That Didn't Go As Planned...

Well. Merry Christmas. And Happy New Year. 

Christmas wasn't exactly Christmas. Or, it didn't go as I expected. I was honestly dreading it, since it was a reminder of the last day I saw my sister alive. 

But...almost simultaneously, Mother Nature threw a hissy fit and a couple of the immediate family came down with Covid, so we cancelled it. Initially, we put it off till New Year's Day - but with the fam having Covid, we had too many of us say, "You know, so far, we've been lucky and we feel like a cat on its 8-and-a-halfth life." 

So my mom pulled the plug, and we'll be doing a porch-drop of the various gifts. We even cancelled our Christmas Eve church service - winds howling over 50 mph, icy roads... I know there were churches in the area who did in-person services, but our own supply priest would have to have come in from north of Chicago. Maybe that was a knee-jerk reaction, but sometimes, you have to take that risk. 

All things considered, I'm somewhat relieved. Kid #2 came down for dinner today, which was fun. I ate some vegan cookies, and they were pretty good! In the larger tub on the left are variations on the ones I've made, and in the bowl on the right are things the Kid came up with. All are vegan, and the Snickerdoodles (a specialty) are delicious - you can't tell the difference between the ones I make (with egg) and the ones here, without egg. 

For some reason, Hubby won't touch them, so I have a whole batch of lovely cookies to myself! Fine with me. 

It's funny - you know when your oldest friend "gets" you. Check out this wrapping paper! She also is a person who can shop for me. I have a new, lovely, burgundy sweater that looks like it's a cowl neck, with a pair of gorgeous hoop earrings. She also gave me some lovely lotion and yoga-themed items. Hubby always rags me about the number of water bottles I have. So of course, in this year's box, was a yoga-themed water bottle. This one wasn't MY fault!

We've been exchanging gifts for a long time. This year, I found a vintage Mickey Mouse cookie jar, and at our church auction, I got a hand-quilted table runner (tones of green and ivory, just like her kitchen) and a set of cream/ivory soapstone candlesticks. I also got her a cosmetic bag, just for fun. She's a "fancy purse" kind of gal, and I found a glittery rose-gold one from the Kate Spade outlet website. It looks like much more than I paid for it! She loved all of it, thankfully. I'm particularly happy that she didn't have the cookie jar - she's got so much Disney stuff that I'm never sure what's what. And I'm not a Disney person, so I can only guess at this stuff. 

New Year's Eve...

In typical fashion, I'm watching "The Twilight Zone" marathon and will be knitting. I'm bummed - I had to change balls for the afghan in the final third of the row. Not cool. I was hoping to get the change done at the end of the row. 

I've prepped Quinn for the upcoming fireworks - which have already started. The diffuser in the bathroom where she sleeps has lavender in it and she got a round of hemp chews. I'll check on her in a bit (fingers and paws crossed, it's been quiet so far) and see if she needs a lavender butt rub. If it gets worse, I'll have to give her a shot of Sileo (vet prescribes it).  I'll have to be up with Quinn till she settles down and I don't have to worry about dragging her out from behind the toilet anyway, so I may as well relax and get comfy. I'm about to go change into my jammies and get situated in my chair. I know that while it's quiet now, around midnight it's likely to go nuts. 

Can you see how thrilled she is in her hat? Honestly, she does like wearing these things, but for some reason, this picture doesn't show her true feelings. Or maybe it does? All I know is that Raisa always looks like she's gonna crap in my shoes when I make her (rarely) wear a headband. 

Thankfully, Raisa isn't bothered by the noise, so she's conked out in the kitchen. 

I'm also praying for rain. Lots of it. So that the fireworks are kaput. It would make my new year nicer. There's church tomorrow, and I'd like to be fresh, since I'm playing a couple of the carols. 

We shall see what happens.

The Knitting...

