A Contest and 2 Tags

I love contests, especially when they involve yarn!

Anne is giving away Malabrigo yarn. Have you heard of this yarn? (Please tell me I'm not the only one who didn't know about it until last week!) It's 100% wool from Uruguay. Up until a week ago (when I started hearing the Malabrigo drum), the country name Uruguay immediately made me think of Manos del Uruguay. Manos is lovely wool. I was super excited to receive it for a bday present last year from my MIL.

According to Karyn at Knotty Stuff, Malabrigo is better than Manos. Much better. "It knits like butter".

What better way to get your hands on some than to win it - free! All you have to do is leave a comment on Ann's Contest post naming an unpublished designer. Easy. You do know an unpublished designer, don't you? Of course, you do. Well, to remind you, there's me (though I hope to change that later this year), Tracie (though she will be published later this year), Sharon (who just got word that she will be published in Interweave Knits - yay!), and Katinka. So, now you have no excuse.

Onto the tagging.

Vicki of Knitting Dragonflies tagged me with a meme on Feb 7th. (Boy, am I a slacker!) Thank you!

I'm to share 7 random/weird facts.

1. My bicycle is my main form of transportation during the work week, since we are now a 1-car family. Dan takes the car to work. I run any errands with my trusty red bike. Yesterday, I piled two big boxes on the bike rack and pedaled down to the post office.
2. My favorite gardening task is pruning. Jake's favorite gardening task is breaking up the pruned sticks into kindling for our fireplace. He's extremely quick and efficient.
3. There are only 3 candles in our entire house and they are kept behind glass doors. Since I quit smoking 6 years ago, candles, perfume, smoke, and other strong smells give me an instant headache. I avoid them like the plague. Around the holidays, I carry Ibuprofen with me and drink a lot.
4. My favorite fruit is apples. I wait all year for the fall harvest. Then, I go batty. Apples are cooked into everything for a solid 2 months. By the end of it, I am sick of apples and won't touch them again until next year's harvest.
5. I fell in love with cooking when I was 9 years old. I would wake up early in the morning and cook my sister breakfast. Breakfast is still my favorite meal of the day. I eat two breakfasts; one before I take Jake on his walk and one after while he is eating his only breakfast.
6. There is lotion and chapstick in almost every room of our house. Dan doesn't touch the stuff. It's all for me.
7. I am not a big fan of fresh cut flowers. I would prefer them to be planted outside in my garden. It would never occur to Dan to bring home a vase of flowers. Instead, he keeps my chocolate supply well stocked and drives me to the garden center for seeds and starter plants. He's a good husband.

Jo of Blissed Out tagged me with a You Make My Day award. I'm so glad to know that she doesn't view me as a stalker.

Now I am to tag 7 people for the meme and 10 people for the YMMD award. That's 17 blogs and/or websites. I'm not sure I have the stamina. We'll see how far I get.

Amby - Fantastic sewer and knitter. I love seeing her new creations. She's a bit crazy about her cats, but I try not to hold it against her.

Creative Apples - Perhaps my favorite card seller on Etsy. I started out with her cupcake photo cards. Now, when I want a new pack of bday cards, I go straight to her Flickr album and pick out the photos I want her to print.

Letterary Press - My next favorite card seller on Etsy. I gave this card to Dan on our anniversary.

The Dip Lady Knits - The Dip Lady has undergone surgery on both her hands for tendinitis and still she knits. She was actually chomping at the bit the day after her surgery. I'm not sure I would jump back into it quite as fast.

The Knitsy Bitsy Spider - Though it's supposed to be two friends blogging, it's really just Marti. It started out as a knit blog but has morphed into a needle felting, dog loving, and travel bopping blog. Oh, and Marti is hysterical.

Sew Spun - A new blog I just found. She's a spinner and a sewer. If my MIL is reading, this is for you ... Sew Spun posted a tutorial on how to get great corners on your quilts.

Kitty Grrlz - Long have I read her blog. Well, truth be told, I'm not sure how much I read it as I just scroll down and drool over all the beautiful yarn she spins up. I'm an avid fan of her Navajo plied yarns. Exquisite.

