Knitting Project No. 1

Even though I was really sick before Christmas, I was trying to keep up with my knitting.

Here is a project I've been working on .

It's a seed stitch cowl, or infinity scarf. Only thing is, I am at the end of the skein and I'm thinking I may just stop here and sew it up and wear it as a neck warmer. It is so thick and warm and I have short hair so it would be just lovely to have it around my neck when I take my puppy out. Especially now since it's 7 degrees outside as I type this.

On the other hand, double of this would be even better for warmth, but might be too thick with my coat.

My husband bought me all kinds of warm layers to wear under jeans and sweaters when I walk Rory. It has been so nice and cozy and now the wind doesn't go straight through me. But my neck is another story. Maybe I'll stitch the cowl up with a different color yarn so if I want to take it apart and knit more I will be able to see the stitching and undo it.

I will show you the result, whatever I decide.

Have to run, Rory needs to go out again! ;)

Stay tuned for Knitting Project No. 2....

A New Year

I wish a hopeful and blesssed New Year to all of my readers and lookers. Thank you for any minute you have spent this past year stopping in here to visit.



Cold Winter Day

It's really chilly here today. Normally, this would not be noteworthy. This year, however, has been so unusually mild in Western New York that a really cold to the bone day is a surprise.

But it's nothing that a loaf of bread hot out of the oven and some pear butter won't cure.

Oh, and I almost forgot the Tillamook cheese (my little "slice" of Oregon right here in NY).

Hope you are keeping warm today. :)

Christmas Blessings

I hope everyone was able to have a peaceful Christmas. We were so blessed this year, as always.

We went to our favorite Christmas tree farm.

The girls wanted one of these little trees.

We brought our puppy with us too. I know, she doesn't even look like a puppy anymore.

All the newspapers and magazines said to "bring the outdoors in" for decorating this Christmas.

I made little wreaths out of pine boughs from my daddy's yard. My friend Nic and I made our pine cone swags last year. Mine fit perfectly on this nail.

I put a little "outdoors" on the kitchen table...

...on the kitchen window...

...in the dining room...

...and into the living room.

I'm so excited, I got a new iPad for Christmas from my hubby! I'm so glad we decided to cut back on spending this Christmas. He says that every year but he never cuts back.

The girls got all they hoped for and more. We ran around from house to house visiting and eating with relatives. You work on everything for a long time, and then it's over so quickly. Shopping, wrapping, making gifts, baking.

The only thing that's not over is all the sweets that have to be eaten. ;)

Hope you have a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Leaf Sunday

Today we had our third annual leaf raking party at my father's house.

My dad has nearly an acre of property surrounded by trees and it is too much for him to take care of by himself any longer.

We decided we should all share in the job and keep him sane.

As always, I took the opportunity to look for interesting photo subjects.

This is some moss on one of my favorite trees.

We bagged 59 bags of leaves in an hour and a half and he still has two or three trees that are green and need to fall. Also, his neighors trees have not fallen yet and they never pick up their leaves so they all blow into my dad's yard. So, there is more work to be done.

It was a beautiful day here, a break from the rain we've been having. When we were done we went inside for hot cider and chocolate. Then we had a dinner of homemade soups and subs.

Hope you had a great weekend! :)



Fluttering Beauty

Today I had one of my favorite monarchs in the garden wafting among the last of my zinnias.

This lovely creature let me creep ever closer to it.

It even let me touch its wing a little before it flew away.

I noticed that the center of the zinnia contains a bunch of little flowers. The butterfly had this long tongue-like thing (it probably has a name) that it would stick into the flower to get pollen or nectar or whatever it was after.

Maybe in this picture you can see it coiled up.  The butterfly was moving its food along the tongue-like thing into its mouth. It was fascinating. I couldn't believe I got this close to it.

 

 

Even though we have passed the end of summer on the calendar, we have had some great weather here for the past week. It was nice to spend some more time outside today. I feel like each day we have that is nice out also keeps winter away for one more day. What a nice treat for "end of summer". :)

Hope you are enjoying your end of summer/fall!

Busy Week

So this past week I was able to get some things done that I wanted to do this fall. It has been hard to get anything done with this doggy around. I probably have been spending too much time with her since I can't even leave the room without her whining. That's a big clue.

I was able to make some caramelized pear butter. My friend Kathy gave me a huge box full of pears.  

I don't feel that I have ever made it properly since I was told to chop up the pears and I never really pureed them. This year I had my brother's food mill so I tried it the correct way. It still didn't thicken the way I think it should, but I'm sure it will still taste great.

My brother also gave me a bushel of tomatoes. He made tons of sauce this year since he had 32 tomato plants in his garden.

So I washed them up and made sauce too. He gave me his recipe but I followed the procedure in the Ball Blue book. I was concerned about the flavor, I hate bland sauce, but this came out very flavorful. I was happy. :)

For all the tomatoes I had though, it sure didn't make much sauce. But, it's still better than no sauce at all. And, it was free.

I saved some of the tomatoes to roast.

My neighbor was telling me how she had roasted some of her leftover tomatoes with some olive oil and salt. I slow roasted them for about 11 hours at 200 degrees. The house smelled wonderful! Of course, I forgot to take a picture of them after they were done roasting and I already froze them. But I tasted one and it was delicious.

So, any of you who know me will know that if I have a change around here it totally throws me off. As you can guess, the dog has affected me. But, I'm sure it will be worth it.

She tries to bite the camera so I have to hold it high above my head and just shoot. I really don't want a big nose print on my lens and all my photos. Lol! I promise I will get better pictures. And, I will put up some photos of my summer. I did some fun things.

Thanks for continuing to stop in here, even though I've been MIA.

See you soon, I promise.



Am I Crazy??!!

So, I had my last day of work last Thursday. It was sad to say goodbye to the people I have worked with for so long. I hope to stay friends with them, but it will be hard at times since the pharm is open every day and most days til 9pm. It seems like if we ever wanted to get together, someone couldn't make it because of work.

Anyhoo, I was looking forward to having August to get all my projects outside done. Do my spring cleaning and relax with my family while we got ready for school to start.

Instead, we got a puppy.

This was the scene in my living room on Thursday morning.

And on my last day of work, I didn't even have one hour of being able to relax and enjoy, when we picked up our new baby.

Rory.

I must be crazy.

 

But she's really sweet, and she really is trying to get outside to go potty. And keep her teeth off of us. And not drag her water bowl around the kitchen and spill water everywhere.

Okay, I have to go, she needs to go out. Be back later!