KnittingNonPareil

In Wine, There is Truth . . .

2011-10-25T10:56:00.000-04:00

and the truth is, this homemade wine is about 500 proof right now!

It should be ready to drink on Halloween night, and if stays as strong as it is now, we'll all be seeing things that aren't there. Someone suggested that perhaps I could bottle it as "Gourment Rubbing Alcohol".

So, I picked the muscadines and scuppernogs all by my little self, 4 pounds in all. The recipes I looked at online suggested that I squish each and every grape by hand . Naturally, I rejected that idea. I washed them and put then in a big stainless steel pot, and tried to squish them with a potato masher. No luck. Meat tenderizer. No luck. Damn. These aren't grapes, they've got skins like leather! I ended up putting on some latex gloves (the texture was disgusting, hence the gloves) and squishing the damn things one at a time. Ooohhh, that made me mad.

I added 4 pounds of sugar to the 4 pounds of muscadines and scuppernogs, 1 envelope of active dry yeast, and a couple of quarts of spring water. The directions said to stir the pot (I'm so good at that) once a day for 7 days, and otherwise leave alone. After about two days, you could smell the fermenting fruit and the ensuing alcohol content throughout the house. Whew-wee! After 7 days, I strained the mess through cheesecloth and put it in a big clear jug, where it will stay until Halloween. I think the time length is 6 weeks, but my brain has been befuddled by the fumes! I did stick my finger in it to taste it, and it's really strong. I'm a little afraid of drinking it when the time comes!

SOLD!

2011-10-22T11:09:00.006-04:00

It's been a long summer, and here's why:

Back in August I bought my first house. Yeah, I know. Like I'm 21 or something. That's me and my realtor in the picture. She sold us our house when we moved here back in 2007. Who knows what she'll be selling me in 4 more years! These are my peeps, celebrating the grand opening/closing by drinking champagne from plastic cups, and eating pizza. I know how to throw a party, don't I? Stay tuned for the next 30 years. Hopefully I'll get some updating done by then!

Way Down Upon the Suwanee River . . .

2011-07-16T12:57:00.010-04:00

Heading out over the bridge (the very high bridge) to see the Suwanee River

That's it, folks, the river of fame and song. I think the first time I heard the song was back in 1966 or '67, somewhere near Sanford, FL, in a Shakey's restaurant. They played sing-a-long music, and projected the words on a screen, so you could follow along, complete with the red bouncing ball to keep your place. Betsy, do you remember that? I think Shakey's was known for pizza and beer, but I could be wrong. Big, long tables, pitchers of beer and pizza. That combination never goes out of style.
As you can see, this dry, dry summer has taken it's toll on everything! I took Bowen on an outing last weekend, which included stops at the Suwanee, the Santa Fe and Itchetucknee Rivers. The water in the Suwanee is dark, dark, dark - not at all what I expected. We were standing on a bridge when these were taken, and the river was waaaayyyy down there. I thought I had pretty well conquered my fear of heights, but I was wrong!

The Sante Fee River. And Bowen.

That's Bowen, checking out the fish in the Santa Fe River. I had no idea there was such a place in Florida! We were there on a Sunday, and there was hardly a soul to be seen. I imagine they were all in church. Apparently only heathens visit the river on a Sunday.

The Itchetucknee

The spring

These are pics of the Itchetucknee River. It was too far down to get close to, but it does have a spring.

All the rivers were very low, but they were beautiful, very peaceful. The fact that there weren't many folks out and about helped with the peaceful part. The parts of Columbia and Alachua counties in Florida that we saw were very agrarian and quaint, not what most people expect from Florida. The small towns we drove through were picturesque, very north Florida. I think it's a crying shame that I've lived in south Georgia for almost 4 years and just found this beautiful spot!

This was a pretty yard with a beautiful house right on the Suwanee River. We were in Fargo, GA, and the bridge in the first pics is the 441 bridge. At one time, 441 was the main thoroughfare to get to Florida from these parts. The Suwanee River Visitor Center is located right here, but because we were on a mission, we didn't stop in. Next time!

In the Garden

2011-06-15T12:22:00.004-04:00

Just a VERY small portion of our daily cucumber harvest

Me, cutting okra, sweating like a wart hog.

Polly picking cucumbers and watching me sweat.

Polly in the sweet corn patch, stealing ears of corn while Cecil isn't watching.

Have I mentioned I was cutting okra?

It's amazing what a little water and a lot of sunshine will do for a garden! We haven't seen any rain for weeks, but we've been doing what sprinkling we can. I've been trying to keep up with our smaller field gardens, with the help of some of my interpreters, but judging by the size of some of the cucumbers, I haven't been diligent enough! I love this job. Where else can you go out in the morning to pick produce and enjoy the quiet before you go back to your desk, and get paid for it!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

2011-06-13T20:39:00.003-04:00

Students in a spring workshop

It's been a long couple of months since I last posted. I turned 50 just over a week ago, and while I'm glad to be here, I just can't figure out where the past half century went!Family & friends at my 50th birthday party

Lots of changes going on, lots of stress, lots of everything. My school workshop season at work is over for a month or two, but we've got plenty to do in the meantime. We've got an independence day celebration coming up on the 2nd of July and that's going to wipe me out. Well, that and the 100+ degree temps and lack of any precipitation down here. Number One grandson is down here for 3 weeks, and he managed to pack only 2 pair of underwear for the entire time. Sigh. He started baseball camp this morning, and is probably the only 11 year old in Georgia who took a nap today!

I've got lots of pics to post from the last few months, so stay tuned!

Riding in the mule wagon

A Few of My Favorite Things

2011-02-26T21:23:00.004-05:00

It's almost spring, and that's when a woman's fancy turns to shopping. Again. Kinda like winter. And summer. And, well, you know. My favorite bloggers are also my best enablers, and this spring they haven't let me down. Enter Photojojo. Ever heard of it? Don't be rude - wait until after you've read my post before you go clicking off to some other site! Here's what I want from them:

The Tokyo Dream Strap. How cool is that? Only $20.00, or two for $35.00. I like the blue, but then again, the red is too gorgeous.

Photoclips, because I need more crap to hang on my walls. No, really, I do.And Jelly Camera Phone Filters. Why not?

But really, I think I'll just settle for the camera strap. Now I'm off to look for a good camera bag that doesn't require a bank heist to pay for it.

This is How You Catch a Cold

2011-02-12T08:11:00.002-05:00

This was a week ago, when I was healthy. Add some granddaughter germs, Zicam, 2 boxes of tissues, Excedrin and a heating pad, and you have the present. And yes, it's all worth it.

Keeping Warm

2011-02-05T00:01:00.000-05:00

These are little flannel handwarmers, filled with flax seed. Aren't they cute? You put them in the microwave for about 20 seconds at a time, until they're warm and ready to put in your pockets for the walk to the bus.

I got the basic idea from Jenny, who comes up with some really cute craft ideas. I don't know how she does it with two small children and one more on the way! She's a great writer, too, and has plenty to say, so hop on over to her blog to check her out. Her January 8th post has a darling little flower hair barrette to make - no sew, no glue. Probably easy enough for me to finish in one sitting, if I can pay attention that long.

picture lifted from Babyfingers

Covet

2011-01-28T00:01:00.004-05:00

Due to my rather obsessive personality, I sometimes tend to covet items. For the past couple of years I've been drawn to still lifes and oil paintings - food, rabbits, chickens, whatever.

Like this.

Not like this. Interesting, but not something I want to wake up to.

I like this, by Marilyn M. King.

And these ladies, by Lisa Gloria.

So last weekend at our annual LOLA (Love of Love Affair) fundraiser, I won (bought!) this at our silent auction.

I took the picture with my phone, so excuse the wonkiness. The painting is by a local artist, Ann Clayton, who was at the fundraiser, but whom I never did meet. I've probably been in line behind her at the grocery store!

I love this painting, which is about 8"x10". I've been moving it around the house to different spots to see where I like it best. I love it when I LOVE it!

I'm one of those people who can't just "decorate" - I have to "develop" my surroundings. When we first moved here almost 4 years ago, it drove John crazy because I wouldn't just put up pictures and curtains and all that other stuff right away. I told him we needed to live in the house for a while to get the feel of it. It made me crazy that we had to pick paint colors before we even moved in. It was almost painful! I've repainted 2 of the bedrooms so far, and I'm itching to do more, but John likes it the way it is so I'm stuck doing it by myself. It took me 6 months from start to finish to paint our bedroom (hey, I did the ceiling, too, give me a break). I love to find things that speak to me and then find the perfect spot in the house for them. John, on the other hand, likes to put it all up, or go out and buy something that is the right size or color for the spot, whether it's something he loves or not. For me, finding the perfect painting does not mean a quick run to Garden Ridge or Hobby Lobby. Ugh. I think this has led me to another blog post - my strange taste in found objects!

Does anyone else do this? Is your home constantly changing, or are you able to get it done and then just sit back and enjoy it?

Winter Blehs.

2011-01-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

Blahs, blehs, whatever you call them, they're just crappy. I don't get blues during the winter like I did when I was younger (but then again, I lived in NE Ohio, where the sun doesn't shine for 6 months out of the year), but even now I shy away from spending time outdoors where the fact that it's winter is hard to ignore.

This is a picture of the grandsons playing in the snow in Clemson, SC on 1/10/11. They don't usually get this much snow up there, and everything is shut down tight until it melts.

This is a picture of my backyard on the same day. No snow. And instead of our usual (really Weather Channel, it's usually that warm?) 63 degree average for January, it's been in the low 40s. Just cold enough to be really ugly. The upside to all this? I can put off working in the yard!

Size: Awesome*

2011-01-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

I was just folding clothes out of the dryer, and the last item was a pair of small jeans I didn't recognize. Until I checked the tag. They're mine, the ones I've been taking in to fit until I reached the pockets and couldn't take them in anymore. They're mine. Wow. Go me.

*added later - after writing this and saving the post, I wore the jeans. They were snug. Ouch.

Resolutions

2011-01-09T12:53:00.017-05:00

resolute:[rez-uh-loot] –adjective

1. firmly resolved or determined; set in purpose or opinion.

2. characterized by firmness and determination, as the temper,spirit, actions, etc.

Ah yes, firmness and determination, I remember it fondly. Okay, not really. Being resolute seems so tedious if I spend too much time thinking about it - spontaneously OCD is more my style. That's probably why I am the queen of unfinished projects and countless failed diets. Some of us aren't so much resolute as we are obsessed. And obsessions don't always last for years, or even days. Okay, hours. It takes us being resolute to keep those obsessions going. Wow, I'm beginning to sound like someone's worst nightmare! I was just trying to point out that making resolutions isn't for everyone, and New Year's Resolutions are usually the first ones to fall by the side of the road. I usually use the New Year to make those resolutions that I have had bouncing around in my head for a while. Like spinning. I had my spinning wheel for a few years before I finally made a New Year's resolution to teach myself to spin, and to make it my hobby. Or even my obsession. Mission accomplished. Some years I don't have anything that in mind that I really want to do, so I don't beat myself up trying to come up with something. This year I have a few ideas, none of them really set in stone. Learn to play the mandolin.

Never mind that I don't own a mandolin, or have even touched one. I just think I can do it, and I want to try.

Build a fire pit. My backyard is akin to a football field. Large, grassy, empty. It could use something to break it up. My husband says this is a waste of time. Why? Because he has no interest in it. This is the same man who convinced me to go to Downtown Disney on Christmas Eve, so we don't take his opinions too seriously around here. I took this picture from the Backyard Landscaping site. Neat site, down to earth ideas.

Finish my strip quilt. I just came up with this one, but it's a good idea. That quilt isn't going to finish itself.

Don't start a new project until I finish an old one. Oh, this is never going to work. Why did I even bother to write it?

Clean out my craft room. Easy one. I do this about every 3 months. I guess I should resolve to getting rid of some stuff, and not just giving it to my daughter, so she can become me in 20 years.

Save $50 a month in a separate account. One labeled "Money I Really Shouldn't be Spending at IKEA. Or TJ Maxx. Or Homegoods."

Do you have any resolutions for this fresh, new year?

A Little Bit of Knitting. And figs. And tobacco.

2010-11-20T09:09:00.011-05:00

Knitting, figs and tobacco. Three things you don't often see in the same sentence, or sentence fragment. Let's start off with my little bit o' knitting, and the very poor picture quality of my iPhone. This is my latest Clapotis, my fourth, I believe. I did some drunken yarn buying last New Year's Eve with a friend, and ended up with 2 skeins of Blue Moon Rare Earth Gems sock weight yarn. I'm a one-sock kinda gal, so I knew I wouldn't be using the yarn for that. It took me a full 6 or 7 months to find some inspiration, but when it hit me, I took off like my fingers were on fire. The skeins were different colorways (air and water) so I switched them every two rows. I will eventually take a picture of this beauty outside, where you can really see the colors. These shots were taken on one of my guest beds, where I've been doing all my blocking (a note to my guests - I do wash everything when I'm done blocking) I didn't bother to block the Clapotis though, I like to scrunch it up to use it as a scarf sometimes.

I finished my third or fourth wool peddler's shawl from Folk Shawls, by Cheryl Oberlie, right around the same time (this was in October, folks). I knit this one using Lamb's Pride Bulky from Sheep Shed Studios in Wyoming. The color, you ask? I don't know, green? I can't remember the exact name of the green. Sue me.

This is my favorite Wool Peddler's so far. I like the bulky wool, and the mohair in the Lamb's Pride makes it feel soft and fuzzy. It's bigger than some of the others I've made, and I like that, too. And talk about warm - this thing will melt your skin if you sit in the sun!

And lastly, figs. Fig season has been over for quite a while, but I just downloaded my pictures from my phone, and I saw this one. These are brown turkey figs, in case you were wondering. I made some bitchin' chicken with figs and brie when the season was in full swing. I had been reading a blog (why don't I write these things down!?) and someone was making and eating a chicken, fig and brie sandwich. I had fig preserves out the wazoo, and chicken (not out the wazoo), so I picked up some brie. I found it packaged in a roll - how cute is that? I just stuffed the chicken breasts with brie, put a little bit of preserves in there and skewered them shut with toothpicks. Then I poured more fig preserves on top and baked it. Now that was good. Hey, I bet it would work with leftover turkey, too. This might be a great post-Christmas meal. Leftover fowl, fig preserves that you received as a Christmas gift, and some brie, probably left over from your Christmas appetizer plate. Voila! Instant meal! You can thank me later.

Tobacco will have to wait for another day. I'm all blogged out.

I've Lost My Mind

2010-11-07T19:59:00.004-05:00

I just ordered my almost 11-yr.-old grandson's birthday present for the next 10 years. A laptop. Have I lost my mind? When my husband saw the receipt, he almost fainted, but then again, he's so tight he squeaks. What is it about grandkids that makes you put your common sense on the back burner and your wild impulses way up front? Maybe it's the ears.

I did so much research on laptops for kids that I thought I was going to have to take medication for CDO. That's OCD, but in the correct alphabetical order. Welcome to my world.

I finally decided on the First Spark by Toshiba. Well, it was my second choice, because as usual, the one I really wanted is not available ANYWHERE. Dear BestBuy, if you're sold out, you're sold out. Please take the product off your website so I don't stress over what I cannot have. Done. So the First Spark it is. It had the basic stuff I wanted as far as RAM, etc., and I liked the no-fingerprint finish and the wipeable keyboard.

He's not a beginner computer user, since he started using his parent's desktop computer before he was three. His Daddy found him at the computer one morning, drawing with Paint, and asked his Mama if she had turned the computer on for him. She said she hadn't, and that's when they learned he had figured out how to turn it off and on (using the power button!) and could recognize the Paint icon. He even used the mouse better than most adults at that age. I found it amazing that although he couldn't read until he was in first grade, he was able to figure out what he needed to do when playing games. Naturally, he reads now, and there isn't much in the way of technology that can stump him. I hope the computer isn't too juvenile for him. I guess if it is, the next in line brother will get it, and I'll be doing some more shopping. All hail the 18 months same as cash financing.

