Stop Her She's Knitting

7 Quick Takes (Vol 151)

2012-01-27T09:27:00.001-05:00

Oh the Winter doldrums are in full swing. We haven’t seen the sun for most of the week. And it is snowing.

So lets blather!

Remember, when you are done reading my ~~dull and humdrum~~ side splitting Quick Takes, click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of the snow falling outside my window, over to Conversion Diary.

1.
As if I didn’t have a bazillion other things to do in life…

I have decided that I need to play around with dyeing yarn. It is really all Bonnie’s fault. She just had to go and dye some yarn and then talk about it on her blog. And she had to talk about it at knitting night. And it doesn’t look all that difficult….

Famous last words…..

So I am just going to experiment a bit before I jump in full force.

Did you know you can dye yarn with Kool-Aid? Well you can. And once I have done this then I will come back and show you the results.

Wish me luck.

2.
It doesn’t take much to make us happy here at Chez Knit. We started getting the Wall Street Journal again.

YIPEEEEEEEEE!

It is SO expensive to get the WSJ so several years ago we canceled it. Oh did I miss it. But after a time they start sending you the “We miss you” letters and the “We want you back” emails and then they off a fabulous deal (which will only last a year or so). AND we could get it plus the online addition all for one low price.

Sign me up!

It was so nice to power up the WSJ on the ipad and lay in bed to read it last night. The high of luxury.

3.
Still loving Pinterest.

Just thought you would want to know.

But I have no idea how I am ever going to cook/bake/make/take all the things that I have pinned.

4.
It has been so hard to come down off of our “holiday sugar high”. Man oh man. I will admit that we usually have a small supply of chocolate of some kind that I keep in a jar in the closet in my office. But HHBL and I felt that it should not be refilled for a while. It isn’t that we eat a bag of candy a week, far from it, but we just needed to go as close to clod turkey on the chocolate and candy as we could.

But there are times every day when I find myself wandering through the kitchen and into the pantry to find something sweet. And there isn’t anything…

Well, other than that Hersheys candy bar that I found and consumed.

It is hard.

I want candy.

5.
Because I don’t have ANYTHING ELSE to do around here at Chez Knit. And also to dovetail with my “use it or clean it out” mode. I am going through all my cook books to see which ones I want to keep. I don’t have vast quantities of cook books, only about 30-40, but I was struck by how dusty some of them where when I cleaned recently. If some of them were covered with dust that must mean that I hadn’t pulled them out for a while let alone cleaned in that area. And so, in keeping with the whole trying to be a better meal planner etc. I have been going through them, flagging the recipes I want to try, putting the recipes, title only and type of recipe, into a data base so that they will be easier to find.

Stop looking at me as if I am some nerdy overachieving geek.

Databases are good. And I was born to spreadsheet.

If the cook book is one that I can’t find at least 10 recipes that I would like to try then it goes bye bye.

That hasn’t happened yet but the theory is good.

6.
Hard as it is to believe, I might have had a bit too much coffee on Wednesday.

I know! I didn’t think it was possible.

I had the usual gallon upon arising. And then at Bible Study we had our “before discussion monthly get together” and Kathy brought an entire “to go” container of coffee from Brueggers Bagels and I filled up the travel mug and drank that down. I remember thinking at the time that this might not be a wise idea. But I did it anyway.

I was like the energizer bunny until right about 4p.

Then I came down from the caffeine high and bottomed out and was perhaps a bit comatose.

But it was fun while it lasted.

7.
It is snowing today. And it also rained. And it is cloudy and cold. So we need some humor.

Monty Python is always funny. I just needed them today.

Oh fine, just one more then.

I can’t seem to stop myself.

Oh What To Do

2012-01-25T15:49:00.001-05:00

I am conflicted.

I just don’t know.

Maybe.

Maybe not.

Should I?

Shouldn’t I?

Do you think that I should put this tomato out into the bucket with the other stuff going to the compost pile in the garden?

Or should I wait a bit to see if I can yet use it?

Decision, decisions.

52 Food Adventures-Little Pillows of Goodness

2012-01-24T13:47:00.001-05:00

It is Tuesday and that means that I get to tell you about something that I made or ate that I haven’t ever had before.

First of all I have to tell you that I have absolutely no excuse for not having had these lovely little things.

No excuse at all. I mean if Bill Clinton can come to Cleveland for his first pierogi then I should have been eating them all along. What can I say, sometimes I am slow.

And of course I couldn’t just go out and buy some already made pierogi that are sold in abundance at the West Side Market. Oh no not me. I had to make them from scratch. I was going to take photos of the entire project but once I got started on them I just threw up my hands and said,

FORGET THE PHOTOS!

That is because it quickly became apparent that this was a messy process. I used Martha Stewart’s pierogi recipe that came out of some issue of her magazine. The pictures were lovely and clean. No flour flung left and right. No mashed potatoes stuck to the wall. But Martha has minions to do her bidding.

I have the dog.

Alpha Male I am always willing to help you in the kitchen. You need only ask.

At any rate, where was I? Oh yes, pierogi.

Just as an aside. Can anyone tell me what the plural of pierogi is? I am confuzzled on that.

What I can say about this recipe is that pierogi are little pillows of goodness. Dough filled with potatoes and cheese. Boiled and then fried in butter.

Just take a minute to think about that.

You could eat them just like this. Boiled until they float to the surface, drained and then sloshed with a bit of brown butter.

Delicious

Or……

You can do this with them. Fry them in a bit of butter until they are crispy on the outside and then serve them with sour cream, crumbled bacon and chives.

Mother of all that is holy!

Ummmmmmmm, they were soooooooooo good.

And just as a last bit. Martha’s recipe makes a BOAT LOAD of pierogi. And I will confess that I actually ran out of rolling out/stuffing/boiling mojo before the dough and potato filling ran out. I stuck a bit of dough in the freezer to see if you can freeze it and then use it later. Martha didn’t tell me and I need to know.

The Lonely Mitten

2012-01-23T12:43:00.001-05:00

There is much weeping and moaning and gnashing of teeth here at Chez Knit.

A day of mourning was called on Friday and into the weekend.

A mitten was lost.

Now if you are not a knitter then you might not understand the agony I experienced on Friday when I arrived home and realized that I only had ONE of my newly completed, barely ever worn and not even photographed yet mittens.

I pulled into the garage, gathered up all my stuff, grabbed my mittens….

Only there was just one mitten on the seat. Hmmmmmmm. I looked around. I looked under the passenger seat. I looked in my library bag. I looked under the driver’s seat. I looked beside the doors thinking that may be it had fallen down into some space there.

I looked everywhere.

Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Nien. Nyet. Nope.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

No lovely burgundy mitten knit with Berroco Ultra Alpaca. No toasty fingers on a cold winter day.

The pain and agony was immense. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Shouting of imprecations. Calling on the phone to all the places that I had stopped and begging them to find my little lost mitten.

No go.

So I just had to knit some new ones over the weekend.

Behold……

The Replacement Mittens

You can bet your bottom dollar that when I wore them to church yesterday I kept them close to me. I don’t think that my poor little heart could take another lost mitten.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 150)

2012-01-20T09:43:00.001-05:00

Another week has flown by on swift winter wings. And it is time for your weekly dose of blather. So buckle up it is going to be a bumpy night (I might have been watching too many old movies). Remember, when you are done here then click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of the fast approaching weather system, over to Conversion Diary.

Now lets BLATHER!

1.
I might have mentioned that this past summer HHBL and I bought a new mattress. It had been 10 years since our last mattress purchase and it was definitely time for a new one. And we made a drastic change in the type of mattress.

Yes, it is “firm” underneath BUT it also has memory foam AND a pillow top.

Oh my stars and garters it is the most fabulous thing EVAH! I get in bed at night and my weary body sinks down into luxury and happiness and comfort. My shoulder issues have disappeared.

But there in lies the problem so to speak. The bed is fabulously comfortable. My body is fabulously comfortable, especially when it is warm and cozy under the flannel sheets. And therefore I am having a bit of trouble getting up in the mornings. My arising time has slowly crept towards 5:45a from the usual 5:15a. And today it was actually 6a. HORRORS!

Of course it is also very cold and snowy and dark outside this time of the year. And the heat doesn’t turn up until about 6a. And it is really dark outside and it is always harder to get up in the dark…and the cold. And I already knew that Lea and I weren’t walking this morning as the temp was going to be about 11F and that is NEVER fun.

I can find a boat load of excuses but really, I just like the mattress.

2.
Speaking of the cold and snow. Every year it takes more effort to keep my feet warm. The hand knit wool socks go a long way towards helping in that department but when it gets really cold I am finding that I need to wear two pair of socks, a wool pair and a lighter cotton pair, to keep the tootsies even a modicum of toasty.

And I am also still struggling to find a truly warm pair of slippers for house wear. I will admit that I purchased my last pair from Wally Mart and the minute the temp dipped below 50F I stopped wearing them because they are useless. I am currently subbing a pair of “Pseudo Crocs” with fleece linings that also came from Wally Mart. They are OK but still not warm enough. I will keep looking.

I may actually have to buy some heavier wool for some thicker socks. I am attempting to knit only from stash for the time being but this is more of a comfort issue.

And an excuse to knit socks.

3.
In keeping with my “NO politics after 8p” rule, I did not watch the Republican debate last night. I value my sleep much more than I value listening to them bash each other.

I have to say that as far as keeping my sanity and sleep patterns is concerned this is one of the best things that I have done for myself since I became more “politically conscious”.

I slept like a baby. And by the time that I arose all the pundits had parsed the debate for me. I like it when others do all the heavy lifting.

4.
The BHAG of scanning in old pictures continues daily. If I don’t scan a bit every day then this gargantuan thing will never get done. And besides, I need a good laugh at least once a day.

I cannot IMAGINE why Mary Beth Reeves and I are dressed up like psychotic bunnies. The really frightening thought is that we might have even wore these outfits to school. GADS! I am even wearing my Saddle shoes, which I absolutely wore until they fell apart. I loved those things.

I used to hang at MB’s house for lunch early in my high school career. She lived right across the street from the high school. The house is no longer there and MB moved away some time around Sophomore year. Does anyone know where she went? I sure would like to know.

5.
This week we finally had the ejection pump in the basement fixed.

Don’t know what an “ejection pump” is? Well, if you have a full bathroom in the basement, a bathroom that is below the level of the septic tank, you need one. It ejects things UPWARDS and into the septic system.

Do I need to explain this any further? I am hoping not although I can if I must. Just know that the pump had slowly been dying over time. It hadn’t ever really been well after the whole “multiple paper towel flushing” incident many years ago. The one where the ejection pump became, shall we say temporarily inoperative, and yet people kept flushing the toilet. And that meant that the effluent (look it up) had to go somewhere and that somewhere was out onto the carpeting.

Ask TMO about my reaction upon finding the effluent on the carpet. Go ahead and ask her. I believe she still has nightmares about it.

But thanks to Nick our trusty plumber it is all done.

We won’t be able to eat for awhile do to the cost but at least we can use the bathroom in the basement.

6.
Have you been watching “Downton Abbey” on Masterpiece Classics. I have as we all know. Love Love Love it. Totally hooked. In fact I had better go and set the DVR to record Sunday night’s episode.

Do you know who Simon Schama is? He is a British historian, author and critic. Watching his 15 part series “The History of Britain” was good but time consuming. And he evidently doesn’t like Downton Abbey, calling it a steaming, silvered tureen of snobbery.

Of course it is Professor Schama. Why else do you think we watch it. We KNOW it has improbable storylines and is historically inaccurate. We don’t care. It is FICTION for the love of Peter, Paul and Mary. Get down off of your overly educated high horse and tell us something that we don’t know.

Like who actually killed the little princes in the tower.

Sorry, obscure historical reference. I will try not to let it happen again.

In other words, put on your big girl panties and get over it.

7.
The sun is shining this morning. The sky is a clear blue and no clouds are in sight. And that just makes me nervous. The calm before the storm.

And sure enough, we are supposed to get more snow tonight. The weather person is telling us that they are giving us a “heads up” that sever winter weather is on the way for tonight and into tomorrow.

Sigh. Our “snowless” state was nice while it lasted. Thank goodness I don’t have to go anywhere tomorrow.

Oh Spring come quickly. And just remember baseball Spring training starts in just a few short weeks. And Baseball Opening Day is April 4.

That isn’t TOO far away.

Popovers For Dinner Are Good For Me Right?

2012-01-18T18:23:00.001-05:00

There are times when HHBL isn’t home for dinner. And on those nights I sometimes indulge myself with making something odd and specific for dinner.

Tonight it was popovers.

I have a strange and strong love for popovers. And when I have perfected the recipe I will tell you about it and show you how to make them.

But it is not this day.

This day I am just eating these light and eggy nuggets of sheer goodness.

With lots and lots of butter.

And a lovely, cold glass of Menage a Trois Chardonnay. The perfect compliment.

What? You mean I am not supposed to slather on butter to the point that it runs down my chin and onto my fingers?

What do you know? I had three of these pillows of perfection for dinner. They were FABULOUS.

52 Food Adventures–Thai Curry

2012-01-17T15:56:00.001-05:00

Or, How I came to see the beauty of Coconut Milk

My choice this week for something that I have never made or cooked with or eaten is….Coconut Milk.

And I picked it because I wanted to make a particular family recipe, that has come down to me from my Great Aunt Margaret. Aunt Margaret and Uncle Kenneth were, for 10 years, Presbyterian missionaries to the country of Siam. Thailand to you and me….

You know, THAI CURRY.

This recipe came from her. And she brought it back from Siam when they had to return in 1937. And it is……FABULOUS.

I want to apologize in advance for the quality of the pictures. It was night time when I was cooking this. And I hadn’t ever made the recipe before. And there might be some pictures that are missing from the process.

Whatever.

Remember, the recipe link is down at the bottom of the post.

The first thing that you do is open the can of coconut milk. It is going to look solid and congealed on the top. That is the “cream”. You need to scrap that out, put it into a bowl and set it aside because you are going to add it at the very end.

It looks like marshmallow fluff and it smells like all the coconuts in the whole world have come to reside in your house. I just stuck my nose down in there and gave it a good sniff.

Then you are going to give the chopped onions a bit of a saute. I will tell you that the original recipe called for pearl onions to be added later in the recipe. I have an aversion to canned pearl onions as I think they have WAY too strong a flavor and aftertaste. So I fiddled a bit with the recipe.

Turn the heat down to low and then add the coconut milk

Then mix in the curry and the peanut butter. I found that it was best to sort of mix the curry into the peanut butter first and then add it to the coconut milk. I will tell you that I only use McCormick Curry (Spice Islands is owned by McCormick incase you wondered). I like the taste the best. And every curry tastes different so find one that you like and stick to it.

Then in goes the lemon juice and the brown sugar. Half a lemon seems to just about right for my taste.

