boo-yoney

Watching a friends kids again today. It's fun to have them in the house, even funnier to try to figure out what they are saying.

Miss P wanted a snack. The conversation went something like this:

P: I'm hungry
Me: Do you want some graham crackers?
P: I don't like graham crackers
Me: What about some popcorn (which her sister and D were eating)?
P: I don't like popcorn
Me: I have apples
P: I don't like apples
Me: Well then I guess I don't have anything you like
P: You have no food?
Me: I have lots of food but you don't want to eat what I have
P: How do you know what I want?
Me: Okay, what do you want
P: I really like boo-yoni
{took a minute for my brain to process this and realize that she meant bologna}
Me: I don't have any boo-yoni. But I have cheese, would you like some cheese?
P: I don't like cheese.
Me: I guess we're back where we started.
P: What about cream cheese?
Me: We have that.
P: Okay, I'll take cream cheese
Me: On bread?
P: Yes, on bread
P: I don't like butter
Me: This isn't butter, it's cream cheese, see, it's white
P: We buy white butter
Me: Okay, but this isn't butter, it's cream cheese
P: Okay, just checking
Me: Want some grapes to go with this?
P: Yes please

And apparently Miss P does not eat crusts so Tobi was the lucky recipient of crusts with the smallest smear of cream cheese on them. He didn't get any grapes though.

links i like

Here's another list of things found on the internet that sparked my interest, hopefully you'll find something that appeals to you too.

http://www.languagehat.com/archives/003007.php - a brief exerpt from a book about hats. Pretty fascination stuff. I may have to take out the book, Fashion and It's Social Agendas. Although I already have a lot to read this one looks quite fascinating.

I like to make stuff. She lives in Wales, I like the way she writes and she's very creative. I don't really need another crafty person on my blogroll who is so much more talented than I am and I know I will never be that creative. But I like her stuff and want to read more so on the list she goes.

wfmw - yarn stash

It happens to be Wednesday and I happen to have a tip so I thought I'd jump in the fray here. Don't forget to check out Rocks In My Dryer for more great tips.

I recently reorganized my yarn stash. My biggest problem is that I have a lot of yarn and sometimes forget what I want to do with it or forget where I put it. While I still have boxes in the closet I have also decided to reorganize by taking projects and their pattern and putting them into bags and hanging those bags on hangers in the closet. This way when I am looking for a new project or want to work on a project I started and stopped I can go through the bags. Makes the closet neater, keeps the projects neatly organized and definitely works for me.

update 2nd week of march

Been busy but here's a quick goings on...

Spring MUST be here, or at least around the corner. Spooky, my little donkey friend, is now out happily munching away on the new grass in his yard.

Sold Girl Scout cookies this past weekend. In the cold. In the rain. There we were, huddled under the overhang of the hardware store, with the precious cookies at the back to make sure they didn't get wet. But we did well, sold quite a few and many people donated cookies for the girls to take to the Veterans Hospital next month.

S is coming home this weekend. Can't wait to see her, I miss her so much. It's only for a week so we'll have to make the most of the time.

Aside from that it's study study study...something I must get back to.

notes

Just taking a break from studying...this unit I have not one but two papers due in two weeks. But my eyes are going blurry from reading and reasearch (and I can't find my glasses) so I'll stop and blog a bit.

Musing...why is it that I now need glasses to read but not on the computer? Seriously. When I read a book or magazine my eyes start to go all sploodgie and I have a hard time focusing on the page after about one minute. Something I'm not used to but I'm having to remember where my glasses are. It's kind of funny really.

Knitting...well...crocheting. I've put the shhhhh shawl aside for a bit because I have been obsessed with crocheting blankets. One is for S and the other is for someone else. Don't know why, they're just scrap blankets but I am motivated to get them done. Then it's on to flowers for our charity project, an aran square for a Stitch Sisters project, placemats for our charity project (we're making placemats for Meals on Wheels), and ----see next item

Adding to the list: Whoo boy! Somehow I just can't seem to help myself. I keep adding new projects all the time. I thought I had gotten back on top of my list but it's growing again. When visiting my Mom I saw some gorgeous beaded wristlets that someone had made. I made some notes. I just happened to see some cute, soft yarn and the right size beads. So it's sitting waiting for me. When I joined Ravelry I found the Firefly fan groups and dang-it now I need to go make me a Jayne Hat . D wants one but I think I have enough yarn to make two...when I get to it. Of course the big news is that the original will be up for auction in September. Lots of people want to get their hands on it so they can correctly chart it.