On Weaving

2010-11-01T10:20:00.008-04:00

I bought a beautiful used floor loom this spring, with lots of extras, most of which are still foreign objects to me. We loaded it on the back of the truck and moved it 5 hours south to Georgia, where it has resided comfortably in my crap, er, craft room. It made a beautiful spot to hang my half-finished quilts on, and the bench served to hold the many items I would drop off to the room while cleaning. After spending a few days with my Ohio cousin, Gee (hard G) who happens to be a prolific rug weaver, I decided it was timeto get busy and find a new spot for my quilts. And maybe learn to warp the loom. For all of youwho think weaving is a peaceful, almost spiritual past time, please stop reading now.

For the rest of you, let's dive in. Okay, so I know next to nothing about weaving. I do own a rigid heddle loom, on which I made exactly one scarf before loaning it to my friend, Lisa, who has been busy making all sorts of items on it. She's an overachiever. Given my lack of weaving knowledge, I dug through my books to find Deb Chandler's Learn to Weave. I didn't want to rush things, so I spent about a week reading the first two lessons in bed at night. Once I decided I could understand what she was talking about, I waited about a week to make sure it sank in. The first thing was to check out the loom. Luckily, in Ms. Chandler's book, she demonstrates on my exact loom - a Schacht 4 harness, 6 treadle floor loom (and yes, I had to learn what those things meant!) I wondered why my loom was so compact, until I figured out that the guys had folded it up to travel. Doh. Needless to say, it took me quite a while to get everything looking like the book.

Next step: warping.

Good name for it, trust me. With the loom I received this warping board, so named because you wind your fiber around and around and around it before you take it off to put it on the loom, and your brain is seriously warped by this time. If I had been smart, I would have stopped right there. It just doesn't seem right to have to take a lot of time to wind yarn on this behemouth and then just have to take it off, veerrryyy carefully. It also involves careful counting, or not so careful counting. Next time I'll turn the tv off so I don't have to recount 65 times. I worked my way through the lesson, but I really didn't take the time to count ends per inch (epi for those in the know) or to make sure I was really ready. She says to use contrasting fiber in a certain weight to warp for the first time. Well, I didn't have any black or white, so I used what I had on hand. Orange and Purple. Clemson colors. And as it turns out, I spaced my fiber too far apart, but of course I wouldn't know that 'til later. And naturally it wasn't the correct weight. Weaving guilds all over the world are blacklisting me as you read this.

My back was broken by the time I finished sleying the reed and threading heddles (technical jargon, doncha know). It took me way too long to figure out how to work the back beam and get everything tied up. In fact, it took me more than 2 tries to get the apron set up correctly to roll the right way on the back beam. sigh. The cloth beam was no easier. sigh again. I finally got

everything set up and lo and behold, I threaded wrong. Weavers, you know what I mean. It's like finally being able to fit into that little slinky black dress to your class reunion and then finding out you're pregnant with twins. I was not about to take it all out, so I snipped two heddles with tin snips and put them on the right shaft and re-threaded. Voila! Crafty, huh?

I let the dang thing sit for a week, until yesterday, because I had had enough, and it needed to learn a lesson in patience. Well, one of us did - better it than me.

I started weaving a plain weave yesterday, and quickly became aware that although it looked neat and orderly, I couldn't see any of the warp. Who cares, right? I was weaving!! After a few inches, I decided to advance the warp. Uh-oh, Houson, we have a problem. Yep, I had the cloth beam tied so that by advancing it, I was actually loosening it. Oh. My. Goodness. I was Pissed, with a capital P. But I fixed it (there might have been gin and Sprite involved at this point), retied the lark's head knots and continued. I started a twill pattern, and STILL I couldn't see my warp. Reading, reading, reading, page turning, picture looking . . . turns out that by leaving a heddle undone every two spaces and using the same (thin) sized weft as warp, you aren't going to get the same results as the book. Stupid book. Stupid, stupid book. After all this all I wanted to do was knit something, fast, and leave the weaving to the experts. So I've got to use up this warp before I can start something else. Then again, why waste my time? I think I'll just cut it off and start all over.

Because I'm not proud, I'm going to show you what I've done so far. And Gee, you can stop laughing now.

Happy Birthday Baby Grace!

2010-10-22T05:35:00.003-04:00

Ma Tee's littlest baby turns two today!

She's having a Kitty Cat party on Saturday, and I can't wait to see the pictures. Yes, I am a bad Grandma - I have to work on Saturday. If someone would throw a few million dollars my way, I could quit my job, move closer and stay home and watch grandkids all day long. In the meantime I'll keep working so maybe someday I can stay home and babysit Grace's kids!

Endless Summer

2010-09-20T18:12:00.010-04:00

I used to love summertime. That was before I moved to South Georgia, where you are in danger of having your hair catch on fire when you step outside from June-October. It was 98 degrees today - too hot to do anything but stay inside. That's the problem with really hot summers. The only thing you can do during the day is stay inside or go to the pool and wear a lot of sunscreen. Gardening and yard work are out until it gets down into the 80s in the evening, but then you have to fight the mosquitoes. I won't even mention the gnats, it's too depressing. We don't use our rocking chairs on the front porch, or our screened-in back porch over looking the lake during the summer because it's too darn hot. We're lucky to have a couple of weeks in the spring and fall to open the windows and enjoy the outdoors. Last winter was cold, too cold

for south Georgia. Now this summer is too hot. The problem may be that I'm too old for extreme weather. That's probably it.

It makes me happy to think that at the sheep are shorn in the spring, so they don't have to wear that woolen coat all summer. It makes me want to faint to think about wearing wool when it gets over 50 degrees. This fleece was from one of our (as in work) Gulf Coast Native sheep. It hadn't been shorn last year, so it was pretty nasty. I'm working on it now, but it's a learning process, and the curve is pretty steep. I have found that I don't like lopping poop balls off a fleece. Gross. But it's better than smelling them if you miss a few and they end up in the water. Rehydrated sheep poop is not a good smell.
These pictures were taken in July, for some of our new advertising. It was over 100 degrees, but these kids were troopers. I will admit that it has cooled off since then, thank goodness.

We do school workshops during the school year, some of which are held in the school house. I think I'm looking forward to seeing how it feels in January. Naturally, there's no a/c, but it does sport an historically authentic pot-belly stove that heats it up in the winter.

We've just started our workshops for the year, and while it's fun, it's pretty tiring. We've had two days with 50 5th graders, both boys and girls. The boys wear white shirts and jeans or trousers and we dress them in suspenders. The girls wear white shirts and we put a long cotton skirt and apron on them. The workshops are hands-on, and we try to replicate what children their age would have done around 1880. The boys work on the farm, in the gristmill, printshop and sawmill, etc. The girls are split up into three groups and work at one of our three homesteads. They help cook the afternoon meal (usually soup and cornbread, made with meal ground here at the village), sweep the house and yard, set the table, do the dishes, iron with a flat iron heated on the stove, make a feather bed, etc. They also do a craft of some sort. I have been working at our Traditional Farm, the oldest of three, teaching them to seed and card cotton, then to stitch up a little pincushion, filled with their cotton. We're all tired and hot by the time the workshop is over, but they seem to love it. I know I do, even if it is killing me!

So here's to the endless south Georgia summer - I can outlast you!!!

One Month Later . . .

2010-07-22T14:46:00.009-04:00

So all those good intentions to put up another post went straight out the window when my laptop finally quit connecting to the internet. I've not been able to convince it to do so since, and in the meantime I started a new job.

Yep, you heard me right. A new job. Our little old college acquired a former state park on July 1 of this year, and that's the day I started. It wasn't just any state park, but the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Living History Village. No, wait, that's Historical Village. Sorry, I'm new.

I work in the Living History part of it all. It's an 1870s to 1910 village, the golden age of Wiregrass Georgia. I just made that golden part up, but it does represent Wiregrass Georgia in that time period. I'll tell you what Wiregrass means in my next post, after I find out.

Okay, you don't have to wait 'til next post. I just asked someone. This area of Georgia (SW) was covered with an expanse of long-leaf yellow pine, with a carpet of wiregrass underneath (wiregrass spreads by roots, rather than seed). It covers roughly a 17 county area, from the swamps in the east to some parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Texas and Florida. So there you have it. Wiregrass 101.

Anyway, I'm here now, and it's been great. I'm smack dab in the middle of history all day long, when I'm not in my modern-day office dealing with modern-day red-tape and paperwork. I can come in costume everyday, if I like. I did that last Saturday and almost died of heat exhaustion and chafed thighs. Always wear bloomers or shorts under your dress, ladies.

I'll fill you in on more about this great place as I can. They keep me busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest over here, but it couldn't be better!!

Savannah, Part Two

2010-06-23T10:15:00.014-04:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy (love) history? I love being right in the middle of it, right in the middle of a place with well-preserved history. My head wants to explode with the magnitude of it all. It's not difficult for me to imagine a young Savannah, a humid wilderness, teeming with insects, disease, politics, (notice how I placed those together!) natives and newcomers. Strip away the paved roads, the tourists, air-conditioning and the traffic noises, add in dusty streets, horses and carriages, the ripe smell of livestock in the backyards and a general lack of indoor plumbing, wood fires and the sounds of chickens, goats, and people, talking. The people, not the chicken and the goats. I do have a hard time imaging how it felt to wear multiple layers of clothing during the summer, and to do without deodorant, screens, bug spray and readily available ice. No wonder there were sleeping porches - who could stand to sleep in a bedroom on a second floor? I'm not sure if could decide between mosquitoes or heat stroke!

Door of the First African Baptist Church, started May 20, 1775

Random fence picture

Random bike photo

A city of artists and poets . . .

The Kehoe House

Side porch of the Juliette Gordon Low house

New Johnny Mercer statue. This area used to be a parking lot, and before that one of the squares (please, if I'm wrong, correct me). The last time we saw it it was just a gigantic hole in the ground. The city built an underground parking deck, and turned it into a nice spot to sit and enjoy the scenery.

The carriage house of the Andrew Low house (marriage home of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts). Mrs. Low bequeathed it to the Girl Scouts for all time - it was the site of the very first Girl Scout meeting.

One thing you can be sure of seeing in Savannah is plenty of Girl Scouts. This group was on the piazza of the Low House, doing some sort of ceremony. The Juliette Gordon Low story is fascinating, not always happy but enduring. I found it amusing that the tour of her childhood home and the one of her marriage home each shed a different light on her life. Her childhood home tour told of her unhappy marriage, and the tour of her marriage home never mentioned it!!

Early morning patriotism

Again, the First African Baptist Church

Factor's Walk

The Cotton Exchange and warehouses are located here, hence the name

The Davenport Home

The Cotton Exchange

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Another view of Factor's Walk, with River Street to the left

Monument to the African American Soldiers of the Revolutionary War

Savannah, Part One

2010-06-21T08:01:00.004-04:00

We've spent a lot of time in Savannah, Ga, because it's John's favorite southern city. Mine is Charleston, SC, but that's another story. We tend to do the same things: head out to Tybee Island, if we're not already staying there, eat at the Crab Shack, visit the pier, walk on River Street in Savannah, browse all the candy stores, walk around sight-seeing, eat at Moon River Brewery, etc. We've done city/historic tours and ghost tours. It's always fun, almost always hot and humid, and we never leave wishing we had gone somewhere else. But as I took in the view over the city from our vantage point in our hotel on River Street, I realized that I needed to share. After all, there are people in Washington or Vermont who may never get a chance to see this great city in person, like I may never get to see Washington or Vermont! It may never be an option. I really enjoy reading other blogs that take you around the neighborhood, the city, the state. Vacationing online? Now that's an option! So join me as I wander out today on this first day of summer in Savannah.
A bit of history: British General James Oglethorpe first landed on the historic bluff above the Savannah River in 1733, almost 300 years ago. At the time, there were a number of native American tribes living in coastal Georgia. With the help of the Yamacraw leader, Tomochichi, Oglethorpe created a city in the heart of the Georgia wilderness. Savannah was based on a system of squares (remember the famous Forest Gump "box of chocolates" scene? yep, filmed on Chippewa Square), and 22 of the original 24 remain, each with its own distinctive style. But enough of that - let me share my hotel room photos, then I'll hit the streets and take some pictures. See you tonight!

This is the street view from my hotel window. West Bay, one street over from the Savannah River.
The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist's spires tower over the city.
The Lady and Sons restaurant, you know, Paula Deen's restaurant! It does exist, it does exist! We ate there a few years back, when they had low country boil on the buffet. Fantastic! John wasn't thrilled with the price, and I consider it more of a rite of passage rather than an everyday eatery. We may go back again, but most likely we'll just keep visiting new restaurants every time.

Summer Days

2010-06-20T21:54:00.008-04:00

Just dropped the first participant of Camp Grandma back at his house in South Carolina yesterday, after two weeks of golfing, swimming, baseball and lots of vanilla Sno-Biz snacks. Boy, is it ever quiet in the car now . . .
His mom was the first one to get to him with hugs and kisses, and the next thing we knew, his three brothers and Dad were there to squeeze the stuffing out of him. My head was about to explode with all the talking - everyone at the same time!! It was a lot easier to listen before the twins learned to talk! I tried to get them all together for a family photo, and considering the twins are never still for more than 4 seconds, I think I did pretty well. (Diane, the twins wore their outfits today, and my daughter is sending the pics so I can post them).
The eldest grandson comes to Camp Grandma next week, and next year the twins will probably make their first visit to the camp. I'll start taking my vitamins now.

ZuccQueenie

2010-06-14T11:33:00.004-04:00

Oh sure, you all thought I was just slacking, doing nothing, definitely not writing any blog posts. Little did you know I was on my 2010 Zucchini Queen Tour, dazzling 10's of people with my baking skills.
I'll include the link to the story in our local paper, but for those of you who would rather not click away, here it is. Try not to be too jealous.

Tifton Gazette

June 12, 2010

Zucchini Queen

Local cook uses squash in chocolate cakes

Joe Courson/Gazette correspondent

CNHI

TIFTON — Two grandmothers' favorite food left a lingering, good taste in the mouth of their granddaughter, Theresa Clemens. She’d become obsessed with the versatility of a type of squash she adds to her baking recipes.

Grandmothers’ Influence

“It’s a family thing. I grew up eating zucchini. My grandmothers grew and baked with zucchini. So, it’s a part of life. Some people say it’s a Yankee vegetable. Why not? Sure it is,” says Theresa with her characteristic quick, delightful laugh.

One of her grandmothers washed soup cans that she would use to bake zucchini bread in.

“She’d have little brown loaves that she would wrap up that we would eat,” remembers Theresa.

Sometimes, her grandmother would give away her zucchini bread baked in a soup can.

Tifton reminds her of her hometown of Columbiana, in northeastern Ohio, south of Youngstown. What’s the difference between the two cities? No that much since both have an agricultural economic base.

“They (people in Columbiana, Ohio) just have accents, that’s all,” says Theresa.

She moved southward to Florida and then to South Carolina where she worked as a graphic artist, and later married John Clemens, the vice president of fiscal affairs at ABAC. But she never stopped thinking of new uses for zucchini, regardless of where she lived. It became an unlikely passion.

“There’s only one way to improve zucchini and that’s with chocolate,” says Theresa.

She proved it.

Zucchini Chocolate Spice Cake

She brought her zeal for new uses for zucchini with her from Ohio. Most people would never associate zucchini with chocolate cake, but leave it to Theresa to give it a try.

“I never tried using it in a cake before, until recently,” says Theresa with a laugh.

She noticed the cake batter was bumpy and lumpy as she poured into a baking pan. A quick taste of the batter satisfied her. It had possibilities.

“Zucchini doesn’t have any flavor. It takes on its flavor from the ingredients that surround it,” says Theresa. “It’s kind of like tofu with vegetables.”

She felt so pleased with her creation that she shared it with her ABAC co-workers. Theresa didn’t mention the squash inside.

Deception?

“A lot of deception,” says Theresa.

If they knew, she feared, it could squash their desire for the cake.

It didn’t.

“No one turned up their nose or anything,” says Theresa.

“I didn’t taste the zucchini,” says Dr. Jeff Gibbs, dean of ABAC’s School of Business after he learned of the unusual cake ingredient. “You really had to look hard to see the green in the piece of cake.”

Others felt a bit surprised when she told them, finding the revelation easy to swallow after they ate it.

“It was gone; gone fast. A co-worker ate two pieces,” says Theresa.

What makes zucchini

work in a chocolate

cake recipe?

“You grate it. All the Zucchini does to anything is add water when you bake. When you grate a zucchini, it’s full of water. Leave the rind on, and when you bake it, it pretty much bakes its way to nothing, but it makes everything super moist,” says Theresa.