Then the shredded chicken goes in.

Then the smooshed up garlic. All you need to do is smash it a bit, not even chop it. It is going to melt into the sauce and be wonderful.

Finally throw in a small stick of cinnamon. It sounds odd but you absolutely need it.

Just remember….to take it out before serving. I forgot. HHBL found it. Oops.

And finally, throw in some raisins. The recipe says to use them as a condiment but I put them in the actual curry so that they could plump up a bit. Then give everything a good stir.

But try not to be TOO enthusiastic about stirring.

Let everything cook gently while you are making your jasmine rice. Your house is going to smell just like a Thai restaurant!!

>>>> THAI CURRY <<<<

Oh, I have to tell you just a short family story to go with this. The final picture is taken on one of my Blue Willow plates. Grandma Amsler (Margaret’s youngest sisiter) also used Blue Willow plates, which is why I love them absolutely and completely. One day, many years ago, Grandma A. had placed her entire set of Blue Willow dishes out on a shelf. I think she told me once that she was cleaning out the cupboard where the dishes were kept and she needed to put the dishes some place temporarily.

At any rate, the shelf gave way. The dishes gave a gigantic SWOOOOOSH….and crashed to the floor. Almost all of them were broken. Now Grandma was a Presbyterian minister’s wife and there wasn’t money to be able to buy any dishes….

But Aunt Margaret took care of that.

She bought Grandma a new set.

What a sister!

Oh How Time Flies

2012-01-16T14:16:00.001-05:00

I might have mentioned last week that one of my BHAGs for the year of 2012 is to spend time scanning in all the pictures that I have taken over the years before the advent of digital cameras.

Now that doesn’t mean that I am going to scan in EVERY picture. There are some that aren’t worth keeping even in digital form. But that only takes out a few pictures. There are so many more.

So that also means that there might be more volumes of Pictures From the Crypt. I thought I might warn you now so that you aren’t so shocked and permanently scarred when those posts come along.

BRACE YOURSELF EFFIE!

But I digress.

I just have to show you a picture I found today. I am not sure how it came to be in a box of misc. old pictures but there it was.

The is Maxwell the Magnificent on the day that we brought him home. For some reason the date stamp is wrong cuz it was 9/3/01 not ‘02. He was SO quiet for the first week.

Well except for the hours that he spent in the middle of the night bark and whining and making me homicidal. Thank goodness for Pilot Man and his dog training wisdom. Otherwise Max might belong to someone else.

Oh Alpha Male say it isn’t so!!!

Oh this is going to be so much fun.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 149)

2012-01-13T10:13:00.001-05:00

The weather outside is frightful. And inside it is nice and warm. So lets blather for a bit. Remember, when you are done reading my witty insightfulness you should click on the picture above. That will whisk you, at the speed of my fast emptying bird feeders, over to Conversion Diary.

And now on with the shew!

1.
Do you like specific ringtones for specific people or do you just use one standard ringtone for everyone.

Me, I like specific ringtones so that I know who is calling. And the standard ringtones that you get with your phone are always so boring.

So, I make my own ringtones. Or to be more specific I have Mobile17 do it for me. If you have itunes, internet and can receive txt messages on your cell phone then you are good to go. You tell Mobile17 what song you want to use. You tell it where to start and where to end. They make the ringtone and send it to you as a picture txt file and you are good to go.

So of course, even though I had a boat load to do last Saturday, I spent a bunch of time making new ringtones.

Now I know when LookLeap is calling.

2.
I had a bunch of errands that I wanted to do today. Nothing earth shattering or time sensitive but just a list of things that need to get done.

But I am not doing them today because the weather is less than lovely. That is a nice way to say that it is snowing like gang busters and the temp is currently 18F. I can stay home I think. And in fact, I believe I am going to have another cup of coffee and read a book.

I earned it because I actually went out and walked this morning. Long johns, sweats, wool hat, extra sweatershirt with hood, two pairs of wool socks, two pair of mittens and a thick wool scarf as well as the parka…..and it was still a bit chilly at first.

3.
Today I might also spend some time working on one of my BHAGs for 2012. You do know what a BHAG is? Big Hairy Audacious Goal. I have a number of them but the one that I might spend some time on today is scanning in my old pictures…..

And there are a lot of them. My taking of large numbers of photos did not start when I went digital. It was there a LONG time before that. And I just want to be sure that they are all preserved in digital form as the negatives went missing during some move somewhere.

But it takes so long to scan pictures and all that goes with that. I am not even re-editing any of them at the moment, only scanning in.

Does anyone else do this? Other than my father who is spending his time scanning in all of his old slides….boxes and boxes and boxes of them.

4.
AND I might watch a DVD today as well. I haven’t had the chance to watch any of the DVD’s that I received at Christmas. So “Everybody Loves Raymond” may be in my future. Or perhaps another viewing of “The Holiday”, a movie that just makes me smile and smile.

Or I could revert to an old favorite standby like Aliens.

Oh the possibilities are endless.

5.
Plus I need to work on my knitting KAL. A bunch of us at Tri-County Knitaholics are doing the Traveling Woman shawl.

I have to say that all of us had a bit of trouble with the cast on. Not because it was in any way difficult because it really wasn’t. It just happens to be a cast on that isn’t my favorite. But there was a decided air of frustration for a bit. But now I am whizzing along.

Not that there is any competition between us.

Nope, not a bit.

Because, you know, I am not a competitive person.

6.
Can I tell you that I am more enamored of my ipad with each day that passes. I read on it. I check email. I am not tied to my computer. I even took it into the kitchen this week because there was a recipe for Rosemary Bread that I had found on Pinterest that I wanted to make. Rather than printing it out I just took the trusty ipad into the kitchen and looked at the recipe that way.

And I figured out that I can lay in bed and watch a gluttonous number of YouTube videos. I am currently obsessed with InTheGarageTV channel.

The Redneck making fireworks in the garage is particularly funny.

7.
And finally. One of my neighbors just figured out that I have this crazy blog. And she has been reading back through ALL of them. That means all the way back to 2008 when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. And frankly was a rather boring writer. Not that I am not boring now.

Never mind. Moving on.

And she wondered if I ever mentioned neighbors, other than LookLeap that is.

HI LINDA!!!!!!!

See, I do mention the neighbors.

But only in the nicest terms cuz….they all know where I live.

I Am A Housewife Therefore I Eat Bon Bons All Day? Yeah Right.

2012-01-12T15:56:00.001-05:00

I am many things. I am a wife. I am a mother. I am a photographer. I am a blogger. I am a gardener.

And I am a housewife.

Or as I like to term it

NINASHINDA NYUMBA!

Which is Swahili for “I conquer the home”.

Many a year ago, when I still actually had progeny at home and underfoot, I had another woman, who should have known better but evidently didn’t, ask me what I did all day at home. I believe her words went something like,

I don’t know how you can stand to be home all day. What do you do? I would be so bored.

I looked at her. Just looked. And then I consigned her to the same “category” as the grocery store clerk who, when I was filling out a form to get a rewards card said,

Oh, you are a house wife. So you don’t have a job.

Lord have mercy the Smack Fairy needed to make a quick trip to visit that girl.

But I digress.

There is never a dull and down time moment here at Chez Knit. Even with no progeny at home. I actually have to “schedule” at least one firm day at home every week otherwise things just go to heck in a hand basket.

This is what my day was like today. Cuz I KNOW you wanted to know.

1. Up at 5:40a. I overslept. Well really I fell back to sleep after my alarm went off at 5a and I listened to the first ten minutes of NPR

2. Coffee. Feed the dog. Let the dog out. Let the dog in. Let the dog out. Let the dog in. Make my breakfast, two eggs sunny side up and two pieces of rye toast.

3. Write the daily “Elixir of Life” post. It gets the brain going that is for sure. A cranium, having to produce a minimum of a two line poem every morning will wake up quickly.

4. Clean off desk.

5. Take shop vac to the basement to vacuum the Christmas decorations area before stacking all the boxes.

6. Before I can do that I need to vacuum and rearrange the pathway to the decorations area, restacking some boxes and just neatening.

7. Then I needed to vacuum another area over by the workout equipment so that I could move the bikes that are stored in the basement so that I would have a clean and clear path to move the Christmas decoration boxes.

8. After vacuuming that area I moved all the boxes and restacked them.

9. Then I realized that I wanted to rearrange another area in the basement. HHBL and I are going through a number of boxes of “papers”, shredding old bank statements etc. And so then I spent time shredding some of my old bank statements.

I felt like the assistant to a dictator, in the basement of the government building, frantically shredding important documents before the opposition got there.

Or not.

10. Then I had to re-vacuum that area because I made a mess. And I had to move a small table into the finished area of the basement but I also had to move the couches so that the small table would look right.

11. Then I had to make some lunch. And watch a PBS program that I had recorded, which cut off 10 minutes before the end so I had to go to the computer to research how everything turned out. Francesca Woodman-photographer-killed herself.

12. Back to the basement to put away the Christmas wrapping station that is scattered all over. And spend time going through all the stuff and pulling out old gift bags that have seen better days as well as some wrapping paper that I think is older than the progeny.

13. Go through a basket of stuff that Shoe Queen had eliminated from her “stuff” that we have stored in the basement. Find that one of the things that she was discarding is her old ipod, 30G, classic. A bit scratched and scuffed and….I dropped it on the concrete floor in my excitement.

14. Spend time figuring out if it still works. Yes it does, but it’s battery was totally depleted so had to charge it up.

15. Spend time wiping ipod memory and re-installing all my music. It isn’t like I don’t have “Dahling” my ipod touch, who goes everywhere with me. It is just that the music player in the kitchen is suited for an ipod classic and this is going to be SO great to have it work like it is supposed to.

16. Fiddle with ipod to make sure that just music downloads.

17. Somewhere in there I also put two chickens in a pot to cook, let carcasses cool, picked the meat, put the bones and stock back on the stove to cook down a bit.

18. Wrote blog posts for two different blogs.

19. Caught up on my journaling.

20. Cleaned up the kitchen. Ran a load of dishes. Did some dishes by hand.

No job my every lovin’ ass!

I apologize. I used the word ass. I will try not to do it again.

Polydogethane

2012-01-11T15:11:00.001-05:00

I am going to complain today so be prepared. I am feeling squirrely

And WHAT is wrong with being squirrely I ask you? All MY friends are squirrely.

Moving on. That was gratuitous use of a squirrel picture for humorous effect. I apologize.

Thank you!

We all know that I love Max the Wonder Dog. Despite is tendency to shed enough on a monthly basis to knit a sweater. And his terrible breath. And his tendency to eat butter.

Thank you Alpha Male!! I love you too.

Can I have a treat?

Or a cookie?

I need to go out.

SQUIRREL!

But he has a bad habit. Well, he has more than one bad habit but there is one that just sends me through the roof.

Makes me crazy.

Drives me nuts.

He licks my kitchen floor.

Yes, yes I know he is a dog and that is what dogs do. I get that. But there is licking the occasional crumb off the floor, not that I HAVE any crumbs on the floor, and giving the floor a bath. Lovingly licking it as if that strip of floor right by where I cook and bake is a new born puppy in need of cleaning up.

We didn’t notice it at first. I didn’t really pay attention. But then I began to wonder why the floor was discolored in a three inch wide strip right under the lower kitchen cabinets. I was confuzzled. It wasn’t that when I washed my kitchen floor I just skipped that part. It was still there AFTER washing.

And then I walked in one day to see the floor in that area was wet and the dog was laboriously licking the floor, moving slowly along with his big dog snout stuck under the cabinet.

Sssssschlurp. Sssssschlurp. Ssssschlurp

MAX!!!!!! STOP THAT!!!!!!

I am so sorry Alpha Male. But there was essence of food on the floor and I couldn’t help myself.

And he is SO sneaky about it now that he knows it is verboten. He can be very quiet when he wants to be and when I exit the kitchen it isn’t unusual for him to slip in on silent hairy feet and lovingly bath the floor in essence of dog saliva. It has gotten to the point where when I leave the kitchen I will pause and then quietly sneak back in to see if I can catch him at it. Sometimes I do….sometimes I don’t.

Yes, that discoloration on the floor was actually an accumulated layer of dog saliva. And it is very difficult to remove from the floor once he lays down a layer or two. It is sort of his own version of floor grade polydogethane. It is a constant struggle between us.

He licks the floor. I clean the floor.

It is my secret pain.

Sea Foam Salad or What To Do With That Lime Jello

2012-01-10T14:36:00.001-05:00

We have all been confronted with it.

You know, that box of Lime Jello that you inexplicably bought at the grocery store. Most likely because there was a “sale”. But then you got home, you looked at it and thought,

What the HECK was I thinking! Lime Jello?? I don’t even know what to do with Lime Jello!

Well, I am going to help you with that dilemma, because I have the perfect recipe to use what I consider as one of the most useless ingredients on the planet, lime jello, to make the most fabulous salad.

This isn’t TECHNICALLY adhering to the rules for “52 Food Adventures” but I am going to go with it because I am going to bet that most people have never cooked with Lime Jello. I wouldn’t unless I was using this recipe. It is Tuesday and I was out of ideas. Dandy love me and she won’t mind.

Oh I should tell you that here at Chez Knit there is some controversy about this “salad”. There are some who feel that the more proper designation for this recipe would be “dessert”. I will let you decide. I just call it deeeeeeeeelicious.

These are all the ingredients that you are going to need. Just 5 little things to bring you bliss.

Remember to include your progeny in the joyful process of cooking. Here Shoe Queen demonstrates her love for Sea Foam Salad.

Drain the canned pears but remember to reserve the pear juice. You will need it later.

Smoosh up the pears and set them aside. They will be added in a bit. I would suggest that you smoosh them up fairly fine. It is OK to have little bits of pear in the salad but not big chunks.

That is just a really disgusting color. This is 1 cup of the pear juice mixed with the box of jello and then heated in the microwave until very hot but not boiling. The jello has dissolved and the whole thing smells like a giant vat of green liquid Lifesavers.

If you have all the time in the world you can just let the jello/juice mixture cool to room temperature on it’s own. Or, you can help it along a bit.

While the jello is cooling you need to beat the cream cheese and the cream together until they are married and ready to go off on their honeymoon.

I didn’t take a picture of that. It was just too personal.

Then it is time to introduce the jello/juice to the mixture. Just pour it in and turn on the mixer. But don’t turn it on with too much vigor because you will then be cleaning lime jello off the walls…

Not that I would know anything about that mind you.

Moving on.

Don’t be alarmed by the slightly broken look of the mixture. It is fine and will even out when you add the cool whip.

Add the mashed up pears and continue to mix.

Then add the entire container of Cool Whip and let the mixer GENTLY mix it all together. No need to beat it within an inch of it’s life. You could even fold the stuff in like Julia Child would probably do.

Nah, just use the mixer.