Glorious Hats - I love hats. There are no hat shops around me. The last one I went to was 9 years ago. So, it's wonderful to see and read Jane's blog. Not only does she make hats, but she's quite the sewer too. I suppose the two do go hand in hand. I feel like I should stress that Jane's hats are amazing. We're not talking bucket hats. We're talking fancy hats.

OK. I'm sorry. I ran out of steam. I made it halfway. That's good, right?

If you are still looking for blogs to read, check out my Blog I Read list. It's updated (well, it was two weeks ago).

Thanks again to Vicki & Jo. I truly appreciate it even though I'm slow as molasses in January.

A Sunday Stroll in Brooklyn

Thanks to our first real snow storm on Friday, I spent most of the day relaxing and knitting. Poor Jake didn't even get his morning walk. Surprisingly, he wasn't upset at all. Rolling, sliding and romping in four inches of freshly fallen snow is just as good - maybe better.

The relaxation did me good. Not only did I made good progress on my 3rd tie, but I was finally able to kick the cold I had and enjoy a weekend out on the town. Saturday was spent celebrating my godson's 3rd birthday. I'm sorry to say that Dan and I are lousy godparents. We didn't take one picture while we were there. Hopefully, his mother will share the 5 million pictures she took soon.

Then, on Sunday, Dan and I spent the day in Brooklyn with my SIL. More accurately, we spent over seven hours traveling to and fro Brooklyn and about the same amount of time in Brooklyn, but who's counting?

Once we arrived, we got to check out my SIL's studio apartment. It's small, but the huge bay window overlooking Brooklyn and the large kitchen off the main room more than make up for the lack of space. Afterwards, we had lunch. Well, they had lunch; I had blueberry pancakes made the correct way with the blueberries mixed into the batter and cooked together. Any other way is just plain wrong. Then, we strolled the streets of Brooklyn, making our way towards The Brazen Head. The Brazen Head was hosting their tri-annual real ale festival. (Real ale to a Brit is a cask conditioned ale to an American.) My SIL has learned how to woo us into agreeing to a 7 hour round trip to visit her: good beer. It works almost every time.

I asked before we headed out if we could shop along the way. Dan insisted that we keep the prize (good beer) in mind and not dally too long. I was persuaded by his gentle nudging until we came across a little store named Zoes Papers filled with beautiful papers, cards, stationery, and pens. No way was I passing this store up. My SIL and I both came away with goody bags.

It's supposed to be wrapping paper. The clerk and I decided that it was absurd to use such pretty paper to wrap a present only to have it torn and ripped into shreds in a matter of seconds. Instead, I plan to make birthday cards out of it.

I spent the rest of the night showing off my pretty paper to Dan.

You Make My Day and other blogs

Mr. Puffy with the help of his owner nominated me for a You Make My Day award.

I'm thrilled to be given such an award (Thank you, Mr. Puffy!), despite my lolly gagging to announce it on my blog. I just didn't know who to pass the award onto. I read so many great blogs these days (59 if they all posted on the same day - thankfully, they don't). Can you tell I am in desperate need of updating my blog roll? So, with this award, I am going to shine a light on some of the new blogs I recently found and now love to read.

1. I don't think it's kosher to nominate the same blog that just nominated you, but I'm not great about following rules. So, I'm listing Mr. Puffy. It's true; I think Jake is the best dog in the world. Mr. Puffy and his love of tea, willingness to try on various knitted items and encouragement to buy the best yarn on the market puts him in at a close 2nd.

2. Nannybird. You are just in time to learn how she was bestowed with such a nickname. Funny stories aside - of which she has many - she is an avid crafter and knitter. I am always fascinated by what she is doing next. I stumbled across her blog when she was hosting a Recycled Craft Contest.

3. Yarn~Knit~Read~Lit. She started me reading again! I had been stuck on a diet of strictly knitting books. It was good to take a break and read some fiction books. Plus, she has two great dogs. You don't notice any trend in my blog reading, do you?

4. Yarn for Brains. Great title, isn't it? Just to prove her point, she lost a pair of knitted socks last week and sent up a cry for help. I'm not sure how much the cry helped, since we can't rightly go rooting through her house looking for the missing socks, but she found them all the same.

