What miserable weather today! It started with sleet, turned to snow for about two inches’ worth, then back to sleet and then freezing rain. All afternoon. Just awful.

I took this picture through the living room window of one of our shrubs, just before the light disappeared altogether. Because, naturally, the trees and all were just getting prettily ice-cased as the sun went down.

I believe that most of the precipitation is over for the night, though, which means that that ice layer shouldn’t be much thicker than this, when all is said and done, and so therefore not as threatening to life and (tree) limb as the massive ice storm that swept through the Midwest states this week.

The plus side, though, is that my office closed early today. So at 12:00, I headed carefully home to spend the rest of the afteroon with my favorite little boy.

Luckily, that was before the worst of the ice came along, and the roads were already pretty well sanded by then. The only place I skidded was on a curve on my own street, but since there weren’t any other cars nearby at that moment, and I didn’t come near any trees or mailboxes, that was okay. In fact, I think it’s good to get a chance to practice that whole “steer into a skid” thing once in a while, if you can do so without risking damage. The timing was especially good since, thanks to Dad’s shuttling my car around this morning, it not only had its bi-annual inspection but also its annual oil change this morning. It really would have been a shame to crunch a fender after that, you know?

Still, it was nice to be home for the afternoon. Hopefully the roads will be clear in the morning and we’ll see what kind of storm the potential one for this weekend turns into. At any rate, Chappy was good company this afternoon (even if he was disappointed that this wasn’t “romping” weather), and it WAS nice curling up with the new Spin-Off. (Which, incidentally, explained in the Letters to the Editor section why they had to change from the perfect-bound spine to the stapled one which is harder to see on a shelf. Basically, a cost issue–it was that, or increase the subscription price.)

Otherwise? My tooth still hurts–a nice little throbbing above one of the new crowns I paid dearly for this summer. I tried calling my dentist though . . . he’s on vacation until December 20th. Sigh. But it felt better this afternoon, though it’s sore again now . . . There IS a back-up dentist but if he’s the same one my dentist used last time I had an emergency and he wasn’t there, I don’t think he’d be able to help anyway. So . . . fingers crossed.

Frankly, I’m starting to run out of fingers these days….

Tags: General, Uncategorized, Weather by Deb
11 Comments »

So, I haven’t shown a picture of my shawl in a while, but I’ve been making progress.

Of course, I’m well aware that the picture is a pretty lousy one. We’re at that awkward stage where it’s too bulky to spread the stitches out along the length of the needle . . . or, you know, even half the stitches.

I left out two of the pattern repeats because I didn’t want the shawl to be too huge to wear and at this point, I have 26 rows to go, which assuming I were to work on this every night without being distracted (or tired), means there’s about two weeks to go. I’m only getting through two rows a night–one pattern row and the purl-back row.

It’s looking pretty, though. Even if it is Zephyr. Because still, no, not really loving working with Zephyr.

In other news? Our “new” dishwasher that we got in January and that Mom and I have always hated? Well, the little “wand” on the top broke off last week. Fridgidare sent a repair person who popped it back on, went on his way and . . . two days later . . . yep. Off again. Another repair person came on Monday said he’d have to order a part, but that the problems we were having closing the door was because of the installation. So, Mom called PC Richards and their repair person came today and very helpfully told Mom that he couldn’t help her. When she started to get upset, “What am I going to do?” he kind of leaned in and quietly said, “I’m trying to help you get a new dishwasher.” Oh, she blinked. ‘Well, then, whatever shall I do?” He said to call PC Richards, ask for H. and tell them that F. said he couldn’t fix it. She did and when she told H, he asked, “Which Frank?” So Mom described him and said that the man’s voice immediately changed–”Oh, that’s the good Frank. How can I help you?”

So . . . we went to PC Richards tonight and picked out a new G.E. dishwasher which will be installed on Friday. It was only an extra $21, too, so . . . our fingers are crossed. It can’t be worse than the one we’ve hated for the last 11 months, right? Although, to be fair, it has done a decent job washing . . . it’s just all the other stuff that’s been annoying (grin).

Chappy just wants all the chaos in his house to settle down . . . all these dishwasher people, then there was the Cablevision guy yesterday, and the leaf-cleaners . . . he’s just exhausted.

