31. Randomly put together: no shape or fashion, guaranteed!

Found at Shaw's Supermarket.Sometimes I buy cookies just because FIG is in the name, even though Fig cannot read nor will care. There was some talk of Fig's Rolls after buying this but we will all keep this to ourselves.
~~~
Amaryllis number 2 is getting ready to show us her true colors!

Any guesses as to what color this one will be?
~~~
I have made it through one month of posting. So far, it's been fine,with the exception of yesterday! Status Quo for me, you? It's a miracle you come back every day to read. Thank you for that.
~~~
Yesterday. The blog failure. I cannot tell you how freaking upset I got. It was a bit sad and in hindsight, almost funny. Not having one idea of what to do, this is how I intended to "FIX" things, you know, before the begging to Kim occured.
Actual transcript from the occasion*
~sign on to movable type publishing page
~see funky error message
~hmm.
~read message again
~is it in English?
~Yes, I recognize one or two words
~read it again.
~go to get a diet coke
~There
~glance at it again
~hmm
~refresh page
~hmm
~still there
~close browser
~open page again
~still
~huh
~refresh
~is it fixed?
~NO
~refresh
~now?
~no. Refresh
~NOW?
~nope. REFRESH, REFRESH, REEEEEEFRRRRRESH
~huh.
~this will fix it:
~refresh.
~nope.
~is it fixed NOW???
~n-o-w?
~NNNNNOW???
~!!!!
~Zucker.
It was the saddest thing I have ever witnessed in a long while.
*there are no actual transcripts from my life. I made it up. Sorry to disappoint.
~~~
Every morning? I wake up with a song in my head that kind of becomes my theme song for the day. I hum it frequently through the day and it fills my day with music.
Today? that song was FLY ME TO THE MOON. That was a good song for the day!

Sing along?

30. (thanks, Margene! I forgot to number this entry! GASP!) The blog is back, did you even know it was gone?

I'm back. Maybe you did not even know I was gone.
Quite the panic I had when I opened my blog publisher and found only gobbledegook.
A million jillion thanks go to my resident nerd, Gibknits. Without Kim, I'd still be a quivering pile of tears.
ALL HAIL KIM!
In the meantime, I do have the substitute blog for times like these, which I aptly named My Substitute Sandy's Knitting Blog, a Place I can blog when my blog is broken
But for the life of me? I cannot figure out why the comments are moderated. (poor Cookie, thought the blog hated her. WHO or rather WHAT could hate Cookie? I mean, really?)
But honestly, the piece de resistance is the ABOUT page on that blog. Go ahead and give it a peep.
What a day!

29. Tiny little messages OR: Sugar free and sugar as topics of conversation

Today's entry is brought to you by messages. As consumers, we are used to being bossed around a bit. You know, we don't want to stink so we use deodorant and mouthwash. We want the coolest snacks at the party so we serve Triscuits and cheese.
I found a little mystery message on my Diet Coke can.

See it?

LIVE POSITIVELY, it tells us. Do what the can tells you to do.
Look at the little drawings, cave paintings, if you will. To live a positive life, follow the Diet Coke Code: Drink diet coke in a glass. Exercise. Preferably on your way to the store to buy more diet coke. And then? Drink it right out of the bottle.
Rinse. Repeat.
And living positively? It's a popular thing, just look how much this google search finds on the subject. <---------CLICK for positive living!
250,000 pages! Is it elusive? Is it attainable? Is it unrealistic? Is it a way of life?
The questions are many. The answers few.
Thank BOB we have the diet Coke can to lead us to the answers, no?
~~
AND.
The German word for Sugar is....anybody?
ZUCKER.
Right before Christmas, Bethany's Grammie called her and asked that question of her, the German traveler. When asked WHY she wanted to know, she said she was just "curious". Seems she had come across this find at a church fair and bought them for Bethany.

Just because they are in German. Makes sense in a Grammie kind of way. I think the grandparents had a bit of a "conversation" on whether this would be an appropriate gift, you know, considering the font style of the Zucker bowl?

Although I am not a big fan of the swear word for daily conversation, this little Zucker bowl cracks me up.
Zucker, anyone?