OK, that's enough of knitting blogs. Onto other blogs.

5. EtsyGreetings. I have to have at least one blog to help temper my insatiable desire for cards, cards and more cards! This blog features the many greeting card sellers which make up the EtsyGreetings Street Team. Right now, they are running a contest. I love contests!

6. Smitten Kitchen. I know. It's on my blog roll. But, I really love this blog. There are always pictures of yummy food and excellent recipes. I've even tried my hand at a few.

7. The rantings of a Mad Hatter wannabe. Glorious Hats turned me onto her. Now, true, I have no idea what she is making right now ... I'm a bit too shy to ask for fear it might be rude. But, I am enamored all the same. I love me some hats.

8. Sherri Crochets. Sherri crochets and knits. So, I could have put her up above with the strictly knitting blogs, but, well, this is my blog post and I'll put them in the order I want! =) From sock monkeys to knitted trolls to crocheted gnomes, she is always making something fun and cute.

9. Knitting Dragonflies. Sounds like another knitting blog, right? Well, right and wrong. She's a woman after my own heart. She loves to make quilts too.

10. Insert your blog name here. If I commented on your blog, it means I loved reading it. Thank you for making my day!

And speaking of blogs, I volunteered to be the author of a new blog, EtsyKnitters. It is the blog for the EtsyKnitters Street Team and Yahoo Group. I feel so alone in Pottstown some days without a yarn store to stop by at. This is my virtual knitting circle.

Knitting news: I finished my Log Cabin Block. I already have an idea for my final block, but I'm not going to share with you its name. I want it to be a surprise.

Reading Again

I haven't read a book in almost a year. About a week and a half ago, I started reading a blog (I suppose blogs don't count as books; a shame, really, because I read a LOT of blogs) titled Yarn~Knit~Read~Lit. It inspired me to pick up a book.

So, what am I reading? An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott. It is about a country girl named Polly who comes to visit a rich family in the city. I am about halfway through the book. Thus far, I've seen Polly grow into a woman, move into the city (but not with the rich family) and start a music teaching career. Louisa May Alcott is a famous and well-written author, yet Jane Austen remains my favorite.

In knitting news, I have started on Block #7 for the International Fiber Collaborative panel. The block will be titled Spiral Applique Block, assuming no major changes are made to the design.

I Love Cards

I love cards.


I love to send cards. I love to receive cards. Most people would agree with me on this level.


Yet, I think I'm falling into the extreme category. My dear sister bought me cards for Christmas - two sets of 12. I bought 35 more cards for myself this month, but most of these don't count since they are for for Christmas 2008. I made an additional 10 cards by hand. (One doesn't count; it's for Christmas!)

Yesterday, I went searching for the perfect card to send my friend as a "Welcome Back from India" and decided that I didn't have any cards. None. Well, none that I'm willing to give her. Some cards aren't for giving. They are for keeping and framing.


So, I sat down and made another 9 cards.

Some of these don't count. Two are for Christmas and three are for Valentine's Day.

This is my favorite. The pic is from a 1956 encyclopedia. It shows a line of ladies working at Grand Central Station. Isn't that neat?

I don't have a problem. Do I?

The Christmas Whirlwind

A part of me is sad that Christmas is gone. The rest of me is grateful for the rest and relaxation. I can't remember the last time I cooked so much. The final week leading up to Christmas involved waking up at 7am, taking Jake for a walk, and spending the rest of the day in the kitchen. I have no complaints, minus the sore feet. I truly do love to cook.

Not everything on my list got done though despite the marathon cooking episodes. I never did make my molasses cookies or dinner rolls. Goodness knows that we will still have Christmas cookies by Groundhog Day, so perhaps it's a good thing I never made them.

The 3 cookies in front are my family's look-alikes. From the left is me (in my apron), then Jake (with his collar on), and lastly Dan (with his beard).

Since you have to have dinner rolls, I cheated and bought them from the bakery. They were still homemade - just not by me. The rest of the Christmas Eve dinner came out lovely. Dan's sister enjoyed the veggie dishes I made up and Dan's SIL isn't nearly as picky as my own sister!


