Family Foot-Warmer Slippers

Last May I bought a skein of yarn at a garage sale for 25 cents. I really liked the color; I wasn’t sure what I would make from it. After looking at patterns for chunky yarn slippers, I decided to make a pair. However, I could see that I would need more yarn. Fortunately, Walmart sells Bernat Softee Chunky yarn. They didn’t have pale antique rose in my store, but I was able to order online for in-store pickup. Total after tax was $2.47. For less than $3 I could have a new pair of slippers and learn more about knitting.

The color goes well with my robe.

I used Anne Baron’s Family Foot-Warmer Slippers pattern, a free download pattern. This pattern uses 2 strands of regular yarn or 1 strand of chunky. I learned how to use markers for a small pattern change and knit through the back loop. The pattern change creates a middle “seam” down the slipper.

They do fit. I am little disappointed that they are “airier” than I expected. They will be great when wearing a pair of socks, but by themselves I am not sure they will be warm enough.

I have decided to go back to knitting dish cloths for awhile. I found some patterns different than the one I learned on. I bought some yarn at Meijers on sale last week. It will be a few weeks before I have time to devote to knitting. I like dish cloths. They are fast and the gauge isn’t as important. It was nice to have a knitting project (the slippers) during the cooler times at Gulf Shores when I stayed inside. It’s getting nicer outside here, so the dish cloths may not get much attention.

Habits

I read fairly often  Gretchen Rubin's blog which originally centered around happiness but has branched out to other aspects of life. Her newest book Better Than Before discusses the formation and changing of habits. I haven’t read the book yet; the blog posts discuss personality types and how each type is motivated to create and maintain habits differently. It is important to understand one’s self to know how best to approach making changes in habits and routines.

Maybe because I have been focused on the subject of habits via Rubin‘s blog and upcoming book, I picked up on a link in another blog to an article about the poet Mary Oliver and her remarks about habits. I think her remark is profound, but I haven’t yet teased out its importance for me.

“The patterns of our lives reveal us. Our habits measure us. Our battles with our habits speak of dreams yet to become real.”

I think we all have aspects of our lives we know we should change. These battles may have better outcomes if we understand the nature of habits and how they are tied to our personality type. What are the patterns of my life? In what ways should I change these patterns/habits? I plan to read Rubin’s book eventually; meanwhile, I will do a little introspection to understand what my patterns reveal and my habits measure about me. I took Rubin’s personality quiz and was somewhat surprised by the answer. It is making me rethink my approaches to life, how I see reality and relationships.

Gulf Beachcombing

One of the reasons I choose a seaside place for our winter get-away is that I like to spend time beachcombing. I wasn’t able to do quite as much as I desired because the weather became inhospitable with a brisk cold wind the last 3 or 4 days of our stay. I knew from some internet discussions that Gulf Shores is not considered a very good place for finding shells. Perdido Key was often mentioned as a better alternative. I did have better success at Amelia Island last year. 

I found a lot of small sand dollars at Perdido Key and a razor clam shell. Most of my finds I pick up because they have texture, color, or shapes that interest me. Very few are intact. I picked up quite a few oysters and kitten paws this year. The small whelk pieces appear to be pear whelk. At Amelia Island last year I only found two tellin with the radiating rays of color. One of the most plenteous shells at the beach a few blocks from our cottage were tellin! Sometimes I am not sure the difference between coquina and tellin. The coquina have circles of color I guess while the tellin have rays of color? They are very similar in shape and size. The pictorial index I used last year seems to call something different a tellin and the photo of coquina includes both circle and rayed color. Other internet sources make a distinction.

The golden and cream shell piece comes from a pear whelk. I found 2 pieces of Scotch Bonnet but one was quite discolored. A small bit of sea urchin is new to my collection.

I don’t really know what I will do with these large oyster shells. I brought home a small piece of driftwood as well. When I set up my display again, I will decide whether these will work; if not, I will discard them. Always easier to discard than to wish one had picked up an item left behind on the beach.

 My husband is talking of going to Arizona next winter instead of a beach. I’ll have to find a different way to pass time.

Odds and Ends

I see the hyperlink I thought I had put beneath the photo of reindeer moss ended way at the bottom of my post. Reindeer moss supposedly can be eaten. It is highly recommended that one leach it or cook it first as it is high in acid and can give one a stomach ache if eaten without any processing. Caribou eat a variety of this lichen obviously without cooking it so one wonders just how accurate the information is. I would have to be pretty desperate to try ingesting any of it.

On a happier note, I do have something tasty to suggest. I often try crockpot recipes while on our winter get-away. This year we tried Crockpot Chicken Fajitas. We liked this so well I will probably make it here at home soon.

Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 yellow onion, sliced

3 sweet peppers, sliced

2 boneless chicken breasts

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cumin (I had none to add; I used some red pepper flakes in the rental cottage cupboard)

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1-2 tablespoons lime juice (I squeezed a fresh lime)

tortillas—flour ones for fajitas

cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole (I had no guacamole to use)

Instructions:

1. Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot

2.Lay chicken on top of the veggies

3. Pour chicken broth over the chicken

4. Sprinkle everything with cumin, salt, and chili powder

5. Squirt the top with a bit of lime juice

6. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for 4-6 hours)  I found chicken and veggies done at 6 hours on high

7. When meat is done, shred with two forks and stir back into the juices

8. Serve with your favorite fajita mixings

Adapt for your own spice level.

 

I received my 1095-A form for filing health care subsidy information on the IRS form a few days before leaving for Alabama. I received an email just before we headed home telling me it was incorrect and that I should wait to file my income tax documents. I have been reading the comments below the announcement made on Healthcare.gov blog. A good many people have not received the 1095-A form at all. People contacted the marketplace about address changes, yet the form was sent to the old address. I had informed them back in November via phone that I would not be purchasing insurance from the marketplace in 2015 as I would be on Medicare. The lady read me a scripted narration to which I had to agree that I understood I would no longer have marketplace insurance as of January.

They automatically re-enrolled everybody who did not apply for a different coverage. I received a bill from my insurer in January and called them. They would not disenroll me. Had to be informed by the marketplace. I simply didn’t pay and so finally in early February was told I no longer had insurance. Of course I had Medicare insurance. It did diddlysquat to call the marketplace and wait on hold 20 minutes in November to inform them of my change. There are all kinds of horror stories about people who called to report changes and those changes were not digitally input. For some, that means repaying part of the subsidy. One lady kept being told she had no 1095-A under her account; turns out they created a 1095 form under her husband’s name who has Medicare and thus no account, but after a month of 30 phone calls she still hasn’t received the form she needs.

So I have joined the elite club of problematic 1095-A forms. I usually try to file my tax forms by mid-March. I have been given no estimate as to when I will receive a corrected form. At least, I won’t have to file an amended tax report since I didn’t file before the snafu was found. The weird thing is that the amount shown for my premium and the amount shown for the subsidy are correct; the wrong column is the Silver Plan used to calculate subsidy amount. They input the 2015 instead of the 2014 Silver Plan cost. But that wrong amount wasn’t used when they calculated the subsidy and probably only affects people who opted to get the subsidy in an annual amount when they filed with the IRS in 2015 rather than someone like me who received a monthly subsidy in advance. Still, I have to wait because the final form won’t match what the IRS finally has in their records. I did a quick glance at the 8902 IRS form and you better believe the government made it complicated. I see I do need to finish my regular 1040 first so I guess I will do that much while I wait for the corrected 1095-A. Makes me really glad that I had Medicare in January and thus don’t have to face 1095-A issues for having marketplace insurance in 2015.