whitethorn woods

I recently read

and liked it very much. I have always liked Maeve Binchy's books, I find them to be a light, enjoyable read, perfect for travel or summer reading.

This one just happened to be on the shelf at my library so I grabbed it. One of the reasons I liked it so much is because she creates such great characterizations. You really feel like you understand them even if their appearance is only for a few pages. The other is because this particular book is written in vignette style, something that she does very well. Following the threads of the story through the intersecting lives of the characters is very entertaining. This was a good book, my only regret is that I finished it because I honestly could have kept reading if there were more to the story.

grains of gratitude

As with last week I find that I have so very much to be grateful for. But I'll just mention a few:

* My in-laws picking Steve up from the airport. It saved me a long day of driving down and back plus was a great reason for a visit with them.
* Spring like weather. It always lifts my spirits to see the buds and shoots starting to appear.
* I held a baking class this week and it went really really well, a big boost for me.
* D and her Girl Scout Troop who were so sweet and awesome at their meeting this week.
* Hearing from a friend who may be coming to visit soon.

With hopes for a wonderful week ahead for everyone.

off and away

We went to my in-laws this weekend to pick up Steve. He had driven the little car down to S and they very graciously picked him up from the airport on Friday. Saturday the girls, Tobi and I went to visit and to retrieve him.

It was a short visit but very nice, hanging out watching movies together, reading, chatting, very low key. This morning we went out to brunch to celebrate my father-in-law's upcoming birthday, V's birthday and D's upcoming birthday. Lots of birthday love and enjoyment at the table.

The place where we went is a really fabulous buffet brunch loaded with seafood, eggs done three different ways, steak, fresh waffles, fresh donuts, pancakes, crepes, many salads, several soups, and a dessert bar that is just sinful. We all enjoyed the meal, came home and went for a walk in a vain attempt to walk off some of the calories. Tobi, who had not been to the restaurant (in case you were wondering) was very happy to go for a walk.

The weather has turned and it feels like spring!!! As we walked we saw small bulb greens pushing their way through the soil. Birds were chirping and the wind was gently wisping by. Spring is in the air!

hum of contentment

I received an email from a friend today. She shared that her kids had been gone for sleepovers and she was able to take a quiet evening for herself to read Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall which I had lent her. [I wrote about it here. It was a really lovely book. She is an amazing person and to read about her calling and her spiritual journey was so enjoyable and uplifting.] She also had bread baking in the oven and wrote "life is good."

I got a little hum of contentment. It was great to hear about her little moment of contentment and resonated with me, it's so nice to feel that happiness for others.

gs tonight

GS=Girl Scouts. This troop is so sweet, these girls are truly wonderful and it boggles my mind that at 12 and 13 they can be so sensitive and so aware. Projects for tonight's meeting were:

• Voting on their end-of-year activity (going to a waterpark won over rock climbing)
  
• Volunteering to serve at the local food kitchen instead of simply donating food to the Easter baskets
  
• Making Happy Spring/Easter cards to send to our troop in Iraq
  
  

Swilling down Dunkin Munchkins, drinking milk and doing good in the world, who can ask for more?

podding along

I got an ipod for the holidays. It's pretty and pink and little. Fits in my pocket and goes anywhere.

It's great because I can listen to my podcasts on the road or around the house without the formerly clunky method of having to download, burn to CD, play only in the minivan with CD player.

But I'm discovering an addiction here. I don't listen to music on my ipod. Only podcasts. Why? Because I think I am listening to too many podcasts! Of course I also have this bizarre problem of wanting to listen to every single episode so I have to go waaaay back in time to get all caught up.

My first podcast was innocently suggested to me by my friend Meg, Cast-On by the wonderful, witty, melifluous-voiced Brenda Dayne.

Somehow I then found my way to Geek.Farm.Life with Misty and Andrew. They are very funny, very interesting and occasionally mention knitting (Misty not Andrew).

From there the list began to grow, and grow, and grow. I finally had to winnow it down when I realized that I was unable to stay on top of even just a week of podcasts.

So what's on my podlist now?

Aside from the above mentioned two there is:

Sticks and String - more knitting
Car Talk - no knitting but I love listening to Tom and Ray laugh
A Prairie Home Companion - where all the women are strong
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - always hilarious, I want Carl Kasell to leave the message on my answering machine.
60 Second Science - got a minute?

Then I discovered I could get free audio books!

The Age of Innocence - read by Brenda Dayne. I waited until I had all 34 chapters. Now I'm waiting for...time? quiet? Will start soon.

Librivox has more audio books that you can download for free, classics of literature. Now if only I could learn to podread in my sleep!

whose room is it anyway

Warning: serious post ahead.

Being a Mom has many challenges. Lately I've been running through a big one, learning to change my perceptions as my children get older. When they were young and I was in complete control it was easier but now I'm evolving along with them. Understanding that at some point they have to make their own decisions and learn from their own mistakes. With two over 18 you'd think I'd have that part down pat but I don't. I'm still working on it and I suspect it's a life-long endeavor.

I had an interesting discussion the other day with someone whose children are still in elementary school. I was talking about how I have learned to let go of certain things that I used to control very tightly (what my children watched on tv, what books they read, those kinds of things). I casually mentioned that I had turned off the parental controls on V's computer access because I felt that at 18 she was old enough to have learned the lessons we hoped to impart to her and that at some point she's going to have to learn to deal with what is out there in the big wide world. This other person disagreed with me mentioning that she felt I allowed my children too much access to things that she wouldn't let her children near.

Another friend told me she thinks my children are too sheltered and too naive because her children know "how things really are" and that she feels I am doing my children a disservice by not allowing them to see the world as it exists around them.

Someone else told me I am too soft on my children and they need to be exposed to harsh realities to help them "get tough".

That's okay, everyone has different view points but it's been an interesting couple of weeks. It also made me think. How the heck do we do this? How do we learn to make these decisions and when to allow our children to grow into their own sense of responsibility and maturity? D is about to turn 13. That means PG-13 movies will now be allowed. That's a big thing in this house. Of course about two weeks later it will turn into a request for R movies because "everyone watches them" and the movie ratings battle will continue for another 4 years. I've been through it with the other two and I know it's coming. My response is always, "But you're going to be over X for the rest of your life, why are you in such a hurry to get there?" It's also because I do believe that if they are overly exposed to some of this stuff it is densensitizing. So I pull parental rank and say no.

A new area of "letting go" has been their rooms. In the past I had certain expectations about how they kept their rooms. Beds had to be made, closets neat, a place for everything and everything in it's place. But as the kids have gotten older they seem to have gotten messier. And the mess spread out all over the place, the kitchen, living room, hallway, basement. It radiated all over the house. I spent hours working with them (and frequently by myself if the truth be told) picking up the house. Then we would work together to reorganize their rooms, literally hours spent sorting, hundreds spent on organizing thingies, only to have it fall apart again. Meanwhile I was becoming exhausted, frustrated and felt that I was at my wits end trying to stay on top of this.

