Crazy Cat Lady's Musings

Wow! I skipped whole year!

2012-01-02T16:14:00.000-05:00

Personally 2011 is a year best forgotten in my book anyway. I'll do better this year, I promise. I'll post a few highlights of 2011. Basically, though, I'm glad it's over!

I'm Baaaaaack!

2010-11-21T11:44:00.000-05:00

I've been in a blogging funk. I'm not sure why. Perhaps I've gotten sucked into the national sour mood. I'm fortunate to be employed in a job I love, but unless you've been under a rock, you know that education has been a hot topic in the news these days. The message is that public schools are bad, public school teachers are lazy and don't give a shit about kids, charter schools are good and the Teach for America volunteers who agree to teach for 2 years with only 5 weeks training will save America's schools. I read that I my job performance should be evaluated by the gains in test scores of elementary kids who have no incentive to do well on said tests or who face no consequences for not doing well. There are those who feel that my salary should be determined by those same test scores. Given that I teach in a school that is 92% minority, 65% free and reduced lunch, and at least a third who don't speak English, I find the rhetoric to be depressing. Those of us who do what I do understand that this is all about political spin, saving money and ultimately privatizing public education. Hopefully no major changes will occur in my district until I retire in 2016. Our state superintendent, however, has other ideas. Keep in mind that this is a woman who probably hasn't been in a classroom in 40 years. The legislature is keeping her in check however and some major decisions now rely on the governor to make some choices. Hopefully he will use basic common sense and read some research pertaining to the issues he has to decide on.

Enough of my rant! I've been busier than ever at school as I lost a planning period and gained another class which is a new prep. However I have this to look forward to:

Mmmmmm. . . . MadelineTosh!

The green merino light is currently being used for a sweater. The brown on the left will be another sweater. The two singles--blue merino light and red sock will be shawlettes.

Speaking of shawlettes--Here are the two I recently finished:

The first one is called Fan Dance and it is knit in Sanguine Gryphon Kypria which is a merino/bamboo blend. It's simply delicious to knit with! The second one is called Ruffle My Feathers and it is knit in Wollenstudio Sock yarn in Blue Bijou.

Here's another silly little project:

I loved the little iron on transfer so I decided to add it to a basic black tee!

Other news--the kids have moved in together in the first floor apartment in Ems' building. Her building is a gorgeous large house built around 1900. They have the whole first floor and they enjoy some neat architectural details like oak paneled walls, ornate fireplaces, stained glass windows, 12 foot ceilings etc.

Kitty news--Samantha was diagnosed with cancer. She had a little growth between 2 toes which we had removed. The biopsy revealed it to be a slow growing cancer in the skin so in order to remove enough clean margin, she had to go back in to have half of her hind foot amputated. She seems completely back to normal and hopefully we've seen the last of that!

Holiday time is fast approaching and I decided that my furry friends outside needed some help so I hung our squirrel feeder on the tree in the front yard. The squirrels are rather comical to watch. Sometimes there are 4 or 5 of them out there but only one at a time can get to the feeder. They sit on a perch and open the top lid to get the food. When the food gets low, some of them will go inside the feeder and when they hear a noise, the lid pops up as they poke their head out to investigate. Well, apparently word has gotten out because the other night, a new friend was visiting:

DH was bothered by our new visitor and thought we should take the feeder down. You know me--I thought he was cute and I welcomed him. He cleaned out the feeder but he hasn't returned. Perhaps he's found a better feast elsewhere.

This will be the first Thanksgiving without Jeremy. He has to work Wed. night and Friday morning so he can't make it from the Burgh. Ems is in the same situation so she may not make it either. We're still waiting to find out. I do have a good friend coming. We hope to go see the new Harry Potter movie after dinner Thursday.

I plan on staying in on Black Friday. I can think of no sale that would be worth putting myself through that madness. That's what Ebay and Overstock.com are for!

I hope to be better about keeping up here. I have a new blog project, however. I was so depressed after the midterm election that I decided to try my hand at political humor. You can find my alter ego at The Fake American. Enjoy and be sure to leave comments!

Kitty Cam: The boys have been throwing hints with the weather getting colder. They love the fireplace.

It's been a long time comin' . . .

2010-06-22T22:03:00.008-05:00

to quote Stephen Stills! Things got crazy at school. What can I say. This is not a good year to be a teacher--especially one with a lot of experience. We seem to be the cause of all of the problems facing this country--particularly if we belong to a union. Who knew? But I digress . . .

I've been off for a few days trying to organize all the tasks I have planned for the summer. I'm not taking any classes this summer. I needed a break. I have completed some projects so far:

First I finished DH's Colonial Shirt. This is made out of light weight linen.

Next, I finished Sylvar by Jordana Paige.

Details:
Pattern: Sylvar by Jordana Paige
Yarn: Miss Babs Yowza Watta Skein in Vlad's Red
Needles: Addi Turbo size 6
Modifications: I did raglan increases for the sizie 34 on the sleeve but stopped the increases on the body for the size 32. I also increased every 10 rows on the garter section of the sleeve to bell the sleeve slightly.

Over all, I'm pleased with this sweater. I forgot that superwash wools relax and stretch a bit. Next time I use superwash, I'll make a smaller size!

I loved that yarn so much that I got more at Sheep & Wool:

This is the Roasted Pumpkin colorway. This is being stashed for Wisteria. I have to figure out a different gauge for that one to make it smaller as the smallest tize in the pattern is 37! That will be a winter project!

I have finished a sun dress made from some wild vintage Hawaiian print I found at my Mom's! I'll post those photos when I take them!

I hit the pattern sales for the following patterns:

The cotton Jacquard fabric is from Joann's.

Another fun little sewing project:

This little pincushion was made for a swap. I may have to make more of these as they are fun to do!

That's really all I've been up to so far. I have plans for things to do around the house this summer so I will fill you in on that stuff later!

Kitty Cam: Samantha has discovered that my book bag makes a nice bed!

Necessity is the mother of invention!

2010-04-26T18:07:00.004-05:00

In case anyone is wondering, I've been busy. It's NHL playoff season and my beloved Caps are in the playoffs. I've been hooked! I've also been watching the Pens as they are the arch rival of the Caps! Anyway--anyone who knows hockey players or hockey fans knows that we have our silly game day superstitions. Mine is that I MUST wear red on game day. After all our motto is "Rock the Red!" I have 3 red shirts that I alternate, but DH got me a nice Caps T-shirt for Christmas. He had gotten it at one of the stands at Verizon Center when we were at a game.

As luck would have it, the shirt, which was a size S (my normal size), was way too tight. It is a thin cotton knit with absolutely no stretch. I finally decided to do something about it!

I simply split the shirt along the side seam and sleeve seam and inserted a strip of black knit! I'm sorry that I didn't have any navy fabric. There wasn't any at Joann's so this was a make shift job! I was pleased with the result!

I've been slacking with the knitting. I need to do the sleeves on Sylvar. That will go quickly. I tried the body on and it is perfect! I also need to do one sleeve on Birgitte but I'm going to let that one hibernate because I want to start Myrtle which is a nice springy lace cardigan!

Anyway--that's it for now. No kitty cam tonight because the game is on!

Size matters!

2010-03-19T19:33:00.006-05:00

Yes it does! The last week and a half I've been working on my red gown. It is fitted with a boned corset type foundation so I needed to make sure that it would fit perfectly before cutting into the silk crepe. One thing I've learned is that the body measurements listed on the commercial patterns (with the exception of Burda) are completely off. They leave entirely too much ease for the measurements listed. I've learned that it is best to take your measurements then look at the finished measurements for the pattern and choose the size that has the correct amount of ease. It is helpful to refer to an ease chart like this one. The gown I've been working on is a perfect example. My bust measures 35 inches. According to Vogue's size chart, this would be between a size 12 and 14. I made a size 10 and sized it 1/2 inch smaller than the pattern. The finished bust measurement for the 10 was 36 inches. The foundation of this dress has 10 strips of boning to hold it up since it is an off the shoulder style. If I made the size that corresponded to my measurement, it would have been huge. As it were, I made the muslin using the 10 minus 1/2 inch at the bust, plus 1/2 inch at the waist and plus 4 inches at the hips. The muslin fit perfectly. I was afraid that the added bulk of the foundation might make it tighter than the muslin so I cut the garment with 1 inch seam allowances at the side seams so that I could fine tune the fit.

I tried something new. I bought stainless steel flat chain boning. Typically this comes in precut lengths with little tips on both ends of the boning strips. I purchased a 12 foot roll, cut it with bolt cutters and applied the ends myself using two pairs of needle nose pliers. I needed all different lengths for this and I have several more projects that need boning. I have to say that I love this stuff! The plastic stuff curls and it is uncomfortable. This stuff curves in all directions so it moves with your body. It is typically used in dance and theatre wear. Here is a peek at what the inside of the foundation looked like:

The foundation is covered with drapes that twist together at the left front and get stitched down to the top edge of the foundation layer. I was really pleased with this dress and I think it may be my favorite gown so far. I love the Belville Sassoon styles and I have several of their gown patterns in my queue. Here are the finished photos:

Here is me in the gown!

There was a photographer at the banquet who took some lovely photos of our group of six and I will post them when I get those copies. Of course we DAR-lings all had our proper white gloves on in the photos taken there! We must always be prim and proper at our DAR functions!

Kitty Cam: This one is from Ems--Chelsea takes a snooze on the window sill.

New projects!

2010-03-07T11:16:00.006-05:00

I've been really lazy. I should be finishing up my 2 lace sweaters for the SKC KAL. I have one sleeve to do on the red mohair Birgitte and I'm ready to divide the sleeves and body on my top down Sylvar. I need to get them done in time to wear them before the weather gets hot! I have a couple of spring sweaters to make and my nephew's wife is pregnant with a girl so I have to plan that project! I think I will knit wool stuff in the summer. I have several sweaters I wanted to make for the winter that I didn't get to. I really don't wear summer sweaters so I'm thinking that I will work on them in the summer to have them ready. I will also try to tackle the Gail shawl which will be nice for summer.

Right now, I am focused on sewing. I've made a wool skirt but I need to line it before it can be modeled. I received the lining in the mail 2 days ago and I'll work on finishing that up after I make my new project which has a deadline. I had shown this pattern before:

I ordered the fire engine red silk crepe and from Golden Silks. It is simply gorgeous! I also ordered matching Bemberg rayon lining and sew in interfacing from Vogue Fabrics. I had ordered a color card for Ambiance lining from them a while back and it has been a real time saver. I have swatches of all 35 colors which I can use to match my garment fabric so now I just go online and order the lining. It sure beats driving to Rockville! I am now waiting for the stainless steel boning as this gown has a boned foundation.

I have to say that these more recent gown patterns by Belville Sassoon are crazy. I've always been good at reading the directions and knowing what to do but I had to literally study the instructions for this pattern 3 times in order to digest how it is constructed. The other thing is that there are 20 pattern pieces! Each piece is cut on a single layer of fabric as the gown in asymmetrical so there are separate side pieces for each side of the bodice front and back as well as bodice center front and back pieces. The skirt is the same way. The drape pieces are bizarrely shaped. Anyway I cut out the basic bodice and skirt pieces in muslin after carefully taking my measurements and redrafting some of the pieces. I will be fitting the muslin today.

Once that is done, I figure it will take me two nights to cut out the fabric. I have to cut it out on the floor since the fabric is opened to the full width. I dug out my gardening knee pads in order to do that comfortably. I don't know why I hadn't thought of that years ago!

I love evening gowns and I'm tickled that now I have occasions to wear them. It was with that knowledge that I picked up another pattern at the Vogue sale:

This is another tricky one! My problem with this is the way the pattern is sized. Sizes 4-6-8 or sizes 10-12-14 were my choices. I bought the larger size but a 10 is too big at the bodice and will need to be sized down. This dress has no side seams and the zipper runs diagonally. It is going to be a tricky one to alter. I love it though. I like the color shown and think a muted olive green would be gorgeous!

I also picked up another Vogue dress pattern and a McCall's pattern:

I included the line drawing of the Vogue dress to show the details which are quite interesting. I love the McCall's dress. It is the type of style that is really flattering on my body type. I have stash fabric that will work for that one!

That's it for now. I have to do my Sunday facial and get sewing!

Kitty Cam: Harley is in his favorite morning sunny spot!

And now for a little political humor . . .

2010-02-09T16:13:00.001-05:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Sarah Palin Uses a Hand-O-Prompter

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Economy

More on the way!

2010-02-08T20:37:00.005-05:00

I wouldn't mind all this snow if MD had the manpower to keep up with it! Here are two pix from this morning. First the front porch (with is covered) after I shoveled 12 - 18 inches of snow off of it:

The snow on the ground is level with the porch which is 3 large steps up! It has melted a couple of inches because the snow stick is snowing a couple of inches!

Next is Big Green--our huge 1978 Mercury Marquis which sits at the back of the driveway. The raised deck is even with the snow.

One of my work colleagues posted this photo of our school:

The area to the left of the building is our parking lot--only you can't see it! Another storm is in the forecast starting tomorrow which is supposed to bring us 10 - 20 inches! Apparently it will bring blizzard conditions as well! Honestly I don't know why my school system doesn't just say that school will be closed the rest of the week. The neighborhoods aren't plowed yet! It's insane!

Meanwhile, I made it out to Trader Joe's to get more soy milk and cold cuts. I also picked up stuff to make broccoli cheese soup and managed to get another pound of espresso at Starbucks where the manager spotted me my venti latte for free!

We've held off on building fires during all this bad weather because we don't have a lot of wood left. There were a lot of power outages during the last storm on the weekend, many of which are still not fixed. We've been lucky but we figured we'd save the wood in case we lose power and need to heat our home with it. The wood burning stove insert in our fireplace puts out a lot of heat!

Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Kitty Cam: Samantha discovered my duffle bag before I could put it away.

The things we Caps fans will do to get to a game!

2010-02-07T18:46:00.003-05:00

DH spent about 10 hours shoveling. Our driveway is 140 feet long and he shoveled a crapload of snow! There is no place to put it. Since the Caps-Pens game was the NBC game of the week, they weren't going to change it and it went on at noon as originally scheduled. We carefully went through the neighborhood, to Rt. 32, Rt. 95 and the Capital beltway to Bethesda. I was amazed at how bad Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda was! The metro was swamped and I think everyone on there was going to the game. It was quite a party atmosphere. We were packed on like Sardines and we got to Verizon Center a few minutes after the puck drop. I was bummed during the game because the Caps were down 2 - 0 then Ovie scored 1. Then were were down 3 - 1. They must have decided that they weren't ready to break their winning streak and they came back third period to tie it up 4 - 4. So on to sudden death overtime and we won! It would've sucked royally to go to such effort to get there only to lose! We now have a 14 game winning streak. If we can win the next three games (right up to the Olympic break) we will tie the NHL record of a 17 game winning streak--held by (who else) the Pens!

Here's what the wall of snow looks like in our driveway:

Dug out just in time for the next storm coming on Tuesday! They are now saying 6 - 12 inches! I'm so glad that I have a sense of humor!

Kitty cam: Meanwhile, the boys enjoyed a spot of sun while hinting for a fire!

