Icy

 

It is pretty icy out there this morning. 

 

School are closed, or have delayed opening. 

 

But it sure makes for a pretty picture. 

 

I don't know if trees hate being encased in ice.  I know cats hate ice.  This is as far out the door as our cat went this morning.  Then he turned around and came in.

 

Cold

I rarely used to listen to the weather report when we lived in Southern California or Hawaii.  You could pretty much count on nicer than average weather.  Now it matters.  They were predicting snow and ice.

And they were right, even down to the amounts.  How is that possible?  Here is what I have to say about that.

 

A little snow,  a little ice
But in the house it's toasty nice

 

assuming you think 65 is toasty
I don't and neither does the cat..ty
 

One More Project

Every year we ask our grown children for a list of things they want for Christmas.  We don't want to buy them a book they already have or get them clothes that don't fit or they don't like.  We buy a few things off the list and a few other things and a great time is had by all.

Getting lists from is sometimes a problem.  I DO NOT participate in any mall shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I don't need anything badly enough to suffer through that type of madness.  By the time I got the lists, it was well into December.

I have gotten a good start, but one thing caught my eye.  It seems my favorite (and only, at this time) son-in-law has lost a hand made scarf given to him by a friend and he may want another one.  I didn't know if I had time to finish one before Christmas, so the plan was to buy a scarf.  But I really wanted to make him one.

I don't make hand made things from yarn at discount stores.  If I make something and put all those hours in, I want some great yarn.  That means I have to plan  trip into Roanoke, to the closest yarn shop I know, Yarn Explosion.  It is an old house converted to rooms full of amazing yarns. 

 

It also means I need to get a simple pattern that will work up quickly.  Who wants a foot long scarf? I found one with just knit and pearl, so that I really don't need the pattern  But I may want to make the hat and the salesperson was so nice and helpful.  I bought the pattern.

 

One thing that worries me is it calls for blocking wires to press the scarf.  I have never pressed anything I have knit or crocheted.  I'm hoping I can get away without doing that.  Does any knitter out there have any suggestions?

 

I picked out a yarn I liked, but they didn't have enough for the scarf and it was too close to Christmas to get more.  Then I found some llama indigo yarn mixed with linen and silk.  It is soft and has interesting nubs and bits of other color from a natural cream to black.

 

The nice thing is it has wisps of fibers mixed in with the yarn, so you can't tell if I knit in some cat hair by mistake.  And I will.  You know I will, right?

I started when we got home and I spent a couple of hours getting a decent length to see if I was going to like it as a scarf.  Then I rubbed it on my bare arms to make sure it was soft and not itchy.  No point in making up the whole thing and end up with something too scratchy.

 

After two evenings of work, I think I can finish before Christmas.  At least I can put the unfinished piece in a bag and finish it before they go back to England.  Where you really need a scarf in winter.  And spring.  And fall.  Hardly ever in summer.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I promised myself that I would diet between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Then I would splurge at Christmas and get back on track after New Year's. And then one of the food/cooking channels started showing restaurants that only served meatballs in various forms.  (sigh)

And it got cold and cold weather is comfort food weather.  Right?  And if I serve the meatballs with pineapple, that's healthy.  And serve them over brown rice?  Man, I should eat this way EVERY day.  I would be so freakin' healthy!



Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Meatballs

1 pound hamburger Yes, that's a lot for two people, but try and find smaller amounts...leftovers!
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
2 Tablespoons minced onions
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 egg

Preheat oven to 400°.

 

Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a fork until well blended.  I like to use a medium cookie scoop and over fill it.

 

 I do a bit of shaping by hand and then place them in a 13X9 pan that I sprayed with Pam.  It took two pans.

 

If you are just making meatballs, then you are done and can bake them for 20 to 25 minutes.

I wanted to make sweet and sour meatballs and for that you need some onions.  I wanted to cook the onions for a bit, so I cut up the rest of the onion I used for the minced onions and chopped them into medium chunks.  I placed the onion chunks into the pan with the meatballs and cooked them for 15 minutes. Then I took the pans out and rolled the meatballs over to avoid over browning the bottoms. Cook for the additional 10 minutes and remove.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 can pineapple chunks  I used the kind in its own juice.
1/3 cup vinegar  I used apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce

 

The rest of the onion, if you like
1 small green pepper, optional...I opted to avoid the pepper

 

Start the sweet and sour sauce about when you turn the meatballs.  Place the brown sugar and the cornstarch in a large sauce pan. 

 

Mix them together and then add the pineapple chunks with the juice.  Add the vinegar and the soy sauce.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.

 

Reduce the heat and then add the meatballs and onions.  If you like green peppers, add them here.  Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Serve over brown rice.