The afghan, as I noted, is just coming along. It's at that weird spot where it looks like I haven't done anything much. I'm about 17.5" into it, and I've got to get to 35" before I can do the last 20 rows of the final border. 

I found that the turquoise and the taupe yarn balls are slightly off. It's not unusual, because in the factory they have wiggle room for that "5 oz" measurement of yarn. It can be plus or minus a couple of feet of actual yarn. In my world, I'd make sure that they're all even. Heck, I'm happy there wasn't a knot mid-hank - that's happened to me before. 

I have a small ball of turquoise left; and I might go really wild and put a little fringe on each corner. That would be very weird - I'm not normally a fringe gal. But in this case, maybe just a little one at the corners might not be too bad. 

I'm a bit annoyed... I'm not sure how I'm going to make these ends disappear into the afghan. If I could've made it to the end, I could've woven them up the sides. But I was literally 2/3 of the way across the row. Maybe I should've just frogged it back, but it's done now. 

I'm getting nervous about the Baby Surprise Jacket. I think I'm more concerned about getting the gauge right - I'm not usually a gauge person. My "typical" sweater is a knit-and-go because I always use the same yarn and the same pattern. But this branching out is a bit different for me. 

I keep telling myself, "How bad can it be?" So I guess I'll give it a go. It's only yarn. 

I have to get skippy though - the shower looks to be in March, so I suppose I'd better move it along!

The Baking...

Merry Christmas to me... Our old white Kitchen Aid is on its last legs. Hubby already opened her up and re-greased, and re-tuned her motor. And she was still struggling through some basic cookie batters. However, the nice thing about those gazillion pre-Christmas sales is that you can get your mixer replaced at a decent price so you may as well do so. One of our friends has christened her "Big Red." She's a commercial grade Kitchen Aid and I'm still getting used to her. She's a lot quieter than Snow White, but she's got a bigger bowl. Hubby also got me the scraper/beater, which I haven't used yet. 

I did try her out on some casserole bread, and the fact that it was screwed up is entirely my fault. Anyhow, I was surprised at how deep her bowl was. The dough did rise nicely, but I have to adjust my eyes to the depth and realize what's in there.

Honestly, it was the same with Snow White. Her bowl was bigger (went from a 3-qt. to a 5-qt.) and it took a minute to figure out what I could do with her and what she was capable of. 

And Big Red is an 8-qt. She's got some girth on her. 

So we didn't bake a couple of the batches of cookies that we planned. We didn't do the M & M cookies or the date balls. Not to worry - we have plenty of cookies to go around anyway. So I guess the ambitious list was just not going to happen this year. All I can say is that, were we to do those cookies, Big Red can handle them with ease. Snow White was, frankly, struggling with the almond crescents. 

I'm dropping a platter off to my mom. She gives my cookies to her friends, which works for me because then I'm not tempted to pick at them. 

Today, though - not a baking thing, but still... I made my first curry. I have to get more fresh ginger; I had a stash in the freezer, but somehow, it's not there, so I had to use powdered ginger. It was a sweet potato curry with red paste, and served over a rice blend. It wasn't too bad. We roasted Brussels Sprouts and I added some to my dish. They gave it a surprising amount of "crunch." Oh, and it also had garlic, chickpeas, and spinach in it. It kind of made me wish I could taste and smell. 

The original recipe called for a bag of fresh baby spinach, but I used a bag of frozen chopped spinach. That actually worked better because you weren't having to wrangle full-sized wilted spinach leaves. The Kid approved, and Hubby made chili-roasted spud slices, which they enjoyed. 

My commitment this year is to try to eat more veggies & fruit and less meat. I'm not a huge meat-eater anyway. But also I do need to de-junk my habits. I got into a rut with eating after yoga class: a ham sandwich or a grilled cheese... maybe a yogurt. 

It wasn't cool, and my stomach (and blood pressure) can tell. 

