Daring Bakers January

It is Lemon Meringue Pie, hosted by Jen at the Canadian Baker. I have never made a meringue, cornstarch pie, or even a pie crust from scratch before so this was all new to me. The crust came out really good, the filling leaked a little, but tasted great and the meringue tastes great!

chili

I made chili from scratch for the first time Sunday. It came out pretty good. Monday I went and pressure canned it. I have 5 quart and one pint jar with no chili in that pot left over. I had to put some of the spicy chili in the freezer, I did not have enough of the cooler parts to make it then. That and I ran out of room in the pot. The nice part of pressure canning it is that if I just do not want to cook all I have to do it open the jar and heat it up. This also works well for lunch, I tend to keep at least one jar at each of my work's. Normally I just take some calls of no bean chili and add more meat and lots of beans.

Spice Pantry

Tasting Spoon was showing what her spice rack looked like and was wondering what other peoples looked like. Here is mine Saturday morning. When I got home that evening I had gotten a box from Penzeys and expanded what I have.

I am looking for a small closable cabinet that I can put all my spices. Right now I have a little here and there. I do like the under the cabinet thing but it is just not big enough.

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

Well that is what I made for dinner last night. The chicken tasted good but because I used thighs with the skin on there was a lot of fat in the pot. Next time I do this I will take the skin and as much as the fat off as I can. It was good over pasta.

Sewing projects

Finish table cloth for my mother's friend

Finish lap quilt for my mother's friend. My mother got most of the top done I just need to add the borders, backing and quilt it.

Finish toucan's

Make some more small knitting bags

Make some more tote bags

Make 2 tote bags for each of my grand mothers

make some small gift bags

make some aprons for me, I would use them now.


Well that is the list as of now, this is sure to change.

Knitting projects for the year

Thummed mittens, it is cold here right now.

Socks for my Aunt, this a PHD graduation gift

Socks for my sock pal, due by March

socks for my niece

some wash cloths

finish mystery stole 3

make a stole for my mother

make socks for me, I tend to make they for other people.


I am sure that this list will change but today these are the projects I want to get done this year.

Free Book from EOS

Shaman's Crossing: The Soldier Son Trilogy by Robin Hobb

As part of their 10 year anniversary Eos is giving away some books. This is their first one.

Best Drop Biscuits

The first biscuits that I remember I had at my grandparents when I was 4 or 5. My granddad made them. They were drop biscuits. Ever since then I have like that kind a lot more than the other kind. That and drop biscuits are easier to make.

I made Best Drop Biscuits from Culinary in the Country.

I did make some changes. I used soy yogurt instead of the buttermilk, margarine instead of butter, used 1 tablespoon of sugar instead of 1 teaspoon. I am lactose intolerance so I needed to work around it. This came out very good and very buttery. They are not going to last for long. 3 have already have been eaten.


Best Drop Biscuits (Adapted from Cook's Illustrated)

For the biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup cold buttermilk
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

To brush the biscuits
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

To make the biscuits

Preheat oven to 475

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

In a medium bowl, add cold buttermilk and melted butter - mix together until butter forms small clumps. Pour mixture into the dry and stir just until combined.

Scoop out the mixture using a large cookie scoop (about 1/4 cup worth) and drop onto parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing biscuits about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until tops are golden brown and crisp, about 12 to 14 minutes.

To finish the biscuits

When they come out of the oven, brush the tops with the 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Move the biscuits to a wire rack and cool about 5 minutes before serving. Transfer to wire rack and let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 biscuits

goals for the year

Cook at least on item from one of the web once a week

Cook at least one item from a cook book once a month

Try to finsh a quilt a month, or at least a top.

Only buy fabric NEEDED to finsh a quilt, use what I have

Only buy Yarn NEEDED to finsh a project, use what I have.

Watch a sunrise or sunset at least once a week

Put $50 aside a month

Finsh setting up the front yard

figure out what I want to do in the backyard

put tiles down on the steps in the house

park my car in the garage more



I am sure that there will be more but this is a start.

