see this little

 

puddle of blue? This is the pieces to Max the boy's first sweater and matching hat. The yarn is lovely stuff-bamboo and wool and just glides through my fingers. I love the hat with the jaunty little pom-pom on top. Too cute. Just the outfit for someone entering our all girl world. No female alive will be able to resist that pom-pom.

how cool!

 

wow! This evening I watched a Moonflower open into full bloom. i just love Moonflowers. They look sorta like giant white Morning Glories and bloom at the oppisite time of Morning Glories. Maybe that is why I like them so, for I am definlitly NOT a Morning Glory. Just like a Moon Flower, I come alive in the evening and scurry about doing all kinds of things.

But back to the flower. I was outside filling my bird feeders when I noticed a bloom getting ready to go into action. So I just stood there and watched. First there was a little split along a petal and then ever so slowly it puffed up and a little star-shaped opening appeared at the tip. The frangrance from a Moon Flower is very, very subtle and just before the flower I was watching burst into full bloom, it gave a little puff of fragrance and there it was! Beautiful, pure white with a star shape in the center and a good 6 inches across, it was worth all the mosquito buzzings and bites that I got as I waited.

Autumn's Up!

 

 

 

I've got all my fall decorations up and am really pleased wtih how it all looks. I love my dining room mantle especially. the floral arrangement was done by my decorating extroidenaire friend as was the cute crow on the shutter in my kitchen. I made the "thankful" plaque hanging over the mantle. It was super easy. I bought a large package of "grungeboard" by Tim Holtz at the scrapbook store. There are 8 different fonts in 8 sizes in the pack. Good deal! I used the biggest font and glued them to my scrapbook paper covered board. I used the ModgePodge to adhere the paper to the board. (I primed it first with paint). Then I used Tacky glue to stick the letters down. Oh and I painted the letters white and then put on a coat of pearlized white. Add a sawtooth hanger and voila! I only have one other thing I want to do. I have a very ornate cut glass punch bowl in the middle of my kitchen table that is sitting inside a beautiful wreath of autumn leaves. I want to fill it with water and add floating candles but I can't find any. See them all the time when I am not looking for them. Anyone know where I can get some?

Today

I cleaned the upstairs bathroom really well. As in moving stuff and dusting, mopping and washing all the clear glass that holds bathroom stuff.

Vaccumed up a ton of dog hair. Asked myself if I would have kept this cute stray a year ago if I had known how much he would shed.

Took the above mentioned dog out at least 10 times.

Did 4 loads of laundry. And acually put it away.

Cooked a really good dinner.

checked my email 3 or 4 times (who knows why)

Worked on two quilts. One just a little, the 2nd quite a bit.

Made a pattern for a pillow.

halfway cleaned a 2nd bathroom.

cleaned off the dining room table

did a little thinking

talked to 2 of my daughters at least twice

talked to 2 of my granddaughters.

knitted

had a glass of wine on my front porch (o.k. I had two)

a stranger in our midst..

It was bound to happen eventally. We got the news this week that our estrogen-rich world is going to be shaken up come February with a male child. It will be the first male to appear in our little family in almost 31 years.

The MOTH and I had 3 daughters and these 3 have each produced a girl of their own. Girls are familiar, girls are 2nd nature around here, girls just "fit" at our house. Now that one of the daughters has broken with tradition and got herself a little male child, we are all wondering how this new world will be. Will he be intimidated by all the estrogen? Probably not. I imagine that as he grows amongst all the women in this family, he'll learn all the finer points of getting along with the fairer sex and be able to play the aunts, girl cousins and grandmother like a fine violin.

So, welcome, little dude. All I can say is you gotta lot guts busting in on this bunch! but we'll be ready and waiting for you when you get here.

Really good recipe

 

As much as I love to cook, I don't really post that many recipes here. But this one is so good and so s1
imple that I had to share it. I got it out of the sept issue of MS Living. With summmer squash, fresh corn, and green onions, what's not to love rifht? The buttery taste of the squash and the sugar sweetness of the corn combine with everything else to make a absolutely delish pasta dish.

