Party ambiance

There was a large party for the baby of our family.  She just graduated from high school and her Mom and Dad gave her a really nice party last weekend at their lovely home.  The party included the above chickens (there were more, but they moved rather quickly about).  I enjoyed watching them and they were very beautiful and healthy looking.  It was so nice to see everyone and to be outside in the sunshine (although it was a tad hot).

I hope you all have a great week.  See you soon, and my soundtrack today?

 

Old Habits Die Hard

Only a couple of posts back in and I am already forgetting to take pictures again. I may not be brilliant, but I am dependable.  Still, I wish I had thought to take a picture of the gorgeous beets and baby turnips.  I cut them up and roasted them.  They are delicious.  But, turnips have a long ugly history in my family.  When we were kids our mother (basically, the dearest soul in the world….but devious) wanted to make sure we were eating as healthfully as humanly possible.  She was raised by a nutritionist so we were doomed from the beginning.  We never had Kool-Aid, soda/pop, potato chips or “American” cheese.   Margarine was not allowed in our home and shortening was rarely used.  But, back to the turnips.  Betty June would boil and mash the turnips so that they looked like mashed potatoes.  Can you imagine sitting down to dinner and taking a huge spoonful of what you believe are mashed potatoes and realizing in one horrifying forkful that you had over served yourself mashed turnips?  If you have never tasted boiled and mashed turnips then you are truly lucky.  There isn’t enough butter to save them (or, you).  And, my parents were strict as all get out about eating what you had served yourself.  We always took our own portions of food from the bowl.  I still look at a bowl of mashed potatoes with great detail, and suspicion, because I finally got to the point where I could tell the difference.  You see, mashed turnips have a grey tinge and look a bit runny on top.  I just made myself laugh that I can still remember this with such clarity.

But, my mom did us such a huge favor.  It took growing up to realize how her concern about our nutrition served us then and now.  I am grateful that we weren’t allowed to have Kool-Aid (even if the other kids thought we were aliens).  Soda was a treat and only allowed if offered by a relative (or friend when Mom and Dad weren’t around).  My mother was originally from Waukesha, Wisconsin, where she grew up on a dairy farm.  The idea of fake dairy items infuriated her because she felt (and I wonder where I get my righteous indignation) that these things took away from the farmer.  Also, she felt that foods made exclusively from chemicals were highly suspect.  Again, I am my mother’s daughter.

Have a wonderful day!!  My soundtrack for today is a wonderful expression of how I am feeling.  The Swedish Chef.

 

 

Cool weekend

We have had another cool wet weekend. No complaining from here. This is St. Louis. The minute the rain stops, the heat and humidity will grow. My hair is frizzy enough as it is. I don’t need heat.
Yesterday, I went to the Ferguson Farmer’s Market (which I adore) and picked up my share of the CSA.  I think I love this.  I had always wanted to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) because it is supporting small local farmers and I wanted to get all over that.  There are a few here in St. Louis, but Earth Dance Farms was the most affordable for me and the most appealing, plus it’s in Ferguson.  I also like that I have to volunteer 4 hours per season as a member.  This weekend was my third weekend of the season for bountiful organic and delicious food.  The first week I got a small bouquet, some radishes, about 2 lbs. of spinach and some swiss chard.  Last week I got kale, more spinach, 4 carrots, radishes, 4 little beets and some gorgeous red leaf lettuce.  This week, I got some more spinach with a little chard mixed in, fabulous spicy radishes, carrots and a purple kohlrabi.  I also got sorrel.  I need to check on how you fix that.  I haven’t ever had

sorrel before (that I can remember).  I cut the carrots up and the kohlrabi and roasted them.  They are wonderful.  The kohlrabi and carrots were pretty darned delicious raw, too.

Have a great weekend, all.  Here’s my soundtrack for today.

A sweet song by a mega-talent.  Ms. Joni Mitchell.    Have a good one!!!

 

Memorial Day 2015

My flag is out and I have been thinking of the true sadness of this day for so very many. My family was blessed. My uncles came home from WWII and so did my Dad. I lost no friends in Viet Nam (although several came home with addiction and PTSD). Yet, the pain of this day for so many families and friends cannot be assuaged by hanging out flags. I wish to God we could just leave our young to grow old and not die in foreign lands.  Yet, if they hadn’t we would not have our freedom today.  Six years ago, we said our final goodbye to Mom, as well.  Her passing was not a tragedy.  She had a life so very well lived and loved.  Still, she died on May 25, 2009, on a Memorial Day weekend Monday, just like today.  I am so very grateful for the time we had with her, not sad at all, and, that she and Dad prepared us so well for this life.

