Spring Yard Business

One little spurt of Spring Color! Isn't it wonderful? This one small clump of purple Crocus is blooming, or was the other day beside the deck out back. So far, this lonely clump is it. But, it got me pretty excited. Spurred both hubby and I to spend the day doing some spring clean up in the yard. Was good to get outside even if cool after the long hard cold, extremely snowing winter we've had. This one little clump gives me hope, hope that it will warm up, that the snow really is gone, and hope that winter really is over. I know the calendar says it's spring; but around here...that really doesn't mean much. We often get a snow or two after we pass the date on the calendar.
We raked all the flower beds of the winter junk. Winter junk is what's left of the leaves, the deed stems etc. We picked up sticks from both front and back yards from what fell from the trees. We filled 4 of these large trash bags and 2 large trash cans with yard debris. I cut the tall grasses down to a couple of inches and that really produces lots of stuff. Our community composts. They do pick up yard waste once a week and take it to the compost facility for a fee. The fee isn't bad, but we live pretty close and have the means to take it ourselves; which then makes it free. So, here's the old Explorer loaded to the gills as hubby get's ready to make the journey to the dump.

Wearing Art

Wearing Art. I bought this jacket last summer at a local Art Fair. It was too warm for the summer but I've enjoyed wearing it throughout the fall and winter. And now that spring's approaching I'll probably wear it even more. When you buy art, or something hand made you assure yourself you're not going to see someone wearing the same thing; and you support the artist directly. You're not going to get a sale, probably...but I think it's a nice way to have something unique and support artists. This jacket is very well made and I wear it to dress up like above. We were heading out to dinner. This jacket paired with nice slacks can be quite dressy, or with a pair of jeans a bit more casual.
Hope you can see the beautiful brocade effect. Though the lighting made it look a bit more orange. The one above is more true to the real color.

AND speaking about wearing art, hop over to Brenda's blog and check out her 29 day give away contests!

AND you still have 7 days left to enter my contest over on Traveling Suitcase.

Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scout Cookies! It's that time of the year, did you order and take delivery? Did you see the kids at the grocery store with cookies on a cardboard table? It's very different now. Did you even buy from a Girl Scout? Or, did Mom or Dad bring an order form to work? Seems now days many projects that were once kid oriented are now being done by adults. Why? Do we not let kids do as much as our parents let us do? I do think that's part of it. Do we try to control too much? What is the difference. When we were kids you went door to door in your neighborhood, you knew your neighbors and it was safe..........or at least we all felt like it was. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, school fundraisers were done on a much smaller scale. There were no competitions to see who could get the biggest order, you didn't go beyond your neighborhood, and Mom and Dad certainly didn't sell them for you.

Times, they do seem different. The selection of the cookies is greater; but I don't think they're as good as they used to be? What do you think? How many boxes did you order? Above are our 4.

Thin mints are Hubby's favorite. My favorite are the peanut butter on the far right. Though the first box I ate were the peanut butter and chocolate ones in the red box, 2nd from the left.

I wasn't a Girl Scout, were you? I was a Brownie and never went beyond that, once we moved there wasn't a group in my school. I never went to Girl Scout activities, nor did our daughter. She was however a camp counselor one summer in Connecticut at a Girl Scout Camp. Tough summer job. You work 24 x 7, sleep in a tent, a floorless one at that. She kept busy checking the girls for ticks etc. lol.

What's wrong with this picture?

Ok, that's a saying cause clearly I don't have a picture here; but wait a minute. You're driving to and from work every house you pass has snow melting; but still plenty of snow piled up along the walk and drive. Businesses have mounds still in parking lots from the plows piling it up storm after storm. You here kids voices, they're walking home from school BAREFOOT! BAREFOOT and wearing SHORTS!!! Not one or two, lots of them. I saw them all the way home. Smaller age kids playing in their front yards the same thing. Are people nuts? It's not summer, it's not even Spring. There's still Snow...you know the cold white stuff on the ground. Yeah I know teenagers do stupid things and might have gone nuts over the fact that the sun had finally come out and the snow was finally melting. I know they think they can do whatever they want and probably where wearing the gym shorts, and had shoes in their bookbags....but come on. It was pretty, the sun was out; but it was just barely 50 for a few hours. We had frost again that night, it's still winter.

And what the heck is wrong with parents? The small children, some younger than school age dressed the same playing in yards didn't just do this themselves. They are home with adults, they are playing barefoot next to a pile of snow!

I can't tell ya how disgusted I was. Parents and teachers are suppose to be teaching kids to be responsible. What adult thinks it's responsible behavior to be barefoot in the winter time with snow still about?

