And It Was Christmas...

So, lots happened. Kid #1 was here, now he's left to go back home. He left me this for Christmas. My yoga studio's logo in iron and steel... It's beautiful. I never thought it would be in 3-D. I had given him the logo a while ago, and was concerned that it would be an iron sign -- something the building where I rent wouldn't have allowed me to hang off the exterior and it's a storefront: drywall walls can't hold these things up!

But this? This is beautiful. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it. I mean, the studio floor is all classroom. I don't have a foyer, and I don't have a lot of room to display artwork. It wouldn't look good on top of the cubbies, because you'd lose the beauty of it. And Heaven help anyone it fell on... 

I'll think of something. I have time, what with the remainder of the holiday. 

The Last Baking...

Because I didn't have enough to do, I baked more. My mom requested "Nut cups." At least that's what I heard when she said, "I have a request, and I'd love nut cups." She swears she didn't and that she was going to make them. 

I made them. God's fiddliest cookie - for real. They make the Pineapple Crescents look like child's play.

There were 70 of them. What a pain in the rear end. I made over 200 of the Pineapple Crescents and it wasn't that bad. 

And then, because I had nothing else to do (can you read the sarcasm here? Because I'd hate to waste a good sarcasm...), I made 4-cheese crackers. These went to my friend "J" for Christmas. I thought she was going to serve them to her guests, but she stuck her nose into the box and stashed them. So I guess that's a good thing. 

It wasn't the "cheese puffs" recipe I've made before. I'm pretty sure that I'll find that card in about 2 weeks. But these crackers are actually quite good. I find that a 1/3 cup metal measuring cup does the flattening just fine. 

I used sharp cheddar, Asiago and a Kraft "Mexican blend." So, maybe 5 or 6 cheeses total, but I suppose you could use whatever you wanted. I'll do them again - they were that good. 

To the left here is an overall shot of all the choir cookie bags, plus the potica plates for our family's dinner. 

There were eleven bags, plus the big gift bag for the vicar and her wife. 

The potica was good; the one end was a little "doughy" but overall, it kept its moisture in the freezer. I think we'll have to make more for Easter, but we have time. 

Everyone loved the cookies; my mom got her own tray. This year, we put mine and Kid #2's cookies together on one tray. He wasn't initially jazzed about that, but it worked out well. He did CPS Butter Cookies, sugar sticks, and this cookie he called a "ganache roll up." It was fantastic; sadly for my waistline happily, he left me the remaining 8 or 9 of them in a bag. I still have most of them in the freezer, so I guess I'm good. 

Finished & Started...

I finished the Terribly Simple Shawl. It didn't block out quite the way I wanted, but I really like how it sits on my shoulders. I think the pattern was easy, and with a hand-painted yarn in a lighter colorway, that would also be quite stunning. As luck would have it, I have some lovely hand-painted yarn somewhere in my stash. 

It's nice to have one thing more finished this year. I'm not sure if I'm keeping this or if it'll be a gift at some point. Still contemplating that. I have at least one person in mind for this, if I decide to give it away. 

Here's what's started for 2019... One pair of plain vanilla socks on 9" circulars. This was already frogged by Christmas Eve, but I re-started that and I'm half-way through the ribbing. It'll be a plain leg, switch to DPNs for the heel flap and gusset, I think, then circulars for the foot till the toe decrease. Should be interesting, as this is the first time I'm trying the 9" circular method. The first few rows were a pain in the thumb; once a few rows were established, it eased up. 

These are going to be my "traveling socks project," and so I have no agenda for finishing them. Yarn is (of course) Opal, and colorway is Sunrise, Color 9445 and Lot 1732. Or the other way around. I can't read German. 

Now to find the needles for the green socks; because I have the yarn. And I have to find the other sock... I swear, 2019 will be the Year of Organizing My Knitting...

And I started this... It's the Diamond Smackdown shawl. On Ravelry. Bought it at Le Mouton Rouge Knittery, and bought the yarn there. 

MadTosh Merino Light Glitter. This looks pink in the picture, but it's really kind of a rose gold color. 

Knitting up much like Close to You, which means increasing the plain knitting along the right-hand side, and doing the diamond pattern on the left-hand side. 

I had a slight "pattern change" when I did the M1l (make one, left) wrong. I made some holes. In my opinion, it's a design element. I chose not to frog it. 

The MadTosh is really, REALLY squishy and the picture doesn't do the yarn justice. The sparkles are silver. The yarn has an ever-so-slight black halo to it, which adds a depth to the color. I'm already in love with the yarn and I'm thinking it's going to block like MadTosh usually does: like a dream. This is a bit more than the pattern calls for - it calls for 350 yards, and I have about 420 or so. I think I'll be able to make a few more diamonds. This is going to move along pretty quickly. I was bouncing between getting the ribbing on the sock done and this, but I think I'll be sticking to this for a while.

You knit till you have "half the yarn used up." So I had to weigh it. And then you start the decreases. I'm pretty sure this will be bigger than the specs, because of the extra yardage. 

What's For Dinner...

I was home today (took some time off from one of the jobs) and Hubby and I thought we'd use the Instant Pot. I sicced him on the internet to find a recipe, and he came up with a classic: Porcupine Meatballs!