Surgery, TMI

Well, I am feeling a lot better now. I had breast reduction surgery on the 17th of Dec. That week I slept a lot and did not do much of anything. The next week I felt a little better but I was still in a little bit of pain and could not do much. This is the trid week and I feel a lot better but I can not lift heavy items or reach much. I went back to work yesterday, I set it up before I left that I would have paperwork to do for the first few weeks.


Well that was where I have been.

names

What Michelle Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated.You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Daring Bakers December

The Daring Bakers recipe for December was a Yule Log.
I did this early in the month. I had never made a yule log before, I had never made buttercream, genoise cake or Meringue mushrooms so this month was an adventure.

I started with the mushrooms, they looked to be the easyst to put aside and come back to later. They came out pretty good. The meringue was fragile though, 3-5 mushrooms died when the stem was attached.

I put them aside in a plastic bag for a few days, I needed at least one whole day to make the cake.






Well the genoise cake was interesting, I am not sure if it came out right. It tasted ok and rolled so I went with it.

I however had troubles with the buttercream. It kept breaking and curdling. I finally got it so that it did not look that bad. I think that part of my problem was that room temp was not warm enough for my butter. I keep my house cold in the winter. I got the rolled cake fine but decorating it was a puzzle to me. I have not seen many yule logs before. So I just put mushrooms everywhere. I then wrapped the whole thing up and took it to work. It was way to sweet for me. They ate it.

sleepy

That is what I am a lot lately. Which is not bad, if I am asleep I am not overdoing it. I did that Wed. Thus. hurt. I have started to taper off the pain pills so I should start being more awake.

gym cloths

This is from a few days ago. I have been so busy getting ready for surgery that I have not been able to post much, Hopefully this will change. Anyway if it gets lower that 20 degrees Fahrenheit do not leave gym stuff in the car. I did and had frozen conditioner and tooth paste. which mad for an interesting shower.

Surgery

Well I had the surgery yesterday and it went well. They took me back and had my lie on the table and look at the lights, then I was out. I woke up groggy and sleepy in recovery 2 hours later. I woke up more fully around on hour later and left 30 min after that. So I got to the surgery center at 12 pm and left at 5:30 ish.

I come home and slept off and on for a few hours. I would sleep and then go down stars to watch some TV and then sleep some more. Today I have been drinking water and going to the bathroom much of the day. With brief naps interspersed.

I am hoping to be better enough to go to knitting night on Thus. I am one some pain meds so I am still a little loopy. I am small now. It is a little different when I look at myself. I now need to get new bra's and shirts. They took 3 lbs, 1360 grams from the left side and 2lbs, 907 grams from the right, so now I am under 160 lbs. This would not be a weight loss plan of choice.

Daring Bakers November

I was able to join the Daring Bakers this month and it was so cool! Tanna of My Kitchen In Half Cups picked Tender Potato Bread from Home Baking: The Artful Mix of Flour & Tradition Around the World byJeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. It was nice that the first challenge I did was something that I was not afraid of, some of the ones in the past looked a little hard for me.

The recipe starts out with Potatoes. They are to be boiled and them mashed. The potatoes and the water are used in the bread. The potatoes add tenderness to the bread. The bread was to be made by hand. It has been a while since I have made bread that way, I tend to make the dough in the bread machine and then bake it in the oven. So this was different.

Here is the ingredients, this is a savory bread, no sugar involved. It mixed up fairly easy but is a wet bread at this point.






Pre kneed:
Post Kneed:
The next step is to have the dough rise, which when your house is only 58 degrees Fahrenheit is interesting. I had them in the sun and let them rise for longer. We could do anything that we wanted with the dough. I decided to make cobblestone bread and a some rolls. Cobblestone bread is a savory version of monkey bread. I ended up with a little more left over so I rolled up some bread dipping seasonings in the other loaf.


The cobblestone bread was being nibbled on before I could even get a picture. The rest of the bread came out well. The rolls were eaten pretty quickly but the rolled bread was around long enough to get stale. I used it in my stuffing. It come out so well that I am using this for my next batch of stuffing next month.