And finally, when you have mixed it all together, put it in the serving bowl and let it sit in the frig for 4+ hours until it is thoroughly set, you have………….

Sea Foam Salad. Try not to eat it all in one sitting. Your waist line might never forgive you.

Oh and just a word of warning. If you have longish hair and you are the one making the salad and you decide to clean off the mixer paddle but licking it clean.

You might want to pull back your hair.

Just a suggestion.

>>>>> SEA FOAM SALAD <<<<<

A New Hampshire Primary Poem

2012-01-10T07:37:00.001-05:00

In today's New Hampshire primary, they vote for Mitt or Newt.
Or John or Rick or Ron or Rick whichever one will suit.
But I'm not paying any mind to what goes on with them,
I'm just waiting for my Joe to wake up my brain stem.

This has been your Elixir of Life and Political post for the morning. You can thank me later.

Oh Dear

2012-01-09T15:24:00.001-05:00

I might have mentioned that it has been a brutally mild winter here at Chez Knit. It is almost freaky how little snow we have had and how much sunshine.

The sun rarely shines around here in the winter time. But this year we have had sun and “warm” temperatures for the most part. I mean today it is 45F for the love of Pete!!

Don’t get me wrong, I am not actually complaining about the warmer weather and the lack of snow. It is just that sometimes warm temps can cause some things to get all Springtime happy a BIT too early.

I am looking out my kitchen window on Saturday afternoon and what do I see, sticking their heads up out of the snow…IN JANUARY.

My Daffodils that is what. So not good. Because I can tell you with some certainty that we will have more snow. And we will have more cold. Daffys can handle some of that but if there is too much cold then their little tips will be all yellow and ugly.

They are coming up all over the back garden.

And what is even WORSE is that some of my Day Lilys have stuck their tender little heads up to see what is happening in the garden. The daffodils can handle a bit of the cold but a day lily cannot.

Of course then there are the pansies that have self seeded all over the place. They think the snow and cold are just find and dandy.

Pansies are just plain crazy.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 148)

2012-01-06T11:37:00.001-05:00

The holidays are over. The new year has begun. And I am still trying to finish up tasks from 2011. Sigh. And here we are gathered altogether to read the first blatherings of the 2012. Joy. Remember when you have thoroughly perused and dissected my ramblings click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of Newt Gingrich’s falling poll numbers, over to Conversion Diary.

And now it is time to bring on the blather!

1.
Well, we finally had some snow this week. About 6 inches on Tuesday and into Wednesday. At one point it was snowing so heavily that I couldn’t see the street. And then the next second it would be sunny.

Sunny-Blizzard-Sunny-Blizzard-Sunny-Blizzard.

Just a typical Lake Effect Snow warning here in the Frozen Northeast Ohio.

2.
Slim Jim was here for a visit last week.

And I didn’t take a single picture of he and Shoe Queen together.

And I call myself a professional photographer. Sheeeeesh!

3.
We are about ready to give Time Warner Cable the big heave ho here at Chez Knit. They charge too much. The cable prices keep coming down and yet they are unwilling to extend those lower prices to long standing customers. And they are rude about it which just makes the whole thing even worse.

And lest you suggest that we go with a dish of some kind….we looked into it and had them come out and the trees really screw up the whole “line of sight” thing. They wanted to put the dish in the middle of the side yard right by the street. Ummmmm, no thanks to that. I questioned whether he was telling me that just because he didn’t really want to get up on our roof to do the install.

So we may just get internet from someplace else and then go with Netflix streaming as well as the DVD portion we have now. Not sure how this is going to play out but I do know that Time Warner Cable is a dirty word in this house.

Stay tuned for updates.

4.
I have yet to take down my Christmas decorations. I have been “consolidating” some of them in one place (the dining room) but most everything else is still up.

January is always a hard month for me to get motivated to do anything as it is. And the thought of having to take down and put away Christmas decorations is just hard to get excited about.

Maybe I can just claim to be very proactive and organized and say that I ALREADY have my decorations up for Christmas 2012.

No?

Drat.

5.
I am anxiously waiting for the next Netflix DVD that is in my queue. It should arrive today. I hope it does…..

It is the last DVD for the first season of Downton Abbey. And since the next season starts on SUNDAY I wanted to refresh my loving memories.

SUNDAY!!!! SQUEEEEEE!!!!!!!

I had better get the DVR set right now so that I can record and re-watch. The thing is, some of the stuff that we are going to see on Sunday has already aired in the UK and I happened to read about some of it.

I am not saying a word here because I don’t want to spoil anyone’s surprise. All I can say is…..

Well, I am not going to say anything. Just know that Sunday night I am going to be glued to the local PBS station.

6.
In the whole 2012 vein of “being more organized” I am also toying with the idea of planning out what I am going to be reading this year.

It isn’t possible for me to totally plan that out, I do occasionally pick up a book at the library that I didn’t know I needed to read. But I think it is possible to have some sort of a reading plan. I have done it in the past but not kept it up very well. All those literary rabbit trails get me off track.

I am sure that I will expand this into an entire blog post when I have it more nailed down. That shouldn’t surprise you. I will tell you that the first book that I will finish for 2012 (today I think) is The Eleventh Day: The Full Story of 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden. It has been very interesting and gripping reading. Non-political, factually based, deeply researched. The non-political part was particularly appreciated as 9/11 has become SUCH a political hot button.

For those of you who are intense readers, do you plan out your “reading course” for the year? If so what does it look like? I am always curious.

7.
I might have mentioned last week that I am participating in 52 Food Adventures sponsored by Dandy over at Spontaneous Clapping. She is blogging on it every Tuesday. I will be participating but I am not sure if I will be producing an entire blog post on it every Tuesday. I will try to but I may also just do a “blurb” on the weekly new ingredient/technique/food when I write my 7 Quick Takes. I totally fell down on the job the FIRST week (which doesn’t bode well) because, even though I cooked with an ingredient new to me….I didn’t take any pictures of the process or what I made.

Insert dope slap here

I made 5 Bean Soup with Chorizo and Chipotle. It was VERY good. And the ingredient I had never used? Chipotle peppers in adobo. I know, I know, how could that be!! But it is true. Oh those little suckers pack a punch. I put in only half of the peppers called for in the recipe and it was still pretty darn smoky/zippy. Just what we needed for a frosty Winter night. It made a big batch so there is some that went right in the freezer to be pulled out some time later.

I will admit that I am still perfecting my “cooking beans from scratch” technique.

They are supposed to be slightly crunchy right?

Right?

Hello?

The Birds! The Birds!

2012-01-05T15:13:00.001-05:00

Are you tired of reading about my birds?

Tough!

I can tell you that the addition of suet to the winter feeding routine has brought out some more unusual birds.

The Pileated Woodpecker is here every day. And he is SUCH a bully. Of course he is the size of an elephant in the bird world compared to some of the others. And those birdie claws are very impressive. He swoops in and everyone else scatters. But he does love his suet.

And of course the Bluebirds of Happiness love the suet too. I am not sure why they are called the Bluebirds of Happiness because they always look a bit angry to me.

Who are you calling angry lady!

And of course then there are the Cardinals. We do see them in the summer time but they don’t come to the feeder as often. It is usually just the Chicadees, Titmouse (teehee), Flicker, Goldfinches, House Finches, Blue Jays (the bullies of the bird world) and others. I hear them but don’t see them all that often. But come winter, especially when there is snow cover, we see a lot of them.

Of course I now have a new problem related to the suet that I have been putting out.

A four footed problem.

A dog problem.

It isn’t really a problem so much as an irritant. Suet is fat that has been melted and cooled, melted and cooled along with adding birdie treats. You repeatedly melt and cool it so that it stays hard when the weather warms up. But some of the fats still seems to dissolve a bit when it rain falls or the snow melts. Not a lot but a bit.

And Max the ever hungry dog has figured out that he can stand under the suet feeders and laboriously lick the deck or the snow.

And I do mean laboriously.

I am sorry Alpha Male. But I am willing to endure some slivers in my tongue for the pleasure of melted suet.

These Are NOT Resolutions

2012-01-04T15:22:00.001-05:00

I do not “do” New Years resolutions. I don’t do them because I know that I will invariably fail. And then I will get all depressed. And unhappy. And moody.

You get the picture.

What I do is set some fairly easily attainable goals that I can work on over the course of the year. And I try to actually write them down not just think about them. If they are written down then they are some how more concrete. It keeps me honest. It keeps me on track. Nothing major like “I am going to lose 30 pounds this year!”

If I wrote that one down I would just stare at it and laugh. “Diet” is a four letter word to me. Believe me, I have been on enough to know that they never work, at least not for me. If I cannot have that chocolate chip cookie then all I will think about all day long is the chocolate chip cookie. All. Day. Long.

Hmmm, I seem to have digressed just a bit.

The list isn’t long. It isn’t all that detailed. It might even be a bit boring for that matter. Don’t tell me if it is. I am a tender plant that bruises easily.

1. Put a bit more planning into meals
I have become VERY lax in this department. VERY. When the progeny were still at home I was a fiend for planning meals. But now that HHBL and I are the only ones here….not so much. It is not an uncommon thing for 4p or even 5p to roll around and for me to ask the dreaded question of myself…

I wonder what we should have for dinner?

And then I spend time trying to figure it out and if there is meat involved trying to figure out how to get it thawed and cooked. Too much pressure. And I end up falling back on the same recipes rather than trying something else. I love to cook and bake so if I just put a bit of time in at the beginning of the month I wouldn’t be tearing my hair out on a Wednesday afternoon. And I am going to be participating in Dandy’s 52 Food Adventures! A 2012 Challenge so I had better do some planning. My “new” ingredient for this week was chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I forgot to take pictures of the soup I made but trust me it was good. 5 Bean Soup with Chipotle Peppers and Chorizo. AND why didn’t anyone tell me about the “kick” that those things have. Holy Momma!

2. Knitting From The Stash
This will not be a difficult as you might think. At current count I could produce 15 pairs of socks with the sock yarn that I have “in the cupboard”.

And then there might be all the yarn that I need for this little project…..

It is all wrapped up and just waiting for me to start………..

Plus there might be some alpaca that is crying out to be a sweater of some kind.

Plus I REALLY need to get going on the sweater/hat for the Booshy sprout who will be arriving soon. She doesn’t know so don’t tell her OK?

And who am I really kidding. I am sure that I will buy some yarn this year. Just a little bit. Just a smidge. Maybe some more alpaca since I am going to be where there are a lot of alpacas.

And I am fairly short on sock yarn.

Yarn Hoarding? What yarn hoarding?

3. Learn how to sell stuff on Ebay
How hard can this be REALLY. And I have a bunch of stuff that I have cleaned out and that needs to be disposed of but is too valuable just to take over to AmVets.

I am now in possession of the book “Ebay for Dummies” which should be just about my speed.

REALLY, how hard can this be. Famous last words.

4. Continue the clean out process here at Chez Knit
I will continue to clean out and dispose and reporpose and reuse and blog about the whole thing over at The 100 Days Cleanout.

And when I am done with THAT 100 days then it will be 100 days of cleanout out and deleting photos that I will never be using or editing. I cling to all the photos that I take like the Queen of England clings to her oversized handbag.

Don’t you sometimes wonder what she keeps in that thing? It can’t be money or keys to the Royal mini van.

No?

Never mind.

5. Work on growing my business
I am a photographer. I am a photographer. I am a photographer.

And to keep me honest I have to tell you that I do have a business…..

Hidden Moments Photography.

AND that there is a website now. It is small. It is simple. It is evolving.

It is Hidden Moments Photography

Really, I am a photographer. And isn’t that just a kick!! I get tickled every time I think about it.

And then I get really scared.

6. Publish my “Elixir of Life” posts in book form.
I will let you all know when that happens. And I am also thinking calendar. Who knows. I will keep writing them until the elixir well runs dry.

And there are people that are hoping that happens very soon.

Well, I think that will do it for now. None of these are lofty and unattainable. None of them are earth shattering. All of them are dear to my little heart.

I will keep you posted.

Yearly Goals? Not In This Post.

2012-01-03T15:05:00.001-05:00

This is not the post that I intended for today. If you could view my blog schedule you would see that today I had fully intended to talk about my goals for 2012. I don’t do “resolutions”, I set goals. And sometimes I hit them.

But today I didn’t even hit the goal of blogging about goals. I have a good reason. Really I do.

I have been playing with pictures and the Hidden Moments website and watching the snow fall and fall and fall.

And that means that I procrastinated and didn’t get the blog post written.

But I did take a picture or two of the Pileated Woodpecker who has now decided that he loves my suet feeders.

Every time I see his big, claw tipped birdie feet I think I am an extra in Jurassic Park.

Those sure look like Raptor claws!!

The New Year Is Here!!! But I Am Not Done With 2011

2012-01-02T13:33:00.001-05:00

In what has become my blogging habit I will spend the first blog of 2012 looking back at 2011.

I like to wrap up life in a nice, neat little package. And since I didn’t blog last week this is what you get. And it is Loooooooong.

Lets see……..

1. I got back on Hi Ho Silver my trusty bike and managed to ride a total of 289.58 miles. It wasn’t quite the 300 miles that I had hoped to log but then we did have a particularly rainy summer….and I was a tad rusty on the trusty bicycle.

2012 will hopefully be filled with more biking miles and more road kill reports. Being on a bike brings you so much closer to what is lying in the middle of the road.

2. I read 34,753 pages. That equals 109 books. 34 Non-Fiction, 74 Fiction.

Not too bad I must say. It seemed like the Year of Fiction which is unusual for me as I tend to lean toward history and other non-fiction stuff. But I am re-discovering my love of fiction. Who knows what will happen this year as I am spending more time reading on the ipad.

You know I will tell you eventually.

3. There was a bit of traveling done in 2011.

We spent some time in Tucson visiting Dapoo and Linda. There was sun and warmth. There was snow. There was a dog that got to lick the spoon every day. I played Scrabble for the first time in many years. There was that unfortunate Scrabble game in 1997 that nearly scared me for life.

We traveled to NYC for the Quigg Family Reunion. 5 days full of food, family and fun. As well as strange pictures, subways, crowds and the occasional stop for ice cream.

We traveled to Virginia to attend the wedding of TSiL’s twin brother, The Future Doctor to the lovely School Marm. There was fun. There was laughter…..and there was that unfortunate Deb stepping on the wedding dress train and ripping it incident.

But we won’t talk about that.

4. There might have been a bit of knitting.

35+ projects in all. Numerous hats. A bunch of lace. 9 pairs of socks.

Remember, I knit so I do not kill.

5. There was…The Garden.

A year full of record breaking rain. A tomato hornworm infestation. Flowers galore. Obsessively laid out garden beds. Total zucchini failure and fresh lettuce galore.

So of course next year we are expanding our garden by adding a 20x20 foot plot.

We want to grow potatoes.