I haven't had those in --- oh gosh --- maybe 20-25 years, if not more. My mom and granny used to make them as the stuffing for cabbage rolls: golubky in Polish or Hungarian - take your pick. 

We doubled the number of meatballs, and used our own homemade pizza sauce. So, one issue is we could've used more sauce! The recipe called for serving it with roasted potatoes, but I chose noodles. 

I should have just frozen the extra meatballs, but there you go. Live and learn. I'm still getting to know the ins and outs of the Instant Pot. 

For instance, "Instant" is extremely relative. The recipe said "25 minutes," but... Let's dissect this. Hubby made the meatballs. He ground up some round steak, because we like to do that. Less fat. 

Anyway, took him (after grinding) about 10 minutes to do the meatballs. The pizza sauce was already canned, so that time was eliminated. 

It took about 7-8 minutes to get the sauce simmering in the pot on the "saute" setting. Then you add the meatballs, set the pressure and let 'er rip... It took about 12 minutes to get the pot "up to steam." Then, 25 minutes of pressure cooking. Then 15 minutes to "naturally" decompress. About 2 minutes to flip the valve and along with all that, I was cooking the noodles. 

Basically, "instant" was about 45 - 50 minutes. So claims that "it cooks frozen chicken in 10 minutes," while they're technically correct, you're not necessarily going to have dinner on the table in 15 minutes. 

Just in case you believed the hype. 

It's a great appliance. But it's not as "instant" as you'd think. 

Random Christmas Pictures....

Gift bag from Kid #2 with a "Lit Wrap" -- an infinity cowl with Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions" on it. You're right - he gave me one early... But apparently, it was the wrong color, so they sent him another one, which was in purple. So I have two. 



























Church, 10:30 p.m. Vigil of Christmas Eve. It's a beautiful service. My guitar is there; I played "Silent Night," and "In the Bleak Midwinter" for that service. We had over 60 people, which for our church is pretty good! This was before we really got going. 








A hand-painted angel ornament from a friend. It's painted inside, in the Chinese fashion, and it's a beauty. I was really surprised; it's hard to tell by the picture, because of the reflection of the lights, but it's a very pretty pale green background, and she's got a lot of detail in her face and wings. Definitely an heirloom-quality piece. 












The girls at Christmas. This picture is Quinn - who's looking more like Tippi as she gets older. She's my snuggle bunny. 















Here's Tippi - my elder dog, my shadow, my therapy dog rock-star. She's a little bald around her neck - if she'd quit licking her back leg, she'd be out of the cone! We're going to have her checked for allergies - it's gotten worse as she's gotten older and I don't want to keep her in a cone for the rest of her years!














And here's Raisa, the goofball husky. She had to be bribed. The Elkhounds will smile on command, for the most part. Raisa demands tribute for the privilege of a photograph, unless I can catch her on the sly. 













So how was your holiday? Were you able to spend time with your loved ones? And were you able to have time for yourself? I hope so! 

Randomly, Before Christmas...

I am soooooooo far behind that I may see myself coming AND going. 

I just got my Christmas cards out. On the Solstice. Normally, they're out the first part of December, though I have been known to do New Year's cards when it's really a rough year. 

What's Done...

Christmas Ornaments 2018 are DONE. The ones that need to be mailed have been mailed. The remainder are ready to go for Christmas Eve. 

I will need to order more - I'm just a few short, and what I did was "organize" them into each kid. Each kid now has a bag of his or her ornaments. That's how I found that I was a few short. I thought I'd planned it out, but there you go. 

I've bookmarked the page for the plaster ornaments, because they're not available in town. I'll be tripping my fingers through that site after Christmas. Not that I expect a sale. Honestly, each one costs no more than $2.00. 

I don't like to think of these as "cheap gifts," though. I put a lot of time into them. The paint, glitter, finishing, etc. It's something. I'm not patting myself on the back, but I am going to recognize all of us who are Makers. 

We often don't get the recognition - and it's our own fault. "Oh, it wasn't much. I just made it."

Enough. Say it loud and proud because even though it's now "a thing" (thanks, Pinterest) for everyone to "make things," I'm talking about us non-Pinterest people who just kind of go about our lives and do things by hand because we love the process, love the end product, and want our families to know we care enough to do it for them. 


Next up? God's fiddliest cookies are done. 

I seriously do not know how many of these were in the two batches we did. I taught Kid #2 how to do these, but we ran into an unexpected dilemma in the making of the dough. I noticed it on Friday night (funny - this was actually LAST Friday). Hubby had purchased groceries, and I'd asked him to get me a couple tubs of cottage cheese. 

I wasn't specific enough. This recipe calls for FULL FAT cottage cheese, and my Granny preferred Dean's. 

He got me unsalted low-fat. Thank God that it was low-fat at least. Unsalted cottage cheese, by the way?

Nasty. 

Kid #2 said I should have called him and he'd have picked up the right stuff, but by then, I'd had one batch of dough done and I didn't want the discrepancy to be obvious. 

And it is obvious - to me, at least - that they're very different from last year. 