Can I just say how much I dislike the haircut I got a couple weeks ago? If I had mostly-straight hair, it would be a perfectly adequate cut. I mean, the girl wasn’t completely incompetent. However, I had specifically asked for a stylist with curly-hair skills and when I got there, she told me, “I had a class on curly hair once.” Which inspired great confidence, as you can imagine. She gave me what’s basically a bob with almost no shaping at all–which means the curl is pulled straight down, flat on the top, and slightly pyramidal at the bottom. It’s not, to be fair, an awful haircut, but it’s only been, what, two weeks? And it’s already looking over-grown. It’s not so bad that I’m hiding under hats and feeling mortified to be seen in public–as I said, if my hair were straighter, it would be a fine cut, but since my hair is NOT, it’s completely not suited to my hair which, you know, I believe was her job?

I so miss my old stylist! And the one I tried in August who gave me what was a much better cut than this one was still $15 more than the stylist I was going to, and that’s just such a huge jump, especially when we’re having such money troubles these days. But this cut, which cost me $45 is lousy for my hair. Would it have been worth the extra $15 to go back to the salon I tried in August? I don’t know. All I DO know, though, is that this haircut is not going to last past January without looking awful, so instead of 4 months between haircuts, it’ll only be two. Which isn’t exactly economical, either. Stupid, stupid girl–I TOLD her I like my haircuts to last as long as possible. Sigh.

Oh, and I have a toothache which I’m hoping will go away overnight.

Nope. 41 really hasn’t been fun so far…. I keep telling myself that things are going to turn around so spectacularly that, in years to come, I’m going to look back at 41 as one of the best years of my life. Thinking positive is a good thing, right?

Tags: General, Hair, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Okay, so just for kicks, and because I haven’t done one in a while, a couple fun little memes. One is holiday-related and the other is not, so they’re suitable for all. Feel free to play along!

First, seen at Thinking About, “Please share 12 of your favorite
Christmas things: they can be memories, traditions, songs, presents,
beliefs, whatever it is about this season that you love.”

1. Our Christmas tree. Not just any tree, mind you, but ours. We have an artificial tree, but I’m okay with that–although we had used the same one my entire life up until just a couple Christmases ago, so I’m still adjusting. But the point is that I love the decorations, the garland, the look, the twinkle, and that warm, cozy feeling from having our tree sitting in the living room. I admire other people’s trees, but I love ours.
2. The wooden Santa that my grandfather made back in the 1950s. I can still remember when he was taller than I was and it’s just not Christmas around here without it. Besides, we all think he kind of looks like Grandpa, so in a way, it’s like having him here for the holidays.
3. The ceramic Santa being climbed over by kittens and puppies that my sister made for me in 1999. I can’t tell you how much I love it, but … so much that I used a picture of it for my Christmas cards last year. This picture, in fact.
4. Gloating Day. How can you not love Gloating Day? A day devoted to a polite celebration of “I’m done and you’re not?”
5. Presents. Not so much the getting them (though, I like that too, as who doesn’t?), but the fun of picking out JUST the right gift for my family. I agree that Christmas has gotten too commercial, yes, yes, but I think the people who decide not to exchange gifts at all are going too far in the opposite direction. It’s not about surrounding the tree with 3-foot piles, 4-layers deep of the latest electronic gadgets. Definitely not, but giving one or two (or three) gifts that are thoughtfully selected and that your loved ones wouldn’t buy for themselves? Priceless….
6. Especially when they’re kids. Children plus Christmas just simply equals Magic. That Christmas Morning miracle, the cookies for Santa, the joy, the wonder . . .  just can’t be beat.
7. Carols. I mean, sure, it’s ridiculous that the radio stations start playing them practically the day after Halloween, but from the middle of December on, I have to admit, I love the Christmas music. I have a bad habit of buying new Christmas CDs every year, too, and at the moment, have 347 Christmas songs on my MP3 player. Interestingly, I’ve got it on Shuffle, but I’m hearing Bing Crosby, the Chipmunks, the Carpenters, and the Charlie Brown soundtrack about every other song, with only a rare appearance from Harry Connick Jr, Dean Martin, or any of others. Very strange!
8. Chappy. Because let’s not forget that the four-legged kids can get just as enthusiastic as the two-legged kids. And, of course, he’s darn cute when he’s opening presents.
9. That Christmas Magic. It’s indefinable, really, and when you’re swamped with cookie baking and gift-wrapping and shopping and work and family plans and all the other crazy things, it’s easy to lose track of it, but still . . . if you find a few minutes to sit by a Christmas tree, or listen to carols, drink some cocoa . . . it’s there. It’s the only time of year where you can feel that special kind of buzz that surrounds Christmas. The commercialization of the holiday might make it a little trickier to find, but . . . it’s there. And I think that part of the trick is that you have to let yourself relax a little to find it.
10. Getting my shopping done early. Well, this year, I’m a little late, but usually, I have all my shopping done by Thanksgiving so that I can enjoy the month of December without feeling stressed. Because Christmas time should be magical, not stressful!
11. A chance to wear my Tannenbaum hat. I love that hat, but it IS kind of restricted to just one month out of the year, you know?
12. Last on the list? In the oddest kind of love/hate kind of way . . . stollen. As much as I hate the marathon of baking this difficult, obstinate bread, I do love that tradition thing. Carrying on the tradition from my Grandmother, and making my Dad so very happy. I complain about it every year, and really don’t enjoy making it, and yet . . . I dread the first year that I don’t NEED to make it, so . . . really, I’m happy to be making Stollen. You know, when I’m not dreading and/or hating making Stollen. Like I said, it’s a love/hate relationship.