The giving of Christmas presents was so much fun. Aunt Bette loved her Marjorie Mohair Stole. My sister plans to hang her Chili Pepper Quilt in her kitchen. Dan was thrilled to have a copy of Muppet Family Christmas, a movie they grew up watching every Christmas. What did Dan get me?

Isn't it wonderful? It's a rice cooker.

I tried it out last night with some chicken curry over top of it. The rice was delicious. No more Minute Rice for me. No, Sir! I'm converted.


Plus, Dan got me some chocolate, since my supply was running low. He's so well trained now. It only took me 7 years to get him this way.

Starting to Panic

I have so much left to bake and only 4 days to do it in. No, my math isn't wrong. Yes, there are still 7 more days till Christmas, but since we are busy running around from the 22nd through the 25th, all baking must be finished by the night of the 21st. This, of course, does not include the cooking that must commence on the 24th for the Christmas Eve dinner.

Baking List:
Sugar cookies (old version) - DONE
Sugar cookies (new version) - DONE
Gingerbread cookies - (Dough chilled; waiting to be rolled out)
Shortbread cookies
Springerle cookies
Molasses cookies
Baps
Chocolate cake
Pecan pie * 2

Christmas Eve Dinner:
Potato soup
California salad (stolen from The Melting Pot)
Ratatouille or Penne (still deciding)
Ham
Roasted Chicken
Yams
Mashed potatoes
Corn
Chicken Fingers (from a box!)

Most of the dinner can wait till the morning of Christmas Eve. Yet, I would like to have the soup made in advance. I must admit that for the veggie dish I am leaning towards the Ratatouille because it can also be made in advance and left to steep in the fridge.

So, surely, I must have accomplished something yesterday. No, nothing. Nothing happened in the kitchen anyway. But, the house is clean and we now have enough laundry to see us through till Christmas. Plus, I bought the ham. I could have waited another day or two before I picked up the ham, but I had a dream that I went to get it out of the fridge on Christmas Eve and it wasn't there. I had forgotten to buy it. I started to cry and then I woke up. I was sure my dream was an omen. So, the ham couldn't wait another day.

On a side note, never share your dreams with your husband. It just gives them an opportunity to laugh at you ... and think you are crazy. As if nobody else dreams about their Christmas ham?!

Cartman, the Pine Tree

The reason his name is Cartman is, well, because he is fat around the middle. During our first attempt to decorate him two years ago, we wrapped the C9 strands around his girth. Despite having two strands linked together, we could only circle him 1.5 times. Dan cursed him for being too fat and thus the name was born. We have since learned that when decorating him with lights, they should only be put onto his front side.


Outdoor (shatterproof) ornament balls complete the look.

I noticed when decorating him that he was getting a little scraggly around the top. It is a pet peeve of our neighbors. The family that lived here before us kept all the trees and bushes in nice, neat shapes of cones or round balls. I prefer my trees and bushes to have a more natural look. Plus, I tend to get more flowers and foliage on them if I just prune them once in the Spring and then leave them alone. Still my neighbors have informed me that they wish I would keep to the clean lines. I just smile and nod.

Oh, and here is Jake supervising the picture taking. He's such a big help. I don't know how I would take pictures without him.

Decorating the Real Tree

We bought a Douglass Fir tree this year. When it was outside at the tree farm, it didn't look as fat around the middle until we got it home. There will be no fires in the fireplace until after January 6th (when the tree is taken down).

The trimming of the real tree is much more involved than the decorating of the artificial tree or the two outside Christmas trees. (Pictures of Cartman coming soon! ... Cartman is the fat pine tree in front of our house). It took us all day to decorate this tree with several breaks included. It took two sets of lights, three strands of red beads and too many decorations to count.

The Before picture.

The After pictures.

Jake wanting to help.

More After pictures

Hope you are enjoying the Christmas season!

The First Snow

Pictures of our 1st real snow:

In the center is outdoor Christmas tree (a Colorado Blue Spruce).

Jake grazing.

Unlike most dogs who just eat grass when they have an upset stomach, Jake LOVES grass. He eats a little every morning. He also eats it when he has the hiccups, when he's nervous, when he's excited, and in Spring when new grass has sprouted.



