Fruit Flavored Sparkling Water

     I grew up in a household where the beverage served at every meal for both children and adults was milk.  So 1950s.  As we offspring started growing up and reaching our full adult bone mass, milk was phased out.  Iced tea, all year round, not just in the summer, became the regular drink.  When I moved out, I always had a pitcher of homemade iced tea in the fridge.  Somewhere along the way, I got lazy and switched to tap water.
     I still mainly drink tap water, but more and more, I find myself giving in to the temptation of those fancy, fruity flavored waters.  Shop Rite is always running specials, piling mountains of fizzy water twelve-packs at the entrance to the store.  Their exotic names belie the fact that they are only subtly flavored and barely sweetened.  Anything with zero calories can't taste that good.  Or can it?
     Dasani was my first.  I tried most of the flavors and settled on Blood Orange and Meyer Lemon as favorites.  I tried mixing some orange juice with the Blood Orange flavor thinking I could create a low calorie Orangina, but the result was bitter tasting.

 

 I remained true to Dasani until someone, offering me a bottle of what they thought was plain water, accidentally gave me a bottle of Poland Spring Sparkling Orange.  There was no going back to Dasani.

 

 Then came the coronavirus grocery shopping experience.  You can go to the store with a list, but be prepared to make substitutions.  During Week #1 of sheltering in place, I bought one of the three remaining loaves of rye bread from the specialty bakery because every other loaf, roll, bagel, muffin, and pita was gone.  I like rye bread, but you don't schmear it with strawberry preserves at breakfast time.  The water and soda aisles were stripped bare, and there were limits on how much one shopper could buy.  During Week #2, I found a pallet of AHA Sparkling at the end of the soda aisle.  It was even on sale.  I grabbed Orange-Grapefruit (delicious mixed with OJ) and Apple-Ginger (yummy mixed with apple juice).  During this third week's grocery run, I grabbed a case of Peach-Honey.  I mixed this flavor with some Kosher for Passover peach flavored sparkling grape juice.  Tasty.

   
The world of sparkling water just gets better and better.  I'm beginning to prefer this water to my usual wine.  Never thought I would see that day come.
     

     

Masks

     My first attempt at making masks was a failure.  The pleated, rectangular kind with string ties fit poorly and my hair tangled in the ties.  Then my neighbor emailed some pictures of masks that she made along with written directions and a video.  I washed and dried a bunch of 100% cotton fabric and made a batch of masks.

My selfies look ridiculous, with the goofy neck angles and the extended arms.  I have solved the problem by photographing myself in the mirror.  I liked the red mask.  I felt frisky instead of elderly when I put it on.  Then I remembered the Edgar Allen Poe story titled "The Mask of the Red Death."  Maybe red fabric was a poor choice.  I decided that only English majors would make the connection. 

Each person's noggin is unique.  I didn't want the mask to pull too hard on my ears, so I made the elastic on this first mask a half inch longer than directed.  It turned out that I should have cut it a half inch shorter than directed to get a perfect fit.  My subsequent masks were adjusted accordingly. 

In order to make Mask #1 wearable, I shortened the elastic by folding it in half and tacking it 1/2" from the end.  Perfect fit.

This brown fabric was the only one I had that was not girly.

I made nine masks - some for me and some to share.  Since I used scrap fabric and elastic that I had on hand, I spent $0 on this project.  Governor Murphy says we have to wear masks when we go to stores now.  I'm ready. 

 

Red, White, and Blue Afghan

     Each year, in time for Fourth of July delivery, the South Jersey Crochet Guild makes red, white, and blue afghans for veterans and  military families.  Guild members can't meet because of Covid-19 restrictions, but we continue to crochet in our virus free isolation.  I just finished my patriotic blanket.

There you have it.  The designer warned that the border might ripple. I did not follow her advice to use a smaller hook for making the border, so I have rippling down the long edges.  Washing and drying might rectify that.  

The afghan is worked in a simple V-stitch.  This project was easy to combine with binge watching HBO's "High Maintenance." 