28. Fig is a Sun Worshiper or Monday Fur

Some days, a blogger just has to rely on letting the fur fly on the blog.
~~~
I would like to believe that doing this Blog 365 has created only quality blog entries. I know that I'd be stretching the truth a bit but I'm still hoping you'll come back around even though some days it's a video or a furry picture!
~~
Happy Monday to you.

27, Has knitting lace ever killed anyone? Really. This is not a rhetorical question. I'm serious. Has it?

Cripes. I have this fatal flaw when it comes to knitting lacy type of items. "Lacy type items" being defined by any pattern that uses various types of stitches that move around in any way shape or form to create a pattern. I'm all about the pattern with color. But the pattern with stitches? I bow to you masters.
What's my problem, you may be wondering?
Let's use this wonderful chevron neck warmer as a shining example, shall we?

Yes, it's a lovely pattern. I was knitting swimmingly along last weekend, enjoying the beautiful pattern coming forth from my needles. One of those knitting moments when it just feels like magic. String goes in, beauty comes out. You start muttering..."I MADE THIS" as if one person in your family actually gives a hoot.
And after a long, magical day of Sunday knitting, it gets lovingly put aside, dreams of wearing the exquisite chevron neck warmer dancing in your head as your dreams fill with yarn.
The week passes and the little neckwarmer does not get picked up because it's lacy knitting and demands some right attention. Cut to Saturday when this knitter lovingly picks up the unfinished piece and gets to work, dreaming of the end which is in sight. And despite good notetaking and little marks and stick figures and checkmarks in the pattern? I cannot for the life of me place where I left off in the pattern. I am sure that it is on row 8. But the knitted piece is staring at me with some kind of combination that does not ever ever match up to the pattern I am holding in my hand. I spend the next 4 1/2 hours* trying to match up where I am, changing stitches here and there when I think I've figured it out. Changing them back when I realize I had not. It's only 2 stitches, people. The knit and the purl. But I cannot do it. Muttering about how lace knitting is my nemesis, I then do 2 rows of garter stitch and bind off. There. That will teach it.
Now? I have a neck warmer with a funky edge that is about 2 inches shorter than I wanted it to be. Honestly? The funky edge does not bother me much ** because as luck would have it, I forgot to add more than one button hole so I will just graft the ends together to wear and funky edge will be placed into my coat, not at my neck. I'm good like that. I'm a problem solver. I'm a fudger from way back so this is not new to me.
And I guess I'll get over it being a short neck warmer. Luckily I do not have a giraffe neck.

Beautiful bottom edge
vs.

PROVING. Once and for all, that if I could knit lace all in one sitting? I'd be a master! Otherwise? Not so much.
~~~
*
It was not actually 4 1/2 hours. An arbitrary large number was used for emphasis of a point.
:)
**
It does. I lied.

26. I quit*

The Best Way To Quit Your Job EVER!!!! - For more funny movies, click here
I blame the silly StumbledUpon. I watch movies. I never really have done that before.
One thing, though. Wouldn't it have been less painful to write the "I QUIT" in finger paints or something. Won't that hurt?
~~~
* No, Not ME! I can't quit this Blog 365 insanity! The guilt would overwhelm me!

25. Thank me

Eye Candy Friday:

I actually went to the store after work to buy these flowers specifically for an eye candy Friday post.
Sad or being good to myself.
You decide.

24. One thing led to another...

I finally bought some yarn to finish the anemoi mittens, seen here in this vintage photo:

But I do not know where they are, so I went on a little hunt.
Along the way, I saw:

Fig eating tuna. He was glad I moved along in a quick manner.

my chicken bowl! I wondered where this little guy went!

Christmas cards! Which reminds me, I forgot to send out Christmas cards this year! I hate it when that happens!

Helgi's mittens! In the wonderful Alpaca Exchange yarn! Poor things, sitting undone when I could be wearing them!

OH! The Nordic mittens from Winter 2004 Interweave knits. How I ADORE these mittens~ WHY '0 WHY do I keep putting them down? Can anyone answer that for me???
I did not find the anemoi mittens.
If you see them, will you send them home?
(this entry started to remind me* in a loose way of the children's book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie!)
~~~
*if in a "loose way" I really mean, NOTHING Like it.

23. Is it getting hot in here?

~Hot dogs
~Dogs that are hot
~Hot chocolate
~Hot cereal
~Hot chicks
:)
~Hot mama
~Hot stuff
~Hot sauce
~Hot salsa
~Hot Ice:

~Hot SpongeBob:

(This is Rap music and some rap music language. Please listen on if you are open minded and in a good mood) (don't make me come over there)
~Hot Peppers
~Hot soup
~Hot stuff
~Hot weather
~Hot grill
And the best "hot" of them all?