Glitterns

I am making a pair for my sister-in law for Christmas this year and I have been looking at different ways of doing the mitten part. Right now I am thinking of a knit 2 purl 2 ribbing with a cable thrown in every once in a while for fun. This way it would be interesting to me to knit and the ribbing would tighten it a little. I have to finish some socks first but I am liking the planing stage.

Sock pal swap Questionnaire

The Questionnaire

The Questions

1. How long have you been knitting? Do you consider yourself beginner, intermediate, advanced?

A year and 9 months, I think that I am an intermediate knitter.

1. How long have you been knitting socks?

A year and 7 months, it was the second class I took.

1. What are your favorite fibers to work with?

Wool, alpaca

1. What is your favorite color?

Blues, Greens and purples.

1. What are your current WIPs (works in progress)?

A sock savior sock I am doing for sockapalooza and the mystery stole 3.

1. Name your favorite yarns, (brand, fibers, colors, etc.).

Socks that rock, alpaca sox, fleece artist, sock yarn that is superwash.

1. What are some yarns/fibers that you stay away from.

cotton and plant fibers, they have next to no give when knitting and it makes hands hurt after only 5 minutes of knitting.

1. What is your family situation? (Married, kids, pets?)

Single but my younger brother lives with me. No pets at this time.

1. Name some of your hobbies.

quiltings, knitting, reading

1. Name some of your favorite movies?

The Princess Bride, Die Harder, I watch many different kinds of movies, most have the popcorn factor. There is not a lot of thought needed.

1. Do you like to read?

Yes! I tend to read anywhere from 5-20 books a week. They are on all different kinds of things.

1. Do you collect anything?

Not really, unless books, fabric or yarn count.

1. Do you own an iPod or mp3 player?

I have an Ipod, I am listening to right now.

1. What are your favorite type of knitting needles?

Knit Picks Circulars

1. What knitting notion could you not live without?

the sheep measuring tape or finishing needle. The funny part to this is I am always loosing them. I tend to borrow them for the night at one of the knitting groups I go to.

1. Who are some of your favorite designers?

Cookie A, Cat Bordhi, Wendy Knits

1. Do you subscribe to any magazines? (Knitting or otherwise.)

Consumer Reports, I am thinking of getting a subscription to Spin Off.

1. When is your birthday?

Jan 19

1. Do you have a "wishlist", (on Ravelry, Froogle, or Amazon)?

Not at this time.

1. Do you have a Ravelry ID?

Michelle

1. If you had a sheep, what would you name it?

George or Fred.

International Scarf Exchange 5 progress

I finshed, Yaaa!!! It came out a little different than I wanted but it is still cool, or warm in this case. Here it is already to be mailed. I just have a few more things that I want to put into the box to go with.

International Scarf Exchange

I got mine in the mail while my computer was out. Here are the pictures of it. I love the color and the bag is just the right size for socks. The tags out just the cutest.

computer

Well, I will not be around much. I took my computer in for repair, the back light was not working all the time and I had some bad cracks on the hinges. It will be gone for at least 2 weeks.

Non Dairy Apple Cake

This is a very good cake that I have been making for things lately, apples are in season right now.

Serves 12

8 cups, peeled and sliced apples
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup apple sauce
3 eggs
1 cup liquid, soy milk, water or juice of any kind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour, I use white wheat All-purpose would also work
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

preheat oven to 350 degrees
grease pan, 9 by 13 with cooking spray, I used canola oil spray.
In a large bowl mix apples with 1/2 cup sugar and the cinnamon.
Combine flour, salt and baking powder into a small bowl.
In a good size bowl mix the apple sauce and the sugar, the sugar will not dissolve all the way. Whisk in the eggs, then the liquid and vanilla.
Then fold in the flour mix to make a smooth batter.
Pour half of the batter into the pan, spread it around. Place the apples on top.
Pour the rest of the batter over the apples, try to get all of the apples covered.
Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is crusty and golden.

This can be served hot or cooled down.