Talking to another friend I have changed my viewpoint. I now allow them to keep their room however they want it as long as it is not unhygenic (in other words too smelly). I simply close the door every morning when they leave for school and ignore their rooms completely. In return they keep their junk out of the rest of the house. If they don't I ask them once to pick it up. If they don't I put it all in a bag, open the door to their room, put the bag in there and then close the door. The end result? The house is a lot cleaner! It's amazing how that works. Their rooms? Well let's just say I'm tempted to buy a "this property condemned" sign or some of that "police line do not cross" tape. But the good news is, I just close the door. I take a good whiff every morning before I do, if the room smells I tell them and they are required to take care of it. I'll be honest if I look at their room too much it drives me absolutely insane. I can't imagine trying to function with toys and such all over the place. But it's worth the price of my sanity to let them try to figure this out for themselves.

I guess the answer is we just keep trying. Talk to others, try those things that sound workable for us and if they don't work try something else. In other words, keep evolving.

march 21

The first day of spring!!! Temperature? 21 degrees! Aaaah, cold.

This is the time of year when I start getting really tired of winter. Forget the fact that this year we had an unusually warm January and winter has only been two months long. Somehow I am preprogrammed to want warm balmy weather starting right about now. I want to see buds on trees and little flowers poking through the soil. I want to smell that deep verdant green of spring, wet and mooshy. Soon it will be here but not quickly enough for me at this moment.

knitter's anonymous

Last night one of the sisters mentioned that her son now officially refers to us as Knitter's Anonymous. "Hello, my name is Marissa, I've been knitting since I was 16, I've tried to stop....my stash is...." We all had a very good laugh.

We also finished the pins... whoo hooo! Have to see if I can get a picture to post here. I know I'm not good about pictures but do want to post this one.

I did managed to de-stash a large amount of fabric. The bits that are left are being dropped off at the school for the art teacher today. It feels really good to be getting rid of that stuff. It's been hanging around unused for far too long and I'm happy to see others make good use of it.

wfmw - potting plants

It's getting to be that time of year when we start thinking about outdoor plants, at least I do. I especially like to have a couple of large pots by the front door, I think it's very welcoming to have that cheery bit of color as you come up to my front door. Those pots get REALLY heavy though. One way to help drain the soil and reduce the weight of the pot is to save your mailing puffies and put them in the bottom of the pot. Just make sure that you have enough soil for your plants for the entire season, I usually put 1/3 puffies and then the dirt, a layer of weedmat and then the dirt. The weedmat helps keep the dirt a little bit separate from the puffies so that I can throw the spent dirt into the compost pile at the end of the summer.

For other great tips wander over to Shannon's.

tackle it tuesday - de-stashing

Yes, it's the "D" word...de-stashing. Nope, not yarn. I'm not ready to part with any more of that. But in rearranging rooms in my house (still going and going and going and...) *sigh* we have disarray all over the place. I have decided that I REALLY need to get all the sewing, knitting, scrapbooking stuff in one place as much as possible. It may not be possible but I'm certainly going to try.

So I have committed myself to de-stashing my fabric. Again. Actually about a year ago I gave a bunch away. But the rest was in boxes. Whatever does't fit on the shelves assigned for fabric does not stay. Simple as that. It's probably going to be a lot easier to say than to do but I am determined to show up at Stitch Sisters tonight with a big huge enormous basket full of fabric lovliness to give away to my quilter sisters. Anything they don't want will be dropped off at D's school the next day as a donation to the art teacher. Wish me luck.

To see what others are tackling don't forget to check out 5 Minutes for Mom.

grains of gratitude

I have so much to be grateful for today (and everyday). Here are a just a few:

*My wonderful daughter, V. At 18 she has become an amazing young woman. I consider myself so fortunate to be her mother and am thrilled at the future laid out in front of her and her enthusiasm for it.

*My wonderful family who came out in droves to help us celebrate. And all of the dishes they helped wash!

*My sweet daughter S who couldn't make it home due to the weather. She was so bummed and has called several times each day to talk with everyone and still be part of the celebrations.

*My other cutie pie, D, who has been helping to clean up, fold blankets, etc after the guests have left.

*The sunshine!!

*My neighbor who invited us down to see the twin baby goats at their farm (D even got to hold one). Two sets of adorable twins. We fed the horses and dog (?) carrots, let the baby goats nurse on fingers and listened to all the little meh meh meh noises.

*That I have so much leftover food I will not have to make dinner tonight.

it was a party indeed

We had a huge family party to celebrate Miss V's 18th. My in-laws and brother made it in safely although it took both families much longer to make the drive than normal due to the bad weather.

Saturday, the day of the festivities, started off with a call from the local IGA stating that the bread had not arrived yet for our wedges. Luckily it did make it here in time.

Followed by streams of relatives, Aunts, Cousins, Babies, and even a long-time family friend from all the way across the country. We ate, drank, sang (repeatedly) and had lots of fun. The twins are two and have discovered the joys of M&M's. It's the only way I was able to convince Miss E to let me hold her. Her brother M was delighted to discover Tobi's cage, crawled right in and shut the door behind him. It was a picture perfect moment that no one caught on film.

With all of the cousin dogs here it was a bit riotous as well, a HUGE golden, a boxador and our Tobi who suddenly looked rather small in comparison. The dogs chased, played, knocked over stuff with their tails and two (who shall not be named) ate cake off the counter. Chloe prudently hid out in my bedroom stoic and aloof.

In order to make my life easier everything was bought prepared, it's the first time I've ever done that. More expensive but definitely worth it...less time spent cooking means more time with guests. Lunch was chips and dips and vegies and snacks and wedges. With an enormous birthday cake. We still have half the cake left, luckily it's going to school with V on Monday to remove the temptation. It was a chocolate mousse Costco cake and I have to say they are the very best.

Enough people stayed for dinner that I was able to make a lovely turkey dinner complete with broccoli, salad, potatoes and my mother-in-law's amazing chocolate nut brownies for dessert. mmmmmmm delicious and worth every extra pound.

The only bummer about the entire weekend? I have a sinus infection. I'm on antibiotics so my sinuses feel better. Unfortunately when they opened up the floodgate of snot running down my throat caused me to lose my voice. Those who know me know that this was complete torture. A houseful of people I love and unable to talk with them! But we managed to visit and hopefully everyone had a really lovely time.

If the number of items left behind is any indication* they must have.


*For those who don't know it is an understood custom that you only leave things behind in places where you want to return.

Favorite Ingredients Friday

I haven't participated in this for a while but do enjoy going through and reading other people's recipes at Overwhelmed with Joy...lots of good ideas there.

Since we are having a party tomorrow I'm going to share one of my favorite party recipes. I'm not serving it tomorrow only because we have so much food already that it would be overkill. This may sound really disgusting but it truly is wonderful and people just gobble these down.

Texas Meatballs

In a slow cooker combine:

100 meatballs (the small appetizer ones, obviously)
1 can Hormel chili no beans
1 jar grape jelly

cook on low for at least 2 hours

Serve!

Yum!!

s n o w

and lots of it!!!

Woke up to school cancellations today and no snow in sight. A happy birthday gift for V. However the snowless condition didn't last long. It has been coming down with a fury. Steve and I went to Costco to pick up the party food and cake (party is tomorrow) and almost didn't make it back up our street when we came home.

