30 Days of Photos - Oct. 10

"Favorite Knit Cap" - free pattern at Soule Mama.
Yarn is a made in Italy wool, cotton, nylon blend - Sensations "Bellezza Dolcetto" - now on sale for $1.99 per ball at JoAnn Fabrics.
Needles - size 10

30 Days of Photos - Oct 9

Our box of Cowboy Toys. Some belonged to my older cousins and date back to the early 50s.

30 Days of Photos - Oct.8

Making corn pone, from the LL Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, to go along with butternut squash soup ( Martha Stewart's Everyday Food recipe) and waldorf salad.

Mittens for a Child

The pattern: Jack Frost Speed Knit Mittens on two needles ( old booklet from the 50s).
The yarn: 2 strands Bartlett's Fisherman wool, from the stash, on size 10 needles. Slightly felted after finishing.
Speedy? Truly. Made each one in an evening in front of Fox News.

I have always wanted to keep a basket of hats and mittens handy to pass out to people here and there -- someone who visits the house, the kid walking down the street with no hat - this is the sort of taking care of my neighbor that I enjoy and that fits into my vocation. And yet I still have this black yarn here for the Socks for Soldiers project. Black yarn and size 0 needles - it's tough. Oh, the guilt!

Time to start thinking of Christmas gifts. A lean year, by the looks of things. I'm making a mohair shawl for my mother, who will be very tickled. My dad is always a challenge.

The in-laws are a bit more complicated with their big gift exhange. Over the years we have made many homemade gifts - hats, mittens, socks, purses, bean bag games, food items, nightgowns, walking sticks, and jammie pants. While I love a handmade gift, not everyone does----------so I am torn between the need to save money, my genuine love of making things, and the need to not put time and effort into something that isn't appreciated. What to do?

Bump at sixteen weeks. I believe this blouse will now be retired from the wardrobe till next spring.

Comments I've received in the last week:

"Wow! You look like you're getting ready to deliver! " (oh sure, in about 5 or 6 months....)

"Has anyone told you that you're gaining weight?" (no, just you. .....)

"You're getting chubby" ( yup, really letting myself go......I think I"ve gained a pound so far)

"How do you guys DO it?" ( well, that's getting a little personal......)

Beautiful Weekend

Saturday morning Liddy and I made our first foray of the season to the pool for lap swim. The swim teamers start today and I really need to get back into the exercise groove. Since the older children are at school this year I'm up packing lunches instead of going to the Y, and I"ve lost my built-in babysitters.

My swim wasn't as bad as expected. Still remembered the motions but cardiovascular fitness is not so great right now.

If you're a longtime reader, you might remember that my swim history includes events such as:
-flunked beginner swim lessons in 1973 after balking at the high dive
-chased boys at the city pool '78-80
-2000 - did a sprint triathlon and side-stroked the swim portion
-Shortly after - forced self to finally learn a proper front crawl

Even when I was running many miles, swimming seemed so difficult. The forced controlled breathing, I guess. Will try to get back into a routine.

Saturday was the annual company picnic - lunch followed by a cornhole tournament, in which Brad and I were immediately eliminated in the first round by a score of 21-0. What can we say? It's just not our sport.

Me with a niece, at the plant:


Caleb went back to school Sunday evening and I had a bit of a teary eyed moment at the thought that he is off doing the great adventure of his own life. (Note to my other children - you're all my favorites punkindoodles! It's just that he's reached this stage first.)
And then Erin wanted a bedtime story and she brought me this book, which someone gave me when Caleb was a baby.
Have you read it? It's a killer.

And so, I woke up with puffy eyes this morning.

The Moment I've Been Waiting For

Autumn - I think it's really here. Yesterday we had highs in the 50s and it was occasion to wear a sweater dress with boots, make a pot of chili and even knit an entire child's mitten. Not a finely crafted mitten, but a utilitarian mitten, on 2 needles with 2 strands of worsted wool. If the SHTF this winter, at least my family won't have cold hands.

Wool blankets have been taken out of storage, and it's the beginning of the annual "How Long Can We Go Without The Furnace " contest. In this game, Brad goes off to his toasty office and comes home at night to chuckle at us huddled in hats and blankets. This year, the furnace isn't even an option right now because the thermostat was removed during a painting project and never replaced.

Yesterday Erin started a kindergarten age art class at a nearby art center. She went off with exhuberant expectations. "I'm going to make lots of new friends and invite them all to my birthday party!!" were her parting words. She was awfully disappointed to see the other children clinging to their mommies and not saying a word. That wasn't what she had in mind. Maybe they'll warm up next week.

This is the same girl who told us last week: " When I'm 17 I'll do whatever I want and you can't stop me!"

We're very scared.

Weekend Field Exercises

In the words of the immortal Tony the Tiger, it is Grrrrrrrrrreat! to get a photo in my email box, cause I miss my chicks when they're not in the nest.

Caleb saw McCain and Palin at a rally yesterday. I'm waiting to hear the detailed report.

None of Your Beeswax

Not wanting to make last year's mistake, in which the beeswax was left to sit in a covered pot all winter, only to be discovered crawling with maggots in the spring..........I dealt with this year's batch straight away.

After extracting the honey from the frames, the frames are returned to the vicinity of the beehive for the bees to clean up. After several days, Lydia scrapes the wax combs off with a spatula. Our single hive provided just enough wax to fill a coffee can. I set the can in a pot of boiling water to melt.
The wax was strained through a piece of panty hose to remove the debris, poured in a small greased teflon loaf pan to cool, and is now stored in a zip lock bag, awaiting whatever craft project comes to mind. I"ve got my eye on something like this lip gloss, colored with beet juice.

Bonfire Party

Featuring apple cider, bean soup, and other goodies.

Soccer Mom Season

Been watching a lot of this lately. It's a nice 2 mile bike ride to the soccer field. Our player is the trash talking hot dog of the team -must have got that from his dad.

That is the old plant ( family business) in the background - now For Sale.

Little People

I tease my mom for holding on to too much stuff, but I'm really glad she kept the Fisher-Price Little People toys. That playhouse was so real to me when I was little -- great play value. We had so many of these - the farm, the castle, a milk truck, a school bus -- now these things are taking up space in my basement.

The day that wooden Little People became a choking hazard and were turned into big chunky cheapo plastic things for toddlers ( 1980s?) was a sad one indeed.

Here is a site that tells all about the Little People, their hairstyles, etc.

What was your favorite Fisher-Price toy?

In-Gathering

Made quite a bit of applesauce last week with the girls, with the apples from our own tree. Am kicking myself that I dropped the ball on peach season, but I should be thankful for what we do have.

Yesterday I put into jars the year's honey harvest --- three gallons worth. There are a lot of walnuts to be gathered this year too.

The boys have been working on firewood, cutting up trees that fell down in last week's windstorm. That's nice to have, but it's all green. There are a few dead trees in the pasture at Brad's folk's house - those are next on the list.

And now, the floor needs to be mopped from all the sticky messes we've been making.

When we were first married and didn't have an apple tree, I pulled the wagon around and gathered fruit from the odd apple tree in the city park or behind the YMCA. Even now I tsk tsk at the fruit going to waste in neglected hedgerows. I'm keeping a laundry basket in the back of the car for such discoveries.