MileHiCon

Last weekend was MileHiCon, a science fiction convention in Denver. This year it was very much like a family reunion. The all of my close family was there as well as my cousin, she lives only a few hours away. This was very cool. We will not see each other until Thanksgiving of next year. This year there was David Weber! He and his wife were very nice and so were most of the other authors. You get to see them on different panels and talk to them as they walk around. This year at the literacy auction David Weber was auctioning off the ability to have your name in one of his next books. A group of five people could bid together. This is called Tuckerization or Redshirting.
With this the person or persons that wins gets the book when it is sent to the publisher, a year ahead of when you can buy it. The second part of the bid allows that winner to decide of the person or persons being Tuckerized lives or dies. We, my family and someone that my mother had just met had the winning bid on gettingTuckerized. Someone else won the living or dieing part.

New Favorite Recipies

I am really liking Vegan Magic Cookie Bars with the Fat-Free Oatmeal Cookie Crust . I made this for knitting guild and they were all gone by the end of snack time.

allergy meds

DO not forget them. Even though you think that the vegetation has frozen. I went to Milehicon in Denver and forgot my Allegra. This made for a not so fun Sat. I was able to get something like it from my dad for sunday so that helped. I will really try not to forget again. I do not want to go though that again.

International Scarf Exchange 5 progress

I am making up the pattern as I go along. It is entrelac with lace panels. Here is one skein. It is 11-12 inches wide and 22 inches long so far. I like the way it is coming out.

Sockapalooza 4 sock savior

I signed up to be a Sockapalooza Sock Savior. I started the sock but it turns out my gauge is off so I have to rip and start again. I have not gotten that far and I did not like the toe so I am not that heart broken. I need to redo my math for less stitches so when I start again tomorrow it will not take as long. Here is what I have done before it gets ripped.

Sock Pal

Hello sock pal,

Please email me. I got your box but I no longer have your email.

I love the yarn, and the soap is great. I am using it right now as a scent for my wool yarn to keep moths away.

Where I have been

Well to start out with I just found out that I am allergic to all kinds of grasses. This started out with me getting red itchy eyes for about a week. Then I got the dripping nose, sneezing, sinus pain and just not feeling well. I was going to the Dr. to get my back adjusted and while I was there he gave a proscription to Allegra. This took care of most of the symptoms but I had no clue what was causing it. I set up an appointment with an allergist. The soonest was Oct 10. meet him Yesterday and had a prick allergy test.

My back still itches. I reacted to all of the grasses, not much else. I did react to rabbits a little bit. This makes me wonder if I will not like angora yarn. At this point it has cost to much so I have not done anying with it. T he most unfun part of all of this was that for a week before the allergy test I could not take anything. I spent most of the weekend with a box of tissues. Now I am on Allegra, a nasal spray and some eye drops. I go back in 2 weeks. I am debating on weather or not to get allergy shots.

Gym

Since I joined the gym a month ago I have lost 4 lbs and 1 percentage of body fat. Which is great. I have been using a personal trainer. She sets up what exercises that I will be doing for a week and weight and measure me once a week. I go to the gym at least 5 days a week. I tend to skip the day after I meat with Lisa, I am just to sore to go. This week Most of what I doing has to do with balancing. I have just a little more upper body strength but I still have a ways to go.

Tote Bag

I am defiantly getting better at making tote bags. This one only took 2 hours. It is for some one who likes pink. The rest of her box of stuff looks like this. I am mailing it out today.

Canning

Well I have 12 Jars of peach sauce and I have started to make apple sauce. I will have more of those, it is easier and cheaper to make.
I am also done drying peaches and have started drying apples. I have a nice amount of dried peaches though.

Sock pal stuff

I was running a little late so it will be in the mail Sunday. I had to finish the bag. It is of course pink. Here are the finished socks. It was a fun knit. I really like the yarn, it is Socks that Rock.

Peaches

Peaches would be why I have not been here much. I have been drying, freezing and caning Peaches. I made a froze 2 peach pies and I have and am making lots of jars of peach sauce, it is like apple sauce with peaches instead. This has caused my hand to hurt a little bit and I have not been knitting because of this. But my house smells great. I even made some peach fruit roll ups.

This Sat. is the last day to get peaches from the Farmers Market. After this weekend it will be apples. There is less of them because of a late freeze. There was no plums this year which bummed me out. I loved canned plums.