She admits to frequently baking cakes from scratch or from a mix that turn out dry to the taste. The secret of moist cake making eluded her for years, until she found the cake recipe in a zucchini cookbook. Theresa couldn’t resist trying it.

Now, she intends to experiment with traditional recipes that call for water as an ingredient and substitute zucchini to discover the right substitute proportion.

Supply

Theresa doesn’t worry about running out of the versatile squash that grows literally a few yards from her kitchen.

“I have four plants that produce about two million zucchinis in a summer, in about three months,” says Theresa as she picks one from under an elephant-sized green leaf.

She grows them in a raised bed with a simple irrigation system, but a disease called powdery mildew turned some of the leaves yellow. (She’d like to find a way to fight the disease.) Her other beds grow tomatoes, and a variety of vegetable plants.

Another Taste Test

If anyone wonders if Theresa’s zucchini chocolate spice cake tastes moist like many homemade cakes, then wonder no more. Two taste tests answer the persistent question definitely.

It does.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

2010-05-30T12:15:00.003-04:00

Not really, but since all the activities I'm doing are fun, it just feels lazy! I hit the Farmer's Market yesterday and scored on some great veggies, so I made pico de gallo yesterday afternoon. I used jalapenos, cayennes and cilantro from my own garden, and man, it's good. I'm going to use the cukes to make some bread and butter pickles as soon as I make it to the store to buy some of the spices needed.

I finally got up into the attic to get the kiddie pool out so I could clean my fleece (courtesy of my friend, Lisa). I put the pool in the driveway so I wouldn't kill any grass, and placed a layer of black plastic screen down first. I figured it would make it easier to lift out when it came time for rinsing. I didn't feel like adding buckets of hot water to the pool, so I just used the hose (water was lukewarm), added the soap, and figured the sun would warm it up. I don't live in the deep south for nothing.Whew, that sucker sure was fragrant - and hot! I have a new respect for sheep in the summer now!
The garden has been doing fairly well. As you can see from the picture below, the zucchini and cukes are fine, but a little sparse. I only have ONE yellow squash though! Alot of my veggies are dying and falling off the vine when they get about 1.5 inches long. That's what happened to my yellow squash and a lot of the zucchini and cukes. A vendor at the farmer's market told me to sink a bowl of sugar water in the ground where they're planted to attract bees. Unfortunately I think what it will attract is the nasty ants. Do ants pollinate? Because if they do, everything in my garden should be fine. They're all over the blossoms. The tomatoes seem to be doing great, and I should be able to pick my first red one this week - yay!! The first of the grandsons will be here next weekend for his two-week stay at Camp Grandma. Next year I'll probably have to pair a big one with one of the younger twins. Yikes, that ought to be interesting.
By the way, I've misplaced the camera again, so these are all from my iPhone. So that's it for now - hope you're all enjoying this wonderful late spring!

I Dyed at Alligator Point

2010-05-18T14:54:00.015-04:00

and lived to tell about it.

Last week a few of my spinning/knitting/weaving friends got together and headed south to a little spit of land called Alligator Point. It's not a place you'll find just driving around, because it's a dead end. Right into the Gulf of Mexico.

We gathered to do what we do best - eat and be creative, and we succeeded at both. I'm not going to go into detail about every little thing we did while we were there, but there was biking, laughing, kayaking, shell collecting on the beach, spinning, eating, knitting, Alligator Slush, slapping at bugs, ants, dying, crabbing, more eating, fishing, blowing bubbles and so on. Let me instead tell you in pictures.

Queen of the Crabbers, Lisa

Lisa's yarn dyed to match her seashells

Tie-dyed shirt, affectionately known as the "nipple" shirt

Sunset over Alligator Harbor

Spinning on the deck

Electric spinning wheel

Kayaking on Alligator Harbor

I know that thing wanted to clip my fingers off!

Carol's famous homemade waffles

Our handsome mascot, Bear!

This and That

2010-05-06T15:35:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy few weeks, but I've been writing blog posts in my head. Too bad my head isn't able to put them on the internet.
I finished a quilt this morning, just in time for the grandpa to pick it up. They brought in their daughter's 20-something year-old quilt a while back, and wanted me to use part of it to make a new quilt for her baby, due anytime now. Well, the old quilt was in fairly decent condition, and I hated to tear it up, so I made the back of the new quilt to look like the old one. I took the picture with my iPhone, so pardon the quality.
BUT - because I'm like Shirley MacLaine, out on a limb, I think this baby spoke to me. She didn't want a frilly, gingham quilt like her mama's; she wanted something a little sassier. So out came the Patrick Lose quilt book, and this is how the front of her quilt ended up:
The hardest part was the gingham ruffle. Dear 1980, take your damn ruffles and don't let the door hit you in the butt.
I love the Patrick Lose Special Delivery Quilt book - check it out. I made the cover quilt about 9 years ago, but back then I just couldn't be bothered to take pictures.

In the Kitchen Again

2010-04-25T20:46:00.004-04:00

Sometimes I just amaze myself. I do that quite often, in fact, but not always in a good way. Like the time I drove home from Waycross, GA, and went the wrong direction (I went east and was supposed to be going west) and didn't realize it 'til I saw the sign for the beach. It was a long drive home. This time you're in luck, it's in a good way.

I roasted two chickens last night, using Emeril's r ecipe, with rosemary and green onions from my garden. I didn't make the gravy to go with it, because I didn't want to open a new bottle of wine. I'm obviously not a big wine drinker, am I? I know people who are just begging for a reason to break into a bottle :) In case none of that made sense, the gravy recipe called for 1 cup of dry white wine. Sorry, I do ramble, don't I?

The chickens were fantastic, but way too much for just two people. Don't worry, I knew that ahead of time. I had a plan.
I had my chicken-picker husband clean the meat off the carcasses after we finished eating, and I made some Curry/Honey/Slivered Almond Chicken Salad. It's my sister's recipe, with a few of my own ideas added in. I didn't measure anything, but here's what you need to put in it:
1. cooked cut up chicken, cooled
2. mayo
3. honey
4. salt and pepper
5. curry
6. chopped up apples (I think I used 3 Rome apples)
7. golden raisins
8. slivered almonds
Stir it all up, chill and serve on lettuce leaves from your garden or croissants from the Piggly Wiggly. Naw, not really. I got the croissants at Wal-Mart.

I took some to my spinning meeting today, and it went over well. No one threw up or died while I was there, so I took that as a good sign.

I've been meaning to use some of the swiss chard in my garden before it goes bad or something, so I bit the bullet and cut some tonight. I had read some reports of how bitter swiss chard is, so I was a bit freaked out. I tasted one of the leaves raw, and it seemed very mild and perfectly wonderful. I have the type that does NOT have red stalks, so maybe that makes a difference. I put some olive oil in a pan, added 3 cloves of minced garlic, and some of the cooked, cubed chicken. I sauteed that quickly, and then added the large handful of swiss chard and some crushed red pepper. Oh, and some salt and pepper. I wish I had added more swiss chard, because it tends to wilt down quite a bit. To quote my Facebook friends, OMG. It was fantastic! The chard was mild, and the flavor of the chicken and the garlic with it was wonderful. So don't be afraid, go pick yourself some swiss chard and chow down! Sadly enough, I didn't take a picture of it before I ate it (I was hungry, for heaven's sake!) and I was sure I could find one online. No such luck. I just know my husband is going to bitch about my garlicky odor tonight, even after I brush my teeth. Tough.

Before I forget, here's the link to the pillowcase dress pattern I used. I made another one this weekend without the armhole binding, to see if it would be easier for my beginning sewers. Hmmm, not sure which one I prefer. I'll probably go with the one without the binding, so it doesn't discourage them too much. Gee, I really don't have much faith in them, do I? I don't know why, because they blew me out of the water when we made the tote bags.

Okay, time to go watch Holmes on Homes. Be still my beating power tools.

Pillowcase Dress

2010-04-21T09:21:00.003-04:00

If you google the phrase "pillowcase dress tutorial" you'll find about a million sites offering to help you. Unfortunately, I can't find the exact site I used to make mine! I did print it out, so when I get home tonight I'll see what it says.

I used a site that has you cut out armholes and bind them in the same fabric, which I really like. I wasn't sure about the directions at first, they seemed a little wonky, but as usual I was wrong. I used a vintage pillowcase that didn't have a match, one I bought years ago at a thrift shop. I'm kind of a big vintage pillow case junkie. Weird, I know.

So anyway, here's the finished product.

The fabric is pretty delicate, which is fine, because the recipient is only 17 mos. old, really not old enough to do much damage.

I'll probably make a few more of these, because they're really easy, and because I hate to use my pretty vintage pillowcases for people to put their stinky heads on. Just kidding, everyone who stays at my house has delicately fragranced hair. Except for my grandsons, but I make them bathe - a lot!

In other news, the weather has been beautiful here (yes, I'm at the age where I like to discuss the weather, and how it affects me) with not much rain. Except for yesterday. We were slated to finally get some rain, and I'll be damned if I didn't get a migraine. I nipped it in the bud, but I'm still feeling a little peaked.

Other news: John put misters in my raised beds. I wanted soaker hoses, but since I didn't buy them or put them in, I'll take the misters. It sure beats standing out there watering everything. I've got salad greens, onions, and swiss chard ready to pick and eat, along with lots of herbs. My cilantro must have seeded itself, because it showed up again on its own this spring. Why don't cilantro and tomatoes share the same growing season?? By the time I have ripe tomatoes, the cilantro is long gone!

I had some mysterious seedlings sprouting in a section of one bed that I just couldn't identify. I hadn't planted anything there, (recently) and thought maybe they were some volunteer radishes. Or something. It finally hit me this week that they're 4 o'clocks!! I forgot that I had a plant there last year - I really need to keep better notes, don't I?

Gluten-free Recipe!

2010-04-14T16:47:00.002-04:00

Here is the recipe for the yummiest cookies ever:

Makes 12-15 large cookies

1 C. peanut butter
1 C. sugar
1 large egg (use egg substitute if you want to go egg-free)
1 tsp. pure vanilla

Mix these four ingredients very briefly, just to combine. Don't overmix - this is the key to the cookie's texture.

Add 1/3 C. to 1/2 C. of whatever chocolate you like; dark, semi-sweet, milk chocolate, etc.

Scoop very full spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 for exactly 15 minutes.

(courtesy of Polly)

Organic Goodness

2010-04-13T15:36:00.005-04:00

This is a quickie, because I'm supposed to be helping out with honors day preparations in about 10 minutes!

I made a bread bag for a back-to-basics co-worker, for her homemade bread, and look what she brought me: (taken with my iPhone, excuse the quality)

Wonderful homemade bread, and yes, I did nibble on it, gluten be damned. I'll just load up on Aleeve and Immodium tonight. It was THAT good!And gluten-free chocolate chip-peanut butter cookies, also dairy free. Best cookies I've ever tasted!

She milks her goats for the milk, uses her own eggs from her chickens, organic cane sugar, local honey and buys fair-trade chocolate, etc. She's very conscious of where her food comes from. I'll post the recipe she gave me for the cookies soon, and now I'm off to the auditorium to practice!

Absolutely NOTHING!

2010-03-30T16:03:00.007-04:00

to say, that is. I take that back - I have plenty to say, but I'm just too lazy to log on to blogger to tell all of you. It's all that blah not-quite-spring-weather that made me feel lazy, but now things are blooming and the sap is rising! I hit the horticulture sale here at school last week and scored a few items: tomatoes, cukes, herbs, peppers (4 different kinds), zucchini and squash. Oh, and some nicotiana. I've tried growing it for years from seed, with no luck. Let's see how long it takes me to kill the new plants. John and fixed up the raised beds and planted most everything, except for the squash and zucchini. I ran out of room! I may just plant it around the house, so it will have room to grow wherever it pleases. I had no luck with them last year, so I've got my fingers crossed. I found volunteer marigolds, basil, parsley and cilantro coming up in the herb bed, and even radishes I planted late last fall coming up in another. I think I've got a good start, as long as we don't get any hail storms. Last year's hail storm in April decimated the garden.

I've been doing some knitting, spinning and sewing, and even a little "crafting". My youngest daughter and SIL just moved into their new house, and I made them some coasters. Lest you think I'm really chintzy, I bought them a new fridge, too! For the coasters, I bought some tumbled slate-type tiles at a flooring store in Jacksonville, a mere .33 a piece. I used Stayz-on stamping ink, and one of my favorite rubber stamps to stamp the fronts.

I didn't coat them with anything, because I wanted them to stay absorbant. The Stayz-on ink doesn't run - trust me, I tested it! I put felt pads on the back. They pads have adhesive on the back, so all you do is peel and stick.I wish I had a cuter stamp to use for them, something more her taste, but she'll probably go out and make her own now anyway! Isn't that an easy project?

My Kingdom For A Heating Pad

2010-02-25T14:43:00.003-05:00

I'm cold. My office feels like the inside of my refrigerator. I DARE someone to tell me it's over 70 degrees (the official temp we MUST NOT excede in order to save money) in here. I sat in my car at lunchtime with the windows up and the sun shining in to warm up. It was wonderful! At one time we were allowed to bring in small, portable heaters to use, but that was deemed unsafe and costly, and all such appliances were confiscated. Tomorrow I shall bring in my heating pad, so at least my hiney will be warm. I don't think anyone will want to confiscate something I've been sitting on all day.

So while I've been shivering down here in the tropical south, I've been visiting other climes, via the internet. No, not vacation dreaming, just getting away by reading some blogs. It does work. I dare you to try it. No, not now - I'm not finished!! I thought I'd share a few with you that I've been reading and looking at, because the pictures are key. Imagination is one thing, but like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

The Twice Remembered Cottage
A decorating blog with a killer white chocolate chip cookie recipe that I'm going to try out tonight. Don't miss her kitchen makeover either - find it here.

Minivan Life
A family/crafting blog that makes you want to move in with them. Well, it makes ME want to move in with them! And what a coincidence - she has a brownie recipe up today!

House of Turquoise
One incredible blog that cuts down on my time spent looking for design/color inspiration. I love this color, I love this blog.

Mackville Road
She always makes me want to live where it snows. And that's saying something, considering how miserable I am today!

Babyfingers
Always a good read, whether you have babyfingers in your house or not!

So go spend some in someone else's house, and forget how cold you really are!!

Betsy the Builder

2010-02-08T14:51:00.008-05:00

You've heard of Bob the Builder, hero construction artist to the pre-school set, right? Well, meet Betsy the Builder, hero furniture builder to the middle-age female set. Yes, this is my sister, Betsy. She is compulsive. She is obsessive. She is wearing a tool belt. She is going to kill me for writing all that. But it's true. Neither one of us can stand someone telling us we can't do something, and we both think we can do everything. And we can, and we will.

The furniture building kick has probably been simmering somewhere deep inside her for a long time. She "collects" furniture, because she likes it. Lately she's been hitting the thrift stores and finding lots of treasures. She has plans to paint and/or refinish, fix and/or refurbish all this stuff, and I keep telling her she needs to sell some of it. You know, make some money. She's really, really good at the spending it, so I'm thinking she might have some talent for the making of it. Just so you know, she's not the first generation to do this type of thing. I have an aunt who has a barnful (and I mean a BIG barn) of antiques and assorted everything. She collects too, and she will someday sell some of it. Are you reading this, Margo? Excuse me, Aunt Margo? Lucky for me, she's still in the giving it away stage, which is why I now own a full collection of aluminum pots and pans, and a pristine set of Hall orange tree bowls. Thank you, Aunt Margo.

Back to Betsy - so she found a website, this website, which has inspired her latest furniture ~~obsession~~ interest. Please visit the site AFTER you finish reading this, because if you go now, I'll have lost you forever.

I will now openly and publicly profess my love for the aforementioned website. I love you. I also love its creator. Pure, antique white love. Love with a capital robin's egg blue B. Or something like that. You'll understand after you spend a few days with the site, as I have.

Wow, that was freeing. Back to Betsy, again. She is going to make this table:

Remember that table from Pottery Barn?

With a little (okay, a lot) of help from Ana, she did this today:

Look closely - this is THE table base. How cool is my sister? I know, I know, she takes after me.