The roads are slippery and icy. Steve has been out to clear the driveway twice and it doesn't look like the snow will let up any time soon.

S was supposed to come home but her flight was cancelled. My in-laws and brother are on the road...we're thinking good thoughts for their safety. Happy that they will be here to be snowed in with us but hoping they get through okay.

It's strange really because two days ago it was 70 degrees and Steve and V washed all the cars. Today...22 degrees and snowing like a banshee. Very strange.

bippedy boppety birthday

Happy Birthday to my sweet V who turns 18 today. And what a wonderful young woman she has become. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

birdie birdie in the window

We have been assaulted lately by a cardinal who obviously thinks that he lives here. He keeps dive bombing our office window. I'm really afraid that the poor thing is going to give himself a concussion or do some serious damage. Of course the fact that he has been at it for over a week doesn't seem to have slowed him down any.

I'm not sure why he is so attracted to this particular window. At first we thought perhaps he was seeing his reflection and chasing away a rival. But even when it's rainy and foggy, like today, he's still at it. Truth be told it's getting a little annoying to keep hearing this thump against the window.

The cat is immensely entertained, she thinks this is the best thing ever. One moment that I wish I had caught on film was when I hear a very loud thumpf and looked up to see the bird spread winged on the window and the cat stretched out on the inside of the window. Then they both fell down.

When he's not flying into the window he is gripping on the trim and pecking at it. We've tried putting up things on the window to prove that it is not open. Doesn't work. I wish he would find himself a nice lady cardinal and just go somewhere else.

only on the 15th day

Come the Ides of March or May.

So today is the Ides of March. Don't know what an Ides is? Other than perhaps remembering that it is the day when Julius Caesar was murdered.

It's a Latin way of timekeeping but in a bizarre, never-to-be-understood-by-me way, the Ides refer to the 15th of March, May, July and October and.....the 13th of all of the other months! Wha???? Like I said, makes no sense. And why does the rhyme only mention March or May but not July or October?

But then again the Romans added a couple of months to the calendar to suit themselves and ensure their place in history. July was named for Julius Caesar. And has an Ides on the 15th. In case you didn't know the other added month was August, named for Augustus Caesar (adopted son of and heir of Julius) which has an Ides on the 13th. Very confusing.

wfmw - grout/mortar containers

It's Works for Me Wednesday. Don't forget to check out all the great tips at Rocks In My Dryer.

My tip this week is courtesy of my wonderful husband who is tiling our kitchen walls. When mixing mortar or grout cut a clean, empty milk gallon bottle in half the long way. Use that as your mixing/dispensing container. Easy to dispose of when you are done and a great way to get one more use from the container.

pi day

3.14, the first three number of Pi. That makes today Pi day, celebrated by mathematicians and nerds everywhere. I imagine that in the year 2015 the celebrations will be really big!

We brought a chocolate creme pie in to D's math teacher who knew nothing about it but loved the idea once D explained it. And the manager of the local pie shop said, "I wish I had known, I would have advertised." I pointed out that there is always next year.

If you are looking for more information you can always check here.

bread

Okay, I admit it. I've been making the no-knead bread just like everyone else. And it comes out great! My family loves it. My big problem is that I want to make it with whole grain flour. So far in my experimentations I have gotten a successful rise and a beautiful crust. It tastes pretty darn good too. But the crumb leaves something to be desired.

My latest incarnation of the recipe will be 1/2 spelt, 1/2 hard white, add a little gluten, and play with the hydration factor. The last loaf was delicious but didn't hold up well.

So in the meantime I occasionally make this.




Just to keep the family happy you understand.

breakfast for dinner

I don't know about you but sometimes when the dinner making brain cells are not available and I don't know what to make for dinner I make breakfast. It's easy, delicious and the kids love it.

Tonight was just such a night. So we had whole grain pancakes, soy sausage and canteloupe. It was absolutely yummy.

The pancake recipe you ask? Right here....

3 C. whole grain flour (I used spelt, hard white and a touch of barley)
2 eggs
1 C. oil
2 C. milk
5 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 t. vanilla

mix together
let rest 10-15 minutes
cook in pan, flipping as soon as bubbles start to appear
serve with hot maple syrup

movie review

Recently I saw a couple of movies; I'm very fortunate that my local librarian is wonderful about getting new movies as soon as they come out on DVD.


D and I saw Marie Antoinette. It was okay, I was a bit upset as I had really high hopes for the movie. The costumes and the scenery were stunning. The acting was okay, not great but passable. Unfortunately the entire movie was completely ruined for me by the score. They juxtaposed contemporary music with this piece. Imagine seeing the countryside around Versaille while listening to "I Want Candy."

Okay, maybe the sentiment behind the song fits but the score itself most certainly does not in my opinion.



Steve and I watched Mission Impossible: III. We were so tickled by the rating notice that there was frenetic violence that we kept remarking to each other about the frenetic action and the frenetic dialog, etc. It was okay entertainment, sort of more of the same in that franchise with a lot of blowing up things and huge fireballs.

Note to self: I need a rating system - so many somethings. Have to think about this. Ratings for the above?

Marie Antoinette - 2 1/2 whatevers
MI:III - 3 whatevers

top o' the day to ye

Aye and 'tis a week airly doncha know...but whe're celebratin' ahl the same.

Just got back from the annual neighborhood St. Patrick's Day party. Yes it's a week early but there were logistical reasons behind the need for the switch. Trust me it didn't stop any of us from enjoying the party. They're up to 25 pounds of corned beef at this thing every year. And three people to bring the Irish Soda bread to make sure there's enough. Lots of goodies and munchies and great conversations.

The amazing thing is how much bigger all the kids seem to have gotten over the winter. You have to remember that when it's as cold as it has been around here we don't see each other until spring. The most we do is wave in passing or chat in the IGA when we run into each other. We all enjoy these opportunities to catch up with each other. Soon enough it will be spring and we'll all be busy with gardens and sports and outdoor activities...probably won't see most of them until the annual Memorial Day get-together.

This sense of rhythym is part of our neighborhood life; it's comforting in an odd way to know that you will be seeing people at the annual events in the neighborhood or around town. Nice to catch up, admire each other's children, enjoy the company of neighbors.

grains of gratitude

Today has been an amazing day. They all are really but for some reason knowing that I was going to be writing this post I found myself being more conscious of the little gratitudes (and big ones) all around me.

I am grateful for my church. The people there are amazing, the Minister is wonderful and the fellowship is strong.

I am grateful for the warmer weather.

I am grateful for daylight savings and the fact that it didn't get dark until 7 pm tonight.

I am grateful for V making dinner tonight.

I am grateful for the neighborhood that I live in and my neighbors and friends who are here.

I am grateful for my wonderful husband.

I am grateful that we live in this country where my daughters can live an independent, self-determined life. Lately it has really been on my mind to realize how much we have in that regard that is not available to so many women around the world. It truly is a wonderful thing.

I am grateful for the laughter of my daughters as they are working together on a sewing project.