International Scarf Exchange 5 sign ups

Internaional Scarf Exchange 5 is starting sign ups. Yaaa!! It if fun. I have been in the last 2.

Grocery Shopping

I like grocery shopping. Going though the food ads and coupons see what is on sale is fun for me. Unfortunately the main store I went to closed. They are redoing the strip mall that it was in and tore it down last month. It will be back bigger and better next year but that means I have to go some where else now.

It is not so much the fact that I have to drive some where else but the fact that the layout of the store is total different. I was looking for canning lids and I had to walk all over to find them. They where not where I thought they would be. I have this to look forward to.

Gym

24 hour fitness is having a sale and I wanted to go to a gym so I signed up. It comes to just under $20 a month. With this I also signed up for a person trainer. I started going.


The personal trainer was a good idea. She is helping me get the right machine work done and is helping me figure out what stretches to do. It is just that 2 days ofter my first session with her I am starting to feal the effects. I have to go tonight to more too.

Sock It To Me Sock Swap Contest 2

I forgot to enter the first one but I will enter the second one. That and I love Zero's Etsy's stuff.

-So here's the challenge: Post about your favorite yarn. You must post a picture and let us know why it's your favorite yarn. Please leave links too, in case someone might want to get a little of what you got!

Right now my Favorite yarn is Socks that Rock. I have used it for fingerless gloves, mittens, shawls and socks of course. I am glad the I signed up for the sock club this year. I will be getting August's yarn soon.

Sock It To Me Sock Swap progress

I am now starting the ribbing. Partly because I am starting to run low on yarn and partly because my row stitch markers broke. It had 6 rings on it and now it only has 4. This pattern has a 5 row repeat.

stuff

My pain pills changed. I went from darvocet to vicodin. The Darvocet was no longer working. I am very glad that I waited until when I was not on call to try it. Vicodin makes my a little loopy and very sleepy. But the pain is mostly gone. I will at this point make sure that I will take this and drive, I do not think that it would be a good idea.


On to other things, I got a membership at 24 hour fitness. It was $750 for 3 years with the 4th year at $29. This works out to less than $20 a month. This is a very good deal. It also comes with 5 personal trainer visits. My first one is on Monday. I am hoping for some suggestions of stuff I can do to strengthen my back. This should help with the back pain.

I need to stop writing, it is just a little hard to come up with what I really want to say. That and my spelling is going down hill.

trees

I bought a 27 year old house 2 years ago and there are 8 dutch elms in the back yard. These where put in when the house was built. Elms are not a good tree for this area. They are the last to loose their leaves and first to get them. The backyard was not landscaped with a thought for the future. The trees grew together and are crowding each other out. The elms split into 2 and 3 trunks a long time ago. This meant that they have been collecting water for a while. This causes rotting. I had to get the trees cut down, with the wind here they could have hit stuff, like my house.

Getting a tree cut down is not cheap. For the 2 larger trees it was $600 and for the 2 medium trees it was $300. The large tree was rotten all the way to the ground and a little lower. This is the one that would have hit my house. I am very glad that it was cut down before winter. One of the other trees was rotten as well.

Now that the big tree is gone I get so much more light downstairs. It is nice. Where 2 of them come out it would work as my garden.

Mystery Stole 3 Progress

I finished clue 3. Yaa! I am liking the pattern a lot. It is however big, right now it is 22 inches wide. The person that I am making it for is just a little taller than I am, 5 foot 3 inches, so I am shorting clue 4. Now that my family is gone I hope to have it done by next week.

Dinner for the week.

I found a lot of new to me food blogs and with them recipes that I want to try. So I think that I will try to make at least one new to recipe a week. The ones I have planed for the next few weeks are:

Bifteck Hache a la Lyonnaise (Ground Beef with Onions and Herbs), A French Burger


Chicken Bamako

Lemon Chicken (Adapted from Chinese Cookery by Rose Cheng and Michele Morris)

Spiced Smashed Potatoes

One of the things that will change what I make is how hot it is.