I have not knit a stitch in a week.  I am weeding like the true whack job I am.  I am sore and stiff and happy as a clam.  I planted a few flowers in pots for the deck and have decided that I need to make part of my old vegetable garden into a flower garden.  I’m pretty sure that this is a stage of crazy, but don’t care.  I did buy my hanging flowers for the front porch (my yearly splurge) and am madly in the love with them.  Aren’t they pretty?  I have no idea what they are, but I was told by the lady that sold them to me that they are in the petunia family.  And, my pansies are still lovely, but starting to get a bit leggy.I guess I best mosey off to the garden now.  I will leave you with my soundtrack for today.

Great rendition of a great song.  Have a good one!!!

 

Back in the saddle again

I actually had a request from Rachel of Dyeabolical fame to blog again. I was stunned and quite flattered. So, how ya been? I have been pretty good.  I have been busy(ish).  Not too busy to blog, but too dull. I have been knitting a bit since January.  Winter wasn’t horrible, but dull.  I think I had a serious case of ennui and couldn’t shake it.  Part of my problem (and, I have just one or two of those)is that I find my life wonderful, but not always interesting.  And, if I don’t find it interesting, I can’t make it interesting in the blog. Work is fine.  Home is fine.  Stinky is fine.  Sassy.  Fine.  Grover is fine.  He is now 10 years old.  I haven’t told him, so he doesn’t realize he’s that old.  He still thinks he’s a young pup and wants to gogogo, but runs out of gasgasgas.  Just like me! Yesterday I went to the World’s Smallest Craft Fair.  It was delightful.  So much talent and so many tempting things.  I was big on desire and short of funds.  I came out wanting all of it, but settling for these from Rachel.

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The yarn is just as squishy as it looks and I got a finger row counter.  I have wanted the row counter for years and I love the colors of the yarn.  It will be a hat.

The bouquet?  It came from the Ferguson Farmers Market yesterday.  The market is still going and growing.  I was also able to get my honey while there. Today I went to church, but couldn’t sing because of a lingering upper respiratory infection.  I’m a baritone that squeaks today.  After church, a group of us went to an Indian restaurant buffet.  I really enjoyed it.  I am a bit of an Indian food novice, so it was all new and interesting, except for the naan which I am very familiar with.  Then, I wandered home to do laundry.

I plan on posting once a week, or if by some bizarre accident something gets really interesting.  And, with that, I bid you a good week and wonderful soundtrack.

Planned Obsolescence in Knitted Gifts

Happy New Year one and all.  I just finished the Christmas gift socks for my BSIL.  I knit them with her healing in mind.  She had that foot surgery last winter that she endured with great presence.  In fact, her entire family did.  Anyway, her right foot is still bigger than her left because she is still healing and will be for quite some time.  Well, I decided to knit her socks anyway, but planned on knitting one sock quite a bit bigger than the other so that she could wear hand knit socks even though her feet weren’t the same size.  I wrote the date I started (March 8, 2014) and the date finished (December 31, 2014).  There is no reason it took me that long, but it did.  I’m very pleased with the finished product.

Of course, it’s too dark.  The yarn is Dyeabolical Flowershop Inferno.  Always a joy to knit and it’s a party of colors in a sock.  There are two different sizes.  One for her left foot is a medium and the one for the healing foot, her right, is large.  So that it’s easy to tell the difference I put a little bow on the side of the big one.  This pair will not be used in a year or so, and I’m fine with that.  I just wanted her to have some love on her feet while she continues to heal.

I’m gonna mosey on along right now.  You either love her or hate her, but I love her.  Here she is singing Sting’s “If I Ever Lose My Faith”.

Have a good one!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!!

Hope this finds you well and happy.

I’ve been away for some time now.

It’s been an interesting, eventful and sometimes sad late summer into fall. As some of you know, I live in St. Louis, MO. I am about 7-10 miles away from the community of Ferguson which became infamous in the media. I haven’t really known how to respond on the blog because like so many others, I’m not sure anyone will ever know the “truth” and feel the media has treated St. Louis, like so many other places and people, like the latest shiny new toy. Play with us, report inaccuracies and downright lies mingled with the truth, then move on to the next new shiny toy. In this case, it’s Ebola.  I will not attempt to explain the events in Ferguson that day because I don’t know.   That being said, I also spent every Sunday afternoon for 10 weeks or so visiting my BSIL’s mother in hospice.  It was bittersweet for me.  My BSIL’s mother was difficult at times when she was strong and healthy, but when her health began to decline she softened and was so dear.  I took her flowers and up until the final two weeks, she brightened when she saw them.  I have no regrets and was grateful when she was able to finally move on into her next great journey in mid-September.

