The Mister has a gig in a few weeks. This means he has taken out the violin and the mandolin and is practicing around the house. I love it!
This is one of his original compositions "Emerald Isle." It could just be that he is Irish and I am Scot-Irish, but this music touches us deeply.
Enjoy!
(I can't believe I learned how to do this! Whoppee! Pictures AND video?? OMGoodness.. nothing is sacred...)
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
You Might Need to Know This
Cleaned the hen house.
Found a six foot black snake who had taken up residence in the hen house.
And she liked it.
A lot. A whole lot.
There may have been just a little screaming.
And running.
A water hose was involved.
Snakes don't like cold water.
Just so you know.
Don't ask how I do.
Someday, though, you might be glad you do.
P.S. The Mister is my hero. He just counted the loops as the snake was coiled up and said, "Gee, it sure is pretty. Look at that! Isn't she pretty? Wow! And she isn't that fat, is she?"
Note to other Misters: Never say a snake isn't fat. It implies the listener is... Just saying...
Happy Monday!
Found a six foot black snake who had taken up residence in the hen house.
And she liked it.
A lot. A whole lot.
There may have been just a little screaming.
And running.
A water hose was involved.
Snakes don't like cold water.
Just so you know.
Don't ask how I do.
Someday, though, you might be glad you do.
P.S. The Mister is my hero. He just counted the loops as the snake was coiled up and said, "Gee, it sure is pretty. Look at that! Isn't she pretty? Wow! And she isn't that fat, is she?"
Note to other Misters: Never say a snake isn't fat. It implies the listener is... Just saying...
Happy Monday!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Make Mine Boysenberry, Please
I am redoing our front storm door. The original storm door is 15, no, 20 years old and last spring, Anabelle (the dog) plunged through it during a storm. She is deathly afraid of any loud noise and this particular storm had her coming undone. Before I could open it to let her in, rrrrriiiipppp, she tore right through it.
So, I spent a little time looking for Just The Right Storm Door and found it; but, it was a custom order and I had to wait for it to be manufactured and shipped. It took, sigh. six weeks.
But, here it is:
So, I spent a little time looking for Just The Right Storm Door and found it; but, it was a custom order and I had to wait for it to be manufactured and shipped. It took, sigh. six weeks.
But, here it is:
Did you notice that it has a SOLID bottom panel??
So much for puppies coming in No Matter What!
Sanding done; the primer is done as well. And, now, well, I am painting it this lovely colour: Boysenberry Jam.
Isn't it lovely?
Can you see my fine helper?
He watches the underside for runs and spills.
Yeah.
He is a great painter...
I just hope the Mister doesn't mind
that the Mooser is sporting a little bit of Jam when he comes home...
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Simple Things
One of the things that summer brings which is so much joy is the ability to gather flowers at will.
Using whatever I have for vases makes the arrangements all the more interesting.
I have added red and blue food colouring to this vase so the hydrangeas will turn purple. Of course!
I love yellow and blue together. It is so crisp!
These are from my Grandmother's flower garden, transplanted when she died ten years ago.
She called them "Goldenrods."
Can you see the extra little treat in the bouquets?
Mint.
I read on Susan Branch's blog that she did that and loved the idea.
They smell wonderful!
Do you keep flowers in the house?
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Freedom
It's official. I resigned from my co-directorship yesterday. And I feel gooooood, so gooood, I got my freedom, to plagarize James Brown!
It has been an agonizing decision. I love the workshop, the community in which it is held, and the participants (except when they have mosquito bites and make me go to the ER because they want to believe it is bedbugs).
But... isn't there always one of these in any situtation?
The long and the short of it is this: I was tired of working my arse off and someone else taking credit. I was tired of being jumped on for my political beliefs (which are more conservative than my partner's). I was tired of being treated like an administrative assistant. I was tired of people not even hazarding to think I had any knowledge on the topic just because I didn't have a PhD (piled higher and deeper). Or that I had nothing to say because I live on a farm in NW NC. After all, what could a gal in that situation think? Doesn't one need to be urbane to think? And, the final straw came when the partner screamed at me in a public place about an issue and the Entire Restaurant Turned Around and Listened to his rant. OMGoodness. Can you say mortified??
