A Vist From The Granddaughters--First Finish 3rd Quarter FAL

Completed energy bites

Earlier this week, our son-in-law had elective surgery. Our granddaughters got to spend most of the day with us. They haven't been on their own at our house since mid-March or pre-COVID. They found the mailbox and learned the projects for the day. Earlier, they had put in their order for breakfast which was sourdough pancakes, fried bacon and runny eggs!

They weren't in the house five minutes before they had the yoga cards out and were doing yoga moves. We started making snack for the afternoon. We tried a new recipe called energy bites. It had few ingredients (rolled oats, honey, peanut butter, dried cranberries and almonds.) They took turns measuring ingredients. It tasted good; but, it was difficult for the girls and me to make the contents into a ball. Next, we made dessert for lunch. In their opinion, dessert is an important part of a meal. We made Rice Krispie cookies. They took turns stirring the marshmallows. Miss J provided the muscle to pack the cookies into the pan.

Rice Krispie cookies are a favorite of their dad's so we made plans to pack most of the batch for home so that their dad would have a homemade treat from his girls when he came home from his surgery.

Melting marshmallows for cookies

Then we moved on to cooking breakfast. It has been awhile since we've made sourdough pancakes for breakfast; but, it is a favorite menu item as are bacon and runny eggs! Eight year old, Miss K put the pancakes together and ladled the batter into creative shapes on the griddle. She even flipped the pancakes successfully. Once she had cooked several batches, she asked if I'd take over so that she could enjoy "the fruits of her labor!"

Six year old, Miss J cooked the bacon. She effectively managed two frying pans, cooking each piece of bacon to the perfect doneness. She was attentive and turned the bacon when it needed to be turned. She made the best browned bacon I've had for breakfast in a long time! I forgot how much fun they can be in the kitchen!

During most of the activities, we took a few photos for the girls to share with their mom so she would have something to do while she waited for the surgery to be over. After breakfast we took a walk with Miss B, our dog. We visited the lion and as was our practice when we had our weekly visits. They posed at the lion and identified the flowers that that they remembered. We saw a couple squirrels; but no rabbits. Unfortunately, the horses were too far away to feed them apple treats.

Frying bacon

Making pancak

Posing with the lion

After our walk, they played princesses and made a face time call to their Auntie. Notice that with all indoor activities, we wore masks. We are working to keep each other safe from COVID. None of us wants to contract it or share it!

They asked their papa (grandpa) if he could make them hot dogs for lunch and if he would swim with them in the pool. Of course he did both and one better--he gave them each a popsicle after their swim session.

They asked if they could stay for dinner and have Papa's spaghetti, we said it depended on when their dad would be released. Papa took their order for what they wanted in their spaghetti sauce--no onions, no celery, no meat, olives, red pepper, carrots, rosemary, garlic and basil. 

Papa cooked the sauce; but, their mama came too early for them to stay for dinner. There were tears because they were going to miss Papa's spaghetti. Papa sent dinner home with them. (He is a terrific Papa!) Our daughter said that dinner was a hit. We wondered how the spaghetti sauce was so it was good to have feedback! We both said how much we missed having the girls over on a regular basis.

Playing princesses 

Our daughter also said how nice it was to not have to plan dinner because she didn't realize how much energy was involved with the hospital part of the day. Their dad's surgery went well and his recovery is going well.

An activity that we didn't get time to do was make the flounce leggings. They brought a pair of leggings that they liked the fit so I could use it as a sample when I drew off their pattern. This week, I drew their pattern and made the leggings.

If you want to make a pair for your little one, check out this tutorial from Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom's blog. In the tutorial is the link for the free pattern.

Cutting out the leggings

I used stretch thread in the lower loopers of the serger to construct the leggings. It was my first experience to use this thread in active wear. I looked at a You Tube video and read a couple blog posts about how to use it with the best results. I found the information helpful. It took no time at all to sew these leggings. There was a front, a back, inner leg and flounce seam. I stitched the elastic at the waist. I used colored elastic so the elastic can either be worn so it shows or turned in if the wearer chooses not to show the elastic.

It took me a couple hours to make the two pair of leggings. I'm curious to see how they fit the granddaughters! I used one yard of fabric from the stash. I have used a total of 50 and three quarters yards of fabric from my stash this year. This is my first finish for the third quarter. This was goal number 12 on my Finish A Long list. 

I am sharing this finish on Instagram at #2020falq3finish.

Finished leggings

Regarding COVID:

Worldwide: 23.1M confirmed; 14.8M recovered; 803K deaths

United States: 5.75M confirmed; 2.93M recovered; 179K deaths

Oregon: 24,421 confirmed; 414 deaths

In Oregon, over the past three weeks the percentage of people testing positive for Covid has been 5.4% each week. Interesting that the percentage has remained the same.

Wednesday, Oregon launched its one time $500 emergency check program. One of the eligibility requirements was for those who have not received all the unemployment benefits owed to them. The line outside one of the credit unions distributing payments was more than two blocks long. People were supposed to make appointments; but, their need was too great to wait. From the photos, it didn't look like much social distancing occurred.

Regarding the protests:

We are in the twelfth week. Protests begin peaceful and turn violent. People continue smashing windows and setting fire to buildings. Last week a reporter interviewed a retired Attorney U.S. General for his view on the situation. A news reporter shared that one of the persons arrested on a charge of criminal mischief has served time for a similar offense. Here, criminal mischief is a misdemeanor and the attorney general has stated that those charges won't be prosecuted. It appears that those violent protestors work their chaos just outside of crossing the prosecution line. Meanwhile, business owners and property owners bear the cost of the repairs.