6. I actually claimed the title of professional photographer.

7 And finally…there might have been a picture or two of various things.

Birds!

Squirrels!

Baseball!

Cow Butts!

Who knows what might happen in 2012!!

7 Quick Takes (Vol 147)

2011-12-23T10:18:00.001-05:00

For the LOVE of Peter, Paul and Mary it is my last 7 Quick Takes of 2011. How did this happen? Where did the time go? Yes I know that there is one more Friday in the year but #7 will explain.

You know the rules. After you are done ~~being absorbed into the collective~~ reading my blather you need to click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of fast approaching 2012, over to Conversion Diary to take a look at what others are doing.

And now on with the blather.

1.
I have assimilated Shoe Queen into the Barnes and Noble Nook collective.

Have I ever mentioned that I have a Nook. Specifically a Nook Classic. HHBL gave it to me the Christmas that they first came out. Aragorn and I have gone many places together and been very happy. But there comes a time in every relationship when things change. And that time had come for A and I.

Because, you see, there is a new toy on the block. Mr. Wonderful aka the iPad. And Aragorn wasn’t getting the use that he had in the past because Mr. Wonderful has the Nook App downloaded. But what to do with Aragorn? He still had life in him. But Barnes and Noble is soon to cast off all the Nook Classics into unsupported oblivion.

Ah, but there was a special this week. Turn in your old Nook Classic, purchase any of the three current Nooks (Simple Reader, Color or Tablet) and get a $50 B&N gift card. And it just so happened that Shoe Queen was very interested in an ereader. So I made a deal with her. I gave her her birthday money (she will be 21 next month!!), she put that towards a Nook Color…..

And I pocketed the gift card. Nice deal.

We have seen very little of her since she got Mr. Nook powered up.

And I have spent a chunk of the gift card.

2.
I am going to confess…….

I have yet to do our Christmas card/letter/whatever.

Shocker!!!!!

I think that by now I am just going to have to figure that I will be a trend setter and make it a “New Years Greeting” letter.

Cuz it so isn’t going to get done before Christmas that is for sure.

I KNOW that I said that I would never go to another midnight showing of a movie.

I might have been lying just a bit about that. I would think that there is a pretty good chance that I will be seeing this one at midnight.

4.
I am declaring next month as “Totally selfish knitting and reading” month.

It totally works with the fact that when January arrives I just sort of lose my mojo big time. That may be because I am so busy in December. I can’t just slack off totally because I do have to work.

But I bet I can get a lot of knitting and reading done in between.

5.
Oh after the holidays are over it is going to be tough around here at Chez Knit.

There is going to be crabbiness.

There are going to be headaches.

There is going to be moaning and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Why you ask?

Because we will be doing the annual “cleaning out of all sweets and junk food”. All those lovely little (and large) containers of holiday goodies that people have given to us or I have made. And those sweet nuggets of goodness.

And because all of that stuff will be going bye bye that means that I will be wandering around every afternoon looking for something to eat that isn’t fruit.

It isn’t going to be pretty but it must be done.

6.
TMO and TSiL arrive some time today.

HURRAH!!

But we will be without Cartoon Girl this year as she has to work the day before and the day after Christmas.

BOOOOOOO!

However, Cartoon Girl had the brilliant idea that we could all be on Skype together when we are opening the presents that she sent.

As Freeman, my Amish carpenter, would say.

Yah, we can do dat. (you have to say that with an Amish accent to get the full effect).

7.
I am taking my planned annual blogging break next week. Unlike my unplanned semi-break this week. I really didn’t have that much of an excuse other than I was just lazy.

So sue me.

At any rate, I will be back on January 2 with a review of 2011 and all the boring and semi-boring things I did.

There might be pictures.

There might be blather.

Be prepared.

And until then have a Very Merry Christmas, and for Bonnie, Norma and Amy a Very Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New Year to all.

Chirp

2011-12-21T15:08:00.001-05:00

Birdies, birdies, birdies.

I love birdies.

Not all of my children do. One in particular is not all that fond of them.

But I digress. And I am going to be dead as a doornail when she sees this.

Let’s take a look at some of the birdies that have been visiting the feeders. I have been sitting in front of the back windows way too much recently. Other things aren’t getting done. But who cares. I have pictures of the birds and that is all that matters right?

Right?

Whatever!

The Bluebirds of Happiness have been absent the last few days.

What are you lookin’ at!

You know, I might need to think about washing this particular window more often.

Bird butts!!!

Tufted Titmouse. And yes I giggle like a Jr. Hi. boy every time I say that name. So sue me.

Flicker!

Mmmmmmmm. I love these seeds. CrunchCrunchCrunch

Hello? Can I get another basket of seeds for the table please.

I was deeply into finding the perfect shot of squirrel toes never knowing that I was actually shooting squirrel porn.

I hang my head in shame.

Moving on. Nothing to see here.

I have something very special for the birdies on Christmas say.

Remember these from the garden this summer?

Well, we were able to harvest them before the birds were able to get to them.

There was a fairly good yield. And let me just say that harvesting sunflower seeds from their rather tight resting place was not for the faint of heart or tender of fingers.

I’m just sayin’

So Christmas morning I will be adding these to the feeder on the back deck to give my birdies an extra special Christmas treat. I know they will appreciate it.

Hello?? What about me? My family? My in-laws? Hello?

If You Are Going To Do Something, Do It Well.

2011-12-20T12:04:00.001-05:00

At Christmas time I pull out all the Christmas linens. The table cloths. The napkins.

These are some of my favorite. They have bears on them. They make me happy.

Ummmmmmm,

Wait a minute.

Something seems to be wrong with the napkin.

This piece of napkin really won’t do much at the dinner table.

Well I am certainly not going to be looking for the missing portion of the napkin that is for sure.

I am so sleepy

All that roughage

I think I need a na……..

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

7 Quick Takes (Vol 146)

2011-12-16T11:28:00.001-05:00

How the time doth fly! How the blather doth pile up. Remember the rules. Read, digest, comment on and generally take in my blather. Then click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of Santa’s reindeer, over to Conversion Diary.

Blatherty Blather McBlatherson

1.
What a week! Tonight is the last “party” of the season here at Chez Knit and it is really just 4 other couples that we get together with regularly. It will be relaxing. We will laugh. I am not doing all the cooking. It is sort of my reward for all of the other partying that has gone on around here.

And there will be lasagna.

And there will also be Rosemary Infused Baguettes.

Also a glass of wine or two.

I can hardly wait.

2.
I believe that I have accomplished all the Christmas shopping. Well all except for some stocking stuffers.

One of these days I am going to do a brain dump about our philosophy on Christmas presents here at Chez Knit and how it has evolved since the progeny were little. That might be a soap box post and I will leave it for another day.

I will say that there have been years when I was still shopping the day before Christmas and that is such a stress increaser for me. It is so much nicer to have everything done at least a week before hand. Then I am not so crazed.

Or at least more crazed than I usually am.

3.
I went to an ornament exchange at a friend’s house last night. I knew you wanted to know this.

My sister of the heart, Dottie. She is standing to my left. In fact everyone in this picture was there last night just as an aside.

But I digress.

I love Dottie. Love. Love. Love. She designed my kitchen. We commiserated together during our “Summer Horribilus” when her hubby had a heart attack and HHBL had the broken ankle/cast for weeks/multiple blood clots in the lung incident. And she is my employer. But best of all she is my friend.

And I had such a good time last night that, even though I had brought the camera with me, I didn’t take a single picture. I was laughing too hard and eating too much and talking loudly with people I don’t see very often and with people I see all the time.

It. Was. Fabulous.

AND I got to see Tracy who reads the blog but whom I never see anymore. HI TRACY!!!

Oh and I won a chocolate Santa. Not one of those hollow ones. Oh no, this is a SOLID chocolate Santa that weighs a boat load. I might as well apply it directly to my hips.

AND AND I brought home a Snow Woman for the mantle piece. Of course I stole it. How long have you been hanging around here!! That makes it all the sweeter. And all the Snow Men are very happy with me cuz now there is a woman there.

Look! The Bluebirds of Happiness are here at Chez Knit. There will be a longer post about the birds later, maybe next week. You knew it had to happen since I seem to be obsessed with them. I have seen the Bluebirds flitting around the neighborhood but they have never hung around here. However, I put a suet feeder out this year and they REALLY seem to like that. At one point this morning there were four of them waiting their turn to peck at the seeds in the suet.

I have pictures.

Now if I can just get a good picture of the Pileated Woodpecker.

5.
Our church, Christ Community Chapel, has a Christmas tradition that I just love. We call it the “You’ve Been Gifted” campaign. I am not sure when we started doing this but everyone looks forward to it.

During the Christmas season we blanket the area with 10,000 acts of random “giftingness”. There are cards that are printed out that you can give when you gift someone. You could buy someone in line a cup of coffee, or a tank of gas, or an entire cart of groceries. You could do something nice for someone. Whatever the Lord presents for you. And on Sundays Pastor Joe tells us about one or two of the stories that come back to him through the emails that people send. Amazing.

I had been looking for my opportunity to use my one card. Waiting for it, knowing that the Lord would show me. Well this past Monday I bought a man some much needed diapers for his son. The man didn’t know me. I am sure that I will never see him again. I wasn’t even sure that I got the right size diapers. But when I handed him the box you would have thought that I was handing over a pot of gold.

It just made my day. Which isn’t really the point of the “You've Been Gifted” program but just a side benefit.

6.
I am telling you now, come the first of the year, or after Shoe Queen goes back to school, we are having a “purging of all sweets and bad things from Chez Knit”. There are cookies here and candy and sweets of various types and cake and all manner of other temptations.

They must go.

And then HHBL and I will be very grumpy for a time because we will be coming down off our weeks long sugar high. It will not be pretty but it will be very necessary. Otherwise I am going to have to buy all new clothes to cover my holiday jiggle.

7.
And because it is my favorite scene in a movie that is full of my favorite movie scenes.

NUTTAFINGA!

Sap!

2011-12-15T16:45:00.001-05:00

I will admit it. I love all the " end of the year" specials and retrospectives.

I would tell you that I hang my head in shame but I would be lying. Lying big time.

Case in point, I just spent part of the afternoon watching the Barbara Walters Most Interesting People of e Year special that I had recorded last night. Come on you know you love it!

I live for the NY Times Magazine "The Lives They Lived" that will show up in about two weeks. I pour over it. Of course I spend more than my fair share of time reading the NY Times obits but that is another story entirely.

Hmmmmm, I might have wandered off course for a moment. Where was I?

And all the holiday movies, both classics and made for TV. Be still my beating heart. I have already watched "White Christmas" at least once. Who wouldn't love a movie where people break into song at the thought of snow in Vermont. I also have a particular fondness for the schmaltzy movies on Hallmark Channel that show up this time of year. And then there is "Come to The Stable" which no one seems to know about. It has snow and nuns driving jeeps and music. What could be better.

Of course we will be indulging in the 24 hours of "A Christmas Story". It just wouldn't be Christmas without being able to quote all our favorite lines.

It's a CLINKER!!!!!!!!!!!

Just call me the chief sap of Christmas.

An Ornament a Day

2011-12-14T16:07:00.001-05:00

I have to share one of my Christmas traditions with you. I just must. I thought I had already done this but I can’t find a post on it anywhere so if I am repeating myself….

Well you still have to read the post. You love me.

Many long years ago, 1981 to be exact, I was a poor nursing student slogging my way through blood and guts and gore.

Or not. They don’t usually let nursing students anywhere NEAR blood and guts and gore. But remind me some time to tell you about how I earned an instant A+ on my Senior nursing project. Deb Does Neurosurgery.

Where was I?

So, one day I come back from whatever it is that nursing students do all day and there was a package waiting for me. A package from Grandma Amsler. SWEET! I was the only granddaughter (always was!!!) and that afforded me certain extra privileges.

It is good to be number one and only.

I opened up the package and pulled out a rolled up piece of what looked like burlap with gold tassels sticking out the ends.

What?

I unrolled it to find….

A felt Christmas tree sewed to the burlap and covered with gold ric rac and little hooks. There was also another package inside and a note from Grandma Amsler. In the note she explained that this was an Advent Calendar for me. Now I was confused for a minute (or more) because for an advent calendar to work you need to start on Dec 1 and go to Dec 24. This was mid-November and I was going to be back home for Christmas break long before Dec. 24 rolled around.

Never fear, Grandma had it all figured out. She had found out from Mimi what day I would be arriving home. She had counted back 24 days from that date and the letter informed me that this was the day that I should start putting ornaments on the tree.

Clever Grandma Amsler.

And the ornaments!!!

There were a number of ones that Grandma had knitted or crocheted.

There were felt ornaments. I still think that making the skate blades out of paper clips is one of the cleverest things!

This had cloves in it and it smelled fabulous. Technically it still has cloves in it but the smell is long gone.

Of course there had to be at least one of Grandma’s signature wheat weaving ornaments. These things still fascinate me.

A clever use of postage stamps. I am amazed that these things are still stuck together.

Several star ornaments that she had crocheted. You cannot believe how delicate the stitches on these are. And I sure wish I knew what she used to stiffen them.

A clothes pin reindeer!!!

Hmmmm, well he was OK when he arrived but time does wear on some ornaments.

And Grandma even put in one of her special bells that her sister, Margaret, brought back from Siam in the 1930’s. This is my favorite of all.

Every year since the first I have continued the tradition of hanging up my advent calendar. Grandma never meant for it to be a permanent thing, she was very surprised when I told her years ago that I still had it. She was pleased I could tell.

I remember how much it made me feel the presence and love of home.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without it.

I Cannot Be Trusted With Even Small Numbers

2011-12-12T14:11:00.001-05:00

Saturday night was the company Christmas party here at Chez Knit. A rollicking time was had by all.

Or at least that is what they TOLD me. I am sticking with it.

The appetizers were all ready.

The punch was made. The wine was chilled. The Christmas music was playing softly. The table was set. All was ready.

Everyone arrived safe and sound and the party started. I had planned to have appetizers for about an hour and then sit down to dinner before moving on to our Annual Company White Elephant Gift Exchange. Sounds good.

There was a slight glitch when I realized that the chicken wasn’t cooking as fast as I needed it to so I just turned the temp of the oven up and hoped for the best.

Mingle, mingle, mingle. Chat, chat, chat. Nosh, nosh, nosh. Almost time for dinner.

And it was at that point that I made the fateful and ultimately face saving decision. Because heaven forbid I look like an idiot.

I asked Yvonne to do a final head count for me. It really wasn’t necessary. I knew how many should be there because Evite had told me how many had responded. The table was set for eleven people just like Evite had told me. And why would Evite lie to me.

Hey Deb, I did the count and there are, including HHBL and yourself, thirteen people.

Ummmmmm, Yvonne did you say THIRTEEN people? You are sure it isn’t eleven people like Evite told me there would be?

No, there are thirteen.