I share all this for one reason. Certainly all of us, except those few narsicistic souls who believe it is all about them, have been in this position. Many of us are boxed into relationships of some kind and feel like it is the Tar Baby -- we can't let go because we feel stuck.
Something happened to me in Walden Pond that I can't explain. I saw my life in a way that I understand addicts do: a moment of clarity when they realize the path they are on and can see both roads their life might take. As I floated there, I saw that my life was chocked full of things and people I really didn't like. And, I felt, as Henry wrote, that I was living a life of quiet desparation. There is a lot of pain accompanying this feeling and I wanted the pain to stop. And, the only way to do it was to clear all the clutter and say what I truly felt with kindness and love.
I slept the best last night that I have in months. It feels good to just say, "No." Heck, I might even get into the habit.
It has been an agonizing decision. I love the workshop, the community in which it is held, and the participants (except when they have mosquito bites and make me go to the ER because they want to believe it is bedbugs).
But... isn't there always one of these in any situtation?
The long and the short of it is this: I was tired of working my arse off and someone else taking credit. I was tired of being jumped on for my political beliefs (which are more conservative than my partner's). I was tired of being treated like an administrative assistant. I was tired of people not even hazarding to think I had any knowledge on the topic just because I didn't have a PhD (piled higher and deeper). Or that I had nothing to say because I live on a farm in NW NC. After all, what could a gal in that situation think? Doesn't one need to be urbane to think? And, the final straw came when the partner screamed at me in a public place about an issue and the Entire Restaurant Turned Around and Listened to his rant. OMGoodness. Can you say mortified??
I share all this for one reason. Certainly all of us, except those few narsicistic souls who believe it is all about them, have been in this position. Many of us are boxed into relationships of some kind and feel like it is the Tar Baby -- we can't let go because we feel stuck.
Something happened to me in Walden Pond that I can't explain. I saw my life in a way that I understand addicts do: a moment of clarity when they realize the path they are on and can see both roads their life might take. As I floated there, I saw that my life was chocked full of things and people I really didn't like. And, I felt, as Henry wrote, that I was living a life of quiet desparation. There is a lot of pain accompanying this feeling and I wanted the pain to stop. And, the only way to do it was to clear all the clutter and say what I truly felt with kindness and love.
I slept the best last night that I have in months. It feels good to just say, "No." Heck, I might even get into the habit.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Show Me You Love Me
When the Mister and I were married,
it was a party with a wedding in the midst of it.
Our ceremony was by the creek on his farm at the time,
Sycamore Springs Farm.
We had tents, his band mates, and lots of good food.
Besides Grandma's Lemonade, we had pimento cheese sandwiches.
It is one of our favorites; we have joked that
even as we are getting ready to step to the other side,
our last meal will have to be our form of ambrosia... food of the gods..
Easy Peasy Pimento Cheese
Start with 1/2 of the large Velvetta cheese
(the fat kind, not the 2% milk kind -- bleh),
1/2-3/4 c. Miracle Whip (or Mayo),
and a small jar of pimentos.
I also toss in some shredded
whatever-we-have-in-the-fridge-that-needs-eaten cheese.
This batch it is some Colby. Cube the Velvetta and grate the other cheese.
Everything goes in the food processor at one time.
Using your blending plate, blend for one or two minutes until it looks like:
This is the best part. Sample and make sure you have enough Miracle Whip to suit
your taste. I like mine rather chunky, so this is perfect for me. If you
like yours smoother, blend longer and add more Miracle Whip.
After putting the spread in a sealable bowl or Tupperware,
Scrape all the best, chunkiest, tastiest part from under the blender blade
and make yourself a very delicious sandwich. After adding a
very ripe white peach for dessert,
you will be ready for a nappie
after lunch.
When the Mister came home last night and saw this in the refrigerator, he turned around and said: "Baby, you're the best!" I felt like Jackie Gleason had dropped in!
