Quickly Unraveling

Full of sorrow

2011-08-26T11:07:00.001-05:00

Our good, sweet cat Nehemiah passed away Wednesday. He had been battling diabetes since July of 2009 and we had been treating it as best we could with twice daily insulin, pills and the ocassional subcutanious fluids.
Tuesday we could tell he was winding down.

Wednesday Timmy made a choice to take him to the vet. I think he was grasping at any shread of hope. They started to give him fluids and he coded. Timmy feels enormously guilty and I understand that, but he was doing what he thought was right and he was trying to help. Still, he's heartbroken. I've never seen him this distraught.

We had a service Thursday morning and buried him in the herb garden under the catnip. Our friend came to the service and took us to lunch. Neither of us have been eating much, neither of us ate Wednesday night. It was nice to finally have a meal.

I know this will get better and I won't cry at the drop of a hat. For now, we're both grieving. We still have Lenny, but Lenny is pretty aloof compared to Nehemiah and he really is my cat. Tim really misses his buddy. I wish I could make everything better.

I believe Nehemiah came to us when we needed him, and when he needed us, and a new cat will come to us when the time is right.

Until we meet again good friend. I will comfort myself by thinking of the crusty warriors passing you around for cuddles and scritches in Freya's hall, you drowing out their laughter with your purr and begging for scraps from their plates.

So how's that produce?

2011-08-09T12:45:00.002-05:00

I love this time of the year, the garden provides me with lunch and dinner every day. Fantastic! With the weeding mostly manageable, it's sit back and bathe in the beauty of fresh veggies and fruit. Yum.

Main garden bed on the west side of the garage. We're thinking about expanding it with a lower tier. I think the lilac bush will need to go away completely if we do this, and not just hacked into oblivion.

Early girl tomato in the herb bed.

When I pulled out the pear tomato with blight I replaced it with a cherry tomato plant and it's starting to produce fruit. The tomatoes are taking forever to ripen....

Chives.

Italian mild peppers. I started this from seed, and it's the only one of 12 plants that survived the ravages of the cat. It is doing really well!

Summer squash!

The zucchini plants became infested with a grub that killed the plant. So far no sign on the squash. I pulled all the zucchini and re-planted. I may have enough of a growing season left to get a second crop.

Our peas started off slow, but they are going well now.

We've about tripled our raspberry plants with the addition of our neighbor's plants and we had a great crop this year. Can't wait until next!

My first time growing eggplant (another plant that I started from seed). It's doing really well and I've harvested 3 medium sized oval eggplants. I made a spicy eggplant dip with 2 and eggplant pizza with the other. The pizza was good, but the dip is heaven!!!

My first time growing cauliflower. I should end up with 4 heads total. I've picked 2 so far and they were good. I started the plants from seeds so I'm pretty happy.

Bush beans

Burpless cucumber

Our apple tree is doing much better this year. Harelsons!

Melons have started and I should be able to pick my first one this week! The are similar to cantaloupe, and are roughly the size of softballs. There was one on Saturday where the rind had started to turn from smooth green to a knobby beige. Yay!

Completed Cloak

2011-06-27T14:56:00.000-05:00

In January I was contacted by a friend after he had attended Calontir Winter War Manuvers to tell me that a mutual friend was to be knighted at Lilies and they were looking for someone to make the cloak. He thought of me and I was happy to volunteer.

I started with a grey wool herringbone woven blanket that I picked up from Faribault Woolen Mills outlet store. I added a band of purple wool at the top and bottom. I wove the trim myself using my inkle loom (not correct for his time period but I could complete it quickly and easier than card weaving). It's a chain pattern. ;^)

The gold chain was appliqued linen, outlined with a red chain stitch in wool thread.

The runes were stitched in chain stitch using yellow and red wool and read: "What is best in life? to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentations of the women."

Halvdan really liked it so I am quite pleased!

(Lenny was very helpful)

June Garden Update

2011-06-23T16:14:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to take pictures of the rapidly changing garden ~ once a month. It's amazing how quickly things change. Currently it is rainy and cold for the official start of summer. Temps are almost 20 degrees under average, but we hope to creep up into the 70's come Friday. We may see 80's on the weekend. My tomatos can't wait.

For a reference I'm listing the pictures in the same order as my post from May.

The raspberry plants appear to have survived the transplant process and should produce fruit this year. Rock on!

We're going to have a good apple crop this year.

The fence is certainly keeping the critters at bay.

Lettuce (mesclin and romain), green onions, daikon radish, turnips, cauliflower, melons and beans.

Cauliflower (that I started from seeds)

Beans! (and I planted more so they will start producing when these are exausted)

Spinach, eggplant (that I started from seeds), dill, cucumbers and snap peas.

Squash, red onions, peppers, zucchinni. No blossoms yet, but they are starting.

The native bed is starting to bloom.

Healthy Eating at Lilies 25

2011-06-21T08:53:00.000-05:00

I just got back from Lilies and I wanted to share some choices that I made for food. While I was staying with a group, I was esentially going solo this year and I didn't want to spend my time cooking so I planned my food to be grab and go. I arrived Monday evening and left Friday morning so my meal plans were breakfast/ lunch/ and dinner for 3 full days + 2 snacks each day an evening snack Monday and Friday breakfast before we left.

For breakfast I made the Baked Oatmeal with Blackberries recipe from Sparkpeople. I added just a touch of maple syrup to up the sweetness. I baked it in a 8 x 8" pan and cut it into 9 squares. I brought enough squares for breakfast each morning and ate a hard boiled egg to up my protein. I brought a container of my home made yogurt, which I topped with raspberries and a drizzle of honey. I would spoon a small amoung on my baked oatmeal, or treat it like a dessert after dinner.

I made Coach Nicoles Vegetarian Meatloaf and brought ~ 4 portions. I ate this at lunch or dinner/ depending on my mood. I made a quinoa and beet salad with red onions, red wine vinegar and olive oil (my own concoction). I would eat this for lunch or dinner. I grilled chicken breasts ahead of time and cut 2 into 1/2" strips. I'd place a few on my plate at lunch or dinner. I also brought grapes, packaged diced pears (in little sealed cups), cut up celery and carrots, a small stick of hard salami (which I never ate), peanut butter, whole wheat crackers, almonds, raisins and dried apple slices. I did bring instant Miso soup and Thai Kitchen instant noodle soup, but I found that I usually didn't want to deal with cooking food and was happy to eat the cold things from my cooler.

I was really happy with my food choices. I felt that I was eating well. Naturally I countered my healthy meals with plenty of beer and other drinks, but that is what Lilies is for. I did get in a 20 minute run Tuesday morning and I did an hour or yoga Thursday morning, plus I walked a LOT.

I did plan on coffee in the mornings and brought a simple device that rested on my cup, held a paper cone of grounds and I poured boiling water through. It was fantastic! I also drank a LOT of water. I filled a clay gallon jug with water and emptied it each day, plus I would fill my cup around the site at various stations while I was out. Staying hydrated was easy to do if I planned it out.
I think one could do something similar for a longer camping event like Pensic, but it would be harder with a family. I would probably choose more options that did not involve space in the cooler.

Garden season beginning

2011-05-25T21:02:00.000-05:00

This year we have had a very cool spring, which has set the growing season back by at least 2 weeks. Disappointing to be behind, but I do have everything planted and stuff is up and growing well.

The herb bed is looking pretty good. Most things are growing back from the previous years. The lovage is ginormous as it has been every year. New addition would be moving the tomatoes to the herb bed. I think they should do pretty well.

I built a box for the wild straberries, which I overwintered in containers. They seem to be happy since they are producing flowers. We'll see if they produce fruit. Probably not this year. I added nasturtiums and rosemary to the box.

I transplanted several raspberry bushes from our neighbor's yard and they seem to be settling in pretty well. They may produce fruit this year, but we will see. I'm hoping that the apple tree will be more productive this year as well. I've been hording my apple sauce all winter long.

The perennial beds are looking fantastic. I added the solar lights on the lattice and I love how it looks at night.

The new boxes got added to the south lawn and are growing summer squash, zucchini and red onions.

The native bed is looking fantastic. The fence has kept the rabbits from eating the asters down to nubs. I also added a fence around my vegetable bed. I WILL have beets this year!

Good thing I added the fences this year. Varmints! (but they are awfully cute....)

Wedding Day!

2011-04-29T02:39:00.020-05:00

Not mine, don't get any ideas...

May I start with a simple reminder of how time zones work. If the live coverage starts at 3 am est that would be what in central time? Yeah, that would be 2 am. Oy. Almost not worth going to bed in the first place, but I did get a little nap. Thank god for tea....and a spot of cordial.