Snow, snow and more snow. Last week....8 inches of snow. This past weekend? 6 inches of snow. If I hadn't seen robins with my own two peepers I might not believe that spring is really coming. Thank goodness for the woodburning stove but seriously I could use some springtime right about now.

Movies: Watched Waitress Dont' bother. I didn't really like it, am not sure why I finished watching it. There were a couple of nice bits but overall it was about people having affairs and guy bashing. Not really my thing. Saw Aquamarine with D. Sweet movie, especially if you are teenager. Not really up my alley but it was nice to spend the time with her and she liked it so that's good.

Books: Not reading anything other than school books at the moment but hoping to get back into some regular reading as soon as I am done with my two papers (see top of page). But if you have any good suggestions send them my way.

movie night

Yesterday Steve and I had an opportunity to watch Amazing Grace. If you haven't seen this movie you should watch it. I thought it was very well done, very moving and altogether wonderful.

Even Steve liked it and he usually is not a big fan of the period piece movie. Vanity Fair, Pride and Prejudice, that sort of movie...I love them and could watch them again and again. I love the costumes, the settings, and usually they are so well acted. Amazing Grace was no exception and even more touching for the fact that it is based on a true story and that William Wilberforce was a real person who did accomplish a great thing, the abolition of slavery in England.

Definitely worth watching.

tuesday night knitting

It's snowing like a banshee here. So we decided to cancel Stitch Sisters. Funny thing is that I must have spent over an hour on the phone talking to everyone as we were all sad that we couldn't get together. One sister suggested that we need a "snow night" for when this happens. We may have to do just that.

One sister lives just over the hill. I decided to chance it and went to her house for a cup of tea and knitting. It was great to spend time with her. I brought some cookies I had made and we had a cup of tea to go with our knitting, it was great.

I've been looking for another cookie recipe to teach at my next baking class. I've successfully developed a scone recipe, have a great biscotti recipe and wanted to make a cookie as well. So I made two different kinds of rye cookies (one Russian, one Swedish). Neither one came out great although the Swedish cookies were better than the Russian ones. Mostly because the Russian ones tasted like toffee to me. If I'm eating a cookie I want a cookie not a candy.

I'm going to change both recipes further (working with fresh ground flour is always a bit difficult). The Russian cookies I will cut back on the butter and see if that helps. The Swedish cookies I'm going to make thicker (they were too thin and crisp) and add cardamom. I think they may wind up being the winner for the class but both cookies will go through at least one more round before I decide.

The hardest part is that it's really not healthy having all of these cookies around. Luckily the folks at the library, post office, yoga class, etc don't mind being my taste testers. This also gives me the opportunity to ask them what they do or don't like about the cookies.

Funny enough my friend tonight liked the Russian rye cookies better because she said they were sweeter and they were great to suck on (they were button-size) while drinking hot tea.

At the end of the evening I managed to make it down their hill and up mine to be safe and sound back at home. I'm thinking there must be lots of spoons under pillows tonight and seriously question whether or not there will be school.

howling

The weather has been very strange today.

First it's grey, overcast, snowing and the wind is so heavy the snow is blowing sideways.

Then the sun comes out.

Then it goes away.

And snows some more.

Now the wind is blowing so fiercely again that it is literally screaming its way through the windows.

And it's cold.

So glad we have a woodburning stove. Sitting curled up on the sofa with the dog, the cat and a blanket I am crocheting, occasionally looking up at the flames or drinking my tea. It's good stuff.

needle card

Oh my goodness. I am spending waaaaay too much time on Ravelry. Thank goodness my paper and test for session three of my class is done and I have nothing to hand in right now.

I just discovered that I can enter all of the needles that I own, sizes, lengths, types, crochet hooks and PRINT IT OUT!!! I mean HOW COOL IS THAT??? This way I'll have a little card that will let me know all of the needles that I own. Of course since I inherited all of my grandmother's knitting needles (BTW Mom this was before you started knitting, do you want any?) that's going to be a cool thing to be able to keep track of. Her needles are mostly really small sizes but still to know where they came from is neat.