Pink Eye

Wednesday my left eye went red. It turns out that is the start of pink eye. By evening it was itchy, reddish and watery. I was able to get a Dr's appointment for 10 am. She told me it is pink eye and that I am contagious for the next few days. I was given drop antibodies that I have to put in 2 drops every 2 hours for the next 2 days and then 2 drops every 4 hours for three days after that. Because I work in a Hospital I can not go to work on Friday. I have things that I really wanted to do so this is a little annoying. I am glad that I have some time off that I can use.


Today was also the day that my mother went home. She was able to get an earlier flight home, she like that.

Sock It To Me Sock Swap progress

I am now working on the patterning on the leg. I am liking the pattern. I am going to go up until I run out of yarn.

Sockapalooza 4

I got my socks, and they are Monkey Socks. Yaaa!!! They were made with Socks That Rock yarn. This yarn is great stuff. Now the weather just needs to get a little cooler so that I can wear them.

Sock It To Me Sock Swap

Wow, I love what I got from my pal. The little box for stitch markers is very cool. I already put it in my walk around project bag. The magnets are very cool and strong. The card made me laugh. I love the color of the yarn, I have not used bamboo in my socks so it will be a new experience.

Stuff

Family can be fun but they are also very tiring. I took a few days off to be with them. That and they all wanted my front yard redone. It is close but not quite there.

Jacho was at the Hospital and that made every one at work run around like a chicken with it's head cut off. So I have jest not had time for many things.

I did get to go to the movies, Transformers was very good, Hairspray was way better than the first one, Die Hard had a plot sort off and No Reservations was a cute chick flick. I was able to knit during 2 of the movies. Then I for the the gusset and I was not about to try to keep track of increases in the dark.

On my Sock Pal sock I am on the heel of one and getting ready to start the pattern on the other. It is looking good. I am a little worried that it might be just a little big.

Sock It To Me Sock Swap

I have started my sock it to me sock. I am using the July Socks the Rock.

Sockapalooza 4

I am DONE!!! Whooo!!! I finished the socks for my pal. They have beads and should fit. I will be sending the rest of the yarn so if she wants to make it bigger she can.

Surgery

Well life does not always work out how you would like. I had Surgery scheduled for the 23 of July. I found out on July 19 that the insurance company would like to review my records for a while longer and tell me there verdict on the 2nd of August. Ummm, some how I do not think that this is going to work. I can not move the surgery to later in August because I have to go to a week school in the middle and that would not leave me enough recovery time. So now I am planing and hoping to have it done in December. This is the earliest time that my mother can come out for at least a 2 week stay.


I am mostly frustrated with the whole thing. I had everything planed, work, vacation, having someone here. Now I have to do this all over. There are some good points but right now they are a little hard to see.

Mystery Stole 3

Well I did not finish clue 2 before clue three came out but I did not do to bad. This is at line 139. There is a row that I goofed a little. Can you see it? I am likening the pattern. I do most defiantly have to pay attention when I knit.

Ok, it will not let me put a Title on the post how strange.


Well it is Monday. I called the Dr.'s office where I am getting the surgery to find out how the insurance was going. They did not have the right address for the pre-determination. So I spent 2 hours on the phone getting it. The insurance company says that they normally take 30 days to go over these things. Ummm my surgery is scheduled for 2 weeks from today. So I am a little nervous. Especially because the insurance only takes this if it is mailed in. So I do not know what is going to happen.


I can not have it latter this summer because I have to go to a school in Aug for a week and another school in Sept for a few days. I called my Mom and she calmed me down. She said that if it can not be done tis summer I can have it done the 17 of Dec because she has 3 weeks off and can come out then. This has its good points. So now I will be doing things as if it will be aproved in time but I will not stress near as much.


I promise that m next post will have knitting pics.

Dinner for Monday the 16th

My Mother, Dad, and 2 nieces are will be here late the 15 of July. I am thinking of having a turkey dinner on Monday. This way I have some leftovers for the rest of the week. I also have some roasts for when the turkey is gone. Here is the list of what I needs to do before they get here.

Make a grocery list

Clean House, this one is very important and I have alot to do. I am a clutter.

