Feeling the Wind in My Hair...

I have not forgotten you. I just haven't been able to put fingers to keys for a number of reasons. One of which was, I felt like I had nothing to say. 

I took a walk today. Nothing startling in that, except that we're in that bipolar time of year when we're not really sure what season we're in. And if we hang around for an afternoon, that'll change. And then change back. And then change again...you get the picture. 

Anyway. 

As I was walking, in my sparkly red Dansko clogs (totally unsuited to walk in the neighborhood, but cool for work), I noticed the breeze blowing through my hair. I haven't really shared tons of shots of myself; and I stink at "selfie." But I've been growing my hair out into a short bob, after oh ---- nearly 40 years in a pixie, if not more. At least in some iteration of a pixie, that is. And I noticed the wind blowing through my hair. 

I haven't felt that since freshman year of high school, when my hair was down past my waist. And then I chopped it off into said pixie. And I think I probably should've kept it long, but there you go. One more life achievement dashed. 

Oh well. Life is full of choices. Here's a picture - a rare one, by the way, of your intrepid blogger and her bob... I'm really not a grouch - I just can't smile and focus my phone's camera at the same time. This is a semi-messy station at the doctor's where I work. 

And in the spirit of "oh well, everyone shares," here's a picture of my office, a/k/a "used to be our file room." Seriously. 

The lighting sucks. The room is truly a closet. Thankfully, I have a glass door, otherwise I'd suffer from claustrophobia (worse than I already do). The computer is old and cranky. 

And I sit far, far too close to it. So after about half a shift of this, I need to step away and blink my eyes. And refocus. 

I've already put the type size down to a point where the doctor really doesn't like it, I've gotta be able to see for at least a few more years (ha) -- till I get the knitting stash down to reasonable proportions, so I have to take care of my peepers... 

And I have the oldest computer in the place; so it regularly crashes. Usually when I need it, like today. Trying to get the doc ready for a presentation next week. 

He knows that it's on its last legs; we're just keeping it going by sheer will. 

Beauty School...

So you know how I am about make-up. I don't usually wear it because it feels like I'm suffocating. And I can never get the color correct. No matter how "many shades for every skin" it says. Mine is always somewhere in the middle of "Casper the Friendly Ghost" and "Palest Nude." And it still feels chalky and like Kabuki artist paint.

What's a girl to do? Well, I went to Young Living Essential Oils Beauty School. It was in Lisle, and it was a weekend. And believe it or not, it was fun. That there is my book, along with my beauty kit. 

Lest you think I've gone over to the "girly side," rest assured; I'm still getting the hang of it all. 

And there was the hotel, with the requisite "five down pillows, all of them flat." The mattress was amazingly comfy. The room's fan was adequate (I love my ceiling fan). No, I was a "bad oiler" and didn't bring a diffuser. I did bring my current knitting project and was able to get a nice bit done, all things considered. 

But please, someone, tell me why there are never any firm pillows in a hotel room? Seriously, that bunch there? That's how I had to sleep just to feel like I had my head and neck supported. And then, the pillows tried to kill me. They rose up along the sides of my head and tried to smother me. 

On a good note: for the most part, I was able to stay on my detox plan and had plenty of food to eat. I brought my stick blender and breakfast shake supplies and was able to get that made every morning, though I never did get the fridge quite cold enough to keep the berries from thawing. 

Small beans, considering. 

I got a photo of myself with a special camera that detects vascular damage and sun damage. I was pleasantly surprised that the sun damage wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I got burned badly a couple of times as a kid, and I thought it might have caught up with me. But it was better than I had any reason to hope for. Now to keep it protected. 

I didn't get my make-up till after I got home. Yes, I purchased the bare minimum: foundation, blush and a setting powder. I've managed to get it on to go to work a couple of times, though my blush skills are not good. Bad, actually; gotta work on that. 

It stays on; it doesn't feel like I'm unable to breathe. And it washes off like a dream. 

I'm not sure about the color of the foundation when summer comes, though. Even with sunscreen, we do ride our bikes outside a lot and I do have a slight change in my skin color. But I could just...skip make-up in the summer. 

There's an idea!

The Knitting...

The project I set myself to, a Close to You Shawl by the end of this month, is coming along. I won't quite make it by the end of the month, but first week in April definitely. I've got about 3.5 more repeats of a 14-row pattern. With a 1-stitch increase every row, that means... A LOT of stitches to get through. But I'm mindlessly blowing through it. 

The picture to the left shows the first ridge. The picture to the right shows about 9 ridges; I'm a little over 2/3 of the way done, so it's bigger. I will have to break into that second hank of the MadTosh; just not sure what I'll do with the remainder. Maybe some socks? It is sock yarn, after all...anklets, maybe?