First off, the dough WAS HORRIBLE to work with. It was too stiff. Full-fat cottage cheese is more liquid; I think I could've added a splash of half-and-half to give it more fat, but I wasn't going to tinker with it this close to Christmas. They're not nearly as brown as last year's cookies. Again - fat. 

It's Christmas. Time to eat fat. It's ok. 

A few cookie trays have gone out already. 

Guitar teacher: Check. 

Eye doctor: Check.

Dentist: Check. 

My boss: Check. 

Yoga Students: Check.

Still getting rave reviews, and for what it's worth, the Brown Butter Salted Caramel cookies are a resounding "Yeah, baby!!" So I guess I'll keep them in the rotation. 

Funny enough, my yoga students left the M & M cookies. I appreciated the one student who wasn't shy about taking some home. That's why I brought them - the last class I was teaching for the week, I brought those gold + red gift bags and told them: divvy them up! 

Lights have been added. Hubby added colored LED lights to the lilac bushes. He was a bit frustrated with the lights (which he tested, and knew that they worked) crapping out on half the bush. So he added a couple more strings. 

I like it. They're still a little scraggly looking, but the bushes themselves are young yet. Only about 6 - 7 years old. He keeps them about 6' high and keeps the suckers trimmed off so that they're nicely shaped and give us a beautiful entry to the front yard. 


That, plus a wreath? That's about all we accomplished this year. At least on the outside. 

The tree is up. This is an early picture -- there are actually ornaments on it, and the presents are all around it. 

The Nativity set is up.  We have several variations and this is the one Hubby chose this year. 

I suspect it's the one he could most easily find... 

Oh, I actually wrapped packages!! And they don't (totally) look like a 5-year old did them look pretty good, if I do say so myself. You have to understand: Gift bags were made for people like me. I cannot usually wrap a box. 

I'm admitting it. Yes, I can knit socks and I can bake anything, and I can even knit lace, but I cannot wrap a box. But tonight, I managed. 

My Nightly Cuppa...

I love a cup of chamomile tea at night. It's a ritual and I enjoy it. But I was using mugs that were about 12 ounces. 

I have a 60-year old bladder. It's not appreciative of 12 ounces of ANY fluid right before bed. And it gets back at me by waking me at 2:30 or 3 a.m. Usually on the days I have to be up at 5 a.m. 

But as I rummaged around looking for something, I found my snowman mug. I got this about 20-ish years ago? It's about 8 ounces, which is perfect. 

I also am working on that expensive probiotic. In water. It seriously tastes like I'm drinking yeast. 

I have never drunk yeast, mind you. But the powder + water has a distinctly "yeast-ish" taste. Yum. 

All I have in my mind is "Those 950 billion bacteria are repopulating your gut..." so I may as well just chug the stuff down. As long as I do that by mid-afternoon, I won't be awakened by that either!

Things Left Undone...

I'm almost done with the Terribly Simple Shawl. If I can get it done and bound off by tomorrow, I will seriously wear it to my friend's yarn shop. I'll block it later!

I had a knot in the yarn, which bugs me. And it was by the Kfb - the knit front and back which makes the "lacy" edge. Not like I could hide it. 

It's acres and acres of garter stitch, and boy does that show you who's boss of your knitting. 

I have one stitch that's a little wonky, but I didn't notice it till I was about 8-ish rows past. Not frogging. 

Much like the Grapevine Lace scarf? I'll live with it. 

It seems more blue in this photo, but to me, the greens really pop. It's on a 24" circular, so I honestly have no idea how wide it's going to be when I'm done. 

I can tell you it's getting heavy. It should keep me nice and toasty. 

If we ever get winter. 

It's the Solstice today. And it's just barely below freezing. It's 31* outside to be exact. Winter hasn't hit us. 

Makes me think winter will be "left undone." Which worries me. 

Will it hit in March? Will it not hit at all? Has our climate reached a tipping point here in this weird "winterless bubble" that we've been in recently? This stuff keeps me awake all night. 

My Mom requested Pecan Tassies. Those are, at this moment, left undone. They will be done - probably Saturday night or Sunday. I've got to deliver them on Monday, so I'll be getting skippy on those tomorrow. 

Presents still to be wrapped. Not too many. Just have to get one batch put together. 

Random Picture...

All those cable channels and nothing on TV. So I hit up PBS. You can always find something. I understand one of the British channels has a burning Yule Log with Christmas music on. That may be our Tuesday thing. 

I went with Julia Child - the old half-hour programs. 

This is Julia whipping egg whites by hand. She's got a 10" copper bowl and a 5" whisk. I looked it up. A 10" copper bowl in the French style will set you back about $100. 

There's one at Home Depot for $27.00. I'm pretty sure it's not French. 

I have not found a whisk of the diameter she has - that's where the 5" comes from. There's a 24" whisk selling for about $30 on some restaurant supply website, but if you're going to beat egg whites by hand - and I've done it once or twice - you need a big bulb on the end of your whisk. It's not the length; it's the girth. 

She was huffing and puffing. But really? With the right equipment, it took about 90 seconds to get to soft peaks. 

What's on your list? What's been accomplished? What's left undone? 

