Timing is everything...

We all know and understand that concept...

You arrive for dinner someplace and sit right down and not 10 minutes later the place is full and people are waiting...

You get the last of the groceries in the door and the skies open up and dogs, cats, fish and a few hippos come raining down...

Some times these things work against you... like a car window falling out of it's track on Christmas Eve... as your daughter arrived home from finishing her holiday shopping with her bonus... yeah...

I took my glasses off yesterday morning and...

... yeah... just that easy!   Good news is that I haven't had them a year yet so it won't really cost me any money.  Bad news is that the eye place is back where we use to live - which will require another 35 minute trip when the new glasses come in - hopefully next week... but with the holidays and all... who knows?

Your kids want to drive down to visit for the holidays... and they are now forecasting snow for at least one of their travel days...

... this morning I couldn't wait and take the chance of not getting train tickets... so I booked them both on Amtrak and I splurged and put them in Business Class... that wasn't necessarily as much for their comfort as it was for mine.  I won't have to listen to any whining when they get here about the train being over crowded.

I've got some baking to do today... there is pumpkin bread that needs to be made (the puree has thawed) and I'm thinking it's a great day for Corned Beef Stew... mmmm yeah that sounds yummy and will last us through the weekend for lunches too!  I need to get the spiced nuts made too... that always makes the house smell yummy!

Progress... of sorts...

Boy that sure felt good... both physically and mentally.

I had resolved to exercise on a more regular basis... working on the third floor sorting out my sewing room has provided a lot of opportunity.

I get in a lot of squats and lifting weights boxes and I've done quite a bit of time on the stairmaster 3 flights of stairs.

It's amazing how much of a mess you can make trying to make things useful...

That's a box full of bubble wrap and paper on the floor that I'll smooth out and put in another box.  I'd already flattened several boxes and those in the center there are empty and awaiting their turn at the knife.

Last night I was able to unpack several boxes of quilting books, quilt magazines, and craft books - they have all gone on the wood shelf set into that cubbie space on the right of the window.  That space had previously been full of boxes - most of which are empty now... YEAH!

In the unpacking I found my Christmas CD's and the cable to my old camera - so now I can make merry music while I download pictures to my computer!  I also found my mouse and keyboard and as soon as I unearth the computer desk... I'll be able to set up my computer area too.

There is still a lot of moving and shoving around to do... but it is progress... light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.

By the weekend I plan to have my treadle sewing machine set up and my cutting table and large ironing board set into place and operational.  I will sew this weekend... yes I will!

Homemade Sauerkraut... Yum!

Back in early September while poking around on the Internet I followed a link from Gizmo Quilts Blog to The Milk Man's Wife Blog. 

There I found a post about canning Sauerkraut... and I have to tell you - I had never ever thought about how they make Sauerkraut.  She didn't go into how she made it - she only showed that she canned the leftovers from her last batch. 

My sauerkraut experience has been limited to eating it on hotdogs (think Costco) and on Reuben sandwiches (hold the cheese) - I don't think I've ever bought any to cook at home.  But I do like it... so I was intrigued... and did some research.

What I learned was interesting... Sauerkraut is very good for ya and fairly easy to make if you have the right equipment.  Homemade is suppose to be far superior in taste than the commercial stuff.  All that made me want to try it out... except that I didn't own a crock. 

One day in talking with my neighbor Mrs. B I found out that she use to make Sauerkraut each year and had her Mom's mandolin, crock, and stomper - items she said had belonged to her grandmother.  She suggested we make some together!

I wish I had a picture of the Crock and stomper she had... I guess I never paid any attention to Crocks - I didn't know they came that BIG!  And the stomper was impressive... kinda like a tapered cylinder wooden head on a long heavy pole. She didn't think we should make too much so she only got 9 heads of cabbage... yeah - 9 heads of cabbage is apparently not a lot. LOL  Who knew?  And these were giant heads - they all had to be at least 12-14 inches diameter.

I was very impressed with the mandolin - here is a picture of a new one.  We quartered the cabbage and put a couple quarters in the 'box'.  It's amazing how quickly you can shred 9 huge heads of cabbage with that thing.  Between the 3 of us cutting cabbage heads up, shredding cabbage, sprinkling salt, and stomping cabbage in the crock we were done in less than an hour.  We only filled the crock about 3/4 of the way... so yeah - 9 heads aren't a lot.  Then it sits for 6 weeks to ferment...