Now, I’m not going to tag anybody–I hate forcing people to play along–but I hope that you do! And, my feeling is that, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, you could talk about your Winter Holiday of Choice instead. Because don’t most of us celebrate something this time of year?

And second, from BoogaJ, the monthly meme–where, if you have a blog, you quote the first line from the first post of each month of the last year. Now, since my first post is always my monthly reading list, I’m going to be quoting from my second post, but, you know, that’s just me! And, anyway, this one was fun.

• January: Today was the first day back to work of the year, and since we had a
  long weekend, I had to keep reminding myself that it was Tuesday
• February: I got this little handmade box in the mail today….
• March: Yes, I know. I’m making myself hungry, too.
• April: Okay, move over computer!
• May: I’m really nowhere near ready to sew the zipper into my Celtic Icon, but you know me. I like to plan ahead.
• June: Just some pictures from Donaroma’s Nursery and Landscaping Services in Edgartown, Massachusetts.
• July: Yep. Those two bobbins you saw yesterday?
• August: Technically, yes. During high school . . . you know, back in the early
  1980s . . . my best friend and I wrote letters to just about every
  author we loved.
• September: Well, here it is. September. And what a beautiful start to the month!
• October:
  Ah, my favorite month of the year. (Well, if you discount the seasonal allergies.)
• November: Remember last year? When I threw myself a virtual party and asked all of you to show me your November calendar pictures?
• December: I had such good intentions for today.

Come on and play along!

Tags: General by Deb
4 Comments »

So, today’s Cute Chappy anecdote?

You’ve read all about the Stollen and how much Dad loves it, and of course, it’s a Christmas present. (Frankly, I think it’s the only one from me he really, truly wants.) But this means that he doesn’t get to eat it until Christmas morning. All the loaves get stashed in the freezer to keep them fresh and every year on Christmas Eve, I take one out, put it in a box, wrap it, and put it under the Christmas tree (to the annual delight of our dogs on Christmas morning who get very excited sniffing around the tree).

Well, in yesterday’s mountain of Stollen, there were two mini-loaves. One gets stashed in the freezer until Father’s Day, but the other? Well, I’m not heartless. With the house smelling of Stollen and the counter piled high with loaves, well, the poor guy deserves at least a taste, so . . . he’s officially allowed to eat one of those mini-loaves now, while the rest waits for the 25th.

The other thing to know, though, is that Dad is very, very jealous of his Stollen. He doesn’t like to share. Even when his brother was alive and I’d send 2 loaves down to the farm for him and his family (all of whom love it), Dad would complain that I was giving too much away. (Okay, he was joking about it . . . mostly.) And he never even shares with his grandchildren. We were trying to remember last night if he’d ever given a taste to my niece or nephew, and . . . nope. Don’t think so. And Dad really does love his grandchildren, so . . . that says a lot.

A couple years ago, though, I pointed out that he lives in the same house as the Stollen Baker AND the Stollen Baker’s loving dog, his granddog, who adores baked goods. And that it might behoove him to stay on the Baker’s good side by sharing a few crumbs with her dog. He grumbled, but gave in, so that when he eats his Stollen for breakfast, he’ll leave some crumbs on his dish for Chappy.