And you know what? If it's undone and it's not going to cause immediate harm? It's ok to be undone. Christmas is going to happen whether you like it or not. Breathe into it. Enjoy the Solstice - it gets lighter from here on out. 

Reading & Risotto...

I totally forgot to give you the recipe for my Shrimp & Pea Risotto the other day. We got to talking... 

I made this the other day. 

Shrimp & Pea Risotto
4 c. water
2 Knorr Veggie cubes
1/4 t. salt
Black pepper to taste
Penzey's Tuscan Sunset Blend (about 1 tsp.)
1 c. frozen peas
1 c. chopped leeks or shallots
2 c. shrimp, cooked, cut into pieces
1 1/2 c. shredded cheese, divided*
2 c. Arborio rice
3 T. butter
1 T. bottled garlic
1/4 c. cream or half-and-half

Heat the 4 c. of water to boiling and add the Knorr cubes. Give it a stir and set aside.

In a heavy 3-qt. saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Turn the heat to medium, and add the leeks (or shallots), stirring and allowing them to cook till translucent. Don't brown them! 

Add the Arborio rice, and stir to coat with the butter. Add 1 c. (about) of the broth and stir, keeping the rice at a simmer, and stirring consistently (not necessary to keep stirring, but you do have to stir quite frequently). 

When the rice has absorbed about 90% of that water, add another cup or so. Keep stirring. Watch your heat; you don't want it to boil - just staying at simmer. 

Before you add the 3rd cup of water, add the salt, pepper, and Penzey's spices. Stir, and then add the garlic. 

Add the 3rd cup of water, keep stirring. This is a good time to meditate or talk on the phone with someone, but don't forget to keep stirring!

By now, you'll start to get a feel for how it's thickening up. Taste the rice; is it al dente - I mean, does it have a bit of chew, but tastes done? Probably not, but that's ok - you need to know what it tastes like at a couple of stages. 

Add the 4th cup of water when 90% of the prior cup is absorbed. See where we're going here? It's about letting the rice fatten up and absorb the water. 

You MAY need a 5th cup - it will depend upon your rice. If you do, heat up water (don't add cold!), and add it, about 1/2 cup at a time, at this point. 

Add the peas and stir around for a few minutes. Add the shrimp, stirring around. Add the cream, stirring around. Taste, and adjust seasonings now, but wait on salt (if you think it needs it). 

Add 1 c. of the shredded cheese and (yes, again) stir around, to get it all melty and lovely. 

One more stir, then top with the rest of the cheese. Let it sit for 3 minutes and serve. 

I like to add a bit of pepper to my dish, and the other night, we had fresh French bread.

This is really great the next day, heated up. For us, it serves about 6 people. 

Now, the asterisks... The cheese we use is a blend of a couple of them. I had Parmesan, Asiago, and Romano. You can use whatever you want, but please use REAL cheese, not the stuff in the green cardboard thingie. 

You can shake it up: use asparagus instead of peas. Use mushrooms instead of shrimp. 

Enjoy experimenting with it. 

Reading...

Still working on that Marilla of Green Gables book. It's really addictive, so I'm thinking I'll finish it this weekend, while waiting for cookies to be done. Kid #2 is coming over to make the Pineapple Crescents - I'm late, because I've already given out two trays... 

I'm also trying to find the birthday card I had for Kid #2. It was a good one, and I haven't been able to find it. I'd bought it months ago, when I saw it. Of course. 

And I think this weekend, I'll start the Christmas cards. 

Knitting...

The Terribly Simple is plodding along. It's going to be nice; and I'm happy that I'm plowing through to the finish, but I do wish it was done already. 

First off, I do want to wear it. 

Second off, I want to go back to socks. 

Not sure what I'll do next; finish a pair, probably. I need to get that moving because I want to start wearing some of the ones I have that are singles. 

Random Picture...

The tray for my guitar teacher. The plate for the eye doctor was already handed out. 

Let's see... 4 cookies of each type. Starting at top left, ginger snaps, brown butter salted caramel, white chocolate cranberry. 

Next row is date balls, chocolate shortbread (under the red bow) and oatmeal. 

Next row is potica, Snow on the Mountain and Lemon Cherry.

Next row is an errant date ball, filled cookies and fruity oatmeal. 

Last row is Jewish Honey Cookies, M & M cookies and chocolate chunk cookies. 

My guitar teacher was very happy. I got a thumbs-up on the brown butter salted caramel. And a thumbs-up on the chewy version of the Lemon Cherry cookies. 

Once I make the Pineapple Crescents, I'm done. Baking for Christmas 2018 will be officially over. Hubby forgot about the Apple Bread... I don't think my teacher noticed. 

What's on your baking list? My teacher said that he feels like my cookies are my own ministry. His granny did "the ministry of the potica." Bakers know what this means. 

What I'm Reading, and What's Finished...

Having survived my first (and hopefully ONLY) root canal, I decided to treat myself. Well, I did have to go to B & N for a bible. It's kind of a story...

Bible Study Commences...

As a cradle Catholic, I am woefully unfamiliar with the Bible. Seriously, if you could answer the questions in the Baltimore Catechism, you were golden, as far as the Church was concerned. The less you thought, the better. The less you delved into the Bible, the happier the priests were, I think. 