Naturally I'm not the only one who thought a live blog would be a good idea so if you would like some actual entertainment I suggest joining Heather and Jessica on Go Fug Yourself.
Lenny would like me to keep the noise down, he's trying to get his beauty sleep.

Big Ben is chiming: so exciting! I'm looking forward to seeing the mounted guard. Those horses are fantastic.

I think the most dressed up I'm getting this morning is a sweater thrown over my jammies. Speaking of dresses, I'm loving the dresses for the day. The one woman in line in the bright yellow dress and matching hat is smashing. LOVE! God I love these hats!

It's refreshing to see a commentator "squee" when speculating on what the bride will be wearing.

The tea and biscuits are a good choice first thing, as was the hard boiled egg. I'll move onto an English muffin in a while, along with the sardines, herring and fruit.

How gorgeous are the Beckhams? Wow.

The people camping out are quite mad, but I do envy them. It looks like a chilly morning though. Not like that July day in '81.

Did I see Rowan Atkinson in the crowd? If they are Black Adder fans they have just risen in my esteem. The Prime Minister's wife isn't wearing a hat...SCANDAL!!

I can hardly wait to see what mischief the young attendants will get into during the service. There is no way a 3 yr old is going to behave for 1+ hours.

4:14 - William (or I should say, His Grace, the Duke of Cambridge) looks very happy. All smiles and waves in the car to Westminster.

Nehemiah is simply happy for the sardines from my plate. Lenny is snoring.

I do like the trees in the naive. It's simple and elegant. Oy, 40 minutes still until the wedding....time for a nap.

4:30 - somehow I doubt that the Queen will be arriving via mini-coach. I am interested in what the bride's mother is wearing. It sounds delightful, but we'll see if her hair has been tamed from it's normal state of a hot mess. Ok, the dress is beautiful, but her hair still looks ragged. If Catherine takes after her mom she will certainly age well.

4:43 - The queen is in bright yellow, which makes my mistaking the woman all in yellow queued up to head inside the church about an hour ago for her Majesty all the more weird. Can't wait to see these kids! Camilla looks nice. Thank god Wills didn't inherit his father's normal expression. "Close your mouth please, we are not a codfish!". Queen and Duke: 63rd wedding anniversary, 85 and 90. Bless!

4:52 - Here comes the bride!!!!!

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
I swear I am breathless. I'm seeing a lace sheath, very pretty. Love the hair! I knew there was going to be lace. A small bouquet, so pretty.

4:57 - OMG are these kids cute. Pippa looks gorgeous. Great genes those Middletons. I want to know what tiara Kate is wearing, slow down! edit: Queen's halo tiara

5:00 - Grace Kelly! Thank you BBC commentator! Yes! We've arrived! So gorgeous! Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen gown, same for Pippa.

5:10 - Harry wrangles the ring, while Pippa wrangles the children. I'll take the ring please. I'm sure the Archbishop got the gig because of his voice alone. Dang!

5:21 - Man and Wife!

5:49 - "and did those feet in ancient times..." Love that hymn! I want a full orchestra at all weddings. Can I just say again that the hats are amazing! I also think more weddings need a battery of trumpeters. God Save the Queen! my tea is cold

5:56 - signing the register.

6:30 - Great carriage ride back. Love how the sun came out as they were approaching the palace. At least an hour until the balcony appearance. Time for cake and possibly a nap.

Speaking of cake: wow!

Totally worth the sleep deprivation. What a wonderful memory!

Dodged a bullet

2011-04-19T21:46:00.000-05:00

Looks like the snow is going to pass south of us.

Lenny is relieved.

Just cruel

2011-04-17T21:35:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday the temp was in the 70's. I'm chomping at the bit to get my seeds in the ground, but I'm trying to be patient. I don't want to jump the gun like I did last year.

Seedlings ready to go. Herbs, cauliflower, eggplant, peppers (the ones that have survived Tubby's attack). Seed packets ready to go. Beans, lettuce, peas, onions, zucchini, squash, beets!, dill, and melons.

Here is what we woke to Saturday morning.

Just cruel.

It's melted now, and the plants seem no worse for wear, but I want to plant dammit!

Sup?

2011-03-31T14:49:00.000-05:00

So, how was your day?

Motivation!

2011-02-28T10:29:00.001-06:00

Run completed

2011-02-13T20:22:00.001-06:00

(and yes, I wore this during the race)
I neglected to post my finish stats from my first 5K. I completed it in 29:51, which placed me 143rd overall, and 11th in my age/ sex group. I'm extremely pleased!!!!

My next 5K is March 13th, but I think I'm going to be ready for a 10K pretty soon. I ran 6.5 miles today and did pretty well at 79 minutes.

Valentines Day!

2011-02-13T20:17:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

5K running list

2011-01-11T10:08:00.000-06:00

I'm creating a soundtrack to accompany me on my first run January 29th.

Run time: 43.67 (I suspect I will not need the entire length for the run since my goal time is between 35-40 minutes)
A Kind of Magic, Queen
It's My Life, No Doubt
Girl U Want, Devo
FNT, Semisonic
Outside, George Michael
Go West, Village People
You Can Call Me Al, Paul Simon
Little Bird, Annie Lennox
Whatever Gets You Through the Night, John Lennon
Does Your Mother Know that You're Out, ABBA
I'm a Believer, Smash Mouth
Get Back, Lennon/ McCartney

Cool Down: 12.04 minutes (again, probably won't need the whole time)
We Are the Champions, Queen
I'm Alive, ELO
Silly Love Songs, McCartney

Timmy is converting everything to MP3's so I can add it to my shuffle. I will do a test run to see if I can keep to the pace the music is setting. It's possible it is too quick, but we will see.

I'm FINALLY showing up this week

2010-12-22T11:31:00.000-06:00

Good morning everyone! Finally coming up for air and adding a much belated post to my blog. With starting my new job in May my life became a lot busier. I have accomplished a lot over 2010.

1) reached my goal weight (and passed it) in July: 155 pounds!
2) Got down to a size 8 pant
3) Fit into a vintage dress from the 50's
4) Managed to keep Nehemiah alive and thriving since his diabetes diagnosis
5) Started a new job working for the state as a Project Specialist
6) Got back on health insurance and got caught up on my female checks, including my first mamogram, and got my teeth cleaned
7) Taught new people how to knit
8) Cut my hair short for the first time in several years
Tim is still looking for work and struggling to stay positive in the slow job market. I hope that 2011 turns things around for him.

Beginning weight: 194, November 2009

Final weight: 155, May 2010

2 weeks early

2010-04-03T11:05:00.001-05:00

The growing season is about two weeks early in comparison to last year. Not surprising considering the insane temps that we had at the end of March. I took a serious leave of my senses and planted my vegetable garden on the 27th. In my defense it was in the 70's that day.

I just planted seeds: mesclin, arugula, spinache, beets, peas, onions and cucumbers. I recognize that planting cucumbers is way early, but if they don't germinate I'll just plant them again in a few weeks, no big deal. This year I did not need to remove 4 cubic yards of waste and weeds from the bed before I could plant anything. I simply turned in a half bag of peat moss, raked it level and hoed the rows. Easy! There is the ocassional weed sticking up here and there and they are getting dosed with Round Up.

I put up a nylon trellis screen to help train up the peas and cucumbers. Hopefully that will work better than the strings I used last year. I also changed around the layout of the garden so I'm hoping the crops that needed more sun will get it this year. I think I did pretty well using the plat for the first time last year and the changes were minor and easy to do to, hopefully, make this year more successful. I'll be planting my tomato plants and zucchini after Memorial weekend. I'll see how my tree trimming will aid the plants to get more sun.

My daffodils in the east garden are already blooming and I plan to bring a nice bunch for Sunday lunch at my parent's. My plans for the new native garden is mostly done. I just need to price out the materials and submit everything. I have until May 1st.

Garden Plans

2010-03-25T22:56:00.000-05:00

For those who have seen our lot, we have a LOT of grass. There are a number of lovely trees, bushes, and landscaping around the house, but there is a huge bare spot on the South side of the property.

Our first summer/ fall in the house I started planning some additions to the landscape. I specifically wanted to focus on native plants and possibly include a rain garden. Today I attended a free workshop on adding a native garden run by Blue Thumb. I'm unsure if the space I am envisioning for my planting space will work for a rain garden, but it will be a lovely native garden, with a focus on plants that attract butterflys. That should be a special treat for Timmy. For $25 they will help create a design with me and I can apply for a grant to receive $250, which will hopefully cover the cost of the majority of the project.

I'm planning to get my plants from the Friends School Plant Sale. They have a lovely Butterfly garden package with 4 each of 12 plants for pretty cheap. I've picked out a couple more varieties to add in and a couple new bushes for the south side of the house, to replace a couple that died from the hot summer before we moved in.