It's not necessarily a "resolution," but a plan. I'm setting a goal for myself, and I want to introduce more vegetarian options. I'm told that curries are addictive because they're super easy. Well, ok. Lucky for me, I don't get bored of the same meal over and over. 

The Hip...

So I'm still rehabbing. I'm not sure when I'll be bringing prenatal yoga to our studio, because you can't just teach that from a chair. 

But not to worry; I'm still positive that things are getting better. I have one more shot to do, and I'm going to talk to the doctor about a PT program. 

At first, he said, "all I could do for you for therapy, you can do with yoga." But -- I'm not always motivated. I need a nudge. If I'm tired or hurting, I'll sit my butt in a chair. That's fine, in one respect because it is important to listen to what your body is telling you. But to the point, I do need someone (other than Hubby) to nudge me to do stuff. If I know I have to be responsible to a therapist who's set goals, then I'm more likely to actually get off my butt and push myself a bit more. I would like to get more steps in, and one way to do that is to have a plan to get up out of my chair (at work it's worse!) and walk the hall a couple of times. If I can tour the office, or (weather permitting) take a tool around the building, it'll be good for me both mentally and physically. 

Once I can ditch the cane, I can get back to my yoga therapist. I can feel that it's a lot of muscle rather than bone pain. It's just getting my strength back in the muscles. 

I've taken to talking to myself. "It's just lifting your leg, you can do that." Or "One step at a time." Or all that positive stuff. If I do that regularly, I do see that I'm moving better and feel more motivated. 

Who knew? 

I'm not sure whether I should be bummed or pleased. Hubby got me a quad-foot for my cane and a spike for when Mother Nature gets back to her winter mode. After nearly killing us the week of Christmas, we've had that weird week "in-between" where it's almost been spring. 

No wonder everyone's sick. 

Random Picture...

I rearranged my table. I was given some lovely Lake Superior rocks and I wanted to display them. I also moved my Mary Magdalene icon. Of course, in my opinion, Mary Magdalene was robbed. Her entire story was created by the patriarchy in the church who couldn't stand a powerful, spiritual woman. And so they made her pay for it. 

But I digress. 

Today, after a long while, I decided to fire up the diffuser in the living room. I normally use the one in the bedroom every night, but I'm careful about the one in the living room because Raisa doesn't like it. I've heard about dogs who don't like the oils, even at the most mild, and that's fine. My friend's dog hated lavender, and when she'd diffuse it, the dog would go to the farthest reaches of the house to get away from it. 

Much like people - they don't have to like everything! So anyhow, she was in the kitchen, so I fired it up, using Young Living's "Celebration" blend. I hadn't pulled that one out in a while, because frankly, I wasn't feeling celebratory after this year. But I thought I should maybe try adjusting my own attitude. 

As you can see, I set my rocks out. The round one at the right, Kid #2 used for meditation, so it should be full of good juju. Now I just have to layer my own on top of it. I like to hold a palm stone when I meditate sometimes. Sometimes it's Labradorite, sometimes Shungite or Black Tourmaline or sometimes...it's just a rock. I have some Lake Michigan rocks that I picked up last time I was on the beach and they're just lovely smooth stones with stories to tell. 

I'm also hoping to get back to a regular meditation practice in 2023. Last Thursday, I held a free Metta Meditation class and one of my students said, "My heart feels so light." 

I want that feeling in 2023. What is your desire for 2023? What are your goals? And you know what? It's ok if you don't have any right now. 

A Very Covid Christmas

Strangely enough, this is my 1- year anniversary. The anniversary of me saying, "I think I'm coming down with a sinus infection..." which turned out, over New Year's Day, to be diagnosed as COVID-19. A year later, I've finally got my sense of taste & smell back about 85%. 

And our family finally got together to celebrate. Sort of. Both my sister and I are considered "compromised," and my mom is in her mid-80s, so that puts her in a position where she's also got to be careful. 