My friend Deanna would love the stitch marker I'm using; it's a set of flamingo markers that I'd purchased from Sonda's shop ages ago. I wanted to use something fun; the functional one I'm using to mark the right side of the shawl.

You can, technically, wear this either way because everything's knitted. But there is a right side for the purposes of knowing when to bind the thing off. The bind off is a picot and it pretty much has to be, just so it finishes the echo of the ridges on the opposite side.

I hope this helps Kristin and Blair raise a lot of money for their IVF treatments. Here's a link to the auction. This shawl will be part of it as long as I get it done in time...

I'm honestly thinking this weekend will see it finished, though, because the weather is going to be crummy and I won't be tempted to go outside much.

It needs to be done. End of discussion. So with a lot of help from some lovely lattes I got turned on to by my friend Lulu, I'm knitting my fingers to the bone. This one is called Red Velvet Latte, and yes, it's on my "ok to consume" list. The Lunar Latte I just had is going to be sweeping me off to dreamland soon.

Here's another link. And no, I'm not being compensated for these. It's just stuff I like that I want to share. This is a company out of Australia, and that's where you'll get your stuff shipped from. Shipping is a tad pricey. But it's all great organic products. And the blog and photography are lovely!

Would I like to be compensated? Who wouldn't? But I don't think I need to chase that particular rainbow; y'all would have to share my blog a lot for that to happen... And so would I.

In the Kitchen...

So this happened: I bought watercress. I have no idea what, actually, to do with watercress. I know I can add it to a salad. I know that at High Tea, you might have watercress sandwiches.

And that's about it.

I didn't want to add it to a salad because when I bought it, unfortunately, it snowed like the dickens that week. I had to use it up, so I made a watercress sauce/dressing.

Recipe for Watercress Sauce

1 bunch watercress, trimmed of most of the stems
Good quality olive oil to cover
Salt & Pepper to taste

Wash the watercress; pat it dry. Pack it into the beaker of your stick blender (or a tall jar if you don't have the beaker). Add olive oil to cover, add salt & pepper, sparingly. 

Whiz it up...add more oil if you need to. Taste it. It should taste of watercress (green and slightly peppery), not oil. Adjust seasonings. 

Use as a dip or sauce. 

And then, at church, Pocket Priest has invited us to all use our Instant Pots...we've been cooking lunch every Sunday after the service through Lent. On St. Patrick's Day, I made a Dublin Coddle. Yummmmmmmmmmmmm-yyyyyyy.... And then I made Guiness Stout Bread (top) and Irish Soda Bread (bottom). Nope, I didn't eat either of them.

I will find you the Coddle recipe and put it in another post. I can't find the one I used; when I was given the bottle of stout, I chose to not use it, but instead, used it in the bread.

That was a better choice, I think. Everyone loved all of the food and we marvel at how hungry people are after church!

See the eggs?? Cool, huh? From a friend of Hubby's who keeps 17 chickens.

They're on the small side, but they're all lovely, and I can't wait to crack these babies into some scones or even just plain fried eggs!

Home-grown eggs are delicious, the yolks seem richer somehow, and I just appreciate someone giving us these treasures.


And just to finish  out the section, a picture of our altar at church; this is the Lenten arrangement. It's lovely and simple.

Our church is well over 150 years old and we love the way it feels, sounds, and kind of embraces us. That altar holds a columbarium. Many of our older members are in there, being cremated and put into little boxes.

FYI, it's not creepy at all. Kind of like they're watching over us.

Random Pictures...

Two of them. First is Quinn, dressed for St. Patrick's Day. The older she gets, the more she looks like Tippi. It's hard for me to tell them apart in the dark, lately.

She's my little snuggle bunny still, and is always smiling when I'm home. Makes me feel wanted, right?

And I finally managed to get a picture of mother and daughter, more or less together. Of course, they saw the phone and ducked...

I tried to get a shot avoiding the little pile under my table...But I failed. It was either that or fake them out. And it's darned near impossible to fake out an Elkhound.

Time for bed; the morning will come early. I have more pics to share and a few more items to discuss, but they'll have to wait for the next time.

Marching On...

OK, that's facile and stupid. But I'm "blogging with migraine" so forgive me. 

Doctor's Report...

So today was (finally) the follow-up from the "roto-rooting" of last month. Overall, good. But -- esophagitis and a bit of gastritis. That's not good. I'm back on the Rx version of Prevacid, 80 mg (40 mg 2/day). They want that to heal. 

But on the plus side: no celiac disease, no h. pylori, no candida. A few other issues that are, frankly, age-related. And "being a mom" related. They're delighted with my (now) 8-lb. weight loss and consequently lower BP. And they said "keep it up."