On this day, I finished my new fleece duvet. It fits perfectly over my goose down comforter. It is so incredibly warm! Dan put the old flannel duvet onto his goose down comforter. Why don't we share our comforters? Because the key to a happy marriage is separate blankets. No need to argue over who had the lion's share of the blankets the night before. No need to steal back the blankets in the middle of the night. Everyone stays warm and happy.



Dan thought I should share this picture with you.

It is a pic of my new tea, a flowering tea from Primula.

22 Days till Christmas

This year I won't be up till midnight on Christmas Eve either knitting or sewing. All the presents are wrapped save two. The last two will be purchased from Shangy's beer store, the best beer distributor in Pennsylvania.

Please don't hate me. If it makes you feel any better, there is much that is left to be done.

We're missing a tree. Apparently, you can't buy a real tree already lit and decorated with your own ornaments. Sure would be nice, wouldn't it?

There are no lights on our house. Plus, Cartman (our fat pine tree) isn't sporting his outdoor ornaments.

The cookies haven't been baked yet. Heck, the cookie dough hasn't even been mixed up yet. Normally, by now it would be sitting on the attic stairs chilling. I plan to make 5 different kinds of cookies this year:

1. Sugar cookies (these are the traditional one)
2. Pumpkin cookies
3. Scottish shortbread cookies with chopped pecans
4. Gingerbread cookies
5. Springerle cookies
6. Molasses cookies (if time permits)

Two of the Christmas gifts are actually baked goods, which haven't been made either. I am giving Scottish baps to my uncle and a chocolate cake to my sister-in-law. The baps can be made in advance and frozen until the day before Christmas. The cake I can't make until the day before Christmas Eve. (I feel I should mention here that, no, I'm not Scottish. Well, I have a smidgen, but it's hardly a drop in the bucket. I cook Scottish food because I love the simple recipes and the rich [fatty] outcomes).

The Christmas Eve dinner hasn't been planned yet. Which is a nice way of saying, I have no frickin idea what I plan to serve these people! I have one picky eater who only likes to eat chicken Parmesan, a child who is pickier than her mother (hard to believe), a vegetarian who won't even eat vegetable soup if its made from a meat stock, and 2 devoted carnivores who think vegetables are icky. Short of making personal, individualized dishes, I don't know what to do. The idea of just cooking what I want to cook and telling everybody to either eat what is on the table or starve sounds really tempting. Do you have a better idea?

Christmas Cards

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving Day!


Ours was small but nice. We ended up just having our close friends stop by. I cooked too much food, since last year I barely cooked enough.


Now that Thanksgiving Day has passed, we are in full Christmas mode. No, the Christmas lights aren't up outside ... mainly because that is Dan's job and he was too busy playing Rock Band this weekend to do anything else. Instead, all the Christmas presents have been purchased save 2, the inside decorations are up, and the Blue Spruce tree outside is sporting large, red bows. Plus, my favorite activity has begun: writing Christmas cards.

I only have 12 more cards to write our of a total 56 cards. Not bad, since I take the time to write a personal note in almost every card. What does Dan do? Why he signs his name on each card and has the audacity to complain about his hand being sore. How he manages to see the ball drop every year is beyond me. I think I'm too soft.

Tagged

I've been tagged by Mrs. H, Dana and Fuzzy Izmit (not her real name, I assure you).

In case you haven't already met these ladies, allow me to introduce you.


Mrs. H is the author of the I Like Yarn blog and podcast. And, yes, she does like yarn. Her stories about her family, neighbors and life events have made me laugh so hard - I cried.


Dana is the author of My Tangled-Up Life blog. She is also the person behind Unwind Yarn Company, an Etsy store that sells beautiful, hand-dyed yarns along with handmade scarves and hats.


Fuzzy Izmit is also an owner of her own Etsy store filled with unique bracelets, stash beads, and chainmaille. (I swoon when confronted by chainmaille. It speaks to be with its simple chain links and labor-intensive craftsmanship; very similar to knitting which starts out with a string of yarn).


Although Dana and Fuzzy tagged me with the 7itis (list 7 unknown facts about yourself and then tag 7 people), I opted to steal Mrs. H's format because it is easier. I am still having difficulty typing. 'S's are my enemy.


