rely on people's good sense and not sure everyone has that

The weather promised us a rainy day with possible severe storms. I think most people planned all their outside stuff yesterday. Instead, it's bright and sunny, maybe a little rain later today.
I had thought I'd have a lazy day inside, a little cleaning, a little baking, lots of scrapping. Now I have to rethink yard work!

Good Morning Pokey's!

grammadee and LisaDV even during a lockdown your lives are adventurous! Your pets are too funny!

I wouldn't be there mentally to do a walk in haircut either, and that's the type of place I normally go. Especially considering two stylist in the southern part of my state were working with symptoms and then tested positive. I'm just not ready to get out and mingle so much yet myself. I have plans to see DS2 next weekend and I'm even leery about that. We will have a picnic type meet up outside in the fresh air. It's being in enclosed spaces with people that is freaking me out. The state of MO is just a mess right now. We've had no guidance as to opening up, just a "take personal responsibility" approach. Looking at the Lake of the Ozarks this weekend, there is not a lot of that going around.

Looks like I missed an awesome hangout last night. Even with still staying home, the weekend has been busy with people lol. Cropping on hangouts with my mom Saturday afternoon, and again this afternoon. Rudy slept over Saturday night and I have now finally been sucked into the world of Harry Potter. I had never read a book, or seen a single movie, until Saturday night lol. Sunday evening was a movie with DS1 that he has been wanting me to watch with him. "Akira" - he was soooo into that story when he was in school so I humored him lol.

I also fell down the sewing rabbit hole and ordered a machine this weekend. I decided to make masks instead of buying them from Etsy and hoping I like them. Then Joann cancelled the fabric from my order I wanted a sewing machine years ago and talked myself out of it. I can think of a few things I'd like to make though besides the masks, and for some reason sewing sounds so relaxing to me right now. Now to keep myself from hoarding fabric for future projects the way I do scrap supplies

patin - I want you to know you are never far from my thoughts. Hugs and peace to you!

Good Monday morning, Pokeys!

It was wonderful to visit "almost in person" with so many of you over the weekend: nylene, kellyr21, kitbop, msliz, justjac, as well as some other Peas. We missed you, joyfulnana, but it sounds like you were getting lots of crafting and on line chatting done over the weekend too, so YAY us!

When will you get the pool opened up, LisaDV? Dgs noticed the box with the Slip n Slide stored away in the basement--that boy is EVERYWHERE!--and he wanted to pull it out then. We had to explain that <10C temps were not the best for using a Slip n Slide, but he made us promise that "when it is warmer..."

I finished NINE pages over the weekend! Here are four of them:

One that Vicki Boutin got into my head for, so I cut the photos all crazy--but I love the result:
Live love Create by Gramma Dee, on Flickr

My May calendar page for next year:
May 2021 by Gramma Dee, on Flickr

And the LAST pages for the Hawaii album. Used up a bunch of photos and leftover scraps:

Aloha by Gramma Dee, on Flickr

Okay, off to the fun task of defrosting a chest freezer! Dh has left to go pick up the beef we had butchered.

LisaDV I will be getting fabric from Walmart for sure. This was licensed fabric that I had let Rudy pick out. Lilo and Stitch lol. It will be back in stock at some point I'm sure. And he will probably forget all about it anyway lol.


So sorry I missed nylene in the hangout! I hope you join in again nylene! grammadee I just love that Hawaii album! And those VB papers! I'm definitely getting FOMO about those! Your little guy looks like quite a handful, so also he looks like a happy guy!