Hot. Water.
Sweet hot showers! No more freezing hands. No more temper tantrums. Well. Let's not make promises we cannot keep, shall we?
Please join in to this celebration of HOT by adding your HOT phrases here.
Pardon me, while I take the longest. hottest shower humanly possible. Don't bother calling. I won't answer.
:^)

22. Skimmers may want to move on: I kind of went on and on. And a recipe too!

We had many a good summer vacation camping when the kids were little. For about 6 years staight we went to the same campground and spent a week or more in a tent. I loved every minute of it. (Of course, memory being selective as it is, I can choose to forget the sleeping on the cold hard ground part of it all). The cooking over a campfire, schlepping to the bathroom which actually proved to be host to some of my favorite camping moments ever when little 4 year old Bethany would wake up in the middle of the night and needed a bathroom visit we would unzip that tent and most always be greeted with a nightime August sky that would knock your socks off. It would always be chilly and sometimes the moon would be so bright that we did not even need our flashlights. We would see fireflies and even meteors streaming across the star filled sky. It takes my breath away even after all of these years. How many s'mores my family ate during those years, I'd shudder to think. We even got creative one year and invented the SUPER S'MORE with a reese peanut butter cup instead of the plain chocolate on that graham/marshmallow combo. I can taste them now. And our friend's son, younger than the rest of the kids, wanted so much to like s'mores but didn't so he ate just a chocolate bar, but we all called it a s'more for him. He didn't miss out that way!
Seeing my family sitting by a campfire is a sight that is burned into my psyche. It is a sense filled memory with the flames licking orange up to the dark sky surrounding us, the smoke rising off of the fragrant logs, there is nothing like the smell of burning wood, even to this day, the popping sounds, the fire springing to life and yes, even the taste of the smoke when the wind would blow your way. The heat felt so good on the chilly August nights after a busy day of swimming in the cool lake. Even after all these years, I can shut my eyes and see, smell, taste, hear and feel it all. It is a memory of joy for me. Every detail, every color and hue of that memory is happiness.
Today? When I have to boil water to wash my dishes? You'd think that a small iota of that happiness would come into my heart. Nope. None. Not a teensy bit. All I feel is grumpiness at it all. I know I carry on about the lack of hot water but it has been so hard on me this time. Which is, of course a barometer to my overall sense of togetherness. I have reached "that time" of my life when all of a sudden things seem a bit more momentous than they actually should. I intellectually know this but it helps not a little bit. I want hot water, dammit. I do not want to camp in my kitchen or my bathroom for that matter. I temper tantrum a bit. And then boil the water, of course. What else is there to do? I tell myself how lucky I am to have what I have. I am. So lucky. But you know, that little pathetic me is hiding not too far under the surface.
Tomorrow morning at 8:30 am the plumber is arriving at my house. He best not be late because I am planning on showering a good long time, washing a good number or dishes and even washing my hands in hot water oodles of times just because I can now feed my inner germophobe.
And you? Poor you will not have my tirades about being hotwaterless anymore.
Poor you. How will you stand it?
~~
Last night I had decided that I would not cook dinner. I had had it with the world. I had nothing thawed out, I would not visit the store and if I had to eat one more slice of pizza I may have croaked. It was then that I decided that my family could just lump it. They could starve for all I cared (remember about the unreasonable emotions?) I had just spent 1 hour trying to find an important piece of paper that Bethany needed to bring to her state exams for her EMT license. She had, of course, told me NOT TO LOSE IT because honestly? That is what I do. I throw things out ruthlessly. So, she (and I share this responsibility 50/50 with her) put it on the PILE. You have one of those, don't you?
And of course, as fate would have it, I started cleaning up that pile for some mysterious reason on Sunday. I was sick as a dog but had to clean that pile all of a sudden. Some force was pulling me from the universe. Aliens, no doubt.
So, Monday and I have no hot water and I'm ticked about it, Bethany innocently asks me where that paper is. I turned cold all over because I realized that I had CLEANED. I started furiously looking through recycling bags and trash and other piles that had survived through the wrath. Nothing. Then it started. The waterworks. Looking like a gushing hot water heater myself, I had myself a good, old fashioned, right from the toes, can't even breathe cry. Sobbed like I had lost my best friend. I was right pathetic, I tell you now. All the while, mind you going through the recycling bag over and over muttering between sobs, "It must be here". After all, every piece of junk mail that has entered this house, every envelope and even the envelope of the offending party was in there. If my family had then called the loony bin, I would not hold it against them.
It was about the middle of the frantic sobbing and searching that I decided that the family could go to hell and starve for all I cared. I would not cook for them if anyone paid me.
After the searching and the maniacal sobbing had subsided, I calmly took a pound of hamburg out of the freezer and decided upon a recipe from the Bisquick cookbook, even though I had none of the ingredients. Ingredients can just go to hell, right? So, I made my own version of sloppy joes by putting this and that in the pan. Don't you know? That dinner was delicious! SO, here, is my take of the sloppy joe bake:

This picture does not convey the deliciousness of this casserole.
The recipe as printed in the Bisquick Cookbook:
1 pound ground beef
1 can sloppy joe sauce
2 cups bisquick
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg
slices of american cheese for topping.
Okay.
Here's my version: (in my no detailed way of cooking)
1 green pepper
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
saute in a bit of olive oil
add hamburger, season with salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried marjoram, onion powder, generous shakes of Worcestershire sauce. Cook until done, draining any liquid off.
Now. Search through the cabinets and fridge.
Add 1 can of stewed tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes with fingers
1 can tomato paste
generous squirt of ketchup, probably about 1/2 cup
the rest of the bottle of leftover taco sauce, hot please.
Now. Mix up the bisquick, milk, butter and egg. Spray a casserole with non stick spray, spread the bisquick mix around the bottom and sides of pan. Put in the sloppy joe meat.
Bake in 375F oven for 25 minutes.
I did put a slice or two of American Cheese on the top and baked for 10 more minutes but I would not add the cheese in again as it did not add anything to the party.
It was good. Leftovers kind of good.
~~~
And this morning? At around 3 am? My eyes popped open and remembered just where I had put that letter. I dragged my puffy eyed self out of bed and looked in that spot. Yup. There it was. All along.
Isn't that just the way?

21. My kingdom for hot water

Haiku:

My hair is so flat
The shampoo does not rinse out
With ice cold water.

Apparently, the plumber forgot that today is Martin Luther King day and he had the day off when he promised us our water heater.
I have to applaud our ancestors, with the boiling of water and the lugging and the weekly bathing. I'm not cut out for living in the past. Give me my amenities! Camping in my kitchen in the dead cold of winter is no fun at all.
~~
I blame Laurie. She mentioned StumbleUpon in her blog. And I fell for it. You should too! Because I'm sure that you have at the very least, an extra hour a day to be spent pushing the Stumble button just to see where it will bring you! (You have to have Firefox as your browser. And why wouldn't you have firefox?)
If I weren't stumbling around, I would not have found this page. <=========click for fun story!
~~~
It's blooming day for Amaryllis number 1~



It had advertised itself as white with pink streaks so the red is a nice surprise!
Kind of like my hands after washing them in ice water.

20. in my fuzzy slippers

Chevron Neck Warmer, lamb's pride yarn. I cannot wait to finish it and wear it!
~~
When I was younger, with young children, I was active in the church as a Sunday School Teacher and Youth Group Advisor. (There is one for your Sandy trivia bag) I always loved the I Am Poem as an activity. Young and old it got people to thinking about themselves in different ways.
A haiku came to me while I was...well..in a spot to sit and think, shall we say and I could not run out fast enough to find a pen and paper. (after I had washed my hands with ice cold water (still no hot water heater: tomorrow) and used Purell disinfectant, but of course) (I mean, no hot water is not an excuse for poor hygiene, now is it?) Inspired? Not really, but I could haiku the I AM all day long.
A Haiku:

I am a knitter
Mother Daughter Sister Wife
I am and I knit.

19. Winnie is a grasshead, you heard it here

I haven't looked yet, but I would confidently declare my uvula to be of normal size today. Not that I am completely healthy but this is a big first step.
The good thing is:
~It's Saturday
~We don't have the polar air yet (tomorrow)
~I ate homemade chicken soup for lunch and that is a WAY good thing
~I am knitting happily on flyingdales.
The not so good thing is:
~our water heater is broken and leaking, which makes any thoughts of scouring, disinfecting and cleaning a moot issue today. Which is back to the good things. Not that I WAS going to scour, disinfect or clean anything today but that is not the point now, is it.
~That while I'm knitting away on my flyingdales, my mind is ready to cheat. It's busy thinking about Margene's Chevron Neck Warmer. It creeps into my thoughts, I start planning. "Yes! I have a size 5US needle: OH! I could use the cream colored lamb's pride (because you know, it's been about a whole week without any lamb's pride knitting and frankly I miss it), I could so use a neck warmer, it's going to be cold you know. Who needs a cold neck? Cold necks make for swollen uvulas. It's a fact."
On and on my mind goes to talk me into it. Who is winning? We will see.

Winnie the duck is a grasshead.