I'm a bit dismayed, but glad. Esophagitis in particular is something that folks like me, with GERD, want to avoid at all costs. It's nasty and it can be deadly if left unchecked. They seem to think that 3 months of this high-dose Rx will fix it. I'm also thinking the anti-inflammatory gut reset will, too. 

The Knitting...

I've turned the heel on Petty Harbour #1. It's going ok. I love heel turns. I'm actually, now, on the closing of the gusset. This time, I'm going to keep the pattern down the instep. We'll see how that goes. 

Normally, I like a plain foot, mainly because of comfort. But these are a really nice pair of socks, and frankly: they're beige. I need patterning. If only to keep me awake during the long foot part. 

Speaking of long feet parts... I screwed up on the Green Traveling Sock #1... As you can see in the picture, the foot is "kid-sized." 

No, honestly, I do NOT know what I was thinking. Or not thinking, as the case may be. I know I wanted a star toe and I looked high and low for a pattern, like the 3 or 4 other pairs I had. Could  I find it? Nope. 

So I winged it with web directions: "star toes for everyone" kind of thing. 

Obviously, I started the toe about 2" too early. I'm thinking of steeking - a/k/a "cutting into live knitting" and adding more at that green stripe. That's just below the closed gusset, which I think is the best place to do it. I can add more; then re-knit -- maybe not a star toe this time, but either way. Re-knit so I can wear it!! 

I've tried it on and it fits. But it's so, SO tight that it'll wear badly. Not to mention crunching my toes. 

I'd like to do a different toe. I do wedge toes on 90% of my socks. Either that, or I buckle down this weekend and finally clean up my office space, hopefully finding the notebook or pattern that has an actual star toe pattern that I can follow. 

I know - I've got my MBA, and you'd think I could figure it out. 

I can't. I don't like math, and I'm too old to change. Besides, my MBA was in marketing and HR. 

I ordered the Etude #1 shawl AND yarn from Expression Fiber Arts. Yes, in those colors exactly. I think they're stunning. And another thing I'm not necessarily good at is colors. I love color. But I'm not particularly adventurous at matching and setting up colors for patterns. 

Hubby shines at that. I'm boring. I swear, I'd stick with grey gradients. 

Anyway, Etude #1 will be the next project I cast on. 

And I managed to do something weird with Kid #2's afghan. I think I can redeem myself if I have really managed to miss a stitch. It's not that I dropped one; I'm actually OVER by 1 stitch; so I used K2tog to get the count back where I think it should be. If I'm wrong? I add a stitch. He won't care if there's a "make one" in there. It's also coming along. Almost ready to change stripes again. Picture next time. 

Paczki Parade...

I work next(ish) to a Polish Deli. It's hopping this time of year with the sale of paczki (poo-nch-key). That lovely and now popular Polish donut which, in my great-granny's time was a way to use up all the sweet stuff before Lent. 

Lent starts, if you're interested, on March 6th. 

So I saw these at the local "health food" store. No, these little beauties are in no way 'healthy' even if you want to say it's traditional. Traditional isn't always healthy, as we all know. 

When they're home-made, or made by a real Polish bakery, they're not light. They're full of sugar. And when Great-Grandma made them, they were fried in lard. Or, in her later years, shortening. 

Dusted (in her kitchen) with either white sugar or powdered sugar if she wanted fancy, they were stuffed full of fruit. 

Now-a-days, you can get them filled with just about anything. And there's a local brewer who's doing "paczki-flavored" beer. Can't even wrap my brain (migraine or not) around that. Because there are at least 15 flavors. Which goes in the beer?

This was the parking lot Thursday. From 8 a.m. till I left at 5:15 p.m. Cars in and out all day.

Many buying lunch, but lots of them carrying boxes of paczki out.

They're getting another 2,000 this Tuesday, for Fat Tuesday. 

How do I know? I asked my mom if she wanted a couple of them, to which she replied, "Is the Pope Catholic??"

I went to the doctor's office on one side of town, and it ran late. All I could think of was, "Boy, I'd better get there before they close" as I dashed across town to the very opposite side. 


There weren't many left. I got her a Bavarian Creme with chocolate, and a "strawberry & cream" - which wasn't exactly what she wanted, but it was either that or prune...or blueberry, and I couldn't remember if she liked blueberries! 

These? Well, no, I'm not planning on eating them. They're a unique flavor: rosehip. Very nice and light, slightly floral. I thought if Mom didn't like the strawberry + creme, I'd take that home for Hubby. 

And I told Hubby that if he didn't want them, I'd be perfectly happy bringing them to church on Sunday. 

I have a feeling these aren't going to make it to church. 

I'll be texting the kids a picture of this. One of them lives far away, out of the reach of paczki. The other? I can see him driving down for these. 

Everyone Gets a Cone...

Yeesh... Two of the 3 dogs are in cones. 