The day before our Xmas Eve celebration, my brother calls and says, "We're out." I wondered, frankly, if there was some family drama. Well, not the way I thought. One of the kids tested positive, and they had all been in close proximity. Everyone was getting tested, and not coming to my mom's house. That was 6 people. 

Then I got a text that one of my sister's kids was also exposed. There went 2 more. 

My mom, thankfully, said, "NOPE, you are NOT coming into my house if you are waiting for test results." And one of my kids was out of town, so we were down 1 person. 

Our usual complement of 20 was down to 11 - but we had the dinner catered for 20...so there was a LOT of food left over. 

This was also the first Christmas that Hubby and I did nothing except bake cookies and potica. Normally, we put on about 90% of the dinner. My niece did do baked beans - and let me tell you, her name is now "Queen of Beans." She not only did baked beans, but FROM SCRATCH. Including soaking them overnight, rinsing, picking through, and preparing them on the stovetop in a Dutch Oven. And they were DELICIOUS. 

Me? Well, yeah, I've made them from scratch, but I honestly would've opened a couple cans of Bush's Vegetarian Beans, added some crushed pineapple, a little spicy mustard, some leeks or shallots, and then bacon (yeah, irony in the fact that I'm adding bacon to vegetarian beans). 

Anyway, it was a surprising Christmas due to the following text exchange:

Kid One: "What's your favorite Bing Crosby Christmas song?

Me: His duet with David Bowie, "Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy."

Kid: "Wrong."

Me: What?

Kid: "I'll be home for Christmas." 

Me: Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And then I didn't tell anyone. I wanted to give everyone a nice surprise. My mom's face was pretty priceless and so was my sister's. Kid & my brother visited (VERY socially distant) when my brother did a drive-by to pick up his packet of cookies. 

That gave Kid an idea for the return trip home. I was packing a lunch and sending home a large platter of cookies, but it was requested that I provide the same packet of cookies that I gave my brother. I guess that's now another "new tradition."

The Baking...

Well, I didn't get a good picture of a cookie tray. But it definitely felt weird to only bake 6 kinds of cookies. No, that's not a humble-brag. It's a recognition that this has been a freaky 2 years. As a family, we give cookies for Christmas. That's our thing. 

But since Covid, we haven't because people are, understandably, a little sketchy about home-baked or home-made anything. 

I do, however, have a picture of the platter of potica. Because they were so freakishly big, we didn't use our usual Santa plate. It ended up that we used a regular cookie tray, and ended up cutting slightly thicker slices. 

My mom said it was good, said the balance of dough and filling was good, and that "sometimes, dough is freaky." Yeah... 

I also sold one to a friend, and was told it was "delicious." I always get a tad nervous selling these, and especially when they're so outsized and not "normal" to my eyes. 

We have one extra, which is for Easter. Then, next year, I'm going to have to suck it up and make a double batch. We'll see what happens then. Last time I had a double-batch bake, I ended up with 7 (yes, SEVEN) regular-sized loaves. "Regular" is about 1.5 - 2 pounds. These babies this year? Each was almost 3.5 pounds. 

Everyone seemed to like the cookies, even though I deviated from the list. I didn't do the chocolate shortbread; I just wasn't up to standing there cutting out cookies, so I did Snow on the Mountain (chocolate crinkle cookies). 

The Knitting...

The cowls... I need to get you pictures of the cowls! So, again, both knit of the same yarn, just 2 different colors. I wasn't sure which one I was going to keep for myself, but it turns out that the cream one is mine. (picture at right is the grey one)

Mainly because I made some mistakes that I don't want to give to someone as a gift. I'm kind of a casual knitter, actually. So if there's one stitch out of place, I'm going with "personalized design element." But this cowl has a bit of a problem in the front at the point, and there's another little nasty spot at the back, which isn't as big of a deal, since it's hidden by a jacket collar or the like. 