Bon appetite!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Boundaries -- And When To Push Them
Last night at, oh, 11:15 p.m., I got this wild hair; I wanted to try my hand at designing a shawl. It is to be a gift and so it had to be Just The Right One. Since there was no sleeping going on, I looked through every pattern I have. Nothing caught my eye. So, I dug out my Mary Thomas's Book of Knittng Patterns and started thinking about the special person I wanted to design for. I looked at the yarn in my stash (this is an embarrassment as there is so much) and found Just The Right Colour.
The Perfect Yarn is very soft blue, yellow, lavendar, and grey lace weight. When I saw it a few years ago at Orchardside Yarn Shop in Raphine, VA, I had to have it, but I didn't have a project in mind. As you know, that seldom matters in the case of yarn or fabric. Home it came. Now, it is going to a good purpose and is just perfect. The colours just suit the recepient and will go with nearly everything.
What I have decided is to make a stoll with a garter stitch border and edging to keep the shawl from curling. The first pattern is a flower which is 38 rows high; this will be followed by a 20 row repeat of butterflies. The back will be "rows" of honeybees which I will fashion from a combination of eyelets, small and large. I think it will be lovely!
I am nearly done with the first row of flowers. It was so exciting to watch the pattern develop that I couldn't go to bed! At 1:15 a.m., the Mister woke from his "pre-bed nappie", yawned, looked at me, and asked if it were morning. Technically, it was... and I was still stitching away!
Would you like to try this pattern out with me? Here's how you start:
Spring's Coming Shawl
Yarn: Lace weight (but I think you could use anything, depending on the size you want your shawl; mine is about 24 inches wide using lace weight and #4 needles)
Needles: to suit your gauge and yarn
Gauge: Gauge is for sissies!
CO 90 stitches.
Knit 10 rows for a garter stitch edging.
Place markers after the first five stitches and before the last five. This will create a garter stitch edging. You wlil knit these stitches every row.
Flower Pattern
16 stitch repeat
To keep up with your pattern, place a marker after each repeat. This will help you keep each pattern correct.
Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: K6, YO, S1, K1, psso, K2
Row 4: Purl all stitches.
Row 5: K8, YO, S1, K1, psso, K6
Row 6 and 8: Purl
Row 7: K6, YO, S1, K1, psso, K8
Row 9: K4, YO, S1, K1, psso, K10
Row 10: Purl
Row 11: (K2, YO, S1, K1, psso) 3 times; K4
Row 12: Purl
Row 13: K8, YO, S1, K1, psso, K6
Row 14: Purl
Row 15: K10, YO, S1, K1, psso, K4
Row 16: Purl
Row 17: Knit
Row 18: Purl
Row 19: K10, YO, S1, Y1, psso, K4
Row 20: Purl
Row 21: Knit
Row 22 Purl
Row 23: K4 (K2tog, YO, YO, S1, K1, psso) twice, K4
Row 24: Purl. Purl the 1st YO and Knit the 2nd
Row 25: Knit
Row 26: Purl
Row 27: K2, K2tog, YO, YO, S1, K1, psso, K4, K2tog, YO, YO, S1, K1, psso, K2
Row 28: Purl as row 24
Row 29: K6, K2tog, YO, YO, S1, K1, psso, K6
Row 30: P6, P2tog (stitch and 1st YO), K2tog (2nd YO and stitch), P6
Row 31: K2, K2tog, YO, YO, S1, K1, psso, K1, YO, YO, K1, K2tog, YO, YO, S1, K1, psso, K2
Row 32: P6, P2tog (stitch and YO, including strand below), P1, K1 into YO and strand, P7
Row 33: Knit
Row 34: Purl
Row 35: Same as Row 27
Row 36, 37, 38: Same as Rows 24, 25, 26
Row 39: K4, (K2tog, YO, YO, S1, K1, psso) twice, K4
Row 40: Purl, same as Row 24
Okay; that's your start. When I get the next pattern worked, I'll post it for you to use. I can't wait to see how this works out. Please bear in mind that I have never done anything this complicated from scratch before. If you find an error, will you please let me know? And if you are going to knit this, will you let me know as well? I am eager to see if it is as attractive and pretty as I believe it to be! So far, I love love love it!
Happy Monday!
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