Turns out, Chappy is just as crazy about this stuff as Dad is. I mean, really, really crazy about it. He’ll position himself right behind Dad’s chair and drool. Now, you have to realize, we don’t feed Chappy from the kitchen table. There may be the “vacation rule” and the “dining room rule” where he gets some food from the table, but we never, ever give food on a regular basis from the table. If he’s going to get scraps–and he does–he gets them in his own dish after the meal is over. He respects that, and almost never begs at the table. He might position himself nearby if there are small children around or something particularly delectable being eaten, you know, just in case, but he doesn’t beg. But, with Stollen? Chappy–still not begging, and still being patient–will quietly drool on the floor as he stares up through the table at Dad’s dish.

So . . . this morning. Chappy somehow knew that Dad was eating Stollen. I was sleeping late (I earned it!), but somehow through his doggy-psychic powers, as soon as Mom took the Stollen out of its bag and put a knife to it . . . Chappy jumped down off my bed. Now, again, he’s patient about getting up in the morning, too. He’s not the kind of dog who pesters to go out to the bathroom or for breakfast–no, no, once he hears activity from my parents’ end of the hallway, he might move around the room, but he won’t come over to wake me up before 8:30. But this morning, he was a little more fidgety than usual, and when I got up at 8:45 and opened the door . . . well, normally, he runs down the hallway to my parents’ room first thing. Saying “Good Morning!” is top priority, even before going to the bathroom. And he doesn’t get his breakfast until after I’ve had mine.

But, this morning? I barely had the bedroom door open and he was gone like a flash, down the stairs, skidding around the corners to end up right at the kitchen table, where Dad had his stollen crumbs. It was just adorable. No time wasted saying good morning. No thoughts about going to the bathroom. It was like he was saying, “I’ve been really patient and good and, and, and, I helped Mommy make that yesterday, and . . . . I looooove you, Grandpa . . . ”

Really. All that cuteness? All of us were chuckling at him this morning. SO cute. He doesn’t get as excited about anything as he does about Stollen (not even peanuts, which he truly adores). How he knew Dad was allowed to eat it this morning, though, I don’t know, but lord, he was adorable.

I guess the Stollen is a Boykin-boy thing….

And, if you made it this far through the story–congratulations!

Tags: Baking, Chappy by Deb
8 Comments »

Phew! Well, I’m glad that’s done for another year….

So, let’s see….

One hour last night for mixing the two batches of dough. . . . my KitchenAid mixer should forgive me eventually. One of these days, I’m going to find a scale that can give me an accurate weight for these batches, but, figure . . . 5 eggs, half a pound of butter, 2 cups of milk, 3 tubs of candied fruit, plus raisins, nuts, and then something like 10 or 12 cups of flour . . . in each batch . . . that 5 qt mixing bowl on my mixer is FULL!

A half-hour this morning for pounding it into loaves. (Seriously, my forearms are still tired. This is heavy stuff. Hence the fact that I didn’t knit at all today, or spin in the kitchen like I’d planned.)

And then, the baking? Started at 12:00, ended at 6:30. Four batches of two loaves each, which took between 1:15 and 1:30, plus the final batch of two mini-loaves, which took about half an hour.

Yep! I sure do love my Dad. (grin)

And, one other thing that’s at least mostly done. The neckband is done, the last ends woven in, the underarm seams grafted . . . I just need to try it on and decide what to do with the no-longer-faux seams (or, more importantly, the seam allowances). And no, I haven’t tried it on yet . . . too tired! And, of course, it will be blocked, too . . . at some point (grin).

Tags: Baking, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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T’was the night before Stollen Day and all through the house
not a creature (dared) stir, not even a Pup.

The potholders were laid by the stove with care
in hopes that the baker soon would be there.

The dough was resting all snug in its bowls
while visions of Baking Day danced in its head.

….Okay, so Clement Moore, it’s not, but still….

The dough is mixed and my Kitchen Aid is beyond thrilled that its job is done. So am I, for that matter. Getting the dough mixed and kneaded is physically the hardest part.

So, it will rest on the counter for the night and I’ll shape it into loaves in the morning.

The baking part . . . the scary, dangerous, nerve-wracking baking part . . . starts around noon.

