Mmmm… Applesauce Cake. One of the family-favorite recipes, and requested this morning by Mom. The recipe is from the “Joy of Cooking” cookbook I’ve had since the mid-80s and is so tasty–especially if you’ve got some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream handy.

It’s really pretty photogenic, too. Not to mention tasty.

Anyway, it’s Mother’s Day today, so I did what I could to make Mom’s day a good one. She wanted one of her blueberry scones for breakfast, but I made coffee to go along with it, as well as waffles for Dad and me. The four of us went for a nice, long walk while the sun was still shining. I made pot roast for supper. She and I sat in the living room together and sewed (Mom) and knitted (me). And, of course, cake for dessert. Nice day, I thought.

It’s not much of a picture, because of all the curling and such, but look! The body is finished and hemmed. It’s still curling which I expect will be taken care of when I block it when it’s finished, but, otherwise, woohoo! I decided to knit the buttonbands next … I can always stop to make the sleeves shorter if it seems I’m running out of yarn, but I want to be sure to have enough yarn for the button bands. And, besides, that will make it look neater, right? (grin). So, in this picture, I’ve picked up the band for the left front, so that’s got yarn attached and … as I say, it’s not a perfect picture, but I’m very happy with the way the knitting is coming along.

Oh, and speaking of pictures?

This photo from the current Bon Appetit magazine just struck me as so cool. It marked the section of pasta recipes, and … so nifty. All I can think is that they carefully dipped strands of dried spaghetti into boiling water so that only the bottom half was cooked, and then … put it on a light box? Something, anyway, to get them back-lit, but the curly, interwoven swirls at the bottom and the straight lines at the top. Just, such a cool photo.

[Read more →]

Tags: Baking, General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
7 Comments »

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!

Tags: General by --Deb
5 Comments »

Today was a surprise party for my brother-in-law, who turns 45 tomorrow. We were there, his brother, sister-in-law, and niece were there, and his aunt and his cousin were there. Chappy and 18-month old Kaitlyn were adorable together and a good time was had by all.

And, naturally, I had my new camera with me (grin), and I may have taken, oh, 200 pictures or so … Here are just some. Or, okay, a lot, but, well … it was a good day!

And, yes, Chappy WAS in the crate while Kaitlyn was smiling into it, and he did kind of wonder why she kept shaking his back paw to say hello. And I love the picture of Betty taking the picture of Kaitlyn and Chappy–I was disappointed I was behind them when I realized that the best shot was of the mom TAKING the picture. Love that.

Great day. Tired now….

(I went back to add a picture of Kaitlyn inside Chappy’s crate. She liked it in there!)

Tags: Family, Finished Knitting by --Deb
6 Comments »

Yep, the sweater is moving right along–how exciting is that? Sure, it’s only a few inches longer than it was last time I showed it to you, but it’s still a notable moment. Why, you ask? Because I’m at the halfway point. Even without knowing what, exactly the sleeves are going to be, this is halfway finished because I just finished the first skein of yarn, and since I just have two of them, that means I have to be either at or past the halfway point.

Actually, if I’m not there yet, I’m in trouble in all sorts of ways because not only would I be out of yarn, but those sleeves would have to be absolutely huge…. (grin). But, seriously, I need to start thinking NOW about what I want the hem of the sweater to be because I’m going to need to make that happen sometime very, very soon and it would be nice to know what I’m shooting for (grin).

As today’s “Playing with my Camera” shot–a view of my basket of handspun yarn. On my screen, at least, the colors are remarkably accurate. And yes, there’s a glimpse of a pair of store-bought, polka-dot socks that need some heel reinforcement before they turn into holes. They’ve been sitting in this basket as a “reminder” for almost three months. What can I say, I’m not really fond of mending. But, otherwise? All the yarn in this basket is yarn that I’ve made myself. Isn’t that lovely? (grin)

Or how about a peek into my jewelry box? Hematite beads, a silver chain necklace, some glass pearls … I like the monochrome look of this picture–all the colors are neutrals, without my doing a thing!

