At Least the Sun's Shining Today

Well, right now anyway. I have a crapload of things to accomplish today, phone calls to make, errands to run, and I'd really rather pull the covers over my head and hide. Or maybe take Porter to the dog park all day to see what dogs come out to play. I'd take treats. For both of us. I really haven't been knitting so I don't have any knitting to show you, but I can find a
few U.P. pictures to dazzle you with.

Coping

I am employing several coping mechanisms today. One is blogging,

another is cleaning, because DD and Mom's sister are coming, and you know there'll be random people here this week.






Possibly the most ill-advised is a pint of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream for lunch. I've been frustratedly trying to reduce the shadow I cast and not had a lot of luck. Grief eating is not going to help but once Tuesday's over I'm back on the wagon. Really. This is my last pint of bad-girl food for a long time. Cross my heart.









DS and I took Porter to the dog park on Friday. She met and played with a Newfoundland named Morgan. Morgan is as big as a Smart Car. No. Lie. Good thing she's friendly.









In knitting news, at Friday Night Knitting I frogged and restarted Aunt B's scarf. I added 30 stitches and an extra knit row between increase rows--and I may add another repeat to make it wider, but it's fast knitting and going well.

Bye, Mom

I love you lots. I always did.
Barbara Sue

Inspired by Mooncalf

I read her blog daily and I am in awe of her productivity and output, both in knitting and other crafts. I have followed her lead making fabric baskets






and pocket monsters,









but today she blogged about getting a new pattern book. Well, I got a new book too. It isn't a pattern book, it's a book of essays but the subject is knitting. You can see it has already moved into its rightful place--on the vanity next to the "throne." Where else would you put a new and treasured volume?

I Am The Sweetest

Durwood says so, I believe him, and I've got the flowers to prove it. See? They were waiting for me when I got home from work last Saturday. It was Sweetest Day, one of those Hallmark holidays, and he gave me a card and the flowers. I think they look perfect in this ugly pitcher I bought years ago at T.J. Maxx. I remember what DD said when I picked it up. "Mom!" she said, as only a 15-year old can. "You're not going to buy that hideous thing, are you?" That clinched it; I had to have it and it has amused and pleased me ever since.

This is the pumpkin cheesecake that DS & DIL1 brought for Sunday supper. It had an absolutely fantabulous graham cracker crust and it was totally delicious.

When Durwood and I ran away from home the other day we went to Appleton and strolled through World Market. I love that place. It's like a vacation without a passport. Everything's a tiny bit exotic and the store smells like foreign places. I bought this sarong to use as a scarf. It was 50% off and I loved the muted colors. I wore it yesterday and felt very swell.

False Start & Restart

Last Friday I cast on 90 stitches and got started on Aunt B's Potato Chip Scarf while I was visiting Mom. I worked on it at Friday Night Knitting, but it was going fast and going nowhere. What you see is all but the last row of knit front and back and the bind-off. It's not long enough and I don't think it's wide enough. I'm going to frog it and start over. Some of the ones I saw on Ravelry added stitches and rows; I think that's what I'll do.



I frogged my last attempt to make a Special Olympics scarf and put it aside. The other night I pulled it out and started again with bigger needles. Great big needles. US13s. I do love it when it goes fast.








Oh, you should have had supper with us tonight. We had leftover Peking Chiken so Durwood cut it off the bone, heated it up, put it in whole wheat tortillas with hoisin sauce, cucumber spears, and chopped green onions with steamed broccoli on the side. You would have wanted some but we ate it all.

Posting In The Dark

I mean to do this in the morning, or at least in the daylight, but my days get away from me more than I care to admit. I hear that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, so I plan to have a very smooth path to perdition one of these days.


I used yarn as decor on Sunday...











but it couldn't compare to the allure of the appetizer platters Durwood and I fixed for our family supper.






His Italian Wedding Soup was delicious and my Creamy Mushroom Barley Soup was nearly gone. (his recipe makes a lot more than mine does)