I do find that I am preferring circulars more and more but that's okay, I'll have a needle chart. Love it.

snow again

Just as I am getting to the part of the year where I am thoroughly sick and tired of the cold, I'm wishing mightily for spring and wondering why I live here it snows. And once again the scenery is covered in a delicate white drape of snow and everything looks pretty instead of muddy and wet and brown and miserable. Somehow when there's fresh snow on the ground it doesn't matter how cold it is it looks better. But spring had better hurry because I really am in need of some open-window therapy.

leftovers

It's getting harder and harder to cook. Between picky kids, rotating numbers of people at the table and varying diets I have a fridge packed ab-so-lutely full of leftovers. I think it was Tracy Ullman who said, "My mother served leftovers for 20 years...the original meal was never found." I can see how that would happen.

love the sub

Today's yoga class was thaught by a substitute. She was very sweet and we had a nice relaxing class. She did a lot of small joint work, fingers, wrists, toes and ankles which I liked. We also did eyeball yoga. Yes folks, there is such a thing as eyeball yoga and it actually feels pretty good.

An extra benefit to the class today...she was a new teacher...she didn't have a good sense of timing or pacing...we got an extra half hour of practice. What's not to love about that?

i did it myself

Helping a friend out her lovely daughters came to my house for the afternoon. Misses J and M were only too happy to traipse after D (who they think is the bees knees) while the youngest, Miss P, decided she wanted to help me make cookies. Here's how our conversation went:

Me: I thought we could make chocolate chip cookies today
P: I don't like chocolate chip cookies
Me: Really? Who doesn't like chocolate chips?
P: I don't!
Me: Okay. What kind of cookies do you like?
P: I like peanut butter cookies!
Me: Okay then! Peanut butter it is.
--worried voices from outside the kitchen -- you're still going to make chocolate chip right?--
Me: Yes

As we were happily baking away I asked Miss P about her prior baking experience

Me: Have you ever baked before?
P: Yes
Me: Do you like baking?
P: Yup
Me: How often do you get to bake?
P: I like to bake but I never get to because J does all the baking
Me: So what do you do if J does all the baking?
P: I don't know
Me: what about dishes, do you like to wash dishes?
P: yes a lot
Me: That's good because we're going to have a lot of dishes to wash
P: Oh I don't wash dishes anymore. I used to but not now. My favorite part is the eating part but I really like baking right now
Me: So you don't want to wash dishes?
P: *giggles* No!
Me: Are you sure you want to eat the cookies when we're done?
P: Yes!

We wound up making both peanut butter AND chocolate chip cookies and mysteriously many many taste testers came out of the woodwork when the cookies were done.

It was a lot of fun to bake with a little helper, it's been a long time since I've had that pleasure.

links i like friday

It seems I'm always finding new sites. And they're all so good. I know no one really pours through my blogreads list to see what's new so I've decided that every now and then I will post a list of all the new links I've found. Not sure how often I'll do this but at least this way if I find something neat you might like it too.

http://krisknits.blogspot.com/ - awesome site, she does the most amazing dishcloths. Very talented knitter, can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

http://www.rebeccablood.net/ - my Mom sent this one to me. I kinda like it, lots of interesting stuff here. Thanks Mom!

oh help

Thanks to Lime and Violet (and if you don't subscribe you really should...lots of good stuff there) I have just found out about the bust your stash promotion. *wimper*

Bad enough I went on a yarn diet. Even worse I gave away yarn. Then I participated in two Stitch Sister Stash Reduction Projects. And still I have too much stash (I'm embarrassed to admit how many boxes so I won't tell you). When I discovered two boxes I had forgotten about I hauled another mess o' yarn off to Stitch Sisters to see if anyone wants to start a new SSSR project. Luckily for me they did, Mrs. F loves brown and so I can pawn off share the brown yarn that I seriously overbought years ago and have moved I am not kidding here seven times!!!!! as we all make a blanket for her.

But Sonny & Shear are too kind. All I have to do is save ball bands. And the faster I knit the more yarn I use the more coupons I get the more I can buy. Hmmmm....wonder what the ratio works out to. But you better believe I'm saving my bands. Shouldn't you?

wfmw - bulkfoods

Haven't done one of these for a while as I've been busy studying. This should be a great way to find a lot of good online resources, don't forget to check it all out at Rocks In My Dryer, or better yet, play along.