18. Friday night haiku

Haiku for Friday:

Friday night finally*
soup pajamas and ice cream
tucked in on the couch

staring out windows
birds look so yummy to me
naptime on the couch

~~~
*Please pronounce Finally with 2 syllables, like I do in speech. Fi-nly. Thank you!

17. an 80's flashback kind of a day OR: Is your uvula swollen?

This morning, I woke up with an awful sore throat. Well, that's not quite true as I awoke with it yesterday but today was much, much worse. And swollen glands to boot. As the morning wore on, and the advil took hold, I realized that what I was feeling was not a sore throat in the traditional sense but instead it felt strangly. Like something was IN my throat. So, I went to the bathroom at work with a flashlight and was a bit shocked to find that my uvula was very swollen and about touching my tongue. That explains things. The uvula is the little thingy that hangs down in the back of your throat, referred to in my house as the "courage hangy ball" since it was coined such on an episode of Full House way back. Seems I have an extra dose of courage today. The doctor has advised me to drink lots of ice water (perhaps even a bowl of ice cream will be in my near future? I think I have black raspberry in the freezer!), gargling with salt water and lots of advil on a strict 4 hour schedule. I should live through this.
In my internet research of the swollen uvula, I mostly read about people that drank lots of alcohol the night before. Alas, I did not. I missed out on the "fun" of the night before the swollen uvula. BUT? The good thing? If indeed there is a good thing (and there ALWAYS is a good thing when one is an optimist, isn't there?) I can get a T-SHIRT! <------- Click the link!
Well, isn't that special?
AND.
I wore a new pair of jeans today that are boot cut. And I learned today that I am not fond of the boot cut especially when they are about an inch too long for me. I found myself trying desperately to NOT peg my jeans. <----click~ It was a tough fight. I did not do it. But I SO wanted to. How I miss pegged jeans.
AND.
One amaryllis starting to bloom:

16. Posting early today for a little birthday celebration

Today is Cookie's birthday. The internet is such a wonderful thing to allow me, a middle aged pudgy knitter on the East Coast of the USA become friends with a younger, sassy woman like Cookie living a million miles away on the West Coast. I know that she knits and I consider her a good friend. But? I don't even know what she looks like.
The nearest I can gather is that she looks something like this:

Image pilfered from Cookie's site. She wears glasses, loves the color pink, has some kind of hair,I'm assuming there are some eyes, arms and legs thrown in there for good measure, has a cat whose name may or may not be Precious and I do not know her last name! In fact, when one orders something off the internet and that internet program insists on a last name, I have to make one up! (Oh, Cookie! You'll be getting a little package addressed to Cookie the Knitter!)
Cookie is the kindest, funniest, all around awesome friend who claims to be a bit grumpy! I love that about her too!
Happy Birthday, Cookie!
(Please, do me a personal favor and mob over there and fill her comment box with birthday wishes. Please and thank you!)
(MOB)
(YOU TOO, please)
~~~
OH! And if it's not too much to ask, please haiku all week long. Or should we have Haiku day? There seems to be evidence that we bloggers love our "DAYS": See yesterday's post for details.

15. I haiku, do you?

How I love the haiku. Do you? I'm not very good at it, but I sure have fun doing it.
For instance:

Dinnertime Looming,
Ravioli in freezer
More time for knitting ~me

standing near my wife
watching the snowflakes melt
in a stranger's hair

—Alan McCarthy

14. Snow day!

When covered in snow, the world seems quieter, softer and more relaxing. You know, except for the shoveling and the strained backs but lets not look ahead of ourselves. (this snow is particularly heavy but again, let's concentrate on the beauty) (stop being so negative) ( :D )
The wind swirls the snow, the trees get a fresh white coating. It's one of my favorite looks around.



Derek's Com*Cast van, ladders covered in snow, looking like art.
And inside?
One amaryllis getting ready to bloom!

And then? I started playing with some camera settings. It was that or have another cup of Penzey's hot chocolate. One is enough. Camera settings it is.


All that and knitting.

I love the look of the flyingdales seed stitch! Seed stitch may be a royal pain to pull off, but it's a fine looking stitch!
Loving the seeds.

13. Lucky 13 or dinner is ready!

Yesterday was a wonderful day of shopping with Bethany. In this day and age of different schedules and the running here and there it is nice to spend some time together. We had quite the smellerific day, including a trip to CO Bigelow and ending the day at Penzey's Spices. I bought nothing at CO Bigelow and lots and lots at Penzey's. I still cannot get over the $95 handcream we saw. Can you imagine? The tube was not as big as you'd want it to be for 95 bucks, which for me? Would be so big that I could not lift it. But maybe that is just me.
Knowing that it was a Patriots game night, I got the hankering for a bowl of chili and I mentioned such to Andy before leaving. To which he replied, "I'll make the chili". Stunned. Still am. Besides the occasional summer grilling, the man does not step near cookware. Which, honestly? Is fine with me.
But coming home to a fine smelling home and a bowl of the most delicious tasting chili to dive into? Makes me appreciate this occasional pot of chili even more.