January Stuff, Blah, Blah, Blah

2010-01-20T11:17:00.005-05:00

That sums up January for me, but maybe I should have written bleh, bleh, bleh. Even if something exciting happens, it's still bleh. Must be a holdover from growing up in NE Ohio, because even living in a temperate climate hasn't shaken my belief that January is pretty sucky.

Which means, of course, that I've been knitting. And sewing. And not eating any wheat. A blogless, but by no means voiceless, knitting friend of mine decided to do some charity knitting, namely Wooley Pullies, or helmet liners for soldiers. Someone asked me if maybe that would be a little too warm. Um, it gets cold over there. Google it. She bought the yarn, downloaded the patterns (for there are many) and not one to be outdone, I decided to knit one. Guess what? I lived. And I finished it. It's so cool that I think I'll do some charity knitting for my grandsons and make them each one, because remember, charity starts at home. I should have them ready by the time they're 18.

Here it is, my helmet liner. Tell me this doesn't look like a deflated Homer Simpson character. Doh!

There's been some yarn buying, even better - DRUNKEN yarn buying, but that's fodder for another post. And next week for 4 days I will be attending a Spin-In, in Destin, Florida. Before you get all impressed that I've taken a turn for the healthy, it's a spinning wheel thing, not a bicycle thing. I'll be exercising my right foot and my mouth, and not necessarily in that order. Oh, and my New Year's resolution this year? To become a better wine taster. Next week will probably be the first plunge I take into this difficult resolution. Wish me well.

I'll leave you with an oh-so-charming picture of my new boots and my Vidalia onion sets. I know, I know, how could one person live such an enchanted life? Just lucky, I guess.

Gluten Free in 2003

2010-01-11T15:04:00.003-05:00

Not really, but 2010 didn't rhyme with free.

So, after 40 some years of having a "nervous" stomach and various other ailments, I figured it was time to do something about it. I got tired of doctors trying to treat the symptoms instead of looking for the root of the problem, so I decided to put M.D. after my name and go for it. It stands for muy demented. Or mad dog, but not MD20/20. Or maybe it stand for mud dauber. Anyway, on Dec. 31, 2009, I called it quits on the gluten. Two minutes later I was thinking about some macaroni and cheese and a big loaf of homemade bread. But I persevered, and here we are, 12 days later. It hasn't been very difficult, because unlike a no-carb lifestyle, I have just eliminated gluten. No breads, and that includes english muffins and bagels, which is good, because I can eat my weight in bagels. No pasta. sigh. I hear there is a wide selection of gluten-free pasta, flours, mixes, breads, etc. for sale, but I'm sticking to what I have on hand for right now.

Think about it - unless you're an addicted gluten-a-terian, not much changes. Breakfast for me is coffee and eggs, or yogurt. Lunch is just about anything, being careful about pre-processed foods. Dinner is usually meat or some other protein, veggies, and rice or potatoes. Just like regular folk!!

I've found that some restaurants even have gluten-free menus, like Chili's, but I find it safer to just order things that seem safe. We ate at Cracker Barrel the other night, and I had the trout without the seasoning, the carrots and the greens. It was wonderful, and a nice change from the usual chicken and dumplings I usually get. While the Chili's menu said the potato soup was gluten-free, I did notice I had a slight headache and cramps later. I also ate the salad (minus the croutons) with some citrus-balsamic vinaigrette, which is also touted to be gluten-free.

I had been waking up with a headache every morning before all this, and I've been plagued with migraines since I was about 14. I've always had flatulence (I know, tmi, sorry) and terrible stomach pains. My eldest daughter was diagnosed with IBS, and after that I realized that I had been suffering from the same symptoms my entire life. I had always put down the symptoms when seeing a new doctor, but just figured it was something everyone went through. And apparently it wasn't important enough for any doctors to ask me about. Oh well.

I noticed immediate improvement after cutting out the gluten! Maybe it was psychological, because the day after I started, I woke up without the morning headache. No gas, no stomach cramps, no, well, you know. I was doing so well that I figured I could eat about 10 of the tortellini my husband made on Saturday. They were wonderful, yummy, cheesy, and full of flour. And my body knew it. About an hour later (IF that long) the symptoms started again. So, no more pasta.

I'm eating three meals a day, and haven't been craving anything like I usually do, but it's only been 12 days! My sweet husband brought home two boxes of mac and cheese, my favorite food of all time, and I have resisted. I was about to fall when I grabbed some yogurt, strawberries and blueberries and snacked on them. Who knew yogurt could be so good? I actually liked it!!

I'm not saying I'm gluten intolerant, or even gluten-sensitive. I'm just saying that I haven't felt this good in quite a while. I'm sure eating all this healthy stuff doesn't hurt. It's almost impossible to eat anything in a box, or pre-processed without encountering wheat, barley or rye, so you have to think before you put something in your mouth. And no, I haven't lost a pound. Go figure.

added later: If you are interested in learning about celiac disease, visit the celiac.com site.

Down and Dirty Handwarmers

2009-12-22T16:31:00.004-05:00

I often find myself in a quandry over what to knit. You know, so much yarn, so many patterns, so little brain capacity? I don't concentrate well these days, so anything too complicated is out. And by complicated I mean anything beyond ribbing. I usually knit while doing something else, and I grabbed some of my indigo dyed wool and a set of wooden double pointed needles when I went off to work at the Agrirama a few weeks ago on a Saturday. I decided to try some handwarmers, but didn't bother to find a pattern - no time, no time! It took me a few tries to get the size I wanted, but once I had one down, the second was a no-brainer - something I specialize in! Here they are finished:We made our usual whirlwind Christmas trip to Clemson this past weekend, so I whipped up another pair:

Okay, here's the pattern. For those of you who need precise directions, please stop now. This is not for you.

Yarn: worsted weight. Or something else.

Needles: I used 5 and 6's with the worsted weight. You decide what works best with your yarn. By the way, I used both 5's and 6's on the black pair - I couldn't find more than two of each size. Hey, it worked.

Gauge: You're kidding, right?

Okay, using my worsted weight and size 5 or 6 dpns, I cast on 40 stitches, divided the stitches onto 3 needles, and then joined. If you're not great at knowing where the beginning of your round is, place a marker there. If that confused you, ask someone for help, your're gonna need it.

Take the time to make sure all your stitches are straight, so you don't end up with a mobius, which is like the infinity symbol. Sort of. Just trust me on this - it's not for hand warmers. You do realize though that if you do twist you can fix it pretty well on the first round. You'll know what I mean if you ever do twist.

K2, P2, all the way around. You should always start with a K2 at the beginning of the round, and always end with a P2 at the end. You just keep doing this, every single round. Voila - you'll have K2P2 ribbing!!!!

Keep ribbing around until the hand warmer seems long enough to go from the top of your thumb to a good spot on your wrist. At the beginning of the next round, bind off six stitches. I say six, because that seems to be a good sized opening for most thumbs. If you're making small hand warmers, or very large ones, please adjust according. After you've bound off those stitches, just keep knitting around in the k2p2 rib pattern. At the beginning of the next round, cast on 6 stitches (I just use a backward loop cast-on) and then keep knitting around in the k2p2 ribbing. You can try the hand warmer on at this point to get an idea of how much longer you want to make it. I try mine on a lot. When they're long enough, just bind off, fairly loosely. I do a k2p2 bind off, but it's not written in stone. Or if it is, I haven't seen it.

Sew in ends, wash and block and gift. Sometimes not necessarily in that order!

Oh, almost forgot. You have to make a second one!! So start all over again, and this time, smile!

I Just Love Me Some Presents!

2009-12-11T16:06:00.003-05:00

Woo-hoo! I participated in Sew, Mama, Sew's 2nd annual giveaway again this year, but almost too late! I was part of the giveaway last year, giving away a handknit chevron scarf, made with my hand-dyed fiber. This year I barely made it into the foray, and all I did was enter a few contests. I just haven't been keeping up with the blog thing lately. I was choosy as to what contests I entered - I had no interest in winning something just for winnings sake. That, in my opinion, would just be rude and greedy. I tend to be an obnoxious know-it-all, but I try to stop before I get to rude and greedy. And yes, I snagged something - not just something, but something I really wanted - a tea wallet from Carly, up in Ohio. (Carly is probably outside right now, trying to shovel her driveway clear of snow).

Ain't it cute? She also included some fat quarters - totally cool - and one can never have enough fat quarters.

Just for being so nice, I think I'll send her a gift back. So Carly, sometime next week when you're laid up in your recliner with a sore back and a fervent wish to see spring again, you'll be getting a package in the mail.

On a side note, I found it interesting that I won this particular gift. Carly is a mom, a part-time children's librarian and she lives in north central Ohio. I am from north eastern Ohio (really not that far from Carly), am a mom and I work in a library. And I drink tea. Okay, I'm just assuming that Carly drinks tea, but humor me. Don't you just love all this giving and receiving?

Go check out Carly's etsy store for your last minute Christmas giving.

I'm feeling a bit lazy right now. Instead of cleaning or doing laundry this afternoon (it's our short day at work) I'm going to sit here and knit. I bought Ysolda Teague's Ripley pattern, and I'm going to use this yarn.

It's my hand-dyed 100% merino wool bulky, and it's like butta. I sure hope it turns out okay.

I should be making a winter bonnet and a woolen shawl for tomorrow's Victorian Christmas at the Agrirama. I found a great site with lots of info and some free patterns, but the fireplace is going right now, and I'm cuddled up with heating pad, too. If I get up to sew, I'll freeze. I know, I know, I live in south Georgia, USA, home of the gnat and great weather, but today it was 43 degrees when I got home at 3pm. Yikes! So I may (big may) get the bonnet made (winter slatted bonnet) but the nearest fabric store is an hour away and I'm so not getting in my car and driving there for a bit of wool to make a shawl. I sure wish I had saved a shawl or two for myself after I knitted them. doh! As far as I know I'll be working inside, so I guess I just may have lucked out! John bought his first pair of overalls - ever - and will be helping to make cane syrup. That ought to be interesting. I plan to get some photos, so stay tuned!

Things I Like

2009-11-29T18:58:00.009-05:00

I've been noticing some of the little things I like around my house, and I thought I'd share them with you.

Christmas cactus. Well, more like a Thanksgiving cactus. No, a between Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus.

A metal rabbit I found in Clemson, at (of course) The White Rabbit. I always think of this guy as a toad though.

Two things here: the yo-yo tree and my rolling pins. Oh, and there's the cactus peeking out to the left.

Bench I found in Ohio - love the color.

Painting from my aunt's antique barn. Don't laugh - I like it!

Orange Tree Bowls by Hall China - another gift from my aunt's antique barn.

Stone bird sitting in the breakfast room. I also love the umbrella clothesline in the backyard behind the bird.

Items in my NEW etsy store. Go check them out!

Harvest Time

2009-11-12T19:41:00.017-05:00

While many of my blogging friends north have already put their garden beds to sleep for the summer, I'm just now cleaning mine up. I was still getting some tomatoes, but the plants themselves were very overgrown. The resulting tomatoes were on the small side, and by the time I remembered to get out there, they were usually on the ground, where the insects had made short work of them. Ugh, gross.So I just pulled those suckers out of the ground and threw them in the woods.

I started saving seeds last year, and I had an overwhelming crop of marigolds and basil from the previous years seeds. The marigold blooms I saved and froze for fiber dyeing, but I had way too much basil, and I still do! I've been saving the marigold seeds all summer long for next year, and although I have harvested some basil seeds, I'll probably just wait 'til they freeze, then harvest them. Marigold seeds and the last of my marigolds. Sorry for the sucky pictures - they pretty much all turned out like this!

My Thai basil (Queen of Siam) and the seeds look like. The Thai basil is really different from regular basil, but I do grow both.

The above interesting plant was sent to me in the form of seeds as a bonus when I ordered some nicotiana seeds (which I've NEVER been able to grow!) The seller labeled them as Datura Inoxia, Money Plant. What I remember as a Money Plant from growing up had seeds that looked like this, which we used as coins. You know, make believe coins. I'm not cultivating funny money or anything!

Turns out what I was growing was indeed Datura Innoxia, or Datura Inoxia, also know as Jimson weed. But definitely not Lunari annua, or money plant, seeds pictured above. Well, damn!

My parsley is making a comeback from the hungry little caterpillars and the hot weather, but so far the cilantro hasn't shown up again.

This is the one four o'clock plant I have. My sister started it for me, and it finally decided to grow. I think it was afraid, because when I was little I used to pick the seeds and pretend they were pepper. I never ate them, just used them when we played house outside. You know, a delectable stew of leaves, acorns and 4 o'clock seeds!

They kinda look like little hand grenades. What a great accessory for GI Joe dolls. Excuse me, GI Joe action figures.
Last, but not least, are my moonflowers. These are the seed pods, which aren't dried out yet. The flowers look like this:

If you go to this link, you'll see how one woman (I assume it's a woman!) grew her moonflowers from seed.

For those of you who aren't asleep yet, thanks for stopping by to spend some time in my autumn garden. With any luck I'll soon be able to show you the Swiss Chard, lettuce, mesclun and squash I planted!

Multnomah

2009-11-05T13:47:00.006-05:00

Okay, okay, so you're tired of reading about Ohio - I get it!!

I wanted to wait 'til I got some "action" shots of Multnomah, but no one wanted to volunteer to pose for me. All you're gonna get is the blocking shots on one of the guest room beds, along with some of my old, ratty beach towels.

The yarn is some Corriedale X roving I bought from Cooper Moose, which I hate to admit was a bit overspun, so it's not super soft. That would be my fault, for those of you who aren't familiar with the process. I then dyed the resulting yarn a beautiful aqua color, which I didn't feel was conducive to the shawl, so I overdyed. The second time I chose an emerald green with some black to try to darken it up. I like the handspun look of it. It's not perfectly spun, and the imperfections just add to its charm, right?

Back to Ohio

2009-10-19T15:38:00.007-04:00

Okay, I wasn't done telling you about Ohio, but I wasn't staying a minute over at work to keep writing the entry. Wow, that sounds really bad, doesn't it? Don't tell my boss.
The weather was windy and cloudy and wonderful! The flags were whipping around like crazy, and there were whitecaps on the lake.

I don't have any pictures of us at the cottage, laying under the vanity in the master bedroom, trying to stem the flow of water from a broken pipe. Did I mention it was after midnight when it happened? If I did have pictures, and tried to post them, I would no long be living. If you think your female relatives are crazy about not getting their pictures taken, you should meet mine. I'm lucky they haven't thrown me and my camera into the lake yet.

This is my niece, who only made the trip from Jacksonville, Florida to get a cherry dip cone. You just can't find cherry dip in most places in the south. The child went as far as to call around when she was living in Savannah, and found that the closest cherry dip DQ was in Beaufort, SC. That's a craving with a capital C. She was most happy to have this cone!

These are the flowers in the window box at the cottage. I always knew the Lake Erie water was dangerous - look at the size of those things!! They're freaking mutants!! And this is in October - I can't even get my flowers to grow that big in South Georgia. Something is very wrong here.

These are the scary steps down to the beach in back of the cottage. I can remember steps like these when we were kids, and my aunt would rent a cottage at the lake in the summer. As frightening as they were back then, they're a hell of a lot more scary now. Especially the thought of climbing back up them!Please continue to humor me with this post. I LOVE this picture of the lake! It was a wonderful fall day, and the sun and clouds playing on the water was beautiful!On the way back home we drove through Youngstown, and past the steel mills, where both of our grandfathers worked, back in the day. Yes, it's as depressing as it looks - always has been.Wrapping things up, we drove past our dearly departed Grandma's house, where my Uncle Vinnie lives now. We did it just because we were feeling nostalgic, and wouldn't you know - there was Uncle Vinnie, mowing the lawn. No, we didn't stop, because we didn't call first, but we were crass enough - okay, I was crass enough - to take a picture of him and post it here. Hi Uncle Vinnie, you're on Candid Blogging!!

Catching Up

2009-10-18T12:36:00.003-04:00

Meet Monkey, a finished sock. One finished sock. But if you look closely, you'll see that I have started the second sock, and that's as far as I've gotten! The yarn is some KnitPicks bare that I hand-dyed a while ago. The colors reminded me of early autumn, when the leaves are just starting to change, but still have a lot of green in them. This last picture is indicative of the true color. It's got a lot of yellow in it, very warm. I'm not fond of making socks, but this yarn was begging to be made into a pair, and Monkey seemed like a straight-forward pattern, which it is. I've got a few other projects I'm working on right now, but as soon as they're out of the way, I think I'll finish that second sock!