Snowcopalypse 2010

2010-02-06T14:58:00.010-05:00

Remind me to stop wishing for snow. My wish was granted. In fact it was granted retroactively for the last 10 years or so. We got about 4 inches last weekend which was pretty. They've been calling for a big storm and in anticipation of that the area schools closed 2 1/2 hours early yesterday to make sure everyone got home safely. The snow was expected to start late morning. It actually began around noon but the temp was above freezing so the roads were just wet. Here's what things looked like Friday afternoon:

I put a snow stick out to measure the coming snow. The marks only went up to 12 inches so I put marks up to 25 inches on the back. The whole stick is about 28 inches tall.

Last night around 6 pm it looked like this:

I got up in the middle of the night and looked out but the screens in the windows were covered. It had gotten really windy and I just couldn't see anything!
Got up

At 10 am Saturday morning we had this:

The last photos were at 11 am. Note that a meter stick shows 27 inches at that time. We will probably end up with about 36 inches!

>

We stayed in Friday night and rocked the red! That means we watched the Caps game. I decided to rock the red and knit a red hat. I needed a break from my Brigitte sweater which happens also to be red. I had bought this Teva Durham pattern and the yarn for her assymetrical hat about 3 years ago. The yarn was all wrong though. I knew when I took it out. The pattern calls for bulky yarn with a gauge of 12 st. /4 in. on size 11 needles. I got gauge but the pattern really needed a thick single ply yarn like Rowan Biggie. My hat is too lacy--the stitches are too open. I haven't decided if I will wear it or not. I don't think it will be that warm. The yarn was really nice though. It was Tahki Torino Bulky. It's a lot like Berroco Pure Merino. It has a lovely twist!

I am concerned though. We have tickets for the Caps - Pens game Sunday at noon. There is no word as to whether or not the game is still on. The Pens are playing in Montreal as I type this and I wonder if they can even fly into the city! I hope they will do a ticket exchange if the game is still on because I really don't know if we can make it. We had figured we'd drive the highways into Bethesda and take the red line, which is underground, down to the Verizon Center. I hope I didn't throw away $250!

I'll keep you posted!

Kitty Cam: Meanwhile, Greg has the right idea of how to spend a snowy day!

Busy weekend!

2010-01-31T21:30:00.006-05:00

I've had a busy weekend! Friday, my friend Cat and I headed to the Burgh to see the kids. I had to bring Jeremy's car that we got him and pick up our station wagon so we decided to make a weekend of it. Friday morning we stopped at Joann's before heading out where I picked up some patterns on sale:

I figured I can make these from stash. I also got a vintage apron pattern and a purse pattern.

Then we headed out. We got to the burgh around 2:00 and ate at the Square Cafe where Ems is now working. It's a really nice place and the food was good! We headed off to check in to our hotel and picked up Ems when she got home. After stopping by Right by Nature to see Ems' roomate, we headed to the Warhol Museum to see the Shepard Fairey exhibit which was wonderful. Saturday, we went to Squirrel Hill and to Little's Shoes to look around. I was perfectly controlled and didn't buy anything there for a change. I did get some nice loose teas at the little tea shop on Forbes. We then went to the Carnegie museum to see the dinosaurs! It was a great exhibit! I'm sorry we didn't have more time to see more of the museum. We quickly went through the Polar Life exhibit and the Egyptian exhibit. News of the weather at home was making us a bit nervous as we were originally expecting about 2 inches of snow. When I checked the weather, they had increased the warning to 5 - 7 inches! We had a quick dinner at Mad Mex then headed out around 6:30.

The trip home was uneventful but we could see that snow had fallen once we got to Hagerstown. It was clearly worse in Howard County so we just took it slow. I was surprised that a couple of the bigger roads had not been plowed! We got home about 11:30 and Cat headed to her place. I was wound up from the trip so I ended up staying up quite late then sleeping in today.

I spent part of the day finding fabric online for my next big sewing project. It turns out that I have a formal to go to in March so I decided to make another gown. I wanted something elegant and I had a pattern on hand that met my needs.

This pattern is now out of print and I don't think that Vogue carried it for a long time. It took me a while to digest the instructions as they are really involved and hard to visualize. There are also a lot of pieces because it is assymetrical so most of the pieces are cut out in a single thickness of fabric. I only found one review on Pattern Review and it looked alright except that it had been made out of polyester which I don't think really works with this type of design. The folds in the drape don't lie flat with a synthetic and this type of garment really needs to be made of silk. I found a 30mm weight heavy silk crepe in bright red at Thai Silks and on Ebay and I've requested swatches. I will also have to order boning and figure out how I will bustle the train. I really love this gown.

Other news--I ordered some Icon Shoes! Those who know me know that I LOOOOVE Icon Shoes! They had a 50% off sale which included 50% off of sale items. I ended up with a make up bag and 2 pairs of sandals!

I'm thinking that I might get the purse to go with the "Yes We Can" shoes!

That's about all that's been going on. I'm plugging away at my red sweater and I've reached the end of the body up to the armholes. I now have to do the sleeves then join them and knit the yoke. I haven't gotten much done on that the last week because I had my winter concert and grades to do!

That's about it for now! Have a great week!

Kitty Cam: The tuxedo twins, Samantha and Harley, are spending some quality time together.

So much to do!

2010-01-18T16:00:00.000-05:00

I've been collecting hand dyed yarn! Those who know me know that I don't simply buy stash yarn. I buy yarn for a specific purpose. Sometimes I may end up using the yarn for another purpose, but rarely as I demonstrated with my most recent FO which was planned over 2 years ago! Check out the goodies:

On the left we have Malabrigo Twist in Teal Feather. This will be for the Scoop Pullover:

On the right we have Dream in Color Groovy (chunky weight) in November Muse which will be for the Owls Pullover:
Next we have Miss Babs Yowza Watta Skein in Vlad's Red for Sylvar:

Check out the extra goodies that came with the Miss Babs--a sample of sock yarn, a stitch marker and a sample of Soak. I love those freebies!

Last we have Fleece Artist Nyoni in Ivory for Myrtle:

I'm thinking that Myrtle will be good for spring.
My current project is the Birgitte Lace Pullover in Red GGH Soft Kid. The mohair feels nothing like the itchy mohair I remember from the 60's! This stuff is super soft!

On the sewing front--I have boatloads of projects to make. There are three biggies though. One is a gold three quarter length coat with black velvet collar and cuffs. I have to redraft the pattern as I will be using a combination of two patterns to get the style I want.

A friend gave me some gorgeous white mohair blend coating which I intend to use for this:

This summer I want to make this:

I've had this pattern and some incredible 4 ply silk in a cinnamon color for several years. The pattern is out of print and I needed to get a larger size so that I can combine that with the smaller one for the right size. Fortunately I found it on ebay. DH and I will have a formal occasion in August so i figured that summer would be a good time to make this. It is too hectic to make something this involved around Christmas which is when our usual formal functions are!

Those are the big projects on hand. It will be interestsing to see how many of them I actually complete!

Kitty Cam: Greg eagerly waits for someone to start a fire!

An Indian Treat!

2010-01-18T00:23:00.014-05:00

I am in love with Indian food! Nothing warms my innards more on a cold winter day! Lately I've been really enjoying some ready made frozen entrees containing Paneer which is a fresh cheese cut into cubes and put into one of a variety of sauces. I was looking online for sources to purchase Paneer and found comment after comment about how easy it is to make and how much better it is. So I embarked on a cheese making adventure. Here is a little tutorial.

How to make Paneer

1. Gather your ingredients: 1 half gallon of whole milk (do not get milk that has been ultra pasteurized) and 1 or 2 lemons.
Equiment: large heavy saucepan, strainer and cheesecoth.

2. Put the milk in the saucepan and heat, stirring so the milk doesn't stick to the pan. Squeeze the juice out of one lemon and
put aside.

3. Prepare your strainer. Place a double layer of cheesecloth in the strainer and a bowl underneath to catch the whey when
the cheese is drained.

4. Bring the milk to a boil and remove pan from heat quickly before milk bubbles over.

5. Stir in the juice from 1 lemon. You will see curdles begin to form right away and the whey will separate. Stir gently for a
minute or two then let the pan sit for about 10 minutes.

6. Pour the cheese into the strainer. Twist the cheesecloth tightly around the cheese and squeeze out as much moisture as you can.

7. Keep the cheesecloth tightly twisted and press the cheese into a disk about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Place on a plate.

8. Place another plate on top and weight it with cans or heavy books.

9. Leave weights on the cheese for 30 minutes or so then unwrap cheese and use or wrap in plastic and refrigerate.

10. You may choose to keep the whey to use in soups or baking. It should be used within a week or two or it may be frozen for future use.

Check out the cubed fresh cheese!

Here's the finished meal! The paneer was lightly browned in ghee and simmered in Korma sauce. It was served over a Basimati/Wild rice pilaf accompanied by a spinach lentil dal. Mmmm Good!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-17T21:39:00.008-05:00

Better late than never! I've been busy since the new year. I was involved in the usual holiday happenings plus I had some projects to finish up. My first FO of the new year was a sewn one:

I cut this out before Christmas for the Patriot's Ball which was scheduled on Dec. 19 --the day of the big snow! It was rescheduled for Jan. 2, so I put this together on Jan. 1. It took a little longer than I expected because I decided to do my usual seam finishing--French seams! They just look so nice in silky or lace fabrics. The fabric was a cheap lace from Joann's with a polyester lining--two things I never sew with but I was trying to go on the cheap! The lace was embroidered and had more texture than most inexpensive laces. It also had some gold in it. The lining was a light taupe. I was pleased with the final result. The bustier is one I've had for several years. I get a lot of wear out of it. Here's a close up of the skirt fabric:

I have a couple of knitting FO's:
First--the Whirligig Shrug from IK Weekend Knits. This was made for Baby Bianca--my niece's baby.

Details:
Pattern: Whirligig Shrug by Stephanie Japel, Size 12 - 18 mos.
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Ivory, less than 1 skein
Needles: Knit Picks Options, 24 in. size 6
Modifications: none
This is a fun, quick knit. If you have any little girls to knit for, this makes a sweet gift!

My most recent FO is Wicked by the Zephyr Girls. I've had the pattern and yarn for several years and I finally decided to get this one done.

Details:
Pattern: Wicked by Zephyr Girls, Size 32
Yarn: Odyssey by Reynolds, 100% merino in Teal--10 skeins
Needles: Knit Picks Options 24 inch, size 7; Addi Turbo 16 inch, size 7
Modifications: Extra hip increases and I picked up 2 stitches under the arm when starting the sleeves. There were 54 sleeve stitches and the cuff pattern is an 9 stitch repeat so I added 2 stitches for the pattern to fit!

I'm happy with this one though I wish I hadn't done as many hip increases. I forgot that seed stitch doesn't cling like ribbing and the bottom is a little loose. I may run some clear elastic thread through it for support.

I've started a new sweater for the SKC Knit along. I'll post about that later. This weekend we've been taking down Christmas. I still keep winter around though. I collect snowmen and they stay out until March when the bunnies come out. This year I added to my snowman collection:

The top 2 are candy containers as their heads come off!

I'll have to fill you in on some of my knitting and sewing goals for the upcoming year--but I'll do that later!

A monumental thing--my car turned 200,000 miles! And people say American cars are junk! I love my trusty Ford and I'll be sad when it finally dies--which doesn't appear to be any time soon!

Kitty Cam: This one is from Ems. Chelsea and Mokey pause for a portrait before fighting over who gets to sleep in the sink!

The Aftermath . . .

2009-12-20T11:46:00.004-05:00

Looks like about 2 feet of snow! If we don't get at least 2 snow days out of this, I'll be most disappointed!

Kitty Cam: Bar has taken to the new Christmas Sweater Tree Skirt!

Be careful what you wish for!

2009-12-19T22:26:00.007-05:00

So I've been wishing for a nice snow since Thanksgiving. However this is not quite what I had in mind. I woke up to this:
About 10 inches or so. By 6 pm we had about 20 inches or more: The snow covers the first rail on the split rail fence and the cars are completely covered. I hope we can get it pretty well shoveled tomorrow. Unfortunately it is too deep for the snow blower.

I'm hoping that our school system has the courtesy to tell us Sunday night whether or not we will be closed on Monday. I suspect we may be closed all three days next week. Montgomery County is the worst about clearing local roads and the school system is the worst about being considerate of their employees. That's the way it goes! I planned ahead however and I packed my book bag with everything I would need to plan for Monday Jan. 4 just in case. I hate going in to school not being prepared it makes for bad lessons and bad student behavior. So I am always over prepared! I bugged out in a hurry on Friday because I needed to go to BJ's before my 5 pm massage appointment. We were out of kitty litter! I got the litter and some over the counter meds and I stumbled across this on one of the aisles:This will come in handy now! I had been looking at full length down coats last year when a friend of mine got a Michael Kors one at Filenes. Hers is a little more stylish but this one is by Anne Klein and it was only $59! I like that it has a 2 way zipper and has side zippers so I can loosen it up at the bottom. I typically don't wear down coats unless I 'm going to be outside for an extended time because I get too hot in them. I have outside bus duty and it gets pretty cold so this will come in really handy!

I've been a lazy slob today--staying in my pj's until dinner time. We had our traditional snow day dinner of Pasta e Fagiole with Parmesan Pepper Baguettes. Good stuff! Nothing like homemade soup on the stove on a cold day. I finally watched the 4 hours of "Sing Off." I'm typically not into the talent shows on TV but I couldn't resist one with a cappella groups! They've all been really impressive!

Gonna watch the Caps game and do a little Christmas knitting. Tomorrow we hope to decorate the tree!

Kitty Cam: Greg finally cooperated for his Christmas portrait!

Where did November go?

2009-12-13T10:09:00.005-05:00

I can't believe that I missed the entire month of November! I'll have to do better. It is hockey season and it's really hard to watch a decent hockey game while blogging! I loves me my Washington Capitals!

On the knitting front--I am working on some Christmas gifts and Wicked for myself. Wicked it going fast! I'm almost done with the body and I will save the sleeves to do when I finish my gifts. I finished the Vine Yoke Cardigan. It went faster than any sweater I've ever done! It has a rather unique construction and it is done in one piece.

Details:
Pattern: Vine Yoke Cardigan by Ysolda (Twist Collective)
Size: 32
Yarn: Lorna's Laces' Green Line Worsted in Echo (4 skeins)
Needles: Size 9 Knit Picks Options
Modifications: None. If I were to make this again, I would go down a size and I would lengthen the sleeves. I don't like that the sleeve edging hits right at the crook of my elbow as It causes the edging to curl. I would prefer more of a 3/4 sleeve. Over all though, I really like this sweater!

On the sewing front--I need to also make a couple swap gifts today and I need to start my skirt for the SAR Patriot's Ball this coming Saturday. The gown I had wanted to make--the one I showed in the houndstooth check --didn't happen because I could not find any suitable fabric. I had this pattern which is now out of print:

I am making the lace skirt on the right. I bought some nice black lace with subtle gold accents and some light gold-beige lining at Joann's at 50% off and the skirt will go together quickly. The one problem is that the pattern calls for lace with a scalloped edge on both sides. You cut off the eding and sew it on the bottom of the flounce to finish it. My fabric only has a scalloped edge on one side so I don't think there will be enough edging. My machine does a nice satin stitch scallop so I got some black Sulky thread and figured that I would do that on the fabric then stitch a single line of metallic gold along the satin stitch scallop. I decided on this pattern because I already have two black silk bustiers. One is very simple--similar to the one on the pattern and the other is a Nanette Lepore piece that is ruched in front with the bottom forming a ruffle. I'll see which one I like best with the skirt. Then I have to decide whether to wear my black beaded lace open toe pumps or my black satin or gold satin sling backs! Oh the decisions!