Any idea how many will get sick, not be able to go to school because of it? I shake my head. Parents have a job, and sometimes you're suppose to lead by example and sometimes you're suppose to say no. When the welfare, safety and health of your children is a stake you most certainly are suppose to put your foot down.

Gonna have to grab some yarn and relax a bit. Almost finished with a scarf for the homeless and I can guarantee you as nice as the sun was that one day for them, they weren't running around shoeless wearing shorts.

Cell Phone Software, who knew?

My cell phone and blue tooth. The cell isn't brand new; but then I've only had it a few months too. It keeps turning itself off. Makes me crazy. I use it as a watch when at work. I keep it on vibrate so it doesn't ring, but in my lab coat jacket where I can periodically check time. I work in food market research and need to keep track of how the tests are running against the schedule for 1. I'm able that way also to see if I've missed a call.

Yesterday I had it. The silly thing turned itself off 5 times during the course of my work day. What a nuisance. It's also not uncommon for me to have phone in hand or on my desk and it not ring with incoming call; but seconds later it rings I've missed a call. Weird, my other phones never did this stuff. This is suppose to be a better phone, more hi-tech etc. I've also been getting lots of folks who say I'm breaking up and they have a hard time hearing me. I have it turned up and so do they at their end.

What gives? Headed right to Verizon after work to get to the bottom of things. Bob, nice guy there hooks into his computer and tells me I need software updates. I have version 3 and 6 is available. Meaning I've missed a few updates along the way. He was pretty certain that would fix the problems I was telling him about. 10 minutes later I was in the car and on my way. The phone has not shut it self off since. And 3 people who often have have said I'm breaking up have called and said they hear me better, and the connection is improved.

I asked my new BF, Bob if this was something I could do myself and he first said he could show me how. Then after messing with the phone (which he did before he put it on the computer), he said...hum your phone thinks it's updated so probably best to come in and let us do it on the computer. A friend told me she regularly (like monthly) dials *288 and gets updated. That she had been told to do that when she bought the phone. No one has ever told me to do that with all the various phones hubby and I have had. So, I looked things up on line and do see that recommendation although on blogs and other sites; not the actually Verizon site, nor do I find it in the manual.

You're suppose to dial 288, when it asked if you want to update roaming you take option 2, then again option 2 to update your programming. You receive either a beep (according to one site), or a visual text (according to 2nd site) telling you to click ok which then turns off and restarts your phone....reboots. My friend does this monthly as I mentioned; though the sites suggested once every 3 months. She says she even does when out of town; however both sites recommended you not do this except in your home calling area.

If when you try the 288 you have problems call Verizon Customer Service by dialing 611. However, in my case Bob apparently did the above and that's when he got the message the phone was current with updates...............clearly it was not. My recommendation, take your phone and let the experts do it for you. It's easy, and it's free.

Who knew? I didn't, did you?

I Won, Really, I WON!

I see lots of contest on line on blogs. Some require lots of steps, some require techy things be done on blogs that go right over my head. Therefore I don't often enter them; but have become increasingly more aware of fun quick ones as I made my way around blog walking.

Through the above process, blog walking found Brenda. Her blog is fun! I'm looking forward to getting to know her better through blogging. She's involved in something called a 29 day give away. She gives something away everyday for 29 days! I won day 1 of 29. Here's the post which shows you a picture of what I won. You can read about it and still get in on her remaining days. Who knows, maybe you'll win something to. It's fun!

But, the best part is, you get to know another blogger and isn't that what we all do this for? For the fun of blogging, the fun of getting to know each other. I know it is for me.

So, don't wait, click HERE and go check out Brenda, her blog and her contest.

AND...don't forget to swing over to my Travel Blog to enter my contest. It runs through the end of the month, so you still have time to get your name into the hat to win.

Winning is fun, but so is playing!

Love my Hubby

Dear Hubby, sporting his new scarf.
This is a nice brownish with flecks of green. I seem to have misplaced the wrapper from the yarn so can't be exact; but remember I used 2 full cakes and that it was a Crystal Palace Yarn; but I don't remember the exact yardage etc. Actually thought I had posted this previously but found this post still in draft form unfinished on my blog. Must have gotten interrupted and never got it done. It's 100% wool, quite light weight which he likes for under his dress coat when wearing his suits to work.

I used the Condo stitch and like the way it turned out. You might recall I've used this stitch before when I made my scarf. My daughter used this pattern as well when she made a scarf over Christmas for a gift.

Daddy's Scarf is Done, YIPPEE!