Thirteen people?? How could this be? I know that there weren’t any uninvited hangers on who just showed up.

Look at the people in the family room. Look at the table in the dining room. Look at the people. Look at the table.

And then it struck me. Yes, there were eleven GUESTS here. But I had neglected to add HHBL or myself to the count.

***insert LARGE dope slap right here***

And there in lay a problem because, you see, we can seat up to twelve at the dining room table if we put two people at each end. But we cannot seat thirteen.

ShootShootShoot~~Shit~~ShootShoot~~Shit~~ShootShoot.

Quick as a wink I zoomed to the basement and grabbed the folding card table and brought it quietly upstairs. Thank goodness I didn’t need to use the chairs that go with the card table. They are really grody.

I ignored the cobwebs on the underside, slapped that baby down at the end of the table by the kitchen, threw a sort of matching table cloth on it and had MaryJayne help me rearrange place settings and move chairs.

And no one knew the difference. Or at least they didn’t say anything about it.

Other than the fact that there were three of us sitting at a card table at the end of the big table. Slightly lower. Slightly wobbly. Sort of child like. I almost got a glass of milk just to make the picture complete.

Obviously I cannot be trusted with even small numbers when giving a dinner party.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 145)

2011-12-09T10:38:00.001-05:00

Tick, tick, tick, tick. The days just fly by and the to do list just never gets done.

And yet here we all are ready to dive into the weekly blather. So remember, after you have dissected and digested my witty banter click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of fast approaching Christmas, over to Conversion Diary to see the rest.

Now on to the blather.

1.
One big party down. Our Flocks (small group bible study) group is here tonight.

And then the company Christmas party is here tomorrow night.

After that there is just one more group here for dinner and that isn’t until the 16th.

I hope my poor body lasts.

My poor, ever expanding body.

Cookies, Cinnamon Raisin scones, appetizers, wine, meat, CHOCOLATE, cheese, BUTTER, sugar. These seem to be my only food groups for the month of December.

Yes, thank you to who ever brought me that little “sleeve” of Frango Mints. Did you know that those are my ABSOLUTE favorite chocolates in the whole wide world. I did grow up in the Chicago area after all, at a time when the only place that you could get Frango mints was at Marshall Fields. Melt. In. Your. Mouth.

2.
Well, we finally have a bit of snow overnight, just 1/2 an inch maybe. Much better than last year when we had 20+ inches fall with a Winter Storm Warning for days.

In the immortal words of Mitch Jayne, “Just a skiff of snow with everything outside slicker ‘n deer guts on a door knob”.

But our so far mild winter just makes me nervous. Very nervous. When will the snow really come. Because you know it will come.

This is the Frozen Northeast Ohio after all.

3.
Can I tell you how much I love my job. I love it. I do. I love taking architectural pictures. Low stress. Looking for the little details. Looking at the fabulous kitchens.

And I do mean fabulous. Cabinets to die for. Acres of gleaming granite countertops. The occasional built in beer tap or butler’s pantry to covet. And then there are the lovely people who let me invade their space and take pictures.

With the added benefit that I am getting to drive into some of my favorite areas in the Frozen Northeast Ohio. I have been to Gates Mills more in the last month than I was in the 10 years previous. Thank goodness there hasn’t been any snow cuz some of these houses are not reachable without 4 wheel drive in bad weather!

And then there is the occasional dog who poses for a picture or two.

4.
I love The Welcome Home blog. I look for new videos all the time.

Have kleenex ready is all I am saying.

LOTS of kleenex.

5.
I continue to be totally in love with Pinterest. What did I do before it came into my life.

This time of year I begin to struggle with dry hands and heels. There are things in all our lives that can totally disturb our day. For me it is if my hands and heels are dry. The heels especially.

Having skraggy heels just gives me the skeeves.

But no more. Because of Pinterest I have found the best “recipe” for hand/foot cream. My hands and feet are SO happy. And cream only has three easy ingredients that I got at Wally Mart.

You must make this! Homemade Hand Cream

6.
Because I have so much to do these days I am fulfilling my addiction to audiobooks.

Poor HHBL never knows if I hear him when he is talking to me because I often times have my earbuds in. I just get more done when I can have an audiobook to keep me company.

And my favorite for the last several weeks…..P.G. Wodehouse.

Well PGW has been a favorite for a long time I must confess. I do not believe that there is another writer who can be equaled in droll, side splittingly funny, urbane humor. HHBL keeps asking what I am chuckling about but it is just too difficult to explain.

Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry do a pretty good job of it I must say.

7.
I might have mentioned before that I love marching bands.

LoveLoveLoveLoveLove.

So let us end with a stellar performance by the WVU (West Virginia U) Marching Band and their salute to our armed forces.

This was serious work. And it is fabulous.

You Tube I Love You

2011-12-08T15:16:00.001-05:00

It is Christmas Time. I have a boat load of stuff to do.

I have work pictures to edit.

I have two parties this weekend to get ready for.

I have basic house stuff that needs to get done.

So what am I REALLY doing?

Why I am wandering down memory lane watching old music videos that I am sure I watched on MTV long before they went down the rabbit hole.

Just a word, some of these videos may not play here because they make you go over to YouTube to watch them so someone gets a paycheck (probably a lawyer).

Do it, you know you want to.

Who could ever forget Bad English and “The Price of Love”. Oh the 1980’s and the big hair. Bad English didn’t last long but John Waite is still around.

And there was Squeeze with “Tempted”. I listened to this one CONSTANTLY at one point.

And then……

I found them.

Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

Oh ELP how I loved you. I listened to you hour upon hour upon hour. But can I just say that Keith Emerson’s posture is TERRIBLE! Now back to the trip down memory lane.

Sitting in Papa’s office in the leather chair with the sound cranked. How did Mimi stand it in the days before portable music devices AND before I owned my own stereo system. Of course, I did use the headphones at times.

My guess is that I am listening to ELP in this picture. Just a guess. Of course Grandpa’s jacket is as loud as the music.

But I digress.

Ah the Monkees. They weren’t really very good but how could you resist them. This video has 54,562 views….and about 4K of them are mine.

I can’t seem to stop myself!

I love this song! But I have to confess that tooth of his drives me crazy. It looks like it is trying to make a break for it.

And finally,

Because you knew I would,

The Dillards playing “Dooley”. Of course I hear this one all the time because it is my cell phone ringtone.

No one ever said I had good taste.

The Buffet Is Closed

2011-12-07T11:35:00.001-05:00

It is a good day. A satisfying day.

A “squirrels can’t get on the feeder” day.

Ah the morning sun feels lovely. Just the kind of day to visit the rooftop buffet I am thinking.

Hello? What is this? Who locked the access door to the rooftop buffet?

Dang it! I am going to have to go and talk to the management about this.

Hello? Hello!!! Is anyone in there who can help me? The buffet seems to be closed.

Hellooooooooooo? Anyone? Anyone?

This is really a poorly run establishment if they don’t even have anyone behind the glass to answer my questions!

Where could they be?

Well this is just ridiculous! I am never bringing MY business back here if this is how they treat long time customers.

In the immortal words of Vernon Dursley…….Justice!

I Love Therefore I Steal

2011-12-06T14:12:00.001-05:00

I am beat.

I am bushed.

I have Ornament Exchange hangover. And there wasn’t even any alcohol involved.

But by golly I had fun last night.

Oh the possibilities this pile of ornaments represents. The joys. The sorrows. The gasps. The groans.

The stealing.

But first we had to eat.

The same thing happens every year. I plan food. And people bring more food. And there is so much good food. And DESSERTS!!!! And when I look at all the food arrayed on the island I think,

We are NEVER going to eat a tenth of this.

But we manage it. Oh yes we do.

And then, once I can make myself heard over the ~~earth shattering din~~ gentle murmur of voices we move chairs into the Family Room and the happy joy of stealing begins.

The rules are as follows, in case you didn’t know.

1. #1 picks a gift and unwraps. We ohhhhh and ahhhhh
2. #2 can either unwrap a gift OR she can steal #1’s gift and #1 then unwraps another. Etc, etc, etc through all the numbers.
3. No ornament can be stolen more than twice.
4. You man not steal back an ornament that has been stolen from you.
5. There will be NO colluding between participants (this is the Hope and Heather rule).
6. All wrapping goes with the ornament if it is stolen.
7. You may not steal your own ornament. If you liked it so much when you bought it you should have purchased two.
8. Do NOT get attached to your ornament until the end of the “exchange”.
9. #1 ends the exchange when she either decides that she likes her ornament OR swaps with someone else cuz she is the only one who didn’t have the chance to steal.

My word I am tired just writing those out. We always go over the rules and this was important last night as we had three “newbies”.

These women have always SEEMED so nice and kind!

Cute frog! Anne didn’t own it for very long I am afraid.

And Anita starts the insanity by stealing the frog from Anne.

And then Kim steals the frog from Anita.

Kathleen started off with these…..but they were soon gone.

Then there was the cute green elf….. which was stolen by Heather, an ornament thief of some renown.

Oh sure, it looks like we are all admiring the ornament. But really everyone is assessing where they are in the number line and if they can manage to steal that ornament for the second time. It was really a cute ornament. And Sandy did not manage to keep it.

Cough those ornaments up Carolyn!

Mine, all mine.

Who wouldn’t like a line of Reindeer Rockettes.

Enjoy that ornament Lin.

But not for long. Did you think I wasn’t fully willing to participate in the ~~stealing~~ free exchange of ornaments?

Puhleeeeze!

Poor Mary Mac. Even though she didn’t set the record for the most ornaments stolen (that would be Cheryl who had 5 different ornaments appropriated) she had several very cute ones reassigned. I believe that she is asking for visitation rights.

Hope does not look all that remorseful at the ornament agony Mary is experiencing.

And finally it was all done. All the ornaments unwrapped and redistributed.

I tell you, my stomach hurt from all the laughter. And the good friendship. And the fun. And the food.

It may take me a year to recover.

I Think I Will Take That Ornament Thankyouverymuch

2011-12-05T14:50:00.001-05:00

It is the first Monday in December.

The snowmen are all assembled on the mantle piece. I keep thinking that I will put them someplace different every year but they always demand to be on the mantle and so I comply.

The various Nativitys (Nativities? Nativiti?) are up on the shelves. There are several to the left that didn’t get into the picture.

The Santas are all Ho Ho Ho in the dining room.

The Christmas tree is up, lighted and decorated. And can I just say that it was not a pleasant experience because when I went to decorate the thing yesterday I found that two of the strings of lights were only lighting for about half the bulbs. And because I wanted to get it all done yesterday that necessitated a trip to Wally Mart on a SUNDAY. Can I tell you how much I loathe going to Wally Mart on a Sunday. L.O.A.T.H.E.

I have become distracted. Where was I? Oh yes, all the decorations are up and festive.

And that means that…….

Tonight is the annual ~~Orgy of Stealing~~ Ornament Exchange. That time of the year when I stress out that I haven’t made enough food and that there is something that I have forgotten to do, like clean the bathroom (already done).

This year it is pouring rain. And I am very happy about that. This would be the 12th annual exchange that has been celebrated here at Chez Knit and during those years we have had a variety of weather.

There has been rain, like this year.

There has been relatively balmy weather, maybe once.

There has been snow. And sometimes there has been A LOT of snow. The first year that I started on this journey of madness it began to snow as ladies were arriving. And I don’t mean a gentle snow. I mean the stuff that is unique to the Frozen Northeast Ohio…..Lake Effect. The stuff that can come down at the rate of 2-4 inches an hour. And because of the length of our driveway everyone who arrives here by car likes to park on the street or the cul de sac. That is fine and dandy….except if it is snowing heavily.

It is an uncomfortable experience to be ~~yelled at~~ chastised by the city snowplow guy. Very uncomfortable.

But all is now in readiness. The food prep is almost all done. My kitchen floor is relatively clean if you don’t look too close. I am hoping that I have vacuumed up all the dog hair elephants. Oh I hope so.

And last but not least is the ornament that I give everyone who shows up. I am going to show you what I made this year. If you are attending the soiree now is the time to stop reading.
***

***

HOPE YOU NEED TO STOP READING RIGHT NOW!!!!! YOU TOO LOOKLEAP!!!!

***

They turned out so darn cute.

Now on to the stealing…..I mean Ornament Exchange.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 144)

2011-12-02T13:43:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it! Another week gone by. Another week closer to Christmas. Another week when I didn’t get nearly enough done. Oh well.

You know the rules. After fully reading, thinking about and digesting my blather click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of Herman Cain’s falling poll numbers, over to Conversion Diary.

And here comes the blather.

1.
Did you notice? I managed to make it ALL the way through NaBloPoMo.

I’m still geekin’ out about it!

There were several times when I just figured that I would throw in the blogging towel and say the heck with it. But then I pulled up my big girl panties and got on with it.

Now my bloggy brain thinks that I should just keep on posting every single day. See how far I can go with it.

Not that I cam competitive or anything.

2.
My crazy need to make things and my perfectionism almost got the better of me yesterday. I decided that I needed to make some Christmas ornaments to give to my prayer partners at our monthly breakfast, which happened to be this morning.

And then I decided that I was going to crochet them.

And I don’t crochet all that often.

And then I had to find just the right pattern.

And then I had to go and buy some crochet hooks cuz I didn’t have the right size.

And then I had to try out the different patterns until I found one that I ~~could actually do~~ thought was right.

My brain was as scrambled as this pile of discarded ornament starts. But I finally found one that I liked. And I managed to crochet 9 of them by 9p.

They are either hearts…

Or evil faces.

But I am going for hearts.

This must be why I do not crochet all that much. Knitting is my forte.

3.
I have discovered the most fabulous addition to a basic ham sandwich.

I was fiddling around yesterday with what to have for lunch.

Ham, yes. Provolone cheese, yes. Mustard and mayo, yes.

And then my eyes lit upon a small jar of peach jam that LookLeap had made over the summer.

Say now! That might be an interesting addition. And let me tell you that it is over the top good.

So good that I had another one today for lunch.

4.
Chock up another “Debbie Do It Myself” project.

I might have mentioned that I was thinking about putting a squirrel baffle on the fab birdfeeder. I had an old baffle that I wanted to use but no holder to keep it on the pole. And I didn’t want to go and buy one if I could figure out how to make one.

So I went wandering in Home Depot. That is so dangerous cuz I can find A LOT of things that I absolutely want. But I stayed focused. And I found what I thought would work. And it all cost less that $10 total.

Two hose clamps plus a bit of foam rubber to give a good grip. One “floor and ceiling plate for 3/4 in IPS” to make a small platform for the baffle to rest on. Voila! A squirrel baffle.

And then to be extra perfectionist I moved the feeder just a bit closer to the sliding door and just a bit farther from the railing.

And the squirrels have been unable to get to the feeder.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Why are you so cruel to me? How will I get through the Winter? Oh my heart!