Other news--I finally joined the world of smart phones! I feel a bit like a traitor however. Those who know me know that I am an Apple aficionado and I so wanted an iphone! I cannot switch from Verizon however. Just won't do it. The appearance of the Motorola Droid in Verizon's line up has me convinced that they have no interest in ever picking up the iphone. So I took the plunge. I canceled my laptop broadband account and upgraded my phone plan for the data and it is actually cheaper. I have also found out that one can tether their laptop through the phone to get online! Hmmmm! I'll have to play with that. I'm convinced that there isn't anything this phone can't do! The turn-by-turn voice navigation is incredible and you can add layers that show atm's, parking, gas stations etc. I have an app that lets me scan a barcode and it finds the item both locally and online by price! I've already used that one several times! I just love it! I'm still getting used to the phone however as there are some quirks that are different from my old LG flip phone. One thing that bugs me is that I cannot set the phone on speaker phone and have it stay that way. I have to push speaker for each call. That makes it a bit more difficult when driving.

I decorated the house the weekend after Thanksgiving! That's the first time I've done it before Dec. 1! I have not put on any Christmas music yet though which is not like me. I think I'll crank it up today. It was a sad putting up the stockings and realizing that I couldn't hang Mikey's! I still miss that little bugger. I saw a kitty at Petco yesterday that is up for adoption that I would love to take. He is a peach tabby about 9 mos. old and he was clearly someone's loved pet. He was extremely affectionate and I think he would fit right in with our 3 . Greg needs a playmate. Needless to say DH says I can't have him. I'm trying to convince him that it would be like replacing Mikey, but he's looking to lower the number of kitties we have. If it were up to me--I'd have a houseful of animals!

That's it for now! I'll try to be better at staying current.

Kitty Cam: This one is from the archives. The peach kitty made me think of Peanut who we lost in 2007. I love this photo. Peanut looks less than happy about being dressed up for the holidays, but he was a good sport none the less!

Straight No Chaser - The Christmas Can-Can

2009-12-11T10:46:00.001-05:00

Nothing like a good a cappella performance!

The power of music!

2009-10-29T10:18:00.001-05:00

Is anyone really surprised? They say music has charms to soothe the savage beast!

Rainy weekends are nice!

2009-10-18T10:22:00.007-05:00

I'm not one who typically likes rain, but staying in on a rainy weekend can be very relaxing! Friday, there was no school and I was a lazy slob. I loved every minute of it! Other than running a couple of short errands, I just stayed home, did some knitting and vegged out! Yesterday, I did get out to knitting group and there was a total of 5 of us! Typically there are over a dozen. It was just nasty out. So my friend Cat and I did lunch at the Ram's Head then came to my house for lattes and more knitting. We hung out and watched Sicko, (which should be required watching for both the House of Representatives and the Senate) then Cat left.

Friday I did hit the Vogue patterns sale at Joanns and I got the following:

Turns out that I have about 5 yards of cream colored wool melton coating that a friend gave me a few years ago and it will be perfect for that coat!

I also got this pattern for my gown for the Patriot's Ball this winter:
I've seen this pattern dozens of times but it never really did much for me until I saw this:
I love the use of the menswear fabric for this! I'm thinking that a small red tartan plaid would look great. If I can't find one then I will do the houndstooth like in the photo. I am planning on knitting the black beaded Gaia shrug to wear with this. I posted that photo in my last post.

Meanwhile, I am still feverishly knitting the Vine Yoke and I am almost halfway done. I took it to Joann's with me to look for buttons but found nothing that appealed to me. Next will be the LYS to see if they have the Lantern Moon wood buttons which may do. I suspect that I will end up at G Street as I usually do. That is really the only place to find buttons when you need to see them in person. The yarn is such an odd color of brown--sort of grayish, pinkish brown--so most wood buttons just don't match. Antiqued pewter would work okay if I can find the right ones. The sweater is somewhat rustic looking so I feel that the buttons need to be a natural material like clay, wood, bone or shell. So that will be my next quest!

The rain is leaving us which is nice since rainy rush hour mornings always blow!

Kitty Cam: Samantha knows how to spend a chilly autumn day!

Goings on!

2009-10-16T16:42:00.011-05:00

I've been busy at school and trying to get some things made. That's pretty much what's been going on around here. I did decide to go back to decorating for Halloween. In fact I did this the last weekend in September!

That's a sample from the dining room!

I knocked off some little projects. I love knitting hats, so I knit 2 baby hats--both exactly the same. Here's a photo of one of them:
I love this little pattern. It's a free pattern from Spud & Chloe yarns and fortunately I had some stash yarn which fit the bill! I also made a beret for myself. I had seen it in the Knit One magazine and I had the yarn the pattern called for, courtesy of my secret pal! I'm not thrilled with the result, however. I looked at the projects on Ravelry and many of the people said that the hat was really large. I knit a swatch and got gauge but I decided to knit the ribbing on size 2 needles instead of the size 3 called for in the pattern. I switched to the 3 for the body of the hat. I probably should not have done that. The hat turned out much larger and drapier than the photo. It's a little loose so I am going to weave some clear elastic thread through the ribbing to give it some support.

Once I fit the ribbing, I'll model the hat!

I'm putting aside my summer knitting and starting on my winter projects. I'm about one third of the way through the Vine Yoke Cardigan. I'm really enjoying this pattern. It has a rather unusual construction. It was one of the selections of the Sexy Knitters' Club KAL. I would like to do two more of their selections:

The sweater is called Vivian and I love it. I've decided to pass on knitting it for now because I know that I wouldn't get it finished. I'm looking for faster projects. I did buy the pattern and I will make it at some point. The shrug is a real quick knit and I ordered some Tilli Tomas black beaded kid mohair/silk and a black wool/alpaca blend from KnitPicks. I want to make this to wear with my gown to the SAR ball in Dec.

I haven't done much sewing lately and I have to finish a sun dress I was working on. I'm going to finish the dress except for the zipper. I'm losing a little weight and the dress is fitted so I figure that I can take it in before putting in the zipper next spring if I need to. I did participate in a Christmas apron swap so I made an apron from a vintage pattern reissue:
I love the fabric! It's got kitties and yarn balls! My swap partner has 5 cats and she loves to knit so this was perfect! I may have to make one of these for myself!

I moved into a new purse a few weeks ago! I'm not one of those people who changes purses with outfits. I get a really good bag and I use it for literally years until it is worn out. My old icon bag with the Klimt painting of Adele on it was looking a little worn and I found a great Icon bag on clearance on their website: The trick for me is to not load it up and make it heavy. I'm able to stick a water bottle and a small knitting project in it which is nice.

So that's about it for me! Ems was in her first public scrimmage Tuesday night. Here she is as Crushin' Dior with the Steel City Derby Demons:

Kitty Cam: It's Super Harley!

Touching story

2009-10-04T21:54:00.001-05:00

I saw this piece this morning on CBS Sunday Morning. Being an animal lover, it moved me to tears. It's heartwarming so enjoy it!

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Not one. . . not two . . . not three . . .

2009-10-04T19:50:00.007-05:00

But four! Four gifts from my Secret Pal! I've been bad about posting my photos but I did thank her personally. She's been really spoiling me! First of all, the second week of school, I got two gifts two days apart:
This one has two skeins of Classic Elite Cotton Bamboo and some Corn Fiber yarn from Kollage. There are also some magnets and a cute guitar charm stitch marker.
This one has some body lotions, scotty dog notes and pad, and Starbucks truffles.

I was particularly excited to see that Classic Elite yarn! I had been looking at the Leaf Lace beret in the Knit 1 magazine which called for that exact yarn in this amount so I cast on!Fortunately I checked Ravelry about this pattern. Everyone said that it was large so I used a size smaller needles for the ribbing. Unfortunately I did not have them in the 16 inch so I had to do Magic Loop. I was quickly reminded why I don't do this technique. I really don't like it and had I remembered that, I would have just used double points. It was only a few rows then I changed to the size indicated in the pattern which I had in 16 inch. I'm almost done with the hat and hope to finish it within the next couple of days.

A couple weeks later I got this:

The stocking my pal knit is actually more blue than in the photo. I thought the wreath kit was really neat. It will make a great portable project since each piece is knit separately.

Finally, last Monday I received the final gift:

She attached little hints to each part of the package. She made the 4 washcloths, included postcards from Nashville which is where she grew up, added a bumper sticker from GA where she now lives and included 2 gorgeous skeins of fingering weight yarn--one from Aurucania and one Fleece Artist.

I've loved everything, Secret Pal--who I now know as Kim! Thank you so much for all your kindness!

We're Number 37!

2009-09-12T08:22:00.001-05:00

Funny and sad at the same time!

Enough already!

2009-09-06T11:00:00.003-05:00

The wingnuts in this country need to stop the nonsense! Since when is it ever inappropriate for the President of the United States to address school children to tell them to work hard? Too many people have lost all respect for the office. As much as I detested GWB, I made an effort to watch every address he made. Why? Because he was my president and I wanted to be informed. I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Bill Maher in that we are seeing an increase in stupidity in America. Too many people spout vitriol without making the slightest attempt at finding out the facts!

Sorry for the political post on a holiday weekend. I now return you to your regularly scheduled activity!

Oh--Happy Labor Day weekend!

Why We Need Government-Run Universal Socialized Health Insurance

2009-08-27T10:13:00.001-05:00

Enough said! Now is the time!

It's that time of year!

2009-08-23T20:41:00.008-05:00

Back to school! I will be a total wreck for the next two weeks. Don't get me wrong--I like my job for the most part. It's just that I am a total night owl! Typically over the summer I get into the habit of staying up until 3 and sleeping until 10. I was better this year. I was usually in bed by 1 and I got up between 8:30 and 9. That felt great. Now I have to get up at 6 am. The problem is that I will still end up going to bed around midnight. I just can't seem to break myself of that habit. It's worse in the winter when it's dark in the morning. My body rebels against getting up when it's dark! I'm thinking that I will alter my morning routine a bit this year. I tend to be a little leisurely in the morning, taking the time to check my email before I leave the house. I think I will just go to school and get there a half hour earlier which will allow me to leave a half hour earlier in the afternoon. The next trick will be actually leaving school on time. I think if I make myself leave on time, I won't waste a single minute at school. I'm getting too old to continue to work hours and hours of unpaid overtime. We gave up our cost of living raise this year and our workload increased so I'm thinking that I'm not feeling very compelled to donate more of my hours. People have come to expect us to do that and my profession has gotten in the habit of apologizing when they can't work additional hours for free. No more! I'll do the best job I can do, but when my day is over, I'm going home! That is my plan!

In the meantime, I've been trying to catch up on my summer wardrobe--now that summer's almost over! I made a silly little 50's style circular skirt with a Day of the Dead skulls print!

It's fun! I was going to line it, but there was just so much fabric that I didn't need to!

Last night I finished a dress. This is the same vintage pattern that I used for my red silk dress. I love this pattern so much that I decided to use a cotton for a dress I could wear to school. I did end up fully lining it with Bemberg Rayon.

I actually have 2 pairs of shoes that match this--the green ones in the photo and a pair of blue sandals with kitten heels.

I've already moved on to my next dress. I have 3 more to make. This one will be out of some vintage fabric that I found in my Mom's house. I believe my aunt brought it to her from some of her travels. It has hula girls, ukeleles etc. It took some planning to cut it out properly because the motifs are so large that I had to make sure they were placed appropriately. Who wants a large hot pink flower right on certain parts of one's body? If you know what I mean!

Other news--My secret pal sent me a package which was waiting for me when I returned from Boston. I thanked her privately but I wanted to thank her publicly. She sent me one of the books on my Amazon wish list. There are some really cute projects that I can use all my cotton scraps for! She also sent me a notions bag with a funny VanGogh keychain, some very nice stitch markers (can't have too many of those!), some note cards and--best of all--some fingerless mitts that she made!

Check out the mitts! I absolutely love them! They will go with so many of my clothes! I wear a lot of 3/4 length sleeves in the winter and these will be perfect with all those greens and browns that I wear!

I don't know what yarn she used, but it is incredibly soft and I simply love these mitts!
Thank you again, Secret Pal! You're the best!

Ems got a new tat! Check this out:

Is she her mother's daughter or what!!!

That's it for now! Sorry to be so brief! I have to attempt to get myself mentally prepared for the next 10 months!

Kitty Cam: Greg has been very clingy now that Mikey is gone. He inches up onto my lap whenever he gets the chance!

Barney Frank--Just one more reason that I love Massachusetts!

2009-08-21T09:25:00.001-05:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Barney Frank's Town Hall Snaps

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Healthcare Protests

Playing for Change: Peace Through Music

2009-08-13T19:45:00.003-05:00

I love these Songs Around the World from the Documentary Playing for Change: Peace Through Music.

How could I do what I do and not love them!

Then there were three . . .

2009-08-11T21:36:00.014-05:00

Mikey came into our lives on Friday night May 25, 2001. I was at home sewing Ems' graduation dress for the next Tuesday when she called me at 10 pm. "Mom! I found five kittens at the restaurant park!" Me: "Leave them there. Their mother must be around." Ems--"It's too late. They're already in the car!" I contacted the Howard County Cat Club which is a rescue group because I was concerned about the mother cat. Ems had seen her and she appeared to be feral and hid. The cat club trapped the mom a week later, had her spayed, gave her shots and released her as she was, indeed, really wild. I knew ultimately that the babies would have better lives if they were taken care of. In they came! Five tiny, and I mean tiny babies. Ems' first words were "One's polydactyl! Can we keep him?" Without hesitation, I said yes. These babies were about 12 days old. I had grown up with mom cats and I was well aware of all the developmental stages of kittenhood. I was worried that they may have been exposed to things that I didn't want my 4 indoor kitties to get so the babies were put in a box with a blanket in the kids' bathroom. We started them on KMR immediately. There were two all black males, one tabby and white male, a tabby female and Mikey, also tabby and white with his extra toes. He was named Mikey after Ems' friend Mikey who was with her when she found them. Mikey, the human, was really stocky. Mikey, the kitten, was also stocky with his big old feet, much like like a little bulldog. The kittens grew and we adopted out 3 of them. We kept Mikey's brother who was named Greg. Greg was the runt, weighing in at 1 3/4 pounds at 6 weeks old when the others were all in the 4 pound range. He was sickly and I couldn't part with him because he got so much extra mothering. Greg is now a 19 pound black panther.

Mikey had so much personality. The kitty sitter we have has always said, "Don't be surprised if Mikey is missing when you get home!" He was very talkative and personable. He would carry his cat teaser around (that's the feather on the end of a long stick) and drop it at our feet so that we would play "spinny" with him. Spinny was when we would make him run around in circles chasing the feather--much like chasing his tail. It was comical to see him do this on his big old feet!

This is how I remember him most--lying on the couch in his "rub my belly" pose. It was part of our nightly routine. In fact, if I was busy, he would come over and nag me to come to the couch so he could lie on his back for a belly rub.