Got Daddy's scarf done in the car on the way back from St. Louis the other day. It's not as long as I would make for myself; but is the same length as the dress scarf I made hubby for under his dress coat; so believe it will work fine. It's very very soft. I've said this yarn and that yarn is soft; but truly this is the softest yarn I've ever used. Rowan Lima. Two cakes were pretty pricey so am glad I didn't need to make it larger. 109 yards per cake at $13.00 each more than I usually spend; but after all---it's for Daddy. I used size 10.5 knitted needles and Checks and Ridges for the pattern; a four row repeat. I really love this pattern and wonder what it would be like if I made the ridges father apart? Anyone done that?

The yarn is made in Peru and is mostly Baby Alpaca, but also has some Merino Wool, and Nylon.

Remember to click on the photo to enlarge so you can see the pattern. I did loose my count and there is a couple of rows that have the ridges or checks longer; but the yarn is so thin I didn't want to frog it; was afraid it would ruin the yarn; so I played through.

Also started a scarf with black Homespun for The Bridge, and hope to have it done in a day or so. With the thicker yarn and larger needles it doesn't take near as long as Daddy's did.

Moving Day is a Holiday

Staging area, or at least part of it. This photo was taken in our garage a couple of weeks back when we were organizing and getting ready to move stuff to St. Louis for our daughter. We brought things up from the basement and used the garage as the holding place. With tons of snow on the ground we wanted to have everything together to minimize how long it would take us to load the truck and be outside in the cold and the snow.
Another view of the staging area. Daughter did her undergrad in St. Louis at Washington University, and her grad school in Baltimore. So....lots of stuff has been here while she was here, then in St. Louis, then in Baltimore and now.........that's she's back in St. Louis it's time to cart everything back to her; plus some of our older furniture to help her and give us a chance to clean out the basement.
The night was cold, the ground covered. So before we could load we had to clear the walk and the drive....again! Have lost track of how many times we've shoveled snow this year. Tooooooooooo many, far too many I can tell you that.
Loaded, time now for pizza, wine and bed. We plan on an early start. Hubby will drive the truck and I'll drive our car. Luckily we only have to take the truck one way and can leave it there after we unload it.

We knew this would be a working wk-end, loading up here at home and then unloading there in St. Louis. We expected some cleaning and maintenance issues needing attention. However, it was much more of a working wk-end then we expected. We ended up painting and doing far more cleaning than planned; but boy was it needed!! We stayed a day longer due to being snowed in, also something we didn't expect. How many days til spring?

I'm pea Green with Envy

Pea Green I tell ya. LOOK! I'm sooooooooooooo excited. Purple and green are my daughters favorite colors. She wears lots and lots of purple and green. Over Christmas she picked out this purple and green Baby Alpaca Yarn and wanted me to make her a scarf. Well...it is super super soft and I hope she's happy with it, as well as warm. I had to go back and get one more hang of each color, making it far more expensive than most scarves I make. Shhhhhhh, don't tell hubby how much I spent. I knitted this using Close checks in multiples of 6+3. One day, I'll buy some for myself because it feels so nice around your neck.


And drum roll, the purse....no I didn't make it. Not that talented with thread and needle. Karen did. You can look through all her wonderful creations on her etsy site as well as her blog. I highly recommend her work. And in a few days will show one I splurged and bought for myself. Her prices are reasonable, her workmanship is excellent, and her creative flare for putting together colors and patterns is awesome. Be sure and tell her I sent you.

Love it!

Hope you can see the texture in this scarf. Remember you can click to enlarge the picture. I really like this, think both the texture and color look very manly. This is the start of a scarf for Daddy. It's slow going though, so wonder if I'm gonna get it done anytime soon?

I've never used this yarn before, and probably won't too often ($12.50 a skein); though it is the softest yarn I've ever felt! I love working with it, but at this price it's only for special people! And, since I only bought 2 skeins, it won't be a long scarf; though Daddy wouldn't want a long one anyway. The yarn is made in Peru. Rowan Lima 84% Bably Alpaca and 8% merino wool and 8% nylon. A cake is only 109 yards, requires hand washing in cold water etc. So, expensive and lots of care. But...I LOVE it.

I'm using Checks and Ridges stitch which is a nice completely reversible stitch in multiple's of 4 +2

Inviting you all to hop over to my travel blog and enter a contest! Click here, or on my Traveling Suitcase badge on the side./

Magical Bookcase

Magical bookcase? The title and the picture must have you scratching your head. Let me fill you a bit. The bookcase is old, it's scratched and in need of paint...that you can see from the picture. It's sitting in the garage here, in what hubby calls the staging area. It was loaded onto a moving truck about a week ago and hauled out to St. Louis for our daughter. There it received 2 coats of new paint. No pictures yet of that. Maybe in a couple of weeks, but back to the story.