Last night Mrs. B made pork roast & sauerkraut for us for dinner with homemade applesauce and mashed potatoes.  YUM! 

I went over this morning with my 10 quart 'Red Pot' to fetch my portion.  She filled it up!  I had to transfer it to a 12 quart pot so that I could heat it up for canning.

But first I ran to the store for some hot dogs and buns...

 

Because this looked and smelled too good... I had to have some for lunch.

I almost forgot to take a picture... I splurged and had two dogs on my roll... with some stone ground mustard... Yuuummmmm!

I didn't even want to wait for the dogs to cook so I split them so they'd cook faster....

Did I say this was Yummy?

And look... I've got 19 pints!

So do you make Sauerkraut?

Some Thoughts and Observations on Exercise...

• If thinking about exercise were productive... I would be slim and trim...
• Why can't those exercise DVD's use older ladies who are out of shape to show you how to do stuff?
• I bought one of those big exercise ball... it came with a hand pump... I was worn out just blowing the darn thing up... honest - it's a workout all by itself.
• How's your balance?  Mine seems to be a bit out of whack... and I'm not liking that idea at all... maybe it's just the ball... but it was a surprise it took more effort than I thought it would to balance.
• Exercising makes my abs hurt... all 3 or 4 six packs of them.
• I wish I still had my elliptical machine... I liked it even though it kept telling me to get off... no - actually it kept telling me to go slower... almost to the point of standing still which is almost like telling me to get off.
• Lesson Learned:  Bring all ALL the Christmas Decoration Boxes out of the 3rd floor THIRD FLOOR Attic storage area and DOWN to the FIRST FLOOR before you begin your new exercise routine.  Because it would have been nice to have full use of my arms, legs, and the sorry excuse for abs...
• I'm not waiting until after the holiday food is gone...
• I'm not waiting to make it a New Years Resolution...
• I've got to get going on it now... a little bit at a time... My plan is 3 days a week with the weekend off
• It would be nice to drop the extra 10 or 15 20/30 pounds I tote around...
• I just hope I can make good progress and get past the warm up exercises - yep that's my first goal... getting past the warm up exercises!

The exercise ball was just 19 dollars at WallyWorld and it comes with a DVD.  It's the Golds Gym 'Stay Ball' - which means it's got some sand or something in it that keeps it from rolling away and gives it a little bit of weight.

Care to join me? 

I may have to take up a collection...

Just Look at those two sweet faces...

I'm not sure I can wait for them to come here next summer - I might just have to go to Hawaii to snuggle on them. 

And did ya see that cute Little Tiny Hawaiian shirt he's got on! 

Who was that last night?

We have 2 dogs. 

One I believe is part Texas Junk Yard Dog... she is certainly the protector of her little part of the Universe which unfortunately includes all that she sees and hears - and she hears very well.

'Last Call' in our house usually involves me having to wake the girls up and encourage them to go outside.  It's getting to be a bit more difficult as it has gotten colder... which I understand because I no longer go out with them and just watch from the door.  No sense them wandering around the yard forever afterwards because I'm ready to lock the door and head to bed.

Last night I sent TJYD out and she stopped right outside the dog door... and just stood there.  "Hurry up - get out in the yard" I had called several times while holding the dog door open with my foot... "Hurry Up!" 

Absolutely no response from her... she just stood there and stared out across the driveway towards the school next door.  There had been activity at the school earlier in the evening but everyone was now gone.  But something had her attention.  If she actually saw someone I knew she would be barking... and BARKING... and barking!  But she was just standing... and listening...

Curious as to what had her attention I ventured outside... "Hurry up - get out in the yard" I said again to no avail as she stood and listened.  But then I heard it... actually I heard it as I opened the door but thought it was a noise the door had made.

So I listened... TJYD and I standing and listening intently... it was close... I could tell, it was very close - but I couldn't yet see it.

Whoo, Whoo, Whooo.... Whooooo... Whooooo........

That totally had TJYD confused as she's apparently never heard an Owl... up close and personal like that.  I could tell it was very close.

