Tag Archives: Knitting

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I’ve Got the Fever (and I am Terrified)

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Spring fever (I’ll get to the terror in a moment) ! I’ve got the St. Patty’s Day stuff out and it’s all so spring – like and happy.   Too bad the weather’s not cooperating.  According to weather.com we’re in for 1 to 3 inches of the white stuff tonight.  Blah.

Yes, you heard correctly – ME – the snow lover – sick of snow.  I consoled myself by making a beef and leek pot pie and throwing together a nice fresh loaf of cinnamon raisin bread.

I used the recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day.  They’ve come out with a second book now – one that uses mainly gluten – free recipes and lots of healthy stuff.  As soon as I can get my hands on a copy I’ll be trying those out for sure.

I also worked on a pattern from the first Alabama Stitches book.

It just needs some finishing touches.

I never really liked sewing with knitted fabrics before, but now I am thoroughly enjoying the projects I’ve got going.  Oh, and check out my duct-tape dress form.  You can easily make them to your exact body measurements (flat chest and all!) .  I don’t know how I lived without it before!

I am also still working on Oona’s sweater.  You’re sick of hearing that by now.  Hopefully I’ll make some real headway on it soon.

Meanwhile Jasper (Oona calls him Japser – so now we all do) has to be sure the project has the proper amount of feline involvement.  And check out his massive paws.

There’s enough paw there for a whole other cat.

On to the terror.

Ok, I guess it’s not really terror so much as extreme nail – chewing anxiety. A huge knot grinding away in the pit of my stomach and waking me up at night with awful cold sweats.

I spoke to the vet.

Basically, there’s about a 50/50 chance of Milkshakes giving birth normally and successfully and without incident.  Especially if there’s twins, as they will be smaller than a singleton.  I have been advised to prepare for the birth as though we expect no problems, but be prepared for the worst, just in case (you know, a call for an emergency c-section).   I am stockpiling clean towels and iodine and we’re putting up the goat shed this weekend (and by “we” I mean my mother and I – hey mom!  Guess what! We’re putting together a goat shed this weekend!).  The regular vet is aware and will be ready to assist if things go wrong.  If it’s at night (more than likely given my luck) we have the number of an emergency livestock vet at the ready.   Meanwhile I am keeping an eye on her looking for any visible clues of impending labor and delivery.  Goat gestation runs around 145 – 150 days on average, and we’re right at day 100 today.

But I am nervous.  Really, really nervous.  Not only have I never assisted in a livestock birth of any type – now I’ve got a potential for disaster.  This next month I may take to pulling out my hair and obsessively reading procedural blogs online.  If only I weren’t naturally a worrier to begin with.

Is there an obstetrician in the house?????

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It’s Always the Same Story, and The Story of the Bus – Part Eleventy Seven

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Yes, yes I know you’ve all been wondering what’s going on with the bus!  I’ll get to that in a minute.  First we need to play some catch – up.  There’s a lot going on.

I should also mention that since the Winter Olympics is currently running there has been very little accomplished in the way of cleaning, cooking or baking.  I’d simply rather glue my backside to the couch and watch the games.  The winter ones are my favorite – I could honestly take or leave the Summer Olympics.  Call it a side effect of growing up in the Adirondacks.  Did I ever tell you about the time we drove up to Lake Placid when Emily was a toddler?  We drove this cramped little VW Jetta (I don’t care what Paul says – I didn’t like that car, 50 Mpg’s or no) with Emily’s seat in the back, a portable camp potty at her feet, and my poor, poor friend Julie next to her in the back.  Somewhere near Whiteface mountain (and here I must tell you that for a former Olympic venue there is a surprising amount of nothing nearby) Emily’s stomach began to hurt and she had a spell of, shall we say, intestinal “distress”.  The kind that soaked through her clothes, all over her seat and took a whole pack of wipes plus most of a roll of papertowels to clean.  All while she sat on the potty and continued to experience the above mentioned “distress”.   After which we discovered we were out of diapers.  We had to fashion a makeshift covering for her out of a terry cloth rag, the remaining paper towels and duct tape.  My poor friend Julie declined the front seat and suffered the 3 hours back to Glens Falls crammed next to  little stinky Emily.

Whiteface Olympic Mountain

But I digress.

I have instead been focused on knitting Oona’s sweater while rooting on the skiiers and skaters and whatnot. Maddie and I were glued to the men’s speed skating the other night, yelling Oh No!!!!!