It's been a wonderful day.

recipes

In my last WFMW post I mentioned a couple of recipes. I got a few requests for these recipes so I thought I'd post my top three favorites here and share.

Taco Powder Mix

1 C. dried minced onion
1/3 C. chili powder (or to taste)
2 T. cumin
3 t. crushed red pepper
1 T. dried oregano (crumble up a bit)
1 T. garlic powder (or to taste)
1 t. celery seed (pulverize in a coffee grinder)

Combine and store in a glass jar. 1 T. per pound of meat or beans.

Cocoa Powder Mix
1/4 C. Cocoa powder
1 C. Evaporated cane juice crystals (can use sugar if you don't have this)
7 C. Dry milk

Combine all ingredients and store in a jar. 4 T. per cup of boiling water.

Cream of Whatever Soup Mix

2 C. powdered nonfat milk
3/4 C. cornstarch
1/4 C. instant chicken bouillon
2 T. dried onion flakes
1 t. basil leaves
1 t. thyme leaves
1/2 t. pepper

To use instead of canned cream of... soup. 1/3 cup of dry mix with 1 1/4 cups of cold water in a saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened. Or simply add to a casserole calling for cream of... soup.

Enjoy!

the spindle

I learned something new today. On the envelope from my friend Freye was a stamp.



Of a galaxy called The Spindle stamp note: 72p - The Spindle C53This is the only galaxy featured on the stamps and is an amazing 32 million light-years away from the Sun, near the constellation of Sextans. It contains a black hole (which is about one billion times larger than the Sun) and a very bright nucleus, making it visible with powerful binoculars.
.

I liked it because I like fiber-related things so I thought it was neat that there was a galaxy called The Spindle. I also wound up spending some time on astronomy sites looking for other fiber-related named objects but didn't find any.

I think this stamp is going to have to go in my scrapbook because I like it so much. Steve and V are the stamp collectors (I collect first day covers) but this stamp is mine!

my friend freye

I have a friend, Freye. We've been friends for almost 18 years (has it really been that long???). We started as penpals...the snail mail kind back before there was any other option. Over the years we've been lucky enough to visit each other a few times (she lives in the UK we live in the US).

As technology has changed so has our communication. Now we occasionally send real letters which are always a treat and a joy to receive; but we email more. Now we both have blogs that we check to see what's going on in each others lives. Amazing!

She called tonight -- I feel so happy and blessed to have such a wonderful friend and to still be in touch after all these years. And how neat that technology allows us to "see" each other more.

oooh, new toy!

I love when I find new toys on the internet. This one is h/t to Il Bloggo and courtesy of Bylberg.



Isn't it cool? Dang, I wish I could print them out exactly on little cards I like them so much. Fun, fun, fun, but then again I'm a goofy for stuff like that.

wfmw - make your own

Today's Works for Me Wednesday challenge from Rocks In My Dryer is kitchen ideas. Make sure to check them out.

Mine is that I have a list of several 'make your own' recipes that I rely on a lot. Taco seasoning, vegetarian soup base, cream of whatever soup, cocoa mix, etc. I have created a little flyer for these recipes in it so that when I need them I always know where it is. I also have another one for our 'family favorite christmas goodies' which include tiger fudge, regular fudge, meringue cookies, etc. I only use it once a year but I always know where it is.

What works for you?

stitchin' the night away

It was Stitch Sisters again tonight. Lots of giggles and companionship as always. We're all working on different things, hats, sweaters, socks, blankets. One sister didn't know how many to cast on for a particular hat. We had to make a Stitch Sisters Emergency Call(TM) to an absent sister. The answer is...32. Guesses had ranged from 58 to 86 - she'd be knitting a hat for an elephant there! Luckily she hadn't gotten too far before we found out the real number of stitches.

Me? I'm finishing the leaves for the pins. We're assembling them next week, whoo hoo!. I can't wait until we hand them over to the Ladies Luncheon Committee and see their reaction, I'm sure they are going to LOVE them. Then it's back to my sweater, I'm really thrilled about this and plan to finish it before summer so I can wear it at the beach.

It's funny, while we were sitting there so peaceably the conversation turned to tv. Apparently many of us have a fondness for this tv show which is on Tuesdays at 9:00. The time our meeting gets out. Hmmmm, maybe we need to get a tv in the church parlor. Then we could hang out knitting and watching the show. Not as much fun as knitting and talking together, but it would extend our meetings by an hour (always a good thing) and we could talk during commercials). Truthfully it's not gonna happen since I'm ready for jammies by 9:15 when I get home and I'm sure everyone else is too...I just like the idea of spending more time with my Stitch Sisters.

tackle-it tuesday

Oooh, it's Tuesday. Time for another tackle. Today's job is...

the office. No pictures because I'm too lazy to run and get the camera, but I am going to start working in here as soon as I get off the computer. It has become a catchall for the kids junk and is rather disorganized. Hope to fix that by the end of the day.

Don't forget to visit 5 Minutes for Mom, get inspired to tackle-it today!

baking yesterday

Yesterday was baking day. Don't know why, I was just in the mood to bake. What did I bake? Well, I'm glad you asked.

1 batch of hazelnut barley biscotti - for some reason the biscotti came out "fluffy" and so they are not as dense as usual. They are still very crisp and crunchy and I think I like them this way. Now I'll have to figure out what went "wrong" so that I can duplicate it.

1 loaf of whole wheat bread - half gone, devoured by fiends the kids as soon as it came out of the oven

1 dozen rolls - unfortunately they cooked just a leetle too long. Tasty and soft on the inside. Not burnt but definitely crunchy on the outside

8 breadsticks - just like the rolls. But they're supposed to be crunchy so I guess that's okay.

word cloud

It's been a while since I've done one of these and I've been seeing them around the blogosphere. So I decided to do another one.



You can go to snapshirts and make one for yourself.

winter reading

Seasonal Soundings had the Winter Reading Challenge up on her blog. February is over and so is the challenge.

As usual I wanted to read more than I did and I also read things that weren't on the list simply because they were available. I'm discovering that my life is so hectic these days that structured reading time is just out of the question. I also seem to be going in so many different directions that although I have a list of books I want to read I am easily sidetracked by recommendations from others or new offerings on the library shelf.

I think this means that at least for now I won't be participating in any more challenges. But if I hear of good books or have read good books I will certainly share them here.

Having said that here is a book that has been suggested by my sister-in-law and I'm adding it to my list, Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral.

grains of gratitude

Thanks once again to Christine for starting this thread in the blogosphere. If you google it you'll find lotsa folks have a lot to be grateful for..

I am grateful for sunshine today...
for a hug from V this morning...
for a woodburning stove and for heat...
for Tobi to snuggle with on the sofa while reading a book...
for the patches of grass I see poking through the snow...
for the moments of quiet reflection that I have been able to take today

wfmw - charitable donations

It's Wednesday, time for more tips! Don't forget to check out Rocks In My Dryer for more cool wfmw tips.