My design consultation is the 31st and I have a lot to do to get my plan ready.

Wool socks

2010-03-23T15:33:00.002-05:00

Just in time for the temps to heat up, oh well.

After a dry spell of knitting I finally got my mojo back and have managed to knit 5 pairs of socks since the beginning of the year. If I was trying to knit one pair each month, I'd be set until June.

The first pair of socks were for Tim. A nice navy dress sock that he can wear with his navy pants.

Yarn: Knit Picks Essentials in Navy
Pattern: Cable Rib Sock by Erica Alexander

The next two pairs are for me and I used the two skeins that I bought at last year's Shepherd's Harvest.

Yarn: Blackberry Ridge, Color: Blackberry
Pattern: Diagonal Cross Rib by Ann Budd

Yarn: Blackberry Ridge, color: Crocus
Pattern: Waving lace socks by Evelyn A. Clark

Uptown Boot Socks

2010-03-10T17:43:00.001-06:00

Finished another pair of socks, this time for me.

I got the yarn from one of the gals in the my knitting group when we did a swap and it came without ball bands. I'm pretty sure it's wool, but other than that I got nothing. I love the texture from the pattern, Uptown Boot Socks from Jennifer Appleby. I finished the kitchnered toe and quickly cast on another pair, Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks by Ann Budd. I'm using a skein of sock yarn I bought at Shepherd's Harvest and it looks great. I'm going to throw caution to the wind and knit another pattern at the same time using the second skein. Waving lace socks, by Evelyn Clark. I'm managing to finish a pair in less than 2 weeks so I should have both pairs done before Shepherd's Harvest 2010. I have some sewing to complete and that will cut into my knitting time.

I'm really getting anxious for the growing season. I have a lot of my seeds purchased and the warmer temperatures and rain have done a number on the snow drifts. Sunday I'm prunning the apple trees since the weather should be sunny. The kitties always enjoy the sun and fight over space in the sunbeams.

They managed to sit touching each other for an extraordinary length of time.

Olympic knitting

2010-02-28T19:46:00.001-06:00

I cast on the stockings when the flame was lit and my goal was to have them complete before the flame was extinguished. I finished the cotton stockings on Thursday, so I'm a bit early for the torch.

I used the 2 weeks of the olympics to keep me on track and get them done. Once I see the recipient I can hand them over. I think they look quite nice, but I will have to wait to see how well they fit.

Dishwasher

2010-02-22T12:41:00.000-06:00

When we moved in last Fall I jokingly asked my parents if they were going to get us a house warming gift. They asked me what we would want, I said "a dishwasher or a freezer". The desire for each was pretty neck and neck until I finally had enough of hand washing and found a dishwasher that was a reasonable price at Sears. Sunday a friend of ours came over to help install it.

We determined that the dishwasher it replaced was original to the house, and boy did it show. We ended up running new water supply lines and waste lines, which made the whole thing take a lot longer. We only ended up taking 2 trips to Menards so we did pretty good. I think it looks great in it's new home and the color is a good match to the cabinets.

I'm running the first load now and I just LOVE it!

Yogurt Sucess!

2010-02-22T12:32:00.000-06:00

My first home made yogurt! It has a different texture than the store bought, but it tastes great and I know what is in it!

I used this site to make this batch, but my first attempt was a giant FAIL. I ended up with milk that faintly smelled like yogurt and not what the recipe promised. In reading through other sites I discovered that if the author of the first site had simply added a couple of key items, first time yogurt makers would have an easier time.

The first key item is that the milk is being heated to 185 degrees F. Considering the fact that many crock pots are different and create different temps, including the initial temp is a good idea. After you reach 185 degrees F you want to unplug your crock pot and let it sit, covered, until you reach a temp of 110 degrees F, you will add your culture at this temp. Once your culture is added you whisk the contents thoroughly and bundle up the whole thing to let it sit for 8 hours, or overnight. The initial instructions tell you to let your crock pot sit for 3 hours unplugged, assuming that all crock pots will cool at the same rate. I think mine cooled far quicker and my milk was too cold when I added the culture so nothing happened.

To not waste my first attempt I placed my initial batch back in my crock pot, placed my meat themometer in it, attached the themometer to my timer to beep when it reached 110 degrees, placed the lid back on and set it to heat up. Once it reached 110 degress I unplugged it, whisked the milk vigorously (since the culture was already in it), took the insert out of the base, wrapped it in 2 blankets and stuffed the contents in the microwave to sit overnight. That worked great! I had lovely yogurt the next morning and I now know what I should be doing so the next time will go a lot better. I did drain a lot of the whey out using a colander and some paper towels and Timmy and I had fresh yogurt with fruit for breakfast. Yum!

I used whole milk at I bought at Target, pasturized and homogenized is fine but not ultra-pasturized. I should get Chris' contact for her raw milk cause that would make lovely yogurt. I think when I am ready to make this recipe again I will pick up a half gallon of milk from the Co-op and I can just use the yogurt that I made to create more yogurt, just like one would with sour dough. No idea if I am saving any money yet, but it sure is a fun project.

Kitties up walking around

2010-01-28T15:52:00.000-06:00

I think we are over the crisis with Nehemiah. He is adapting to the insulin but he was having issues with getting enough food. After trying to get him to eat each day for over a week (including the addition of an appetite stimulant) he was eating only half of what he should and loosing weight. Not good!

I called the vet and suggested he get back on Sub Q fluids and Potassium. The vet saw him Wednesday and discovered that he was dehydrated and his Potassium was lower than it was when we took him in less than a month ago. Great....

Funny enough when he got some fluids and potassium he started eating and was back to his relatively normal self. Gee. We also added oral Potassium suppliments, 1 pill a day. He might be on that for the rest of his life, but it has made all the difference in the world and it's a cheap solution.

Sounds like he is helping himself to some of Lenny's kibble. Yep, he has certainly turned himself around in the last 24 hours.

Knitting for friends

2010-01-27T17:08:00.000-06:00

I knitted this hat for my friend's baby, Maren.

It's giant, but that will mean that she can wear it for a long time, which is good.

Her mom has a frog "thing" so this was a great choice.

I made the Gator Mittens for my friend Kendra. She shared a story with me about losing her much beloved alegator mittens as a child. Naturally I needed to replace them. I think she likes them. ;^)

Sewing for friends

2010-01-27T16:56:00.002-06:00

When I haven't been keeping Nehemiah alive and working out I've been sewing.

I sewed this gown for my friend Sigrid who will step up as Queen in April. My good friend Tom fought for her and will be King at that time as well. She wanted to wear 14th c. clothing to match him and I got together with her after Christmas to get measurements and shop for fabric.

The black gown is made out of a luscious linen that is just flowy and perfect for layering and wearing during the summer when they will be attending wars.

The gown is fitted and laced up the front and the sleeves are closed with cloth buttons. I'm really pleased with how well it fits and Sigrid, while getting used to how fitted it is, likes it.

To go over the gown I constructed a houpeland out of a cotton brocade that was donated by my friend Eleanor. The fabric is really elegant and reads well across the room. I had to piece the ever living crap to get enough fabric to make it look right. I'm really pleased with it.

Currently I'm altering a gold linen gown to make it fitted and laced up the front instead of the back. It took me an afternoon to do the bulk of the sewing and I have the lacing cord and lacing holes left.

I delivered a black and white herringbone overgown at Flesh Wound, which I don't have pictures of yet. Maybe I can convince her to model it at Bardic Madness.

2009 can sod directly off

2009-12-30T22:04:00.001-06:00

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

2009-12-27T16:29:00.001-06:00

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

2009-12-26T22:24:00.000-06:00

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

2009-12-23T23:18:00.000-06:00

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!!!!

2009-12-22T16:35:00.001-06:00

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

2009-12-20T01:09:00.000-06:00

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.

Turkey Day!

2009-11-26T22:45:00.001-06:00

Psst..... don't mention to Sunni that we are eating a giant bird for the holiday. He is sensitive.

We are having our traditional meal at my aunt and uncle's home on Friday so today was spent lounging around and watching lots of tv.

I did finish 2 knitted reindeer toys. They are absolutely adorable!!!! I'm seriously tempted to make 6 more they are that cute. They look exactly like the Rudolf from the annimated special. I know 2 little kids who will be getting reindeer for 12th Night.

Friday morning I am making a apple pie and a batch of lefse to take to Lonsdale.

Aeolian Shawl

2009-11-21T23:38:00.000-06:00

Blocked and beautiful! I am in love with this shawl and I have a fan blowing on it so I can remove the pins and wear it ASAP.

The picture does not do the beads justice. There are 2200+ faceted crystals on this thing.

The yarn is lace weight alpaca and I purchased it from a local seller at the Shepherds Harvest Festival this Spring.