Tippi is in a cone because she gnawed the crap out of her back leg. It's healing nicely, but she managed to confound the Inner Tube of Shame and the soft cone. So Hubby went out and bought her a "satellite dish."

The dog isn't happy. But the leg is coming along very well. It was so bad that we had to skip our last therapy visit. I had to leave it open so that it could begin healing, and that's against the rules. 

And it's not safe. 

And it wasn't pretty. 

So we think she'll be ready to go back to work on this Tuesday, which will be nice. I know she's anxious to get back to work. 

I started her on Turmeric butter. Not actual butter, but you mix turmeric with water, heating it up a bit to make a paste. Then you add coconut oil (which she loves anyway) and keep it in the fridge. She gets 1/2 tsp. total, split up at breakfast and dinner. It'll take a few weeks to see if it takes down that inflamed lymph node. Fingers and paws crossed. 

Raisa, on the other hand, has some sort of skin rash. We've started to add a little olive oil to her food, and Hubby is getting something called Linatone, which is what the elkhounds had when we first got them. 

She can still get to a dry spot on her chest; we're hoping to get that under control. Her coat's a mess. Thanks to backyard breeding, she's got one of the worst coats I've ever seen. 

Her head is gorgeous. Well-shaped, and the coat is just what it should be; nice and fluffy. 

From the back of her head on down? Not so good. And the scraggliest tail I've ever seen on a husky. Not to mention the coat's thinner than normal. The vet says "it is what it is." She can't make it grow better. 

But we've got to do something with the state of the itch. 

So we'll try the Linatone and see where it gets us. 

Beverages, etc...

Apparently, CBD is now all the rage. One of the patients gave Doc a tiny vial of hemp oil for him to try. Not likely... And I saw these supplements in the local Meijer. 

Not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I do give it to the elkies when there's thunder coming. We call it "boom boom cookies" and it seems to at least calm them a bit. 

But randomly swallowing these supplements? I can't see it. 

I have no problem with alternative medicine. I'm sitting here in this picture with my "Mermaid Latte" to help me sleep. It coincidentally matches my shirt! Using Ayurveda, it's got some herbs + chamomile in it. I make it with coconut milk. 

Not the coconut milk in the cans, but actual "milk stuff" made with coconut, since on this cleanse, I'm non-dairy and for a while, no nuts either. It wasn't bad, though I do miss my almond milk. Or "almond milk-like beverage" since "nuts don't lactate."

But a coconut DOES have milk. So there. 

Anyway, I think people need to evaluate before jumping on a bandwagon, that's all. I'm all for it for pain relief, and relief from chemo and glaucoma. 

I just don't think it's right for everyone. 

And it's incredibly ironic that it's next to the Doritos... 

It Was Windy...

The Sunday before last, it was really, really, REALLY windy. We went out to church, and when we came back, this is what we found in the back yard. 

I mean, it's ours. But this is how we found it after the service. 

This is solid cedar and it had about 80-ish pounds of dirt in it. 

There's no way it should've blown over. Except that the winds were in the neighborhood of 40-60 mph. 

Everything got whomped on. 

Lucky for us, we didn't lose major tree branches. Nothing fell on the cars. 

Hubby righted this and put the basin of the concrete bird bath in it. At least, now, if we have anymore wind, this thing shouldn't move. 

I hope. 

It was really freaky hearing the wind moaning through the high-tension wires. Haunting. 

Random Picture...

Every once in a while, there's a really pretty sunrise. This isn't much to look at close-up. But look at the sky and see the pinks and lavenders? 

I caught this on the drive into work one morning, when sensible folk are still in their pjs... 

I live in the semi-urban 'burbs and we still get to see a lot of sky around here. 

Even in the dead of winter, in the icky February/March dullness? If you look up, you're usually guaranteed to see something beautiful. 

It's there. Just gotta look up. 

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Yes, that is the name of one of the movies that I absolutely do not like. But if the celluloid fits... 

The Toddler-in-Chief uttered a series of incoherencies which ended up with this (once great) country now being in a state of "emergency" so that he can pander to his handler Vlad and his "base." 

Base. Great word. Definition: "the bottom support of anything. The bottom layer." 

That about sums it up, folks. 

Thankfully, the lawsuits are already in place. California has already filed. He signed the deal with Pelosi and then had to turn around and do this because it's all about "winning." Or, as my favorite hashtag is, when referring to this chaos:  #winningnotwinning....

And there was another mass shooting. Which we heard almost nothing about because the news is all about the "national emergency" -- the "emergency that isn't." Only in his small mind and the minds of those who blindly follow. 

I posted a question on my congresswoman's FB page, and predictably, the "OMG OBAMA DID IT TWENTY SEVEN TIMES" trolls jumped on me. I pointed out that Obama DID declare national emergencies in the vein of seizing assets from threats. 