Back to Ohio

2009-10-16T12:45:00.007-04:00

My sister, my niece and I took a road trip to northeast Ohio last week. Yep, you heard right - 16 hours in a car - one way. But people, it was fun!! When I left the parking lot here at work to head to my sister's house, it was 91 degrees (Fahrenheit for those of you who perhaps thought we were on the sun). Anyone with any sense knows that's too hot for October, unless you're in Australia or something. I worked on Multnomah on the way up. And the way back. And in between.

I'm using my own handspun, once dyed aqua, now a dark green. It'll be done soon (with any luck), and I'll post a picture once I have it blocked. I didn't stop at 10 repeats of the feather and fan part - I'm just going 'til I run out of yarn. Hope it was a good call, because I'm not ripping it out!

We got in late, so the next morning we hunted around for a place to eat breakfast. There's bound to be at least one diner in a small town, and we found a good one. I can't remember what it was called (State Street Diner??) but this was probably the best omelet I've ever eaten. The only bad part about it was the name - the Moon Doggie omelet. I was embarrassed to say it aloud. Just veggies and cheese - and everything tasted like they just picked it, including the eggs.

It was overcast and rainy, like the picture shows, but it was cool!! Cool as in not hot. Cool as in we're not in south GA anymore. It looks like summer in this picture, but most of the trees were turning. The area along Lake Erie was quite a bit behind the area farther south. The first thing we did after breakfast was to hit a rummage sale at the Catholic Church. My aunt was working there, so we killed two birds with one stone. Not that we wouldn't have stopped in to see her if she wasn't working there, but you know my sister loves a good sale! While I was there I demonstrated how to use an ab machine to the church ladies. Thank God no one had a camera. They'll not soon forget the chubby lady from Georgia who got down on the floor to exercise. Of course, while I was down there my loving Auntie Margo yelled over, "Look at that roll!!", referring to my not so sleek abs. That was just in case no one had already noticed that I was out of shape. Not likely!!After that we were whisked off to Cherry Valley Amish Country & Gift Store, to buy some fresh apples, among other things. I took a picture in the store to show how dark it was!! There's no electricity, of course, so all the light you have comes from the windows and the propane lanterns. I think I had SAD (seasonal affective disorder) when I left. They carry all kinds of stuff, including furniture. I found some bluing, which sounded like an intriguing laundry experiment, and some bulk candy for my husband, who doesn't need it. I also got a half bushel of Jonagold apples, most of which I've already eaten. You just can't find a GREAT apple in the south.

After all that wild frolicking we went over to visit my Grandma. The picture on top was taken at their farm circa 1972. That's me, the tall dark-headed one (how things change!), my Mimi in the middle, and my cousin Lori, who is 16 mos. younger than me. In the bottom pic it's 37 years later, and that's Lori, who grew up to be tall and skinny (damn her), Mimi, my sister Betsy, and me. Mimi's going to be 93 on November 2nd, and still doing well, although she admitted she wasn't sure how old she was. Hell, most days I can't (or don't want to) remember how old I am.

Okay, this has gone on long enough. More later!

Memories of Vacation

2009-10-15T16:44:00.001-04:00

JonaGold apples and Halloran candy. Mmmmm, good.

Margo Dixie Does Goodwill

2009-10-01T13:34:00.019-04:00

And by Goodwill, I don't mean she was running about, throwing alms to the poor. I mean she has hit more Goodwill stores than most people see in a lifetime. Margo Dixie is my nickname for my sister Betsy. We have an Aunt Peggy, whose real name is Margo (or is it Margot?) Anyway, Auntie Margo lives in Ohio and has a big, red barn out back that houses her considerable haul of antiques and stuff. She tells us she is going to start an antiques store, soon. Very soon. We're waiting. She has two floors full of goodies, stashed floor to ceiling, and she loves to buy. Enter my sister, Margo Dixie, because she lives in the south. Margo Dixie recently sold her embroidery business, all if it, and has declared her new profession as - well, junk buyer to the ordinary. No, that's not right. How about Thrifter to the Throngs? Her idea is to find stuff cheap, and fix it up, refurbish or reinvent pieces and resell them. Ta-da - instant job! She's found some great stuff, like the objects in the pictures below.
I love this table - she paid $20 for it, which is high for what she's been paying.

Pillar for $6

Ugly old mirror that she had already, which she painted antique white. Note the nosy cat.

I can't remember what she paid for this table, but it wasn't much. We can't figure out what went in the middle - anyone got any ideas?

This is the before picture of an cheese dome and a candlestick. Margo Dixie hit on the idea of marrying the two to create a brand new masterpiece. I love it!

More later!

Victory is Mine

2009-09-09T11:19:00.009-04:00

ahhhh, sweet victory. I scored the last three containers of this Crystal Light at the Piggly Wiggly.

Wal-Mart doesn't carry it anymore, and I was getting desperate. I bought some white grape/peach flavor and it was so blah, like drinking plain not-so-great water. I'm so content and happy now that I spent the weekend sewing - AFTER I spent the weekend cleaning and putting down pine straw in the heat of midday. Good thing I had plenty of Crystal Light.

I thought I'd share what passes for a sewing room in my house. Mind you, I'm not complaining - I've never had a room just for sewing/knitting/painting/weaving/spinning, but I sure can clutter up a room in no time flat. Here's a shot of my design wall, which is really just a place to hang small unquilted quilts and half-finished projects.

The blocks in front are my latest creations. I'm using American Jane's Recess - 1 charm pack and 2 honey buns. I got the honey buns for a ridiculously low price at fabric.com. They have some amazing sales! I'm going to use sashing to pull them together, but not sure what color yet. Probably white, since I would hate to break out of the box! There's also a Patrick Lose baby quilt on there, and a patchwork quilt, too. Oh, and some small bento box squares. Yes, I AM easily distracted! My cousin just asked me if I was still working on my string quilt. If by working on she means "in my backpack in the car", then yes, I am still working on it. Patience people, patience!!

In the next picture, we've panned past the design wall to the wall of wonders. Or crap, take your pick. Lots of books, weaving, knitting, spinning, quilting, floor cloths, rug hooking, etc. Even some silk painting, beading and cross stitch. Sigh. So many books, so little time.

And yet more of the stuff wall. The big cubby unit is the Expedia from Ikea. I heart Ikea. They always have a solution for my storage problems. I'm still not very organized, but I'm trying. I just love to buy gadgets and do-dads for my habits, and they do tend to overflow at times!! What I will not be showing you is my double closet in this room, full to overflowing with yarn and fabric. I'd never get anything done if I had all that stuff out to tempt me to start yet another new project!

Then we have the real work area. I love being able to look out on the trees next door. I originally had my sewing room the spare bedroom that overlooks the little lake, but for some reason I just couldn't get anything done in there. Wait, I see that the picture doesn't show the window. Okay, trust me, it's there. It's big, it's bright, it's a window. I repainted this bedroom (it was yellow, and trust me, a little yellow goes a long way!) so it would be bright and happy, and moved all my stuff in. The color is kind of like a light seafoam green. The rest of our house is pretty much decorated in a craftsman/arts and crafts style, and there was no way I could create in that atmosphere. I bought the Wilma curtains from Ikea to hang in here, as soon as I get the curtain rod hung. They're light and breezy and I have used them in other rooms, too. I tend to switch my curtains out, depending on my mood. I would love to have a small crystal chandelier in here, but I have a white ceiling fan with a schoolhouse light, and because this is south Georgia, I don't dare exchange it for something that couldn't keep me cool.

Still panning, here we have my $75 thrift shop find. It's an old china cabinet that had a horrific white paint job. I've peeled away a lot of the paint (can we say nervous habit?) and will eventually repaint it, but that's just one more thing to keep me from sewing. We'll see . . . Or knitting. Spinning. Weaving. Cleaning. Oh wait, not cleaning - I don't do that! There's no glass in the front anymore, and I don't know that I want to replace it, so I'll probably just use fabric or something. I have my ironing board set up right by my left side so I don't have to get up. Our house has all hard wood floors (except for the man cave, but that's another story entirely) so I'm able to roll around on my little desk chair without having to get up. And I wonder why I can't lose weight?? The poster is something my husband got me - it reads "Fear Less, Knit More". He usually doesn't pay much attention to my crafting, so I was pleasantly surprised to get this from him. Last but not least is my (okay, sister Betsy's) drop leaf table. It tends to be more of a catch all than anything, but I'm making a concerted effort to keep it clean. I need to quit cutting out fabric on my ironing board and the table is a great substitute. If I need more room, I can put the leaf down. That big pack of CD's? Hey, I was cleaning, they just hadn't made it to the room with the computer yet. Don't ask me how they got in my sewing room, they just did. Like the Christmas decorations and the containers of winter clothes. Obviously this room is not sacred!! Sorry these pictures are so dark, my bad. I didn't feel like spending even more time on this post. And now that I'm looking at all these pictures I realize that this room is pretty crowded and crappy. I bet a crystal chandelier would help . . .

Another Project Waiting in the Wings

2009-08-24T13:35:00.006-04:00

I just bought this pattern

from ebay for the low price of $3.99 because my friend Julie made one for her eldest granddaughter on the occasion of her youngest granddaughter's birth! I couldn't resist - I just had to copy! The doll, not the birth. How cute is that picture??

I am planning on making one for this little chubby cheeked baby for her 1st birthday in October.

I even thought about making some for the twins, who just turned 3 this month. I know they're boys, but I thought they would enjoy them. Then I thought better. They would probably fight over them and end up tearing off their arms or legs. I think I'll stick with balls and bats and cars for them! Luke and Grace - the scratches on his face are from his twin brother. I don't think Raggedy Ann and Andy would fare any better. If you look back up to my banner picture, you'll see Luke pinching Dan, and Dan biting Bowen. Brother love at its finest.

Sunday in the South

2009-08-16T15:06:00.004-04:00

I love summer. I love the big, white puffy clouds, green lawns, tanned feet, flip-flops, the smell of the pool, fresh tomatoes with salt, air conditioning, tree frog music, white cotton nightgowns, and the farmer's market, just to name a few things.

In keeping with summer, I put up 8 lbs. of lady finger peas, also known as lady peas. In NE Ohio, I grew up thinking peas were round, green and best when eaten fresh from the garden. After being in the south for 20 years, I realize that there is a fine line between peas and beans, and there are more of each than you can shake a stick at. Beans in my part of Ohio were green beans, which you dumped in a pan, added some salt and pepper and served hot. They were also the things that showed up in baked beans (from a can) and the week after Easter, in bean soup. I think those were Navy beans. And let's not forget kidney beans, which were always in chili. I don't remember anyone I knew who LOVED beans. Maybe just some old people. I still remember having a pot luck dinner in my 6th grade class, and my teacher, Mrs. Buck, made 3-bean salad. I was mortified. Didn't she realize that kids didn't eat that sort of thing?

In the south, it's a whole different game. Those round green peas are English peas (!) and you have things like lady fingers, crowder, field peas, etc. There are pinto beans, ford hooks, green beans, which you cook all day with fatback and/or bacon and lots of salt and pepper. Oh yeah, black-eyed peas. And about 500 more. Beans with lunch, beans with supper, and who knows, maybe beans with breakfast, but I've never done that. They love their beans and peas down here, and guess what? I do, too!! The strange thing is that my husband was born and raised down here, and he won't eat anything but green beans. That's it. That didn't stop me fom buying and freezing those 8 lbs. of lady fingers. They're small beans (peas!) that I've had cooked in chicken broth, with salt added. They're creamy, with a mild flavor. Totally yummy. This is what they look like after blanching and before freezing. I looked up some recipes for these beautiful veggies, and found all kinds of different dishes. Lady Pea Salad, Lady Peas with bacon and corn, marinated Lady Peas, pan roasted pork chops with lady peas and tomatoes, and Lady Peas with salt pork and rice (I'm gonna make that one!) I even found recipes for making jellly out of pea hulls!

Summer Knitting

2009-08-10T08:38:00.008-04:00

Because everyone wants to knit with wool when the temperature exceeds 100 degrees F. I must be crazy.

I finished the Flower Basket shawl I started just a little while back, using my handspun. I bought the roving the Christmas before last and have had it sitting around, just waiting for an easy project. This is the 3rd Flower Basket Shawl (pattern by Evelyn Clark) that I've made. It's so easy you could almost do it in your sleep. Almost.

In other news, I sold this headboard and frame:
for this bed from Ikea: What I really wanted was this bed from Charles P. Rogers:

but the $970 difference just didn't sit well with my husband.

Notice all the different paint colors on the walls in the first picture? I was having difficultly picking out a color. Much difficulty. I finally came across a picture in a magazine with the bedroom I wanted, so I went with it. White. Plain white. Or rather, Clean White. I painted the ceiling "Breath of Blue", which in most light looks white. If I never paint another ceiling in my lifetime, it'll be too soon. I'll sell my cat and my husband's motorcycle so I can pay for a painter next time.

The bad news is that when I went to put the bed together last night (after painting for two days straight) it became apparent that my husband had failed to pick up the midbeam for the bed. Mind you, the nearest IKEA is hours away. I cried.

The good news is that we are taking a trip to Atlanta this weekend, where I will not only get the midbeam for the bed, but I'll also do my best to find a black armoire to go in the same room. The moral of this story is: Don't make me mad or I'll spend more money!

Starting Yet Another Quilt

2009-08-01T09:16:00.003-04:00

You can blame it all on my sister Betsy for sending me the link to this blog - Film in the Fridge. It's like ice cream in the freezer - you just can't stop going back to it. I had to do it.

It's a string quilt, using all those scraps that have been resting in plastic bins for years! Like the offending blog, I'm using white as my center piece, but I'm paper piecing them using paper from the phone book. Yep - I found a five-year-old phone book at work and cut the pages down to 8.5 square. I took my stitch length down to 1.5 and the paper comes off like butta. You just have to make sure your fingers stay clean, which they did. It just occurred to me that if I use smaller starting squares, I can use up all those small scraps. duh! I did these 12 yesterday, and after I make a dent in painting the bedroom (no, I don't plan on doing it all in one day) I'm gonna start on some more!

Strange Creatures

2009-07-30T13:31:00.004-04:00

This big guy was stuck on the wall outside the library. I am assuming he/she is a moth, right? A really cool looking moth.

New Quilt!

2009-07-28T09:52:00.003-04:00

I finally bought more batteries for the camera. I'm telling you, I buy AA batteries every time I go to the store, and yet when I need them they can't be found. I did locate a new pkg. with one battery left in it, and my husband swears he didn't touch them. That damn cat had better start buying her own batteries from now on.

I've finished a few things, and needed the camera so I could show you. I'll drag them out a day at a time, since I don't seem to have much to say these days.

This is a 37" x 41" quilt I made for a baby girl who will be here soon. I know what you're thinking - that must be some hippy baby. This is the second daughter, and I figured by now they had enough pink, cuddly blankets to last a while. This quilt is one of those that you won't mind putting on the grass at the park, or throwing over the kids' legs in the car, and they spill their sippy on it!

I used some Amy Butler charm squares I bought a llooonnnngggg time ago, and the border is just something I had in my stash. I have a sneaking suspicion that the blue is actually part of an unfinished project, but oh well. I bound it in orange, because where this particular baby lives, you can never have enough orange!

The lovely Marie assisted me by holding up the quilt, and a big shout out to my sister for gifting me with a walking foot. I'm hooked!

And Yet Another Snake

2009-07-17T19:29:00.003-04:00

This sleek little guy was in our garage this week. Judging by the bump in his belly (?) I think he just had lunch. Not sure what kind he was - a Black Racer, perhaps? I left the garage door open so he could find his way back home, and he was gone after I got done with lunch. Not sure where he went, but I haven't seen him IN the garage since then!

Young At Heart

2009-07-13T21:04:00.003-04:00

Did you ever see a quilt you just had to make? That's what happened to me when I saw this book by Julie Popa.I have no idea why I liked this cover quilt so much, but I did. So I made it.

But I hung it upside down for you to see!

Eat Your Yarn!!

2009-07-10T10:51:00.003-04:00

Picture courtesy of Cake Journal

Some of you may have seen this already, but it's new to me. Go check out the edible yarn basket:

http://www.cakejournal.com/archives/how-to-make-a-knitting-basket-cake

Baby Ballerina!