This is the shawl prior to blocking and it's already a good size.

Warm weekend

2009-11-08T17:59:00.000-06:00

The weather was unseasonably warm this weekend, like in the 70's. Just lovely!

Tim worked on getting a large # of leaves into bags and then off to the compost site to drop it off. I took advantage of the sun and washed the bedding and dried it on the line. Probably the last chance to do this before the weather turns. I made 2 trips to Menards over the weekend so you can see that I had projects.

Tim packed up most of the Halloween decor that was downstairs and I vacumed and dusted everything. I also took advantage of the corn stalks out back and did some autumn decorating out front, once I took down the Halloween lights.

Tonight Timmy has gaming and I'm going to knit; starting the main edging on my lace shawl.

Wood working

2009-11-07T17:40:00.000-06:00

Considering how nice the day was I spent time outside using Buzz to rib down 3/4 and 1/2" plywood to make 3 new hubs. Since I no longer have access to the uber band saw at Big Wood, I needed to find a new way to create them. I think they will end up octagonal instead of round.

Tonight I'm taking in a movie at the cheap theater.

Red stockings

2009-11-06T09:55:00.000-06:00

I returned from our local summer event and checked the Calontir website to discover that my friends Hirsch and Magda won Calontir's Crown Tournament. Weeeee!

Naturally I had to make her stockings so I set out to find the perfect red.

I ordered the yarn from 3 Kittens Yarn Shop and spent about a month crafting them into knee high stockings on size 0 needles. The clock detail is a crown and a red scallop shell.

I delivered them, along with other presents, to their Coronation in September. I managed to surprise them with my presence and she was delighted with the gift. Fortunately they fit her perfectly as I was guessing on the measurements.

Germanic American Institute

2009-11-05T11:10:00.000-06:00

The GAI is located on Summit Ave in St Paul, MN. A friend of mine told me about it and the fact that they serve a Saturday morning Kaffeestube from 9-12 for a suggested $5 donation. Tim, Tosten and I went a couple weeks ago and it was lovely.

Naturally I wore my durndl.

The building is beautiful and located near the walking tour of Summit Ave. and not too far from the stores on Grand Ave.

It was the weekend that we had our first snowfall.

The caffe stubbe runs until ealry December and it's a really nice place for a bit of brot und kaffe and eine kleine Deutsche.

Knitting update

2009-11-04T11:08:00.002-06:00

When I wasn't making stuff for Halloween, I have been knitting.

I finished my Rolling Thunder socks by designer Sivia Harding at the end of September.

I purchased the yarn at Shepherd's Choice in East Bethel, MN in July. There are small beads on the cuffs and I love that touch.

I started a pair of socks for Tim. The Retro Rib sock by Evelyn A. Clark knit in Knit Picks Gloss.

I have been working on a new lace shawl. I purchased a skein of lace weight alpaca from After the Sheep Fiber Arts at Shepherd's Harvest in May. The yarn is a silver color and I'm adding faceted crystal beads.

The pattern is the Aeolian Shawl from Spring Knitty 2009. It is beautiful and I can hardly wait to block it. I'm beginning the edging, but I'll need to work on it sparingly since I need to sew up 2 tents for a mid Nov delivery.

Raking up

2009-11-03T17:54:00.001-06:00

I spent a couple hours raking up the hay in the backyard. With the rain prior to Halloween we laid down a base of hay to combat the mud. It did a good job keeping people's shoes dry and it also did a good job keeping the grass healthy. I raked the majority of it onto the perennial beds.

A number of our props have been loaded into their bins and put away, just a few more to go. They are predicting temps in the 60's this weekend so we have time to work on the yard before it truly turns cold. It also gives us more time before we turn on the furnace.

We received a lovely thank you note from one of our neighbors. That was a lovely surprise.

Back

2009-11-02T11:24:00.000-06:00

The simple act of lifting a shovel of dirt and rotating to put it back in the trench in which it came out was enough to nearly put me out of comission during tear down. I took 3 Ibuproven and pushed through but I'm walking like I'm 70 today.

The house needs a thorough cleaning. Lots of mud, grass, leaves and straw got tracked in from the back yard with people coming in and out. Me and my back are going to be washing dishes, doing laundry, mopping the floors and vacuming. Or, I'm going to brew up some coffee, put in a healthy dose of Baileys and sit and work on my lace shawl. We'll see how everything goes when I take the hamper down the stairs.

Don't Blink

2009-11-01T22:34:00.001-06:00

We created our Haunted Maze at our new home. To say that we were a hit was an understatement. Our neighbors got in on the act. One was our gate keeper for the maze and the other brought us coffee, home brew and pizza while we were finishing set up. Pretty nice. We returned the favor by scaring the crap out of a bunch of folks. Good times.

After years of being a guide I wanted to be part of the action.

My costume was inspired by the Weeping Angels from the Dr Who episode "Blink". Some people didn't think I was a person, no one guessed it was me and I even managed to startle the person who made my wings when we were completing set up. He thought I was a statue .... until I spoke to him. The effect was pretty good, especially with the strobe.

Our neighbor took a video, but the parts in the grid were too dark to show up. We'll see what she got.

Happy November!

Apple Butter Day

2009-10-05T10:33:00.002-05:00

I'm cooking up a bunch of apple butter from the applesauce I made last week. There is a bag of apples waiting on the counter to turn into more applesauce, a rubbermaid of apples in the garage, and there are still apples on the trees. Oy. Anyone need apples?

I'm making a batch of green tomato chutney as well. The temps have turned cool and the garden is done, although I still have green onions, beets, swiss chard and fennel. The garden bed is all prepped for the spring, although I'm tempted to see what I can cultivate during the winter, especially if I cover a portion of the bed with a homemade green house.

Caponi Art Park, Sunday September 27th

2009-09-20T20:00:00.001-05:00

This is the third year for the Medieval Fair and it will take place from 12-4.

Applesauce

2009-09-06T20:39:00.002-05:00

I canned 13 pints of applesauce, using the apples from our tree naturally. Our tree is a Harelson and the apples are abundant this year. I've frozen 2 gallons of ziplock bags and 1 gallon of dried apples.

I found this site to be especially helpful for canning applesauce.

The recipe I used:
3 pounds of apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 c water
2-4 T sugar
2 T lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick

Cook over low heat until it's mushy.

Canning

2009-09-02T20:48:00.004-05:00

I have been canning a lot of my vegetables this summer.

So far I have made:
Pickled beets
Pickled zucchini
Dill pickles
Pickled melon
Thai pickled beans
and bread and butter pickles, which I made on Tuesday.

The recipe is from Mom.

Bread and Butter Pickles: Mary Pearson
For 8 pints

4 qts sliced cucumbers (not peeled) approx 12 large
1/3 c canning salt

Add salt to the cucumbers, cover with ice cubes and let sit for 3 hours.

Drain and add:
4 medium onions sliced
1 green pepper sliced
1 red pepper sliced
3 cloves garlic, whole

Combine the following ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil.
3 c distilled white vinegar
5 c sugar
1 1/2 tsp tumeric
1 1/2 tsp celery salt
2 T mustard seed

Add the cucumber mix and bring the whole thing to a boil. Fill steril jars with liquid and process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

I added some new shelves to the basement and have moved my food storage and canning down. Looks like a proper Mn basement.

MN State Fair 2009

2009-09-02T20:26:00.006-05:00

Ahhhh the MN State Fair. Food, people, Food, fun, Food, milk for $1, Food.... did I mention Food?

P and I went on Friday. We started off at Channel 9 and caught it just as it was ending the morning news. We then went to the 4H building and then the Fine Arts Building. Congrats to Ellen for her Honorable Mention for her first entry. That was awesome!

P's stamina (or lack there of) meant that I did a lot of things on my own. The Moo Booth, the butter sculptures, Horticultural Building, and Heritage Square.

Heritage Square was mostly full of "historic" junk, but I did enjoy the wood turner, the blacksmith and the log house.

I did get a lovely surprise by discovering my stockings in the "special case" with all the other honories. I received the Best Socks ribbon sponsored by Needlework Unlimited.

That was a huge thrill! They are the first things you see when entering the main door of the Creative Activities Building!

I entered my stockings in the "textured socks" category, but I did not receive any ribbons for that category. I will be interested in seeing the judging sheets. I can already predict the comments.

Ilga's socks by Nancy Bush

2009-08-25T14:42:00.003-05:00

I finished these for Liz and gave them to her at Schutzenfest on Saturday. They appear to be a bit tight around the ankles, but that may improve in the wearing. They are a super wash wool so they will not shrink.

This is the Ilga Sock by Nancy Bush from the Favorite Socks book by Interweave Knit. I used Lang Jawool and Cascade Yarns Heritage Solids.