My favorite online resource? Well truthfully I have several but I think one of my big favorites is bulkfoods.com. They have a wide selection of a lot of different things that we use and the shipping is only $4.95. Take a look, you'll be amazed at what you find there.

vote fibertarian

Okay folks, I'm changing my party affiliation. Thanks to Franklin at The Panopticon it has come to my attention that Dolores is running. Her party platform is as follows:

1. Elizabeth Zimmermann's birthday will be declared a national holiday.
2. All fiber-related purchases will be fully tax-deductible.
3. Knitting will become a mandatory subject in American public schools.
4. Government subsidies for the establishment of independent yarn shops in high-need areas.



In all seriousness, what ever your affiliation please go vote today.

shhhhh-awl

I'm still working on the secret shawl for *****. I'm going to be working on it for a while. Especially since I had to rip back two whole inches!!! I hate ripping back. I'm a go-with-the-flow knitter and if I make a mistake try to correct it on the fly. Unfortunately this was not correctable. Luckily for me one of my stitch sisters was around to help me reset all the stitches after I ripped. It's depressing how long it takes to create and how quickly to undo your stitches.

But the shawl is coming out lovely if I do say so myself. One minor modification to put in a little texture since I'm doing all one color instead of multiple colors as the pattern calls for. Now it's going to be round and round and round and round until we get to the lacy edge.

babies

Yesterday D got to help bottle feed a four day old baby goat. Unfortunately her mama passed away from toxemia and her brother was too weak to survive. The fact that Nibbles has made it four days is a good sign. It was the sweetest and funniest experience to feed her. She couldn't decide between nursing from the bottle and jumping around. Plus every now and then her legs splayed out on the floor as she took a Bambi-like tumble. D was thrilled to be allowed to help and plans to go back next weekend and help out with feedings again.





After an hour of playing with Nibbles we went to visit a friend whose German Shephard had six male puppies. They are three months old and so adorable. A rough and tumble bunch of playful nipping puppies. So fast moving that it was almost impossible to get a picture. D plans to help walk them when they start to leash train next month.

xtreme knitters rock the yarn

This link came to me from Israel via Denmark! How's that for travel? Fun and interesting, the pictures are great.

xtreme_knitters

grains of gratitude

As with journalling, blogging is sometimes sparse these days. But I am and try to always remain grateful for all I have. Today some of the gratitudes foremost on my mind are:

The wonderful morning at church

Making a delicious soup for dinner (which is cooking on the woodburning stove as I type

A nap - an infrequent occurance for me but something I needed today

A great conversation with V - she is growing into such a wonderful young woman

Catching up with a friend today

The woodburning stove

The sunshine pouring in the windows

The robins, their colorful flashes in the trees reminding me that spring is indeed on it's way

My husband and children, they truly enrich my life in so many ways

With good wishes for all who are reading this (and even those who aren't) for a blessed Sunday.

church

Church was fantastic today. As always, it's great to see people you feel connected to. Even better when you find inspiration and learning there. Today we were fortunate to be visited by a woman from the local Islamic Society who came to talk to us about her faith and about Islam. She was kind, funny, thoughtful, sincere and truly respected the fact that although our belief systems may be different we are all seeking the same things, a closer connection to whatever your spiritual guide is, to be good people and to do good things.

I was surprised to learn that Muslims regard the Torah and the Bible as holy texts containing messages from God. They also regard the line of prophets to include Moses, Elijah, Zacchariah, and Jesus. She explained that they believe there have been 240,000 prophets, each being sent at the time that God felt humanity needed to have a prophet sent to them. And that each of the religious texts builds upon the previous one with their believing that the Qu'aran is the final version.

She also explained many things about the Five Pillars and about how they incorporate their faith into daily life.

It was truly wonderful to share that time and space with such a gracious person and she also seemed very pleased that we were so open to hear and so willing to learn more. I truly believe that if people looked at the basis of other faiths they would find lots of similarities and that this in turn would lead to more understanding and tolerance and less violence.

It was truly a thoughtful Sunday at church today.

chloe tv

The robins are back. There's a small flock of about 8 sitting in the calary pear tree in front of the bay window. Chloe is hiding in the plants that overwinter there. Switching her tail and, one supposes, thoroughly enjoying herself. Hopefully since we've removed the muntins and mullions from the window we won't have any birdie crashes this year.