2009-07-08T10:26:00.001-04:00

Really now, how irresistible is this?

I Just Don't Feel Like Talking About It

2009-07-07T15:46:00.005-04:00

That is, if I had anything to talk about. Summer makes me lazier than usual, and having a grandson with me 24/7 keeps me busy. Toby came down for a while, and we had this:

His parents came down over the 4th, and we had this:Bowen is here now and we have this:
In the meantime we're busy with swimming, day classes, fresh tomatoes from the garden and gnats. See you soon!

New Summer Patterns

2009-06-17T15:36:00.004-04:00

New to me, anyway. I googled the first pattern and found a website that set me straight.This is Butterick 3133, and I liked it because the front is flat! I need some elastic (let's not go there) but not all the way around. I HATE regular waistlines with zippers, because they take too much adjusting to fit my fat. Then again, my front is not flat, so who knows if it'll work. I want to make capris from this pattern, but I just realized they don't show them. How hard could it be? Famous last words.

By the way, my sister bought these for me and sent them priority. Wasn't that nice?

The next one is Butterick B5363. Sister Betsy gave me some linen she bought (okay, we split it, but I wasn't arguing!) so I could make the top/shirt version. I'm sure someone will ask me if I'm expecting. The capris shown in this pattern have a full elastic waistband, but I really don't want any added bulk. I have enough. The skinny model in thi photo looks great in the outfit, but I'm wondering how much like a third-trimester mother I'll look. It's worth a shot.

Sir Ross of Teflon

2009-06-12T13:51:00.009-04:00

Remember Ross? No, not that Ross. You know, Ross from Teflon. Think about it. Yeah, it was just a few days ago. The guy who's really into Teflon? That's the one. He hooked me up with some recipes and info. The first one was something to do with Teflon and your bird, which of course meant how to cook your Thanksgiving Turkey in Teflon-coated cookware. Or not. I thought I had the wrong page at first. Apparently it's about how to cook safely with your bird in the kitchen. Your LIVE bird. No, not a live turkey, unless that's what you have for a bird. More like Lola, my sister's bird.

Who does indeed spend a lot of time in the kitchen, dropping glass ramekins from her perch. Because they were empty, that's why.

Here's the link to Safety in the Kitchen with Your Bird: (click on the pic)

Doling Out the Presents

2009-06-11T13:21:00.007-04:00

Because I lack anything noteworthy to say, I'll show you some of my birthday presents. Lucky you! I don't have pictures of all of them yet, so we'll do this a few at a time. A map of Savannah, suitable for framing (which will eventually happen) from Turn of the Century seller on etsy. I saw this same print at my niece's place (in Savannah, of course) and I had to have one. Luckily someone was paying attention.
This next item is a Mason Bee House. Kinda like a condo for bees. The Mason bees take up residence in the condo and pollinate the hell out of your garden. Unless it's a vacation condo, then I'm in trouble. I can't remember where my sister bought it, but if she reads this, maybe she'll enlighten us.Next we have a gorgeous blue (purple?) hydrangea from my in-laws. They had it delivered to my office at work. It's so cool to get flowers at work. This bad boy will eventually make it outside to become a permanent resident of the yard, where everyone will be able to enjoy it.

I also got this: which has already been returned. Apparently I'm a bike snob. One ride and two collapsed lungs later, I decided I was far better suited to this: Unfortunately there's a little problem with the $350 difference. Like I don't have it. That's a problem.

More presents to show off soon. I am so loved. sigh.

Seriously?

2009-06-08T17:01:00.003-04:00

Remember me saying that I used my Teflon (forgot the capital T the first time) wok to make creme brulee? Believe it or not, I just got this comment:

Theresa - Thanks for recommending using a Teflon wok while making your Creme Brulee. I represent DuPont and it's always a pleasure to see people recommending our products in their recipes. If you are interested in some other recipes or great cookbooks to look at, drop me an email and I would be glad to help you out! Thanks. Cheers, Ross

I guess he didn't read the part where I said the little dark pieces (from the pan) could be mistaken for vanilla bean. Ouch.

But cheers to you Ross, and to DuPont, because I use the hell out of that pan, dark bits and all.

It's That Time of Year Again

2009-06-05T10:31:00.004-04:00

National Donut Day.

And my birthday. Go figure.

Creme Brulee

2009-06-04T09:34:00.003-04:00

Where did I get creme brulee for breakfast? At home, of course. I had it again today for breakfast, too! If I had known how easy it was to make, I'd have started years ago. Here's the recipe I use:

10 egg yolks

1 c. granulated sugar

4 c. heavy cream

1 oz. REAL vanilla

Beat eggs yolks with the sugar until the sugar starts to dissolve. I kept beating it to make sure it was dissolved. And because I was bored.

Heat the 4 cups heavy cream and vanilla in a non-reactive pan. What, you ask, is a non-reactive pan? I can tell you this - it's not any of my vintage club aluminum. sigh.

"When a recipe calls for a non-reactive cookware, use clay, enamel, glass, plastic, or stainless steel." Quote ripped from the headlines of What's Cooking America. I used a big teflon wok. I figured the little dark pieces in the creme brulee could be mistaken for vanilla bean, which as we all know I didn't use.

Okay, back to the heating. The recipe says to heat until bubbles form at the edges. For some reason I never could get any bubbles, but using my incredible food intuition, I just said it was ready when I felt like it.

I then added the hot mixture to the egg mixture, VERY slowly and VERY carefully, so I wouldn't end up with scrambled creme brulee. I just used a wisk and a spouted measuring cup, and wisked, wisked, wisked!!

I will warn you - this makes a butt load of creme brulee. There are recipes for smaller quantities here and here, but I really like the stuff, so I made a lot of it. And I had a lot of eggs.

Where were we? Oh, yes, wisking. I placed ramikins in a baking dish, and then filled them up. I poured hot water all around the ramikins in the baking dish, about 1/2" of water. It's called a bain marie. Then I just stuck them in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. I let them cool down, then stuck them in the fridge overnight. I torched their little selves when I was ready to eat them. Yay for creme brulee!

When Life Gives You Eggs

2009-06-03T11:27:00.003-04:00

make creme brulee!
I had this for breakfast today:

because at 8:15 I had this:

Not Much Happening!

2009-05-21T11:01:00.003-04:00

Or maybe there is, and I'm just missing it all.

In insect news, my boss just gave away her Dubai Cockroaches. They were starting to stink up her apartment.

Image Source: OCMPI

A high school teacher from the area took them to feed to something else - lizards, perhaps. It's all very bizarre, I know. The worst part was when she came into work this morning and said, "I brought my roaches to work, and (handing over a muffin pan) I baked these muffins this morning!" Wow, roaches and muffins in the same sentence. I think I'll pass.

In other news, I think I want to get a tee-tiny cupcake tattoo to cover a Gemini tatto I have on my wrist. The tat hides underneath my watch, so I don't consider a big deal, but my husband thinks I'm the antiChrist. Bless his pointy little head.

I did get some early birthday presents this week - mostly the fiber kind! And a great supper at Longhorns. Did I really attempt to eat that gigantic dessert?? I didn't take a picture of it, but there are plenty on Flickr - google Chocolate Stampede, and hold on to your horses!

Some Finished Projects

2009-05-13T14:04:00.002-04:00

I always seem to forget to take pictures of my projects before I give them away, but not this time!
The first quilt is the Run, Bunny, Run quilt from In The Nursery by Jennifer Sampou and Carolyn Schmitz. I made another one of these a few years ago.

It's busy, but I enjoyed working with PINK stuff after all these years of blue!
The next one is based on the Endless Summer quilt pattern by APQ. My sister and I made it together, using blue, green and purple batiks on a white background.

I quilted them using a meandering stitch on my machine, and bound them with an assortment of the fabrics used in the quilt top. Now it's on to my next project!

A Little of This, A Little of That

2009-05-12T10:06:00.002-04:00

Weekend trip to Savannah, to visit my niece who has just moved there after her college career. I've got some quilting to show you, but we'll save that for another day. In the meantime, enjoy the show.

Snake on a Stick

2009-05-06T09:28:00.005-04:00

I am fascinated by snakes. Until they get too close. Last Saturday I was dropping Lisa off after our quilt block class downtown, and as I pulled up in her driveway, she screamed, "You ran over a snake!!" Really, really loudly. I slammed on the brakes, and my first thought was "If the snake was under my car, could it climb inside?" My second thought was "I wonder if my hearing will ever be the same?" I backed up (no sickening splat or thump sound) and there it was, all curled up. Lisa said it was stretched across the driveway when I pulled up and over it. I must need glasses, because I never saw it.

Being the nature activists we are, we decided to Save The Snake. That was after Lisa determined it wasn't poisonous. After choosing and discarding several too small sticks, Lisa grabbed the longest stick she could find - part of a quilting frame. (We had JUST taken the quilt off!) Doesn't everyone have those in their garage?

She pushed. (That wet spot was from my car air conditioning, not from the snake. I checked.)

She prodded.

She managed to get the snake on the stick.

She seems quite proud of herself, doesn't she? Hey, look at me, I can quilt AND wrangle snakes, all in the same day!
She carried him (her?) over to a clump of grass and trees, and set him free. And he promptly climbed (slithered) up the tree, to the tallest branch. I didn't stop taking pictures, but I made sure I was far enough away as to not be in his line of "flight". I just had this creepy feeling that it was going to launch itself out of the tree, straight at my neck. And yes, bite me.

I checked before I left, and he was still hanging out in the trees, waiting to fly.

Added later: My friend Julie has just celebrated another Kirking of the Tartans, and reminded me about her Wild Loin of Boar with Bog Myrtle recipe. For some reason I think of it as her "girding of the loins" recipe. You know, once a loin, always a loin. Anyway, go check out the recipe. Sounds yummy. It's probably even better if you eat it with nothing between you and your plaid.

Vi-Day-Yuh

2009-04-29T16:34:00.004-04:00

And that's a long I in Vi. You know, Vidayyuh, as in Vidalia. At least that's how I'm told it's pronounced - correctly. Just act like there's no L in the word, because if you say it with one everyone will laugh at you. They'll point fingers and probably not let you ride in their monster trucks.
I made the mistake of saying it the wrong way, but once was all it took. All this is leading to the gastronomical delight I whipped up last week.
Vidalia Onion Pie.

I managed to get this picture before Marie ate the last piece. That was you, wasn't it Marie? For once I made something that almost everyone liked. Not because they're picky or anything, just because I can't cook worth a shit. Unfortunately for everyone at work, I love to bake and cook.
Back to the pie - I guess it's really like a quiche, but I've never made a quiche, so what do I know? I followed 3 different recipes, because I couldn't find one that used the ingredients I had on hand.
First you have to have some Vidalias. My friend Lisa gave me some, then Marie (yep, pie-eating Marie) gave me some more. This is Vidalia Country people, and the heart of the UGA experimental farming. (Yikes, experimental Vidalias? Wonder what we should watch out for after eating them?) Lots of onions to be had.
I cut up a bunch of these bad boys - how many? I don't have a clue. Just a bunch. I cut them in half, then sliced them thin and put them in my big wok-ish pan with a stick of unsalted butter. You have to cook 'em on low, so they soften and get translucent, and let out their excess water and juice. I cried like a mother! I burned a candle, put a piece of bread in my mouth, blah, blah, blah. I ended up wearing my sunglasses too, and that seemed to help.
I mixed up 4 eggs, heavy cream, some milk, some leftover sour cream, a splash or two of hot sauce and some grated Parmesan Cheese. Straight from the shaker. Classy, huh? I added the onions and the juice from the pan, and poured it all into two pre-baked pie shells. And then I baked it. If you want a real recipe, google it.
It was super-yummy. No, super, super yummy. Gone in 60 seconds, with no chase scenes involved.

Ah Yes, the Hair

2009-04-24T09:45:00.005-04:00

Edited 4/27/09 - found the Nexxus bottle. Product is called Curl Energee. Can't find it locally, but it is for sale online.

So there have been questions about the hair product. My sister called me from JAX (that would be Jacksonville, in Florida, for those of you who are geographically challenged) to ask me what product I was using. She had read the blog and was in Target, hoping to find it. And I had someone (that would be Brenda - had to go check the name!) in the comments ask me about it. Hair products and diet aids. The stuff women are made of. And I don't care if that sentence isn't correct. Bite me. You know what I just realized? If you look at the word Target long enough, it really doesn't look like a real word anymore. But I digress. Back to the hair - the now-empty Nexxus bottle is in my bathroom trash can, and I can't seem to find the exact same item on the Internet. (I think they've replaced it with some new foam junk). I would go get it out of the trash, but I'm here at work, keeping the library running. (Nothing like a GREAT admin. to keep things running. *cough, cough* ) Someone remind me to fish it out when I get home. Since I couldn't seem to find it at Walgreen's the other day (Bad Hair Day), I opted for something I had used before, with great results. This:

It's the spray stuff. I just spray it on the bottom part of my hair (I don't like the top to be curly) and then just use my fingers and a blow dryer to dry it. Hey, wouldn't it be great if my fingers had little blow dryers at their tips, so I could just run them through my hair, fluffing and drying at the same time? How cool. Anyway, this morning my hair wasn't as wild as it usually is, so I decided not to wash it and just sprayed some of this on it to rev the curls up. I sprayed, scrunched, and let it dry. It drys kinda stiff, but then you can just run your fingers (without their little blow dryer tips) through your hair and you end up with curls, not frizz. I also have the gel version of this stuff, but I like this the best. And get this - it was only $5.99 at Walgreen's. AND I got 15% off that! AND a free green tote! (It was earth day). The Nexxus stuff worked just like this. And yes, I will dig through my trash to find it. I just hope they still make it! If not, I'll stick with the Fx Products. With my luck, the Hair Gods are conspiring against me right now, making sure this product is pulled from the shelves soon. I think everyone just wants me to suffer with funky hair. Just call me Miss Paranoid of the Funky Hair.

Indigo and Goldenrod

2009-04-23T14:39:00.003-04:00

Otherwise known as blue and yellow.
And for those inquiring minds, my hair does look much better today, and I was at work on time. Okay, so I was a little late (as usual) but not hours or anything.
Back to natural dyeing. We (and I use that term loosely - I just kinda hung around, taking pictures and asking questions) cooked up the goldenrod on the kitchen stove. I wasn't there when it was first mixed up, so I don't know what it started out as. When I got to it, it looked like this:
Before fiber:

With fiber:

The fiber ended up yellow, naturally, but to our modern day eyes, used to all our synthetic bright colors, it seemed a bit dull. Well, it seemed so, before I looked at these pictures. Here it seems pretty nice.

Because some didn't seem to LOVE their goldenrod yellow, they decided to dip the skeins in indigo, hoping to get a green. Lisa decided that she would go all color renegade on us, and opted for a bi-colored skein, as evidenced in the next picture.

Notice the greens in the preceding pictures. Pretty cool, huh?

Now let's move to the indigo. The ladies (okay, Cindy) brought her stash of pre-reduced indigo. I've never done any indigo dyeing before, but I've since learned that there are different ways to do it. She forgot the instructions, but kinda remembered how to do it. Good memory, because it worked. I think she called it a "cold process" dye, because unlike the goldenrod and cochineal, she just used cold water. First though, she had to put some Rit Color Remover in the water. Apparently oxygen is the devil when it comes to indigo dyeing, and the color remover takes the oxygen out of the water. Who knew? There was some talk about the "olden days" when they used urine during the indigo extraction process. Preferably the urine of an adolescent male. Again, who knew? Okay, back to dyeing. Then Cindy added some of the pre-reduced indigo powder. Wait, that's backwards. According to my pictures, first she added the dye, then the color remover. That's better.

It dissolved nicely, and I noted that the water had a greenish/navy tint to the top of it, sort of like an oily sheen. She then took some fiber (which had been soaking in water and Synthrapol (sp?) and gently, gently, gently (no air - remember?) lowered it into the container of dye.

She then (gently) used a spoon to push it down into the water even more.

At this point I'm thinking it looks pretty, um, yucky, but was smart enough (for once) to keep my mouth shut.