 

Pink Sky At Morning

You know the cautionary poem, don't you?

Red sky at night
A sailor's delight.
Red sky at morning
A sailor take warning.

 

This morning I woke up to a beautiful pink sunrise over the Blue Ridge and a good bit of fog.  So here is my ode to a pink sunrise.  All you poets out there have no reason to fear.  Poetry is not my forte.  Or my three-tay.

 

Pink sky at morning,
I better get shopping.
Christmas will be here
Before I am ready, because the kids are coming and I don't have any presents yet.

I know.  I know.  Don't quit my day job.

A Just In Time Stocking

We have a new son-in-law and he has agreed to come for Christmas.  So early last year I started on a hand made stocking for him.  Our kids and our daughter-in-law all have one that I made.  I am not an artist, but a crafter.  So I have to get a kit for the job.  My favorite kits were from Sunset and used crewel stitches, but they are no longer available, except on eBay for outrageous sums.

This one I found online, so I didn't get to see it up close.  It has a LOT of stiches.  Little tiny stitches.  Every square inch is covered in stitches put in by yours truly.  And most of them are in the right spot and perfectly done.  Better than 90%, which beats the current expectation on the Obamacare website!  (Insert smiley face emoticon of extreme cuteness so as to not offend anyone.)

 

I finished the main part a few weeks ago and then had to add all the details that really add to the picture.  And last came the name.  I traced the name from the supplied alphabet and tried to pin it to the stocking.  But the I couldn't see where I was placing the stitches.  They had to be in the right spot or it would be impossible to add the top stitching in the right spot and then it would be WRONG and BAD.  I took out a lot of stitches.

 

This stitch is called couching.  You take one needle with several strands of floss (A) and one with one strand (B).  Starting with A, you go up where you want to start the lettering and then use B to grab and stitch all along where you have marked for the letters to curve and bend.  My method was to go up at the start and down at the end and then put the A thread out of the way and then work with the B.  I kept A loose so I could adjust it to go along the lettering curves.  Where I had to do a long piece with no curves, I skipped the couching until I finished the rest of the letter and could remove the tracing paper and see the exact spot I needed.  A bit off is way off.  More stitches out and back in..  The name took big parts of three days. 

Then I decided to line it with satin.  I didn't want eager finger to rip out the prezzies from Santa and damage the exposed stitches. 

 

The stocking came with a felt back and for some reason I decided to line that side, too.  If I ever do another stocking like this one, I will only line the stitched side of the stocking.  I made a sandwich with the front and back facing and then added the satin with right sides facing and stitched along the edge of the finished piece. 

 

Trim and turn right side out according to the instructions.  Then you have to figure out how to hand stitch the lining along the edge of the stocking.  That took MORE time.

 

The hanger is easy.

 

You braid the yarn and knot it and attach it along the seam.  I think it looks great. 

 

It looks better than Trista's stocking.  I offered to make her another one.  But she likes hers.  Good.  I don't want to do this again any time soon.  Plus, hers is bigger and that means Santa has to put more things in her stocking.

 

Good thing the next son-in-law is a few years out.  I need a break.

Dumb As A Bucket Of Rocks

That is a phrase I heard that famous jurist, Judge Judy, use and it stuck in my memory.  We all know people like that.  They just can't learn.  They just keep banging their head against a wall.  They do the same stupid thing over and over and expect a different outcome.

 

They attack a skunk in the middle of the night and get sprayed.

If you have ever smelled a mad skunk, you know the highly offensive odor is intense and lingering.  There is no mistaking it for another odor.  RJ's face was covered in dirt where he had tried to rub off the oily residue.  He was foaming and drooling to get the taste out of his mouth.  Oh.  Wait.  That's more than drool.  It is white fur.  Like from a skunk.

 

Well, what do you expect the skunk to do when you are BITING him, you vicious monster.

 

This is not our first rodeo with a stinky dog.  Hence the dumb as a bucket of rocks comment.  So we know tomato juice is no longer the treatment of choice.  There are recipes out there, but basically use a giant bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a few teaspoons of baking soda and a tablespoon of detergent.  Mix and apply liberally.  Wait for the chemical effect to neutralize the smell.  Ignore the shivering of the dog.  He KNEW this was the consequence.  This is NOT the first time we have had to do this in the dark of night.

 

Rinse the miserable creature and shampoo and dry.  Make an appointment for a REAL doggy bath. 

Make a resolution to avoid dogs as pets in the future. 

Yes, I know we are culpable as we let him out.  He was with Lee at the shop and then wandered off.  But you can't keep dogs locked up all night.  There are certain biological imperatives.  And now it is too cold to leave him out all night and deal with the smell by himself.

But he is very sorry and he won't ever do that again.

Right.