I think they're a little early but once again I forgot to write it down. My mom keeps reminding me that if I would journal this stuff I wouldn't have to rely on my aging brain cells. True and yet again true. But somehow something else seems to occupy my time.

I love journalling. Would love to do it more in fact but it doesn't seem to be one of those things that I can keep up with. Dawn is so very organized and her notebooks/journals are always an inspiration. Not that mine look anything like hers, but I try to pull bits and pieces.

Then there's Hanna with a cute new idea for a journal. Plus she is always offering journalling links. I love the idea of a quotes journal but seriously know that at this point in my life it will never happen.

I did start daily journalling with an idea that Hanna had given via a link to Tracy's Flickr Set. I did this. For three months. Then it got put down. Still have the journal, perhaps I'll return to it one day. But I have looked back over a landscape littered with partially completed journals and realized that for some reason it's a difficult practice for me. Of course if I would do just that, practice, it would get easier.

Currently I have the aforementioned daily journal, a gratitude journal, a writing journal, a knitting journal (just started - what can I say I'm a sucker for ideas), and a miscellaneous journal plus my daily planner. I've at least gotten better about the fact that I only write when I can. I no longer worry about the enormous gaps in some of the journals. If these things are still around when I'm gone (and there's no guarantees) and anyone wants to read them (even less guarantees I'm sure) they'll get a true picture of my busy life.

But then again living comes first.

oh boy

ummmmmm

I'm supposed to be studying but instead I'm blogging. But I promise, I'm going to get back to studying in just a moment. I just had to share. I got a Ravelry account. Not sure how I managed to get through 6347 people between when I requested and now (about two weeks) but I did. It's going to be a sickness, I can tell already. I have to choose friends, forums, groups, add my stash, patterns, needles, wips. It'll keep me busy for a while, that's for sure. If you want to check me out my ID is miradessy.

Update:

The special knitting I was talking about last time I posted? I went to visit my folks and got to go knitting with the Cafe Knitters that my Mom knits with. A very lovely group of ladies, they take over almost all available table space at their local cafe every Wednesday for 2 1/2 hours. Lovely food, good tea, great conversation and fabulous show and tell. It was a lot of fun, not least of which was because I was knitting with Mom.

motherly love

I have said this and I still stand by it. "True mother love comes in letting your adolescent daughter pick her room color."

It's time for D to redo her room, finally, she's been waiting for a while. Her sisters were pretty easy. S wanted French Vanilla walls with lots of purple and flowers in the room. V wanted a soft grey wall with an Asian border and lots of Asian artwork. D? Hot cha cha cha - Oh mama! It's Red. It's really Red. A magenta-y pink-y red color called Cherry Devine. And it wins the prize for boldest room in the house.

It actually looks good and will look even better when we get everything back in the room. Lots of white going in to help tone it down, white mini-blinds, white sheers, white shelves, white desk, you get the picture. Maybe I'll even try to take one after the room is done.

streamlining

I'm trying to decomplicate my life. It complicates itself very nicely without any attention or help from me, of course, but every now and then I feel a need to step in. Now is such a time. Not because it's the beginning of the year or anything mind you. And I'm most certainly NOT making a resolution...but I do have a few things to do to clear some space:

cross-stitching

I've given away most of my patterns (still have a couple that I would like to make "one day") and allowed the girls free rein of my carefully color coordinated and wound floss for friendship bracelets and other things. I don't have the time or the eyesight anymore.

tole painting

Still have the books, love them. I've given away four boxes of gen-u-ine Vermont roofing slate from our house in VT (over 10 years ago...we've moved these boxes several times but I won't discuss that here). I've given the girls free rein of my paint for arts and crafts.

scrap-booking

I've decided, as mentioned here, to pull back on this. So I have given the girls free rein (are we sensing a pattern?) of my papers but am selfishly keeping the cut-outs, stickers, and scissors for myself.