Our church has started a Bible Study, and I thought I'd give it a whirl. Except I couldn't find my Bible. Granted, it's a Catholic Bible, and I attend an Episcopal Church...but according to the person hosting the group, that was fine, because "I'm going to use about a dozen Bibles anyway, and it's all interpretation." 

I went downstairs to look in the boxes of books for my Bible. I did purchase a Study Bible when I worked for the nuns, and practically never cracked it open, honestly. And I couldn't find the thing for the life of me! I even had Hubby go downstairs to see if I was missing it. He couldn't find it, but he did point out, "You have 2 of them on the top of the red cabinet." Which I did. And I suspect the kids put them there, because they're both Gideon Bibles. They'd do that, figuring, "Mom wants another Bible." I have all the funeral bibles that were given to the family when people died. It's a funeral home thing, and the crucifixes and bibles somehow ended up with me. I have a crucifix in every room except the bathrooms... Each from a relative. 

Anyway... No bible. So I trotted over to Barnes & Noble to peruse the Bible section. I was given a couple different editions to review. 

And I ended up buying another St. Joseph Bible. Sorry; it's habit. I bought tabs, too, and a case to carry it around, since it's a paperback and will get shabby. 

I was going to knit tonight - instead, I tabbed a Bible. Talk about futzy, picky work...the pages are thin, so you have to be careful to get the tabs lined up. 

So far, we haven't even cracked the bibles, but it's only going on the 3rd meeting this coming week. Our facilitator is a noted Biblical scholar - we're talking someone who's taught in seminaries, and can read two versions of Hebrew, Aramaic, and 2 versions of Greek. We're very lucky to have someone of that caliber here in our area. 

Last Tuesday was Mary Magdalene. Quick lesson: No, she wasn't a prostitute. She was a woman who believed in the ministry of Jesus, and if you delve into it, while the guys were off preaching, the women were back home making sure they had food, shelter, and honestly? Cash. So to disregard their contribution is remarkably short-sighted. 

But then again, most organized religions always do discount the women. The feminist in me is coming out more and more. 

So what was the treat? It wasn't the Bible. It was books. This is the one I started today at lunch, and boy was that a mistake! I wanted to keep reading. I'll be reading tonight; when I should be sleeping, probably!

I loved the series "Anne of Green Gables," and I eventually bought the books. I read all of them. This is a "prequel," I suppose, written by another author, not Lucy Maude Montgomery. It's Marilla's backstory. 

So far, it's lovely. The same kinds of lyrical descriptions in the original. It reinforces my desire to go, someday, to Prince Edward Island. Which I'm sure is kind of a tourist trap now, but I'd love to tromp around where this story originated. 

I also picked up a couple boxes of Christmas cards, and two books - one for each kid - as a stocking stuffer. 

Speaking of the kids, it's also time for The Annual Ornaments... 

2018 Ornament Project...

As is my wont, it's ornament time. I ended up, earlier this year, ordering some over the internet because I could no longer get the plaster ornaments at Michael's. Well, I could find some, but they were - honestly - stupid... Squares of plaster. What the heck??? I need ornaments in different shapes for the kids. I had a couple years of those idiotic squares, and then I found a bunch of cool ones.

For those who might be newbies to this tradition, it's about, oh, almost 35 years old. I started it right after Kid #1 was born. Born of necessity (not a lot of $$ to throw around on gifts and my siblings and I all had our kids around the same time), I became "The Aunt Who Paints Your Ornaments." 

Each nephew got 18 years of ornaments, one a year. Mostly, I was able to stick with "themes." One kid got all Santas. One kid got cats. One got gingerbread houses. Honestly, I still make them for MY kids...What can I say??

Now, I'm on to the great-kids: my siblings' grandkids. There are only a few of the original nieces & nephews left. I keep a spreadsheet. It's necessary for my own sanity! 

I do still have to paint my kids' ornaments, but this is what's done so far. I still have to finish them, but it was too cold to spray the finishing on them. This weekend, I think I can get it on. 

So: the trees go to Seattle. The pink snowflake, wreath and "Joy" go to Michigan, and the mitten, snowman and two name tags go here in town. 

Finishing includes spraying them with a sealant, adding "fake snow" texture and glitter, and for the name tags, I'll write the recipient's names on them, "From Santa" perhaps. Not sure yet.  Oh, and sometimes, I gild the ornaments, when appropriate. I tie on ribbons for hanging and we mail out what goes elsewhere. The remainder go to my Mom's house for Christmas Eve dinner. 

As far as I know, the nephews have used their ornaments on their trees. And Kid #2 asked me, "As long as you're doing the ornaments this year, can you paint me 5 or 6 more ornaments?" What??? I asked him why and he said, "I don't have mine."

Well... They're here in a box. Somewhere. I'm going to pull them out for him. This is what the bottom of our tree looks like. We have exactly 4 ornaments on the tree - maybe we'll get the rest on over the weekend. 

Hubby has become enamored of my Frosty Friends theme, and he's gotten a bunch of the animated thingies. 