The pattern is Latvian in origin and I just love it.

Beets Galore!

2009-08-25T14:26:00.002-05:00

This massive beet is roughly the size of a baby's head.

......mmmmm babies......

I picked, cooked, peeled, and canned 9 pints of pickled beets on Sunday, and there are still beets left in the garden. Yummy!

I used a recipe from Cooking Alaskan that uses allspice, cinnamon and whole cloves along with vinegar, sugar and water. It smelled and tasted divine. I can't wait!

Things to do when it's hot...

2009-08-17T11:35:00.002-05:00

Canning all day is probably not up there on the list, but it's what I did on Friday.

The produce has exploded in the garden and I've reached the point of stopping strangers on their evening walks to load them up with zucchini. The heat and sun from last week has finally encouraged the tomatoes to start turning. I have several ripe tomatoes waiting for me at home. I've already shredded and baked a batch of double chocolate zucchini cookies, 2 loaves of zucchini bread and 4 freezer bags of shredded zucchini ready for more baking.

I focused on green beans, cucumbers and zucchinis for the initial canning.

I made Thai green beans (recipe in my co-op newsletter), Dill Zucchini chips (from Cooking Alaskan) and Dill pickles from Grandma Alice's recipe. She canned her dill pickles whole, but my cucumbers were so massive there was no way.

I installed shelves in the utility room and moved all of my food storage downstairs when the lids popped. The basement is looking like a proper MN basement. At least I know we have food to keep us set for the winter.

This week is beets and melons.

Warning sirens

2009-08-03T14:23:00.002-05:00

Last night I heard the severe weather sirens at our house for the first time. Good to know they work, good to use they are used, good to know that we can hear them when they are used. The sirens were sounded to warn us of Thunderstorms. Fortunately the extent was a lot of wind, a lot of rain, a lot of lightning, and not much else. Considering there was predictions of .5-2" HAIL I was glad that we got none of that.

My garden was soggy this morning but no worse for wear. There are a whole bunch of green tomatoes that i hope will ripen with the warm weather coming later this week.

Silk Stockings for the Sock Museum

2009-07-28T16:24:00.003-05:00

In 10 days I've managed to knit the cuff and leg of the first of pair #4 of Eleanora's stockings. I'll be starting the heel flap tonight. If I can get the heel shaped and foot started by Thursday, I will be doing very well.

My goal was to have this stocking completed in time to enter with the remaining mate from pair #3 in the State Fair on August 16th. Looks like I will make my goal with time to spare.

Good thing too as I have queenly stockings that need completion....

More garden....I'm boring

2009-07-27T14:11:00.004-05:00

I think I may need to call for reinforcements. It's a good thing I like zuchinni and tomatoes as we are going to have a bumper crop (knock on wood).

This is our garden as of Friday. From the back left moving forward are pumpkins, zuchinni, summer squash, cucumbers, dill, swiss chard, fennel, and lettuce. From the back right moving forward is raspberry bushes, tomatoes, sunflowers (almost blooming), beets, peas, beans and onions.

I'm loving going out to my garden and picking dinner. P and I went to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning and I discovered that we had both been tallying the value of our produce when wandering the aisles. We went with another couple to act as native guides (and show the sneaky way to the free parking). I got coffee and a bagel and P picked up some cherries and blueberries. It was a lovely morning and we met up with other friends.

Our snap peas have reached the eave of the garage, ~ 7' high. I think the crop of peas is winding down, but the beans are reving up. I finally had enough beans to steam for dinner. Love!

We don't have any red tomatoes yet, but we should soon. We have a plethora of flowers and small green tomatoes on the cherry tomato plant and I can't wait.

The zuchinni and squash have been slowly coming along and I have a couple big zuchinni that I'm going to grate for bread.

The cucumbers are starting to come in. I have slicing cucumbers and pickling cucumbers. So far I like using the tomato cages to trellis the cucumber vines.

This is the North side of the garage and it always reminds me of Grandma G's garden in Minneapolis. She had tons of ferns.

Here is another look at the east side.

On being crafty

2009-07-21T15:23:00.002-05:00

Link from Wendy, Knit and Tonic's blog.

I want a shirt that says "I can also make fire..."

Pretty tents!

2009-07-15T10:36:00.001-05:00

Well shade flys actually. I like the semi of snowflakes.

Perennial Garden

2009-07-14T11:02:00.004-05:00

A lot of the flowers in the beds that make a 90 degree turn around the North and east side were there when we moved in. The whole bed was actually quite overgrown and the inspector suggested that we thin it out, which I did with Duchess E last Fall.

This is how the beds looked during our initial walk through.

This is how the east bed looks now.

We cleared out a lot of the flox and I transplanted some perennials from our duplex. I cleared out some hostas and divided up some of the other plants and spread them around. I also brought over a couple bushes and one is added to the corner of this bed and the other is added to the new herb bed. Both bushes and most of the flowers seem to have survived the move just fine and they should really flourish next year.

This is the herb bed that I added to the west side of the house.

It's near the back door and I filled it mostly with herbs, although it has the other bush that I brought from Hillsdale, some Dyanthis and whatever this bulb is.

I transplanted lavender and planted lovage, sage, rosemary, tarragon, flat leaf parsley, savory, chives and cilantro. The cilantro really went nuts. My basil and oregano seeds did nothing. Such a shame. Next year I will add more plants.

I decided to re purpose my pots and grow some decorative annuals. I planted the pots in April and all 4 are doing quite well, despite my infrequent watering.

Weekend of accomplishments

2009-07-06T08:39:00.002-05:00

Ok, first things first. Tent has more paint.

My new blue gown for WW has buttons, buttonholes, and the sleeves sewn into the armholes. Only thing left is the lacing cord and eyelets. (no pictures)

Shade flys for Nordskogen have been set up, tested and approved.

I'm so glad that Vidi is making the wood cause I would be even more insane than I already am. Last night I finished adding the rope slides, cut the second set of ropes and started loading the van with the stuff I'm going to need. They are NOT going to get the snowflakes until after WW and I don't care at this point. Anyone who wants to help with silk screening is welcome to come over.

This was the most important accomplishment of the weekend.

Sitting.

Produce

2009-07-01T09:41:00.004-05:00

I need to eat more Swiss Chard, the garden will soon be drowning in produce. There are flowers on the cucumbers, summer squash, peas, beans, and tomatoes. Considering the cooler temps, I should pick up a hen and roast it on a bed of fennel tonight with some potatoes. That will be a nice easy dinner so that I can work on stuff in the sewing room.

On the way home from the wedding this weekend I purchased a flat (8 qrts) of strawberries. They are not as sweet as our neighbors, but they are pretty good, and a bargain at $3/ qrt. I cleaned and sliced 16 cups of strawberries and placed them in the freezer. I think I will end up making jam, but I don't have time to do that right now. I also have 1 1/2 qrts of cherries picked, with more still on the tree. They are waiting in the fridge for some action by me. Not sure what I'll do, but I think some will go into the freezer for baking, and some will go into alcohol for cordials.

The shade flys are sewn and could be set up anytime I get the wood. I still need to add the snowflakes, but I will start that tonight. See how well I did masking my new screen for the task.

I'm going to knitting on Thursday, but it's going to be a quick dash in, grab my food order form Chris, and dash out. Too much to do this week.

Swiss Chard

2009-06-25T10:34:00.002-05:00

We have been eating frsh greens for dinner for the last couple of nights. Last night was a hit!

Olive oil
Handfull of fresh snap peas
several marinated garlic cloves
Large Sprig of fresh fennel
Generous amount of swiss chard and spinach
Vinegar/ Lemon juice to finish with some kosher salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in the pan and add garlic. Stir about.
Add snap peas and stir about
Add the fresh greens and cook everything until the greens are wilted
Add the vinegar just when complete and dash with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Fantastic! The bitter swiss chard really works well with the vinegar and sweet peas.

Drowning in blue fabric

2009-06-25T08:55:00.003-05:00

I'm sewing 2 rather large BC shade flys. (photo from Dragonwing)

I cut out all the fabric Tuesday at Fighter's practice and started sewing everything together Wednesday night. I should have started earlier than I did, but I was enjoying my knitting and didn't want to put it down. That said I only got the wings edged and sewn onto the walls and one half of one shade fully assembled.

I did purchase the wood, paint, sliders and ropes. The person working on the uprights is receiveing the wood today. Glad I'm not having to work on that as well, I'll have plenty of work with just the sewing an painting.

Pavilion painting check in

2009-06-22T10:44:00.004-05:00

I think it's looking good. I'll finish the valance design by WW.

Absentee gardening

2009-06-22T10:28:00.002-05:00

I guess the garden does much better while I'm gone. When I left there were flowers on the peas and now there are peas to eat.