Not building a "wall to nowhere." And yes, by the way, ABC News is legit. I finally refuse to answer anyone else. I'm done knocking my head against bricks. 

Let's talk about something else; I want to get a good night's rest tonight and I won't if I'm all wound up. 

The Gut Reset...

Well, a lot has happened since Ground Hog Day... The doc put me on a "gut reset" program, and the gastro guy called to say, "Take yourself off dairy now, and if that doesn't work, gluten is next." 

So, for a while, I'm dairy-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free (yikes!) and sugar-free. Which means no more Velvet Latte. This is made (for me, at least) with almond-coconut "milk" but there are also no nuts on the gut reset. And this has a bit of manuka honey in it. So again. Nope. 

Surprisingly, I'm not eating air. I'm actually feeling pretty good. I've also lost 4 pounds in 4 days. 

Now, this is eating real food. 

But before I get into the ecstasy of the new food regiment, let us bow our heads and mourn.

No cheese. 

For the foreseeable future. 

Which means this little nibble of my beloved Jarlsburg is it, folks. 

The last bite of cheese I had. 

I'm still wrapping my head around "dairy free," even though a few folks I know said they've cut out a lot of dairy. 

In reality, so had I. I don't drink milk, though I like a shot of half & half in my lattes. I do love my cheese, though. And Icelandic yogurt, which has lots more protein than Greek, and is pretty tart (lots less sugar, too).


Anyway, I digress. I actually have quite a nice list of foods that are recommended for the first part of this, which is about 2 weeks. This picture here is dinner tonight. It's an oval, smaller plate that I've used for years, so it may look huge, but it's not. So, one medium sweet potato, one small, grass-fed steak, and a bunch of roasted asparagus. The asparagus has olive oil, Italian herbs, garlic and salt & pepper. I drizzled some of that olive oil mix onto the sweet potato. 

I also had 1/4 c. of blueberries a bit later for a snack. 

I eat two balanced meals a day and have a non-whey (no dairy, remember?) plant-based protein shake for breakfast. I'm used to having smoothies for breakfast anyway, so this isn't a big stretch for me. 

My tummy feels a bit better. I've cut my GERD meds in half, only taking them at night because I'm horizontal. I'm very excited about this, and it's not technically a weight loss program. It's about clearing out the junk, and then slowly reintroducing foods to see what bothers you. 

The whole program is 75 days. I'm in the first week. Got a ways to go yet. 

That being said, I still miss my cheese! 

The Knitting...

Well. Here's Diamond Smackdown on a human (me). I'll need to figure out a shawl pin for this one. 

The center point isn't quite where I'd like it, but I'm not going to quibble. I got a lot of compliments on it. 

One in particular from my oldest friend, for whom I made that pink + grey Close to You. She asked if "that's how you're supposed to wear it" because this one is similar in shape (though larger than hers). She thought this was pretty too. 

The afghan is coming along. I knit on that mainly on the weekends. This weekend, we're going to an orchid show, so this will be my Saturday Night Knit. 

I'm going to try to walk away from the computer this weekend. This week was a heavy, heavy computer week, and my eyes are feeling it. The afghan will be better knitting for me, even though I'm plugging along on two socks. I need a bigger thing to work on, I think. At least for a few days. 

The Petty Harbour sock is coming along. I'm on the heel flap. The Cascade is splitting a bit, which I'm not jazzed about. The heel flap is going a lot slower than it usually does; I think it's mostly me, though. 


I'm still doing the Doris Heel, which is a modified French heel. It's just comfortable for me, and I know I should revisit the Strong heel, learn the Fleegle, and definitely try the Fish Lips Kiss, but at this point? I kinda want mindless. 

I keep saying, "On my next pair of socks..." that I'll try a new technique. 

Well, let me get my singletons done and the Petty Harbour, which has a busy leg. Then, I'll do something new and exciting. 

My Valentine...

Hubby and I exchanged cards; we've been doing that for a while. I mean, seriously: Christmas, then my birthday, then Valentine's Day? That's kind of rough. 

But I did buy myself something; it's more in the line of a replacement than a new thing. I have a really nice Jordana Paige fold-over bag in a dark purple. It was a close-out since she's now out of business. Well. The main zipper doesn't work and one of the inner ones is wonky. I'll use it at home for strictly larger projects and deal with it that way. I can't use it as a purse because it doesn't close. 

So, after doing weeks of research (honestly, I looked at bags for a couple of weeks solid), I came up with this. 

Jimmy Beans has apparently bought Namaste. Which is good, because it's nice to have options. 

This is the Knitter's Shoulder Bag. It's not the largest; but not the smallest. I loved the look of the Crossbody bag, but it would've been too small. 

I honestly probably should've spent the money and gotten the Namaste Fold-Over, but maybe this is a way to tell myself to "haul less crap."