About that sales tax issue? I got a comment from a person at Adorama who actually writes clear English, who told me that they have a location in New Jersey so that it was a valid charge. Which is absolutely true–that was all I needed to hear in the first place, instead of those annoying exchanges. Oh, and then she nicely offered me $10 off my next order of $75 or more. Golly. I don’t really know that I want to spend another $75 there, but it’s a nice gesture, I suppose.

Finally, in addition to yesterday’s haircut, today Chappy got his nails done and got a bath, so he’s all set for his busy weekend, but exhausted from his “spa” days. Have a great weekend, folks!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
3 Comments »

If you look really carefully at that first picture, you can see a string of drool… You can almost hear him saying, “Please!”

Brought to you by:

Tags: Chappy, Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
4 Comments »

You know, working on the same piece of knitting that doesn’t drastically change from one day to the next makes the whole knit-blogging thing more difficult. Because how often can I show the same, blue, stockinette sweater before it gets boring? It kind of limits what there is to talk about, too (grin). So, here, I took a picture of my Japanese Shawl that I had over my shoulders at work today.

Susan had another sad day, today. Sage died, and she doesn’t know why. On the plus side, she’s having a yarn giveaway with some yarn she dyed and was, um, disappointed in. Hence the name, “The Ugly Yarn Giveaway.” But really, it’s not that bad! Just, um, very green.

Chappy got a haircut today, at lunchtime, and tomorrow he’ll get his nails trimmed and get a bath so he’ll be all clean and fluffy for the weekend. He’s really such a good boy! He just sits on the kitchen floor and lets me trim away. Sure, I give him occasional treats as good-behavior rewards, but he deserves it. (This picture, by the way? His Scooby Doo toothbrush.)

Otherwise? Um … that’s about it!

Tags: General by --Deb
1 Comment »

I think Chappy’s starting to get a bit tired of my new camera…

I’ve been working on my sweater. It’s almost waist-length now, so it’s coming along.

I actually did some spinning the other night, for the first time in weeks. It felt so good! I haven’t done any spinning since the week before Mom and I went to Martha’s Vineyard last month, and while I knew I missed it, hadn’t realized quite how much (grin).

  Now, obviously, I’m having fun with the new camera, but I’m a little irritated with Adorama camera. Even though we’re in different states, they charged me sales tax which in this case is $45–which is a fair amount of money. I could buy a couple of memory cards for that, or a few books, or a camera case. So, I sent an email to amazon.com and they agreed that I shouldn’t have been charged sales tax but that I’d need to contact Adorama directly. Which I did. Now, I’m all kinds of happy that my order was processed so promptly and I certainly can’t fault their order fulfillment, but . . . my God, who do they have doing their customer service?? This is the reply I got back (with misspellings, bad typing, and multi-colors intact):

I am really sorry, but every one have to pay sales taxes, the difference on how much, it will depend on where the shipping address is.

For example I have an overseas credit card, when I use it here in NY either if I choose pick it up at the store or that they deliver it to me , I always pay 8.13%.

Also you please check Sales taxes in the United States – New Jersey has a 7% state sales tax. This is split as 3.5% for the State, and 3.5% for the municipality.

Um, ack! Completely disregarding the lack of a helpful response (i.e., the answer I want), this is one of the most badly-written, appallingly atrocious e-mails I have ever received. Really. Ever. Received. Ever. And just think about how badly this makes Adorama look–they can’t even hire employees who can write proper English. I’m upset about the $45 that I really can’t afford to lose … I mean, had I realized, I would have ordered directly from Amazon.com itself and paid basically the same price once you discounted the shipping charges and the (unnecessary) sales tax … but the verbal skills of this person from “On line customer services”? Oh, gracious. I’m completely appalled. Not least of which because she so nicely/patronizingly gave me a link to Wikipedia informing me that NJ has its own sales tax. Gosh, really? I’ve never bought anything here ever in my life and hadn’t realized. SO helpful. (She doesn’t even seem to know that “online” is one word.) So, my verdict on Adorama? Nice camera and very prompt service which I really appreciated and can’t fault, but their follow-through and customer service?? Oy. Awful.