5.
I have 28 ladies coming to the house on Monday night. We have our Flocks group here next Friday night. We have the company Christmas party here a week from tomorrow. AND we have a core group of friends coming for dinner on the 16th.

And I don’t have a single decoration up.

And I haven’t done any of the food prep for Monday.

I am in such deep doo doo.

6.
I lost my drivers license this morning when I took a walk.

Oh heart pain.

I came in from walking at the lake and put my hand in my pocket to pull out my phone and my drivers license and……

I only found my phone.

Not a good feeling let me tell you.

AND I only had about 40 minutes before I had to walk out the door again for prayer partners breakfast. AND I hadn’t showered yet.

But back in the car I went and drove back over to the lake. And I couldn’t find my license. Near the end of the walk I had pulled out my phone because I had gotten two txt messages but it wasn’t in that part of the path.

And I was bordering on panic and thinking I was going to have to get a new license and not go to breakfast with my friends. And I had my heart all set on a smoothie and that thought was fading fast.

And then it occurred to me that I had had my keys in the same pocket that the license had been in. And sure enough, I walked over to the area where my car had been parked and looked around and finally found it.

Not a great way to start the day.

7.
And just for you for the Christmas Season.

Where Did The Time Go

2011-12-01T08:06:00.001-05:00

How can it be?

Oh my heart, my heart.

It cannot possibly be…..

be……

be….

CARTOON GIRL’S 25th BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Little did HHBL and I know when Dr. McG ~~ripped her from my womb butt first~~ delivered her what the future held.

She came out talking and babbling. We should have seen the handwriting on the wall!!

She has always had her own “unique” sense of style. We won’t talk about the “middle years” when most of the time she wore an old gray wool shirt of HHBL’s that he had put in the AmVets bag. That was a style alright.

The girl wears dresses now!! Vintage dresses!! This is the kid whose mantra growing up was “I am not going to wear that! It is girly.” Wow how times change.

This may be the last time that she voluntarily wore the color pink.

She lives in the big city and thrives there. Here she is ignoring me as I take a picture in the subway of her ignoring me.

I live to annoy my children. It is my payback for their growing up years.

Her sense of humor is wicked. Her laugh is infectious. Her brain is a repository of fantastically obscure movie knowledge.

And she takes funny pictures with me.

What more could a mother ask?

We are super duper extra special fantastically proud of you Cartoon Girl.

Now go and sing some Karaoke!

I Have So Many Other Things To Do Today!

2011-11-30T14:51:00.001-05:00

I have so many things that I need to get done today. Am I doing any of them?

No!

I am happily editing pictures today.

I find that now that I have better editing software and better editing skills I go back and re-edit pictures.

Accra, Ghana 2006

I cannot convey to you what this market smelled like. What any market in Africa smelled like for that matter. A unique melange of spices, rotting fruits and veggies, poultry and meat that had been out in the heat for a bit of time, bodies that have never been introduced to the concept of deodorant, the intense smell of freshly made peanut butter, the ripe hint of sewage. And the smoked fish market in Kumasi!! I had to put those clothes in a plastic bag afterwards they smelled so bad. In fact I can still conjure up that smell in my mind.

It is fun to go through the pictures with a fresh eye. And since I now have that dang iPad and I can display pictures fabulously I want the ones that I import to look tip top. Especially if I am showing them to a perspective client (like tomorrow).

Now back to Ghana.

In the figurative sense of course.

The Christmas Decorations Are Still Waiting.

2011-11-29T14:54:00.001-05:00

Today was the day when I was going to get all the Christmas decorations put up.

But it in immortal words of Aragorn

It is not THIS day.

I will say that I have managed to get all of the boxes up stairs. There really aren’t that many of them but still enough that it took a number of trips up and down the stairs. And there are still several boxes to go. But that is all that is getting done today I am thinking.

It isn’t that I haven’t had a very productive day because I have. Today I have:

- managed to turn on the mixer on high with the bowl full of flour, spewing the flour all over. I mean ALL OVER.

- forgotten that I had the mixer kneading bread dough. I had my ear buds in and I just went on to the next task. That bread kneaded for at least 20 minutes and the mixer was VERY WARM and I could smell how hot the motor was. Not. Good. But the bread is delicious.

- fought a losing battle with the squirrels and the new feeder. I am going to have to construct a squirrel baffle.

Why would you want to baffle me? I don’t understand?

- broken a dish

- done 4 loads of laundry

- thrown out several newly purchased containers of yogurt because I didn’t read the label and didn’t realize they were sweetened with Splenda. That explains the massive headache that I had yesterday. AND they tasted terrible, sweet but flat. Serves me right for buying store brand. Should have stuck to Stoneyfield. And yes I know it is terrible to waste them and throw them out but I will never eat them. I avoid any and all artificial sweetners if I can.

So I have decided to just call it a day and go and do some knitting. And maybe re-watch the finale from The Walking Dead which I am totally unsure of my feelings on. Or watch my Netflix movie. Or watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow parts 1 & 2.

But the Christmas decorations will have to wait for another day. But they can’t wait too long cuz I have 25+ ladies showing up at Chez Knit on Monday for the annual ~~stealing orgy~~ Ornament Exchange. We know everything will be decorated by then.

Or at least I hope so.

Turkey Orgy Hangover

2011-11-28T15:57:00.001-05:00

How was your Thanksgiving?

Mine was fabulous. Fun filled. Full of family. Lets look shall we. You won’t know half these people but who cares. My family is crazy enough that it doesn’t matter.

There was Family

Good thing Papa didn’t see how ~~crazily~~ vigorously the boys were swinging in swing. Oh man. These boys are all cousins. The red shirted ones belong to Heather, the blue shirted ones belong to Laura.

I am glad that I had girls.

When will I ever learn that when the cousins are around nothing is sacred. Imagine my surprise to find this little picture “gift” on my card. Of course it was the West Virginia cousins so I guess it should be expected.

There might have been Bloody Marys with all the “sides”. In our family that means celery, dill pickle, olives, corchons AND pickled Brussels sprouts. DEEEEEEEEELICIOUS!

This Turkey

Went into this

And came out looking like this

So that we could stand around and eat the turkey skin right off the bird. I have never seen TSiL move that fast.

Did you say TURKEY SKIN!

There was thanksgiving for all that the Lord has blessed us with. And for those men and women who put themselves in harms way to provide us with safety.

And there were PIES! Loads of pies made by TMO.

Be still my beating heart did you say PIES!

And of course our annual Christmas Card picture

Which one should I use I wonder?

Short Story Sunday

2011-11-27T16:33:00.001-05:00

These were my gerbils when I was growing up. They lived in a gerbil ~~isolation unit~~ cage on top of the toilet. Isn’t that where everyone keeps their gerbils so that they can scare the pee right out of you in the middle of the night. Well that is where we kept the cage. Except when I took the cage to the basement to clean it.

And fell down the stairs.

And broke the top off the cage.

And scared the gerbils so much that they stayed in the cage.

At first there were two gerbils. And I think we had been assured that they were both females. At least that is how I remember it. I would have had no idea how to check for that at that age so we just relied on the pet store. Not a good idea.

And then, one day, there were more than two gerbils. There was a nest of squirming pink hairless gerbil babies. SWEET! More gerbils to love and hug and play with and feed.

But we did not know something. Something vital. Something important.

You need to remove the Papa gerbil from the cage. Remove Papa Gerbil and break up the happy family??? Never!

And the next day there weren’t any squirming hairless pink baby gerbils. There was only fairly distraught Mama Gerbil.

And very full Papa Gerbil.

And then soon after that the gerbils escaped, ran under the sink in the bathroom and were never seen or heard from again.

I hope you enjoyed my gerbil story.

No?

Blame it on NaBloPoMo.

A Post About Absolutely Nothing

2011-11-26T16:53:00.001-05:00

I think the title just about says it all doesn’t it. And I have to be truthful and say that if it weren’t for the whole NaBloPoMo thing I so wouldn’t be blogging today.

HHBL and I are experiencing what I can only describe as

Thanksgiving Food Orgy Hangover.

If my pants were on fire I might have trouble finding the energy to get up and put them out. It is that bad.

I had a big list of things that needed to get done today and pretty much most of them just didn’t get done.

I did upload all the pictures I took at Thanksgiving but I didn’t get any editing done.

I didn’t get any photo editing done for work either.

And I didn’t get any Christmas decorations put up although I made a start at cleaning out some.

I didn’t get any laundry done because I was afraid I might not know lights from darks.

I did manage to make turkey stock from the turkey bones that I brought back from the Cottage. But it isn’t all that thought intensive to throw a dead turkey carcass into the stock pot along with water and then let it boil and boil.

I did not make any major website decisions or editing. That would have been VERY dangerous.

I did not read anything that was more difficult that “See Spot Run”. And even that was dicey.

I did not watch Ohio State lose to Michigan. My heart couldn’t take that. Nor my head.

I have not cooked dinner nor do I have any idea what it might be.

I forgot to put the bird seed into the feeders.

I forgot to wash my hair.

I am hoping that tomorrow will be better.

Is it time for bed yet?

7 Quick Takes (2011 Thanksgiving Edition)

2011-11-25T07:43:00.001-05:00

Here we are again. Another week gone by. Don't forget that after you are done reading my turkey fueled blather you need to click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of my rapidly expanding waistline, over to Conversion Diary.

Let's blather!

I ate WAY too much turkey

I ate WAY too much pie and Birthday Cake. TMO made the pies and she is a stellar baker. I didn't get a piece of the Apple Pie but I am hoping today will fulfill that dream.

AND she made cake pops which are a speciality of hers. Those were particularly a favorite among the younger set.

And the dog.

I laughed A LOT. Rip roaring, gut busters. That is what family is for.

Note to self....

Do not leave your camera on the table, in full access to unscrupulous cousins, while you use the bathroom. If you do then you might return to find pictures on the card that you DID NOT take and that cannot be displayed without heavy editing. Come back next week for further details.

My retinas haven't recovered yet.

Yesterday I consumed, in no particular order

Cinnamon Swirls

Bambi sticks

Bloody Mary

Nutmeg Coffee cake

Frittata

Fruit

Turkey

Turkey skin

More turkey skin

Beef tenderloin

Mashed potatoes

Stuffing

Onions Mornay

Gravy

Red wine

Coffee

Pie

Cake

Macaroni and cheese

I am still full. And we have more partying today.

Lord have mercy.

Today is our annual "March of The Whie Elephants" which is just our way of saying that we are having our annual party to exchange useless items.

It is not out of the realm of possibility to open a box and find a ream of very old computer paper. Or a Plastic pink Flamingo. Cousin Tim always hopes for those. His wife Ardith....not so much. I wait with baited breath to see what I might unwrap.

And then I spend time trying to figure out where to hide the "gift" so I don't actually take it home.

A Very Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

Now on to the Christmas decorations.

After more food that is.

A Happy Birthday Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:42:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. We are spending the day with a boat load of family from all over the place. I cannot begin to imagine the number of calories that will be consumed. Or the laughter. Last night was a laughfest to be sure. And I must remind myself NOT to leave the camera on the table and walk out of the room. You later find pictures on it that you did not take. Pictures that cannot go on the blog without major editing.

But I digress.

Thanksgiving isn't the only thing we are celebrating today. Oh no. It iis also.......

HHBL's BIRTHDAY!!!

Yippeeeeeee! Yahooooooo!

And so I thought I would do a short "thankful for HHBL" list.

I am thankful that HHBL is alive after his little broken ankle/two blood clots in the lung/midnight trip to the hospital/5 days in the hospital adventure. Very thankful.

I am sincerely glad that he married me in the first place.

I am thankful that HHBL is such a calm and take charge traveler. He knows what to do. Standing in the Delhi airport and being told that the airline cancelled our reservations home? HHBL took care of it. flight cancelled in Hawaii, he knows what to do.

He takes me to fabulous places. Who else has seen the Taj Mahal from the ~~butt end~~ back. Well I have !

HHBL is a man of integrity and humor. A hard worker who plays hard as well. A great father and fabulous husband.

He is definitely getting better with age.

And what better day to celebrate his birthday than Thanksgiving Day when we have Cartoon Girl, TMO, TSiL and Shoe Queen with us as well as Pilot Man, The Chef, Music Guy (the nephew), and all the cousins. I will tell you ALL about it.

So Happy Birthday my HHBL. I love you.

Oh The Memories

2011-11-23T10:21:00.001-05:00

I have suddenly been whisked back to my childhood. To those special mornings when I would come to the breakfast table and find my most favorite of breakfasts.

The best thing in the entire world.

Those store bought, straight from the package, cinnamon swirls things. I have no idea what they are actually called, I think Cinnamon Swirls.

Oh be still my frantically beating heart.

Full of preservatives and other ingredients that I cannot pronounce and do not even want to know what they are. Full of sugar and salt. Full of bad things.

WHO CARES!!!!

And pair them with lovely, spicy Bambi sticks that were produced with venison taken down by Pilot Man.

Perfect.

Especially with a nice hot cup of coffee.

But I always have to eat them the same way. I never deviate from it. Never ever ever.

I always unravel the whole thing all the way. It takes some patience and skill but when you do it that way it lasts longer. If you chomp into it then it only takes three bites and you are done. But if you unravel it? It just lasts and lasts. And since I usually only was allowed two of them then this just extended the pleasure.

Oh those childhood memories.

But no memories in the world would ever make liver taste good.

I Love My iPad

2011-11-22T15:36:00.001-05:00

I am sure you are going to get tired of reading about how I love this piece of awesomeness. I can blog on it.

I can download photos from my camera directly into it, edit them, upload them to the web, put them in a post.

Sir Sheds A Lot

I may never come up for air.

Save me.

Playing With My New Time Waster

2011-11-21T17:29:00.001-05:00

Folks this will be a test post and it most likely will not stay around all that long. Unless you have me in an RSS reader and then those just never go away.

I am trying out a blogging app for the ~~new time waster~~ iPad. IF this works and I can figure out how to add pictures to this then you will never know where I might be found.

Oh Alpha Male I am frightened.

Why Does This Happen When I Am In A Hurry

2011-11-21T13:26:00.001-05:00

Epic quick bread fail today. I didn't even have the heart to take a picture of the thing. It is just too cruel a vision. A recipe that has never failed me before....

But I made one small change.

Deb how many times have I told you NOT to change the recipe when you are serving something to guests. DOPE SLAP!

It is Orange Raspberry Pecan Bread. It is delicious. I got everything out to make a loaf for Thanksgiving.

Hmmmmm, no raspberries in the freezer in the kitchen. I could have SWORN that there were some in there.

Rummage, rummage, rummage, rummage.

No raspberries. BUT, there were a ton of blueberries. And Blueberry Orange Pecan bread sounded delicious. I can substitute the blueberries for the raspberries! Cool.