I chronicled his illness here and in the last post I talked about the ordeal of the last week. We had decided last night to put in a feeding tube because he was doing so much better. I talked to the vet today and he wasn't doing well. I went to see him and his temperature had dropped to 96, his blood pressure had gone down and he had some fluid in his lungs. Ironically, his electrolytes were up to normal. He was very cold when I was with him and he was covered with a blanket and surrounded by heated rice bags to warm him up. He cried like I've never heard him and I knew what I had to do. He just had that look in his eyes. I told the vet and she cried too--saying that they had all become rather attached to him. I stayed with him when they injected his IV and he was already half asleep. He died peacefully. My gut tells me I did the right thing, but I am still heart broken.

Here are some favorite photos of my Mikey:

Running around under the rug!

Waiting for mom to get ready in the morning:

Nestling by the creche at Christmas time:

Napping on the dining room table:

Curious Mike:

Watching Mom vaccuum:

Celebrating the 4th of July:

Cuddling with sibling Greg:

Cheek to cheek with Harley:

Hanging around the window with Samantha:

Rest in Peace my little angel kitty. You enriched our lives more than you will ever know. We miss you.

How much is too much?

2009-08-11T09:21:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted lately. I have a lot of photos from Boston. I've been a wreck this last week. Mikey had a severe diabetic episode. For those who may not know, Mikey is my 8 year old polydactyl cat. His diabetes has been well controlled with insulin injections. Apparently he hasn't been eating enough--which for those of you with cats, diabetic or not, if your cat stops eating, take it to the vet ASAP. DH was taking care of the cats while I was away and he is at work all day so he wouldn't have noticed anything unusual per se. The cats also don't hang around him whereas they swarm around me.

On Monday Aug. 3 as I was leaving to drive home, DH called me and said that Mikey didn't come for his kitty treats Sunday night and didn't eat Monday morning. I got very worried, thinking that maybe he was getting too much insulin. I worried all the way home. DH got home at 7 pm and I was just north of Baltimore at the time. I asked him to rush Mikey to the vet (who closes at 7:30). By that time DH had to pull Mikey out from under the couch as he couldn't stand on his own. I got home just as DH was coming from the vet with instructions to rush Mike to the ER Vet whom she called ahead.

Our vet said that Mikey had DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) and it was a life threatening situation. With DKA, their blood sugar is too high for a long enough time for them to get severely dehydrated and their body creates ketones. Typically the treatment is to hydrate them with IV fluids to get their electrolytes up and they will eventually pee out all of the ketones. I was floored as I suspected the opposite--too low sugar. Mikey also appears to have Hepadic Lipidosis or fatty liver syndrome. This is what happens specifically to cats when they stop eating. The liver basically attacks its own fat reserves and if this isn't treated, they can go into liver failure. The treatment for this is food. Many cats have to be force fed with a syringe and many go on a feeding tube.

I was, and have been completely heartsick. I thought he looked like he had lost a little weight. Why didn't I take him to the vet? I will forever beat myself up over this. The vet gave me an estimate for 3 days of treatment which was $1100 - $1600 and I paid a $900 deposit. She said that typically the DKA clears up in about 3 days but can go as long as a week. Anyway, I went to see Mikey on Tuesday and he was still lethargic, but he purred when he saw me. Wednesday he could pick his head up and he tried to meow, but he seemed to have laryngitis. Thursday, he was very talkative and looked quite bright. He still wasn't eating so they put a nasal feeding tube in since he was too weak for a regular feeding tube. He was also using the litter box. He continued to look better on Friday. His electrolytes were still low and they were still concerned. On Saturday and Sunday, he seemed more tired and he had diarrhea on Saturday night. The weekend vet said she didn't have a good feeling about him and I got the impression that she was basically saying to put him down. She didn't think he was strong enough to undergo the anesthesia to insert an e-tube. On Monday, he seemed better and his electrolytes were in the low normal range. I had kind of decided that I would bring him home Monday and take him to our regular vet to put down that night. The question is--how much do I spend on this? I've spent $2800. Do I just put him down after that or spend another $1000 to nurse him back to health? He is very jaundiced. His ears, gums and his little pink nose are yellow, though they looked a little better yesterday. Do I spend the $350 for an ultrasound to more accurately diagnose if it is pancreatitis or a liver issue or do I put that money into getting a feeding tube for him? The vets are basically treating him for the various conditions it could be.

I've been getting a lot of support from the ladies on the Feline Diabetes board. Four of them told me stories of their cats who were actually worse than Mikey. All of them had an e-tube put in and got their cats on their regular diet that way. An e-tube goes into the esophagus and you use a syringe to put the food in it. You can feed the regular canned diet if it is pureed and thinned a bit. All of these people said that their cats improved quite rapidly with this and they suggested getting the feeding tube asap so that he can get stronger.

I've been so torn and my stomach has been in knots the last 4 days. The other cats for whom I've made end of life decisions have been such clear cut cases--elderly with kidney failure, cancer etc. Mikey is only 8 and this seems treatable. It's just taking longer than usual for the ketones to clear up. The vet last night said that he was actually trying to climb out of his cage and she thought we shouldn't give up on him but she understands the financial need to get him home.

We made a plan. This morning they would take out his nasal feeding tube to see if he would eat. If he didn't eat, then they would insert an e-tube. I will bring his regular diet for feeding as that is essential to regulate his long acting insulin which they hadn't been able to do. He has been getting short acting insulin every 4 hours and he has to be off that to come home.

So this is where I've been all week. I'm an emotional wreck, breaking down in tears at the most inconvenient times. People who aren't pet lovers don't understand. It's hard to put a monetary value on a treatable condition. If Mikey makes it home, he will require a lot of care. I'm hoping that I can get his tube feedings down to 8 hour intervals before I go back to school. I will also have to do home glucose testing, which I should have been doing all along.

Please say a little prayer for Mike!

Kitty Cam: Here's Mikey, looking fairly bright with his new feeding tube last Thursday:

Are you bored?

2009-08-06T10:36:00.000-05:00

Go herefor a little amusement!

I miss Jon Stewart!

2009-08-01T10:28:00.001-05:00

My hotel doesn't have Comedy Central :-(
Thank God for the internet!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

So You Think You Can Douche

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Joke of the Day

Water water everywhere!

2009-07-31T20:28:00.013-05:00

It poured today so I stayed in. The weather has been lovely otherwise. I love Boston. It feels like home to me. It represents everything that I love about the northeast. I will take some photos tomorrow. Yesterday I went to Providence RI. I love that city too and in reality, I can see us retiring there as it is so much more affordable than Boston and less than an hour away. Rhode Island, known as the Ocean State, is beautiful in the summer. There is water everywhere and there are hydrangeas all over the place! I'm partial to blue flowers so seeing hedges of hydrangeas makes me very happy. Providence is easy to get around and in most places you can just pull up to the curb and park for free--unlike Boston where you will pay $8 per hour in a lot. Even more surprising were some of the housing prices in the East Side which is near Brown Univ which is a lovely neighborhood. First I saw this house:
This one is out of my price range. It is going for a little over a million dollars. Compared to the DC market, that's not bad given that this house has 10 bedrooms and 6 baths. It is huge and gorgeous!
The next two are well within our price range. If I could afford to retire, I'd work on talking DH into the first house which is being sold as a short sale at $349K. That's less than our house is worth and this one has 9 bedrooms and 5 baths. It is divided up into 3 three bedroom units with the one on the first floor having central air. I figure you could live on the first floor and rent out the other two.
The third house is also in the $300,000's. It has a unit on the first floor with 2 bedrooms and then the 2nd and 3rd floors make up a townhome unit with 4 bedrooms. Again--you would live in one and rent the other.
I think purchasing a multifamily unit will be the way to go! We'll see how we feel when the time comes.

I have spent most of my time here buried in microfilm. After a while, your eyes go nuts with this! I'm always amazed that there is still more to discover about my ever expanding family tree! Being in Boston means that there is a lot of walking involved. Fortunately my foot is a lot better though I've had to stick to ugly shoes for the time being.

I would not be seen in public in those shoes at home! I'm hoping to be in my heels when school starts as I have 4 pretty sun dresses to make and ugly shoes just won't do!

I visited two yarn shops. The first, Windsor Button, is in downtown Boston a block away from the Commons. It's been there since 1936 and has every type of button imaginable. They have started carrying yarn and have a nice selection. In fact they have the best section of Malabrigo that I've seen in one place. I bought two very large and fancy mother of pearl buttons by Lantern Moon and 2 skeins of silky Malabrigo in a beautiful teal. The color is lighter than in the photo. I think the yarn will be a scarf. I also got a gift for my secret pal which cannot be divulged here!

The other shop I visited was in Providence. It is called Fresh Purls and it is an absolutely lovely little shop. They have an incredible selection of nonwool yarns and I got to see and feel some yarns that I'd seen online and wondered about. I bought a skein of Malabrigo worsted to make myself a Struan hat. I had been looking for the right color and this color will go with my Shalimar fingering yarn that I'm using to make my Entagled Stitches gloves.

The colors look gray in the photo but they are a lovely medium spring green! I'm itching to start those gloves but I will have to swatch. The pattern is only for a size large and the gauge is 30 st. to 4 in. on size 2.5 mm needles. I figured that I need to get a gauge of 36 st. to 4 inches so I will swatch on a 2.0 mm needle to see how it goes.

My other project before I left home was to put together a package for my Cuppa Tea swap pal. We did a tea towel swap. I love linen tea towels so I decided to make a vintage style one using the colors of her kitchen. I bought Irish linen and made a scalloped hem on the bottom and a hanging loop on the top. I used a vintage embroidery design from the 1940's and hand embroidered it using her colors. It turned out quite well! I may have to make some of these for myself as I love them!

I have to go work on my homework!

Kitty Cam: Harley looks so regal when the other kitties aren't around!

On the road again--almost!

2009-07-26T22:12:00.010-05:00

Beantown tomorrow! I'll be leaving around 3:00 pm. DH thinks I'm nuts. He is one of those who wants to get up and leave around 7 am when traveling. Not me! I like to sleep in, make sure everything in the house is settled then leave without rushing! Plus, I've found that 3 pm is perfect because I can go the 420 miles without hitting any rush hour traffic! There's a lot to be said for that! I'll pack in the morning. As long as my laundry is done and I've done the grocery shopping then packing is easy. I stay in a suite so I bring food and such.

Anyway, I thought I'd catch you up on what's been going on. I've finished a few things and gotten some nice swap gifts. I finally finished my Musica Gloves. I had done the left one then put it aside. I finally finished the right one!

I'm really tickled with these! They will be great for school! I also started a new set of mitts. A secret pal had given me the yarn and the pattern. I'm almost finished with the first one. This pair of mitts has half fingers and I am up to that point. Once I finish it, I will begin another pair of gloves.

I also finished a silly little skirt. I pretty much kept to the pattern, but I added lining and topstitched little triangles on each pleat. I have another skirt and 4 summer dresses to make when I get back.

My secret pal sent me a gift certificate from Elann. I was so tickled because I had been eyeballing some yarn there. It was still there when I got the gift certificate. Nine balls of Tahki Sky organic cotton!

I also got my swap package from the Cuppa Tea Ravalry Group:
First my partner crochet a red tea towel and a tea towel that looks like a dress!

Next I got a box and a tin of tea, a felted bag kit, 2 balls of Patons Bamboo/Silk, handmade soap and a project bag card.

It's been a good week! I'll catch up on other stuff another time!

Kitty Cam: Samantha has had a hematoma on her little ear. We had scheduled surgery for it but the vet said the outcome would probably be the same if we let it heal on its own. Her ear was all puffed up, poor baby!

She will end up with a "cauliflower ear" which means that her ear will be bent and a bit crinkled. She still looks sweet with her little bent ear as you can see as she nestles in her new box!

Catching up . . .

2009-07-06T18:52:00.012-05:00

I've been bad. I need to stay current here and I have no excuse seeing as I am off for the summer! I've got some swap projects to do. I'm participating in a Puck This swap (hockey fans) and a Tea Towel Swap with two Ravelry groups. I received my package in the Puck This Swap:

Some gorgeous lampworked beads in Washington Capitals colors and some goodies from Wisconsin--coffee, popcorn, jam and chutney! Good stuff!

I also started the Botanica Medallion Cardigan. I really need to finish my Musica Gloves but I couldn't stand it! I have the medallion done:

I'm please with it. It measures about 15 inches in diameter and it is blocked. I've started the outer band:

I've actually done twice as much as the photo shows. I'm intrigued with the design. The designer chose stitch patterns with different gauges so that the band actually curves and will form a circle around the medallion.

Other stuff that's been going on--I need to do some sewing. I have to finish a skirt I'm working on and then I'm doing another. Here are the patterns I'm using:

I'll post photos of the finished skirts when I can model them with decent shoes!
I made a new wreath for the front door. We decorate our house with Patriotic bunting and we have our flag out. I thought I would do a seasonal wreath for the front door:

Tomorrow I get my foot checked! It seems to be healing well. I've cut way back on taking the Advil which is a good sign. I'm still wearing the velcro shoe thingie when I go out. I am painfully reminded that my foot isn't all together healed when I step on a tree root or some other irregular spot of ground! I will also steam up some fresh veggies tomorrow. A few weeks ago, I ate lunch at Bonaparte's and they served a salad which was a bed of Romaine with lightly steamed green beans, zucchini spears, carrots, and beets plus tomato wedges and pitted Kalamata olives. It was topped with a delicious lemon vinaigrette. Here is my version of it:

The recipe I used for the lemon vinaigrette can be found here. The only change I made was to add 2 tsp. of sugar instead of 1/2 tsp. and I didn't use pepper. It is really good stuff!

I've finally gotten all my planters done! I'll leave you with some photos of some of them:

Kitty Cam: Two couch potatoes--Harley and Mikey!

SP14 Questionnaire

2009-07-05T10:10:00.002-05:00

Here is my Secret Pal 14 Questionnaire:

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely not like?
My absolute favorite yarn is merino wool and silk blend yarn. I love natural fibers--preferably animal fibers. I do like cotton if it is soft or a blend. Cotton and microfiber is nice. I tend to use sport or heavier weights and seem to use DK and worsted the most. I do not care for acrylic or novelty yarn.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a shaker box for my Addi circs and straight needles. My double points are stored in wine boxes. My KnitPicks options are in the binder that they came in.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting since I was 9 years old when my mother taught me. I'm over 50 so you can do the math! ;-)

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I have an Amazon wish list. You can find the link on the sidebar of my blog.

5. What’s your favorite scent?
I like subtle spicy scents like apple cinnamon or vanilla and my favorite is lemon or other citrus.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
I don't care for really sweet stuff. I do love dark chocolate --particularly with nuts, fruit or coffee in it!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I love to sew and design clothes. I also do metalwork and make jewelry. I enjoy gardening as well. I do not spin.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
I have eclectic taste in music. I like pretty much everything--classic rock, alternative, punk, ska, showtunes, folk, country, hip hop, jazz, rhythm and blues etc. The only thing I don't care for is rap or really screamy stuff!

9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?
I like earthy colors like orange, rust, brown, gold, tan, olive green, forest green. I love turquoise, teal, dark purple and bright red as well. For summer, I like lighter versions of those colors. I do not ever wear pink, gray, navy, maroon or white--I just don't like those colors for me--but will use them for gifts for other people.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I am an empty nester with 2 kids in their 20's. I have 4 cats (hence the Crazy Cat Lady moniker) and a turtle!