We weren't scientific about the process (remember, no instructions?) so we just winged the time the fiber spent in the dye bath. Anyone who has dyed with indigo knows that the best part is taking the fiber out and watching it turn blue. I tried to get some action shots of it happening, but you have to look close. It was truly amazing, and smack my momma, the fiber was beautiful!! This process didn't require any mordant, so once the skeins were rinsed with plain water, they were ready to hang out to dry.

If you look closely, you can see the very top of the fiber starting to turn blue as it oxidizes.

Here it is as it gets excess water and dye squeezed out of it. See how it's changed now?

Here's some over dyeing:

The fiber ended up a beautiful dark blue, because of the original color.

It took evert bit of will power I possessed not to grab all this gorgeous yarn and take off down the road. I just wasn't sure I could run faster than everyone else.

Seriously Now, A Bad Hair Day??

2009-04-22T10:18:00.004-04:00

Yes, today is a bad hair day. I went as far as to call into work this morning to say I wasn't coming in. All because of my bad hair. It was fine yesterday, no complaints. I should have taken that as a sign, and just told them yesterday that I wouldn't be in. So, I got up early to color my hair. My niece is graduating this weekend, and my grey/reddish/brown 'do just wasn't cutting it. The color looked great, but then I ran out of my Nexxus curly spray. I used it every day, but I never really thought it did anything. Oh yeah, it did something, and unfortunately without it, my hair did something else. The hair looked that bad. sigh. I ended up taking another shower to wash all the product out of the bad hair (I was spraying and gooping on everything I could get my hands on!) and started from scratch. A few little snips (did it really grow overnight?), some drying, some curling, some fluffing. And now it looks, well, passable. So I came into work. But you can be sure I'll be stopping on the way home to pick up some curly spray.
Luckily my weekend went a lot better than today did. The spinning guild in this area graciously allowed me to join them for some natural dyeing, and some great food, too. I'm not one to let bare yarn or fiber just sit around, so all the fiber I had on hand was already dyed. I wish I had taken some of my marigold-dyed stuff, just to overdye it. The ladies cooked up cochineal and goldenrod, and also had an indigo cold process bath going. I LOVE how the idigo changes to blue as it oxidizes.

Mixing up the cochineal:

Cooking with cochineal:

Cochineal results:

More on the indigo and goldenrod tomorrow!

Finally - Some Fiber!!

2009-04-09T12:43:00.002-04:00

Like I said before, there's not been much knitting going on around here lately. But that doesn't mean I've been fiber deprived. (Depraved, maybe, but not deprived). I finished spinning up my roving I bought over Christmas up in Gatlinburg, and plied it to make this:

The color is way off - very green/blue, with just a touch of purple. I couldn't get the color right, even in Photoshop. I need to start taking pictures outside in natural light, if I could remember to do that while the sun is still up!

Then I decided to dig into my own hand-dyed stash and spin it up. The first bobbin of singles is a blue/green/yellow-ish blend:

The second is a colorway I call antique rose. I can't remember what color I had in mind when I made it, but I can tell you this, it wasn't antique rose. Wait, I do remember. It was supposed to be pink and brown. My brown dye ended up being more green than anything. I do love a science/fiber experiment!

No Name

2009-04-07T15:25:00.002-04:00

I just couldn't cough up a good title for this post, sorry. It's Tuesday and I already feel like I've been depleted of all and any energy I might have had coming to me. It's gone. kaput. history. But I have some crafty things to show you.

I've been working on some stuff for Easter baskets. I refuse to buy them candy, because I know my daughter Katy will buy more of it than any 200 children should ever need. Add to that the other grandmas and great-grandmas, and we've got some sugar-overloads waiting to happen. Instead, I made the twins their very own memory cards, ala Stitched In Time. Did I mention that I lost my first copy of this book? I ended up buying another one in February, about 3 mos. after buying the first one. I have no earthly idea where it might have ended up. Sucks. I just hope if I left it somewhere that someone is enjoying it. This copy has my name and address in it. Okay, back to the memory cards:

I know, I know, my photography skills leave a lot to be desired, but aren't they cute? The twins will be three in August, and I thought this would be the perfect thing for them to play with. They don't get to see their cousin Grace, or Mum Mum and Poppa too much, so this way maybe they'll remember us. I also included a set of Greats, the twins themselves, their cousin Andrew, and their brothers. 18 sets in all. I don't know if they'll ever get to the part where they actually play the memory game, but Luke will have fun throwing them around, and Dan will enjoy lining them up, again and again.

For the three older boys, I made drawing kits. Drawing pad and pencil thingys. I don't have a clasp on this one yet, but that'll happen tonight. I'm going to make them all different, so there won't be any squabbling over which one belongs to which boy.I used a medium weight cotton for this one, and sandwiched some heavy interfacing between the layers. I used denim for the initial. I wanted it to fray, so I just stitched around the raw edge. You know, more manly like that. I'll add a button and loop to keep it closed. And yes, I paid out the ass for those drawing pads. I couldn't find any cheap ones without lines to save myself. The colored pencils are double-ended, so you have 24 colors instead of 12, and I bought each of them a pencil sharpener. I may make a little pouch that attaches to the folder to hold the sharpener so they don't lose it. I found the idea on mmmcrafts, who found it at Skip to my Lou. While I'm incredibly happy to have found it, I'll warn you, the tutorial is more like a list of suggestions. I'm one of those "give it to me step by step" techno people, so this freaked me out. But let's face it, without Skip to my Lou, it wouldn't have happened. thanks again!

There Used to be a Drought

2009-04-06T10:35:00.009-04:00

Used to be. We've had more rain in a week than we're used to in months. And to add insult to injury, yesterday we had hail. A lot of hail. My tomatoes and peppers are history now. I think one of my pepper plants still sports a leaf. Wow. I was yelling at no one in particular during the storm, furious that my garden was getting pummelled. My husband was more worried about his new pickup in the driveway. Really now, insurance would cover any damage his truck might incur, but I was going to have to plant a new garden!

This is our front yard during the storm. The freaking hail was so loud I was sure there was a tornado right behind it. We even lost some roof shingles.

This is my friend Teri's deck. They won the hail contest, and I'm glad!

The lake behind our house is about 10 feet higher than it usually is - the neighbor's dock was completely underwater. John had just planted some small azaleas on Saturday, which are now underwater plants.

On Friday, (we were off work, due to flooding) I noticed some splashing around near the shallow part. Big splashing = big fish. I've seen lots of little fish, bream, etc., but none of the legendary big fish our builder had told us about. When I went out to inspect, I was creeped out. These splashing suckers were not big, they were BIG. Really big. I'm sure they were just big old catfish, but they looked scary. I tried to throw them some bread, but they were too smart for stale whole wheat bread. The little fish loved it, as did the ducks, but the big fish left as soon as I got close. I did get a close-up of a fin, just to rule out the theory that Nessie might be residing in Tifton, Georgia.

It's a Rainy Day in Georgia . . .

2009-04-01T14:23:00.002-04:00

And yes, thank you very much, it does feel like it's raining all over the world.

We've had quite a few days of glorious rain, and some not-so-glorious tornadoes, flooding and evacuations. For two days in a row we had to herd all our library patrons to the back stairs and down to the basement. I was in my Weather Woman glory, locking doors, pointing ways, alerting the unalerted. The only thing that would have made it better was if they had given me a big, silver whistle. Alas, no whistle. sob. sob.

I heard some commotion outside a bit ago, and grabbed my camera to capture the kids playing in the rain and water. Technically, they're "students", but let's face it, to the rest of the grown up world, they're kids.Hopping in the water. Hell yes I'm a grown-up.

I'm winning, I'm winning!

Oh yeah, you rock dude. High five.

I Am The Walrus

2009-03-31T11:27:00.002-04:00

The long-awaited photo:

And as if that wasn't enough, let's make bunny ears on our daughter's head out of chopsticks.

(My photography skills are not up to snuff, so I had to play with these. Had to.)

Monday Morning Rant

2009-03-30T11:01:00.004-04:00

First, the good stuff. We went down to JAX for my sister's bday, which included a visit to PF Chang's for supper. Our totally lame husbands both ordered Chicken Fried Rice. Hello - you can get that anywhere! And then John said it wasn't very good. We had a little come to Jesus meeting about how he could and should have ordered something else. sigh. They just don't get it. My sister and I were wondering if anyone would notice if we stuck the chopsticks in our mouths like walrus tusks. I would have done it (hell, no one knows me there) but my husband would have disowned me. Sometimes you have to throw them a bone, especially when it comes to embarrassing them in public. As soon as I find my camera (yes, John, I know I've lost yours, too) I'll post a pic of Betsy almost posing as a Walrus.
Oh, and I rode on the motorcycle with John yesterday afternoon. We just rode around the neighborhood, but I was scared shitless. You'll find your religion real fast on the back of a bike. I make the mistake of asking John how many people he had ever taken for a ride on it, and he was stupid enough to tell me the truth. None. So he was probably praying as hard as I was!!
Okay, now you get the rant. It's about snobby, rude people who work with the public. You know, shitty customer service, even when you're not really servicing anyone. People, if you are snotty and mean, and you think you're better than everyone else, find a country and become its dictator. Don't work in retail. So, sister and I went to her local fabric store. It's a big place with a great selection of fabric and just about everything else. The front has lots of gifty things, all very well done, and the back section is all fabric, notions, rug hooking, needle punch, classes, tools, etc. You get the picture. Big place, great selection. Here's the problem. Every single time I have been in the store I get treated like I'm the stuff on the bottom of their shoes. I'm not the only one. My sister lives there, and she buys a lot of fabric (to save her marriage, I won't tell you how much), some if it there, and they treat her the same way. No, we've never taken a class there. So what. And we're not in there every day - the 3-hour trip for me is prohibitive. But so what? My local fabric store treats everyone like they're long-lost relatives. The kind you're happy to see. Anyway, back to the store from hell. We were having our fabric cut by one of the few nice women working there. She complimented our fabric choices (we don't care if you like our picks, but we love thinking you do) and chatted to us about her grandson and my grandkids, etc. I then made the mistake of asking her if they carried the Heather Ross line of fabric. She looked puzzled, then asked if I meant Heather Baily. No, Heather Ross. And I was perfectly fine with that. I didn't expect her to know EVERY fabric line out there. I just wanted to make sure I hadn't missed it if they had it. Enter Demon Employee. Our nice employee turned to ask the other if she knew if we carried Heather Ross. Bad employee immediately insisted I meant Heather Bailey. When I said, no, that's not what I said, she asked me to describe it. Um, the entire line? I wasn't even sure what it was called, so I said, "I'm not sure what it's called, but it has mermaids and stuff on it." She immediately looked over her glasses at me, and in her haughtiest, poor-stupid-customer-who-knows-nothing voice she replied, "We don't carry novelty fabric." As though novelty fabrics came straight from hell. And then she took her nasty, mean self off to some other unsuspecting fabric shopper. There was a moment of embarrassment as the three of us stood there thinking of something to say. I said to no one in particular that I didn't believe it was novelty fabric, any more than Kaffe Fasset was novelty fabric, and that Heather (no last name, because at this point I wanted to make someone think I knew what I was talking about) just put out a new book, Weekend Sewing. More embarrassed silence. Whatever.
Okay, so no one is perfect, and we all have bad days, but this is pretty much the attitude of most of the people I have dealt with there. Hello - it won't kill you not to talk down to a customer. In fact, the more you treat me like I know what I'm doing, the more I'm likely to buy everything and anything you suggest. And smiling doesn't hurt, either. So if you're in the vicinity of San Jose Blvd. in Jacksonville, don't expect any special treatment from the folks at The Olde Green Cupboard. They're too busy patting themselves on the back for just being there. I get better customer service from my computer when I order fabric online.

It Was A Very Good Year

2009-03-27T12:25:00.002-04:00

1963.

The Beatles taped 10 tracks for their first album, including "Please, Please Me".

George Wallace became governor of Alabama.

The Whisky A Go-Go night club in Los Angeles, the first disco in the USA, opened.

Timothy Leary took LSD for the first time.

James Meredith became the first black person to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

And my sister was born. March 27. Please stop by to say Happy Birthday to my sister.

She's the one in the white kneesocks, controlling where everyone is going. Still.

On the Bandwagon

2009-03-25T16:41:00.009-04:00

I'm a great jumper-onner. I just happen to fall off a lot. One of my latest interests is making my own laundry soap. Wershin' powders, as they say down here. I made my first batch a while back, and decided to photograph and blog this latest batch. Anyone still reading? One of you? Great, here are some photos. Kinda dark, but I never claimed to be a professional. Of any kind.

1. Grate a bar of soap. Fels Naptha, Zote, Octagon, etc. Google to see what everyone else is using. I use the Octagon because it's what I can find here at the Piggly Wiggly.

2. I like my soap grated much finer, so it melts in the washer. I put it in my little chopper and grind it up fine.

3. I then mix together 3 cups washing soda, 3 cups 20-Mule Team Borax, and 3 cups OxyClean. The OxyClean is optional, and I use the off-brand. Works just as well as the brand name.

4. Then I dump the grated soap in the container of powdered stuff.

Close up of the mixture.

I keep mine in one of those little Sterlite shoe-sized containers from your local dollar store.

I kept this scoop from my previous detergent, and I only use this much. No, I don't know exactly how much "this much" is. Go get your laundry scoop and compare.

Then you put it in your detergent compartment. Yes, this is Detergent for Dummies. I wash my clothes on cold and warm, and have never had any trouble with the soap dissolving. Your results may not be the same.

Then I use what passes for softener in my house. White Vinegar. It's good for what ails ya.

Okay, The End. Now go do some laundry already.

PS - I have a front loader. Washing machine, that is.

Have You Played This Game??

2009-03-19T17:00:00.001-04:00

Go to Google, type in "Unfortunately, your name" and laugh at what you see.

Unfortunately, Theresa has waited for months to be adopted and has been passed over time and time again.

Unfortunately, Theresa's marriage ended in divorce.

Unfortunately, Theresa was keeping one more big secret--she slept with Julian on their wedding night and became pregnant with Julian's baby!

Unfortunately, Theresa didn't win the big showcase, but she got to spin the wheel AND we all envy the fact that she got to be this close to Bob!

Unfortunately, Theresa lost her way when she became part of the demanding world of retail management.

Unfortunately, Theresa announced her intentions to keep the child, and Ethan was forced to admit to a disbelieving Gwen that Theresa had been with him and that what she said might really be true.

Unfortunately, Theresa, of Blackheath, South East London, was already pregnant.

Unfortunately, Theresa was the victim.

Unfortunately Theresa had to work.

Unfortunately, Theresa was sick most of the cruise and had to make a stop at the ship's doctor on Tuesday, where we found out she was running over a 102 temperature.

Unfortunately, Theresa passed away January 1, 2004, and I needed this info for her obituary.

Sewing Friday

2009-03-17T13:26:00.010-04:00

Don't get excited - this isn't going to happen every Friday, just this past one for now.

This little sewing get-together was prompted by my knitting during a staff meeting. One thing led to another, and the next thing you know, I'm giving sewing lessons. Luckily they had never seen anything I had sewn, or they might have backed out.

I drew up a little schematic for a 1-yard, 3-hour tote bag. I told them to buy a yard of fabric, and because I figured no new seamstress wants the scraps right away, I would just use the entire yard.

We started with explaining selvedges, the grain of the fabric and rotary cutter lessons. That pretty much used up all my technical expertise.
Now Amanda had used her machine to sew on before, and as it turns out, has a very logical mind, so she probably could have stayed home to watch Oprah instead of the sewing lesson. She sewed, pinned and ironed like she did it all the time. The only time she she struggled was maybe when I didn't have her leave the opening to turn the bag rightside out large enough. It took a bit of pulling and tugging, but she did it! I'm sneaky like that, watch out for me .

Tonia, on the other hand, wasn't as familiar with the sewing machine. She brought hers with her, this little Kenmore Mini-Ultra, which was given to her by her MIL, because it didn't work.
I love those kind of presents, don't you? I have to tell you though,, it's a neat little bugger. 10 stitches and a buttonhole stitch. And it was free. I think she'll enjoy sewing on it, all except for the part where you have to put the presser foot down by hand :).

I set her up with my Viking, and with hardly any instruction, she was off and sewing! I fixed her little machine for her, and I tried out some of the stitches.

We took a little snack break in-between all that labor intensive sewing. Whew, gotta keep a girl going, you know.

