2009 can sod directly off

I am officially done with this year.

The last straw was taking Nehemiah to the vet for an emergency visit this morning.  His glucose was off the charts and he was having a diabetic crisis.  He stayed at the vet for a few hours getting fluids and wolfed down the majority of a can of cat food.  We now have a bag of fluids to pump into him for the next 3 days and he got his first shot of insulin.  We are going to get very good at handling needles and test strips.  He even has his very own glucose meter.   

Naturally that didn't cost anything at all.... :sigh:

He pee'd all over me on the way home and is now cuddled next to me in the breeze of the laptop exaust.  The vet is confident that he will be ok so we are relieved to know that.

Still, 2009 can go f' itself.

Fetchings

I am loving this quick knit.  I have completed 3 pairs in 4 days. 

The yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca, worsted weight. One skein made 2 pairs of fetchings. I made a 3rd pair from some leftover Cascade 220 worsted. 

I'm inspired to see if this design would make a good coffee cup sleeve.  I've been considering such a project from my worsted scraps and maybe that would be a fun gift for my knitting group?

Winter is here

The snow has finally stopped.  It certainly was a proper storm, haven't seen it's like for over a decade. 

West St Paul is much better at clearing the streets than our old neighborhood.  It was a stark contrast when we ventured out to the east side to tend to another home under our care.  We were the nice people ("saps") who agreed to shovel out 2 homes over the holiday for their absent owners.  It wasn't too bad on Thursday and Friday but today there was a giant layer of ice everywhere.  Ick. 

My parents and sister made it on the roads for Friday.  We ate way too much (cannot stop eating frosted cut out cookies), even with the snow shoveling I did not burn up the extra calories this weekend.  Oh well.  I did work out today and will again tomorrow.  Hopefully I can push the cookies off on the gamers coming Sunday.

The winter snow emergency is lifted and while we may be getting a few more flurries this week, it won't be the foot plus that we already have.

Last minute knitting

I finished a second linen washcloth, which I will either gift or keep, we will see where it will be needed.  With the approach of WEATHER I went out to get essentials today: basalmic vinegar, cheese, pickled herring and yarn.  We are supposed to have 8-10 inches of snow by this time tomorrow and when i'm not shoveling I intend to enjoy the food I love and knit.  Honestly I have plenty of stash, but I needed specific weight and colors for a couple projects.

I started my first pair of fetching.  They are intended for my sister.  Considering that my socks for her fell flat last Christmas, I'm trying something for her hands instead.  I'm knitting with a lovely alpaca and wool blend that is super soft.

I'm making a pair of mittens for another friend and a hat for a third.  I have some fulled gauntlets that need to be embroidered, but that can wait a bit.

I'm curious to see what the morning will bring and how high the snow drifts will be.  I'm sure the rabbit in our back yard will need to dig deeper to access the parsley buried under the straw mulch in my herb garden.  There were little green stems sticking out of the snow and a flattened area created by a furry butt.

Special Delivery!!!!

There is nothing like having a surprise delivery from your cousin and open it to see a giant bag of FUTGES!!!! 

Yummy!

Naturally I heated up 2 right away and sprinkled some sugar on top (then I worked out for an hour...).  So good!

Futges is a tradition in our family and it comes from my maternal Grandma's German heritage.  Unfortunately I have been unable to find any info to support the German providence.  My uncle had very similar fritters on a train when he was traveling through Denmark in the late 50's so it could be a Danish food.  I was told that the word Futges is Old German for fritter.  If any of my German friends would like to weigh in, that would be great.  Regardless I'm sharing the recipe.

Futges: Irene Thompsen Goodoien
(makes approx 40)
1 lb of pitted prunes, soften in hot water drain and set aside
1 heaping cup of raisins, plumped in hot water, drained and set aside

For dough:
dissolve 1 pkg regular yeast (do not use rapid rise) in 1/4 cup warm water
Heat 2 cups of milk to luke warm and add to the yeast
Add 1 cup of sugar
Add 1/4 c. softened butter
Mix well and add the following:
1 T (or more to taste) ground cardamon (fresh ground is best)
1 t salt
2 beaten eggs
4 cups all purpose flour with 1/3 cup removed and added to the raisins.  Incorporate the flour covered raisins to the dough and let the mixture rise for 1 1/2 hours. Stir down gently and let rise again, roughly a second hour.

The futges is deep fried in 3 lbs of heated oil, smoking stage approx 400 degrees.

Take a medium sized spoon, scoop up a portion of dough and place a prune into the center of the dough and flip the edges over it to cover.  The dough blob is pushed into the hot oil and cooked until brown.  Test with fork to make sure it is not doughy in the center.  To eat, break open the warm fritter and sprinkle with sugar.

Christmas Knitting

I finally knitted up the Rudy kit that I won in the auction at the Minnesota Knitters Guild last December.  It is SO cute!  I stretched the yarn to make 2 and I want to pick up some more wool and make several more.

One went to K&L's daughter and one went to DJ.  He promptly flung it about and had a lovely time at my birthday party.  (He did a smashing job as Deep Thought.....)

I also made a hat for another friend's baby (which I hope to surprise them with when they are in town). 

I have a dishcloth on the needles and I need to cast on a pair of stockings for my friend.  I also need to weave approx 3 yards of trim for another friend.  Good thing I have plenty of time on my hands, hopefully that will change in 2010.