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
I wear scarves, gloves, fingerless gloves--occasionally I wear mittens and hats. I don't wear ponchos, but I do like wraps and shawls.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
My favorite thing to knit is top down sweaters. I also like to knit hats, gloves and scarves.

13. What are you knitting right now?
I am knitting the Botanica Medallion Cardigan, Sylvi, Breakfast at Cafe du Monde Gloves, and I'm finishing up the Musica Fingerless Gloves.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Absolutely! Doesn't everyone?

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I like circular needles. I like the slick metal ones like Addi Turbos or Knit Picks Options. I also like short double pointed needles. When using straights, I prefer shorter ones in slick wood like ebony or Knit Picks Harmony.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
I own both!

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
More than a couple of years. Plus I have a couple of sweaters that I've never seamed together.

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?
Christmas is the winter holiday I observe and it is also my favorite!

19. Is there anything that you collect?
I have a number of collections. I like cat, Scotty dog and music related items. I collect vintage or handmade buttons, vintage sewing notions and vintage Patriotic memorabilia. I also collect vintage crocheted pot holders--particularly the ones that look like little dresses. I have those hanging on my kitchen wall!

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I am dying to try some of the exotic fibers like yak. I would also like to try some bamboo blends. I do not subscribe to any knitting magazines. I let my IK subscription lapse.

21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?
Hairpin lace. I've seen some lovely patterns by Stitch Diva in that technique which I would like to try at some point.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I do not knit socks though I have some nice sock yarn in my stash. Perhaps one day I'll give it a try. I wear a size 7 1/2 shoe.

23. When is your birthday?
April 8

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what’s your ID?
I am on Ravelry and I'm known as kozykitty.

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-04T09:59:00.001-05:00

By the rude bridge that arched the flood.
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

And that's what started it all! I've been watching "The Revolution" series on the History Channel. This makes me long for my trip to Boston!

I'll catch everyone up on my latest exploits later. Until then, enjoy your holiday!

I love Jon Stewart!

2009-07-02T11:01:00.002-05:00

Glenn Beck is a nut job, though!

This is absolutely amazing!

2009-07-01T21:05:00.001-05:00

Those guys have too much time on their hands!

Reefer Madness for Cats!

2009-06-30T14:28:00.000-05:00

Progressing . . .

2009-06-16T22:02:00.003-05:00

In 4 days I've gone from this:

(Friday at 4:00 before the ER--Check the swelling on my right foot)

To this:

To this:

I guess I will have to be only one-half shoe queen for a while. If I were Ems I would have already glitzed up the boot with glitter and paint!

Fortunately I still have this for comfort:

Greg hasn't left my side!

Tomorrow--last day of school!

You deserve a break today . . .

2009-06-13T11:40:00.002-05:00

And that's exactly what I got! I broke my right foot yesterday during dismissal duty at school. I was walking a busload of kids out and my foot turned in just as I was going to step on it. I put all my weight on it and felt a snap. I continued standing on it for about 10 minutes then went to my room and iced it. It swelled up a lot. Fortunately I was able to drive by using my left foot on the break. I picked up David then we headed to Howard Co. General ER. We were there from 4 until 11. I was so bummed because I was really looking forward to game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I got to watch part of first period in the waiting room then they took me back. I was able to catch the presentation of the cup in the waiting room before we left. I have a splint on the foot now and I'll need to see an orthopedic.

This is most inconvenient as school ends this week. I have to pack up my room and move stuff and I don't think I will be able to. Oh well! I guess I will get some knitting done!

As if that wasn't enough--I noticed Harley had thread coming from his bumhole today. Mikey ate thread once and almost needed emergency surgery. It can cut through their intestines and kill them. I called the vet and she said that if he didn't seem bothered, to just give him Laxatone because it was probably working its way out. Here's hoping he's okay. It won't be a good time to fork out over $800 for surgery.

Now to figure out how I can take a shower!

Kitty Cam: This one is from Ems--Where's Mokey?

Fashion 911

2009-06-08T20:14:00.009-05:00

I've been busy tending to a fashion emergency. I had my concert at school last week on 5/28 and I tried on my summer little black dress only to find that it was uncomfortably snug. I wore something else for the concert, but I needed a dressy dress for a wedding we went to this past Saturday. So Friday the 29th I headed to Joanns to look. I had a McCall's pattern in hand figuring that I would find an embroidered linen or something suitable. Nada. I browsed through the patterns and found a great Vintage Butterick pattern:

I included the drawings to show the unusual construction of this dress. There are no side seams on the bodice. The front wraps around and hooks in the back then the back zips up and the extensions wrap around the front and cross to the back where they tie. This dress takes over 5 yards of fabric. I looked at some silk dupioni and the only color with enough fabric was fire engine red. I typically love fire engine red, but my thought was that using it for a "fat" dress would make me truly resemble a fire engine! I bought the pattern and left the fabric. I spent Friday night making a muslin. I found that the dress gapped at the neck and armhole edges. I pinned tucks in the muslin to adjust the fit:

I slashed the pattern and made the alterations on the pieces. The pattern had the bodice lined with the fashion fabric. I used Bemberg rayon lining. I also lined the skirt, taking out about 1/4 - 1/3 of the fullness as it is a full circle and I didn't want the lining to be as full. I was really pleased with the end result!

I love this pattern! I've always been fond of 50's dresses and I had a collection of them which I sold off. I've decided to make a cotton version of this one. I ordered some flamboyant red flowered cotton for the next one!

I also finished Simplicity 2733. I have mixed feelings about this one. I love the design but I hate the way the front has pockets. There are three layers of fabric in the front which just seems wrong for a design made out of a slinky knit. I also don't love the fabric which is a rayon/ lycra knit. I dislike sewing with rayon as it gets iron shine which bugs me. Anyway, here's the finished top:

I have done no knitting. Nada! I need to finish my musica mitts. I'll try to do that while I watch hockey tomorrow but that is really difficult. My yarn for the Botanica Medallion shrug came. It is a lovely tan cotton/ silk blend. I'll start that once my mitts are done.

The wedding we went to Saturday was lovely! It was in Baltimore at a beautiful Catholic Church in Charles Village by Johns Hopkins. The reception was at the Baltimore Museum of Industry which is right on the water. I snapped a shot of a famous Baltimore landmark:

I don't know if it is clear enough to make out but it is the Domino Sugar factory sign!

I also got one of the centerpieces from the table:

There were three of these on each table--each in a can of a different size and shape.

I stayed home today. I've had bronchitis since Friday and I needed to get to the doctor. After getting an antibiotic, I'm starting to feel better so it is back to the old grind tomorrow!

Kitty Cam: Mike and Harley, cheek to cheek!

Cup Raise

2009-05-31T19:50:00.001-05:00

This is why I haven't been blogging much lately!

Jon Stewart does it again!

2009-05-25T13:33:00.001-05:00

Living in the DC area, one gets inundated with national news. This week we were flooded with analysis of the Obama and Cheney national security speeches. Count on Jon Stewart to make the most astute analysis!

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

American Idealogues

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Is it June yet?

2009-05-25T09:50:00.011-05:00

There's not a teacher in American who isn't asking that question! I've been feeling that way since February. I burned out earlier this year--probably because the current economic situation has vastly affected my job. Secondly, because the school system I work for is terribly misguided in many ways. That's another lengthy post for another day.

Now it is time to catch up! Hockey playoff season kept me busy--at least through the second round of playoffs when my beloved Washington Capitals were eliminated by the reviled Pittsburgh Penguins in game 7. I guess it just wasn't meant to be this year--but I would have preferred any team to the Pens. And now it looks like the Pens may win the Eastern Conference Championship which means I will actually have to cheer for the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals! That will be a first. DH says that you cheer for your conference. This is true unless my conference is being represented by the Pens! The DC area has some long lived rivalries. In football--it's Redskins vs. Cowboys. In baseball--it's the Orioles vs. Yankees. In hockey--it's the Caps vs. the Pens --with the Flyers being a close second! I will say that I was impressed with the class that the Caps fans showed in game 7 which was a home game. The final score was 6 - 2. All the other games had been close but this one was a total blowout. Still during the last minute of the game, the fans were on their feet cheering "Let's Go Caps!" They then gave their team a standing ovation at the end of the game. This is quite a contrast to the New York fan who threw trash on the ice when the Rangers lost a game. The Caps gave us a great ride this year! It can only get better!

I did very little knitting during the last few weeks. I have to finish my 2nd Musica mitt then I have a summer project that I hope to start:

I knew the minute I saw the cover of the newest Vogue Knitting magazine that I had to make that! I am also working on Sylvi which will be a very long term project --at least until I get to the back. All that seed stitch blows!

I also participated in a sewing swap! It was a pincushion swap where you were to make a pincushion and include some other goodies for your swapee! I chose to make a theme--gardening--specifically bees! I made these pincushions:

The beehive is made out of felted wool and the flower pincushion is made from a bottle cap and craft felt. The bee pins were done with a craft punch and shrink plastic. I also made a little bee bag:
This was adapted from a pattern in the book Omiyage. The original design was a cicada so I made a few changes! I also made some bee stitch markers and included some wildflower seeds and other goodies! I also received a lovely package from my swap partner:

I love the pincushion she made! It has a center compartment with all the little necessities--seam ripper, scissors, needles, and measuring tape. I decided to keep it on the end table in the family room which is where I do most of my mending.

I've been planning some summer sewing projects. I have a great piece of vintage fabric that I unearthed at my Mom's house when I was cleaning it out:

The fabric screams to be made into a 50's style halter dress. I had a pattern like that but decided that I wanted something I could wear to school. I will make the bottom right view but I will change the skirt. The pattern has a pleated skirt which doesn't work with this fabric in my opinion. I will do gathers and probably make it a little fuller. I will also fully line the dress.

The next project is another dress:

I will be making the bottom right view. The dress will be made with the black fabric. The little modesty panel and the skirt lining will be in the gingham.

The last dress I have planned is this:

I love this pattern and I have a similar vintage dress which doesn't fit. I fell in love with the Beatles fabric! I will probably add black piping to the bodice seams to bring out the details.

I need to get out in the garden. I've done nothing in that department. I hope to put some flowers in my front urns and get the hanging planters and deck planters done in the next week or so. My spring concert is this week so that will be keeping me extra busy!

That's about it for now!

Kitty Cam: This one is from Ems--Chelsea sits still long enough for a picture:

Bad Blogger!

2009-05-03T10:27:00.007-05:00

I've been really bad! Funny how life just gets in the way sometimes. The last time I wrote anything was the day before my birthday! As I mentioned in that post, DH took me to a Caps game the weekend before for my birthday. On my real birthday we went to Timbuktu's for some famous Maryland Crab Cakes. He also gave me these:

Believe it or not, this was all I really wanted for my birthday! I mean, what do I need? For some reason, lately I've become really sensitive to onions, which I happen to cook with a lot! I only buy Vidalia onions, which in the past never bothered me. Now, my eyes burn and water and I end up looking like a raccoon with eye make up smudged all over my face. These suckers really work!

Friday of spring break, my friend Cat and I went to Annapolis where we walked around and browsed in all the neat little shops. We ate lunch at the 1747 Tavern on Church Circle. It is a tea room and it is quite lovely.

Easter weekend we ended up visiting the kids in the Burgh. Saturday evening we checked into the hotel then headed off to the Sharp Edge Creekhouse for dinner. Bird was working the bar and he waited on us. Unfortunately, we were missing the Caps game and we had to watch the Pens instead, relying on the updates during the intermissions. After dinner, we headed off to Sonny'swhere Ems was bar tending. She now has the Saturday night bar tending shift there. Sunday morning we went to mass at the Duquesne University Chapel with the kids and Joan. We met up at Bird's house where I was able to at least get a shot of Ems and Joan:

Note the college boy decor on the mantel! We then went to the Double Wide Grill in the Southside, one of our favorite places, for brunch. We headed home after spending a little more time with the kids.

Tuesday it was back to the old grind. I am totally burnt out this school year. The burnout comes earlier and earlier these days. There is so much pressure to improve test scores that nothing else matters. Kids are not getting a well rounded education anymore and when you teach poor kids, with limited life experiences to begin with, you really deprive them of some of the most valuable learning experiences. With the current economy, we have given up raises for next school year and we have been given a lot more work to do in the same amount of time. I've decided that I am going to more or less work to the rule next year. This means that I'm not staying late anymore. I will bring some things home, but I'm not working hours and hours of unpaid overtime. It galls me that that teachers are actually expected to do that.

Things are getting interesting around here. DH was laid off last week which is a major bummer. He will get 4 weeks of pay after which, we will find ourselves exhausting our savings. I'm just hoping that we won't have to go into our retirement accounts which have already lost about 40%. Needless to say, I didn't attend MD Sheep and Wool Festival this year!'

The high point for us has been the Caps! Not only are they in the playoffs, but they are now in Round 2! It is ironic that they are playing the Pens in round 2. They've never beat the Pens in any playoff round. Game 1 was yesterday and the Caps won! This series is really being hyped up. If you are a hockey fan, then you've read about the Ovechkin vs. Crosby rivalry. To that, I say this:

Kitty Cam: Mikey is on the Caps bandwagon!

Nice Etsy giveaway!

2009-04-23T13:49:00.001-05:00

Zaftig Delights is having a giveaway in her two Etsy shops. Click on the link for info on the contest!

Spring Break!

2009-04-07T11:25:00.004-05:00

It's spring break this week and I have a lot on my agenda. First off, I have to do our taxes. I always tend to procrastinate doing them because we always owe money. I also have a paid sewing job to do . I started spring break yesterday by meeting my knitting posse at Borders around 10 a.m. We stayed until noon then went to Cosi's for lunch. I kept thinking how this would be like life after retirement and how much I could easily adjust to that. After that, I went and got my eyes checked and ordered new, very funky glasses! I can't wait to get them! Today, I will get my driver's license renewed since it expires tomorrow and do some errands. DH and I may go to the Greene Turtle to watch the Caps game tonight. We went to DC Sunday for the game and to eat at Capital Q, our favorite BBQ joint. We did that for lunch before the game. I had made a loaded pizza Saturday night so we were able to have the left overs for dinner later on Sunday night. Check out this pizza before it went in the oven:

It was about 2 inches high! I do homemade, hand stretched thin crust and top it with Tomato Basil sauce, 3 or 4 cups of mozzarella, a pound of hot turkey Italian sausage, sweet red bell pepper, vidalia onion, can of sliced black olives and fresh mushrooms on one half for DH. I forgot to take a picture of it when it came out of the oven. It's very filling and we eat it for two nights.

I've started some new knitting projects. I finally started Sylvi and I'm currently working on the sleeve:

I decided that I need another project going at the same time because the sleeves and fronts of Sylvi are entirely in seed stitch which makes me want to shoot myself! I began the Musica fingerless gloves and got the first one done! I love it!

Saturday, we are going to Pittsburgh to see the kids for Easter. It saddens me that Pittsburgh makes the national news for such an awful incident this week. It also scares me that there are people who believe that the government is going to take their guns so they go and shoot policemen. That certainly doesn't help their position. Being raised in DC tends to make one a political animal and I tend to be a news junkie--I love my msnbc shows. Anyway, I saw this exchange yesterday on Hardball, and I find it quite frightening that there are so many in "middle" America that think this way.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Scary, isn't it?