Okay, maybe it’s just funny to us.

The week has not been without incident, however.  Sunday morning Emily discovered poor Homie the hen, dead in her nest in the front coop.  She was Emily’s favorite, and both of us took it a bit hard.  I also noticed my poor P-Roo looking unwell, so I brought him inside.  He is currently in a nice little “Chick-infirmary” in the garage (we still had the large dog kennel in storage) and he is doing much better after a round of antibiotics.

Poor dearly deaprted little Homie D Hen

Mr Roo in his sick room

On to Milkshakes – she of the fat belly.  We’re about 99.99% sure is going to be having at least one baby before too long.  Having a new goat baby or two would be great.  However – her mate was much larger than she, meaning we are looking at a difficult birth.  I will be conferring with some experts very soon and weighing my options.  I’ll let you know how all of that goes.  Knowing my luck…..I’d rather not even think about it.

We mustn’t forget Pippa, either.  Anyone want a dog?  A very friendly, but very hyper, very stupid dog?

While we were out clipping goat hooves last night she was busy slamming down baby wipes.  Wanna know how I found out?

I was running late this morning getting ready for a doctor’s appointment and all I had to do before I could finally get out of the house was let the dog out.  She recently decided that since there’s so much snow on the ground the perfect spot for her to do her “business” is right in front of our front steps.  She sat there for quite awhile this morning, straining.  Then I saw that there was something very long and white (well……went in white anyway) hanging from her back end and she couldn’t get it out.

SO.

I had to go out there.  And yank. it. out.  A whole foot and a half length of baby wipes.  Covered in nastiness.  I think I may have vomited in my mouth a little bit.  And I was so late I couldn’t properly clean it all up so there were dog poop – covered baby wipes all over the front steps when I left.  Thank goodness UPS can’t get down our driveway right now.  I’d hate for him to see that.  (yes, it’s been cleaned up now)

I really dislike my dog right now.  And, incidentally, I told you my life was full of more than my fair share of poo.

Ok.  Bus time.

You may recall this picture of the retired Greyhound bus Paul bought last fall.

He broke it.  Something in the back end called a drop box went bad.  I don’t know.  I’ve absorbed more technical jargon for one lifetime and I refuse to take in anymore, thank you.

Broken bus.  Therefore, he bought another one.

This one, accordingly to my husband’s Facebook page (I know, I know) , is a 1984 MCI 9 6V92TA with Allison HT740.  I really didn’t pay attention to any of that.  Two things are important here for me :

A: it’s not converted into an RV yet, so it is titled as a bus.  Which means you need a CDL to drive it.  Guess which one of us has the CDL?  ME!!!!

B: Umm………see those rear wheels?  You know, that whole dual rear axle thing that’s going on?  This bus is 40 feet long – about 5 more feet and a whole extra set of rear wheels more than I’ve ever driven.  I have to somehow get it home from Virginia Beach this weekend.  I’ll be sure to document that trip.  Wish me luck.  I haven’t driven a bus since I was pregnant with Neve.  (That would be 7 years ago now)

Paul is rather excited and impatient to dig into this project and get this land ship converted into a nice home away from home.  I was considering giving him some guest blogger rights to document it, but given that the’s prone to fits of excess technical-ism (that would be where he assumes everyone he speaks to knows exactly how an engine is built and runs….only more so), I am thinking I may take lots of pictures and give the “two sentences or less” version.

Two Sentences or less:  My sister came up with this, because every time you ask Paul a simple question it takes no less than 33 years for him to answer it.  Now she requests he answer her in two sentences or less.

HOWEVER – I am also aware there are people who really like that real technical stuff.  I’ll figure it out and let you know – maybe I’ll add a second page to this site strictly for bus progress.  Stay tuned.

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Still Digging Out

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Everyone sick of Snowmaggedon 2010 yet??  Sick of the pictures?  Too bad!!!!!

The kids have been out of school for about 2 weeks now – I think they went 1 or 2 days last week and were out all this week.  Needless to say my house is a wreck, they’ve eaten the pantry bare and I am so very ready for them to go back.  Looks like Monday, as long as we don’t get that 2-3 inches they’re calling for Sunday night.  Oy.

