READY TO GO!

As I hibernated all winter, I was able to compile a list of a few things that I would like to have once spring was upon us. Looking around my yard, I realized that it would be really nice if Jeff and I put a nice pond in the back with beautiful fish,


And even though we already have some nice iron lawn furniture, I thought it would be nice if we had a lovely bench to put near the pond so that I could watch the fish and listen to the water as I knit.


And I have flipped through enough home and garden magazines to know that a garden ornament always adds a nice touch.


So, we finally decided that the easiest way to get all of these great things to happen, I would need one of these first:


And that is my new car! YAY for me, YAY for Volvos, YAY for my hubby who loves me and bought it for me, YAY for everything!! Jeff and I practically danced in happy little circles today from sheer excitement! You know, for a long time I kept saying that it didn't matter what kind of car I got, as long as it got me from point A to point B. But now that I have it, it is exactly the car I wanted! I can already see all of my knitting and beading and camping gear and instruments all stuffed in the back. I can't wait!!!!!


~T

QUIET AND CHILLY

Today was an extremely quiet day, but I figured I would write anyway. Things don't always have to be exciting to warrant a blog entry, right? I found myself really wanting to go out and do something outdoors, but temperature wise, spring is holding out on us a little bit. I'm kind of glad now that I have been knitting a lot of socks, because my usually bare feet have been really cold and they are sighing in relief now that they are dressed in some nice warm wool.

I started working on the little baby blanket last night, and then upon inspecting my work this morning, I realized that I was constructing a twin sized afghan. The thing about me is that I tend to go large for everything. If I am cooking for a group of four, by the time I'm finished, I can feed my entire neighborhood. And I think if I didn't have so many ideas for this baby basket, I would probably just continue making the larger afghan. After all, children grow. Regardless, I ripped it out and started all over again.

I have an extreme fondness for the Food Network. I say I watch so that I can get some good ideas for new recipes to try in my kitchen. I think I really watch it so that I can feel sorry for myself that I don't have these great cooks in my kitchen making me these fab meals. So now I am watching the show "Chopped" where these poor chefs are given these mystery baskets of weird ingredients and are told to make some culinary extravaganza ithat can be served in a high end restaurant in a ridiculously short amount of time. The reward for this frenzy of cooking is ten thousand dollars.

It's so easy as a viewer to say, "What are ya, nuts?!! You should have done, this, this, and this!" But in reality, would I know how to make a cohesive meal using Cocoa Puffs, chocolate chips, marshmallow fluff and dehydrated strawberries? Probably not.

Anyhoo, I have some exciting news, which I will most likely write about tomorrow. And noooooooooo, ahead of time to my crazy lunatic friends, I am not having a baby, so don't go thinking crazy thoughts.

Good night for now.

~T

ONE MORE FOR THE BABY BASKET

Well, another Monday night has passed, which means another night of really bad bowling has passed as well! Hehe. It's funny how in my head, I know exactly how I should bowl, but somehow it doesn't always work out the way the movie in my head thinks it should. Although, I didn't do terribly.......just not the perfect 300 game I was hoping for. Yeah, right!

So, my mother in law received an award For having the most original cheesecake. I think she was trying for the tastiest cheesecake, but I say an award is an award, right? And I think as long as the word "interesting" wasn't used, it was a win!

I spent the day finishing up another little gift to put in my friend's baby gift basket. I'm still working on the cabled sweater, but I whipped up this simple summer top, considering that the wee one will be born in July.....that is if he chooses to prove the doctors right and come out on cue.

.
All I have to do now is run to my LYS and pick out some cute little buttons to embellish the front, and this will be complete! Yay for cute little baby clothes. They are so gratifying to make because they are so quick and tiny.

Next on my list is a traditional ripple baby afghan which I am most likely going to start tonight because what else does one do at 11 o clock in the evening? Hey, I never claimed to be normal.

~T

IF YOU'VE GOTTA, USE RICOTTA

It's hard to believe that another weekend has come and gone. With the hectic nature of the week, Jeff and I gleefully look forward to sleeping in and lounging on Saturdays and Sundays, only to find that we always have something to do......and with our internal clocks set fairly early, sleeping in never works out for us anyway. But we always find something fun to do, so that's a good thing.