It's that time of year again...getting ready for tax season. I have a file folder that I keep in my desk marked taxes. Anytime I make a charitable donation I throw the receipt in there. If I write a check, I make a copy of it first. If it is mileage related (driving for a field trip is tax deductible) I write when, how far, why and stick that in the file. I also keep a list of what items are worth in there to account for my donations to Goodwill. Then at tax time I can pull out the folder, go through it and everything is in one place. No scrambling for checkbooks, trying to remember what happened a year ago, no wondering if I've forgotten anything. It works for me.

terra pass

I'm interested in the environment and in trying to be environmentally sensitive. We recycle (heavily), compost, try not to buy excess packaging items, try to reuse, reduce, all those good things. Our family of five generates approximately 1 33-gallon bag of trash per month. We're trying to get it down to even less than that.

Recently I learned about Terra pass after watching an episode of Living with Ed and bought one for my car*. I think it's a good thing and hope that it will spread. Having said that I was amazed when I read this article. Wow! Talk about a big publicity boost. I hope it catches on.

*I've always liked Ed Begley Jr. and think he is a good actor. His show is a bit repetitious but oddly addictive and amusing. It's also informative and I enjoyed watching it. His neighbor is Ed Nye the science guy! What could be better than that.

grains of gratitude

While catching up on my blog reading I found this post at Overwhelmed with Joy which referenced this blog. Being the nosy parker that I am I read their posts. Doing so made me realize that I hadn't kept up with my 30 Day of Gratitude type lists. I had successfully blogged for 30 days about things that I was grateful for. I enjoyed it so much and it made me feel better so I decided to keep it up off-blog.

Lately with the weather being so cold, the kids being so cranky, my not writing gratitudes, etc I've been feeling more cranky myself. So I've decided to join in [I'd like to know who started this...I'll link to them if we can find them].

Today happens to be an especially thoughtful day for me as the service at church focused on Hungry and Homeless. My church is in the 7th largest city in our state. Unfortunately there are a large number of homeless people and many families who rely on public assistance. The readings today were from the local newspaper highlighting homeless children and their dreams, another was about a homeless man who was employed but froze to death because he slept under a highway exit, how crowded the shelters are, how people are only allowed to stay in the shelter for 30 days per year. So here are my gratitudes:

I am grateful that my family has a more than adequate home for our needs, that we are warm, dry, fed and safe.
I am grateful that my family is together and not separated due to poverty.
I am grateful that we do not have to worry about where and when we will receive our next meal.
I am grateful that my children are safe from a life on the streets.

We already have plans to serve at the local food kitchen through D's Girl Scout troop, but now I'm thinking we are going to try to do a toiletries/canned food drive in advance of serving so that we can bring these things with us when we go.

edited: Thanks to Michelle we now know that Christine at Bradys Bunch started Grateful Grains, thank you Christine for starting this, thanks Michelle for letting us know.

clone food

I don't rant often so if you don't want to read a rant skip this post.

NO THANK YOU!

I am not interested in ingesting GMO, Cloned or otherwise monkeyed-with food products. I do not feel that agribusiness has any other motive than lining their pockets. Who cares if people want the right to make a choice, they seem to feel their right to make a profit supercedes that.

I also fail to understand what they hope to gain by modifying foodstuffs. Cloned cows still need to be raised and slaughtered, cloned dairy cows still need to be raised and milked. We don't know enough about what cloning does to animals what will it do to those who ingest cloned food? And what about genetic diversity? I find it somehow repugnant that agribusiness looks for the cheapest and single source solution. That's in part how we wound up with Mad Cow Disease. Someone decided that stretching cow feed by mulching up and adding DEAD SHEEP was a good idea! Excuse me but cows are vegetarians. No surprise that this did not work well. Other agribusiness ventures have tried to reduce plant diversity among food crops such as rice because it's easier for them. That's not a good reason in my book.

Luckily there are some food producers who agree with consumers like me. Such as Ben and Jerry's, Dean Foods and others.

If you don't wish to have cloned foods in your pantry you can let your representative know by joined the Consumer Action Alert sponsored by Citizens for Health.

Thank you for reading, rant over.

wfmw - bulkfoods

There is a wonderful resource available on the internet called bulkfoods.com. They have beans, cereals, dried fruits, spices, cooking supplies, and more. Steve's favorite is the corn nuts but I like it for a number of things like tvp, barley flakes and such. The best part? Shipping is only $4.95 no matter what size your order is. That definitely works for me.

Check out Rocks In My Dryer and see what Shannon and others find works for them!

bleah!

Well I've managed to figure out that I didn't have to change my template colors. Which is good because I liked them. The page settings are different and several options that I used to have, that I liked, are gone. Still trying to figure out how to get them back. Tempted to switch to WordPress but don't have the time right now.

Oh well, beggars can't be choosers and I am blogging for free right now so I'll just plug away and see if I can retweak this thing back to my preferred setup.

Thanks for your patience...we now return you to your regularly scheduled...whatever you were reading.

ouchless knitting

I was browsing for leaf patterns for our knitted flower project and found this.



I guess if you can't remember to water your plants this could be a good option for you.

wfmw - receipts

Here we are another Wednesday and more tips coming your way. Don't forget to check out Rock In My Dryer and see what Shannon and folks have shared.

My latest works for me is probably not new to most people but is turning out to be surprisingly effective. Saving receipts. I used to save only receipts for things I thought I might need to exchange (for sizing) or for warranty information. A couple of times I've been caught short by needing to return something without a receipt.

Apparently in my area there is a new twist to returning without a receipt which allows the merchant to not return the sales tax you paid. Someone I know tried to return something two weeks after purchasing it and it had alread gone on sale. She was only given the sale price in return, they wouldn't even let her exchange it for the correct size!!! She had to take the lesser price and then buy the correct item which was NOT on sale (go figure).

I now have receipt envelopes in my monthly folders in the filing cabinet. Every single receipt goes into the envelope. Cash receipt for gas? In the envelope. Grocery store receipt? In the envelope. This way I will eventually have one year of receipts but if I really need a receipt I should be able to find it. I'm thinking of refining the system further to go through the receipts and get rid of grocery, gas, etc but we'll see if I get that organized.

At least this way if I need a receipt I know I've got it because I've got ALL of them...works for me.

stitching what?

Tonight was Stitch Sisters, ahead of the big storm that is supposed to be coming our way. Luckily we managed to squeeze in a meeting and a chocolate fest...it being almost valentine's day you know. We had red gumdrops, hershey kisses, chocolate gooey cake with real whipped cream and chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting and pink and red sprinkles. Mmmmmmmm. Hard to eat and knit at the same time but we mostly chose to eat so that wasn't a problem.

The temperatures have been steadily dropping and the wind picking up all day. Plus it feels a bit damp and humid. As I mentioned there is a big storm coming. One of the ladies mentioned that she was feeling a bit chilly. So I jokingly mentioned that G, one of our fastest knitters, was going to make us all thermal underwear. She mis-heard me and said "purple underwear?". R heard half of the conversation and said, "who's underwear?", and it just got funnier from there. As I was writing this I thought to try to post a picture but the google search was not pretty so I left it out.