After just a minute of listening and looking I found it in a branch overhanging the driveway to the school - probably not more than 20 feet above where we stood.

After some research this morning I've decided it was a Great Horned Owl.

It has a 'white collar' under his face... and that is what I could see in the dark last night... as he(she) turned to look at us.  He was just a large dark shape on the branch except for the faint reflection of light off his collar.

I'll have to keep an eye and ear out for him and see if I can get a picture...

So do you have owls near you?

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Tyme...

These herbs worked nicely together with my turkey carcass to make a yummy pot of soup.  I really have not worked with fresh herbs much... so I'm pretty happy I didn't screw it up.

I'd be happy to post a picture of 'My Red Pot' of soup... however... I can't find the cable to transfer pictures out of my old camera.  Our new (since June) camera seems to be missing... not sure what happened to it as we've looked everywhere.  I'm almost afraid to think that one of the workers who were here to install a water heater may have lifted it... not sure what good it will do him because I've still got all the cables to recharge it and upload pics.  And all my pics of cooking up a couple pumpkins and making puree, or canning apple sauce, butter and jelly... I hope he enjoys them.

Anyhoo... I'm all about not cooking anymore this weekend.  Yesterday (Happy Thanksgiving!) after The Engineer cut up the turkey I threw the carcass into my new Red Pot - added water, carrots, onions and walked away.  It sat and simmered all afternoon.  After cooling it for awhile outside I poked it into the fridge. 

This morning I pulled the meat off and discarded the bones.  Then I tied a bunch of fresh herbs together, threw in some garlic, and cut up half a package of smoked sausage.  By the time the rice was finished cooking I was some kinda hungry - Yummy!  You just can't beat a hot bowl of soup.

I've got pumpkin bread in the oven and with those and the turkey leftovers... I should not have to cook the rest of the weekend.

As much as I'd love to go take a nap... I think I'll end up going and hunting around the attic to dig out the holiday stuff... ok maybe after my nap I'll do that.

And yes I'm still waiting for more pics of that cute little grandson... it's hard living in this digital age.

Thankful for Little Turkeys...

We have a new little one in our family... and with being born the day before Thanksgiving this year I think that makes him a Little Turkey.

He's a big boy at 8 lbs 6 oz and about average height at 19 inches.

I think his Momma must have been eating a lot of spinach because he's got some biceps going don't ya think? 

It's not the best picture but it's all this Granny has got right now and I'm pretty happy with it...

 

Practice makes...

Well it makes ya nuts if you do the same 8-10 rows over and over...

Since I needed something new to totally waste time,  stimulate my mind, give me something to do until I unpack the sewing room - I stopped in a local knitting shop yesterday.

I've seen those cute knitted wash cloths and have read many a blog raving about those cozy knitted socks.  I have about a dozen socks that I love to wear during the winter... just your basic sportswear tan and olive green, hiking type, wool blend, sweat wicking, cushioned socks.  Nothing fancy... or cute - just warm.  So I thought it would be fun to try making a pair of socks and signed up for a January class. 

Since it would be nice to kinda look like I knew what I was doing I purchased a skein of Hemp/Cotton/Modal yarn, some tiny needles and received a free wash cloth pattern.  You see I had decided a washcloth would be a good place to start... and that's all I've been doing... Starting - over and over.

The pattern has you knit 2 rows, then there is a 8 row (knit & purl) pattern repeat... when those are done you repeat the 8 rows again until the item is the size you want and then you knit two rows again... easy right?  Right?  Nah... not so much - especially if you don't really know what you are doing.

I did check out some knitting videos... I found these very helpful to remind the 'girl scout' in me that learned to knit eons ago.  First I had to figure out whether I was a 'Continental' or 'English' knitter - who knew it mattered... seems that I'm 'English' as I hold the working yarn in my right hand.  Then I checked out the Casting On video... followed by the Knit and Purl videos. 

What I need to find is the "apparently I can't count' video, and the 'did I just drop a stitch' video which should be followed up with the 'why did I think that would fix it' video.

I've got the casting on down pat... I've done that 4 times now. 