Em's woke me up at 7:30 this morning to tell me it was snowing in Pittsburgh! It's also cold here so I don't think I'll be putting flowers in the beds this week!

That's it for now!

Kitty Cam: Bar finds a sunny spot to keep warm!

The week that was. . .

2009-03-22T10:21:00.006-05:00

This has been a crazy busy couple of weeks. First I had to get stuff together for the Homespun Yarn Party. Then ended up being a fun event! Even better was the fact that it was at Savage Mill which is right down the street from my house!

Also--My Etsy Shop is up and running. Right now I have listed all my project bags. These came about because I made some for my own personal use and then started giving them as gifts. People started asking for them. I have all my projects in their own little bag. They are perfect for small projects, but I find that I can fit an entire top down sweater along with a skein of yarn in mine so they are really quite versatile. I will be adding coordinating gadget rolls which is like a mini needle roll with 3 sections to hold your stitch counter, cable needles etc. I am also working on some cable needles which can be worn as pendants. I have designed one with a kitty shape (what else!) and the tail forms the cable needle. I hope to make a few out of bronze to see how they go as it is cheaper than sterling silver. I will expand to sterling and gold fill with gemstones.

I did finish my Opulent Raglan and I absolutely love it! Here's the photos:

Here are the details:
Pattern: Opulent Raglan by Wendy Bernard, from Knitscene Fall 2008
Size: XS
Yarn: Bristol Yarn Gallery King George in Chocolate
Needles: KnitPicks Options Size 5 and 6, Addi Turbo, size 6
Modifications: I had to add rows due to the fact that my row gauge was way off. I also added 4 stitches to each sleeve then added two addition decreases along with additional rows on the sleeve flounce.

I'm really happy with this sweater and I'm glad that it is cold enough this week that I will be able to wear it!

Today I will swatch for Sylvi. I am making it in bright red like the model in the photo. I will add pockets to the front and instead of buttons I will make leaf shaped frog closures. The front is just plain seed stitch and I think it needs something that ties it to the design on the back.

I chilled last night in front of cable TV. DH was at an SAR function. I finally saw Sicko. All I can say is "wow!" It's criminal what happens in this country in regard to healthcare. It was quite an eye opener to see how Canada, England and France manage to provide for everyone. One statement by a French official particularly struck me. He said "People pay according to their means and receive care according to their needs." Everything is paid for with taxes and one gets health care without paying a cent. Taxes are quite high in France, but college is free, healthcare is free, daycare is free. All workers get at least 5 weeks paid vacation and are granted additional paid vacation for life events such as marriage, moving etc. Full time employment in France is 35 hours a week. They still have rich and poor people as they are not a communist country. Another statement that I found interesting was "In France the government is afraid of the people. In American, the people are afraid of the government." Apparently the people protest publicly there and the government is terrified of that so they do what they can to prevent it. No wonder they are so laid back there? What was really upsetting was to see that in some places in our country, poor people who cannot pay their hospital bills are sometimes loaded in a cab and dumped on the street near missions in the ghetto where they may get a little help. How can this be? I could go on, but I won't. If you haven't seen Sicko, then by all means do so.

We have been in the throes of MSA testing last week and this week at school. Everything normal grinds to a halt. I've been helping with the testing in the 3rd grade and some of my classes were cancelled in order to do so. All non classroom teachers are pulled to help with accommodations for students who need them. I won't bore you here with my thoughts on this whole thing, but basing a school's performance level on grueling standardized tests are simply wrong. Some kids aren't able to show what they know in this particular format. It's just wrong.

Other news--Ems will be in the Roller Derby. She's psyched! She says it's like playing hockey except she can wear fishnets and make up! Here she is in her skates:

Spring arrived Friday at 7:44 a.m. according to our local meteorologist! So I will spend today putting away my snowmen and putting out bunnies, ducks and chicks! I have two weeks until spring break. We will probably visit the kids in Pittsburgh on Easter since they are working on Saturday.

That's about all for now!

Kitty Cam: Harley always finds the one little sunny spot to bask in.

six feet under - the rainbow of her reasons

2009-03-13T15:52:00.001-05:00

Just a little diversion. I saw this episode of Six Feet Under while I was sewing last night. Claire, the artist, has just started a temp office job and she has to wear business attire which she hates--particularly the pantyhose. We all know that pantyhose are of the devil anyway. I so relate to this!

Thank you secret pal!

2009-03-07T20:23:00.004-05:00

I got my last package from my SP13 pal and she has spoiled me rotten!

First, there's a totebag from her favorite LYS, Loopy Yarns in Chicago. Then we have a gorgeous skein of Seasilk. There's a lovely little handmade felted bag which had a tube of Chibi needles and some mini embroidery scissors in a leather case. There was an imported chocolate bar, some chocolate covered sunflower seeds and a pack of cacao nibs.

Here's a close up of the felted bag and one of the seasilk:

Thank you so much Michelle! You spoiled me rotten and I've loved all the goodies!

Why is it the comedians get it right?

2009-03-07T18:11:00.003-05:00

As usual, it takes Jon Stewart to point out the true state of affairs!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

The Dow Knows All

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Finally!

2009-03-02T12:02:00.009-05:00

Snow! Real snow! Typical snow average in this area is about 12 inches over the winter. So far we had gotten 2 inches. That was it! I guess Mother Nature figured that she better get on the stick before winter ended. It looks like we've gotten about 6 inches. I'm happy to report that school was cancelled today. I'm also happy that the snow held off until last night as DH and I went downtown to the Caps game at 3:00 yesterday. We typically drive into DC on the weekends, but we were afraid that they would call a snow emergency which means that you cannot park on main roads. If you are parked on one and don't move your car, you get towed and a hefty fine. We drove to Greenbelt and took the metro in. Everyone on the train had Caps jerseys on which was nice. Unfortunately the game totally blew. The Caps are #2 in the Eastern Conference and #4 in the league. They got spanked royally, losing to Florida 6 - 2. Ouch! How can an ice hockey team from the deep south do that!!!

I haven't been up to too much these days. I have been working on my two projects a lot. My Chunky Cabled Tam is going to hibernate until I figure out what to do with it. Here it is in it's current state:

I love this hat on the cover of Knit 1. Mine looks a lot bigger. It is very bulky--two strands of Manos held together on size 11 needles. The pattern called for 3 skeins of Manos and I have run out of yarn! 4 skeins will amount to one expensive hat! When I try this on, the slouchy part of the hat literally hangs down to my shoulders. I think it is just too big. I'll have to take it to my stitch 'n bitch group on Wednesday to ask for advice. I don't know whether I should get another skein and finish it, or to frog back and do one less repeat of the cable to make the top smaller. That would also keep me from having to get another skein. So I've put the tam aside to finish the Opulent Raglan. I am now on the hip increases below the waist.

I love this sweater! It fits like a charm and the yarn is like butter on the skin! It is Bristol Yarn Gallery King George which is 45% merino, 45% alpaca, 10% cashmere. My row gauge is off though. I'm getting more rows per inch. I'm a little worried that this sweater will grown in length when it is blocked. Alpaca has a tendency to do that. Merino has good memory so I'm hoing it will balance out the alpaca. At any rate, I ended up ordering two more skeins of this yarn. I am on the 5th now and only have 3 left. I can see using at least one more on the body so the 8 I bought won't be enough. I hope to get this finished by the middle of March.

I ordered the yarn for Sylvi. According to the yardage, I will need 10 skeins of the yarn I chose. I ordered 11 but Webs only had 10 so I got what they had. I'll have to make sure that my swatch is accurate. I want to do some modifications which might require more yarn. The color I got is called Valentine and they have another red, so I may get some of that and do a dye job.

Cold weather makes me pull out the crock pot. We've had some good stuff from the slow cooker in the last few weeks. Our favorite so far has been Pepperoncini Beef.

Here's the recipe:

1 - boneless chuck roast (mine was 3.5 lbs.)
2 - 14 oz.cans low sodium beef broth
1 - 16 oz, jar pepperoncini
3 or 4 peeled garlic cloves

Make some cuts into the surface of the roast. Slice the garlic cloves and put the slices into the cuts in the beef. Place the beef in the crock pot and pour in the broth and the pepperoncini with the juice. Cook 6 - 8 hours on low. After cooking, pull out the beef and shred with 2 forks. I also pulled out the pepperoncini and removed the stems. Return the pepperoncini and beef to the crock. Serve on crusty rolls. Top with Provolone cheese and put under the broiler for a couple of minutes.

Here is the finished sandwich, served with Provolone and broiled on a Chiabatta roll with some spicy Chipotle mustard!

Good stuff!

Samantha has found her old toys! There is this particular toy that she loves and I can't find them any more. I've bought her a bunch of them over the years and they eventually get destroyed. We found 2 of them in the house. She is like a kid with a security blanket with these things.

She carries it around the house. I'll hear her meowing repeatedly and there she will be with the toy in her mouth. The other day, I noticed this:

Her toy was on the piano stool! Of course the next morning I saw this:

She basks in the sun every morning on the piano stool so I guess she needed her toy to keep her company!

I will leave you with photos of the snow, taken from inside the house!

Kitty Cam: Greg is a little more greedy with his toys. He collects a number of them and puts them in his favorite box.

Bad Blogger!

2009-02-16T11:46:00.013-05:00

Oops! I did it again! I went on a 2+ week hiatus! This was purely unintentional. There were two factors. First, I've been in a winter funk. Why? Because we really haven't had a "real" winter. It's been bone-chilling cold, but there's been no snow other than the two days of wintery mix we had which caused schools to be closed 2 days due to ice. The mercury has gone up then down then up then down. It's been insane. It needs to pick a place and stay there for a while! The second reason I haven't blogged is that I've just been busy with school, DAR, knitting group etc. etc. So let me catch you up on what's been going on.

I don't remember if I mentioned this. Bird came home for the Inauguration--not for the Inauguration itself, but to get a beer. Not just any beer, mind you, but a special limited edition beer. This beer was a special brew that was only getting tapped on inauguration day in NY, Philly and DC. Here's a photo of the keg handle.

The beer is called Obamagang. The keg handle is highly collectible and the bar was guarding it carefully! Bird went to Frisco to enjoy his brew while watching the swearing in.

I finally finished my Silken Scabbard. Here are some photos:

I love the way the braided cables morph into the horseshoe cables:

This sweater is incredibly soft on the skin. Here are the details:
Pattern: Silken Scabbard by Stitch Diva Studios
Yarn: Malabrigo Silken Merino in Topaz, 50% silk, 50% merino--6 skeins
Needles: Addi turbo size 4 and 5

I learned two new techniques with this sweater: The tubular bind off and how to correct a cable boo boo. I discovered that i had crossed one of my cables the wrong way on the sleeve 8 rows after the mistake. I did not want to frog back 8 rows so I just dropped the 6 stitches involved down to the row where they cross, corrected the twist and the picked them back up to the row I was on. It took a while, but I'm glad I did it. I tend not to frog things. I find it just too painful!

This sweater took way longer than it should have. It hibernated for short periods. I want to do another for the SKC knit along. We are making wearables with cables. I have two things on the needles for this. First, I have started the Opulent Raglan:

Mine is in a darker brown yarn called King George by Bristol Yarn Gallery. Boy is this yarn soft! It is a worsted weight blend of 45% baby alpaca, 45% merino wool, 10% cashmere. It feels like a cloud! I think this sweater will be a fairly quick knit if I work on it some every day. I'm hoping it will fit okay. My stitch gauge is right on but my row gauge is off. I always have that problem!

The second item I have started is the Chunky Cabled Tam:

This tam is made out of 2 strands of Manos. I got the same yarn but in a light orange. It is a flattering color and I think it will look good with my winter jackets.

The other project I have underway is a sewing one. I am setting up at the Homespun Yarn Party with my friend Sheila from Wullenstudio. Sheila dyes gorgeous sock yarns. I am selling project bags, mini rolls --little rolls that hold cable needles, stitch counters etc.--and needle rolls for double pointed needles. Most of my designs have cat prints. Here's a photo of some of the project bags which I am using:

The mini rolls fit into the pocket. I can actually cram a sweater in progress in one of these bags but they are really perfect for smaller projects. I will be making a bunch and I have gotten a lot of kitty prints plus a few others.

I decorated the house for my DAR luncheon on Saturday. I always have flowers in the house, but I was delighted that Trader Joes had bouquets of 2 dozen roses on sale. I managed to use one bouquet in the powder room:

On the mantel:

And on the dining room table:

It's the end of high school hockey season, so I am busy with playoffs and all star games. At least I can bring my knitting to the rink!

I leave you with the Kitty Cam:
The two big lugs, Mike on the love seat and Greg on the floor, love to bask in the sun.

No beans!

2009-01-28T18:07:00.004-05:00

Here I am at home for my second snow day and I have no beans! Actually today was more of a "wintery mix" day. The wonderful snowy winters of my childhood are long past. Global warming has seen to that. Now for the beans--whenever I have a snow day, I make one of two things--either chili or Pasta e Fagiole. Typically the pasta soup is the choice because it uses things I typically have on hand and it requires no meat. As luck would have it, I didn't have beans! The soup requires dried beans and the chili requires canned. I had neither! Bummer. Even worse--I had the worst craving for a grilled cheese sandwich at lunch and I didn't have pepper jack! I'm just a big fat failure today! I had to use swiss cheese with red pepper flakes. It just wasn't the same!

So I've had two days off and I have not accomplished one single thing. I figure that snow days are freebies so I'm not "required" to get stuff done per se. I certainly could've sewn or done some knitting but I did neither. I managed to watch "24" which I had recorded and "No Country for Old Men." That is one strange movie!

So that's it! I have my winter concert tomorrow though if school is delayed we will miss our dress rehearsal. Oh well! We roll with the punches around here!

Kitty Cam:
This one is from Ems--Chelsea insists on following Mokey everywhere--even to the bathroom sink!

In with the new !

2009-01-24T12:41:00.004-05:00

I knew that I would be emotional. I just didn't expect how overcome I would feel watching as the day unfolded. The atmosphere in the DC area was one of sheer excitement. You could literally feel it in the air. I chose to stay home and watch history on TV. The tears started flowing as the dignitaries were being brought into the ceremonial area.

The faces on those in the audience were ecstatic. Faces of all ages and colors.

As a baby boomer, I remember times when this was not the case. The DC suburb I grew up in was all middle class white. My first memory of race was when I was in kindergarten. My teacher, Mrs. Plummer, was an African American. I don't remember really thinking about her as being different. She was everything you would want in a kindergarten teacher--warm, loving and genuinely concerned about her students. I remember giving her hugs everyday upon entering and leaving the classroom. So around the second week of school, I noticed that some of my friends were conspicuously absent from school several days in a row. Upon asking my mother, I was given a sober lesson in reality. "Some people," my mother told me, "don't like people who are different than they are. They think that because Mrs. Plummer is 'colored,' she isn't as good as they are." Wham! There it was! My childhood was forever changed by this harsh reality. My mother told us that judging people by their color, religion or nationality was just wrong. We are all equal in God's eyes. This was a sentiment that we would hear in our house throughout our lifetime. My mom, the child of missionaries, grew up in China. She would tell us stories of coming back to the states to visit her grandparents in New York and being teased mercilessly by the neighborhood kids. They would call her and her sister "Chinky Chinky Chinamen." She told of how hurtful it was. No one should ever belittle people who are different. No one--ever!