This came in a lovely bag you could use as a project bag, and they tucked in a "beanie bag" which is a little canvas tool bag. 

It's got two big side pockets, and a middle, zippered section. The tassel has a stitch marker attached. There are a few inside pockets and a larger outside pocket that fits both my phones. 

And happy day, the fabric lining the bag is light-colored! 

See that little wrapped thingie in the center of the top pocket there? It's a yarn-holder. So that's the knitting side, and I put my wallet, etc. in the center, and my book, calendar, and other stuff in that bottom pocket area. 

It's stuffed, and I'm going to live with it a bit to see how it really works before I write the review. 

The color is a darker teal. When Namaste was Namaste, their teal was called "peacock" and it was a tad more blue. 

This is a tad more green. I still like it. It's also got a cross-body strap, a key leash that's marked in 1" increments (emergency tape measure) and it comes with a tiny journal, a needle sizer and a tapestry needle. 

This is what it looks like when I've got it open and I'm knitting. And there you see the Green Sock. It's also coming along. The "took forever" ribbing is done, and I'm blitzing down the leg. I figure I'll have a sock by spring, since this is my lunch-time knitting. 

My sunglass case (that leopard-spotted thing) is huge. So I can't help but stuff it next to the yarn. I'm used to carrying my knitting in a separate project bag, so this feels a little odd. I can tell you I wouldn't carry wooden needles in this or any other bag. Especially sock needles, which are like toothpicks! But I feel confident that the Karbonz are ok. 

It also comes in Blush, Grey, Black, and a Plum color (which is not what they call it, but I can't think of it right now). It's well-constructed. But I have to find something to condition the "vegan leather." Some websites say "just wipe it down," but Jimmy Beans says to condition it. 

With what???

The Ice Storm Cometh...

This past week, in addition to being buried in work, we were almost buried in ice. For two days it rained and froze. 

These are the trees by the Polish deli near my office. It was freezing - like 11* or so, but I needed to get outside and feel the sun. 

And see the sparkling trees "for real" rather than through a window. 

It was very pretty. I spent a few moments with a broom, too. Knocking icicles off the awning. They sounded like shattering glass as they hit the sidewalk. Those things will hurt!!

Anyway, it's all melted now. It was cold today, but grey and the grass is crunchy. This is the icky part of February. 

I'm holding out for a late winter blast. I still want to get out on the snowshoes. 

We've had the snow, but at -34*? You can't exactly hike in that. At least I can't.

Random Picture...

Madame Tippi is in a pickle. Well, she's in a collar. Having chewed her leg to bleeding, we also needed to have a swelling looked at. 

The vet biopsied the swelling. We are anxiously awaiting results. The leg has to heal, but she's also on antibiotics. The little stinker can STILL reach the leg. 

She's giving me a royal stink-eye, but she got around the inner tube. And got around the cushioned cone. If this doesn't work, she's going into the LARGE cone we have. I don't want to do that because she'll hurt herself. 

We could use some good wishes. She's 11. I don't want that swelling to be anything serious. But it's concerned the vet enough to take a biopsy. 

Praying it's only an inflamed lymph node or something. 

Well, time for me to find my pillow. What do you want to bet that I'll get maybe 3 lines read and be zonked out? I'm hoping! Good night!

It's Groundhog Day All Over Again...

So the rodent saw his shadow. Or he didn't. Either way, y'all know it means "6 weeks till spring" or "6 more weeks of winter." Six weeks, either way you cut it. 

We survived the Polar Vortex. And I got knitting done... 

All the Knitting...

So. Here's a picture of my "sock drawer." It's not really a drawer. It's a plastic "lock and load" tote (which isn't its real name, but that's what I call it). 

There are 11 pairs of socks in there. I'm hoping to get to an even dozen in the next month or so. 

Pairs 1 and 3 are Regia Fluromania. I'm not sure that's even "a thing" nowadays. I tried to give a skein of it away but nobody wanted it. I may just knit that one up. They're fun socks and they seem to wear ok. The colors run a bit, particularly the reds and pinks, but they're socks. Not too troubled by that. 

Pair #2 is my only pair, so far, with worsted weight. They're done in Cascade 220, 100% pure wool. They're done on size 3 DPNs, which makes them the sturdiest, warmest, and cushiest hiking socks I have. The only thing I'd have done differently was to do my now habitual 6-row curl on the cuff. They can be a bit snug on my "biker calves." 

Pair # 4 (blue & grey) are OnLine sock yarn; that yarn was a gift in a random sock yarn exchange, and I wasn't too sure about it, but it's very much like Opal and I'd use it again.

Pairs 5, 6, 9 and 10 are all Opal, mostly self-patterning, with the pink being a stripey sort of pinkish -- and the oldest next to the hiking socks. 