Yummy peas to snack on. I had them on my salad yesterday, made with lettuce from the garden.

I need to find a recipe for Swiss chard. Anyone have any ideas?

The cherries need to be harvested this week. Wow!

They are sour, but just lovely.

There will be raspberries in about a month.

Cherries!!!!

2009-06-22T09:59:00.002-05:00

Wow! Time to pick some fruit this week.

I think I will pit and freeze them until I decide what I should do.

Ariel's Stockings

2009-06-22T09:44:00.001-05:00

I finished the stockings about a month ago and finally had a chance to deliver them to the recipient.

The plan was that they were going to be part of a outfit made on site, but the scope of the outfit morphed from 15th c. German to Roman. Yeah knit stockings are not really common for Roman. They were done and I was happy to hand them over. I'm pretty pleased with them.

The stockings are a pattern of my own design. I used size 0 needles and Lang Jawool Superwash in yellow. I did some shaping on the cuff, knee and calf and they fit perfectly. The small clocks on the ankle are a crown and a Calon Cross. The crown is pretty obvious, but the Calon cross is harder to see. I used a Dutch heel for shaping and a wedge toe and kitchnered it closed.

Now to start silk stockings and socks for Northshield's next Queen.

Pavilion painting

2009-06-15T09:56:00.002-05:00

I'm trying to get the main elements of the design on my new spoked round in time to take it to Lilies. I won't have the valence design started, but the walls are mostly done and the roof with have the initial elements.

Here's a peek:

The paint it exterior house paint (latex/ water based) and it is thinned with a bit of water. Some people thin it 1 to 1 and mine is more 2 to 1 (2 parts paint to 1 part water).

I tape the lines and paint them on. I use the seam lines as my guide so it's relatively easy to lay it out in sections on my cutting table and work on it in pieces. That's how I painted my spoked oval.

The gonfleurs are added using a stencil. It's tricky using stencils with thinned paint. I find if I add the majority of the paint in the center of the large sections and then work my way to the edge of the stencil with a swirly action it cuts down on the bleed through. It's not an exact science, but they pass the 5' rule.

I like them!

Tonight I will be painting the top of the tent. It's going to get 2 rings and then a series of circles. The valence will get 2 border lines and then I will add the diamonds and lattice after Lillies. It will be very pretty by WW. I need to have the tent dry to pack after work on Wednesday.

I also finished sewing up my floor. That needs to get painted too.

Christmas in June

2009-06-12T13:13:00.005-05:00

My friend asked me to re-knit a Christmas stocking that her Grandmother made for her. She made stockings for the whole family, but when Mel was born she switched out the yarn. Cut to many years later and an unfortunate incident with soap and water and the stocking knit with the fine merino wool, which wasn’t color fast, is the worse for wear.

I have one of the original stockings to work from and the design is pretty simple: stockinette and duplicate stitch. I think her Grandmother used Red Heart for the first stocking (which survived the wash just fine, not a surprise) and I’m hoping to find a substitute yarn that will be superwash and a similar gauge.

I found the Caron Wintuk Worsted weight was a pretty good match. I could not match the Kelly Green of the original, but the red and white are spot on and I got gauge.

I cast on 58 stitches on size 3 dps and knit in 1 to 1 rib for 10 rows. Change to size 4 needles and knit flat in stockinette using white for 25 rows.

Change to red, knit stockinette for 28 rows.
Change to green, knit stockinette for 28 rows.
Change to red, knit stockinette for 28 rows.

The heel and foot is knit in the round using a standard Dutch Heel. I should be done with the main knitting pretty quick and then I will do the duplicate stitch and finish the foot.

Sparkle!

2009-06-11T10:23:00.001-05:00

Dress up is for kids....NOT!

2009-06-10T10:54:00.004-05:00

In an act of pure nostalgia I decided to upload a whole slew of old Halloween photos. These are going back over 10 years so be kind.

Cable Rib Socks

2009-06-10T08:48:00.003-05:00

I finished Tuesday night.

I love them!

The design is simple, from the Favorite Socks book by Interweave Press. The yarn was hand dyed by G2 and the base yarn is Knit Picks Bare. I still have enough left to make a pair of baby socks.

Nordskogen Day of Fun

2009-06-03T09:01:00.003-05:00

The Day of Fun was hosted at Danr and Katriona's and Tom and Sylvia's home in East Bethel. It was a grand time and I had a load of fun.

Garden, lets check in

2009-05-28T08:30:00.003-05:00

Here is where we were 2 weeks ago.

Here is where we are this morning, 5-28.

Wow!

We've had a couple chilly days lately, but last week we had temps in the 90's. Just wierd. Today and this weekend we should be in the 70's-80's, which is normal. The garden has just exploded with produce. I've been handing out lettuce and spinach and my favorite thing is to grab a snack when I'm out weeding. The lilac is almost done blooming so I will be cutting that back soon to allow more light for the garden.

Beets, cucumbers and dill.

Fennel (Swiss chard coming up just behind it), mesclun salad mix and spinach.

Onions (hopefully the beans will germinate this time around), snap peas and peppers.

Summer squash, tomatoes (10 plants!) and sunflowers.

I just planted zuchinni and pumpkin. It's a nice variety of plants and I'll probably plant a second crop of lettuce and spinach when the first crop is exausted.

Check out the cherries!!!

They are just starting, but it looks like we are going to have a nice crop. The raspberries are looking great as well. Yay produce! It's worth all the work.

New spoked round

2009-05-27T09:53:00.003-05:00

DSC00916
Originally uploaded by katymac79

Here is my new tent set up at Castle Fever. I was using my hub and spokes from my oval and they appear to be too small for this tent so the eave line is a bit saggy. Oh well.

The awning worked brilliantly!

I'm going to make a custom floor for this tent and paint it. Something I've been wanting to do for a while. I'm also going to paint the exterior so it's nice and fancy.

More garden

2009-05-20T08:30:00.003-05:00

I planted the seedlings Tuesday afternoon. Naturally I had to do some weeding first (stupid thistles, but I seem to have them on the run somewhat). I planted 4 pepper plants and 10 tomato plants. I see canning in my future.....

I rigged up a string ladder system using a couple uprights and the fence for the tomatoes. We'll see how it goes. They survived all the wind last night just fine so this might work great. I need to set up the string for the peas to start climbing, they are about 10" tall already and are starting to grip each other. I also need to pick up more mulch and get it down around the rest of the plants. The six bags only went so far on Saturday. The temp soared to 97 degrees on Tuesday and it's supposed to get to 95 today. Weird front! I laid down the soaker hoses that I purchased and I think they are a more efficient way to distribute water to the plants than the oscillating sprinkler. I gave everything a good drink before going to work.

Tonight I need to rip my center pole, fit the metal sleeve and cut it to length. I should be able to use my spokes and hub from my oval to set up the new tent, but anything could happen. I made the toggles for the doors and sewed them on when I was done with my yard work. I'm excited to see if the design works. I don't think I'll make it to knitting on Thursday, I need to do a dry run on setting up my tent and then I need to pack. Too much to do to get ready for the weekend.

Apples!

2009-05-14T10:30:00.002-05:00

Well there will be apples this Fall, for now we just get to enjoy the beautiful flowers. We have 2 Harrelson apple trees.

Shepherds Harvest

2009-05-12T08:53:00.005-05:00

I went on Sunday. Arrived early enough to easily make the Ravelry meet-up. That was fun and I was invited to drunken knit night, which I think I will attend. It might make things interesting trying to get up for Saturday knitting at Blackdog.

I bought my requisite soaps, as I do, although I chose a different vendor this year. I visited All Things Herbal and although I lathered on far too much shea butter, I bought 3 different soaps.

I purchased 2 skeins of fingering weight 80% Merino and 20% Nylon yarn from Blackberry Ridge.

I think I will eventually make socks. I love the colors.

The great find was the gray lace weight from After the Sheep.

I envision a shawl with small, clear, faceted, crystals. Lickable....

Arietta finished

2009-05-11T09:40:00.005-05:00

Wow, that was a long time coming.

Not surprising since I kept setting it aside to work on other things. I love it and it's the perfect thing to wear in the spring and summer. Love the colors, love the fit, love the yarn, everything!

Pattern: Arietta Cardigan, Spring 2007 Knitty. designed by Barbara Gregory

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport, 60% Pima Cotton, 40% Modal (beech wood fiber)

Buttons: 3/4" pearl from Great Grandma's button box.

OMG is this yarn yummy!!! I started this sweater when P was signing the closing papers for the house (August 22nd) and it spent a lot of time untouched in my knitting basket while I worked on packing, unpacking, peeling wallpaper, painting, hanging pictures, etc. I finally finished it May 10th and wore it to Shepherd's Harvest, as I had planned.