1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
Jake, my devoted golden retriever, helped me wrap Christmas presents last night by taking the empty roll of wrapping paper and ripping it to shreds.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Sitting on the couch, knitting my beaded shawl.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Feeding Jake his breakfast.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
We adopted Jake in July.

6. How many beverages did you have today?
One thus far - a strong cup of tea (Irish breakfast mixed with mint tea leaves)

7. What color is your hairbrush?
I don't have one. I use a wide-toothed comb. It's pink and white.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
Stocking stuffers for my niece from Etsy.

9. Where were you last night?
At home, wrapping presents and hanging the last of the Christmas decorations. Dan made me a fire.

10. What color is your front door?
White.

11. Where do you keep your change?
I use my change. My husband keeps his in an old tin.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Raining.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Butter pecan

14. What excites you?
Designing - anything (I'm not picky) from knitwear to quilts to my garden

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
No. I've finally found the right length.

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes. I'm 31.

17. Do you talk a lot?
No. Instead I hum a lot.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
Thanks to Mrs. H's answer, I now know that this is a TV series. I didn't know that 2 days ago. And with that tidbit of info, I believe you have your answer.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
No. My cousin's name is Stephen. Does that count?

20. Do you make up your own words?
Yes as well as my own sayings.

21. Are you a jealous person?
No. No reason to be. My cup runneth over.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
Arecia. Isn't that a lovely name?

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
My niece's name is Katie. Does that count?

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
I don't own a caller-ID box. On my cell phone, Arecia called me last.

25. What does the last text message you received say?
"After 3?" You see, Dan is in charge of picking up the pumpkin pie today between the hours of 3 and 7 pm.

26. Do you chew on your straw?
No, but I do chew my nails. A horrible habit that I can't seem to break.

27. Do you have curly hair?
I wish. I always wanted curly hair. My hair is wavy on good days.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
My comfy chair to knit.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Nobody.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Homemade apple-egg bread.

31. Will you get married in the future?
No, I love the husband I have.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
This question could be reworded as "Name the movie you've seen in the past 2 weeks - nay, 2 months". My answer is the same: Meet the Robinsons. I wanted to see it because Pixar's chess man was featured in it. It was a cute, but dull movie.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
My husband, my dog, my friends, my neighbor across the street; generally anybody who smiles.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
Yesterday afternoon

35. Are you currently depressed?
No.

36. Did you cry today?
No.

37. Why did you answer and post this?
Because I was tagged and this survey seemed easier than coming up with 7 random things about myself.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
Jo
Not Lucy
Nicole
Nan
Amby

Suffering Pain for the Love of Christmas

I wanted 2 Christmas trees this year.

This seemed easy enough to accomplish. We own an artificial tree from our days of living in an apartment (real trees are considered a fire hazard and thus were banned by our landlord). It has been sitting up in the attic since we bought our house. I drug it down from the attic and set it up in our guest bedroom. It is the first thing you see when you walk into the room.

Since we didn't have enough lights or ornaments for 2 trees, I stopped by Lowes and picked up some clear lights and red & gold balls. The lights went on easy-peesy. The ornaments were a different story.

I was a tad disappointed when I opened up the box of ornaments to find that they did not have the wire hangers already attached. No problem, I thought. I just went and found my ball of green-coated wire and my kitchen shears. Perhaps you know where this story is going.

The kitchen shears not only cut the wire, but also cut a piece of my finger off.

Still, my 1st Christmas tree is up and decorated.

If I had to do it again, I would have used wire cutters to cut the wire. I can confirm that cutting your finger hurts a lot. I'm a bit uncertain how I am going to cook a full meal on Thanksgiving Day. Cooking normally requires that your hands get dirty and wet.

Did I mention that I love my tree?

AWOL for a week and look what happens!

Dan needed the laptop at work last week. Although, I still have Hal at home with me, he is 10 years old now. He can still make a mean excel spreadsheet, but crashes and burns when the latest Google products are opened. So, I have been unable to check my gmail account and update my blog. I've also slipped behind on my blog reading (137 posts behind!).
And I have much to tell you. Apparently, if you take away the computer, I can get a lot done.
Funny how that is.
Here goes - this is the first of 4 posts today.