As a baby boomer, I remember seeing "Colored Only" signs on water fountains and restrooms in Virginia and segregated swimming pools in the south where we would visit my grandparents. I remember when Martin Luther King Jr. was assissinated and the riots that ensued in DC afterward. I remember that my high school graduating class of almost 800 had exactly 3 black students in it.

Times have changed. I teach in a school in that very same suburb that is extremely diverse. There are classes with no white children in them and the most any class has is one or two, yet you will see every single shade of brown imaginable. I continue to marvel at how my students don't see color. This is as it should be. I tell them stories of my childhood and they are in disbelief. Many of them are too young to understand that their options have been limited. Yes--we tell our children that anyone can grow up to be president, but those doors have never really been opened to anyone who was not a white male--until now. This fact, in and of itself, offers much hope.

It is my sincerest hope that the country will continue to feel the unity it does now. I hope that we will reach across party lines and discontinue the partisan politics of the past. I hope that all of us will see our responsibility in making our country a better place for all.

I hope . . .

Out with the old . . .

2009-01-20T11:09:00.003-05:00

As promised--my top 10 Bushisms:

10. "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." --George W. Bush, Greater Nashua, N.H., Chamber of Commerce, Jan. 27, 2000

9. "I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come and witness my hanging." -George W. Bush, at the dedication of his portrait, Austin, Texas, Jan. 4, 2002

8. "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." --George W. Bush, Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005

7. "More than two decades later, it is hard to imagine the Revolutionary War coming out any other way." --George W. Bush, Martinsburg, W. Va., July 4, 2007

6. "We need an energy bill that encourages consumption." -George W. Bush, Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002

5. "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures." --George W. Bush, Jan. 3, 2000

4. "Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." --George W. Bush, Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

3. "Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" --George W. Bush, Florence, South Carolina, Jan. 11, 2000

2. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

1. "I'll be long gone before some smart person ever figures out what happened inside this Oval Office." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 12, 2008

A new day in America! A leader who inspires takes the helm in about 15 minutes!
God Bless America.

How to survive a cold spell . . .

2009-01-18T11:35:00.008-05:00

Here I am by my lonesome self this weekend. DH went to the beach to help his brother with a home improvement project on their beach house. I've been enjoying the solitude but it has been cold around these parts--record breaking cold! I vowed not to go out this weekend, but I ended up making a run to Joann's to get some notions for a pair of pants I want to make. That was basically it! So--how does one keep comfortable in this cold while being frugal with energy?

First of all--keep the fire going.
Fortunately DH had gotten the fire started before he left early yesterday. I've been keeping it going by throwing the wood on every hour. The cats have been hanging out right in front of the wood stove. I really thought that I'd have at least two of them in bed with me last night. Greg ALWAYS sleeps wedged between DH and me. He never even came upstairs!

Second--keep a warm latte handy at all times.

Third--cook something in the crockpot. This was throwing off some lovely fragrances all day!
I came home from my errand to have this for dinner:
Split Pea with Ham Soup topped with a dollop of sour cream! There's nothing like homemade soup in the winter. I had been craving split pea soup so I indulged myself! I discovered that Hormel has packages of cooked, cubed ham for sale at the grocery store. You get around 2 cups with was perfect! I didn't have a ham bone handy so this worked out well and it was 99% fat free! Good stuff!

Oh--one more thing--actually two--Have some good movies or cable handy along with your favorite knitting project! I have almost finished the body of Silken Scabbard. About an hour this afternoon will take care of that. Tonight will be spent watching the Ravens game then the SNL Presidential Bash! I have to record two other shows--Big Love starts back tonight and the Mentalist is on a special night. I love my DVR! I would like to watch the Inauguration Concert this evening as well.

Things are a buzz around these parts. I'm so glad that my school system decided to close schools on Tuesday. Our Superintendent didn't want to but the BOE voted to do so. We directly border DC and have a lot of metro stations. It will be a zoo. A lot of main roads into DC are being closed and all the bridges from Virginia into DC are closed. Given that many of our employees live in DC and VA, that would have meant that many people would either be hours late to school or not make it! We were closed on Inauguration Day when I was a kid. Given our proximity to DC, this should be a holiday. The funny thing about this Inauguration Day is that many, if not most, of the locals aren't going anywhere near the city! A lot of people have been interviewed on the radio and many of them are going out of town! They are saying that literally millions of people will be on the mall for the festivities. They will have huge jumbotrons set up for the masses to see the swearing in ceremony. That's the best part, if you ask me--especially when your new president is such an incredible speaker. I remember working half day on Clinton's first Inauguration. I drove home like a bat out of hell to hear his speech. He didn't disappoint! Having a leader who communicates well does much to inspire trust in our government. Let's hope that congress doesn't impede his programs. I think that the country is so desperate for change that they will cut him some slack. Here's hoping.

I wore my Surplice Camisole Thursday to school. I didn't think I would ever wear it as I was disappointed with it. I rather like it as a layered piece though.

Now for the last Bushism of the Day:
"So I analyzed that and decided I didn't want to be the president during a depression greater than the Great Depression, or the beginning of a depression greater than the Great Depression." --George W. Bush, Washington D.C., Dec. 18, 2008

Kitty Cam: This is how Mikey is spending his cold winter days:

Late Show - Farewell to

2009-01-17T13:22:00.001-05:00

We come to the end of an era. The late night comedians are going to be scrambling for material. I don't think Obama will be providing so much!

There are a few good things about George Bush . . .

2009-01-08T20:31:00.006-05:00

Is that the cutest thing or what? I've known that the Bush's had Scotties but the black kitty was a surprise. Unfortunately their kitty who was 18 years old died this week. I never pegged George as a cat guy. I think the kitty was more for the girls. There was a site that had a pic from Jenna's wedding with the girls holding kitty as well as several pics of Laura holding kitty. That Valentine photo is just dear. Here's another one that I found cute:

I also have a thing for Scotties. I had one for 16 years and they've always been my favorite breed of dog.

Today was a day for comfort food. I made meat loaf. My mom always made meat loaf, but I never liked it. Mom did not like highly seasoned food and she didn't cook with salt. I don't cook with salt, but I love a lot of seasoning. This meat loaf recipe has been a favorite in my family since I can remember. I got this recipe from a Sears Microwave cookbook from the 1970's. My parents were the first people I know that bought a microwave. The book that came with it had some good stuff! I've modified the original recipe a little by using ground turkey.

Our Favorite Meat Loaf

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. cider vinegar
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 c. cracker crumbs
2 pounds ground beef (I use turkey)
salt and pepper to taste (I omit the salt)

Combine tomato sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and mustard in a small bowl and set aside.

Combine meet, egg, onion, cracker crumbs, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the tomato mixture and blend thoroughly. Shape into an oval loaf and place in an oblong baking dish. Make a depression in the top of the loaf and pour the remaining tomato sauce over the top of the meat.

Cover with plastic wrap, leaving a corner to vent and cook at 60% power for 25 minutes.

If you prefer to cook the meat loaf in a conventional oven, you may cook it at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

This meat loaf hit the spot. I served it with Roasted Garlic Smashed Potatoes and fresh organic broccoli florets.

So I finally tried on Silken Scabbard to see how many hip increases I will need to do. It fits quite well and is really stretchy so I don't think I'll need to do as many increases as normal. I need to get crackin' on finishing it. Here's what I have so far:

I'm still adjusting to being back at school. The next few weeks will be quite busy as I have a winter concert coming up on the 29th and the grading period ends on the 23rd. My time will be consumed by grades and rehearsals.

Time is getting short for these:
Bushism of the day:
"Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people." --George W. Bush, Charlottesville, Va., July 4, 2008

Kitty Cam: Harley is making his winter nest. He pulls down my bath towel and kneads biscuits on it by the radiator!

Is it June yet?

2009-01-05T21:39:00.004-05:00

I should not be asking that question the first week of January. I typically don't feel that way, but the first day back at school after a break is always tough. First off--I'm totally exhausted! I went to bed before midnight last night which is unusual on a Sunday night. I always stay up too late on Sunday and then start the week tired but I was responsible last night. I have no planning periods on Mondays and Fridays so they are harder to begin with. The kids were out of it. When I would comment on their lack of attention, they would complain of being tired. Well, duh! Teachers are people too! It will get slowly better. I will admit that I am doing the snow dance tonight and tomorrow morning--or should I say, the Wintery Mix dance! I'll take whatever I can get!

No knitting today. I did start off the day being somewhat productive at home--I got a load of laundry in the washer, the dishwasher filled and running and dinner in the crock pot before I left for work. I didn't go in early because I anticipated staying late for a staff meeting. Our meeting was cancelled so that we could take the time to "get back in the groove." Thank goodness!

Bird treated himself to some new ink for graduation and he sent me a photo:

I've always told that boy that Mom is the one girl who will never break his heart! I guess he must agree!

Bushism of the day:
"I think it was in the Rose Garden where I issued this brilliant statement: If I had a magic wand -- but the president doesn't have a magic wand. You just can't say, 'low gas.'" --George W. Bush, Washington D.C., July 15, 2008

Kitty Cam: Ems sent this photo of Mokey. When she got home, he immediately got in one of the bags before she could unpack!

Fast away the old year passes . . .

2009-01-04T11:36:00.002-05:00

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses . . .

The years seem to come and go more quickly, the older I get. So does my winter break! It takes the entire break just to regroup. Forget actually getting stuff done around the house! The holidays take up the first part then I need to recover and get some sleep! This year was busier than most because we had Bird's graduation party. It was fun though. Now I can only hope that he can get a better job before those student loans come due. Speaking of jobs, Ems lost hers so we will have to help her out a bit.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I've decided that I am going to seriously try to not buy stuff. I got some nice things for Christmas and I really just don't need anything. I may make one more yarn purchase for something that cannot be knit from stash:

I typically would not attempt a coat, but this is chunky yarn. The actual stitch count is the same as one of my usual sweaters so it should take about the same time to knit. The one issue I see is that the "plain" parts of the sweater are done in seed stitch. That might just drive me crazy. I'll see if the sale yarn I want to get is still available on my next payday. If so, then I will get it. If not, then it's not meant to be at this time.

The only other things I can spend money on:

Gifts
Consumable items that I use regularly--In other words, no browsing around Sephora for new eye and lip colors. I have a ton of stuff already.
Notions and patterns which enable me to use my fabric and/or yarn stash
School items --which are usually reimbursed anyway.

Here are some of my holiday FO's:

First--the Struan hat I made for Bird:

Details:
Pattern: Struan by Ysolda
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Blue Graphite
Needles: Size 5, 16 inch Addi's and Size 5 Brysun D
P's
Here's Ems' Struan:

Same details except the color which is called Shocking Pink!

I just finished the Fawn Earflap Hat for Ems:

I'm not exactly the best model for it. It will look so much better on Ems!
Here are the details:
Pattern: Fawn Earflap Hat from the book Boutique Knits
Yarn: Twinkle Soft Chunky in violet
Needles: Size 15--16 inch Addis and size 15 wood DP's

I love everything in Boutique Knits. They are all accessories and all of the styles are different and a bit edgy. Now I have to finish my Silken Scabbard. That will be a priority.

My secret pal sent me some nice goodies for Christmas:

I love the cable stitch mug from Starbucks! The green tea and chocolate covered almonds are going straight to school!

I got some nice things for Christmas from the family as well. DH got me the Cole Haan boots I've been wanting for over a year. They appeared on Ebay brand new, in my size and a fraction of the original price: The leather is like glove leather. The shaft of the boot is woven leather strips. They are stunning and the photo just doesn't do them justice! DH also got me this:
I've been dying for the Ally McBeal boxed set. The problem is they aren't available in the US due to some copyright issues with the music. You can get them on Amazon UK but they are not the correct format for players in the US. This set is a region free format and they were ordered from Hong Kong. I need to try them out to make sure they are okay. The reviews were good so I hope these work! I watch dvd's when I sew. I've watched all 6 seasons of Sex and the City and I'm now almost done with season 4 of Six Feet Under. Ally McBeal is next!

I've been cooking more during my break. I'm trying to plan meals better so that I don't waste money on food that doesn't end up getting used. Last night I made pizza from scratch. I used to do this all the time. Trader Joe's has pizza dough which I was using, but I decided to go back to making my own. It takes literally 5 minutes in the bread machine. It mixes and rises in the machine over a period of a little less than 2 hours so I may start making it the night before.This is before the pizza was cooked. I like this dough recipe because it is easy to hand stretch. Here is the recipe for a thin 14 inch crust:

Pizza Dough

2/3 cup warm water
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tsp. yeast.

Put all ingredients in the bread machine pan in the order listed and set on dough cycle. When the cycle is finished, stretch dough to fit a greased 14 inch pan. Put desired toppings on pizza and cook for 15 - 20 minutes in a 450 degree preheated oven.

My pie was topped with Arrabiata sauce, 4 cups of shredded mozzarella, vidalia onion, yellow bell pepper, black olives and Trader Joe's precooked spicy Italian chicken sausage. We only ate half of it and will have the other half tonight!

It's back to the old grind tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to getting up in the dark. I've been keeping my preferred hours of going to bed around 2 a.m. and getting up around 9:30 a.m. If only I could keep those hours on a normal basis!

Happy New Year to you all!

I'm running out of time for the
Bushism of the day:
You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President." --George W. Bush, ABC News interview, Dec. 1, 2008

Kitty Cam: Both Samantha and Harley have enjoyed the Christmas Tree!

From our house to yours . . .

2008-12-26T13:25:00.001-05:00

Have a happy holiday season!

Santa Claus Bailout Hearings

2008-12-23T20:05:00.001-05:00

WoW! I guess everyone wants a bailout!

It's been a long time comin'. . .

2008-12-21T11:17:00.016-05:00

Finally! Bird getting his "diploma." Sort of, that is. First off, they only give you the diploma cover and you get the actual paper later. For Bird, it will be much later. When he got to the ceremony, he noticed that his name was not in the program. They fixed that. A couple hours later, after the ceremony, his advisor called him to tell him that they didn't have his graduation form which is why he wasn't on the program. Funny thing is, he filled it out and turned it in in October several weeks before the deadline. They obviously lost it. The not so funny thing is that his diploma will be issued in May 2009. If he interviews for a job requiring a degree, then the school will write a letter explaining that he officially has the degree, so that's good. I told him that he should try to get his loans deferred until 6 months after his "official" graduation date (the one on paper). I will say that after 4 and 1/2 years at Duquesne, this has been the first snafu. They have always been efficient at everything. It just figures that the first boo boo would be a big one! That's okay! We still celebrated and had a great time.

What's the first thing that the graduate did?Light up a cigarette ! (much to his mother's chagrin)

Thanks to Andrew for taking the photos. He was an honorary family member for the weekend!

Check this out--I noticed during the ceremony that Ems is her mother's daughter!
The shoe queen gene is passed down to a new generation!

After the ceremony, we went to Fatheads in the South Side. Best sandwiches ever! I can't believe that I actually finished mine. I had a "headwich" which supposedly is a sandwich the size of a human head. It came close! I typically don't eat much, but I finished it and didn't feel all that full! Go figure!