Last night I got through 7 3/4 rows of the 8 row pattern before I screwed it up...  Then I got completely through the 8 row pattern and into the 2nd row of the repeat when I realized I had messed up something because I had one too many stitches??  Do I need to tell you that the yarn and needles are too tiny to try and take out a row and put anything back on the needles... so you end up having to start all over... again.  And Again!

But I've got too many things to do here to be wasting my time knitting... like touch up paint in the guest rooms so that I can seal those cans for storage... start the prep work for painting the master bedroom... wash off and store those 16 half-pint jars of Cran-Apple Butter that I canned on Monday (yeah they are still sitting on my kitchen table)... peel and process the last 12/15 lbs of apples in my refrigerator... repack into foodsaver bags and label the many pint containers of pumpkin puree, mashed cauliflower, apple pie mix in my freezer... cook or freeze those 10 lbs of chicken parts I purchased yesterday...

Not to mention the idea that my Grandson will be born in Hawaii sometime in the next couple weeks... is his quilt finished??? NO... is my sewing room unpacked... NOOOOO!

It's not like I didn't have enough to keep me busy... I don't need to be fussing with this knitting stuff...

Hey... what happened to October?

I hadn't really meant to stay away so long...

At first I was busy pondering - you see I wanted to have a special post for my 100th post... but I haven't come up with anything special - so you just get "Hey... What Happened to October?"

Then it got real hectic around here...

Here's a quick review of what's been keeping me occupied the last month.

We had company the first 2 weekends in October -- which meant I had to get all the painting finished up in the guest rooms and get furniture moved and beds put together.  Oh and doors... seems it is kinda nice to have doors on the bedrooms and the bathroom... so The Engineer had to finish cleaning up the hardware and I finished (sorta) painting the doors so they could be re-hung.  Since I still have painting to do upstairs we just hid the painting stuff in a closet... shhh don't tell. 

The first set of visitors were The Engineers sister, her son and his wife.  They only stayed one night with us but it was good to see them.

In the middle of the week I took some time off to visit with some quilty friends who were 'shopping' the Lancaster area Quilt Shops.  It was my pleasure to introduce them to a quilt shop they hadn't been to before.  Hopefully it's a shop I can teach some classes at later in the winter or spring.  I do so miss quilting!

My daughter from MA came in by train on Thursday to visit for a long weekend and my brother and his family from VA came in on Saturday.  My sister Darlin and her husband drove over from NJ to join us Sunday morning.  It was so much fun to have a house full of family. 

The weekend included some shopping at The Green Dragon on Friday - a combination of farmers market, antique shops, and just about anything else that probably fell off a truck someplace... LOL.  On Saturday my brother took us to some wineries that were having a Wine & Cheese pairing event - we only hit 3 of the places but had a fun time and we look forward to checking out the other places in the future.  Before sitting down to a late lunch on Sunday several of us ran up the road to hunt around at an outdoor Antique place.  Oooo so much cool stuff!

My brother and sister left late Sunday afternoon and on Monday I took my daughter back home to MA.  I decided to drive her back so that I could: 1) make a quick trip up to Maine to visit with friends.   2) get a real hair cut!  3) visit some friends in MA.  4) pick up some things we had stored at my sons house - like the snow blower.  5) spend a little time yakking with my son.  6) work 2 wonderful days at the quilt shop during their Shop Hop.

I had a wonderful, relaxing, refreshing week!  Which was good because I've been working my butt off since I came home. 

This fall I've been canning, blackberry jams, jelly, & syrups; apple sauce, apple butter, and apples for pie.  My neighbor has early producing fruit trees and she's been very generous.  I returned home from my trip to find that my apple tree was ripe - so we've been picking apples.  Ever see a 50 year old climbing around in an overgrown apple tree??  Tree climbing was sure easier when I was younger... and lighter... and braver!  A ladder makes most of this easier - but the tree is so overgrown it's hard to get the ladder set up.  Don't worry - I really do try to stay off the branches.  This lovely tree is older than I am so I'm careful with her.  She's got a long overdue pruning scheduled for later this winter... she's gonna be so pretty next spring and we expect less apples but bigger apples.  Oh and did I tell you that they are yummy?  Well they are!

We went and bought a small freezer - so I've also been freezing cauliflower and pumpkin.  I'll be posting about my canning adventures later... when I have some time to think.

All I can say is this Domestic Diva stuff is a lot of work!