He pushed all the buttons the other day, and honestly, I wanted to take a hammer to the whole thing... I had a 2-day migraine, with a 1-day rebound headache. I really didn't want to hear all the cacophony of 5 different carols playing. These things go round the entire tree. It's adorable. As long as it's silent...

Knitting...

Yes, there's knitting. I was at the gastro doc the other day and I was knitting. And knitting. And knitting. 

He wondered why my BP was high. Well, he was nearly an hour late, and I had to be somewhere (I was late). Not cool, dude, but he's a doctor I'll wait for. 

For my Terribly Simple Shawl, I found A Knot. I do not like Knots... 

I knitted through it, and it's for me, so I wasn't going to splice it. If this was a gift, I might cut away the knot, double knit a few stitches, and weave the ends in. 

It's a pain. 

The shawl, however, is coming along. 

Remember the other day when I said I was "monogamous" when I was coming close to the end of a project? I'm kinda there with this. I'm close enough to the last third or so of the yarn, and I want to get it done and wear it. 

I still have a sausage. The Precious Metals scarf will, I'm afraid, perpetually "sausage." It's not the yarn, not the blocking - it's the pattern. I thought, knitting this, that I'd do it again. 

I will not. I had to block the living daylights out of this scarf, and I think I blocked out the texture of the yarn. It was a nice fluffy 4-ply but now it's...flat. I feel like I blocked out the "warmth" of the yarn, if that makes any sense. And as you can see when you click on the picture, it's still sausaging. I wore it today, wrapped around my neck; it wasn't as warm as I thought it would be, but it was long enough for me. 

I'll live with the sausage. 

By the way, the gastro guy says my gut is messed up with the food poisoning and then the antibiotic for my tooth. He gave me a rather expensive probiotic (Rx only) used for folks with IBS. I have 90 days to get my gut in order. And in January (happy birthday me), I get an endoscopy and a colonoscopy. Joy. But it's time; I can't complain about that. 

I hope my gut settles down. I'll tell you - the probiotic has 950 BILLION bugs... I took the first dose at lunch. I've been burping all afternoon, and belly is gurgling. Those side effects were noted in the leaflet. Teaching my yoga class tomorrow night ought to be interesting, to say the least.

I'm excited because, between work commitments and The Root Canal, I've not taught for 2 weeks. I miss it and miss my students. They're not going to know what to do in my class anymore! 

Random Picture...

I did get a little bit more Christmas up in the house. This is a Lizzie*Kate cross stitch I did years ago. I have a few more in the series, but I'm not sure I can find those metal frames again. I love the way they look, for these in particular. 

What I also love is the hand-dyed floss. I have the box full of them, and my goal in 2019 is to finish at least one more snowman, finish my mother's angel (finally) and find a way to get back to doing more of the cross stitch along with knitting. 

My friend J and I did these together. I think she framed hers in a rustic kind of barnwood frame. I know I fiddled with the clay buttons on mine. And she did an ivory fabric. Mine is Lugano, tan with gold flecks in it. I think I should have doubled up on the white floss, because even in person, it's not easy to see. 

I have to find the December snowman - he's in the closet, I think. And get him hung up too. He's on linen. 

What's on your needles? What have you been making for this holiday season? And what decorations do you put out year after year that are "musts" for your holiday? 

Ding, dong, the tooth is dead...

Well. Eventful it's been. And painful. And expensive. 

And that's not even counting the crap that's going on in Michigan and Wisconsin...

So. One thing at a time. Top to bottom...

The Vicar Is Installed...

It's done and she's ours... Our vicar has finally been installed. I got the banner done (no picture - I'll grab one this week, I promise), and it turned out ok. The cake? The cake was, in my opinion, FANTASTIC. And no, I didn't taste it - I'm not all that fond of cake, actually. I do love this frosting, though. Now to remember what I did to it...

This is the cake; a spice cake for 70 people, which was, once again, far too much. The Hospitality Ladies told me it was all going to be "finger food" - and I believed them. Silly me. It was a literal banquet. Way tons of food, enough for several Coffee Hours. 

The music was great, the service was beautiful. Her wife preached an amazing sermon. And now we start to do the work she was hired to do: rebuild the church. Shades of St. Francis of Assisi, right? 

Pickle Soup for a Toothache...

About a week ago, I started to have a toothache. At times, my teeth will get a bit more sensitive, usually when the weather changes. Didn't think too much about it, except this wasn't fading. It was actually getting more painful. 


It was a tooth I'd had crowned about 10 years ago, and frankly, I'd forgotten that that crown was that old! I was finally reduced to eating liquid food - and at that, only at room temperature, because it was starting to hurt up into my ear. 

I went, one day, to the Polish Deli, down the way from the office, and thankfully - PICKLE SOUP!! There are a couple of recipes out there, and this one is a blessed marvel! Zupa Ogorkowa - the stuff of the gods. The link here is just about the closest I can get to what this deli does. 

The pickles in this soup here are shredded. The celery and carrots are chunked, and it uses a chicken broth. You could go veggie stock, and have it all vegetarian. But it's a sweet + sour sort of creamy soup that just hits the spot. 

Hubby thought I was nuts, but it felt good. On this day, however, I bit into a cracker, touched the bum tooth and wanted to barf. 