And, yes, my parents are leaving the house for the afternoon. They’re going into New York for the afternoon with friends and then heading back to their house in the evening for supper.

Chappy?

His plan is to close his eyes tightly and wait until it’s over.

So, I had the day off today. I went into Chester and picked up some fancy Christmas biscuits for a furry boy I know and love, and while I was there, the woman behind the counter asked me what kind of dog I had. I said Boykin Spaniel and she told me about a woman who worked in a leather shop right around the corner who had two–a one-year old and a new puppy. Well, wow! Naturally, I went over to the store and introduced myself, and then we showed each other pictures of our beautiful dogs and told stories, and it was very touching. How exciting to find another person in driving distance who has personal experience about what a great breed this is (grin).

Oh, and a bonus today? I got this hilarious card from my best friend, just because:

Tags: Baking by Deb
5 Comments »

Just a little video of Chappy romping in the leaves (and snow). . .

Tags: Chappy by Deb
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It was so windy the other day that the wind blew all our leaves up against our backyard fence, where the leaves pressed themselves up to the chain-link, anxious to escape into the neighbor’s yard. It looked so very, very cool, though, the way you could see the vertical lines of the leaf “walls,” as if the fence were just a suggestion, that I had to go brave the cold and wind myself to take the pictures.

You’d never know that, two days before, we’d had about 4″ of snow to romp in, huh?

Brought to you by:

Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by Deb
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Well, I’m nothing if not obliging, so per Ina‘s request . . .

Here’s a picture of all of my darning needles. Two Chibis, a couple freebies, some generic straight ones, a fancy, hand-twisted one from Crown Mountain Farms, and yes . . . my magic, favorite, cheap, pink, plastic, Susan Bates darning needle.

I honestly don’t know why it’s my favorite. Certainly I don’t usually develop “favorites” for things like needles. Even when doing embroidery projects, I would start each picture with a fresh needle, use it for the entire thing, and then move on. I do think I like the little bit of flexibility built into the plastic needle, which just seems to “fit” the springiness of the yarn when I’m weaving in ends or sewing seams. And I do not like the bent-tip needles, which I do credit to all the years of using straight needles for quilts and embroidery and all those other hand-sewing things. I’ll use them in a pinch, but they’re not my first choice.

No, really, it’s the pink one I like the best. But not because I love it in particular. I’d really be happier having a collection of a dozen of them in case of loss or accident. But just because its size, shape, and “bendiness” just seem to feel best in my hand.

I know. Weird, huh?

Now, the good news is that I have tomorrow off from work. The bad news is that that’s because it’s Stollen Weekend.

You remember–my least favorite weekend of the year? The one I only put myself through because I love my father so much? Yeah. It’s that time of year again.

By rights, I should shut myself in a quiet, darkened room tomorrow to mentally prepare myself for the rigors of the weekend to come, but that seems a little melodramatic. Taking the day off from work, though? Perfectly reasonable! Then, tomorrow night, the dough gets mixed. (Yes, my KitchenAid hates this as much as I do.) The dough gets shaped into loaves on Saturday morning, and then, around noon on Saturday . . . it gets dangerous. That’s when I start putting them into the oven, which means that’s also the time that all able-bodied family members scatter.

Very wise of them, really.

Tags: General by Deb
10 Comments »

It was a good day for handknits at my office today. Not only did it not go above 30-degrees, but there were snow showers/flurries more or less from 11:00 onward. And, did I mention that there was no heat? One of the building’s heating units more or less fell apart yesterday afternoon, so we had no choice but to turn it off altogether. Which means that, this morning, when we came in and it was 23 degrees outside, it was only 58 degrees inside.

Luckily, those of us who sit up front knew about this ahead of time. We’re in the broken unit’s domain–not to mention near the front door which lets in an awful lot of cold air as everybody gets to work in the morning–and so, it was cold. But we were prepared. I wore my handknit socks with leather boots, my Ribby sweater over a t-shirt, a shawl layered on top and I brought my Fetching fingerless gloves, too, to help keep my hands warm. I mean, sure, the colors didn’t exactly go with the blue/brown of the rest of the outfit, but they’re the only ones I’ve got (so far). My other cold co-worker didn’t have handknits, poor thing, but she layered stockings and socks under her boots, wore a fleece hoodie, and brought a blanket to protect her legs from drafts as the front door opened. (I just sat cross-legged in my chair.)

