A Dream to Reality

We went from a warm spring day wearing no coats to it cool and wearing coats yesterday. It is 0C this morning with a tiny skiff of snow. Today is to be warmer but not spring like. 

Lifestyle

 Yesterday was shopping in the Valley and I got what we needed from the stores we don't have here. It was a nice trip with Daughter-in-Law. 
I did mention that a goal without a plan is only a dream. Here I found the way a dream becomes reality. 

Love, love, love it. 

Budgeting

One of our goals this year was to do a budget. I wanted to make sure that we were spending wisely and that we had money left over at the end of each month. 
The first budget I looked at (family recommended) was an online only budget. You use to be able to buy the budget and do it on your computer. No longer available and not recommended by family. 
Yesterday Daughter-in-law showed me another budget plan which uses Excel. She sent me the link and when I opened it, it was from BC and recommended for Financial Literacy. My first thought was why didn't I know about this when I was a literacy coordinator. I would have used it and spread the word about it. 

Dream to Reality (Budget)

The Dream--having a budget.
The Goal -- this year (like January but better late than never). It has been written down under Explore 2018.
The Plan -- the steps were to find a good budget plan and use it monthly. Even if it will only be 11 months, we will have a good idea of what we are doing with our money. 
The Action -- do up the budget weekly to keep track of our spending. 
The Reality -- It was done and we do know how we spent our money in 2018. 

Sewing

I haven't spent time in the sewing room as I have been coping with a sore back while doing a lot of housework. The pain is very slowly subsiding and the housework is almost done. I hope to get back into the sewing room soon. 

Knitting

Kate's first sweater is done. It fits her and she will model it as soon as I put the buttons on and block it. 

My next goal is to work on blocking the knitting I am doing. 
I set up the black sweater and am trying something different. Lucy Neatby showed using progressively larger needles when knitting a turtleneck so it will roll down on its own.
I am enjoying knitting for the dolls. The projects are small and it is making me

• do swatches to get the correct gauge
• try different ideas I read or watch about
• push myself to learn something new

Though I love my dolls and their personalities, I enjoy learning all the time. On the plus side, these dolls will have amazing wardrobes. My goal is to knit a sweater for myself. I will probably knit a child's sweater first so I can learn the techniques prior to knitting one for myself. 

I am also teaching Daughter-in-Law how to knit socks. We cast on and got 3 rows knit last night. Logger's language prevailed as I find setting up the needles and getting the first three rows done the hardest. She did amazingly well using small needles and fine yarn. 

Today 

I need to work on our budget, clean more house, and shop. Bonus will be the sewing room but it remains to be seen. Everything depends on how much pain I have and how many times I have to rest.