I can always use another cowl, so I'm not heartbroken. I am, however, a bit miffed at myself for being overly confident in knitting the point of the cream one, because to me, the error is obvious. I know, though, that 90% of people who are going to look at it won't see a single thing wrong with it. I'll tell you: there are a few misplaced stitches, and it's crooked. 

But for me? I can live with it for myself. Much like I can live with my socks with 2 different heels (what happens when you lose the directions...).

And the advantage of doing two of these back-to-back is that I'm really confident now in my short-rows. 

My 8x8 rib socks are coming along nicely. I can't for the life of me find the colorway of the yarn, though. I'm 99% sure it's Lorna's Laces, but I can't find the colorway, even on Lorna's site itself. I'm about positive that I'm going to do a plain foot. I actually prefer a plain foot, because to me it fits more comfortably in my shoes. 

Do I love a fancy sock? Heck yeah. But I have a few, particularly the ribbed ones, where I've taken the pattern down the foot, and I just don't like the way they feel in clogs or shoes. 

As I knit with this yarn, I've noticed pretty big chunks of "busy" and then big chunks of "orange." So it'll be interesting to see how this comes out. I'm going to do the regular heel flap I do (though this might change to a Strong Heel -- I'm still meditating on that one) and then a rounded toe. 

I know I did a couple pairs with a star toe, which really fits my feet better, but for the life of me, I can't find those notes either. Lately, everything seems to be disorganized, and I'm pretty sure that it's kind of a reflection of the past couple of years, where everything seems to be topsy-turvy. 

Random Picture...

I don't know what Hubby's secret is, but we have Christmas orchids! He's very proud of them, as he should be. All but one of his plants are showing new growth or are popping out flower stems. 

When Kid was visiting, we were treated to some pictures of rather unique orchids. I could actually see the wheels moving in Hubby's head.... "Where can I put a couple of those???" So we'll see. We may end up with at least one unique plant. 

They discussed the various ways to grow these plants; Kid lives in a dry climate, so cactus are easier than orchids, unless one has a specific room. Here in the Midwest, we can beef up the humidity in the house, and we have grow lights. 

They're kind of like potato chips; you can't have just one. 

Need to find a yoga class that suits you? Nothing geographically close to you? Or just that the studio near you isn't a good fit? Contact us!

www.just-breatheyoga.com

(815) 546-2770 (call/text) or info@just-breatheyoga.com

We can do Zoom classes, private sessions, small group classes. We do "events" such as birthday yoga, friends-night-out, wedding/bridal yoga. Let us set something up for you locally in studio or via Zoom if you're out of the area. 

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. 

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? 

Mom Wants a Hat...

...So Christmas has come and gone in a whirl and we're on the verge of the New Year. We really have to do something about the chaos that is Christmas Eve around here. Seriously, it's getting to me in all the wrong ways. 

Too many places to be in too short a time span. This year, we didn't have to do as much of the cooking, which was actually kind of odd. I'm used to it, and I honestly would've preferred to have done it. But it's done and over and all enjoyed it, I think. 

I know my nephew enjoyed his vegan casserole. I ended up with a melange of spaghetti squash, small zucchini squash (I mean little ones, not the fancy "baby" ones - I sliced them and sauteed them), baby portobello mushrooms, shallots, small tomatoes, and roasted garbanzo beans. I also wilted some kale and used that as the base. Drizzled with infused balsamic vinegar and olive oil, it went over well, but I should have put it all in a chafing dish. 

And when I make it again, I'm adding cheese... Not that it wasn't perfectly fine without it. And the V & O drizzle was, if I may say, an inspiration. But I could do cheese and it might be a little more hearty. 

Roasted garbanzo beans, by the way? Yowza, delicious! So easy: take a can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drain them and rinse them. Toss them with olive oil and lay them on a parchment-lined jellyroll pan (they roll...you need a pan with a small lip). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and your favorite herb blend. I used Penzey's Spices Mural of Flavor salt-free blend, since I'd already salted the beans. Oven at 400* and bake for about 10-15 minutes. They'll shrink up a bit, and brown slightly. 