This bookcase will now reside with our daughter, as I indicated. It's the 3rd home for the bookcase, the 3rd generational home that is. We've had it since she was a baby or soon thereafter. I think it was black when we received and it got painted white, cream, and yellow along the way. Magical, the shelves were moved around and my daughter and I turned it into Barbie's house. We covered the walls with paper, covered blocks and other items to make furniture for Barbie. It was a town house of course with multiple levels. I wish, really wish I had a picture of it. She and I played and spent many great mother and daughter hours together around this bookcase.

When I was young this same bookcase, the magical bookcase was in my parents home. There again it received multiple layers of paint and a variety of colors. During the year it was a bookcase in the living room; but...at Christmas it became the chimney that Santa came down. Yep...Mom used to remove the books, cover it with crept paper. In those days one could purchase crept paper that looked like red bricks. She made a fake fire with a little flickering light bulb. I guess we kids weren't too bright. We watched her do this, and I think even helped from time to time. Then she hang the Christmas Stockings. I need to look through old photo's, I think there's probably a picture somewhere. (though my scanner's not working). We'd sing Christmas Carole's around this magical bookcase. On Christmas morning it wasn't uncommon to find Santa's footprints in front of it, proving of course to us...that he did indeed come down the chimney using his magic dust.

Yes, this bookcase may be old; it may be beat up a bit; but to me........IT'S MAGICAL!

Mom was very creative indeed. Do you see a chimney when you look at this ordinary bookcase? Fond memories for me, both as an adult and as a child.

No More SNOW. No more PLEASE

Please click to enlarge these photo's so you can see what I was photographing. Just to the left of the 2nd tree.....the tree on the right is a sign. A for sale sign for the house of the bad neighbor. The sign is almost 100% covered by the snow!!
We often go outside, even with snow on the ground to sit and enjoy the serenity. Thus the furniture and outdoor heat thing you see on the table top are still in place. Too much snow, even for us. Our neighbors, I'm sure think we're way way beyond odd for going out and enjoying the weather in winters past. This year.......NO, we've not gone out and sat. Way way too cold.
Chairs? Only an inch or so and you'd not even be able to tell the difference between the top or bottom of the chair. I should add, chairs in other's yard are probably taller with snow piles because these chairs aren't solid...they are steel mesh....so lots and lots of places for the snow to fall through BEFORE it become solid and starts adding up.
Looking to the right out the deck door . The longest ice cycle there is about 5 foot long. Probably would have been longer, but I've knocked some of these off a few times.
If this picture doesn't make you feel cold...yikes. This is out back. The V...in the tree at right is about 3 feet from the ground. Across the back...are large grasses....you can't see them, they are totally covered with the white cold stuff.

I am soooooooooooooo very tired of snow, so very tired of ice, so very tired of CoLd. This picture is after the 3rd or was it the 4th storm? I've lost track. Early morning out the back, looking at our deck through one of the back bedroom windows. Look at the ice hanging from the roof. I've knocked it off a couple of times, not that you can tell. We've had a record of 27 inches of snow so far this half of the shortest month of February...AND drum roll, that's 26 inches MORE than is normal. I am, tired of it, as are most people in the area; but bite your tongue please, there are over 12,000 homeless people living...........or trying to stay alive in these conditions in this area. Can you Help? Yes, you can...everyone can, not perhaps in the same way..........but each and everyone of you CAN HELP, so PLEASE, Please, PLEASE do.

Before the Second Snow Storm

Day before yesterday, this is what we traveled home to. It was pretty, sun out, but cold and snow was everywhere. Our street had been plowed but look at the volume on the edge. Our community always does a good job with the streets; but then they can since it's a small community and not a large amount to work on. Others sure aren't that lucky.
Our wonderful neighbor used his snow blower to take care of our drive and walk which made getting in with the luggage easier. It wasn't long though before the sun disappeared and the 2nd storm hit. We got snow during the night and hubby shoveled before work (couple of inches), and again when he came home for lunch (couple more inches). It continued snowing all day. When good neighbor got home for work, he got out the blower and he and hubby together went at it again. It was slowing down a bit when we called it a night last night; but as I look out again this morning....street, walk, and drive are once again covered.

This weather is difficult for all of us, but I keep thinking about those homeless folks without a roof over their heads to ward off the cold snow.

Love Story

Perhaps when you first read the title, Love Story; you thought I was gonna talk about the movie. Nope. My parents, it's really quite a love story.

They met in high school when Mom was a freshman and Daddy a senior. She always said she chased him until he caught her. lol In those days each class had a hall or wing or floor. So, as she used to tell the story she and her girl friend who had her eye on one of Daddy's friends would race through the freshman wing to get to the senior wing between classes to interact. They went to dances, hayrides, and movies; typical high school dating for the times. Daddy went off to service (US Navy, Fighting Seabees), and they wrote letters back and forth. They got married when he got safely back home and began their life together.