We're getting close to done with our next goodwill project. Every year we try to make something for the Church where we meet since they so kindly let us meet for free. We're making flower lapel pins for the ladies luncheon in April. I've REALLY got to get off my rear and start making leaves for all of these flowers. Hopefully I'll find some green yarn in my stash and be able to begin making them. I figure I'm just going to make triangles in different sizes and then we'll stitch them on to the pins. One sister, J, is making felted flowers and they are coming out so beautifully it's really fun to do projects like this. Then we'll need to come up with another charity project. I'll try to remember to take a picture of all of the flower pins to post here when we are done.

needs

Hmmmm, I was catching up on blog reads and came across the needs game from Hanna. It looked interesting although I figured I wouldn't find anything. Boy was I wrong.

How to play:

1. Google *your name* needs
2. List the first 10 items
3. Giggle

Here's mine:

Mira needs:

...to listen to her father (I swear I am NOT making that one up)
...you in order to achieve it's goals (apparently there is a Foundation Mira that trains guide dogs for the blind -- who knew?)
...to know how to identify the raw images (really?)
...to heal
[all]...is Master Speed and Force Deflection/Force Redirection (Star Wars - wow!)
...Anne Stuart more than Anne Stuart needs Mira (don't know who Anne Stuart is but okay)
...or to very garbled (wrong) input data (didn't make any sense to me either)
...the clout only her sister's ad agency can bring (if I had a sister that is)
...needs to work on her projection (yup)
...to enumerate the links belonging to minimum cuts(coming right up)
...a complex intensive calculation of the maximum flow (help!)

Your turn next...what do YOU need?

update - multiple items

Lots going on and I haven't been posting lately. In no particular order the recent events are:

1. Blogger finally got me to switch to the new version. hrmph! I'll have to poke around and investigate. I had resisted as long as I could, I'm not a fan of beta software and quite frankly these days I don't have massive amounts of time to waste spend working around bugs. Hopefully all the complaints that I had read about from other readers are now a non-issue.

2. Went to FL for a week. Lovely, lovely, lovely. Can we say warm? Steve stayed home with the girls while I took a few days R&R. V was happy for me that I got away. D wanted to know why I was going without her. I told her it was so that I would miss her while I was gone. And I did miss all of them but I very much appreciated the peacefulness of being in a different place and being spoiled by my aunt.

3. I've been busy with my new business grains&more. It's an exciting venture for me and I'm really learning a lot. I've had a talk at a local mini-conference of organic/natural food producers and will be giving two classes in the upcoming months. One on baking with grains (not baking bread thought) and the other on what else can you do with grains-soups, stews, etc. So I may not be blogging much as I organize this new venture in my life.

4. Reading!!!! As some of you may remember I had joined the Winter Reading Challenge. Had a whole list of books to read. Still plugging away but there have been some changes.

a) I did manage to read The Memory Keeper's Daughter while I was in FL. My aunt had recommended it to me and had a copy for me to read. Good story, very engrossing. I will confess that I was a little disappointed in the ending as I feel that it was a bit rushed. But the story was very well written and thought provoking in some areas. Definitely worth reading.

b) I had mentioned that I received a copy of Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey for the holidays. I am thoroughly enjoying this book. I find it to be easy to read and should be finished soon.

c) Steve had taken a copy of Freakonomics'> Freakonomics out of the library and recommended it to me. Surprisingly I really liked it. I had thought it would be dry, boring and statistical. Instead it was interesting, insightful and thought provoking. Lots of amazing connections that I never would have thought of, written in an easy to understand style. Good stuff.

d) I've also been reading crockpot cookbooks. Now that cold weather has finally appeared I find myself using it more and more. The Healthy Slow Cooker It's very good - I've already made a couple of recipes and enjoyed them. I like the way Judith Findlayson writes. The other is Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Lots of good looking recipes in this one. I've been enjoying browsing through both of these cookbooks for winter meal inspiration.

5. Weather? cold (see #2 above). It's been in the single digits and teens. Winds howling, the woodburning stove is not keeping up. Thank goodness for modern heat. And sunshine. At least if it's bitter cold outside it's sunny so it looks nice.

No promises on when I'll blog again, but I will try to duck in and out for a brief note here and there.

household meme

Ooh, another meme...fun fun fun! This one is from Sallie at A Gracious Home

Here goes:

Aprons – Y/N? If Y, what does your favorite look like?
Yes, I have several and I love them all

Baking – Favorite thing to bake
snack bread

Clothesline – Y/N?
Yes, luckily on my covered porch so I don't have to worry if it rains

Donuts – Have you ever made them?
Yes but not in a long time

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day
Pick up the kitchen desk - it's my hot spot

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
Yes, in the basement

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
No, we have a septic so it wouldn't be a good idea anyway

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
the world wide web...you can find anything there

Ironing – Love it or hate it? Or hate it but love the results?
It's okay, can be soothing but is not high on my list of favorite activities

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?
Yes, 2nd drawer to the right of the sink

Kitchen – Color and decorating scheme
wood cabinets and floor, very old country heart pink themed wallpaper that I plan to change one day - as soon as I figure out what I really want.

Love – What is your favorite part of homemaking?
Making good meals for my family

Mop – Y/N?
Yes

Nylons – Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
Don't wear them

Oven – Do you use the window or open the oven to check?
Both, depends on what's cooking

Pizza – What do you put on yours?
sauteed onions peppers and cheese, mmmmmmm

Quiet – What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
read or knit

Recipe card box – Y/N? What does it look like?
No, scrips and scraps of paper all over the place, I really need to do something about that one of these days

Style of house – What style is your house?
colonial, beige with rust colored shutters and brick

Tablecloths and napkins – Y/N?
Yes. Every day.

Under the kitchen sink – Organized or toxic wasteland?
Organized

Vacuum – How many times per week?
Once a week, easy with my trusty roomba

Wash – How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
seven or eight

X’s – Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
Yes

Yard – Y/N? Who does what?
Hubby mows the lawn and trims trees, I'm supposed to weed and take care of fruit/herb gardens

Zzz’s – What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
wipe down the kitchen sink

Who's next?

another one

As my mother will tell you..."In our family it's all about the food." We love to discuss who ate what, how to prepare that, and she sends me lots of links to good places. Lately it's been blogs. Here's another one Toast. I admit to having a hard time going back through all the archives of everything I've added lately, but at least I never run out of stuff to read.

it's a crime

This one is for Sam:

Australians incensed at 'Gnomesville Massacre'



 

 

 

 

with thanks to picture-newsletter for the pinched picture.

just ridiculous

I am a fan of Lionbrand. Some of their yarns are very soft and easy to work with. I love the fact that they have free patterns and tutorials online. Their magazine is also fun to look through.

But this?

spray paint art.wmv

Way cool! h/t to Amy at angry chicken for this link. Spray paint artist from Portorož, Slovenia doing sci-fi paintings in less then 10 min. You can find more about artist and his art here

being of very little brain

I almost forgot that today is a very special day.