I finally "bit the bullet" (go ahead - groan) and called my dentist. Got an appointment that night - and it was bad enough that I got a sub for my yoga class. The nausea came in waves all afternoon, and no - not because of the soup (I'm telling you - try this. It's amazing.) - but because of the tooth. It felt like I'd been punched in the jaw. 

Long story short: It was determined that I had to have a root canal. 

There's a special kind of terror to me on the very thought of "root canal." And of course, everyone has a "nasty root canal" story. I had the first appointment Thursday, got steroids and antibiotics - mainly to "calm down the hot tooth." And the RC was scheduled for this past Monday. 

As an aside, because I have to work late this Thursday and next Monday, that will be a cumulative TWO WEEKS of not teaching yoga... I'm not happy with my dental dealings... 

Come Monday, the tooth is still insanely painful. Root canal it is. Back story: I give my dentist (who's also a dear friend) a huge - I'm talking VERY LARGE - cookie tray for him and his staff. I told him last Thursday that I wasn't happy about the RC and he promised it would be "the best root canal you'll ever have." I told him, "Your 2018 Cookie Tray is resting on the success of this treatment. No pressure." 

I have a "nasty root canal story." Well, sort of. I had 4 shots to numb me. And one of them gave me a pretty rotten reaction - my heart went all tachy on me and I was shaking like, well, like a huge whack of epinephrine entered my system. Which it did. And it still wasn't numb. I'm not sure what exactly was done on Shot #4, but finally, I was numb. They were saying that if they couldn't do the whole procedure, they'd just "pack the tooth and have me come back." Nope. Do it now or don't do it. 

They did it. Honestly? That 4-shots-and-awful-reaction thing was the worst thing that happened. I did feel some slight tugging. But I got a bad verdict. 

I need an implant. See, here's the thing. The tooth is dead, and cracked all the way through. It was a big filling and the crown was supposed to hold it together. It did its job till the tooth started to die. I've got a referral to have the tooth extracted (there goes about $3,000) and then 6 months later, the final "pretty tooth" gets put on (there goes another $3,000 or so). 

The alternative is a bridge. Which would affect THREE teeth: the dead one, and the teeth on either side. I've just got done paying for braces to fix my teeth. I don't want to whack up the alignment now. 

The referral is in January. Lucky me - I'll make my deductible, for sure. 

The Generosity of People...

This is a story about how good people are. I wanted to tell you about the patients at the clinic where I work (backstory: I have 3 part-time jobs; I don't talk about 2 of them, having learned the hard way that you really shouldn't talk about your jobs, especially if you're not having a great day). We did a month-long food drive. And people really got into it. We filled the doctor's SUV. Almost to where he couldn't fit anything more in it. 

I was very proud of our patients. They gave so that people could have food and other necessities. And today, they were asking if we were going to do something for Christmas... I've got to talk to him about perhaps doing a sock drive for the local homeless shelter. They get hats, gloves & scarves, but socks... Socks could be gold. 

I decorated the office for Christmas; keeping it from looking like the elves barfed in the place. Kept it a little classy, with nice touches. People seem to like it. 

The Charlie Brown tree, complete with blue fleece for Linus's blanket, sits next to our Premium Starter Kit, just in case someone wants to buy a kit for Christmas. Ask me - they make great gifts! 

Last year, I'd purchased about 50 snowflakes of different sizes, glittered on one side. I had them all over the office. This year, I did it a little differently. There are small Christmas stockings on each treatment room doorway, and a snowflake in each room. And then over the PT tables, and down the hall, are the other snowflakes. We have a small tree, to which the doctor added about 200 more lights, and I wrapped the pictures in the front waiting area. Those seem to be getting the most comments. People like them. It's the closest I'm coming to wrapping packages, that's for sure! Oh, and see the ribbon on the tree? One of our patients did that as my tutorial in How to Make a Pretty Bow. 

Of course, not much is done at home. I'll be lucky if we get our tree up this weekend. 

Hand-Dyed Holiday and Finished Objects...

OK, I finished the Precious Metals scarf. That's getting blocked tomorrow night. I'll run it in a bath, pin it out and see if I have to steam it. I think I will have to. I've ordered a new ironing board pad - ours got toasted with the church banner... 

I was really close to the end of the yarn. The Grapevine Lace pattern was supposed to end on the 12th row, but this ended up at Row 7 - close enough. I had to have enough yarn for the 5-row Rice Stitch finish + the bind off.  This is a worsted weight yarn, and the pattern was written for a more lightweight yarn. Perhaps it wouldn't have "sausaged" if I'd used the lighter weight yarn. But maybe it would have. 

It's a bit shorter than I thought it'd be, but then this seriously needs a blocking to pop that lace. Anyway, this pic is all the yarn I had left. Yarn Chicken, anyone?? 

I picked up the Terribly Simple shawl, hoping to get cracking on that one. It's kind of a boring knit, but it's something I'd like to use soon, so off I go. Great lunchtime knitting, for sure. I can watch a movie and knit at the same time. The Terribly Simple is on Ravelry - every link I've seen sends you there. If you haven't joined Ravelry? Well. You're missing out on a ton of patterns and wealth upon wealth of knitting/crocheting knowledge. 