Mixed it all up. Popped it in the oven. Baked the requisite time. The dough TESTED done , in several places mind you, with one of my wooden skewers. It was beautifully brown and crusty on the top. So I took it out and set it on the counter and made the orange juice and sugar glaze for it.

I am poking holes in the top of the bread with a metal skewer so that the glaze can soak down into the bread. I poke the top......the crusty lovely top......

And a big, crusty chunk collapses into a giant blueberry inspired sink hole right down into the center of the loaf.

I said a bad word.

Then I thought, hmmmm, I bet I can just put this thing back into the over and bake it some more. But I don't think so cuz the top is collapsed. And it just won't look right. And I would have to explain, although half the relatives read this blog.

So Mimi. We won't be having this bread at Thanksgiving. But I don't think we will be lacking for things to eat. And I have other breads.

But DANG IT! My mouth was all set for Blueberry Orange Pecan Bread.

Where Have You Been All My Life.

2011-11-20T15:06:00.001-05:00

This will be short.

I am obsessed.

I am enthralled.

I am overwhelmed.

I may never come up for air.

I am the proud owner of an ipad.

Mother of all that is holy this is one fabulous piece of technology.

It’s All in A Saturday’s Work

2011-11-19T15:52:00.001-05:00

It is Saturday. That is the day when HHBL and I try to accomplish at least one or two household tasks or seasonal tasks.

Today it was…….

The Shed

It needed to be cleaned out and rearranged and straightened. We hadn’t done it ~~ever~~ for a while. We cleaned out

garden equipment that was old and rusty and bent
a scooter that long ago belonged to one of the progeny
unidentifiable pieces of stuff
a desiccated mouse body or two
leaves from many falls
old pots
hoses from long ago equipment

It is done.

I will now be going to the hospital and getting treatment for Hanta Virus I am sure.

I have now left the mice some “treats” which I hope they enjoy to their little mousy hearts content.

And then DIE!

7 Quick Takes (Vol 142)

2011-11-18T11:27:00.001-05:00

Good golly where do the hours fly to??? Here it is Friday again and we are all hunched around the computer screen waiting to see what 7 Quick Takes brings. So after you have absorbed my blatherosity remember to click on the picture above to be whisked, at the speed of Herman Cain’s falling poll numbers, over to Conversion Diary.

Blather, blather, blatherty, blather and more on with the blather.

1.
It has taken 5 days for the birds to finally find the new, and gorgeous, feeder on the back deck.

You know……

This piece of carpenter splendiferousness.

And of course the squirrels have also found it. Such is life. I honestly can live with that I think. They are kind of cute sitting there all curled up and gorging on the bird seed.

So far they haven’t been able to figure out how to get to the suet feeder that I hung in front of the kitchen window. It is too far a jump to go from the grill to the hanging feeder, although they have tried several times. I am now having to clean little muddy squirrel paw prints off one of the windows.

Always a battle with the wildlife here at Chez Knit.

2.
I will confess that sometimes I am a creature of obsessive habit. Case in point, what I listen to on Dahling (the ipod). I have been a rut for a long time just listening to certain playlists, podcasts and audiobooks. But I have decided that I have to give some of my lesser, or never played music a chance to get some airtime.

So that means that I am listening to all my music on shuffle. And I just never know what I am going to get. So far in the past 24 hours I have gone through music from

Frank Sinatra (mmmmmm Frank!)
The Beatles
Darius Rucker (country)
Klezmer music
Nickel Creek (bluegrass/country/folk)
The Dillards (definitely bluegrass)
Rachmaninoff
music from South Pacific, Oklahoma!, Brigadoon
Edwin McCain (rock)
Glee!
Ian and Sylvia (60’s folk)
David Cook (I have no idea where he came from!)
Emerson, Lake and Palmer (70’s English progressive rock)
Vivaldi
K$sha (I hang my head in shame)

You get the picture. Sometimes even I am surprised at the variety.

And HHBL caught me dancing around in the bathroom yesterday to P!nk.

But we won’t talk about that.

3.
I believe that I have now heard the strangest ad for dental work. “They” were urging me to think about having my dental work done…..in Hungary.

Yes, Hungary.

I am supposed to believe that if I go to Hungary and have my dental work done there for “much less than the expensive US dentists” that I will save enough to cover the cost of my airfare and many of my meals.

Hmmmmmm.

But have you SEEN some of the dentistry that comes out of the former Eastern Block countries.

I think I will stick with the good old US of A. Thankyouverymuch.

4.
Since next Thursday is Thanksgiving the question really is….

Do you participate in the madness that is Black Friday Sales?

I can say, with some emphasis, that my answer to that is

NO!!!

I cannot think of a single thing that I need, or that anyone else in the family needs, that I would be willing to participate in that madness to get. Yes, I know that the sales are FABULOUS but it just isn’t happening.

I don’t like crowds. I don’t do midnight (except for Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings).

5.
This week saw me on my first kitchen design photo shoot. That was a great deal of fun. A bit unusual as the homeowners weren’t there and the nanny was the person that took me through the house. Thank goodness for a good wide angle lens! And good lighting. And a tri-pod, which I didn’t actually need to use this time. And most of all a fabulous kitchen design which was to be expected. Dottie is a fabulous designer.

Hopefully by the end of next week the Hidden Moments Photography website will be all done. It is there and if you know where to find it you can go and look. But there is still ~~some~~ a boat load of constructing to do.

And I have to pick TSiL’s brain about it.

But I am not as scared with each job I go on.

NOW, I would like someone to step up to the plate and hire me to take baby pictures. Come on, you know you want to.

6.
I have a love/hate relationship with the sun here at Chez Knit and in the Frozen Northeast Ohio.

Cleveland gets around 66 totally sunny days A YEAR. And we have around 202 cloudy days A YEAR (that means total cloud cover) with 97 partially cloudy days just for a change.

BUT, when the sky is a perfect blue and the sun is shining, like it is today.

Then I see how much I do not like to dust.

Darn it!

AND I found some upstairs windows that are going to need some cleaning.

Double Darn it!!

But it is sunny so really I cannot complain (too much)

7.
I can tell you that the whole NaBloPoMo thing is much more difficult that I anticipated. My brain doesn’t seem to want to produce any blog posts on the weekends.

I have also decided to take a break from blogging for the week between Christmas and New Years. Sort of a blogging recharging of batteries so that I can go into the New Year all ready to bore everyone to tears.

It is good to have a plan for world domination.

Or not.

Vivian and The Lemon Loaf

2011-11-17T13:53:00.001-05:00

Brace yourself, this turned out to be a really long post. I apologize in advance for the wordiness and endless pictures and……

Well, you will see.

We haven’t had a recipe in a long time. Goodness I have been falling down on the job haven’t I. I hang my head in shame.

But first the story. Come on! you had to know there was a story behind the recipe. How long have you been hanging around here?

So, when HHBL and I first moved back to The Frozen Northeast Ohio (26.5 years ago) we went to a very small church in a town north of us. And at the church there was a woman named Vivian. Vivian was the perfect example of why you never judge a book by it’s cover. Oh yes.

Vivian wasn’t lovely on the outside. Far from it. She was square of shape, gray of hair and gruff of voice. But inside. Oh inside she was a gooey sweet marshmallow of a woman. If you needed anything Vivian was there for you. She was a nurse. She never married but her dogs and cats were her children. She had six dogs who had the run of the house and the bed and the outside. She had a dog door installed so that they could go in and out any time they wanted, rain or shine, winter or summer. Vivian always said that it was so that the dogs stopped bothering her but really it was because she loved them so. She had her front yard fenced in and the grass was very rarely mowed so when you pulled up to her house you might not see the dogs until they burst from the underbrush with barking enthusiasm. Dogs bring fleas inside. Vivian’s solution to that was just to have the house fumigated once a year.

And then there were the cats who didn’t go outside. But Vivian loved them and wanted them to have the “outside experience” so she had a cage installed in one window so that the cats could “sit” outside and get away from the dogs..

And then there was the family of raccoons that she allowed to live in the back of her old, and nonfunctional station wagon. In the garage.

Vivian loved to bake. Cookies. Cake. Breads. And when she was done she would let all the dogs lick the bowls clean. We just hoped and prayed that she washed the pans afterwards. It wasn’t unheard of to get a dog hair in the bread.

This recipe comes from Vivian. I miss her greatly even though she has been gone for many years. Pancreatic cancer overcame her outsized personality a mere two months after diagnosis in 1998. I should tell you that it makes three loaves so you can eat one right away, share one and put one in the freezer for next week. Vivian would probably tell you just to enjoy yourself and eat all three loaves. She would just make you more.

You are going to need eggs. Lots of eggs.

And then there is the butter. Lots of butter. A whole POUND of butter. Vivian believed in butter.

And sugar! A whole mountain of sugar for the loaf and then a small hill of sugar for the glaze.

And an entire continent of flour. No one said that I was a neat baker. A bit of flour must be spilt at times. This is also the reason why you turn your mixer on LOW when you start out.

And then there are the lemons. 6 of them to be exact. Both zest and juice will be used. Vivian always said that you needed to boil the whole lemons for 5 minutes to release all the juice. Ummmm. I don’t do this. I am lazy. But you knew that.

First I zest the lemon rind and set that aside. Then I just mash down on the lemons and roll them around on the counter. Release the juice that way. And then I cut them in half and use a fork and twist motion.

It is sometimes hard on the fork.

They gave their lives for my pleasure. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh be still my palpitating heart. Sugar and butter and lemon OH MY!

And after everything is expertly mixed I can tell you that it isn’t the dog who gets to lick the bowl clean.

Oh Alpha Male you are so cruel to me.

And after the loaves are all baked to perfection they are removed from the oven and holes are poked in them. You pour the lemon/sugar syrup you have made (directions in recipe below) over the loaves and let it sink in. And absorb. And meld.

Oh heavens.

But this is what happens if you do not grease the bottom of the pan well enough AND take the loaf out of the pan when it is too warm. We will eat this one……soon.

Perfection!

Now to go and make more coffee and dig in.

Link to recipe >>>> Lemon Loaf <<<< Link to recipe

867-5309

2011-11-16T11:15:00.001-05:00

OH I have been walking down memory lane today. Isn’t it funny the things that zip you right back to the growing up years.

When we were out visiting the parental units and the progeny a month or so ago Mimi handed me an envelope. And in the envelope was

The old family address/phone book. Shades of rotary phones Batman!

Yes, there was a time Grasshopper when there was no Outlook or iphone or Blackberry to store all your contact information. There wasn’t even, GASP!, the internet. We found a phone number the old fashioned way.

We let our fingers do the walking.

And this was the central repository for all phone numbers that we might need. It has certainly had some long and hard use by the looks of it.

Because it was the “family” address book, really just phone book, anyone could write phone numbers in it.

Mimi and Papa’s handwriting. Do you want to guess which is which. And I have to say that neither of their handwriting has changed one iota over the years.

I believe this is Pilot Man’s entry. I am not sure why I would be writing down the name and number of the boy across the street. He was cute as I recall but a tad on the short side and needed a hair cut.

Hey Mom Chef, check out the other names on that particular page!!

I believe this is my handwriting but I have no idea who this person is. She must have been important enough that I put pen to paper.

She of the poodle dog and practice sheets that had to be filled in and signed by parents. I was VERY good at writing out my mothers name. Don’t tell her OK?

Oh and I see that the name at the top of the page belongs to the people who gave me my first babysitting job. Now THAT was fun. They fed their child a pot pie for lunch before I came. How do I know this? Because the kid threw it up all over me later in the afternoon.

Good times.

I am not going to keep the phone/address book. I am just enjoying looking through it. Maybe I should put it away and preserve it for future generations?

Nah.

I Thank The Lord For Surprise Parties.

2011-11-15T15:26:00.001-05:00

I had a really good time on Saturday afternoon.

Why you might be asking yourself. Because I got to go to a surprise birthday party. And this one just seemed special for all of us because there was a time, just about this time two years ago that we weren’t sure if we would have the chance to celebrate Heather’s 40th birthday.

Hope is on the left. And her big sister, Heather, is on the right. This was last Christmas at the Ornament Exchange. Can you see that Heather’s hair is growing out? That is because she was done with her chemo. Who would think that a small lump on the back of a neck would be anything like….cancer.

So you can see why we were all so excited. Hope was the most excited let me tell you. You should have seen all the work that she did to get ready!!

These were the Cinnamon chip scony things that were for dessert. They were G.O.O.D. And there was a pumpkin cake thing.

Lordy be I love this punch. I don’t know what is in it but we wants it Precious.

And the table was beautifully set. Yes, there were some who snickered at me as I took pictures of the water glasses. And then someone said, “Oh she does that.”

Yes I do.

We are receiving our instructions from a woman who SO does not look like she has three small children. It just really isn’t fair.

It is very difficult to get a large group of women to be quiet when we all want to yell and giggle.

SURPRISE!!!!!

We laughed. We cried. We hugged. We chattered. And then it was time to eat.

But before we ate we joined hands to thank the Lord for the privilege of being able to celebrate this birthday with Heather. For a time that is extra special to all of us who love her so dearly.

Heather’s daughters Morgan and Kayla (above) kept the secret VERY well.

Yes we all brought presents but really the best one was the scrapbook that older daughter Morgan had made. It is full of all the cards and notes and letters and emails and sticky notes that people sent to Heather while she was going through chemo. Heather’s dad sent an email every day, and sometimes more than that, with a scripture or the words to a hymn. We all shed tears looking at this one.

Morgan I want your boots. You can drop them off on the way to school. Thanks.

The Sisters of My Heart

Heather I am so very, very glad that we were able to celebrate your 40th birthday. The Lord is good.

I Love You Norm Abrams!

2011-11-14T15:20:00.001-05:00

Or how I made a bird feeder stand and didn’t totally lose my mind.

I used to have a bunch of bird feeders attached to the railing on the deck. But then came the great attempt to sell Chez Knit. And Joyce the Stager wouldn’t let me keep them up on the deck.

That just ISN’T the look we are going for.

So I have had to content myself with the bird feeders that hang outside my office windows. That was fine. I was good with that. But I wanted a bird feeder on the back deck. And more specifically I wanted a feeder that was on a stand that I could move around. It just seemed like a good idea. And so I began to explore the bird feeder stand options.

I stopped first at my local “All Things Bird” shop. Yes, there were bird feeder stand options. You bought all the pieces a la carte and put together the system that you wanted. When your bird feeder stand is part of a system you KNOW that it is going to cost more than you want to spend. I was not prepared to spend $100+ for the pleasure of feeding the birds and watching them make a mess.

Call me picky. And frugal.

I looked at Wally Mart. I looked at Target. I explored all the varied options on Amazon.

And then I had an inspiration. The light bulb flickered on weakly.

I looked out in the back yard and there I gazed upon something that had been there for a long time. Many years. Out by the bench that looks out over the ravine there was a bird feeder in the shape of a house, on a pole, stuck into the ground.