Many of you know that life together ended last April when Mommy died. August would have marked their 62nd year together as Man and Wife. Quite a marvel in light of the number of divorces today.

This necklace reflects their love for each other. The circle is my Dad's first wedding band. He needed a larger one somewhere along the line. The both loved lighthouses. The TV room at home has quite a collection of ceramic lighthouses. They toured them when they traveled, and the wall is full of photographs and cross stitch pictures of lighthouses. They had the lighthouse designed by a local jeweler. The diamond on top of the lighthouse is the diamond from Mommy's engagement ring. She always wore this necklace, only removing it just prior to her surgery.

A Great Aunt (same one that gave me the heirloom dishes) left me her diamond many years ago. I had it tucked away, and gave it to Mom when she and Daddy had their new rings made. Daddy wears her wedding band, (the 2nd one); and I wear the Lighthouse necklace. We both feel her close to us as we wear these special pieces, we feel the love.

So in my alphabetical remembrance, Love Story is part 1 for the letter L. We miss you Mom

Heirlooms

Do you have family heirlooms? These hand painted dished are one of mine. This is a marvelous set for 12 with all the serving pieces. They were given to me years ago by my Great Aunt Irene. She was my Dad's Aunt. Click to see the dishes, they're sooooooo pretty. I always loved them. Very light mellon creamy background with colored flowers, and pretty gold and red boarder. I use to use them alot. My Aunt always said she liked to give things away when she was still living so she could see people enjoying things. Then a friend said it made him nervous when I used my good dishes and so they got put away. They weren't easy to get to-- to use; so it's been awhile since I've enjoyed them. A couple of years ago I got my first dining room set, which included a hutch. I'm thrilled to get to display my dishes. The last time Daddy came for Sunday dinner, I decided we use our nice china.

The cool Italian wine glasses I got Christmas before last from my Dear SIL, in our gift exchange. Look how beautifully they go with my dishes! We fixed a special meal, used our special china and had the special wine glasses. A good evening for sure.

The Marvel of Nature's Beauty

While not the best picture, look at the marvel of natures beauty. This is something we mortals simply can not come close to. One cold morning very recently I saw this between the 2 window panes over my kitchen sink; as I was pouring my morning coffee. Made me groan for how cold I knew it was to have this between the window panes; thinking about those poor homeless living outdoors (please check out The Bridge and Beyond), but at the same time I was in awe of the beauty. Sometimes the prettiest sites are right before our eyes...we just need to take time and look to enjoy it.

Butterflies

Long ago, I enjoyed cross stitching. I didn't photograph many of my projects; but found this one to share with you. My older brother had a wonderful butterfly collection when we were kids growing up. I made this for him years ago for Christmas. Technically, I think this is a month instead of a butterfly. I'll have to have him look at it and tell me. Just thought I'd share this with you, as a way to make us think of warmer weather.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

Ok, I know I've already shown you my scarf; but I decided to mess around and see how people do a self portrait. I've tried just holding the camera out at arms length pointing it at myself and haven't managed to get a picture with the subject...be it a hat, or scarf, or me. So, decided to try the silly bathroom mirror.

Just Say NO

Just say NO. Say no to plastic bags, say no to paper bags. I know we all have canvas totes, sometimes at home on the door knobs, sometimes in our trunk, and sometimes even in the back seat, but we forget to carry them in with us. AND, how many do you carry. Here's a perfect solution. This bag of bags is little, light weight, and super easy to use. Easy to use, because you don't forget them. See the little green draw string bag? All these bags...all six of them fit into this little bag. The little bag easily sits right in your snack tray. I have one in my car, hubby has one in his. He can put the little bag of bags even in his pocket. I imagine most women could put the bag in their purses. I can't, I don't carry a large purse. They fold up, and roll up and easily fit with space left over in this little pouch. I've laid them out in various stages of being folded or rolled so you could see them. They are as big as a large paper bag and they do hold alot! They are strong. I think hubby might have one of my bags, cause I have two tan ones...hum, wonder what color I'm missing. lol I'll have to have him check his colors. Livesmart Bags. We ordered ours on line. When we ordered we ordered 5 or 6 sets so we had some as gift items and therefore we didn't pay postage.

I highly recommend these bags. I've not forgotten to use these once since we've purchased them, but I was constantly forgetting my canvas totes.

Go Green, say no to plastic and paper.

**errr this was a scheduled post, and since I wrote, I did forget once...just a short while ago. Had them in my pocket and stopped at Hobby Lobby for a few little items and totally forgot to use them. Geeeeeeeees that's irritating. Only a small plastic bag though, the smallest they make. It's hard to break habits; but let's keep trying.