1 lb. of penne pasta or some other tube pasta
coarse salt and coarsely ground pepper
2 T olive oil
2 Zuchinni sliced 1/4" thick
1 yellow squash, sliced 1/4" thick
2 1/2 c. fresh corn kernals ( about 4 ears)
3 green onions, white and pale green part only
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced (note I did not have a jalapeno, so I used crushed red pepper flakes and I think I prefer the pepper flakes)
1/2c chicken stock
4 T unsalted butter
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Cook pasta, drain and reserve 1 cooking water
Heat oil in large deep skillet and add squash, sauteing until light golden brown. Add corn, green onions, garlic, (or pepper flakes), chicken stock, and 2 T butter. Cook until corn is tender, about 5 min. Add pasta, remaining butter and enough water to keep moist. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until is well coated, Garnish with cheese.

I'm tellin' ya, you gotta try this. It will be one of my "go to" recipes whenever I don't know whaat to make for dinner.

We just got back from a really quick trip to NE Arkansas. That means lots of car knitting for me. I finished a pair of socks and my new sweater now has only a few rows to go! I can't wait to finsih it

While in AR, the MOTH and I did a little driving around to old familiar places. Or I should say we tried. Both of us spent most of our kidhoods and teen years within miles of each other but didn't meet til later. We drove to the sites of our homes. I say sites becasue both had been torn down and cotton planted over the very spots where we had fought with siblings, had parties, baked cookies, had boyfriend/girlfriends over, argued with parents, eaten countless holiday and birthday dinners and yet, it's as tho it never happened. Kinda weird. Where once people grew, cotton now claims the growing space.

The worse part was driving by the little house the MOTH and I re-did and spent so much dream time and labor making it into a warm, happy, inviting place. We didn't get to spend many years there, but the ones we had were filled with kids, Christmase, my first Thanksgiving dinner that I prepared, and meals with friends. It's obvious the current owners don't share the same feelings for this house that we did. What was once happy little yellow cottage is now a tumbled-down, almost derelict shell. Sigh...I guess not everyone has the same idea of dwelling place that I do. The next time I go to Arkansas, I'm staying away from the memories and hiding in the hotel where they can't find me.

I'm back!

 

Yeah, high speed internet! Let's hope it solves some of my problems.
This week I am deeply entrenced in the activities of the Republican Convention. Evenn tho I think it is a worthy way to spend my time this week, I can't help but feel a little guilty sitting in front of the boobtube for hours at a time. So to assuage my guilt, I have taken on a large knitting project. I guess as a nod to the campagne goings on I should knitting in red, white, and blue but instead I'm honoring my favorite season (hurry up Autumn!) and am nearly buried in a froth of Autumnal colors. The yarn is super fuzzy and the official color name on the yarn band is "straw into gold" Love that. What is it? It's a sweater for me! I hope by the time the convention winds up on Thursday to have it almost completed. I know my fingers are hoping that, because they are starting to get a little bit sore. We'll see.

The fall decorations are going up around here slowly but surely. I bought a couple of new things this year. I need to take pictures of them. Both were made by a decoration extroidanere friend of mine. She and I spent a fun morning browsing in the Old Time Pottery store choosing lots of really nice autumn silk flowers and berries to make fall arrangements with. At the check-out it was mucho$ but luckily since she has a business, she got a discount. And for me it wasn't so much because we did a little bartering in the side. She requested a pair of hand-knit wool socks for the winter and I was happy to oblige since I like to always have a pair of socks on the sticks to pull out when in the car with the MOTH or just to keep my hands busy when I am waiting somewhere.

Jasper is behaving himself pretty much right now. He likes to lie at my feet when I am knitting with his head on my feet. It's a nice cozy feeling I must say. His new snack food of choice is Cheetos. He can catch one of those things thrown from a mile away. he hears the bag rattle when you open the cabinet and he is johnny on the spot!