Arietta Body almost done

2009-05-08T09:23:00.001-05:00

The sweater body is sewn up and I completed the button band. The buttons are picked out and ready to sew on. The sleeves are complete, washed and blocking. Once they are dry I will seam them up and attach them to the body. I will have this in time for Shepherd's Harvest!

Flowers!

2009-05-08T09:13:00.002-05:00

The flowering Crab Apple is blooming and the color is amazing! The cherry tree is starting to bloom, as is the lilacs. It's going to smell so good this weekend and next week! I can't wait!

My tomato and pepper plants were a gift from Eleanor and I will be putting them in the ground next week. They are ready to go and I expect they will take off once I get them in. I'm going to lay down newspaper, paper bags, and mulch around the plants to see if I can keep the weeds down, as well as conserving water. The peas, lettuce, spinach, beets, sunflowers and onions are growing along and I saw some signs of life from my cucumber seeds. I will be adding squash and pumpkin. I don't think any of my beans geminated so I'm either going to start again with new seeds or purchase plants.

I reused the pots that I grew my tomatoes in last year and started some annuals. They are doing really well. I have 2 pots on the back deck and 2 on the front steps.

The seeds in the herb garden are starting to come up, but I can't remember what I planted where. I'll discover what each green thing is in good time.

Last night I weeded the raised garden for 2+ hours. I removed a bucket full of thistle and tried the tip of pouring boiling water on the developing thistle plants. I'm excited to see if that works.

Cirsium arvense

2009-05-05T14:16:00.003-05:00

Also known as the Canada Thistle, aka the bane of my raised garden bed. Every day I pull out a bucket of roots.

I don't think the battle will ever be over and I just hope that the small crops I plant will be able to compete. The roots are everywhere and prolific. I'm not sure if Preen would help at this point.

More plants

2009-05-04T10:38:00.003-05:00

I picked up some more herbs at the Farmers Market on Saturday.

Fennel
Dill
Lovage
French Tarragon
Italian parsley
Savory

I toyed with getting a Bay Laurel, but I would need to grow it in a pot and overwinter it. Not sure I want to do that....

Everything except the Fennel and Dill went in the herb bed. I weeded the raised garden some more on Saturday after the Living Green Expo. I got a free plant, a Solomon's Seal, for filling out a survery. I added it to my new perennial bed. I really enjoyed the Expo. Tons to see and I picked up some nice swag: another Target bag, a blinky light for riding/ walking at dusk, pamphlets, Living Green Magazine, Poo paper. To get the blinky light I had to sign a pledge that I would find an alternative route to work and commute this way at least once between now and June. Today I dusted off my bike and road to work. I am WAY out of shape, but I made it on time. I'm giving blood after work at 5 and I'm going to pick up a transit pass and schlep my bike home on the bus afterwards. Probably not the smartest thing to ride home a pint low. It looks like tomorrow will have thunderstorms so I'm going to take the bus. I hope to ride the rest of the week, I need to get back into the habit. It was a lovely ride this morning, too bad the route home is all up hill.

A Dirndl for Every Girndl

2009-04-30T15:57:00.002-05:00

Just too much fun happens when I'm with my friends.

We went to the Farmer's Market in our dirndls on Saturday, just cause. Everyone should wear one, they are dang comfy.

We had a lot of confused people try to figure out what we were all about.

Veggies and Plants

2009-04-29T08:19:00.006-05:00

The garden continues to grow.

The mesclun seems to be thriving the best out of all the seeds I planted, but there are signs of life from the spinach and peas. It's hard at this point to determine the weeds vs seedlings. Good thing the rest of the plants will be added as established seedlings in a couple weeks. The weeds are determined to make a foothold in the bed again. Not on my watch.

I created a new flower bed over the weekend. I went to the Farmer's Market and visited my favorite local grower, The Vagary. P and I want more planting beds in our yard. We have so many weeds that it makes sense to start from scratch in many places, or just throw down weed barrier and pile on the dirt. The new bed is next to the back walk and will eventually extend across the entire side fence both inside and out.

I think it will look great when the plants fill in. All are perennials and all are graded for part shade as the sun is blocked by the maple tree in this spot.

Lady's mantel

Palace Purple

Snowdrop

Sweet woodruff

Toad Lily

They should vary in height from 1-2 ft and should self propogate. I'll be interested in seeing how it looks by the end of summer. I'm going to rip out the rest of the weeds and grass along the remaining length and throw down mulch, perhaps some seeds. If the budget allows for some more plants, I'll do that.

The bulbs in the perennial bed are slowing down and the rest of the plants are starting to flesh out. I cut a bunch of daffodils and put them in a vase in the kitchen. This afternoon we are expecting thunderstorms.

Growing things are growing...

2009-04-24T09:33:00.006-05:00

Just in time for the temp to plummet back to the 40's and a rainy weekend.

The seeds that I planted a week ago Monday are coming up.

Mesclun

The spinache, beets and sunflowers are also coming along, but very faint.

The cherry tree has some lovely buds as does the apple.

I think we will see the Lilac bushes fully leafed out in another 2 weeks.

Arietta body is complete

2009-04-20T13:42:00.006-05:00

I finished the right side of the sweater on Thursday and washed and blocked all three pieces before heading to MO on Friday. They are dry and ready to weave in ends and assemble, which I think I will do at Fiber night this evening.

I saw a few weeds in the garden bed that will need attending to.

P put down weed killer on the lawn while I was gone. Yay!

I started the sleeves for the sweater on Thursday and I am past the cuffs.

I have started knitting the heel flap on Ariel's stockings.

Calontir was way fun this weekend and I hope people were not too bored in my class. I really need to explore my subject further and knit up more examples. The Silk Stockings did get a chance to meet and we did not cause a riff in time or space. We were very silly though!

We did not have a "little captain in us", just some KY moonshine. WOW! Perhaps plying us with liquor and sending us to head table was not the best idea. LOL!

Our neighborhood

2009-04-15T09:23:00.003-05:00

We really live in a charming section of West St Paul, and we are close to a lot of cool things.

I'm less than 2 miles from my yarn shop.
I'm 6.5 miles from work.
I can easily drive to 4 major hardware stores, an old fashioned meat market, bird shop and pet food store.

We also have really unique things, which I chose to chronicle on my walk after work last night.

This meditation maze is at the end of our street, roughly 3 blocks. It's based on the maze in the transcept of Chartres Cathedral . I finally walked it last night. Granted, it's a bit more tricky to meditate while listening to Lime and Violet on my mp3 player, but it was still fun.

Just down the street from the maze is the Dodge Nature Center.

There are bike trails throughout the neighborhood and a nice trail that travels along Shepherd and across 35W, which I'm going to use when I start riding to work again or when I'm going to the new location for my Co-Op. I do miss having my bike route from Battle Creek, but there is a lot to be said living on a convienent bus line.

Too much to do

2009-04-14T16:29:00.002-05:00

This week is a blur and I feel like I am being pulled in a million different directions. I do have some things done.

Seeds are planted.
Taxes are done!
Walton Feed order is placed.
Quick mead is started.

I still need to finalize my class handout and photos for the class this weekend. I need to pack. I'd like to knit a sample sock trying a new foot shaping method. I don't think I will make it to knitting on Thursday, too much to get done.

Next week I am rewarding myself by sewing dirndls and knitting my Arietta sweater. Farmer's Market Summer hours start Saturday 4-25! I'm heading down to St Olaf on 4-26.

I have over a month to finish my new tent. I still don't know when I will deliver the 10 spoke, it would be nice to get that money. I also need to determine who is going to purchase my second wedge.

Garden

2009-04-13T08:50:00.005-05:00

I spent the majority of my weekend removing various weeds and small saplings from the once pristine garden bed that was used by the family who lived at our home prior to the ones who foreclosed.

The garden bed is on the west side of the garage. It lay fallow during the occupancy of the people before us and appears to have been used as a dumping ground for grass clippings during the past summer. This is actually a good thing as it kept a lot of weeds down in the center of the garden, but it was a lot of stuff to shift.

I thought I had a shot of it in the full glory of weed infestation, but the shot looking over the fence from the backyard will have to do.

That view is into a bunch of raspberry bushes and several small saplings. The weeds were roughly waist high throughout the 11 1/2' x 22 1/2' plot.

This is what the garden bed looks like now.

The raspberry bushes now.

All of the saplings have been cleared out. They were volunteers from neighboring trees. I trimmed the raspberries in the fall so we will see how they come up this year. Considering how well they did with plenty of neglect last year I'm hoping they do just as well with some TLC.