That's Tonia's teenaged daughter sitting with her, probably hoping the torture would end soon. Nothing like spending your Friday afternoon with your mother while she learns to sew. Gag.

In three hours they had both finished their bags - not bad for your first sewing lesson.

And you know you've hit the mark when you daughter decides to use the bag for herself. Score!

PS - I hate freaking blogger. Is there no easier way to do this!!! Aaarrrggghhhh!!!!

AnticlimaCtic

2009-03-12T13:36:00.005-04:00

Anyone remember that I got a rigid heddle loom after Christmas? Well, I did. And I finished my first scarf in January, because I'm good like that. And I've not touched the loom since, because I'm bad like that.

I gifted the scarf already, and the only picture I got was after I washed it, and let it hang up to dry. I hadn't even steamed it yet.

It doesn't look like much in the picture, but it was really very nice. A little scratchy, but nice. Maybe next year I'll make another one.

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-03-05T14:09:00.000-05:00

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!
Go. Read. Enter. Win. Better yet, let me win!

The Aliens are Coming!!

2009-03-05T11:09:00.003-05:00

They're (the mysterious they) are testing a new siren out here on campus, and they keep playing the notes from "Close Encounters". I didn't know it was a test at first, and my first thought was, "Man, they saw the movie, too". You know, the aliens.

Sorry, that was lame. And unfortunately, true. Another true thing - I was reading a student paper this morning, a descriptive paper. It was very good, and then I got to the part where she mentioned "scrape" pins. It wasn't until I read it aloud that I figured out she meant "straight" pins. You know, like scrape pins go skrate down the skreet. :) We both giggled, because she didn't know that they were called straight pins, and I'm always correcting her about the skrate and skreet thing. I have a feeling that everytime I see her, she'll ask me if I need a scrape pin.

On to sewing. This is from last month, but it came out so well I thought I'd finally get around to sharing it with you. The pattern is a freebie from Terry Ann, called the Fat Sack. I love her sight, (and her site - ha-ha!) and when you're there, check out her patterns for sale. sigh.

I made this using a yard of fabric I bought up in SC, at one of the few textile stores. It's a decorator fabric, so it's heavier than regular cotton.

It's an easy sew, took me all of an afternoon. It would have gone faster if I had read the directions. I dare you to try it. Double dog dare you.

Well, Hello Winter!

2009-03-02T09:00:00.002-05:00

Was I not just complaining about the crappy weather? Aaarrrggghhh. Now I'm really mad about it! I managed to just miss the wind and rain storms that hit Tifton, GA on Saturday, as I was making my way up to Clemson, SC. Unfortunately, I couldn't escape the winter storm on Sunday as I drove back home. As soon I crossed into Georgia, it started snowing, and didn't stop until I hit Unadilla. For those of you who don't know Georgia, just trust me, it's a ways down there. Here are some pics AFTER I went through the worst of it. These are pictures from south of Atlanta. SOUTH, did you hear me?? South!! The roads were way too treacherous to take pictures before this.
If this is global warming, we're in trouble.

Is it Summer Yet?

2009-02-26T16:26:00.022-05:00

I'm just a little tired of not seeing green leaves, and not feeling warm sunshine. I'm tired of hot soup, hot tea and too many carbs. I'm tired of brown grass and the flu. I'm tired of seeing daffodils in winter. It stinks.

But all that being said, I did take some time out to drive to Ohio with my sister a few weeks ago. After all, if it's going to be winter, it should be snowing. A mere 14.5 hour drive, with her mother-in-law in the backseat. She's lucky, because I would have put her in the trunk. We listened to a book on tape, packed full of gruesomeness, which almost made her mother-in-law want to go in the trunk. We're mean. The book is Someone Knows My Name. I still haven't finished listening to it, but that's only because I got sick on the way home. SICK. bleh. Still sick.

Enough whining.

It was one of those "spend every night in a different bed" kind of trips.

Night #1: Jacksonville, FL. Sister Betsy's house. Didn't sleep a wink. Neither did she. Shared trip anxiety.

Night #2: Boardman, Ohio, some hotel. Sister Betsy dyes my hair after quick run to Target for hair dye. Thank god no one knows me here anymore, because it wasn't pretty. Realize that Betsy's hands are wide and stubby. Take picture to prove it. Take comfort in the fact that back in Ireland our ancestors were famous for being able to carry 10 potatoes in each hand.

Night #3: Conneaut, Ohio, cousin Gee's lakehouse. Oooh, snow blowing! I love it! We spend the day and night at my cousin's lake house, on Lake Erie. When Betsy and I awoke to a beautiful snowy lake scene, she commented that she expected to see Polar Bears. But apparently Lake Erie is plumb out of polar bears this year. We ate too much (m&m's, brownies, potato salad, ham, bread, tuna burgers, haushki, etc.) and played Wii. My 92-yr. old grandmother looked like she wanted to get up and bowl with us, but she probably would have kicked out asses, and we knew it. We hit an antique store (we shopped there, we didn't rob it) ate some more, and headed back to Aunt Peggy's to say goodbye to said ass-kicking grandmother. I was hoping she was still with us, because the aunts didn't leave to take her home 'til 1:30am. She was a little fuzzy on who brought her home, but otherwise fine. Hell, I was a little fuzzy on who brought me home by that time.

Cousin Lori and Sister Betsy, Wii boxing. I'd say at least one of them has a bit of latent hostility, wouldn't you? They both had sore muscles though! I thought Betsy was going to KO the tv at one point.

Night #4: Boardman, Ohio, same hotel, different room. After leaving the lake, we took a drive near our other grandmother's house. She's dead, so we didn't visit her. We reminisced, drove, and watched the snow fall. Met that evening with Sister Patty and her band of children. The two oldest kids brought their girlfriend and boyfriend with them. I'm that old. I'm sure they kids thought I was on some kind of mind-altering drugs. Caffeine, getting sick, tired. bleh. Aunt Betsy handed out money, Aunt Theresa handed out flu germs. Good to see you again. Here's some Theraflu. And yes, the fatter I get, the bigger my head gets. I'll remember not to sit closest to the camera next time. It all reminds me of a childhood cat, Peppermint. Remind me to dig up a picture of him.
Night #5: Rock Hill, SC. Left Ohio in lots of blowing snow, and made it to Rock Hill, where there wasn't any snow, but it was chilly. sigh. This is the part where I ate the baby. Okay, I kissed and slobbered all over her. I didn't know I was sick yet, so give me break. And no, she didn't get sick afterwards. Baby Grace had her first outing to Olive Garden, and if she's anything like her mother, certainly not her last. She entertained us with her laughing, cooing, slobbering and wet diapers. We're easily entertained.

Night #6: Jacksonville, FL. Again. Okay, by now I can tell there's something bad going on with me. But it didn't stop me from dragging my sister all over town to shop.

Night #7: Tifton, GA. Back home. Sick. Work the next day. Who's idea was this anyway?

Betsy's Luxury Doggy Spa

2009-02-23T13:49:00.002-05:00

I'm still sick, but this was so funny that I had to post it. This is an exact email from my sister.

Yes, I have officially lost my mind. I'm sitting at my desk trimming shirts and I see a cute little basset hound in Bill's yard. It's just sitting there barking. So, of course, I go outside and call it to me.

The dog runs over to me and lays on her back, showing me that she has recently had a litter of puppies and she's skinny. Also, her nails are so long that they're overlapping.

So what do you think I did? Well, I brought her into the house and gave her food and water. Then. I clipped all her nails so she could walk better. Than, since I am running a luxury doggy spa, I gave her a bath and toweled her dry and she and Winnie ran out back and went to the bathroom. After resting, she wanted out of the fence so I opened it and off she went. I hope she finds a home. At least she's got a full belly, shorter nails, and a clean coat.
And I smell like a dirty dog!

We Interrupt

2009-02-21T10:07:00.001-05:00

this regularly scheduled blog for a round of incapacitating sickness. We will resume blogging soon. I hope.

Granny Hits the Motherlode

2009-02-11T10:10:00.006-05:00

(I've been messing with my template, again, and have screwed up my widgets, again. I'm in the process of returning it to its former splendor.)

or, I Have Friends in Library Places. (where did I put my medication?)

My friend Marie, of Cats and Books, etc., works with me here at the library. She's a bonafide librarian, unlike me. When we first met I was surprised to find out that she grew up right outside of my husband's hometown, (5 hours away in SC) and is approximately his age. Lots of other kind of strange coincidences since then, too many to mention. Marie and I have a mutual love of knitting, among other things, and we enable each other. An academic library isn't the busiest place in the world, so we know a lot of good craft blogs!

This morning the Great and Wonderful Marie brought me two gifts, and this was after she turned down my World's Most Fattening Cupcakes. This is the first gift:You are looking at vintage flour sacking. I know, I know, it looks like the reproduction fabric. ha! 14 pieces of 18"x18" flour sacking. Marie's mom used the flour, then washed and cut the fabric to make Marie big girl panties when she was being potty-trained. (Yes, I'm happy to say the training was successful.) Anyone who loves fabric knows what a wonderful gift this is, what a stupendous gift this is. No Marie, you may not have it back. BUT - I'm sure I'll find a way to reciprocate before I die.

Here are some (bad, sorry) close-ups of the fabric. My favorite is the brown horseshoe and clover fabric. Now I wish flour still came in fabric bags.

Poopy Old Monday

2009-02-09T17:10:00.003-05:00

Mondays are difficult for me. They tend to be the day that I really start to wonder why it is I leave the house five days a week, only to work for someone else. Then I wake up and remember those credit cards.

Okay, back to business! We went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Friday. It was fun to recognize New Orleans, and I liked the movie. I really didn't love Cate Blanchett though. I think Winslett would have been better. And did you know the movie was based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald? Not my favorite author, either, but you can read the short story online, for free. Here. If you read the story first, you won't recognize it in the movie.

I'm planning on reading The Reader before I see it, and I'm wondering how far off the movie will be. Oh, and if you did see The Curious Case, did you notice the dubbing of the little girl's voice in the beginning? She was supposed to be 5, but had the voice of a 40-year-old trying to imitate a southern accent. Freaked me out.

On to one of my recent culinary conquests. If you can call hamburger that.

Oh. My. God. I love this stuff. I grew up eating it, and we call it hammermacker. The problem is that I never wrote it, I just said it, so my sister and I played around with how to spell it. I assume it's a combination of the words hamburger and macaroni. I know, sounds logical, but Betsy was the one who pointed that out to me. You brown ground beef (however much you want, who measures?) maybe say, one pound. Drain it, then add some green peppers and onions. During the winter I just buy the frozen stuff. Then add a can of cream of mushroom soup. Stir it up (don't add water or milk, unless you think you absolutely have to) and add COOKED elbow macaroni, and salt and pepper. I love lots of pepper on mine before I eat it, as evidenced by the above picture. When I was young I refused to eat the little brown mushroom pieces, after someone told me what they were. My advice to you is to NOT tell the kids what's in it. You can probably process the onion and green pepper really small if they don't like them, either. I firmly believe in the old adage that what they don't know won't kill them.

Wisteria, She is Done!

2009-02-05T11:31:00.003-05:00

I wore her yesterday, in our freezing temps, and she was bulletproof. I didn't even wear a coat.

I started her in Sept. of 08, and just finished her last month. I used Cascade 220, in grey. My first go-round with Cascade, and I'm very pleased, so far. The only modification I made was to not put any waist shaping in. I don't go in there, so my sweater shouldn't, either. This was such a fun and easy project, and yes, I may be persuaded to make another!!

Nicole, thank you for the use of your #8 dpn's. I couldn't have done it without you. I'll be getting them back to you ASAP!!

Lemon Tree Look So Pretty . . .

2009-02-04T10:18:00.006-05:00

I mean, I think it looks so pretty. I didn't pick the things, sister Betsy did. It probably looks pretty damn bare right now, since between the two of us we got a metric ton of lemons. Not that I know what a metric ton is, either, but it just sounded right.

So yeah, I got me some Meyer lemons. Right Betsy - Meyer lemons? BTW, the grammar, or lack of it, is intentional.

No, I didn't make lemonade, because I believe that when life (or your sister) gives you lemons, you should dig a little deeper and try to be a bit more creative. Perhaps drying the peel, and sewing it into mini wallets, for that lemon-scented cash we all crave. (I haven't had any coffee today, is it showing?) But because I don't have any cash these days, I decided to opt for some cookies. Not just any cookies, but LEMON DROP COOKIES. Caps because how cool does that kind of cookie sound? Lemon Drop Cookies in the middle of a cold, dark winter. It did hit the low 20s here this morning, so we're calling that cold and dark.

I'll have to go figure out where I found the recipe, but for now let me wow you with the pictures I took while I was creating these delectable morsels of sunshine and goodness.

First things first: you are supposed to add the zest of a few lemons to some granulated sugar in your food processor. The first problem I had was that after searching my entire kitchen (and even cleaning out all the drawers) I could not find my Pampered Chef zester. You know the one, it cost more than my first car. The upside is that I eventually did find it, (days later) at the bottom of my freezer. Don't ask. Okay, back to zesting. I tried that damn box grater, but at the rate it was going, I was going to be feeding these cookies to my great-great grandchildren. I know the pith (ha-ha, I love that word - pith!) is very bitter, and you never want to use it, but these were lemons that had been blessed by North Florida sun, and therefore had mild pith. That's my story. I took my handy-dandy Tupperware grapefruit/orange peeler thingy and just skinned the suckers. Completely. Much easier than the zester with the grater thing. They just looked so vulnerable after the skinning. Made me shudder.

The end result was to be a type of lemon sugar, so I just did what the picture shows. I added the skins of the lemons to the sugar and zizzed. And zizzed some more. Now that was a olefactory treat. Mmmmm, lemons and sugar.

I had to take a picture of the end result. I could have eaten it straight from the bowl, but I didn't. That's what you need to remember. I didn't.

So, you roll the dough into balls, and then roll the balls in the leftover lemon sugar (you added some to the dough recipe) and then you bake them. What you end up with is a sugar cookie, with a little lemon to it. You could make it even more lemony using extract, but what fun would that be? Let's be green already people.

I did find the recipe, I did, I did! It's on the Oh, Fransson blog, one I enjoy reading. Now it's your turn.

Clearly there is some kind of lemon virus in the air - go check out Mackville Road for some more lemony goodness.

The One Where I Show Only One of My Many Recently Finished Projects

2009-01-29T10:02:00.007-05:00

I didn't realize until Tuesday night just how many projects I had finished recently. My blogless friend Kathy came over to knit while I made cupcakes, and I started showing her my various projects. Wow, there were quite a few!! She seemed fairly impressed, always a good sign. I thought I'd drag it all out, so here's just one.

Warm Braid Cable Wristwarmers

These are toasty warm, made from less than one skein of Brown Sheep Bulky, purchased at the Sheep Shed Studio. (By the way, since I used bulky yarn, I went down to a #6 needle) My sister tried them on when she was here, but soon realized that she's not a mohair kind of girl. All that itching and stuff. So she wore the Evangeline's (knitted with Malabrigo) home that weekend.

These are a super fast knit, in fact, I've already made another pair, knitted exclusively during meetings at work. I made the most recent pair long on the hand section, because my wrists don't get nearly as cold as my hands!

PS - No Brenda, I haven't forgotten about Sydney's handwarmers, the poor little orphan! They'll look somewhat like these. The same color. Who sends their child to school with only one glove, anyway?

PPS - Hey, it's my blogoversary!

I Had A Dream

2009-01-26T11:11:00.002-05:00

No, not about freedom or equality or any of that good stuff. I had a dream about Stephanie Pearl-McPhee last night. My husband was away, and I dreamed of the Yarn Harlot. I'm still not sure what to make of it.
PS - Today is the Chinese New Year - Happy Year of the Ox to me.

Smart Mouth Sister

2009-01-23T09:28:00.009-05:00

My sister

just blogged about the quilt I showed you in my last post.

I think I DID say it was her quilt, right? Apparently all that lemon meringue pie gave her superhuman energy, because she finished sewing the blocks together already. She has a question about finishing it, or rather, putting it together, so please go see her and tell her what you think. Otherwise I'll have to make that LONG (oh please, 2.5 hrs.) trip down there to tell her what to do. You know how I hate to do that. *cough cough*

PS - That's not really her heart you know.

PPS - New blog in town, first post. Go check it out.