Why is that picture up there? Who is that man above? Why none other than A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh. I loved those stories, still do. And today is his birthday.

food for thought

I have mentioned several times my desire to take a page from my Aunt's notebook and Do Less. Frequently easier said than done. Here is a link that I found inspiring as I try to move in that direction:

Soul of the Home

Of course this line of thinking also always brings up for the that scary word...organization. I swear I constantly tell myself "if I could just be more organized." Somehow I am never organized enough; I come up with all sorts of plans and programs, implement some of them, some of them even stick. But it's still not enough. Not sure why. I've even found two sites Fly Lady and OrganizedHome.Com where I have gotten and implemented a lot of useful ideas. I've even been tempted by the thought of a Home Management Binder the idea of which seems to be sweeping bloggerville. Some of them are really pretty. And it's tempting because I like to scrapbook and so this could be a FUN project, hah!

But will it really help? Not sure. I've been trying to use my Palm Pilot more. I've got 80% of my address book(s) in there, pretty good about keeping the calendar in there, great at the shopping lists, got a few e-books (thank you Gutenberg Project) and, of course, a couple of games. But I like paper. I didn't buy myself a paper planner this year to force myself to try to learn to use my Palm more. But I miss that planner, turning the pages is better when they're real pages not clicks on the screen (does this mean I am becoming old fashioned?). And that still doesn't answer the question of why I feel so disorganized.

Which brings me back to the link at the top of this post. I think I'm going to have to print it out so I can read it a few times and cogitate more upon the message therein.

blogreads and more humor

Thanks to my Mom I have added a bazillion new links to my blog read list (not really but close). She sent me this very funny link that turned -- as blog wanderings are wont to do -- into a collection of food history type blogs and a lot of chuckles.

Not sure how these people come up with this stuff so fast (read the link to understand what I'm talking about here) but they are certainly smarter than me.

humor

I found this while wandering the blogosphere and it was too funny not to share.

“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.” – Dave Barry

books books and more books

I've joined the Winter Reading Challenge sponsored by Seasonal Soundings. My list is posted here. It looks like I'll be busier than the three books that I originally chose because many generous and lovely people in my life sent me....ta dah! BOOKS for Christmas.

So I'm adding to my original reading challenge list (and home library - thank you all) with the following:

Reason for Hope: A Spiritual Journey I really admire Jane Goodall and have been wanting to read this book ever since I heard about it.

 

 

The Twelve Teas® of Friendship My mom got me this because she knows how much I love having tea parties. I've actually already read it and really enjoyed it. There are little menu suggestions and it's very nicely put together. Some of the ideas don't really appeal to me (such as decorating with shopping bags from high end stores for the "Shopping Bag" tea -- I'm not into shopping) or the back patter favors for the "Job Well Done" tea. But the suggestions for different themes, quiet, simple, elegant decorations, nice recipes and, of course, tea, are all good.

 
ReadyMade: How to Make [Almost] Everything: A Do-It-Yourself Primer Another gift from my Mom. All kinds of interesting other uses for things and crafty type projects. I'm going to enjoy leafing through this one and hopefully garnering ideas for good ways to re-use stuff that is currently not living up to it's current potential.

 

Helping Christians Live Their Faith the Jewish Way with A Little Kosher Seasoning This looks like an interesting book with some recipes in it. The author was raised as a Jew, married a clergyman and in the book tries to integrate her Jewish roots and Christian beliefs. I'm looking forward to reading it.

 

Leaving the Land: A Novel Highly recommended by a friend, I'm looking forward to this book as well.

 

 

Fatal Majesty: A Novel of Mary, Queen of Scots I like historical fiction, really liked Reay Tannahill's Food in History so we'll see how I like this one.

 

 

The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America Another historical book, this one taking place on our shores.

 

and last but definitely not least:

Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things I really like books like this, it's so fascinating to find out where and how stuff came to be. I'm sure this isn't a read cover-to-cover book but I will still have lots of fun perusing through it.

 

 

All in all it's a VERY ambitious list and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to read all of this before spring comes, but I shall do my valiant best.

ten things i love that begin with k

Dawn and her fabulous letter pickers have assigned me the letter K, thanks guys! So here's my list, in no particular order:

1. Kids - especially mine, but others too. I find their perspectives on things to be so unique and they are all so wonderful in their own way, I really enjoy spending time with them.

2. Kitchens - some are admittedly better than others, but I love working in the kitchen (and it's even better when I can work with my kids!), baking, canning, reading cookbooks, eating, when I have tea parties we all seem to hang out there, it's a great place to be.

3. Kisses - what's not to like? :-)

4. Knitting - if you've read this blog you know that I have a knitting group called Stitch Sisters. Each of these women is so special and important to me. I love that we get together and enjoy some female time and also craft and do charity projects together. I also like creating knitted objects. When I'm done I'm always amazed at how those two sticks and string have turned into something completely different.

5. Knowledge (and learning) - I am a big proponent of education, both self-taught and in school. I believe it is and should be an important part of everyone's life. We are never to old to stop learning new things.

6. Kale - sounds silly but I really do like it. It's a nutritious food and very tasty. My favorite way to make it is stir-fried with garlic and pignolis.

7. Kaleidoscopes - I have always been fascinated by these. My grandfather used to have several and now my dad has some. They're neat to look through and see all the different patterns.

8. Keyboard - another way to say piano. I've always enjoyed listening to others play them, especially my kids. I have in the past taken lessons and one day hope to do so again.

9. Kittens - another way to say cats since all kittens eventually become cats. I love cats, I think it's genetic as my grandmother was absolutely mad about them, my mom too and we always had them growing up. There is something special about a warm bundle of purring fur sitting next to you.

10. Kneading - what you do when you make bread. Very relaxing and the end product is wonderful.

If you want to play too just leave a comment and I'll pick a letter for you.

oooh, imperial!

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Imperial Majesty Mira the Recumbent of Lower Beanthrop in the Hedge Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

h/t to Dawn for this one.

national spaghetti day

is today!!! Whoo hooo!

Not sure who determines these things or why it is cause for celebration but if you love pasta, celebrate the day with a big old bowl!

And if you are seriously sick and twisted you can visit the Bent Spaghetti page and discover why it breaks the way it does.

today is the day!!

To my lovable niece, Miss M!

wfmw-holiday thank yous

Another Works for me Wednesday. Don't forget to check out the tips that others are sharing and even share one yourself.

'Tis the season...for thank you notes. For years we have been sending a group thank you. Everyone writes or draws in a card and we send that one card off to the gift giver. Some years when I have more time I actually make my own cards which makes it even more special. This also allows me to make sure the kids send their thank-yous. It works for me.

tink tink tink

Stitch Sisters again tonight. A small group of us but that was good because I needed a lot of help. The hoodie is back. I started it back in 2005 *gulp*. Somewhere along the way it got put down. Now I've sufficiently emptied bunches of stash, reduced my on-the-needle inventory and have decided that I really need to finish this sweater before another summer of beach weather comes and goes.

Unfortunately in the meantime I lost my "cheat sheet" that told me where I was on the sweater. One of the sisters helped me figure it out after a couple of attempts to figure out what size I was knitting (I'm ashamed to confess that I didn't remember). Try counting sleeve stitches over and over and .... Finally got it. She measured and told me where I was.