UPS closed down completely for awhile there,  though USPS braved it out, at least in our neighborhood.  I was none too pleased, since I was expecting a cat fountain.  Yeah, you heard me.  I couldn’t wait for my darn cats to have fresh circulating water in fountain form.  Of course that was once our power came back.  All weekend it was on again, off again, and we had long stretches without – Friday around 6 pm through late morning Saturday, and again from about 3 pm Saturday to 7 pm Saturday.  I can’t tell you how gratfeul we were for those few hours WITH power, because a lot of people never got that, and ended up being out all weekend.  Our friend Mike who is further out in the county was off from last Friday morning until just a day or two ago.  We had no phones for a good 3 days – and no internet.

Paul broke the bobcat clearing the bottom of the driveway because the snow was so heavy – the bottom 6 or 8 inches was snow, the middle few inches were ice, and the top layer was snow again.   The meteorologists were saying if it hadn’t turned to sleet for that middle portion we’d have ended with with almost 4 feet.  So, heavy snow, broken bobcat.

We had to pay a guy to finish the job.

A portable propane stove/oven can be your best friend when there’s no power ( and your normal stove is a crappy electric affair).

It still looks like a bomb went off around here.  There are trees down everwhere and when I drove out to CVS today I saw dozens of downed power lines with huge pine boughs tangled in them, all along the main road.

Thankfully none fell on our house, though some looked mighty close.

These huge branches fell onto the front chicken coop.  Fortunately none of the fallen branches landed on any chickens.

Jerry doesn’t seem to mind the snow so much.  Milkshakes has a harder time getting around in it than he does, though.

So during all of this house-bound time I’ve been trying to keep busy.  And by busy I mean not just all the cleaning I have to constantly do behind my 3 slobs, but productive busy stuff.  I’ve been working at my knitting a few stitches here and there but my heart hasn’t been into it (except for a brief spell when the fireplace was roaring and it was snowing out and I was all comfy and warm).  I cut out some cotton jersey skirt panels and traced out a rose pattern for reverse applique and I’ve been working on stitching that together with some beads.

It’s slow going for sure, but it’s a satisfying project to work on.  I’ve been using ideas from the Alabama Stitch Book. What’s even more exciting is the NEW Alabama Studio Style.


Fabulous.  You must go buy it now!!!!   I can’t even tell you how excited I am about this book and the projects in it.  I think it will be occupying much of my time this spring and summer.

Along with cleaning.  Massive amounts of cleaning.

I don’t want to say I am spring cleaning.  I don’t even really want to do spring cleaning until, well, spring. But being cooped up with 3 kids (plus a husband, a sister, a dog and 2 cats) has forced my hand a bit in the “just how much cleaning really needs to be done” and I’ve taken to weeding through cabinets a bit and de-cluttering as I can.

I started in my bathroom vanity.  It’s kind of hilarious and kind of embarrassing how many tubes of varying types of Vaginal Fungicide and Jock Itch Cream I have in there.  And the thing is, they’re not mine.  Remember waaaaay back to last year when we first brought Jasper cat home – he had ringworm.  I tried about 8 different strengths of anti-fungal cream before one worked and it cleared up.  Meanwhile, now I’ve got all this stuff in there, barely used.  It seems a waste to throw them away, but then again…..I got to thinking about things lately.  If I were to die today and people had to come in and clean out my stuff…….what would they think of me?  Mostly that I hoarded fabric and yarn, had 31,000 knitting needles in various sizes (and many, many of the same size) , that I really like my animals, that I maybe never ever cleaned out my fridge……and that I had some seriously funky fungal issues going on.

Makes you think, doesn’t it?  What would people think about you?

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Playing Catch – Up

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Ever feel like there’s just too much going on and you’re so far behind on every little thing you’ll never catch up?  I’m there right about now.  And on top of it I can’t help throwing more and more projects into the mix.

For example…..though I was having fun working on the Bird in Hand Mittens

I couldn’t help but start on Oona’s spring sweater:

And while that’s in progress, why not start repainting the whole house?

I decided I wanted a more colonial look – I just love those old houses with their milkpaint woodwork.  I started papering the bottom half of the walls in the front room under the chair rail (it’s a wallpaper that’s made to mimic wainscoting) and then began the dreadfully laborious task of painting ALL the white trim downstairs.  It’s going to take me forever and a day, but I’ve been working on it as I can and I am really liking the results.

I had plenty of time over the weekend with it – another snow storm dropped about a foot of snow on us.  I have to admit I wasn’t expecting it, since we already had one big storm this year and in the decade or so I’ve lived in Virginia we’ve never gotten more than one big snow a year.  Of course I stocked up on baking supplies anyway once they forecast it, and the kids loved it.