So, two things you can do with them: eat them right then and there, or use them in a casserole. Well, three things: you can chill them, and use them as "croutons" for your salad, when it's salad weather. 

I've been in a cooking mood, and with the holidays, I've had time to indulge. Cornbread was on the menu the other night; usually it's in a cast-iron pan, and I should've stuck with that! Anyway, this is my "salmon loaf" pan. 

I also baked some banana/flax/oatmeal muffins. And I started some turkey broth for soup. 

We had a couple of turkey carcasses in the freezer, and Hubby had initially pulled out two bags - with 2 carcasses each...That would've made a lot of broth, which we can freeze, but he decided to just do one bag, which was fine with me. Leeks, garlic, carrots and celery. A little salt & pepper. 

I also added 4 cubes of Knorr vegetarian broth. That adds a little more depth of flavor. Simmering for a couple of hours, the house smells "homey." I mean, I love my essential oils, but there's something about just really nice home cooking to bring that smell and that feeling to a house. I have egg noodles that we'll use in the soup -- and I told Hubby (boy, I'm ambitious today!) that if we didn't have noodles, "I can just make them."

Which I can. Egg noodles are easy. I haven't done them in a long while. I even have a pasta maker, which hasn't seen the light of day in many a year. Honestly, to do the noodles, I'd have done them like my granny did: rolling them out and cutting with a knife. 

The muffins are my new plan: I need to eat breakfast. Lately, the days get away from me, and I find myself starving. And then, of course, I eat ALL the wrong things. 

This isn't a "punish myself" thing. It's an honest reflection on what my days have been like lately, and I know I need to do better. A muffin, particularly a home-made one, is better than just drinking tea. I used a muffin recipe and - of course - added stuff. So there's about 1/4 c. molasses in this one, diced candied ginger, clove, fresh ground nutmeg, and a handful of flax seed. That should make them fairly "beefy." I don't like sweets in the morning. I probably should've added some chopped dates, but there's enough in there. I added 1/4 c. of unsweetened applesauce to the mix instead of oil, so that took the fat down a notch. I froze half of them, and have the other half in the fridge so I can "grab and go."

Knitting...

So my mom wants a hat. She expressed in no uncertain terms that she'd even take one from the dog-hair yarn. She can't seem to keep a hat on her head, so she wanted a "hat-band" kind of device. And of course, I couldn't find a pattern. So I made one up. 

I used Cascade 220 superwash wool, and I held it double. I was originally going to do the whole thing in one piece, with increases on the one end and decreases on the other. Instead, I decided to split it in half. So it's garter stitch (straight knitting) and apparently, to do a grafting on garter is something odd...

Who knew? But anyway, I managed to graft it together, and then used some leftover Cascade 220 superwash (from a baby sweater) and did 2 rows around the whole thing. Then, I crocheted two chains (3 strands - 1 of the multi-colored, and 2 of the brown), and attached them, using buttons as an accent, and I tried it on myself. 

I wasn't sure of the dimensions, and I frankly guessed! But it should be ok, and I told my mom that if it was too big, she could just pin it under her chin - OR - tie it OVER her hat. 

She wants to have something to cover her ears, so I hope this works. She's coming to pick it up today. We shall see. 

If it works for her, I may make myself one. 

This is going to be a knit-heavy post! Finally, I got around to blocking my student's shawl. Honestly? If you're going to give someone a knitted object, unless it's socks (which I don't think really need to be blocked), block it!! 

This shawlette wasn't blocked and it was far too small. So I blocked it for her. I don't like blocking someone else's knitting. I think I did it right, but it wasn't the dimensions according to the picture she showed me. But it's better than it was. 

I hope she likes it. On tap this weekend, I'm going to block my "Close to You" shawl. Can't wait to see that finished and can't wait to wear it. 