Happily I picked up and soared off on the new row. In the wrong direction *sigh*. Tink time (un-knit in other words). Luckily I only did one row before that I realized it. I was quietly tinking to myself when another sister mentioned "You have a funny string hanging from the middle of your sweater." *blush*, 'unh huh, that's why I'm tinking.' But I got it fixed and am confident that I will work on this hoodie until it is done. Maybe I'll even take a picture of me in it (no promises until it's done)

In exciting news, one of us, not me, got two adorable new pygmy goats! I'm so excited I can't wait to go over and meet them. They are named Whinney and Whitney. I'm hoping to have a picture of them up soon. They've just arrived and sound absolutely adorable. Hmmmmmm, I wonder if we could hide a pair around here, they could be very useful for clearing out the garden. Neighbors? What neighbors? Maybe if we offered to lend them the goats to clear their yards too......probably not.

tobi-the-wimp

Tobi went to his first Vet visit (with us) today. He was very happy and excited, wagging and sniffing, greeting all the people. He was even happy when he got back into the exam room, lots more good smells. Then a nice lady (the technician) comes in and pets him, admires him, what's not to like. Another nice lady comes in and pets him, he's thinking this is fun. The first tech gently puts her arm around him and the second one gently takes his front left paw. He's sitting there contentedly until the moment he sees the needle. Bam! Different dog. Wriggling, squirming, determinedly trying to get away. The second tech gets the needle into his vein and he shakes it free (bleeding quite a bit). So they change tactics and one holds him tightly while the other takes blood from the vein in his left hind leg. He's fine until the needle goes in and then goes nuts again. Luckily they get just enough blood that, when tested, reveals that he has Lyme Disease.

He gets a couple of freeze dried liver treats which he likes and we sit there waiting for the Vet. I pet him and tell him what a good boy he is. He's sniffing the room again and trying to get out. Not on the patient side, on the lab side, he wants to follow the techs.

Dr. comes in, admires him, examines him, tells him how handsome he is, he's loving this. Then she asks me to hold him so she can give him his distemper and rabies. One goes in the shoulder the other in the rump. The shoulder is first. She pinches his skin and he's fine. The needle goes in and he starts frantically wriggling to try to get away. Luckily she gets the full dose in there. Then the rump. As soon as she touches his rump to pinch it he ducks under and to the side. The Vet almost stabs me with his shot. I wrestle him down and she injects him. More liver treats, he calms down and he's okay again.

He's on doxycycline, we're changing his tick medicine to something stronger and I'm going to have to figure out how to help him calm down when he gets shots. Luckily I have a whole year before we have to do this again.

a day of travel

Miss D and I went with some Indian friends on an adventure today. They took us to two Indian temples. It was fascinating to walk around and see all the colorful sights, the decorations, the way people dressed, to watch the priests blessing people. Of course since everything was in Hindi we did not understand a single word but I know I could feel that aura of spiritual togetherness. It was a really unique moment.

After visiting the temples and stopping to chat with and be introduced to many people and share many sweets (and I am talking really sweet here) we went to the market. Wandered around admiring all the jewelry, sari's, household implements, listened to lots of really loud Indian music coming from the shops and smelled all the difference incense wafting onto the street. Miss D was very taken with the bangles and somehow managed to purchase an enormous collection of them and very happily played with making patterns on her arm. Very bright and sparkly, she plans to wear all of them to school tomorrow.

Next we went to a buffet restaurant. I thought the food was pretty good although I admit their palak paneer wasn't as good as my friend's homemade version. My friends all thought the food was rather poor. Later it occurred to me that it was probably spiced more for my (more delicate) palate and their complaint was due to the fact that it wasn't spicy enough. Lucky for D and me, otherwise we would have been relegated to rice, naan and yoghurt for dinner.

After dinner it was on to the Indian food market. Wow! Lots of stuff that I have no idea what to do with, lots of stuff in amazing bulk qualities (8 pounds of dried chickpeas anyone?), just lots of stuff. I love going into grocery stores from other cultures. Unfortunately I don't always know what everything is for so am usually relegated to buying what I know or what I can get a suggestion for. But it's still really fun to wander and explore. One thing that amazed me was that this store carried 10 different kinds of white rice. Parboiled - 3 kinds, Jasmine - 1 kind, Indhi (?? It looked like short grain Japanese rice to me) - 1 kind, Basmati - 5 kinds. That's a lot of rice. I did buy some mango pulp to use to make Mango Lassi which we had at the restaurant and which was delicious. I've had a Sweet Lassi before but never Mango. According to my friends they don't blend in the ice cubes but rather pour the other ingredients over the ice so that it's not as thick. D at first refused one and then when I convinced her to taste it (she loves mango and I told her it tasted like a mango smoothie) wound up drinking most of mine.

Full, shopped out, tired, we all piled back into the car for the drive home. Thank goodness I wasn't driving because it was an action-packed day.

thoughts on the new year

Here we are, another new year. It's an arbitrary day really but somehow one that we ascribe lots of importance to. Making resolutions, reviewing the year past, making plans for the upcoming year. All good things for many but this year I have decided to try something different.

I'm tired of feeling so overwhelmed by my shoulds, both past and future. I think I would find more joy in life if I simply focus on the now. I've been doing more of that, especially since I started (and continued) my 30 Days of Peace. Instead of thinking about what I didn't accomplish, what I missed, worrying about what I have to do and when, I'm going to once again be grateful for what I have and to remember to follow my Aunt's advice to Do Less.

So no resolutions this year. Do I still have goals to be accomplished? Absolutely. Will I always have daily lists of things to be done? You betcha. Will I have things/actions/decisions that I will rethink as time goes by? Probably. But instead of worrying about these and focusing on them I plan instead to focus on the good stuff and to try to be more present, more now.

Whatever your plans for your new year I hope they are happy ones and that the coming year brings you much joy.

vegetarian shepherd's pie

Shepherd's Pie is one of our family favorites but I had never thought of making a vegetarian version. I'm not thinking ahead to meat substitutes well enough yet I guess. When visiting my in-laws for Christmas I found a really nice vegetarian cookbook on my mother-in-law's kitchen shelf and she is letting me borrow it. Our first recipe was for this pie and turned out delicious. I'm going to assume that people already know how to make the mashed potatoes that go on top, if you don't you can get directions here.

Base of pie:

soak 1/2 C. tvp in 1/2 C. hot water until absorbed (about 10 minutes)
cook 1/2 C. lentils in 1 quart of water until done (about 30 minutes)
sautee 1/2 C. onions and 1 clove garlic in olive oil until soft
add tvp and sautee until mixed well
add 1 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper
drain lentils and mash
add lentils to tvp mixture
pat into bottom of casserole dish or pie pan

Filling:

your choice - we used 1 1/2 C. of mixed vegetables

place filling on top of base

top with mashed potatoes so no filling or base shows

bake at 350 F for 25 minutes until thoroughly warmed

This was so delicious! V did say that she didn't like the lentils so much and wondered if it could be made with just the tvp and onion/garlic. It probably could but Steve and I liked the lentils so much that they're going to stay in this recipe. Definitely a keeper and one that I will be making again.