Again, this pattern is for fingering weight, but the designer says, basically, "go for it" with any yarn you want. This is Indulgence, it's a DK weight. It's going to be interesting. That's all I can say right now. 

It's not laying out quite like I'd like the colors to lay out. But it's mostly shades I wear (minus the green; I don't wear a lot of green, so I'm still not sure why I purchased this colorway...). I figure that it's got enough grey and black in it to go with the many things I wear that are -- grey. Or black. 

I was supposed to go to the Hand-Dyed Holiday with my friend R. We'd planned it for at least a month, if not more. But life gets in the way and she couldn't go. I went anyway. I'd been looking forward to spending the time with her, yes. But I was also looking forward to seeing Kelly at Le Mouton Rouge, and honestly, disconnecting from my routine for a while. 

It was wild. This is me in the line to check out. It was so tight in there that I was actually glad that R couldn't go. She's got some mobility issues and the tight quarters would've been problematic. 

The goodies... Oh my. Must say at the outset that I didn't like Kelly's "Christmas colors" this year. It's me. Not her. They were based on vintage Christmas cards, but it just didn't flutter my wings. 

Beer and yarn? Hmmmmmmm. I didn't buy this, but it did look intriguing. A Harry Potter based project, including a "letter of acceptance" to Hogwarts. I don't know what it was supposed to make, but I did love those colors. 

Didn't love 'em enough to buy it, though. I had other plans. 

I got some new DPNs. I'm going to try these. Got a new crochet hook, and got 2 different 9" circulars to try socks on those. I'd still switch to DPNs for the heel flap anyway. 

I got my new stash of Eucalan, my preferred wool wash/rinse product. I got the unscented - not that the "scented" smells like much, at least to me. But I was running low, so I got a couple bottles. And then I got a bag that says, "My house is wool insulated." Pretty much. 

Found a "sheepish" infinity cowl that's light, but remarkably warm. I've already worn it. It came with me to the root canal party... Ten bucks - not a ton of money. Kelly  had red ones, too, but again: grey is my basic color. 

Of course, I got sock yarn. The Opal is just a fun colorway. The other one in the middle is kind of interesting - I've never used it. 

And the one on the right there? Sweet Georgia again, and yes, it'll be socks, not a shawl. I need to have some brown/beige socks. Probably a Vanilla Latte or maybe I'll try Jaywalker, though I've heard those can be a bit tight for someone with "biker calves" like me. 



And finally, a shawl with a new kind of blend: merino + linen. It's a wide shawl, like a drape, which is cool. Could be a scarf, sort of. 

A little bit of lace in it, and it should be interesting to knit. I'm a bit disappointed in the colorways of the yarn, though. This is a steel blue, which is fine; I was looking for stronger colors, but I liked the feel of the yarn, so I'm going with that. 

I also got a few stitch markers and a little alpaca pin. Just for fun. And a "purple Tribble" (a/k/a a pom pom) for my hat. I'll get a shot of that soon. It's adorable. Oh, and coupons, so R and I are going back there later this month. 

Not that I need yarn, and not that I'm going to drive 200 miles - well, 180 at least - for yarn. But I like Kelly; she's a friend, and since she's moved to Bloomington, I don't get to talk to her often. 

And it will be nice to get together for lunch with R. We may go to Rosie's Pub... It's kind of a cool place I found when I was on the way home. Good Reuben sandwich. 

What's with Michigan & Wisconsin...

Ok, so we know that we recently had midterm elections. Seems that some of the Republicans are sore losers. In both states, outgoing Republican administrations are doing things like stripping early voting hours/locations, gutting legislation trying to fix gerrymandering and otherwise basically uttering a strong "screw you" to the Democrats who were duly elected. 

As a friend, a woman who lives in Michigan, says, "This is chicanery at an extreme level." And it does fly in the face of what the voters want. And it should be illegal. News stories are telling the tale. One proposal on the floor in Michigan will basically repeal a constitutional issue - which, by Michigan law, CANNOT be done in the Legislature. 

But they're going to do it. Because they can. 

Is there no level to which they won't stoop? 

Apparently not. Votes don't count. Power is the ultimate. The be-all and end-all. And they're determined to keep that power at all costs. 

What they're doing should be illegal. They're emboldened by the Orange Idiot. 

It's got to stop. Before we're all screwed. 

Random Picture...

Tippi had a problem recently...She had an infected anal gland. Ugly and smelly, honestly. So she got antibiotics and a shot in the butt. As well as having her glands expressed, which she dislikes intensely. 

I was able to take her to the college for her visit. And when I got there, I found that they'd closed the campus because of an outbreak of mumps! Thanks for telling me. At least I've had them and Tippi can't get them! 

So here's my girl next to the "fireplace" in the library, where we visit. She's got the Christmas scarf on that the vet gave her. Small recompense, in her opinion, for the indignity of having her butt probed and poked. But she liked the visit and we had a good time. We're done for the semester, so we've got a month of rest for her. And Tuesdays off for me for the next 4-ish weeks. 

What's on your needles? What are you reading? Let's chat!