On to better things….

So … you know how Claudia does her MS Ride every year and has a contest with multitudes of fabulous prizes and raised so much money last year she was going to get to wear a number 1 on her jersey this year? Well, her poor husband and fellow-tandem-bike rider broke his ankle last weekend, so it doesn’t look like she’s going to get to ride (though I hope she can come up with something). BUT she’s still doing her contest, and she’s still raising money. So run, don’t walk, with your mouse over there and make a donation. Every $10 is a chance in the drawing–so, hurry!

Remember when I told you about RSS Awareness Day? Well, guess what? I won a prize! How nifty is that? I mean, it’s not yarn, but no complaints. I won a free premium theme for my blog or website from iThemes. Now I just have to figure out which one I want and decide what to do with it (grin). Cool though, huh?

All in all, it’s been an interesting day. A co-worker who’s been at our company for about 20 years ago kind of accidentally resigned today. She said it (and a few other things) and stormed out the door in tears about 15 minutes after she came in this morning, but within 10 minutes was calling and trying to apologize. Except that by saying those few other things, she kind of negated any possible “take-back” that they might otherwise have been willing to give her. I don’t think she was even out of the parking lot before she realized what she’d done and the horror set in, but … well, you can imagine that that was quite a shock to all of us today.

At least I have my spinning to keep me calm.

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

I just added a link to Dad’s site, Inhale Now into the sidebar. You can read more about it here. And, send good thoughts, would you please? He lost momentum while he had that bad cold a couple weeks ago and needs some good vibes.

Tags: Family, General by --Deb
1 Comment »

Can’t talk. New toy….

Whee!

Tags: General by --Deb
9 Comments »

Look at what I found when I came home today. Two VHS tapes of John Adams, thanks to Jessalu. (No, really, thank you, Jess!) And, of course, she was so concerned about their safety, that she padded the box with a little yarn. Smart thinking, huh?

(Really, sometimes I wonder if I’m the only one who’s considered this an excellent–and fun–use of all that novelty yarn. To pull the skeins apart and use it to stuff the corners of boxes. Sure, it would tangle, but who wants to knit with that much novelty yarn?) (And, please, if you would, don’t leave me nasty comments. I just don’t happen to like it myself, is all.)

Anyway, now I’m all excited about watching John. I just have to find a good night to start–one where Mom will be sufficiently awake and interested (grin). I mean, why rush through a tasty treat?? It’s just so nice to have it!

It’s May 5th, as you no doubt already know, and that means it’s the anniversary of the day we lost Muppy. She was our very first dog and died on the day she turned 5 1/2, poor thing. She was a miniature wire-haired dachshund with the prettiest colors in her fur and we are all forever grateful that we took her along to the photographer when we had a family portrait done around 1982 because she pre-dated the good family cameras, and this is by far the best photo we have of her.

It’s a milestone, though, because it was 25 years ago today that she died. A quarter of a century–how is that possible? I remember so many things about that day so clearly, including the silly giggling when I told my best friend on the bus on the way to school. I knew she would think it was a joke, and her laugh was so infectious that I was laughing in self-defense as I told her the awful news. (And, no, she did not laugh. In fact, she cried.) Then, in speech class, my teacher started the class by griping about what an awful morning she’d had–little, normal things like running late, needing gas for the car–then, to change the subject, she asked me how my day was going. “My dog died this morning.” Lordy, she felt just terrible! My father didn’t go to work that day, either–which was one of the first times ever that that happened–and when I got home from work, all the drapes and shades were drawn in the house. It was just an awful, awful day, but at the same time, a really beautiful Spring day, much like today.

After she died, we had her cremated (as the town required), and then buried her in the backyard with a dogwood tree. A pink one (because she was a girl.) It’s looking quite lovely right now, too.