Home Buyer Tax Credit

My parents first house pictured above was purchased with the benefit of The G.I. bill. A cozy little house with no frills; just the basics. Government programs have a history of helping first time homeowners to stimulate the economy. Lots of fond memories thanks to the program that allowed my folks to purchase their first home.

The good news is First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit has been extended and broadened. First time home buyer credit will help many young couples (or singles) as well as those wanting to move up. The extension allows for tax credits up to $8,000.00 for all first-time buyers who purchase a home on or after January 1, 2010 AND on or before April 30, 2010; (closing date deadline is June 30th).

Qualifying income limits have also been broaden to $125,000.00 from $75,000.00 for those filing single tax returns; and to $225,000.00 from $150,000.00 to married couples filing a joint return. Clearly this opens this benefit to more perspective buyers. Tax credits of $6,500.00 for current home owners wishing to move up are also available, with some restrictions about how long you've owned your current home.

Two most commonly asked questions are probably-- what's the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction, and if the credit is up to $8,000.00 how do I know how much my credit will be?

• A tax credit reduces the amount of tax you owe, while a tax reduction lowers the income base you pay tax on. It's important you understand this difference.
• The credit is 10% of the purchase price of the home, up to $8,000.00.
  

A friend of our daughters did this instead of watching rent fly out the window. Had our daughter not been moving at the time, we would have suggested she do the same.

File IRS form 5405 with your Federal Tax Return to take advantage of this program, and happy house hunting.

It's always something

Hubby's hand you see with screwdriver in hand working on the vent for the light/fan combo vent in the bathroom. Our bathroom is small, so venting it a huge deal. Very necessary in fact to try and stay a wee bit ahead of mildew. Our fan was making noise like a hurt animal. It was awful, made that noise when you turned in on and off; though once it got going it calmed down. In years past when this needed to be replaced, it was pretty easy screw off replace, screw on. No more, apparently. Our vent whole is a different size than those now made, and since ours is a combination light and fan outlet that too presents problems for those replacements that only one or the other. No doubt due to the age of our house this has become an issue. But, hubby's pretty hand and took a fan off one unit and put on another...or at least I think that's what I understood him to say.

Thanks Hubby, it sounds sooooooooo much better.

Does anyone ever feel like everything is done at their house? Seems just as you get one item taken care of, another needs your attention. He always says, "The joys of home ownership."

Snow fun when you're Young

Let me show you how to do it Mom
This shovel's heavy
I can run with it
She's taking my picture
Some of you might recognize my cute little guy. He's growing and so helpful around the house. lol I took these photo's looking out my window having fun watching him in his p.j.'s shoveling the drive. Kids are sooooooooo much fun.

Snow Days are Different

Schools are closed today, (or were the day I took this photo). This is a schedule post, so the day was a few days ago. We've gotten fresh snow every day now for a couple of weeks. It's pretty, but very cold. This was taken out my dining room door window. Right through the glass before I even had my first cup of coffee. Can you feel the cold? The snow isn't so much why the kids had the day off from school, but the strong winds which made the chill well below zero for kids standing waiting on a school bus.

I remember how excited my daughter would get as a kid when there was a snow day. Our routine then was to bundle up, and go for pancakes a local old dinner. She was out of school the day before this when St. Louis got socked with even colder temperatures then we had here in Ohio. That's pretty weird, normally they're warmer. She's now a school teacher; some things never change. She was still pretty excited to have a snow day. lol; though she spent the day grading papers, writing lesson's plans and getting a bit done from home.

Treating myself, LOVE it!

Technically, this is one of the 4 projects I posted when I posted my wip (ufo) before the end of the year. My goal was to finish by New Years, but I didn't make that deadline. This is a scheduled post. I finished this several days ago, and worked on some hats and scarves for The Bridge. This is using the 2 different sized needles, I blogged about it here. I LOVE this scarf, it's colors and texture; but wasn't all that happy with the yarn. I used 2 cakes of Taos 100% wool from Crystal Palace Yarn. It's super soft both around the neck and to work with; but twice the yarn broke/split and pulled apart as I was knitted. In both cases I was busy knitting and until I reached just a few inches (3-4) from the ripped piece didn't even know it. I assume that's a problem from spinning? This isn't cheap yarn though, so while I might accept this with a lower cost yarn, really wasn't happy about it here. Luckily I was at the end of a row each time this happened; and think (fingers crossed) I was able to restart the yarn without making a weak area in my scarf. Directions indicate handwash-dry flat or dryclean.

We're trying to stay warm, snow still coming down and it's cold. In 3 weeks we'll be heading to South Carolina where I hope to have a week of warmer weather.