I take mine with a bit of shredded monterey jack cheese on the top.
Yum.
I wonder if he'll cook tonight?

12. dirty fingers

It's Saturday and this is my sky. It feels like spring but snow is forecasted for Monday. For today, though this nice weather will be nice for the zillions of things on my errand schedule. Zillions. Yes.
Right away, this day went to pot.

Potting plants, that is! The Christmas cactus, which is actually a Halloween cactus with it's blooming schedule needed a repot badly. The water was running right through the soil. This was a supermarket plant rescue and they really don't put soil in the pots. It's a mystery kind of dirtish substance but it is not soil. And a new amaryllis! I can't stop. This one makes number 4. I'm in danger of becoming the equivalent of the neighborhood cat lady,with amaryllis and avocados growing in every inch of my home.
At least they don't shed!

go little amaryllis, go!

11. Little boy blue

By hook or by crook, I was determined to get this sweater done in time! (Stubborn). The family ate leftovers, thereby emptying my fridge, saving some money and giving me time to knit up a storm.
The stats:
Pattern: knitting pure and simple neckdown baby cardigan
Yarn: Lamb's pride
Needle Size: US8 and US6

Button it!
I'm sure you would like an overexposed picture of the sweater being modeled, Who wouldn't?

Mr. Bear wears his sweaters well!

10. Bunch of babies

Knitting pure and simple neck down baby cardigan. Say that 3 times fast! The yarn is lamb's pride. The deadline is tomorrow. I must knit a baby sleeve and baby button bands. Let's not forget the baby wash. But there is the baby dinner that the family will be looking forward to. Even though I fed them yesterday!
Baby pizza anyone?
~~~
I thought it was Friday all day today. I am quite distressed that I have to do this all over again tomorrow!
Baby!

9. Chaos Theory? Quantum Physics? Algorithmic Probability?* No. Just Randomness

Is it Wednesday? That means I can be random, right?
Well, let's have at it!
~My Christmas Tree is still up and I'm loving it! I know I should take it down, but it's not dropping it's needles too badly and with the no ornament thing, the thought of taking it down is not overwhelming me. Is there a stigma that is attached to the last tree in the city?
~I cried over a little white dog at work 2 days in a row. I have never met this little dog in person, but I loved ♥ him anyway. All I could think of, when I was in the bathroom stall at work sniffling and snuffling away for a couple of minutes that if someone comes in and asks me what's the matter, I'm going to have to tell them I am weeping for a dog I have NEVER SEEN! What of it??
~I wish to heck I would keep up with the laundry. There is always a pile. A pile in the dryer, in the washer, in the hamper, beside Andy's side of the bed! (he has this "thing" that drives me wild! He says that the item of clothing is not DIRTY, he only wore it for a little while but it's not CLEAN so it can't go back in the closet or drawer. He's a teen at heart. A perpetual teenager)
~I wish I could knit faster. I have 2 baby sleeves and the button bands to finish to deliver this deadline knitting on Friday. Gah!
~It has been so warm out the last couple of days! Yesterday was positively springlike with a high temperature of 65 degrees F. While I enjoyed it (especially the part about the heat not running in the house, oil is SO expensive right now!) I feel it's just a tease and will make the inevitable cold seem a bit colder and stronger. It is winter. It should be cold.
~ McCain, New Hampshire? What were you thinking?
~I love Cheez-its!
~I keep oversleeping in the morning. This is a weird occurance. I hope it stops soon~
~I miss hearing the Christmas music on the radio. I can't help it but cutting me off cold turkey like that is hard on a girl.
~Chicken for dinner. But how to cook it?
~And yet, I'm craving taco salad. Go figure.
~~
Now? I randomly end this blog entry.
By choosing one picture off of one of my photo CD's. How much more random can I get?

View from my 2002 Bermuda trip!
*I got these scientific sounding words from randomly searching the computer for the term RANDOM. I am not a scientist. Nor do I play one on this blog.

8. Looking up pays off

Every morning, I get up in the dark. I look out the same window after a while hoping to see a great sunrise. Today, I got lucky!



And as I was pulling out of my driveway, looking down my street:

I was very late this morning (I hate when that happens) and amid my rushing around, I did notice the pinks and oranges reflecting around the neighborhood and at one point I said to myself (and I quote) "screw it, I'm already late, I may as well take pictures of the sunrise"
~~~
A word about the links. It is subtle here on this blog, but when you see an orangey line under a word like THIS<------------------ click on the word THIS and be transported to a magical link that I inserted. A surprise, if you will.
The bread recipe? Can be found HERE. <------------click on the word HERE.
Go make bread.
Oh, sorry, I get bossy like that sometimes.