Tags: Family, General, Katy, Jilly, Muppy by --Deb
8 Comments »

I figured it was time I showed you a progress-shot of my blue cardigan, so, here it is. That’s about 13″ or so long from the shoulders. I’ve pinned the fronts together so you can see the shape. I’m doing a peasant sleeve on these–basically a squared-off version of a fitted sleeve, but something that should fit better than a drop-shoulder would be. Once the body is done, I’ll be going back to the sleeves and picking up stitches along the armholes to knit them.

Yarn-wise, I’m not at the halfway point yet, but that first skein is starting to look rather hollow. I tried this on and it comes to just-shy of the bottom of my rib-cage. I don’t know exactly how long I want the sweater to be, but I’m thinking that just hitting the hip-bone will be perfect. The sleeves? Well, if I start worrying that I won’t have enough yarn for full-length, I’m more than happy with shorter sleeves. I regularly push my sleeves up to my elbow anyway, so that’s not a concern. The important thing is that this fits just right and looks great so far. SUCH a relief after the last two sweaters which looked gorgeous but are pretty much unwearable.

I took advantage of all those $25 reward certificates I’ve been hoarding. (These are the ones I get for using my Amazon.com Visa card. Oh, and one that my sister gave me for Christmas. Thank you, Patty!) Yes, I ordered my new camera. A Nikon D40 and a Nikon 55-200mm VR . In fact, I got them as a kit. Now I’m just hoping that I have it by the weekend because there’s a family thing my BIL doesn’t know about, but would be chock full of great photo ops. I actually ordered it through Amazon (so I could use all those certificates), but it’s coming from Adorama camera, which is in New York city, so I’m hoping the shipping time is fast.

That wasn’t the only money I spent yesterday, either, and I’m a little bit in shock. I had gone over to Walmart to look at this camera in person yesterday morning… And, as an aside, if that had been my only chance to look at it, I would not have been impressed. Their floor model was not only bolted down to prevent thievery–which I appreciate as a necessity but which makes it feel completely different in weight when you hold it–but because there was no memory card, I couldn’t take sample pictures. All I could do was basically look at the pretty buttons (grin). But, anyway, after I left there in disgust, I stopped at DSW because I had a 30% off coupon that expired today and I figured I should take a look. And yes, I bought a pair of Naturalizer Mary Janes for $30. Then I stopped at the local mall to look in the Ann Taylor shop because my friend Cindy had nicely given me a gift card for Christmas. They were offering an additional 25% off anything from their sale racks, and so I bought a couple things there. (Thank you, Cindy!) Though, unfortunately, not any pants. (I really need some new pants.)

All in all, I spent more money yesterday–what with buying the camera–than I think I did for my weekend on Martha’s Vineyard last month. So I’m kind of in shock. And unlike hordes of other knitters at MDSW this weekend, none of it was even on wool! My Visa bill is already darn close to what it was for the entire month of April, so I have to be GOOD now for the rest of the month. And, really, thank goodness for that Tax-Incentive-Rebate … whatever they’re calling it check. And it’s kind of nice to have used those gift cards. After a while, they start burning holes in my psyche.

Meanwhile, Spring is moving along and all our trees have baby leaves on them. It’s starting to get hard to see the neighbors’ houses. I took these from my bedroom window about an hour ago. The trees are still wet from last night’s rain, but the sun is fighting to come out. Really, except for all the sneeze-inducing stuff out there, it’s really quite lovely. In fact, I’m going to go eat some lunch and then Mom and I are going to take Chappy for a walk. Ta ta!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
8 Comments »

So, those of you going to MDSW this weekend, I hope you have a great time. I’ll be home hanging out with Chappy. The weather this weekend won’t be nearly as nice as it was last year, so I don’t expect I’ll be sitting with my spinning wheel out on the deck tomorrow. I’m looking forward to all the reports as all of you happy fiber people stagger back to your computers.

For sheer spectacle, watching Janine’s Fair Isle project is going to be riveting.

In the meantime, I’ve got a new, fiber-y book to admire this weekend. A Fine Fleece: Knitting with Handspun Yarns. I heard so many great things about it, I couldn’t resist.