Yarn held double

But...in the meantime, I started some crocheted mitts. It's cold and my fingers don't want to work. I'm using the same yarn as my mom's hat-band, but held singly. And the stitch is called "Urchin Stitch." It's the only stitch I can read in the crochet reference book I have! Aside from that, it's really a sweet scalloped stitch. So the part of the mitts that will show will be ruffled and hopefully pretty. I'm doing them flat, then I'll seam them up. I may add buttons for a little pizzazz, but I'm not sure yet. 

Yarn held single

I started them with yarn held double, but I had two problems: (a) only 2 partial balls left; and (b) they were too big. So I frogged them, and re-started, holding the yarn single. I think they'll be more comfortable, and I'm likely to be using the yarn more efficiently. I do have enough of the baby yarn to use in a pinch, but I'd rather keep these a solid color if I can. The flat construction is good for me - first off, I've never been able to crochet any other way than flat. And second, I can adjust the thumbs better. Since my left thumb is fused, and a bit shorter than my right, it "sits" differently on my hand. 

By creating the mitts in this manner, I can make the left thumb fit the physical limitations I have. I actually crochet faster than I knit, so we'll see how much progress I made. But that being said, holding the crochet can tend to cramp up my left hand, so I have to take breaks.

For Christmas Kid #2 gave me this book - which I initially read about in Jean Miles' blog. I didn't really give it a second thought, but then it turned up as a gift from him! 

It's gorgeous, but it's all charts! I don't know how to read charts, but I guess I'd better learn. 

If nothing else, it's eye-candy. The cover knitting is amazing because it's very reminiscent of the churches we saw in France and Switzerland. I love architectural knitting - at least in the sense of the fabric having an architectural aspect. 

I do not like "architectural" knitting where a pattern isn't symmetrical. I know it's supposed to be a "design element," but I get the distinct feeling that if I showed up for work in a sweater that I'd knitted with a "staggered" hem, I'd get a bit of side-eye and there would be questions as to whether I actually knew what I was doing!

I get it - I see the patterns in Vogue and in some of the "runway" pictures in the paper. I just don't like it. I'm cool with a ruffle, or certain details - which, ultimately, can hide some knitting flubs. But when I see a sweater where the right front, left front, and back are three different lengths? Nope. Can't do it. 

Mother Nature's Circle of Life...

Hubby filled the bird feeders and put extra suet feeders out, since we have trouble with the woodpeckers - they seem to want to poke holes in our house! Today, I also tossed out some bread for the birds - right or wrong, I had some stale bread that was going to be pitched anyway. The birds might as well enjoy it. 

I was on the phone with my mother, and all of a sudden - WOOSH -- a hawk flew by. Scattered the birds. He landed on the evergreen next door. 

I've seen them snatch a sparrow off a feeder, and this time, he was just scouting. I haven't seen him since, and the birds are back, chowing down. 

Random Picture...

One of my Christmas gifts was Opus! I've wanted one for a while, and this is apparently the newest version. He's pretty huge, actually. 

When I opened it, Raisa was sitting next to me, and the look on her face was amazing: "Wow, is this MY toy???" 

No. It's not. I pet him every once in a while. He's sitting and holding court on the dining room table, next to the tree. 

We've taken down the lights on the gutters; figured we'd get them down before the true deep-freeze hits for the next several days. I hate the look of the post-Christmas season. I get so used to the beautiful lights - and now everything is naked. 

We still have the deck decorated and then left the garland on the porch rail. At this point, everything's frozen anyway. We've had a few days of really, really cold weather (double-digits below zero), and the garland would snap. More importantly, the lights on the deck are wound kind of tightly, and when Hubby was taking the gutter lights down, he commented on how frozen the cords were. 

So I'll have my pretty lights up for a few days longer, and I'll enjoy them. Now, it's back to see about skimming the broth, and working on those mitts.