I did the whole thing by hand because I did not want a tiller to break up the weeds and roots and work them into the soil more, I actually wanted them out. The worm population is doing really well and I sure they appreciated that I took the time with a hand cultivator and rake. It did take me 2 solid days to do it, but I'm very pleased with the results. I do feel like I have been hit by a truck. Tonight I'm putting in the seeds: lettuce, beans, peas, beets, onions, spinache, and sunflowers. I'll be planting tomatoes and cucumbers from seedlings in May. Pumpkins will go in around then as well. There may be other crops, but we will see how the garden handles what I already have planned.

Operation Dirndl

2009-04-10T08:56:00.007-05:00

It has begun. Pattern and fabric has been purchased and I'm ready to begin. I even started prewashing the linen/ cotton for the blouse last night.

No, I'm not making it for Octoberfest. I'm German, but my family was from the North or the West bordering France. I don't have any relatives from Austria. I simply like dirndls. They are super cute, easy to wear and fun to say. Say it with me: dirndl, dirndl, dirndl! Fun!

My goal for completion is the end of April.

"Where will you wear this?" you ask. Everywhere! Grocery shopping? Yes! Work? Yes! Dinner? Yes! I figure there are people in Austria who wear this dress every single day so why not.

Coronation gown

2009-04-09T12:45:00.001-05:00

Well not mine, but I wore it to Coronation this last weekend. I really liked how the whole look worked and especially liked my hood. It looks right.

I think the earliest I will be fought for in a Crown will be Spring 2010. That's fine, it will give me a whole year to prepare.

Knitting front

2009-04-08T09:29:00.002-05:00

Well the right side specifically. I'm still trundling along on the Arietta cardigan. I finished the left side on Monday and started on the right. The back has been done for a while. Just the sleeves, blocking, weaving in ends (which there are a LOT!), sewing up and knitting the button band will be left after the right side is done. I'm going to knit the sleeves at the same time.....

My goal is to have it completed and wearible for Shepherd's Harvest on May 10th, so I have more than a month. It's possible, but naturally I have a bunch of other projects.

Stockings- I'm starting the clocks and then I need to make the feet so they are pretty close to complete
Class on April 18th - I really need to test knit a different foot before this
Start my garden - I plan to clear off the dead weeds this weekend
Fix Irel's tent - this Saturday
New tent for me - I need this done for Castle Fever (May 22-25), which includes building the wood support, sewing the canvas and painting.
Decorations for Crown - May 9th

Shade flys for the Kingdom? Ultimately it would be great to have these ready for WW.

Someone stop me from volunteering for things!!!!!

Siplau Bag

2009-04-03T11:59:00.002-05:00

I finally added the lining to the bag last night. This picture was taken prior to lining and blocking so it looks a bit better now.

This is the Siplau Bag from Knit Picks in the Warm Pallette. I purchased it last fall and they are completely out of this kit. The pattern was a bit odd and could have been clearer in places, but I think the finished product turned out great.

Classic Quote

2009-04-03T10:40:00.003-05:00

In response to the "gift giving" by our Pres to the Queen of England, You Are Dumb has this to say.

"When was the last time anyone paid this much attention to who gave who what when heads of state met? It sounds like something from the society pages of a 1940s newspaper. And not even a real 1940s newspaper, but one of those fake newspapers someone would run across the stage reading aloud from in a shitty musical. "Didja hear? Eleanor Roosevelt just got a pet mime from the King of France!" "Really? That reminds me of a SONG!" STOP CARING."

:love:

SNOMG

2009-03-30T11:30:00.005-05:00

I drove down to Kansas City on Saturday to attend their Coronation and Katrai's elevation to the Pelicanate. Her surprise when I greeted her Saturday morning was worth the 7 hours in the van. I had my pod casts so I was entertained.

I stayed with Gwen and Ulf and had a marvelous time being clambered on by dachshunds and kitties, as well as a hedgehog (so cute).

There was a prediction of snow for the weekend. Rephrase that: GIANT FROGS OMG WE ARE GOING TO DIE FROM WHITE STUFF.

::ahem::

The rain Saturday morning, turned to freezing rain which turned to slush. It was icky and covered all the beautiful blossoms on the trees with ice and snow, but only accumulated a couple inches on the roads. They were slick on the way to dinner and we opted out from going to the post rev, but I had lots of visiting at the event. It was lovely. Sunday was sunny and warm and all the snow was gone from the roads and I had smooth sailing all the way home.

The stockings for Ariel are going well. I'm starting the calf decreases and I got the thumbs up for the clocks. I still think they are a bit big so I'm going to re-chart the design and knit up a test pattern when I knit the foot. I'm trying a shaping method that is closer to the surviving stocking. I should have it well under way for Elizabethan RUSH on the 18th. I'm excited to be going back to Calontir so soon.

This weekend is Coronation in Madison and I'm deciding what I should bring for the A&S display. I'm thinking about bringing one of my tents.

Happy Spring!

2009-03-23T09:33:00.005-05:00

Bulbs!!! I have green growing things in the garden.

We had our neighbors over Saturday night to enjoy a fire in the backyard and I was talking to Irene about gardens and such and I glanced over in the dark and thought I saw something in the garden. I went over and I could clearly see that the bulbs were up! Very exciting! The bulbs came with the garden and were discovered as we were thinning it out from the garage. I put them in a neat little row along the front and they all seem to be coming up just fine.

Sunday I was up early and cleared the dead stuff from the garden and saw that there was fresh shoots from a lot of the plants. I also found some rabbit droppings so I'm thinking the garden may need some fencing around it, at least the vegetable garden. The day lillies, flox, lazy susans, delphinium, and a bunch of the other perennials appear to have survived transplant last summer. I raked a bit in the back yard and pulled up some thistles. They are a real problem in the yard. P has plans to construct a water barrel catch system and we looked at places for it around the garage. Not this comming weekend, but next I want to pull back the black plastic and start weeding the garden bed. Time to start planning the crops for the summer. We also need to trim the fruit trees. A long branch that was nawed on came down in the wind this morning off our maple tree. I'm assuming some animal was nawing on it and I noticed a branch in tha apple tree had the same marks. Squirrels? Interesting.

Naturally there is a prediction of snow this week.

Extreme Shepherding

2009-03-19T13:31:00.004-05:00

WOW!

Extreme Shepherding on You Tube.

Spring!

2009-03-16T11:58:00.002-05:00

I washed the bedding and dried it on the line on Sunday. The temp was in the 60's and you could watch the snow retreat in the yard.

We have a lot of work to do on the exterior of the house and garage.

1) rehang screen door and replace the trim and door handle
2) replace door and trim for the garage
3) install new gutters and downspouts on garage
4) Till and plant the garden
5) Landscaping
6) repaint the front steps
7) Look at replacing the front door

Keeping track

2009-03-10T09:57:00.005-05:00

I've been sewing more pavilions lately and I wanted to keep track of the time it takes me to construct one.

10 spoke round
Cutting out fabric ~ 4 hours
Assembling roof: including roof cap, grommet, reinforcing strip over door opening and loops ~ 4 hours

Tonight I will be assembling the doors and sewing the walls together. My goal is to have ties on both sets of doors, the doors attached to the wall sections and the ground loops attached. I'm expecting to have all the sewing complete by Wednesday or Friday. That would equal 4 evenings of assembly, ~ 16 hours total.

I need to start working on the wood structure this weekend. The wood takes about 6-8 hours of work.

4 year anniversary

2009-03-05T08:41:00.001-06:00

I almost never remember the date, which is too bad, cause it was an awesome day.

Bardic Madness, March 5, 2005.

Sometimes its the little things

2009-02-25T12:59:00.003-06:00

Like cool new shelves for the utility room.

A beautiful green kitchen and a place to sit and eat meals.

A living room that has room for guests and all our stuff.

A bedroom just for GARB!

And a sewing room that can easily accomidate Bruce and my pavilions.

I really love this house and I can't wait for the snow to melt and I can start the gardening. I'm already enjoying the birds on the feeders.

Knitted Fug

2009-02-12T16:02:00.008-06:00

This picture was taken at the "fashion show" at the 2008 Knit-Out and Crochet event at the Mall of America.

Um, yeah.

The 2009 Knit Out is happening this weekend and I don't plan to go.

Correction: that would be "The Seasons Best Fashion Show", observe.

check please....

Missed my anniversary

2009-02-09T16:32:00.002-06:00

Feb 1, 2006 I started this blog. 3 years. Wow.

I'm horrible at remembering dates. I couldn't even tell you when P and I had our first date. The first January/ February after I turned 30 so that would be 11 years ago. Egads. I don't think we made our relationship official until March/ April of that year. My memorable date is 12th Night 1998, when we met (or when I noticed him since we had met before).

11 years, 2 cats, 2 birds and 1 house later. Amazing!