Now, for the important stuff.  My refrigerator died.  Not life altering by any means, but still a pain in the rear.  After it died, I measured the space.  Twice.  I went and looked at refrigerators in the store.  I measured the one I wanted.  Twice.  It was delivered to my house two days later.  It didn’t fit.  Now, I might have been upset years ago when I wasn’t knitting, but now?  I know knitter’s can’t count so I just chalked it up to life as a knitter.  Now, a cabinet must be removed today.  And, it shall be.  Grover and I have to walk into the kitchen single file.

I have been knitting.  I was spinning a bit when my Peanut came over and asked if she could spin on my Joy and I said, sure!   There’s about 8″ left on the unspun fiber and she hasn’t finished it yet.  Little Stinker!

I hope to blog a bit more often.  I miss everyone’s updates, except Margene who faithfully updates, and Joan,  and Cookie, too.  I’m afraid I am the cause of the loss of a blog friendship due to communication error.  I am still sorry about that one, but cannot correct it because the line was severed.   Have a good one, all!

Summer in Middle Earth

 

It has been a pretty spectacular summer so far here in Middle Earth. We are hot today, but we have had some pretty gorgeous days in the 80’s, so whining is not allowed. I signed up for the Tour de Fleece once again with Team Cranky Pants and Team Dyeabolical Yarns. So far, I have fixed the drive band on the spinning wheel. Ripped the old spinning off the bobbins. I fear leaving the spun fiber on the bobbins for 3 years glued it all together. It currently looks like this.

I was so put out by that stupid fiber (not Dave’s fault) that I just wadded it up and threw it away.  You can tell I didn’t even care if the picture was in focus.  So, now, I’m beginning on this.

Rachel’s Dyeabolical Falkland fiber in the Ricky colorway.  I love it.  There will be more pictures when I actually have something on the bobbin to show you.

We have also been moulting here.

This is just a small sample of the fur the pup has been shedding since June.  I have it everywhere, inside and outside.  Tonythegrasscuttingguy is absolutely stunned by the sheer volume of it.  I take piles of it out to the garden area and just put it down there for the birds and animals to take.  The rug is a constant mess.  I’d blame it all on Grover, but Stinky adds her fair share.  Today, the boy went for a bath and day at camp.  He is exhausted, of course, but, happy.

I had to get a different car.  Frank, the Buick, had a case of terminal old crappy car disease, so he had to go.   I purchased a small used SUV thinking that the pup could get in and out without too much trouble.  Of course, I was wrong.  It is quite a distance for a 9 year old giant breed dog to go, so I bought him a ramp to get in and out of the car.  I also remembered that he is a guard dog breed so training was going to require the Steak ‘n Shake cheese Steakburger training method.  It only took 3 cheeseburgers to get him trained to use it and now he’s a champ.  He looks adorable in the cargo hold behind the seats.  He’s also quite a bit safer in that area.

Well, that’s what I’ve been up to.  Not particularly exciting, but that is how my life goes and I’m just okey-dokey with it.

Have a good one!!!

 

Culling the herd the wrong way.

I’ve been pond mucking, removing and relining and restocking. As we all know, I know how to have a great time.

It still looks pretty much like this, but now there are fish.  I bought 10.  Lost 2 to old age or illness.  Lost 3 more some other way.  Attrition can be brutal.  I believe either the racoons, owls, hawks, or who knows who have been at it.  I finally went to buy water plants.

L*we’s nor H*ome D*pot have anything at all like that.  I even checked with Wallyworld.,  Nada.  Finally, I was talking to Chris and Karen at church this morning and they told me about a pond place nearer.  I looked it up on my smart phone (thank you smartphones) and proceeded there after church.  I got my plants, came home and put them in.  We’ll see how effective they are at protecting my idiot fish.  I will post pics of the water plants after they have made themselves tohome.    Right now they’re on their sides and look just sad.

Have a good one!  My soundtrack for today?  “Don’t Let the Rain Come Down” because we are currently having our monsoon season.