Then Sunday came and the power went out.  ALL DAY.  Thank goodness for the fireplace!

Honestly I rather enjoy a good excuse to relax in the quiet and read or knit, but the kids were going rather stir crazy all day and not having water (because our well has an electric pump) was a definite pain.  I also can’t believe how dependent I have become on the internet.  Sad.

So for a good 7 hours or so we did our best to entertain ourselves.

It worked out alright but I am not eager to try it again any time soon.  Not unless I’ve got one of those old timey wood cookstoves and a big supply of bottled water! I will admit we did have one cheat – my ipod was fully charged and we had plenty of batteries for the speaker dock, so we had music all day.  I think that is what kept us sane.

Now the power has returned and there are lights to knit by and a stove to cook on and tv to watch, but I need the snow to be gone as well.  I have a grim job to do and it can’t be done with frozen ground.

We found poor Mr. Milo under my bed last night and he had passed away.  I can’t tell you how badly I feel because I can’t say for sure how long he’d been there – a day?  2?  I know I saw him 3 days ago, but since then…….

He was old-ish and had rather bad arthritis in his back legs so he wasn’t able to walk very well and preferred hiding out under beds.  He was a great cat but very shy and not one to be seen regularly.

Thanks for spending the last 13 or so years with us, Milo.

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The Misadventures of Wooly Mama

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Oh these last weeks………how trying to my nerves have they been.

The biggest issue we have had is due to the almost 3 feet of snow we got right before christmas.  It piled up all over the electric fence and pulled the wires rather badly.  Half the fence was buried for weeks and we ended up turning off the electric to avoid shorting the whole system.  Everything seemed okay for a few weeks.  Then Milkshakes decided to make a break for it.  Once she realized there was no “shock” to be felt she started ramming the mesh fence until she broke through it.  One time we found her standing on the back deck looking for some company.  Poor Jerry was pacing along the inside of the fence humming like mad for her.  He wasn’t about to test the fence, not after the first time he touched it and it brought him to his knees.  Poor guy.

So, one trip to Lowe’s for additional steel posts later and we spent a cold day repairing the fence and strengthening up the roof of their shelter to get through the rest of the winter.  I’d like to see Miss Goaty pants get through it now.

One project down…….8 million more to go.

Next the chickens decided to get all crazy.  Nothing horrible happened but we have a new “alpha” rooster (my Ruby, now Rubert….) and poor Mr. P-Roo has been relegated to a beat-up bottom of the pecking order chicken.  He looked pretty rough at first and I was worried about how long before I’d have to separate them permanently, but so far it seems to be more or less ok.

In the midst of fixing the fence and worrying about the chickens Oona has taken her “into everything” to a new level.  First, she decided her bangs were far too long for her taste.  And voila!  Now she’s got a baby mullet!

I was (and still am) so upset.  I was waiting for her bangs to grow out so I oculd even out her hair better and make a nice shoulder length bob.  Now….like I said – mullet.  I have pulled out some pretty fabrics and elastic so I can make her some bandanas until it grows out.  Lord I hope she’ll wear them.

Then there’s the chest freezer.  It (stupidly) has the control dial on the front near the floor and to Oona this was a boon from the gods.  She kept turning the dial down to “off” and whenever I’d go into the freezer I’d wonder why everything was so mushy.  So I thought to myself that I’d fix her right good and I put a strip of duct tape over the dial.

Not so much.

I went to put away groceries and all the veggies were mushy.  Oona had pulled off the tape and turned the dial back to off.  We  had to drill a screw there so the dial can no longer be turned at all.

As for the pantry……we could not keep her out of that for anything.  The wasted food……oh the wasted food.  I then made the mistake of allowing Paul to pick out a lock for the doors.

One very expensive purchase later – a keypad lock.  I hate how it looks but it keeps Oona out, that’s for sure.  No more wasted food.

Now, while we’re in the kitchen I’ll tell you about the plumbing.  I think I’ve already mentioned that our upstairs plumbing is bad – our whole ceiling downstairs will need to be replaced and the plumbing all redone.  That’s pretty sad for a house that was built in 2004.  Last night I discovered that the pvc pipe under the sink in the kitchen is busted and leaking.  WHY???  I can’t even figure out how or why this would have happened, since no one goes under the sink for anything.  It had no reason to fail.  I’ll tell you……whoever buys this house after we finally get sick of it will have basically a completely re-built home.