7. Ode to the bread

I cannot praise the no knead bread enough. Can wo/man live on bread alone? With this bread, we'd all like to give it a try!
The recipe is one of the simplest I have ever made with outstanding results.
Let's let some pictures do some talking:

Mix 4 ingredients in a bowl.

The recipe tells me to let it rise in a warm place for 12-18 hours. A warm place is hard to come by this time of year, especially in my drafty, wonderful home so I let it rise for 24 hours. Can't hurt, right?

Sprinkle with flour (the dough was hardly a "dough" at all and seemed almost pourable at this point But I added a bit of flour to the surface and it firmed up, magically) and place on a towel

Let it rise for 2 hours. I shortened the time a bit because we wanted to have it with dinner. No harm was done to the loaf, I swear.

Plop it into my enameled Cast iron pot (the brand is Technique which is a QVC brand and a wonderful quality if you were to ask me, which you clearly did not). This little loaf has been baked for 30 minutes with the cover on.

Take the cover off and bake for 15-30 more minutes: our loaf baked for about 20 more minutes before looking loverly in the color brown.
When you take it out of the oven, be forewarned that it makes a snapping, crackling noise that will scare the Fig in your life. If there is such a Fig in your life. If a cat can give a dirty look to a loaf of bread, he indeed did. The bread did not mind. (It would be good for me to mention here that although there was plentiful snapping and crackling there was not one single pop. Proof that this was not, indeed, rice crispies)
But the proof is in the eating. And we did eat.