Today, I kept my mother in law company as she baked her first cheese cake. There was much trepidation, since she was baking it for the "Grand Cheesecake Bakeoff" that her job is holding tomorrow. I give her a lot of credit, considering that I probably wouldn't have the guts to enter a competition for something I have never done before. Lasagna, maybe. Chocolate toffee macademia nut cookies? Deinitely. Cheesecake......not on your life! But her peering at her recipe and carefully measuring and mixing as I sat on the sideline knitting and cheering her on, she made out just fine.

The recipe she tried apparently uses fresh ricotta cheese as opposed to the traditional cream cheese which one would find in a New York Style cheesecake. And there is just a very small amount of graham cracker crust along the edges to give your palate just a hint of crunchy goodness. Catastrophe almost hit when she discovered that not only had she forgotten to put sugar in the mix, she had not a granule of sugar in the sugar jar. I offered to make a quick run to the store but not before we scoured every cabinet in the house. She found a bag of pure cane sugar and decided that it would work just as well. So that is what she used.

Since we've never made a cheesecake before, I think we were both a little surprised to see that it would take 2 and a half hours to bake this calorie packed delicacy.....and even MORE surprised when she had to leave it in for another half an hour because her oven wasn't cooking it as fast as the recipe book thought it should.

Three hours later, joy to the cheese loving world, the cheesecake was done!
It doesn't look half bad, if I do say so myself.


She had to let it cool before she removed the spring pan, and then I think she is going to drizzle a homemade raspberry sauce over the top. Yum. I am really proud of her, whether she wins the bake off or not. Either way, I hope she has leftovers.

~T

FLINGING DISCS

I've been hopeful......and FINALLY I can say with conviction that SPRING IS HERE!!!! I can feel it in my bones, people! IN MY BONES!! Hehehehe.....

I opened my eyes to a magnificent Sunday, and I knew immediately that my butt needed to be outside, And not in my usual way, which is me dragging my patio furniture out and knitting while watching passers by. I needed to be active......and being such a couch lover, I needed to call on some friends to help me remember what "outdoor activities" are. ;p

We decided to go frisbee golfing, or as it is better known in my neck of the woods, "disc" golf. And I would love to explain this in a fashion that makes this sound extravagant and la di da.......but essentially, it's just like a golf game, but you're throwing a frisbee, instead of hitting a ball, and you're trying to get it in a chain basket in the fewest amount of throws. And instead of nicely groomed fairways and things of that nature, you are hiking through about three acres of woods. It's a nice way to enjoy nature and still be active and slightly competetive.

So, Sarah and I took off to the West Thompson Lake and met up with our friends Heather and Chris. Here is
what the lake looked like on this glorious morning:



Even though the ice is doing its best to hold on, it is clear that Mother Nature has smugly informed it that resistance is futile!










It's moments like this that I wish that Jeff and I had really looked into buying a house where this view would be the first thing we saw when we looked out our windows. But unfortunately, that's dicated more by what's in one's wallet as opposed what one truly wants.

No matter.......I guess I'm just going to have to do a lot more camping!



Chris and Heather finally showed up, and to commemorate our first offical disc golf excusrsion of the year, I had them pose for a picture. Chris thought it was important to hold the discs up so that in the future when I look back at my scrap books and photo memoirs, I will always know we were on our way to play.


But I already know that everytime I look at this photo, I'm going to wonder why I didn't ask him to hold the actual frisbees in a diferent place. Oh brother!


So now you've seen the frisbees, and just in case you're curious, this is what the baskets look like. Golf = 18 holes. Disc Golf = 18 baskets. (Or nine if you are on a smaller course.


The park was fairly crowded. A lot of people woke up thinking it was a good time to enjoy the fresh outdoors. However, I almost made one of these poor people regret getting out of bed, when I almost pinged him in the head with my very misguided frisbee.

In my defense, how was I supposed to know that I had to look out for teenagers sitting IN a tree?!! I apologized profusely and then in pure classless fashion, asked them if I could take their picture. Hehehe....they happily obliged, saying they were flattered. Ahh.....silly boys.