Wise as an Owl

Olney Avenue School, wise as an Owl was the school motto. Funny all these later how I remember that. I attended this school from K through part of the 3rd grade. It was a wonderful old school. It's the picture I see in my mind when someone says the word school. Funny how much smaller it is, then my memory of it. lol

In my mind I see large big steps going up to the big doors. Seems I have better pictures of this somewhere, I must find them; and if I can ever get my scanner working again...

This school was built in 1906. It had huge windows that actually opened! It had a boiler room where you went to bang out the erasers, or cut through to get to the bathroom on the other side of the building. We were all actually a little afraid of going to or through the boiler room. The building wasn't very old went it caught fire in 1914, on a cold winter's day 96 years ago. That's right, the fire was Jan 13, 1914 and it gutted the almost new building. Firemen worked through frigid temperatures to control the blaze with ice on their uniforms. Several received scalp wounds when portions of walls fell down around them. The fire was caused by a defective heating system, and due to oil on the floors spread rather quickly. (the floors were beautiful hardwood). 320 students who were then enrolled got several weeks off; no doubt they were happier than their parents. Another difficulty of fighting the fire was lack of water pressure in the fire hoses. The firemen really had a time of it.

This school had large cloak rooms, with 2 entrances. I have fond memories of a certain cloak room. Mark, gave me my first kiss in the cloak room. lol This school educated a large number of students. Many of my school friends' parents attended school here. Girls played on one side of playground while the boys played on the other. Things weren't co-ed back in the day. Sadly this cool old building was demolished in 2004. I wanted to go and tour the inside of it, never made it though and am sorry I didn't get to before it was gone.

The buildings are gone; but I still have memories of the building and the people. How bout you? Do you have memories of your school days?

The black and white photo is the school prior to the fire, and the 2nd photo is shortly after being rebuilt after the fire.

When I Grow Up I'm Gonna....

When I grow up, I'm gonna be? What? This yummy, super soft baby alpaca yarn is waiting to be something. My daughter selected this when we had a yarn shopping day. She loves green and purple. Most of her clothes are green and purple. Her room where she's living will be green and purple (still hasn't technically moved in).

This yarn is too pricey to buy much of it, so one skein of each limits what it came become. She asked for a scarf and while she knits herself; she wanted something beyond her current knitting skills. So, it's not really a question of what it will become; but the details of what type of scarf. So, when you shop for yarn, do you know ahead what you're going to make? Or do you buy colors, textures you like and figure it out later?

She asked for stripes, so currently I'm thinking about whether or not I want each color to have it's own texture, or maybe only one color have a pattern/texture with stitches in contrast to a plain 2nd color....Thoughts? I don't think I want both stripes be the same stitch?

Kindness, something we're taught

It's been awhile since I've posted a memory of Mom. Guess I'm only about half way into the alphabet at letter K. Kindness is something I remember Mom talking alot about. She'd often say put yourself in their shoes, treat them as you want them to treat you, But for the grace of God go I. I must admit when real young I didn't understand the last quote; but remembered her saying it anyway.

I remember her always saying to be kind, not to pick on people, not to say mean things, and to stand up for the underdog. When I was real young, I had a friend with a brace on her leg from polio. I remember her being a whiz with puzzles, something I wasn't good at at all. Kids were pretty mean to her, guess they didn't know any better. I also remember how excited I was when my friend got the brace off her leg and for the first time we were able to go down the slide together. I probably wouldn't have that fond memory if it weren't for Mom, teaching me how to be kind.

I had a little boy in my class named Frankie who had seizures in class, even the teacher wasn't kind to him. One day when an incident happened and I was upset about it, my mother showed me again how kindness pays off. She went to school and explained to the teacher what was going on with little Frankie. The teacher had actually punished him for not paying attention. Mom knew from my description about what happened that he had seizures, it wasn't that he wasn't paying attention. After that, things went better for little Frankie.

Thanks Mom for those important life lessons, and the memories they've given me.

The picture is of hubby, my young daughter and I years ago. Just a picture I thought I'd share.

Music Soothes the Savage Beast

I love piano music. Who doesn't? It can be light and fun, jazzy and upbeat, peaceful and calming. I've spent lots of time this past year at the hospital when my mother was critically ill. The last 2 days I was there again, my younger brother had surgery. It was the first time I had been back to the hospital since Mom passed. The beautiful piano music being played in the hospital's lobby made me wonder how many piano lessons this woman had taken. It was comforting to listen and watch her play and helped me through the day. Playing piano is a skill I don't have, and one my SIL wishes to have.