Hey!! I can use that. All I need to do is make a stand that it can slip into and I will be golden. This shouldn’t be too hard at all. I have watched 20 years of The New Yankee Workshop.

So off to Home Depot I went. I knew what I wanted to do. I knew what I needed. I had them cut the 2x4 into the correct lengths. I purchased a piece of pipe called a “nipple”……..

And the thing that the nipple screws into.

REALLY! Get your minds OUT of the gutter thankyouverymuch.

And I was all ready.

I will admit that I didn’t take pictures though out the process because, well, I was sawing wood very vigorously and it is hard to do that and take pictures. As you can see I am not all that neat a wood worker. I knew that I had to cut the boards so that they could go together like Lincoln logs. A 3/4 inch deep cut that was as wide as the 2x4, in the center of each board. But how to accomplish this? How to carve out a chunk of board when you don’t have a radial saw or a ban saw or anything other than a circular saw which I felt was sort of nuclear for this particular project.

I channeled my inner Norm Abrams, without the power tools mind you, and I knew what I needed to do.

I would mark out the area that I wanted to get rid of.
I would make a series of cuts within that area using the saw.
I would chisel out the wood that I didn’t want.

How hard could that be?

Oh hard let me tell you when you don’t have the right tools. I used three different saws and the saw horses and a bunch of different chisels. Several different hammers. The power drill. Did you know that you can chisel out wood with a putty knife and a hammer? I am here to tell you that you can! But when you do it that way you have to give up your perfectionist tendencies because this just isn’t going to be perfect. Not by a long shot.

Not perfect and very messy but heck I got to use the power drill so I felt very……powerful. And finally it was on done. The pieces of wood fit together pretty well. I drilled pilot holes and then screwed the pieces together. I add the metal flange and the nipple (hehehehe).

And it seemed a bit wobbly. Most likely do to the fact that my Lincoln log effect wasn’t all that effective due to it not being all that perfectly precise due to the lack of correct toolage. So I improvised.

That evened it out enough. All set and ready to pull the bird feeder pole out of the ground, slip it into the metal nipple (hehehehehe) and put it on the deck.

Or so I thought.

But I had forgotten to do something. I had forgotten to measure the diameter of the bird feeder pole!

D’Oh! It was too big to slip into the metal pipe! Rat turds and fart burgers!! What to do? I know! I will take a heavy hammer (one of the 7 hammers that I own) and pound the bottom part of the pole into a different crimped shape and it will slip right in.

Hope springs eternal.

Well that was a bust, as all of you with any mechanical brains would know. I couldn’t fold the darn thing and pounding it just changed the shape but didn’t make the diameter any smaller. Have I mentioned that I have a degree in nursing not one in mechanical engineering.

I could see my fabulous plan fast fading into oblivion. I was about to resort to the age old method of using Duct Tape when I spied it. A pipe that belonged to a wind chime that had long ago fallen into ruin. Hmmmmmm. This looks about right. I bet if I can slip this down into the metal nipple (hehehehehe) and then slip the bird feeder pipe over it we will be golden.

And it worked!!!!!!

It may be something that would send Norm Abrams screaming into the night. I am never going to be asked to present at the annual Carpenters Convention.

But folks, it works.

Carpenter I Am Not

2011-11-13T14:27:00.001-05:00

I believe that I can say with some certainty

Norm Abrams will never ask me to be a guest on The New Yankee Workshop.

But at least the birds will have a feeder on the back deck.

I Have An Excuse I Promise.

2011-11-12T15:32:00.001-05:00

Crud! This NaBloPoMo thing is more of a pain than I thought that is for sure. Here it is Saturday afternoon and I haven’t written anything.

But I have an excuse I swear! I was at a party. A surprise 40th birthday party for my friend Heather (pictures this week I am sure, whether you want them or not). We are so glad to be able to celebrate Heather’s 40th because there was a time in the recent past when we weren’t sure we would be able to.

Hope – Heather – Me – Carolyn – Dottie

My sisters of the heart.

7 Quick Takes (Vol 141)

2011-11-11T10:11:00.001-05:00

Well, it is that time again. I can see that you are chomping at the bit to read some blather. So remember, after you have read and thought about and pondered my internal brain workings click on the picture above. You will be whisked, at a speed greater than the time that it takes for Rick Perry to answer a debate question, over to Conversion Diary.

Now let’s blather!

1.
I arose this morning to a skiff of snow on the ground. And if you were a part of my immediate family the next line you would say is……

Everything outside was just slicker ‘n deer guts on a door knob.

Sorry, too much listening to The Dillards Live! Almost record when we were younger.

But we did get a skiff of snow. As of the writing of this first Quick Take I haven’t gone out to measure but I would venture to guess that it is really no more than a 1/4 of an inch as most.

But it is still snow. And it is still snowing.

This was my Elixir of Life post this morning on FB and Twitter

It snowed last night.
That’s just not right.
Oh coffee bring me warmth and light.

2.
I am on an audiobook kick these days. Thank goodness for the library and Librivox because otherwise I couldn’t do it. Audiobooks are very expensive to actually own.

I find that if I am doing the usual things around the house I am move effective at getting them done if I am listening to an audiobook or podcast. You know, all those things that we really don’t like to do….cleaning…..ironing.

Right?

Now if I am having to do some writing or reading I cannot also listen to an audiobook. They must use the same section of the brain. I will hear my own words in my head OR I will hear the audiobook but not both at the same time.

I love my ipod. But it is a pain to load up CDs.

Now to save up the money for an ipad. I have severe ipad envy I am sorry to say.

3.
Oh you should see the Official 2011 Ornament that is being produced here at Chez Knit!

It is so stinkin’ cute.

But I am not going to put a picture up until after December 5th. That is the day of the Annual ~~Stealing~~ Ornament Exchange. Until then it is under raps.

But it is so cute!! I love it when something turns out like I think it ought to.

4.
We are going to be with Cartoon Girl, TMO, TSiL, Shoe Queen and Slim Jim at Thanksgiving.

Can I tell you how excited I am!!

It isn’t all that often that we have all the progeny together in one place. Chaos will reign. And it is going to be so much fun.

AND we will have other family to see. AND AND we will be having the annual family white elephant gift exchange, known fondly as The March of the White Elephants. Cousin Jon tells me that they have the perfect gift and it is going to go home with me even if they have to throw the contest.

That has happened before. There has been conniving and scheming to make sure that one particular person went home with a particular gift. There was that pink flamingo…..

Cousin Tim wanted it bad. His wife Ardith wasn’t too excited about it. But we made sure it went home with him.

Oh man…..Jon tell me it isn’t the flamingo!!!!!!

5.
Amazingly I am almost done with the holiday knitting. And no I am not telling you what I have finished. That sort of contradicts the whole Christmas GIFT thing.

Holiday knitting is a hot topic in my knitting group and people hold definite views on it. There are some that NEVER and I do mean NEVER knit anything for anyone at Christmas. Their feeling is that the “knittee” never appreciates the time and effort.

Then there are those of us who knit for specific people who have expressed an interest. I fall into that category.

And then there are those that knit for everyone including their children’s teachers.

I have a hard enough time finishing the projects that I have. Once I finish this last thing then I can go back to my selfish knitting.

Hurrah!!!

6.
I think we have finally finished the last of the Halloween Candy.

And there was quite a bit of it left. I have a confession to make. We never have that many trick or treaters but I bought enough for an army. I knew we were going to have to consume it so I made sure that I bought something that we like.

I hang my head is shame.

And I am not getting on the scale until at least February.

7.
And finally, Veterans Day.

I want to say a big thank you to all who serve and protect our country. Thank you to my dad who spent time in the Army.

There is supposed to be a picture in this spot of my dad in uniform. I know I have it but I just can’t find it. Just use your imagination to picture him as he is getting his promotion to Major. You can do it.

Thank you to my cousin Clint. The Air Force is better for having you flying for them.

And a special thank you to Cpl. Matt Wilhoit.

Thank you Matt for your service. For being willing to put your life on the line for the rest of us often ungrateful Americans. I am always amazed at the fine men who are a part of the military. They, and you, are the best of the best in my opinion.

Susan, I stole your picture. You love me so I know you won’t mind. I will buy you a glass of wine when we finally get to do our “roommate weekend”.

Small Town Life

2011-11-10T13:35:00.001-05:00

There are advantages with living in a small town. Yes, Chez Knit sits in a far suburb of Cleveland. We are really about as far from Akron as we are Cleveland if you want to be nit picky about it. But the town itself is relatively small. And that means that it comes with some small town advantages.

The women behind the counter at the Post Office know me by name.
you have the same poll workers at every election and one of them happens to be a neighbor.
you see neighbors and friends when you go into vote and when you come out.
the librarians know you, both in your town library AND in the next town over.
you can call the mayor on his cell phone. Not that I have any desire to do that. I am not sure why he is still our mayor. Everyone I know votes against him and yet he is still there.
Truck Nutz. If you do not know what those are then google it. I am not explaining any further. They really aren’t an advantage so much as a source of amusement.

And then there is the police blotter in the local paper. It is always a source of amusement. Take some of these most recent entries. I have tinkered with info to protect the ~~guilty~~ innocent and anything in ( ) are my pithy comments.

An officer warned a person parked at the _____ Rd. dog park that the park was closed. The person and dog left the area. (Good to know)
An ______ Rd. resident reported a constantly barking bog (I think they meant to say dog, bogs don’t bark).
A ____ Ave. man reported that someone took car batteries from his garage.
An officer stood by on Oct. 27 while a person repossessed a car at _____ Commons. ( a FABULOUS use of our police officers)
a ______ woman reported receiving unwanted texts from her sister-in-law. (the mind boggles at what was in those txt messages that the woman needed to call the police.)

And my personal favorite:
A _____ Court woman reported receiving harassing text messages from her boyfriend’s estranged wife. (Ummmmm, I am think that woman needs to rethink her dating situation)

It Was Mammoth! Mammoth I Tell Ya

2011-11-09T14:32:00.001-05:00

There are things that I love about living in the woods.

trees
the owls hooting at night
the coyotes howling at night
the quiet

There is something that I do not like about living in the woods……..

The spiders.

This one was MAMMOTH!! MAMMOTH I tell you.

But he was outside so I reluctantly let him/her/it stay on the back brick wall.

But if that thing comes in the house then all bets are off and I am going to squash it like the creepy arachnid that it is.

Be warned.

Things That Make Me Happy (Vol 5, maybe)

2011-11-08T14:13:00.001-05:00

The sun is shining here in The Frozen Northeast Ohio. And the temperature is, good golly, 65F. That is unheard of for November. Well, it is heard of but not particularly often.

And so I feel the need for a “Things That Make Me Happy” list. These are in no particular order of importance. And if I have repeated these in previous lists, well, just cut me some slack.

When a new recipe works well, fulfilling it’s promise. It is such a disappointment when a recipe doesn’t work.
The smell of fall
Immersion in a good history book.
Blowing all the leaves off of the deck.
Honeycrisp apples. I wish I could get them all year long.
The Chronicles of Riddick. Don’t judge. It is a good movie. STOP that laughing right now Cartoon Girl!
a desk that is neat and clean. It is a good think that you can’t see my desk right now. Come back in a hour though and it will be good.
grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches with dill pickles. Oh be still my beating heart.
a really good beer. None of that sissy stuff. Microbrews and I are really good friends.
knitting lace. My new passion. I could knit lace all day long.
listening to Barbara Rosenblat read through all the Amelia Peabody mysteries. Heck, listening to her read anything just makes me smile.
the first snow of the season. Notice that I said the FIRST snow. If you ask me about this in January I am going to have a totally different answer for you.
Heavy snowfalls that stop the world outside. Hmmmm, this may negate the last item but whatever. These days just give me an excuse to stay in my jammies and read a book.
the encouragement of KnitSibs
deep fried okra. It is one of the essentials of life.
OBVIOUSLY cleaning things out makes me happy.

And on the thought of cleaning out I will leave you. It is too nice a day to sit here and play on the computer.

Now Kathy and Jon Can Fill Them Up.

2011-11-07T15:45:00.001-05:00

Oh those family traditions.

I mentioned early in the year that I was furiously working on some of the “Family” Christmas stockings. The ones where there is no actual written pattern because the pattern has long been lost. Grandma Amsler knew the pattern. But by the time I thought about asking her about it the pattern was lost and Grandma was no longer able to tell me what she did. Sigh.

But I have persevered. I have raised my fist to the sky and declared…

I will not be bested by wool and the fear of no pattern. I can knit socks! I can do these!

And as of yesterday afternoon……

The stockings are done.

And I don’t think that I have any more to do this year. Please assure me that I don’t.

They all have a short row heel.

I am pleased over all with them. But Kathy, I have to say that Levi’s turned out a bit different. I just couldn’t figure out why.

Puzzled until my puzzler was sore.

And then I was shown the light. And I dope slapped myself a bit.

I was using my KnitPicks Options needles, those are ones where I can switch the tips around for different sizes. And when I went to disassemble the needles to put them away…..

I found that I had been using a 7….and a 5. I have no idea how that happened and why I didn’t catch it but I didn’t.

Knit in haste and repent (or rip out) at leisure.

It looks fine and we will just tell Levi in the future that I made his EXTRA special.

Cuz I am NOT ripping it out and redoing it.

Apple Wastes My Time On Occasion

2011-11-06T13:25:00.001-05:00

This NaBloPoMo thing might just be the death of me and we are only a week into it.

I never blog on Sunday. My brain likes to take the day off. And yet here I am.

I am in the process of updating my ipod touch. Aren’t you thrilled to know that? I always quake when I push the button to do an update. I am always worried that something will go wrong and the ipod will smoke and give up the ghost. Or Apple will wipe out all info on the ipod. And Apple likes to drop new apps onto my ipod that I don’t need and can’t seem to get rid of.

It went fairly well, except……

It decided that I had 350 unread emails that should be downloaded in 25 email batches. All emails that I have seen and dealt with. I have a feeling that they were hanging around in the trash bin and I just forgot to give them the ultimate delete. But until I re-download them and then delete them again they are just going to be there taunting me.

This is a supreme waste of my time.

I have knitting to do.

See you tomorrow.

One Of Us Is Goin’ Down!

2011-11-05T10:43:00.001-04:00

The Enemy

It is this time of year when I raise my fist and curse the fact that we decided to “build the house in the forest Mommy!”

Forest=trees=leaves=oh my aching back in the Fall.

My trusty Fall companion.

I would never live through the months of October and November without my trusty leaf blower “Mr. Windy”. Thank you to whoever it is that engineered the thing that is a leaf blower.

Local Producer of Annoying Repetitive Noise

Leaf blower! I love the leaf blower! I must bark at the leaf blower! BarkBarkBarkBark!

It is the leaves or me.

And I have a banquet to go to this evening so that tells you who is going to win this war!!