I wish I could just allow myself to part with all of this and stick to knitting and crocheting since that's what I am really enjoying and I have more than enough projects to last me for years. But. I hate to throw away good stuff. Good art stuff that the kids can use. My hope is that they will use it up faster than I could (actually the floss is almost gone) and I can just defend my hoard stash from all comers.

ps

If you ever need help with your knitting there is a wonderful place called knittinghelp.com where they have really fabulous voice-over videos that explain just about everything you need to know.

pps

I broke down and signed up for Ravelry. For those of you who don't know about it it is facebook for knitters. I was afraid to sign up because the last thing I need is to get sucked into one more thing but I keep hearing how wonderful it is so I'll jump in. Of course they are s-l-o-w-l-y handing out invitations so there are 6,341 people ahead of me, want to be next?

beautiful day

My lovely friend Holly came to visit today. She blogs here (along with a few other folks). We went off to the yarn shop where she saved an amazing $36 on yarn!!! She got some really yummy stuff....blanket and two scarves worth. Ooooh, it's so much fun to help people spend their money.

We took our darling daughters out to lunch where we dined on mozzarella sticks, penne a la vodka and baked ziti. Cheese and marinara were the order of the day. Finished with cappuchinos and a trough-sized bowl of zeppoli.

Then we went home and I helped Holly relearn to knit. It was so much fun to curl up on the sofa, drink tea and knit together. Of course we had to keep fighting Tobi off as he felt that if there were people on the sofa he belonged there too because he's a people isn't he? Ummmmm. No! So he went and ate the brand new cat toy that D bought for Chloe. I haven't told Diana or Chloe yet, I'm sure they'll both be very upset.

I worked on my shawl for ***** when I wasn't helping Holly, but she really didn't need any help at all. Just encouragement to get started. She even changed colors and did it beautifully. Can't wait to see this scarf when it's done, I'm sure it's going to be fabulous.

finger update

I have recently started being able to type again. Over a week ago I injured a finger. The middle finger on my right hand to be exact. I was closing the hatch on a car, pulling the inside handle. Don't recommend it. This is of course in spite of the fact that I have done this very thing a bajillion times before. Unfortunately for my poor finger this was not a good time and it got caught. Fractured the tip, blood behind the nail, which I will lose, swollen to three times normal size. It was a painful experience.

I had a hard time typing. I am a 10 finger typing and the three last fingers on the right hand weren't working (the ring and pinky fingers do not know what to do without their middle apparently). Tonight I have taken off the brace for a while and have found that I can type although the finger is starting to throb a little so I'll stop here.

But the service announcement of the week? Please close your hatch by pushing gently on the outside of the door. It's much safer that way.

stitch sisters field trip

We took an outing tonight and visited a yarn shop in a neighboring town. They've recently moved from across the street into a new shop that is 3 times the size of the old one. Whooooo! What fun we had fondling all of that luscious yarn. The owners were so very nice. They had tea and cookies for us and had set up a knitting area. We felt like royalty. AND there was a 30% off sale. What's not to love?

I bought *ahem* but not yarn. I got a ****** as a gift for ****** for ****** and I hope they love it because if they don't I'd like it back. I also bought myself a copy of 365 Knitting Stitches a Year, a Perpetual Calendar. Looks like a great reference book.

I had finished Friday Night Knitting Club and brought it for the next sister to read. Overall I liked the book, I thought it was pretty well written and the story was engaging. I was disappointed in the ending though. The last half of the last chapter and galloping away we went. But as I said, overall is was a good book. I'll be interested to see what the others think of it.

I started a new project. A shawl. In the round. A BIG shawl. 1950 yards big. Whoof! It's a challenge. It's a gift for ****** (who I'm not sure reads this but I'm taking no chances). I need 17.73 balls of yarn. Luckily I bought 20 on ebay. I really like the yarn, soft feel, pretty color, should be faabulous when it's done. I think I'm going to try to seriously not knit anything else because otherwise this will take too long. I also made myself some stitch markers to use with the project...bought cute stones and joining rings at Michael's and put them together. Voila!

Special knitting coming up next week, check in to read all about it.

how to make the worst baked beans ever

Start with a brand new recipe

Forget that your stove is running very hot (by 50 degrees F)

Forget that your upteenth-hand dutch oven cooks dry and you need to add moisture

Leave the house to run errands, return to a delicious smell

Open pot to discover a cement like blackened lump in the bottom of the dutch oven

I admit I actually tried to taste this. As soon as it got into my mouth I ran for the garbage. Spit it out. Into the compost mind you. Steve asked how it tasted. I licked my lips and realized the sauce (what miniscule amount was left) was actually pretty tasty and said so. But I warned him that the beans were inedible. He tasted it anyway, silly man. HE ran for the compost bin. He managed to somehow pry the stuff out of the pot into the compost bin and then let Tobi lick the pot.