     
     Here's a link to the directions: https://daisyfarmcrafts.com/crochet-modern-v-stitch-in-red-white-and-blue/      

More Hearts

     Paper hearts - quick, easy, and you can make an endless supply in no time.  Crocheted hearts take a bit longer, but they're worth it.  I got a few patterns from Pinterest and ravelry.com.  I made my hearts out of #3 red cotton thread.  Then I stiffened them with straight out of the bottle laundry starch.  Some people use white glue for stiffening crochet projects.  The old timey method for hardening crocheted pieces is to use 2 parts sugar dissolved in 1 part water. 

The starching process was messy.  I put some starch in an old plastic bowl and soaked a heart for a few seconds until it was saturated.  I wrung out the excess starch, then blotted the heart on an old towel.  The next step was to shape the heart on some layers of cardboard which I covered with plastic wrap.  Once the heart was shaped, I pinned it with stainless steel pins and let it dry.  After drying overnight, I removed the pins and checked to see if the hearts were stiff enough.  I thought they could use more starching, so I used an old paint brush to coat them with some more starch.  The next day, I added strings for hanging. 

     I sent these hearts to a friend who plans to hang them in her windows. 

The hearts have arrived.

Heartfelt Thanks

     I'm pretty sure you have already heard that introverts, couch potatoes, bookworms, and yes, crocheters love the coronavirus stay-at-home orders.  It's what they have been training for their whole lives is how the punchline goes.  While I love being "forced" to stay inside and craft, the regular options can get boring.  I watched a TV news segment last night which featured an arts and crafts activity - cutting out paper hearts and taping them to street facing windows, doors, and mail boxes.  It's a way to brighten up the neighborhood, and more importantly, it's a way to say thank you to delivery people, mail carriers, and others who have to work while most of us stay home.
     I didn't even have to draw my hearts.  I used my Print Artist program to print the hearts on card stock.  Then I cut them out.  I haven't done a window display yet, but I did this today:

I printed hearts on card stock and added a thank you,

One heart is taped next to the front door.  

Another heart is taped to the inside of the mailbox.

I just received an email from Hainesport Township directing us to bag all trash for pick up.  Loose trash left at the curb in cans could spread contagion to sanitation workers.  My bag of trash for tomorrow's collection bears a thank you note.

     

New York Botanical Garden - Orchid Show

     Orchids are pretty.  I had one once, and I killed it.  My friend informed me that her husband has a way with orchids, and she invited me to attend the display at the New York Botanical Garden.  Wow!  What a feast for the eyes it was.  After attending an informative class that was part of the show, I learned that orchids can also be a feast for the stomach.  Who knew?  Some are edible.  Enjoy the pictures.

While most orchids grow in tropical forests, some have adapted to semi-desert regions.  Here I am in the desert habitat.  Desert orchids are smaller and less colorful than their tropical cousins.

The conservatory was huge, and the display went on and on.  We went down these stairs and ...

... through this tunnel/light show to get to more orchids.

This is called the Dancing Lady Orchid.  Was this the inspiration for Belle's dress in "Beauty and the Beast?" 

These are Slipper Orchids.  We have lady's slippers or moccasin flowers growing wild in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.  They are North America's wild, native orchid.  I had one specimen growing in my woods, but building the house changed the habitat, and it died.

This is a moth orchid, named for the moth shaped petals.  I like the spots.

The conservatory covers a lot of ground.  I would like to return to the botanical garden in warm weather to see the outdoor seasonal displays.  Here's the website:
https://www.nybg.org/

     

Who?

     Not too often, but occasionally, I get to spend some time with young people.  Over the course of an afternoon, my twenty-something companion and I conversed about oodles of things.  It turned out that both of us soon forget a person's name, but never forget a face.  That led to discussing how changes in grooming might effect our ability to recognize someone.  A man might grow a beard that changes him from weak-chinned to ruggedly handsome; a woman might have a makeover that transforms her from fugly to fabulous.
     "Yeah," I said.  "Tom Selleck was an average guy in his high school picture.  Growing  longer hair and a mustache turned him into a lady killer."
     "Who's Tom Selleck?" my companion asked.
     I know I'm old, but geez, Tom Selleck still appears on TV each week in "Blue Bloods."  I guess neither Tom nor "Blue Bloods" is popular with young millennials.  Then I wondered if my friend knew that lady killers didn't actually murder women. 

Tom Selleck's High School Year Book Picture
Google Images

This image is from Tom's early 1980s Magnum, P.I. days.  LADY KILLER!
Google Images