Tags: General, Uncategorized, Weather by Deb
6 Comments »

Isn’t this a cute little rhyme? Mom saw it in the Martha’s Vineyard Magazine and thought of me. And, naturally, I thought of you.

And then, have you seen this nifty site? Color Blender. There are three sliders, Red, Green, and Blue–you pick the first, main color, and the system automatically gives you four, coordinating colors. Useful not only for designing blog colors but also . . . knitting! (You know, if you can find yarn in the right colors.) So very cool, and fun to play with.

Otherwise? Well, it’s Monday. Yesterday’s snow is pretty much gone and it is windy, windy, windy out there right now.

And, of course, since it IS Monday, Chappy’s just exhausted….

Tags: General by Deb
4 Comments »

So, once again, the problem has been that odd, poofy bulge at the neckline, where the faux-raglan seam was.

Turning it into a real seam, to take up some of the excess fabric helped, but not enough. It left the back looking fine, but the front still . . . odd.

Which left me with the problem of having to redo the neckband for a third time.

Well, I’ve managed to salvage the neckband. I even had two plans in mind to let me do so.

First, was just to try tightening that seam with my fingers crossed, hoping that it wouldn’t change the way the neckband lay.

(The second, backup plan was going to be to snip the yarn at the cast-on row for the neckband and then unravel just enough–an inch or three–of the row where I picked up the neckband. The plan then would have been to weave in the two, unraveled ends so that they were secure, and to put the now-live stitches on markers to hold them safe while I fixed the actual seam of the body, at which point I would have re-attached those couple of inches of neckband evenly to now-adjusted fabric of the body.)

Luckily, Plan #1 worked.

I measured out a straight-line from neck outward toward shoulder and did another running-stitch seam, and now the neck of the sweater lays flat.

Well, mostly.

Because, here is the current problem . . . now, at the front neckband, I have not just the two layers of fabric that I should have (the sweater and the cut steek), but four layers, because of the seam allowance.

Which means, of course, that the sweater still doesn’t actually lie flat. Just that it now wants to.

Still . . . I saved the neckband, which is a relief.

The current plan is now to (1) finish the neckband. Mine is going to be at least twice as wide as the one in the original pattern, for two reasons. One, because I want to fill in more of the neck of the sweater (which I know Cate can relate to) and two, because I need some extra distance between the edge of the sweater and the visible bulk of the steek/seam.

But, after I finish the neckband and (2) graft together the underarms, I will (3) address the bulky-seam problem. I’m pretty sure that I’m going to be reinforcing those now-real seams with more permanent stitching and then trimming the seam allowance.

The potential problem with this is that all those loose ends may become rather . . . itchy to wear. Especially on my now-sensitive shoulder skin. Because Shetland wool isn’t exactly the softest wool out there to begin with. Of course, I realize that there are already loose ends in there from all the color work, but part of it is a location factor–because, well, again, my right shoulder is still kind of sensitive.

One step at a time, though, right?

Let’s see, we had snow today. About 3″ of very dry, very fluffy snow. Chappy was so excited, he and I went outside to play in it. (Yes, I’m aware that romping in 23-degree … that’s -4 in C … cold may not have been the wisest thing to do with my sensitive state of health, lately, but, well, YOU try telling Chappy that.) Anyway, I brought out his flying squirrel toy (bright orange toys are GOOD in the snow) and we had a good time. I came back in when I was getting tired and popped him in the bathtub just long enough to melt the ice between his paw pads.

In other news? My niece hit a deer with her car yesterday, and while (luckily) she and her car are more or less intact, the deer died and she keeps seeing the poor thing’s face and feeling absolutely terrible about it. And then, this morning, just before I came down to start the waffles, our neighbors across the street called to ask if Dad could take Mr. H. to the hospital–he had a hernia operation last week and woke up this morning with a swollen ankle and was concerned about blood clots (to which he is prone). Luckily so, in fact, because they just called a little while ago, and the hospital found clots in both calves and one in his lungs, so he’s going to be in the hospital for a few days.

Oh, and I did at least get one other thing off my weekend to-do list. I got my Christmas cards written out, addressed, stamped (with the best holiday stamps ever), and ready to go out the door tomorrow morning.