Pair 7, tucked in there, are the DREADED TEAL SOCKS. Trekking XL, which I have more of in stash and I'm regretting buying it. I won't use it again. It's thin and a pain to work with. I like the Ovarian Cancer Teal, but I don't like the feel of the socks. Could be I've still got a grudge that I lost the pattern and it took me FIVE YEARS to complete those things... 

Pair #8 is a Madeline Tosh discontinued shade called Robin's Nest. I like the colorway, and the softness, but I don't like the pilling. And I should've made the legs longer...

Pair #11 is my only (so far) Sweet Georgia. Very cushy, slightly droopy (cast on 72, and they're kinda big), and comfy. Chai Tea, I think is the colorway. 

I have 3 sets of singletons: Bigger on the Inside, Sole to Sole, and Green Traveling. And I'm on the heel flap of Petty Harbour, which I don't consider a singleton, since the first one isn't even done yet. That and Green Traveler are coming along nicely. 

And I have a FINISHED OBJECT. Though it's not blocked. Yes, it's Diamond Smackdown. From December 24, 2018 to tonight - except for a blip where I ran out of yarn (yeah, I lost yarn chicken on a "weigh the yarn to know when to decrease" pattern... I'm still trying to figure that one out). I think I didn't get gauge, but then the pattern said, "gauge doesn't matter." Howsomuchever... it's done. Not blocked, but done. 

On the left is Skein #2, which I had to order, in the middle of the Polar Vortex, because I wasn't driving to Bloomington (a 2-hour, almost 200-mile round trip) in a driving blizzard... Above is a picture that Hubby took trying to show up the glitter, and it isn't working. But suffice to say, it's lovely yarn. MadTosh (as it's now called, see the sock section above) and it's Light Merino Glitter, in Copper Pink. The color is more rose-gold and it's got a lovely halo that doesn't show up in the pictures. 

It's not blocked yet, so you don't really see the diamond pattern. It'll show up nicely in a day or so; I'm hoping to block it tomorrow. 

It should block out a wee bit bigger than the original pattern, since there's about 450 yards of yarn in there. I haven't weighed the remainder of Skein #2, but I suppose I can get a shortie pair of socks, or a nice pair of wristlets out of it. Or a hat. Won't likely be terribly warm, but it would look nice. 

I like the drape and I like the feel of this yarn. I have to aggressively block out the diamonds, so I'm hoping it doesn't flatten, like the Grapevine Lace scarf did. 

Overall, I liked the pattern too. It was a nice knit and it obviously went pretty fast. I'm not the speediest knitter, and it was very quick for me. And I wasn't terribly bored. I would knit the pattern again, but I'd make sure I had 2 skeins of whatever I was using. Or I'd have sense enough to split the skein in the first place. You'd have to do a yarn that wasn't self-striping, I think, because it does get pretty wide at the apex of the triangle; stripes wouldn't work, if you were using sock yarn in particular. I'm sure I've got some hand-painted in the stash if I felt like repeating this. 

And --- drumroll here... We had Wednesday off because of the extreme temps. So I pulled out Kid #2's afghan!! 

I got the burgundy stripe done and I'm on the second of the grey stripes. I thought I'd gotten some black to stick in there, but I can't find it, and I do want to get this thing done. It's 5 years overdue and I just need to get on with it. It's a simple chevron pattern, which is kind of nice for a guy. 

It's in Caron Simplicity, which has a nice sheen to it and it's washable. Yes, it's acrylic, and yes, I'm a huge yarn snob. But I'd rather make it easy to take care of for right now. 

That's ginger tea in the snowman mug. It was so cold that even the mug was wearing "knitted" items!!

Seriously, I can zip along with this, and it's relatively mindless after a few rows, so it's going to be my main project for a bit, interspersed with the socks. 

My goals are to finish this afghan, finish the singletons and then concentrate on the February Lady Sweater and diving into the stashed projects to move along on them. I seem to be in a "finishing" mood, so I'm gonna "get skippy" and plow onward. 

The 2019 Polar Vortex...

Well, for a while there, the Chicago area was colder than Antarctica. Nevermind that it's actually summer down there...The point is, we were at "hold my beer" cold temps. We were actually the epicenter of the cold front. Lake Michigan froze. 

My car's thermometer read -21* when I went to go walk my mom's dog. Yes, we went out. We weren't going to let my mother outside; she doesn't have the coat for it, and she's old. (Sorry, mom...truth)


Her dog, a small one, did a double-fast run each of the 3 times we took him out, and actually didn't want to go out 2 of the 3 times. He's no dummy... 

My selfie skills still stink, but here I am, mostly bundled up. The sun is deceiving. It was stinkin' cold out and my fingers tingled just taking that picture. 