At least there is news on the knitting front to keep the edge off.  I went stash diving and started on Kate Gilbert’s Bird in Hand Mittens, which seem to be taking me forever, but at least they’re fun to work.  I also dredged up wool for a Drive-Thru sweater for Oona.

That green is a celery – like green and the pink is a bit lighter than it looks in the photo.  Oona is very excited – she’s been coveting Neve’s sweater since that was completed.  I am going to start on it today even though I am still working on the mittens.  I am a non – monogamous knitter.  Oh well.

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Finally, A Finished Sweater

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I finally finished the Drive-Thru sweater I started for Neve something like……a year ago?  I don’t even know when I started it.  I know I bought the yarn and the pattern when I was pregnant with Oona, and I finished Emily’s version of it in the fall of ’08…… and I think I started casting on Neve’s not long thereafter.  Anyway, it’s all done but the blocking.

I really really like how this one came out.  The bottom edges curl up pretty badly so it looks in the pictures like one side is shorter than the other.  That will go away once I’ve blocked it.

The biggest problem I’ve had with this sweater is Oona.  As soon as it was off the needles she was trying to steal it.  She cried last night when she saw it go on Neve, and ever since she’s been asking for her own.

Can I have my sweater now mama?

I am thinking she’d look cute in a nice lime green one with light pink stripes on the yoke.  Very spring-y.  Also very optimistic on my part that it would be done by spring.  Maybe if I stopped cleaning and cooking and worrying about what Oona is getting into every 2 minutes? I can’t decide if she should get a pullover or cardigan.  I’ll have to think about it some more.

In other news, we got a light dusting of snow overnight so there was a 2 hour delay.  It’s kind of a running joke amongst those of us northern transplants here. Not that I am complaining.  I quite enjoyed the extra sleep.  Now if they could stay there until 5 or so I might have a chance at some of those Shortbread Toffee Chocolate Chip cookies I made yesterday.   With thanks to the Juniper Moon Farm crew for pointing that recipe out – YUM!


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Once in a Blue Moon….

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It’s New Year’s Eve and there’s a full moon – actually it’s the second full moon this lunar month – which is very rare and is referred to as a “blue moon” (hence ‘once in a blue moon’).  Sadly we can’t see it due to cloud cover.  Last night was pretty darn bright, though, and I am glad we got to at least see the “close to full” blue moon.

It’s about 10 pm and we’re all feeling pretty under the weather.  I spent much of the day on the couch blowing  through tissue after tissue and wishing I could breathe through my nose.  I don’t know that any of us will last to midnight – I think most years we barely get there and then head right for bed. So much for the two bottles of Prosecco I had saved for tonight.

Still the temptation is there to be vigilant and make sure that we ring in the new year “just right” so that all of the ills of the past year are washed away properly and we can start fresh, resolutions or no.  Today has forced me to re-think that a bit.  Generally I push myself hard so that the house is sparkly clean come 12:01.  You know that superstition that how you start the year is how you’ll spend the year?  Today my house is a mess.  And today I was too sick to do squat about it.  And you know what?  I got to thinking that I am not starting the new year with a messy house; rather I am starting the new year actually listening to my own needs for once and not worrying about the grime around me.  I know it’s still going to be there for me to clean tomorrow, and let’s face it – I am going to spend all of 2010 trying to keep up with it and mostly failing no matter what I do today.

So –  filthy house around me – I spent today resting in comfy clothes, cuddling Oona when she’d allow it, watching Spongebob with all my girls, looking through some of my favorite books, thinking about some knitting and sewing  patterns I’d like to try, making a list of the seeds I’ll need to order for early spring,  talking to the animals, marveling with Emily at the 3 eggs she collected today and eating some fresh bread and warm soup. My husband and I sat after dinner in the quiet glow while the kids played in the next room and had a real, honest conversation for the first time in…..well, a blue moon, and made some positive plans for the new year.

If that’s how the rest of the year is going to go, then I say – welcome 2010, you’re gonna be great!!!

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Happy Holidays to All!

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I am more serious than ever now about my promise to hibernate the entire month of January – all the cleaning, baking, more cleaning, more baking and sewing I’ve been doing has got me plum wore out!  I even broke down and got my hands on a pair of Dansko clogs because my feet were hurting so bad that my lower back was starting to ache as well.  Housework and baking in no-support slippers isn’t such a grand idea.