After Fatheads (and Starbucks) DH, Ems and I went to Shadyside so that Ems could go to the Apple Store to get her iPhone looked at. We dropped her there and found parking. While walking to the Apple Store we passed the neatest little shoe store on Walnut Street called "Ten Toes." There was a pair of boots in the window that I loved. After the Apple Store, while walking back to the car, the conversation went sort of like this:

Ems: Ooh! I have to show you the cutest boots I saw there!
Me: Were they the ones with the buckles?
Ems: Yes! Isn't it funny that we love the same shoes.

And we ran to the window to discover that we loved the same boots! We went in the store and most of the boots and shoes were half off! I ended up buying two pairs of those boots--one for each of us!

They can be worn cuffed as well! There was a brand of shoes called Naught Monkey that both Ems and I fell in love with. They were all half off as well. If it wasn't the holidays, I may have picked up a pair or two, but money is a bit tight these days!
This type of situation occurred again when we were window shopping at BCBG. Ems wanted to show me a dress that she loved and I was rushing to look at one I saw that I loved. It was the same dress!

We went back to the hotel for a while then met up with Ems, Bird, Andrew and Ems' boys (her band buds) at Arsenal Lanes in Lawrenceville for some bowling. They have a $9 all you can bowl from 9 p.m. to midnight on Friday nights. There is also karaoke and a bar in there! I must admit that I find the bowling alleys in Pittsburgh a little strange in that the two I've been to are all upstairs! Around these parts, bowling alleys are all downstairs!
Bird and Andrew dressed for the occasion:

Here's Bird singing "Dust in the Wind"
We all did karaoke! We found out that Andrew does a mean Elvis!

Ems and her boys:

We met Ems, Bird and Andrew and the Cheesecake Factory for lunch at 11:00 on Saturday then hit the road at 1:00. We were home at 5 p.m. The kitties were pretty glad to see us. They get such good care from Pampered Pets that they are much more "ho hum" about it when we walk in. They used to be very clingy, but they get spoiled when we're away now. Their sitter forgot she wasn't supposed to come Saturday night and she came over. She said that if we ever get home to find Mikey gone, we'll know she took him! Everyone loves Mikey!

I stayed up until 3 a.m. last night, doing some Christmas knitting and watching HBO. I watched "Definitely, Maybe" which is a cute romantic comedy, followed by Sweeney Todd which is anything but a romantic comedy. I still love that movie, but it is definitely on the weird side. One has to figure that a movie with Johnny Depp that's directed by Tim Burton is going to be quirky, to say the least! Today I will run my usual Sunday errands and work on a few holiday gifts!

Less than one month left of the following--
Bushism of the day:
"You know, I'm the President during this period of time, but I think when the history of this period is written, people will realize a lot of the decisions that were made on Wall Street took place over a decade or so, before I arrived in President, during I arrived in President." --George W. Bush, ABC News interview, Dec. 1, 2008

Kitty Cam: Bar makes himself comfortable like a little prince.

I love goodies!

2008-12-14T22:44:00.010-05:00

I love surprises and I got a lovely one in the mail yesterday! A box of goodies from my Winter Wonderland Swap Partner! Let's see what she sent me:
On top in the box we have a Nicky Epstein Felting book and a lovely handmade card

Next we have some sweet goodies for me and some fishy ones for the kitties!

Next we have more kitty toys, some holiday tissues and some playing cards with the St. Louis Arch (my buddy lives in MO)

Next is a small Christmas tin with more kitty toys!

And finally, a large Christmas tin with a gorgeous skein of Mountain Colors Merino/mohair blend yarn in all those fall colors that I love along with some crystal snowman earrings:

Here's a closeup of the earrings:

Thank you so much ArmyMom! I love everything!

Here are a couple of photos from our night out at Rams Head:

And here's the whole group!

I've been getting some shopping done and making gifts this weekend so there's not much else to share! Back to the old grind tomorrow!

Bushism of the day:
"The question is, who ought to make that decision? The Congress or the commanders? And as you know, my position is clear -- I'm a commander guy." --George W. Bush, who apparently is no longer "The Decider," Washington, D.C., May 2, 2007

Kitty Cam: Mokey looks perfectly at ease on Em's pink comforter!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care . . .

2008-12-13T20:06:00.014-05:00

I put out my decorations last weekend and finally got around to putting my fresh greens around the house. We have a huge holly tree that has more berries than usual this year. Notice all the stockings? All 4 kitties and Elvis (the turtle) have them. It was really crowded when we had 6 cats and pet rats in addition! I had to hang 2 stockings on some of the hooks!

I decorate in 3 phases. The Christmas stuff goes up the first weekend in December. A week and a half or so before Christmas, the tree goes up. The first week in January, the Santas and other Christmas stuff gets put away and the rest of the snowmen come out. You may have noticed that part of the snowman collection graces the mantel. They will stay there until March. I will put more snowmen out when I put the Santas away!

Here are a few more of the decorations:

This is the creche that my Dad made in the early 1950's. I've had to do a little restoration. It is surrounded by antique bottle brush trees. They are my new favorite thing and I've been collecting them for a couple of years now.

More Bottle Brush trees!

Wooden Victorian Carolers on top of the china cabinet!

Snowman hurricane lamps on top of the bookcase!

I went to Joann's for the super sale yesterday and I picked up a couple of patterns and some fabric. I specifically went for this Simplicity pants pattern which got really good reviews on Pattern Review. This pattern has all kinds of fitting tips and separate pattern pieces for slim, average and curvy fit.

It is pictured with two pieces of stretch fine wale corduroy. I typically don't care for corduroy, but this is a very fine wale and it is really stretchy! I will actually use it for some pants from the Burda World of Fashion magazine. It ended up being about $2 a yard!

I stumbled on this pattern:

It is a Project Runway Simplicity pattern. There are long sleeves that have rouching along the seem and I will make it with those. I decided that it needed a slinky knit so I found a leaf green rayon/lycra knit:

Then today I stopped by the other Joann's in my area only to find that they were going out of business! So I picked up some sale stuff.
First I have a stretchy satiny suiting in leaf green to use for a skirt from Burda WOF and a brown herringbone polyester suiting for some dress slacks--most likely that Simplicity pattern pictured above:

And there was one piece of a herringbone stretchy denim which I will probably use for capri's since there is probably not enough for full length slacks. I also picked up more wool suiting. I already had enough of this for a skirt, so I thought I'd get some for a jacket as well.

I hope to devote more time to sewing after Christmas. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it!

DH and I got our Christmas Tree today. We ended up getting the first Noble Fir that we saw! It's unusual to find the perfect tree so quickly. We've gotten Noble Firs the last couple of years and I really love them. They are similar to Fraser Firs but less blue in color and the branches open out more. They last a good long time! It's sitting outside for the time being. Tomorrow we'll cut some off the trunk and put it in water then in a few days it will come in the house where we will let it open up. Since we are going to Pittsburgh on Thursday, we figured that we'd bring it in on Wednesday. It will have a few days to open up and we'll be able to decorate it when we get back!

Bushism of the day:
"Amigo! Amigo!" --George W. Bush, calling out to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Spanish at the G-8 Summit, Rusutsu, Japan, July 10, 2008

Kitty Cam: Harley naps in the one little sunny spot he can find!

Bad Blogger!

2008-12-11T22:35:00.011-05:00

That's me! I've been neglecting my duties here lately. I guess there have just been too many other duties that have gotten in the way! I won't go into that. I've been busy with work/social things so this will be a quick "what's been going on" type of post.

Last Saturday, several things happened that made me very happy. First it snowed.

It was just starting when I took that photo.
I ran out to the grocery store and the snow started falling when I was on my way home. By the evening, the ground was white. I got home to find this:

A fire! We haven't used the wood burning stove in a few years but DH bought some wood. Nothing says "winter" quite like a roaring fire, snow and turkey soup on the stove. That was the third thing that made me happy!

You know it's winter at our house when you see this:

We put our snowguy out in November. Actually we usually put him out on Nov. 11 because that is when we have gotten our earliest blizzard. It was Nov. 11, 1987--Ems' 4th birthday. We got a foot of snow! We went to Chuck E. Cheese that night for her birthday dinner and we were the only people in the place except a handful of vets that were in town for Veteran's Day. So we always put SnowGuy out in hopes that he will bring us another blizzard. He's been slacking the last few years.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. I found this little tree on Ebay and had to have it.

It's a musical bottle brush tree from the 1950's. It is 12 inches tall and it plays "Silent Night." We had one just like this when we were kids. It sat on the piano. I remember that it was the only thing that I wasn't allowed to play with. Whenever I would go to wind it up, my mom would take it away and wind it for me. I think she was afraid that I would overwind the mechanism and break it. I always loved that little tree. It rotates. My brother has the original one so I found an exact likeness.

I've been working on a few projects which I cannot share at this time. Once Christmas is over, I will share them. I've gotten to the point on Silken Scabbard when I need to try it on. I've gotten to the waist and I need to determine how many increases to do over the hips. I hope to finish it over winter break.

One little project I will share is my new t-shirt! Someone at work ordered staff t-shirts. You could get either a polo shirt or a baseball jersey type shirt. Neither of them appealed to me. I like my skinny fitted tees. I decided that I would create a shirt specific to my being a music teacher so I came up with this:

I have my school initials and the word "staff" right under the music staff. I liked the pun. My students have all commented on it. I've decided that next I will make a Thermofax Silkscreen of the design and use white ink on a green shirt. Fortunately I had the foresight to snag the old Thermofax machine we had at school when we were renovated 12 years ago. The machines had become obsolete as copiers, but someone has devised a way to make silkscreens using them. The refurbished machines are now selling for $900. I haven't checked mine to see if it works, but that will be something I will do over winter break.

The other thing I did last weekend was to tweak my hair color. I get my color professionally done, but it gets dull in between. Ems is able to get the same demi color--Paul Mitchell Shines-- at Davidson's since she is a beautician student. I added a little more red and it is more of an auburn now.

Speaking of Ems--she is certainly her mother's daughter! She's been getting into the Pittsburgh spirit by remaking some thrift store Steelers' sportswear:

How much fun is that!

This week has had its share of social functions. My knitting group had a cookie exchange on Wednesday. There were about 25 of us who each made 7 dozen cookies. We had goodies to eat and our hostess printed up cookie cookbooks containing the recipes of all the cookies that were shared. She also supplied colorful tins for us to take our goodies home in. This is our second annual exchange and it was a great success. Tonight DH and I met up with two other couples at the Ram's Head. It's fun to go out with grownups. That is one of the pleasures of being empty nesters. We've decided to do this on a regular basis and we've already pencilled in a date in January.

We have a winter weather advisory, so I have to go do my snow dance before going to bed.

Bushism of the day:
"The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope -- an ideology of hate -- excuse me --with an ideology of hope." --George W. Bush, Fort Benning, Ga., Jan. 11, 2007

Kitty Cam: Harley and Mike know how to chill on a cold snowy day.

Busy busy!

2008-11-30T17:49:00.014-05:00

It's getting to be that crazy time of year! November and December are very busy for us. Not only do we have the winter holidays, but we also have a number of family birthdays as well. My Thanksgiving holiday started in a nice way when both kids arrived home on Tuesday evening. Then Wednesday after lunch my principal told us we could leave early on Wednesday. That was a relief because we had plans that night. When I got home I found a package from my new Secret Pal waiting for me! Here's what was in it:

First a beautiful mosaic tea candle holder and a bag of tea candles in Mexican Pumpkin scent which is spicy with cinnamon.

This went right on the family room coffee table.

Second, there were two skeins of Manos silk blend yarn in a beautiful olive green.

This yarn is destined to become a scarf!

Wednesday night evening Bird's friend Jack and his girlfriend Ally came over to go to the Caps game with us. Jack had gotten tickets that included a buffet in one of the clubs at the MCI Center. So we piled all six of us into my car and headed to DC. DH and I had our matching Caps Jerseys on:

My jersey, like most of the ones you see these days, has number 8 on it for Alexander Ovechkin. DH chose something more original:

Ems:

Bird and Jack:

Ems and Ally:

And, of course, Bird two fisting beer!

It was a great game--especially since the Caps won!

On Thursday, we went to DH's brother's house for dinner in the afternoon. We had a great meal and enjoyed seeing family that we don't see too often. That night, we just hung out at home. Friday, I fixed a turkey dinner for us since we like leftovers and the kids wanted some to take back to Pittsburgh. We had a formal dinner in the dining room after which the kids headed back to the Burgh. Before leaving, we got into a jam session and Ems snapped this photo of me and DH rocking to the oldies:

Friday I also got a package from Webs which included this yarn that I have never used before:

That's a dozen skeins of Northfield by Valley Yarns which is 70% merino, 20% silk, and 10% cashmere. It feels incredibly soft. This is for the Baby Cables and Big Ones sweater. There was other yarn in the package, but it is for Christmas gifts so I cannot reveal what it is at this time!

Speaking of gifts--Our nephew's wife sent these pictures of baby Rupert in the sweater and hat I made for him. Isn't he a cutie?

It's back to the old grind tomorrow. The little kiddies get rather restless this time of year!

Bushism of the day:
"I think it was in the Rose Garden where I issued this brilliant statement: If I had a magic wand -- but the president doesn't have a magic wand. You just can't say, 'low gas.'" --George W. Bush, Washington D.C., July 15, 2008

Kitty cam: Mikey models the newest in E-Collars (Elizabethan Collars) for cats:

Unfortunately the other cats started making fun of him.

Life with Mikey

2008-11-19T21:47:00.003-05:00

This is Mikey:

Mikey has been keeping me busy the past few days. For those who don't know, Mikey is diabetic which typically means that he gets just a little extra care than the other kitties. Usually this just involves getting two insulin shots a day. Last Wednesday Mikey went to the vet for a blood test. Just like human diabetics, feline diabetics often have poor circulation. Being chubby doesn't help either. So the vet had to shave the inside of one of Mikey's legs and probe with the needle before finally hitting a vein. This is not unusual. What is unusual is that Sunday night, I noticed that Mikey was rather grumpy and somewhat lethargic. I couldn't figure out why. Monday night, he was clearly worse. Then I noticed a rather large abscess at the site of the blood test. It was totally gross. It had to hurt like the dickens! So Tuesday night, we went back to the vet. Because of the diabetes, the vet thought that the abscess should be cultured so that we didn't waste time determining the type of bacteria causing the infection--thus being able to pursue to correct type of antibiotics. Was I shocked to see that the culture was over $100! The total bill was $172. Boy, I wasn't prepared for that! He had the abscess drained, got a broad spectrum antibiotic injection and a pain killer. He was much better this morning and he actually ate--so I could give him his insulin which he hadn't gotten in over a day since he wasn't eating. He will return to the vet to be checked out again tomorrow. He's a funny kitty. Most cats hide after medical treatment. Mikey tolerates it well and will cuddle after as if he knows that I put him through it to make him feel better.

That's about the extent of the last few days. I've been knitting and will perhaps show some progress photos soon. I'm at the point on Silken Scabbard where I divide the sleeves and the body.

We've been having some snow flurries. The weather can be such a tease!

Bushism of the day
Keith Olbermann's Worser person addresses Mr. Bush's speaking abilities!

Kitty Cam: Harley's likes to act like royalty by sleeping on a pillow!