We had tracks in the yard, and I tossed out birdseed, but remarkably, everyone and everything was holed up for the most part. 

The snow was beautiful. The sunshine made everything sparkle. I could wax poetic, but suffice to say that the beauty was certainly there, and if you didn't gripe about the cold, you could see the force of Mother Nature and see the artistry as well. 

So Thursday, we were all "back to normal." At the office the lot wasn't plowed, which didn't make anyone happy. Dragging yourself through 6" of snow on top of ice was fun. 

And then there were the "killer icicles" hanging off the awnings. I took a broom to them. 

All the parks were closed on Wednesday (I know I'm jumping around here, but I've got the pics stashed here and I didn't want to joggle too much around). I tried to take some photos, but (a) I didn't bring out the big camera because of the weather; and (b) I couldn't get very far because of all the gates up... I had to settle for some parking lot shots, which were impressive enough. Again - look at how blue the sky is! It was gorgeous and after being cooped up in the house? The air was bracing. Freezing, yeah. But it felt good to be out and in the weather. 

Mind you, that coat you see me wearing is old - almost 25 years, to be exact, and it's rated for -40* so I was warm enough from my head to mid-thigh. My boots were also "sub-zero" boots, so from toes to mid-calf I was fine. Mittens, and the "Russian Hat" that I borrowed from Hubby completed the ensemble, as well as a pretty good-sized scarf under there. The jacket has a hood with a "face flap" that I could have used too. 

Yesterday, I took some pics out the other office building (working 3 jobs, I get a lot of variety in my photos!). This was off the back steps. I was singing at a funeral, so I was dressed for that - otherwise, I was itching to get out and stomp around in all that untouched snow. 

And...today it's all starting to melt. So you saw my thermometer reading -21*...and today I was out at the grocery store in a light jacket with the thing unzipped. 

Seriously. It was 39* and it felt like spring. 

The weather is going to get up into the 50s. So almost a total temperature switch in the next several days. I hate that. I mean, I get it - the planet is going crazy. But it's a sure bet that lots of us will be sick with the switching temps. Almost every municipality here has flood warnings out, too. We're surrounded by rivers, and the ice break-up and snow melt will be causing some problems. 

It's February, so I'm not saying winter is over. Right now, it's just having a moment. 

The Bread that Cost me a Finger...

Well, not really, but almost. I was making some stuff for a meeting we have coming up, and I thought, "I'll do casserole bread." It's super simple and versatile. And yummy. So I dug out some Jarlsberg cheese and some dill. And my old Corning Ware casseroles that you can't find anymore unless you haunt thrift stores. 

I needed to grease them more liberally, actually. Hubby and I managed to snarf down that loaf on the right (as you can see, it's got a crack in it). The one on the left is going to the meeting. We have some folks (I'm one of them) who don't do a lot of sweet stuff - I mean, I've got an awful sweet tooth, but for morning meetings? I'm not a "danish and donut" fan. 

I was slicing off the waxy label on the cheese when I managed to jab myself in the left index finger with the paring knife. As I ran to the sink to flood my finger, I hollered to Hubby to check that I didn't bleed on the cheese. He was fussing at me, and said, "You should've used a larger knife." 

Why? So I could REALLY take off the finger??? Thankfully, since the colonoscopy, I hadn't been taking my blood thinner... I've got a bandage on it and it's put a little crimp in my guitar playing, but at least I still have a finger. 

The other thing I made for the meeting are Panko Parmesan Sausage Balls... Super simple, and they look pretty good. 

Panko Parmesan Sausage Balls

Makes 24-25

Oven at 350*, line a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick foil.

1 roll breakfast sausage
1 c. leeks
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T. oil
1 c. Panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
3/4 c. shredded Parmesan
Salt, pepper, Italian Seasoning
3 T. chopped pimiento

Saute the leeks in the oil till they're translucent, then add garlic for about 2 minutes - don't burn it! 

Place everything else in a bowl. Add the leeks + oil. Mix well (use your hands). Form into balls about 1 1/2" around and place kind of close together on the baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 350* and then turn them with a pair of tongs. Bake for another 15 minutes. Drain. Serve warm. 

When I get to the meeting, I'll warm these up. 

Random Picture...

Tippi has been awfully cuddly lately. And she's taken to getting up on the couch when we're around for a snuggle. That's one relaxed dog there... 

Usually what happens is that the two of them, Tippi & Quinn, stare at one or the other of us, and we go sit in the middle of the couch... then miraculously, we have an elkhound on either side of us. 

Today, I had to hand over my studio keys to one of my teachers, and she said, "Oh, I hear your dogs." No. You only heard Quinn...Yeah, she can sound like 2 or 3 dogs all by herself. 

Hopefully, you're enjoying your Groundhog Day and you've got lots of fun stuff planned for the next few weeks! Let's chat!