Our 2 and a half or so feet of snow is still mostly hanging around.  It took a good 3 or 4 days to get us plowed out and some areas of town are still pretty dicey.  The north this is not.  They can’t plow for a damn down here.  The kids loved it the first few days, when they could go out and play in it easily.

Now that it has been a few days and has gotten above freezing and then back below freezing every day and night it has created a bit of an impermeable ice – crust and playing in the snow just isn’t as fun anymore.

It sure is pretty to look at, though.

The chickens aren’t too crazy about it and haven’t really ventured out of their coops at all.  I am still getting eggs every day, however – 5 of our 6 hens are now laying – which is surprising given that the days are so cold and short and we haven’t been giving them any artificial heat or light.

Jerry and Milkshakes are taking it all in stride – especially Jerry.  Llamas being originally from the Andes where it’s cold and snowy means that he is doing A-Ok.  Our little goaty girl had trouble the first day or so with the snow being up to her chin but is faring rather well now that she can get around again and many of the pine boughs are much lower with the snow weight and she can more easily munch on them.

I’ve made chocolate chip cookies, raspberry rugelach, gingerbread cookies, macaroons, florentine cookies and butter cookies.  I’ve got to make the chocolate cream pies for tomorrow and the boule bread to go along with the lasagnas I’ll be making as well.  I’ve knit up several pairs of slippers and my sewing machine needle broke while I was finishing up some other gifts.  Still have to clean the floors and make dinner tonight.

I’m tired just thinking about it all……but that’s ok.  One more day of work and it will all pay off with satisfied kids and guests.

And Maddie can’t wait for the Snuggie I got her.

Merry Christmas, all – see you back here soon!

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Almost There…….

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Still slaving away trying to get everything in order for the big day.  We’re hosting a cookie exchange this coming Sunday so that’s deadline number one. For that I am scrubbing and straightening and cookie baking like a mad woman.  I also need to drag out the white paint and touch up all of the woodwork thanks to certain children who shall remain nameless but know who they are.

Deadline number two is obviously Christmas.  We host it every year and this year’s no exception.  More baking.  More cooking.  We’ve changed the menu up a bit though and are going Italiano – buffet.  I’m setting out some lasagnas (a la Giada) some shrimp and crostinis (a la my dad) some stuffed mushrooms and a big antipasti platter.  Instead of snacking all day and then sitting down to a huge meal we’ll be eating our huge meal all day at our own rate and then I’ll put out the desserts as the big finish (chocolate cream pies!!!).

In the gift department I am staying busy with knitting several pairs of French Press Slippers .

Here’s a pair all knit up, before felting:

And here they are after a few runs through the washer :

All that’s left is to block them, dry them, and sew on the strap and the buttons.  These are the third pair I have made so far.  It would be a little quicker but I have a front loader washing machine and they don’t felt as well as top loaders.  I have to soak the knitting in hot water and dish soap first, then throw it in the washer with an old tennis shoe and run it through on hot about 5 or 6 times to get it all done properly.  They will be lovely when they are all done, though!

Also completed is a purse for a certain someone on my list who lives up north and mentioned she might like me to make her one.

Grandma?  Eric will be delivering this to you after he leaves here.  Merry Christmas!

(Pattern is Amy Butler’s Madison Bag.  Fabric is “County Fair – Ribbon” by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit Fabrics)

The other completed project is a tee shirt for my brother:

Chanticleer Farm.  When I finally get my farm that’s what I am naming it.  (It’s an old fashioned French word for rooster – I figured since we are over-run with them it only made sense).

Speaking of things that don’t necessarily work out well for me- my microwave broke last week.  I was changing the light bulb over the stove (under said microwave – it’s one of those built-in thingamajobbies) and it got stuck.  I tried to unscrew it and instead it went “POP”!!!  The kicker is that that stinkin’ little light bulb to illuminate my stove took down my whole damn microwave. Paul took it all apart and tried to fix it but it was wired in such a way that the fuse that blew destroyed the entire main control and was too expensive to be worth replacing.  We bought a new microwave for less and I actually like it a whole lot better.  I guess that means it worked out for me for once?  Still, who else but me could destroy a relatively new appliance just by changing a light bulb?  I’m just sayin’.