Figure out what all I am feeding people.

make a list of the tings for my Dad to fix around the house. I any have him for a week so it can not be that long.

clean out at least 1 drawer in my dresser for my Mom, she will be here for close to 4 weeks.

Questionnaire for Sock it to Me Swap

Questionnaire

By AJ

1. What are your foot measurements? (Please give shoe size, length and circumference.)

I wear size 9 ½ shoe. My foot length is 10 inches, foot circumference is 8 ½ inches. I also have high arches.

2. How long have you been knitting? How would you rate your experience? (Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced.)

I started knitting in March of 2006, I think that my experience is in the intermediate range.

3. What is your favorite color?

Blues, Purple, Greens, jewel tones.

4. Your least favorite color?

Bright neon yellows and oranges

5. Do you have a favorite fiber?

Anything as long as it is superwash

6. Do you have any allergies to certain fibers?

No

7. Do you have an Amazon, or other type of, wishlist? (If so, provide the link.)

Yes, this is a book list, mostly of books that have not come out yet. I use it as a reminder.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/31939P4TFHG7C/ref=wl_web/

8. What techniques, if any, would you like to learn?

Not so much learn but I would like to get better at Cabling and lace work.

9. Do you have a sweet tooth?

Yes, I like chocolate but do not mail any right now. It will just melt. I also like jelly beans, hard candy, black licorice. Cookies as good to, I like them cruncy.

10. What are your favorite snacks?

This time of year it is fresh fruit or veggies. I go to the farmers market on Sat.

11. What is your family situation? (Children, Husband, Pets...etc.)

Only my brother.

12. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Metal, plastic or wood?

I use most of the time Knit picks circulars. They are pointy.

13. Besides socks, what are your favorite items to knit?

Felted bags

14. Is there a pattern, (sock or otherwise), that you are dying to try?

Something by Cookie A.

15. Do you like to read? What are you reading currently?

I read all the time. I am one of those people who have to read before I go to bed. Right now I reading Old Man’s War by John Scalzi, and listening to Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce.

16. Do you collect music? (On an iPod or MP3 player.) What kind of music do you listen to?

I have an Ipod. I listen to all different kinds of music, county, pop, bluegrass, Celtic. It really depends on my mood. I also listen to lots of books on my Ipod. I use audible.

17. Is there anything you collect?

Clutter, not what you thinking of I am sure. Books really. I have 7 bookcases mostly full. It is not a family room it is a gaming/library.

18. What are your hobbies, aside from knitting?

Reading, watching TV, playing video games, gardening.

19. Are you participating in any other swaps or knit alongs?

I am in mystery stole 3 and sockapalooza. I am almost done with the sockapalooza socks.

20. Do you have a favorite scent?

Fruity or foody. I do not care for floral sents.

21. When is your birthday? (You don't have to add the year if you don't want to, LOL

It is in Jan.

Stuff

It is less than 3 weeks until the surgery. I am starting to get nervous. I now have a list of things that I should and should not do. 1. NO aspirin, tylenol, Advil or anything like that. I need to eat healthy and drink lots and lots of water. This will help with the healing.

Mystery Stole 3

I am right now on row 83. It is going pretty good. I have found that knitting with charts is not a good idea if I am tired. I kept having to tink back. I am using 2 different bead colors. A lilac bead for the body beads, and a peacock color bead for the edging. You have until the 9th to sign up for it. Coloring the chart helps.


Parents

I am not starting to clean for my parents visit. I can not afford to have professionals do it this time. So now I have to do it, sniff sniff cry cry. They will be here late the 15th. I am planing on cooking the turkey that I have in the freezer with all the fixings. This way I have left overs for the rest of the week. Less cooking to plan for. The State Fair starts when they are here so I think that they might go. It will most likely depend on the weather.

Knitting Guild

The last one was about knitting with pencil roving. It was very cool! The net time I when to the LYS I had to find some. I found some rainbow color roving. I think that I will use it in a double strand felted bag pattern.

The weather

It is getting warmer and I do not have AC so it was warm inside by 1pm.

Crime Fiction Genres Defined By Bedroom Scene

This is funny.

Crime Fiction Genres Defined By Bedroom Scene