So after traipsing over most of the course, we decided that our hunger pains were stronger than our will to finish out the game, so we walked all the way back to our vehicles and drove home where Heather fed us this really fabulous seafood/pasta/cheese/sauce yumminess.

I am looking forward to more days like this.

~T

SATISFYING SATURDAYS

I enjoy Saturdays. It's a glorious feeling to wake up and know that the whole day is just a blank canvas. There's something gratifying about not actually having any plans. Last Saturday I went to go spend the day with Julie, who is a friend I met during one my knitting swaps. The day was spent giggling at the antics of her three year old twins, eating yummy food, watching Battlestar Galactica (which her husband had to kind of fill us in on the background story since I haven't watched the series), and of course, knitting. I taught her how to do cables, and by doing this, we came to the conclusion that the book she was using needed a new editor, because the instructions were unclear.

This Saturday, my hubby took me out to breakfast where we sat for an hour and talked over omelets and home fries and piping hot coffee. Following breakfast, we drove out to my local bead shop and I rummaged through all the great beads that reside there. Usually I go in there just to play. This time, my goal was to get an array of beads and findings to begin making the jewelry that my sister and my mother want for their birthdays. I made some earrings about a month ago, and then I couldn't wait, so I gave them to my youngest sister early. So.......more beads for me!

At this point, I have become really comfortable with the whole twisting and crimping involved with jewelry making, so it doesn't take me that long to make a pair of earrings anymore. SO, I got a little carried away. I ended up making matching bracelets to go with the earrings. I want to make a couple more sets.....one for every work day.







After making the earrings, I went back to work on the baby booties that I was inspired to make by a very talented young knitter. I can see myself making a large assortment of these cute little booties. I have already started making a large pair to give to some special family member for this coming Christmas. Never too early to start making gifts. They are ADORABLE!


For the evening, Jeff went to see Gordon Bok perform for a benefit for the Connecticut Audobon Society and because I wasn't up for the long haul, my friend Sarah and I decided to go to the movies to watch He's Just Not Into You.

If you're the type of person who loves chickie flickie movies that point out all of the slightly psycho, quasi stupid things people do concerning love and relationships, this is a good movie to watch. It wasn't a mind boggling movie, the plot line kind of slaps you in the forehead over and over and over again, but I enjoyed it. And because I have a strange mind and I guess easily distracted, I couldn't help but notice during the movie that my now completed Flat Feet sock were oh so comfy on my toes......





and that I need to go to my LYS and get a few more to throw in my sock stash........even though I JUST bought six skeins.........yeah, whatever! No one has convinced me yet that yarn addiction is a bad thing!

Now, I am going to settle in bed, and happily finish the second baby bootie.



I love, love, LOVE Saturdays. :)

~T

INTERPRETATION OF THE DANCING LADY

When Jeff and I first moved in with each other, our love for each other was abundant (still is) but our bank accounts were a completely different story. Let's just say that our house decorating capabilities were limited to who was able to give us what, and how much we were able to fit into the apartment. Needless to say, it was a mish mash of stuff, but we were comfortable. Come to think of it, everything we own is still a mish mash of stuff, and we're still comfortable.....I guess we're mish mash kind of people..........anyhoo!

The first piece of artwork we purchased together was a poster that we found at Kathy John's. It was ten dollars, and it was the first thing that was affordable that we both agreed was something we should have. And I guess it is something we both still agree on because she has moved with us ever since. This is the poster:


I always wanted to reproduce this image in a textured way. There's so much movement in the dress and the woman's body, every time I looked at it, I wondered if I could make it pop off the page. I didn't want to repaint it because the original artist did a fine job. I just wanted to interpret it. Tonight I tried.

I set myself up in my living room, got comfy and started painting a background for my dancer.

Then I got out all of the paper that I have collected over the years and just started tearing them, applying them to the canvas with some decoupage glue. I started with the lower part of her dress and just kept layering. I free form cut her legs, arms and head with scissors.


And this is my interpretation of The Dancing Lady, using ripped paper.