If you already play and want to jazz up your style, please take a look at these options for piano lessons. For your ease, there's a toll free number to help you with any questions you might have. You can take lessons on line! I love the idea of taking piano lessons, at a time convenient to me; and it's private! You improve your current skills, learn tricks of the trade with lessons on DVD too. Sheet music is available and printable in a wide variety of music styles. If you want to make your left hand come alive, improve your skills with cords, or jump from an intermediate player to an advance player this is for you. And, I've saved the best to last...there's a free trial. If playing more, improving your skills, or getting back to something you love was a New Years Resolution here's your chance. Music improves our lives in so many ways.

Dinner is served.

Homemade Butternut squash ravioli and my lemondrop martini. The lemondrop was my cocktail of choice before dinner while hubby's prefer's a dry gin martini with a twist. Making Martini's is fun; and I've been working to perfect my Lemondrop. Look how nicely my sugared rim turned out. Nice little ice crytals also in the froth. My best yet.

We had a nice bottle of wine (Gran Tarapaca Pinot Noir Reserve with the pasta dish. The wine is a full bodied (raspberry, cherry & plum) ruby wine from Chile. The pasta my first attempt at making homemade ravioli. A post or two back I mentioned my daughter and I made a ton of pasta. This was 1 of 4 types we made. Butternut Squash Ravioli stuffed with Mascarpone.

1. Cook the squash (slice it in half and cook in the microwave)
2. Cut squash in small pieces, add some liquid (we used juice from mandarin oranges) and make a puree in food processor/blender. We used processor, but I think blender would have worked better
3. Add flour 1/4th cup at a time and mix (regular wheat flour, whole wheat, and semolina). Mix with fork until you can't any longer, switch to mixing and kneading with your hands. This takes quite awhile. Using a whole squash made a very large amount of dough.
4. Refrigerate dough to rest it.
5. Add flour to prepare it for the rolling in pasta machine (I have a hand crank unit). Make long rectangles, as evenly as you can (I rolled several times on each setting 1-2-3 and stopped after rolling twice on 4)
6. Use Ravioli cutter to make squares (remember you need top and bottom). Add Mascarpone to center of one square. Dip your finger into bowl of water and run around edge of the square you've added filling to. Place 2nd square on top, pinching 4 edges. Arrange on counter, cookie sheet, or cloth to dry. Once partial dry, flip over and when you feel they're not going to stick together store in zip lock bag in freezer. Try to keep from breaking by laying flat.

**Remember cooking fresh pasta requires less cooking time than boxed or frozen pasta.
I served this was red and yellow peppers, onion, and small green beans. Mix those items and cook about 3 minutes in the microwave with a drizzle of olive oil. Cut up a dozen little smokies and cook 1 minute in microwave, then add smokies to veggies and cook one more minute. Depending on how much olive oil you used in the cooking process you may or may not need to drizzle a bit more on your pasta. Garnish with fresh peppercorn and grated Asiago Cheese and enjoy.

Christmas Pasta

Don't know if there really is such a thing as Christmas Pasta; but that's what I'm calling this. Above you see pretty green spinach pasta on the drying racks. My daughter and I made a ton of pasta. Really both of us worked on it for about 10 hours solid. We were sure tired at the end. This is just 1 of 4 types we made that day. You need frozen spinach, once it's thawed (which takes quite awhile), you squeeze out as much liquid as you can. Keep the liquid though for later. The spinach is your liquid source. Blend in with fork regular flour, whole wheat flour and semolina flour. I usually add about 1/4th cup at a time as it becomes quite difficult to mix. Once you can't mix with the fork any longer, dive in with your hands. Mix and need, over and over and over again. Keep adding flour as you go. Once you feel like you can't add anymore, cover tightly and put in the fridge for awhile. It let's it rest, and you too. Or would if we hadn't been moving right into another batch of something.
You may or may not need to add a little of liquid you squeezed out. Once you remove it from the fridge you'll need to add more flour as you prepare it for the roller in the pasta machine. I have one of those hand cranks ones. I run it through each number several times and usually stop on #4 for the weight of fettucini we like. Your pasta is cut so next you hang it on the rack to dry. I had 3 separate drying racks set up in the kitchen on this day. Whew! I don't totally dry it, but enough that it's not sticky any longer. Then I store in zip lock bags in the freezer. **When you cook fresh pasta you cook it less than boxed store bought.

The meal I've named Christmas Pasta is the homemade spinach fettucini topped with red and yellow peppers, purple onion, and small pieces of ham. The veggies and ham are warmed quickly in the microwave (3-4 minutes) with a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with a light Alfredo sauce and fresh ground pepper. Pretty and yummy!

Don't forget a nice bottle of wine and bread. No need really for a salad, got your veggies right with your pasta.