(And, seriously, would it be crazy to buy a bunch more of those stamps? I mean, winter holidays or not, they’re KNITTED, for heaven’s sake.)

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Uncategorized, Weather by Deb
11 Comments »

I had such good intentions for today. Such a list of things I was going to get done. Christmas cards. Fixing my Autumn Rose. Catching up on my magazine reading. Doing some work for Dad. Filing away several weeks’ worth of receipts and paperwork.

Um. Right.

Well, I took Autumn Rose out of her knitting bag, anyway. And I did get through my magazine pile. But otherwise? Er. I kind of napped. Well, naplets, any way.

Still, I did find some entertaining links for you.

• A Magic Gopher who can apparently read your mind.
• A blog (which I saw mentioned here) which has some of the most beautiful travel photos.
• Online coloring book, anyone? (Surprisingly addictive.)

Tags: General by Deb
3 Comments »

Here’s my list of books from November:

1. RACE OF SCORPIONS by Dorothy Dunnett (534 p.) House of Niccolo volume 3–Nicholas is kidnapped to Cyprus to help King James (Zacco) claim his kingdom, torn in a civil war.

2. SCALES OF GOLD by Dorothy Dunnett (519 p.) House of Niccolo, volume 4–In an attempt to save his bank, Nicholas travels into the depths of Africa searching for gold.

3. READER & RAELYNX by Sharon Shinn (420 p.) Twelfth House series, book 4–finale of the series and, I think, the weakest of the four, mainly because it had so many loose ends to tie up. Still, it’s Sharon Shinn … how bad could it be?

4. UNICORN HUNT by Dorothy Dunnett (656 p.) House of Niccolo, volume 5–Nicholas travels to Scotland to compete with the St. Pol family and also tries to find his son.

5. ELEMENTAL MAGIC by Sharon Shinn et al (378 p.) Four short novellas, all fantasy/romance and far, far too “romance” for my tastes. Didn’t like it at all.

6. TO LIE WITH LIONS by Dorothy Dunnett (626 p.) House of Niccolo, volume 6–Nicholas tries to put his family back together, but first, he has to end his competition with his wife.

7. EXILE’S HONOR by Mercedes Lackey (433 p.)

8. EXILE’S VALOR by Mercedes Lackey (402 p.)
9. TAKE A THIEF by Mercedes Lackey (351 p.)
10. ARROWS FOR THE QUEEN by Mercedes Lackey (320 p.)
11. ARROWS FLIGHT by Mercedes Lackey (318 p.)
12. ARROWS FALL by Mercedes Lackey (293 p.)
13. OATHBOUND by Mercedes Lackey (302 p.)
14. OATHBREAKERS by Mercedes Lackey (279 p.)
15. BY THE SWORD by Mercedes Lackey (492 p.)–All these are “Valdemar” fantasy books . . . I just blew through vast chunks of the series….

16. KNIT KNIT by Sabrina Gschwandner (170 p.) A very “arty” knitting book, with a focus on some vfery cutting-edge designers.

17. LIADEN UNIVERSE COMPANION #2 by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (293 p.) A collection of short stories in the sci-fi “Liaden” world. Always good.

18. SCIENCE OF GOOD AND EVIL by Michael Shermer (263 p.) Non-fiction examining, well, good and evil. I enjoyed the beginning of this, but either the book fizzled or I did–I’m not entirely sure which, but the more I read, the more bored I got, even though the writing was solid and the information was interesting.

19. BEEKEEPER’S APPRENTICE by Laurie R. King (405 p.) First in the “Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes” mystery series–just as WWI is beginning, 16-year old Mary Russell stumbles across Sherlock Holmes and they begin a friendship. I still think this is the best in the series.

20. MONSTROUS REGIMENT OF WOMEN by Laurie R. King (330 p.) Book two, Mary is now 21 and has come into her inheritance, just as she meets a charismatic religious speaker around whom accidents seem to occur.

21. LETTER OF MARY by Laurie R. King (315 p.) Third, A voice from their past leaves a Biblical mystery on Mary and Holmes’s doorstep….

22. JUSTICE HALL by Laurie R. King (425 p.) In England, Mary and Holmes come to the aid of their Arab cohorts from Jerusalem–who turn out not to be Arab at all, but the bluest of blue bloods. Definitely one of the better books in the series.

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by Deb
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