I've decided that no matter how pretty this dutch oven is it has got to go. I'm thinking of taping a note to the bottom that says, "Do NOT cook in this, just admire it" when I drop it off at Goodwill.

cards done

Christmas cards are done and gone. Thank you notes are also done and posted. 364 days to figure out a better way.

Here's a perfect cartoon for this time of year:
from my favorite cartoon Sherman's Lagoon

Every year I swear I'm going to be so organized. Most years I'm better than this year but at least they got out on time. Most years I get the cards out early enough to send them to Santa Claus, IN for a special cachet; very cute and worth the extra postage. This year? Oh well. Next year? I dunno, maybe if I start now?

I also usually send a picture of the girls. You know, so everyone can see how much older they are (a whole year, really) and still feel connected to us by this, as my friend Sue says, "truly American way of staying in touch." This year? No picture. Mostly because all three of them did not want to take pictures. "I look terrible" "You're not going to take a picture are you?" "Why do we need a picture" "I'm having a bad hair day" every excuse in the book even though they all look beautiful and it could have been cute. It's getting to the point where I think next year I'll have to throw a pair of antlers on the dog and send his picture instead.

Now there's an idea. Take a picture of the dog now. Address the envelopes now. Then I could be 360 days ahead of the game. Of course that means I would have to remember where I stash the cards for 2008.

books

Just a quick roundup of a couple of books.

Over the winter break D started reading a book series Twilight. She was so enthralled by this book from the Young Adult section of the library that she devoured the book in two days (600 pages or so?). Then got the other two books and went through them equally quickly. She talked the books up so much that S started reading them. She loved them so much that I had to read them. They are good. Basically a vampire love story but a little more complicated than that. I won't give anything away but will say I really liked it and am looking forward to the next book.

At Stitch Sisters one of the sisters decided we needed a new group book so she bought "the Friday Night Knitting Club." It looks really good and I get to be the first reader. Our last group read was "The Knitting Circle" and it was interesting to pass it around one at a time and then after everyone had read it to discuss it. That's what we'll do with this one too. In some ways it's hard to be the first reader because you have to hold your tongue waiting for eveyrone to get their turn. We'll see how long it takes to all get through the book.

Then I still have my reading list....whoo boy it's a long one. I think my next book will be "Water for Elephants" which came highly recommended by my sister-in-law.

Of course all of this reading needs to be squeezed in between housework, family obligations, class work, work, and volunteering and knitting. Hmmmmmm....if only I could learn to do laundry in my sleep. Because of course one does not want to knit, spend time with family or read while sleeping. But scrubbing toilets, washing dishes, etc. I don't think you need to be awake and conscious for that.

happy new year

January 1. A new beginning. Life continues on and is as hectic and chaotic as always. Not bad, just a lot to do. Today was spent reorganizing my household notebook for yet another attempt at an organized life. It makes me feel good to at least set off on the right foot.

We did have Stitch Sisters today, and it was a birthday meeting too so there were fudgy brownies, cake and chocolates. Ooooh, what a way to start the new year. The meeting was fun because we all talked about what our thoughts, hopes, expectations were for the new year.

I'm not making any resolutions...I never do, but I am hoping to make some changes. This year I hope to start a knitting journal. I have a new project just about ready to go and it will be my first entry. Keep the ball band, keep the gauge swatch (who am I kidding...make a gauge swatch), keep notes, take picture. I think it would be a neat and fun idea so perhaps that will motivate me to attempt to keep it going. Another change is to try to be a calmer person. To simply take things as they come. I seem to get better at this as I get older but there's always room for improvement.

Our New Year started with snow and lots of it. We were supposed to have a Sitch Sisters outing to the birthday sister's house but by the time we picked up our last car pool sister from the north side of town (a five minute journey) the roads had gone from visible to non-visible and slippery. So we headed home. It was sad because we had the best part of the birthday breakfast with us but better to be safe than slide down the mountain into the lake. Luckily the weather cleared by the evening so we could have our usual meeting at the church.

Home after the meeting, listening to the whooshing wind outside and the warm crackly fire inside. How grateful I am to be safe and warm on this winter day and looking forward to the year ahead.