Oona has done her job to keep my life full of anarchy, chaos, misery and woe.  She climbed onto my bathroom sink, broke into my mirror vanity and spread foundation cream all over her face, hair and hands the other day.  I did what I could to clean it all off but she still had that tell-tale streak along her jawline.  All she needed was bleached out hair and she’d be all over that white-trash look. She capped off the afternoon by trashing a box of unused feminine pads.  The expensive kind.

Then today she climbed into my laundry hamper and pulled herself up to my jewelry box (it’s at my eye – level on a shelf – I thought it was safe there) and began ransacking it.  This was in the approximately two minutes while I was taking a dirty clothes pile to the washer.

The baby gates we got to pen her in no longer work as she knows how to undo the latches.  Ditto for the all the safety latches for the various cabinets and drawers in the house.  Her current pattern is that she will only stay in a room with me until I turn away for a moment and then she makes a break for it.  It’s tough to make any real headway on anything when I have to go locate her and pull her out of trouble every two minutes.  She’s not a terrible two.  She’s an EXTREME two.

At least the chickens like me.  Sort of.  Ruby (now Rubert actually) pecked the crap out of my hand today when I went out to feed them.  Can’t win ’em all I guess.  I still got rewarded with eggs.  And Benny, my little Ameraucana hen, has been giving me lovely green eggs all week.  Hooray!

All of those are fresh – that’s MY Merry Christmas!!!!!!

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It’s That Time Again

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Christmas time.  This is the time of year I am most over – worked and lacking proper sleep.  Too much to do!  Fortunately I also enjoy all of it – the cookie baking, the knitting, the sewing, the decorating and wrapping, the holiday music and movies.  I love the way the tree looks all sparkly in the living room and the candles all over the house make it feel cozy and warm.  (This year we got LED flickering tea lights at WalMart – they look just like the real thing!)

This week I made several batches of cookies – Chocolate Hazelnut thumbprints (those were all inhaled in no time), frosted butter cookies, and gingerbread cookies.  I love the gingerbread cookies.  I may have eaten a few too many of those this week.

The girls frosted the butter cookies (and fed a bunch to Oona.  As if she needed the sugar).  Maddie helped bake them so I was able to multi – task much more efficiently.  It helps having a willing and able helper.

I also whipped up some apple – walnut cake.  It’s a dense, moist, boozy cake that satisifies many of my cravings this season.  I always liked the idea of those old English puddings and fruitcakes, but I don’t actually like the taste of those.  This cake, though, has all the right spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice) with a little bit of fruit (apples – I don’t put inthe raisins the recipe calls for because I only eat raisins if they are covered in chocolate) some walnuts, AND a healthy dose of bourbon.  The result is out of this world.  A BIG thank – you to my mother in law for this one.

Aside from stuffing my face and packing unnecessary poundage onto my backside I have been making some little steps toward the holiday crafting that needs to be done.  I have plans this weekend to make some ornaments with the girls and today I’ll be doing knitting and sewing all day (in my pj’s.  I am not getting dressed until I have to go pick up the girls from the bus).  I don’t want to give away too much just yet (there’s gifts involved afterall) but I want to show you a small bit of the tablecloth I’ve been working on.  It’s a reverse – applique method with a rooster and rose stenciled motif.  It’s actually almost complete so I will post a better picture then.

This was taken before the stitching was done and the outlining of the white.  I wanted to make the tablecloth first because I plan to make some gifts using this idea and wanted to be sure I knew what the heck I was doing and prefected it before attempting it on something intended for someone else.  I love the rooster stencil.  I’d like to get a rooster cookie cutter so I can make some rooster ornaments to go with it, but I think considering time restraints I am going to have to wing it.  How hard can it be to make a cookie cutter?  (Stop laughing at me.)

And now, because I am a jerk and because he should have known better, I am leaving you with a picture of my favorite brother in the world.  He emailed this picture to my mother and I (to show off his yearly mustache.  He and his dearest buddies grow them every xmas.  I think it’s hilarious) and I about fell out of my chair when I saw it.  I giggled at the thought of it the rest of the night.  My brother is the funniest guy I know and I really, really wish he lived closer.

Hey KB?  Here’s the deal – I am going to buy a farm one of these days……got too many animals here and I need a barn and all and I am going to be adding mroe and more fur babies because I just can’t help myself.  So………..what’s say you come be my farm hand?  Co – farmer?  I’ll spin the fleece and you canmake the goat cheese.  Sound good????

I am totally taking that as a yes.