We cut into it while it was still steaming hot. This is not recommended by anyone. Except those that love hot bread. It was not easy to slice being so hot and soft in the middle. This did not stop us. We ended up ripping it into hunks which were the best tasting hunks we had ever had.
The crust was the crispiest, crunchiest I had ever produced in my oven. But it was still tender. This makes a difference because crispy and hard is not pleasant. The inside? Soft, holey and a tad dense and sourdoughlike. It is not sourdough but it had a bit of a tang to it.
Did I sing it's praises enough for you?
Bethany proclaimed it to be just like the most delicious bread you'd be served in restaurants.
Chez Hurley, table for 4?
~~~~
And a message from Kate/ Minestrone Soup:

My guild is knitting mittens for kids at Boston Medical center who are going through "intake" with social services (i.e. coming in with sick parent(s) and being sent off to foster care or relatives. Often in their pjs. In the cold. In Boston. Are you getting teary yet?). I need mittens. Wee mittens for wee hands... well, wee hands of 5-9 year olds. :)

Now. This is important stuff. You know that I cannot stand to think of any child with cold hands. I will knit a pair but I cannot do it in the time frame as I am on a knitting deadline for a baby sweater. But I think if I badger Kate long enough she will give me the address for the hospital and I can send them along later in January. And I'd be happy to send yours along too. You don't want kids to have cold hands, DO YOU?? There is no prize. Just the extreme feeling of well being and satisfaction of helping children in need. That's enough, no?
(And this reminds me that I still need to pull a winner for the pair of mittens I promised for those of you that knit for the Soaring Eagle Project. I will. I haven't forgotten. I just haven't done it yet. Perhaps after the knitting deadline.)
So, in review: go make bread. And knit a pair of wee mittens.
Is that so much to ask?
(Pass the butter)

6: A is for ABC along: And for amaryllis: and for avocado

I have joined (so can you) my Vicki's round of the ABC along, seen in my blog, in the flickr group , on my flickr page and on Ravelry (again, my ravelry name is sanhurl, meet you there). One could put up a good argument for getting my head examined once again. They would be right, of course. Anne's version of last years ABC along saw me crash and burn not even half way through the alpahbet. Then there was the Photo A Day from Maryse. Yeah, let's not speak of it anymore. But this year is fresh. I am an optimist. And so, let us start at the beginning.
The letter A.
A is for amaryllis. There is nothing that brightens a January day more than growing an amaryllis (remember last years Amaryllis cam? starting on January 25, 2007 in the archives). They are a plant that is all about instant gratification.
Bethany and I each have one growing this year. And I have one more on the way from a mail order company.

Go, little amaryllis, go!
No flowers to show you yet but in a short while there will be.
And I cannot do an "A" installment without thinking about my avocado plant. There has not been a lot of change with the plants but I see some promise of some new leaves at the top of this little guy. In review: I planted avocado pits because I could. No other reason, just a challenge. The mountain to climb. And a green plant from something I would formerly have thrown away. Trash to treasure kind of thing. I'm hopeless like that sometimes.

5. Who needs the gym? I'm lifting iron at home! (Cast iron)

One of my favorite gifts this year was this enamel clad cast iron dutch oven.

Complete with tomatoes on the top!
When I unpacked the box, the inside of the cover perplexed me. A deviled egg holder, I thought?

Those tomatoes are tricky little devils.
First up for the tomato pot? The no knead bread I've seen around. Recipe here.
I can't wait. But of course, I'll have to since this bread takes 24 hours to complete!
Anticipation! It's a wonderful thing, isn't it?

4. Postcard from the edge of the world

(As always, click any photo to be whisked off to My Flickr photos)
In my mailbox today was a postcard. Who doesn't like getting mail that is not a request for money by a certain date, hmm? Maybe you've heard, but I'm quite the sky lover and this postcard was MADE for me! A Hawaiian rainbow! (sitting on my gnome towel. Those gnomes are hard to corral)
My favorite part?

One: It says Aloha to me. That is a first for me. My first Aloha. I'm a bit verclempt of it all.
two: It is a Maui Sky. Sky being the operative word. Terry sent me a sky. The perfect gift!
(It's like the gift that keeps on giving! A sky, a postcard AND a blog entry!) (again, with the parenthesis???)
And because it's Friday and I'm hearing a certain bottle of wine calling out my name, I share with you my MySpace story. I joined MySpace a while ago, not to network and find friends but to connect with a certain friend that I had not heard from in a while and quite frankly I was worried about him because he is battling leukemia and I got the notion that I HAD to get an update...anyhoo....I joined MySpace. But I did not put any info there, in fact, I registered as S and I did put my picture, the same one with the half face and scarf that is on the right on the blog 365 button (Oh my GOD, just saying it again is filling me with despair! BLOGGING FOR A YEAR?????)
~BIG DRAMATIC SIGH~
Anyway, last week I got this "message" from a "guy" named "joe" who wanted to see "MORE" of me and he liked "long walks on the beach" and "Going out to eat" and he liked "kids" and could I email him and we could get together? Or to quote him, "Let's give it a try". Pffft.
Oh, I have to wipe my eyes from the laughter as I write this because this cracks me up so much! He sees a picture of my chin and has now sent me 2 messages urging me to send him more pictures and that we could meet somewhere!
I mean, the chin is okay and all, but to fall in "like" with it? Again, I have to wipe my eyes, the tears fall from the laughter that I am trying to squealch because the family is thinking I am loony lately but perhaps a bit extra looney today. But honestly? Does it take much to look looney to a 19 and a 21 year old? It's not a challenge or anything. But, this "Joe" says (and who wouldn't believe him?) that he is a good looking Italian man and his "MOM SAYS SO".
Well, there you go. (again, with the wiping of the eyes. The weeping, the laughing but trying not to make a sound continues) What a catch. Should I leave my husband of 23 years? The love of my life? My soul mate? To meet up with this wonderful sounding "JOE".
Ahem.
Sorry, I get carried away. I thought about blocking him or telling him off but honestly? Maybe he'll leave another message and I'll get a bit of a laugh from that one.
Not Maui, but a bit of Massachusetts sky for you!

Take my advice, don't stand out there too long or you will look like an icicle too!
See you tomorrow.

3. The pride of any lamb

Knitting Pure and Simple Neck down baby cardigan
Needle Size: US8
Yarn: Lamb's Pride also known as "I cannot get enough of this yarn years and years after the whole world fell in love with it"
This little sweater, sporting Harry Potter Gryffindor colors is a gift for a baby to be that will be having a Harry Potter color existence. Mine is not to judge, mine is to knit for babies. So be it.
I loved the pattern. I loved the yarn. The colors? Meh. But it worked in the end, didn't it? Remembering that I declare that Stripes are the New Black, the hood is quite stylin, don't you agree?
Makes me wish that I had knit when my kids were babies. Do you think they'd wear such a thing now?
Did you stop laughing yet?
Fine, I'll wait.
(Humming the Jeopardy song)

A sleeve
and my favorite shot of the sweater, all artsy and stuff:

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It's cold here in the Northeast. 9 degrees F was our high. No sun, wind that bites you. The kind of cold that settles into the house even with the heat puffing away burning it's golden oil.
What's your weather doing today?
(I am numbering my posts for the year. I was going to see how long it took for someone to notice. Day 2 is when the jig was up!)