Happy Halloween

I was trying to give my pumpkin a Fu Manchu. Despite my failed attempt, he's still cute.

Despite having gangsters, superheroes, Minny Mouse, pirates, and train engineers stop by last night, I still have half a bowl of candy leftover. Thankfully, I had ignored Dan's doubts over my candy supply. If it was up to him, I'd have a whole bowl leftover.

What to do with all this leftover candy? I suppose the traditional answer is to eat it, but we're not big candy eaters. I like my chocolate straight and dark. So instead, I plan to try out a new recipe I found in our Pottstown Mercury newspaper: Peppermint Pattie Brownies. The last time I snuck mint into the brownies, it wasn't very good. Yet, hopes are high.

PS. I only have 7 more rows to knit on the Mohair Stole before it is done!

Genealogy with Gran

I spent yesterday with Gran (Dan's maternal grandmother). After having brunch at a local diner, we went back to her house to sit and talk. Spurred on by the genetic testing (for breast cancer) I am getting done, I lassoed her help to fill in some of the missing blanks on Dan's side of our family tree. We only ended up going back three generations, but she told me so many great stories.

After I got home, I spread out all the notes I took on our dining room table.

I quickly decided that the free forms I printed out weren't going to cut it; there is no room to write in all the stories Gran told me. So, I plan to make up my own template on the computer and just print them out later.

Other news: I only have 7 more inches to knit on my Mohair Stole.

Thank You So Much for the Birthday Wishes

It was a wonderful birthday. All the dishes I dirtied while making the cupcakes were left in the sink Friday night. On Saturday morning (my b-day), I awoke to find them still there (no green elves in my house apparently). Not wanting to start my birthday off by washing dishes, I decided to take Jake for his morning walk instead. I came back to find my husband washing the dishes. No, he didn't just shove them all into the dishwasher. He was actually washing them by hand. You see, folks, his jobs around the house consist of killing bugs, taking the trash out, hanging my many pictures, cutting the grass and operating the air conditioner. The cleaning of the kitchen belongs to the cook. Thus, it was a lovely surprise!

So instead of cleaning the kitchen, I got to go play in the garden. The other rose bush is saved from the evil mower!

Afterwards, I started to prepare for dinner: ham, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. Can I pass along a cooking trick to you that I just tested out? Like most others, I tend to buy pre-cooked hams that just require warming. During the last 20 minutes or so, one is recommended to baste the ham with a brown sugar mixture. If you have kids visiting or time is of the essence, try this: baste the ham with molasses instead. The kids can help out with this one. Just hand them an old paintbrush that has never seen paint or anything else equally toxic, and have them dip into in molasses and then paint it onto the ham. It's fun and easy! Plus, my husband was raving about how good it tasted.

Birthday Presents: Hubby got me a bike rack and tote to carry all my purchases back home. The only trouble is I can't get it to fit on my bike. Typically, it would be attached to the bike seat pole, but I have to have my seat almost at the lowest position in order to reach the pedals (Oh, the joy of being short). Thus, there isn't enough length of the pole to attach the rack to. I'll drag it up to my trusty bike shop and see if they can't advise me on what to do next.

My dear friend got me a Craft Tote. Isn't it cute? It holds all my sewing notions.

The next day I went to visit my Aunt and Uncle. They spoiled me with a homemade dinner: roasted chicken, spaghetti, Italian bread, and green beans. It was very good. The chicken was the best though. And because they know how much I love to bake, they gave me 2 cookbooks and a huge tub of flour. (They had picked up a 25 pound of flour from Sam's Club and then didn't know what to do with it all. I go through 10 pounds in a month so I was happy to take some off of their hands).

The only bad thing that happened was poor Jake came down with an ear infection. I started him on the ear drops and wipes yesterday and, as you can see, he is feeling much better today. He'll have to endure a few more days of treatment though. It takes both of us to get him to cooperate with the ear drops for he tries to bury his head in your lap.

So, all in all, it was a wonderful weekend and a wonderful birthday.

Thank you to all for your warm wishes!