I painted a rough mouth and eyes; I didn't really want her face to be the focus of the whole piece. I think for a first try, I did OK. I'll probably wake up tomorrow and be overly critical of it, but for now, I think she's pretty neat. I now have to find a place for her on our wall. Looks like we'll be packing up two dancing ladies if we ever move again! :)

~T

THANKFUL T'WAS ONLY SCORCHED GLASS

Today I can say that I epitomized the word "stupid" to the fullest extent of its definition. I've always loved candles. I think that they give my house a warm and inviting vibe, and I always feel much cozier if I can curl up on the couch and knit by the soothing glow.

Well, tonight I went over to my friend's house for dinner and I had this nagging feeling that I had left one of the candles in the bathroom lit. Somehow, I talked myself out of worrying about it. My mental process went something like this:

'I think I left the candle lit in the bathroom'

'No......I'm pretty sure I blew it out the last time I walked past it.'

'Well, even if it is still lit, the bathroom door is shut so the cat can't knock it over, and it's in a jar, so it will smother itself and we will be fine'

'But regardless, I think I blew it out. Stop worrying.'

Here's what I found when I got home:


Not only did I leave it lit, the candle did not smother itself....it actually burned THROUGH the glass, cracking the bottom, oozing out all of the melted wax onto the counter. How could I be so careless?!!

It took me a long time to settle my nerves because all I could do was think about what might have happened if circumstances had been different. What if it was in the living room and the cat knocked it over onto the wood floors? Never mind the house burning down....all of my pets are in the house.....I don't even want to go there. I'm so grateful that everything was fine, but I have to admit that I am still a little flustered.

As I was pacing about, I noticed that my oldest cat Ivory was looking at me with her usual look of "I'm not sure why you think you're the smarter species......I think you're pretty dumb".



I'm inclined to agree with her.

~T

AN ODD SPREAD

So tonight I had a very interesting culinary experience. My friend has an Australian penpal (and by pen pal, I mean chat partner....everything is done via internet these days) and he sent her a small care package that contained a tube of Vegemite.

The only time I have ever heard of this mysterious Vegemite was when I would happen to be listening to the eighties band "Men At Work" who composed the very strange song "I Come From A Land Down Under", where the main character in the song apparently partakes in a Vegemite sandwich with a lady friend.

I come from a family where my parents told me to try things at least twice, once to experience it, and the second time to make sure I really loved it or hated it. So, I tried it. Um.....it's a bit strange. First of all, it's description on the actual tube says that it's a yeast extract. That didn't really sound all that appetizing to me. But again, I'm game for just about anything, especially if it's food. It's a very thick, dark, dark brown substance, a bit sticky, supposedly chock full of vitamin B, incredibly salty (reminded me of a bouillon cube), and actually not all that bad on a Ritz cracker if used in moderation. Jeff wouldn't touch it. I wasn't surprised.

I finally buckled down today and started knitting the first of the many baby sweaters I will probably be making in the next few months. The thing that I have noticed is that I can make plans on what to knit. I love looking through books and patterns, and I have purchased several cute patterns in the last week. But for some reason, once I get started, I just find myself changing the pattern. What is wrong with me?! I think that I get a bit irritated having to look at a pattern maybe, or I just get restless and start to wonder what would happen if I did it this way instead of how it was written. I haven't figured it out. But that is indeed what happened today. I started a Debbie Bliss pattern, realized that I didn't want to do it that way, and ripped it out and started my own design. Let's hope it works out.

I've opted to work with Dreambaby DK, which is very reasonably well priced, acrylic/nylon blend. Since I know that I'm making a full basket of knitted goodies, I didn't find it necessary to spend fifty dollars on a baby sweater. Here's what I have come up with so far. I apologize.....the pictures are atrocious and the color is nowhere near the actual pretty blue I'm using, but I'm still posting them. I'll take better pictures when the sweater is completed.


I love cables, but I get bored doing the same cable over and over again. But I also wanted to do something easy. So I I alternated the length of the cables to give the sweater a little interest. I like the effect so far.



This will be the front of the sweater because it seems to be the part of every garment that I don't enjoy making. So I figured I would just get it out of the way. Isn't that weird? Anyhoo, I can't wait to see how the rest of it comes out. I have a few more ideas that I am going to try to incorporate. I'm sure there will be a lot of ripping back......but that comes with the craft, right?

~T