Hey, even with money tight, you know I can’t resist a good book. In fact, there are a couple others there, too, including two current photography books. (You know, as opposed to that old “Idiot’s Guide” I read last week.) Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, and The Digital Photography Book, Volume 1 by Scott Kelby (who wrote that Photoshop book I’ve been having such fun with). Not to mention ProBlogger.

Oh, and I tried on my sweater, and it’s coming along nicely. Phew!

Anyway, I hope all of you fiber-festival-goers have a wonderful time. And, really, I suppose I don’t realy have that much room for complaint. After all, I’ve done a sheep-and-wool festival already this season. Granted, it was a lot smaller and there wasn’t nearly as much to buy, but it was perfect anyway.

Tags: General, Reading by --Deb
7 Comments »

I took this our last morning on Martha’s Vineyard last month, with the just-risen sun streaming in the window. I JUST managed to reach my camera from my bed to take this picture–something about the way the angles and sunlight interacted….

Brought to you by:

Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
2 Comments »

I don’t have much else to show today (since the sweater doesn’t look that much different than it did the other day), but we do have lilacs. Amazingly early, too–usually they bloom right around Mother’s Day which is over a week away. I took that first picture through the screen on my bedroom window, and then opened one of the windows without the screen to take the other two.

Note the pink dogwood tree in the background–that’s Muppy’s tree. She, you may recall, was our very first dog, and when she died, we buried her ashes and marked the place with a dogwood tree. A pink one. Because she was a girl. (Of course.) She’s blooming early too, this year.

Otherwise? If you’re interested, head over to Punctuality Rules and tell me what you think. I wrote a post months ago about a book and misremembered one detail, which was taken as a springboard for somebody else’s post pretty much saying I don’t know what I’m talking about … which I didn’t want to let go without some kind of rebuttal.

And then, thanks to Chris, I just read this fabulous article about the extra space we’ve had taken up in our brains by decades of sitting in front of the television, so that now we have a “cognitive surplus” that we’re trying to fill by interacting.

Tags: Family, General by --Deb
8 Comments »

Here are the books I read in April.

1. The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters (313 p.)
2. Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters (310 p.)
3. The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters (289 p.)
4. The Last Camel Died at Noon by Elizabeth Peters (430 p.)
5. The Snake, the Crocodile & the Dog by Elizabeth Peters (436 p.)
6. The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters (356 p.)
7. Seeing a Large Cat by Elizabeth Peters (386 p.)
8. The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters (376 p.)
9. The Falcon at the Portal by Elizabeth Peters (366 p.)
10. He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters (400 p.)
11. Lord of the Silent by Elizabeth Peters (404 p.)
12. The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters (429 p.)
13. Children of the Storm by Elizabeth Peters (400 p.)
Yes–I pretty much read my way through the Amelia Peabody series–the intrepid Victorian Egyptologist, her husband Emerson and her precocious son Ramses. I skipped the first two books which are my least favorite, but then just read and read for books and books. And, honestly, Ramses as a child? One of my favorite characters ever. Still, I can’t believe I spent an entire month on one series… (grin)

14. Things I Learned From Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not) by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (159 p.) A series of comical life-lessons, courtesy of the Yarn Harlot. Amusing and altogether too true, but I’ll admit, this wasn’t my favorite of her books. But, since it’s Stephanie and filled with her usual wit, I liked it anyway! Just, maybe not quite as much as some of her others.

15. Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times by George Crile (523 p.) I’d been curious about this ever since I saw the movie last year, and enjoyed the book quite a lot. The hidden story behind the CIA’s part in the Russian/Afghanistan war of the early 1980s. Who knew? Well-written, entertaining, and quite a good story to boot.

16. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (246 p.) Yes, a little band-wagonish of me, but honestly, this collection of life wisdom and stories by a dying professor is wonderful. And, if you didn’t see his Last Lecture, by all means, take the 70 minutes and watch. Very bittersweet, because he’s facing his death with such optimism, and is so wholly focused on his 3 little kids.

17. Complete Idiot’s Guide to Photography by Woodson (253 p.) Just what it sounds, though my copy more or less pre-dates digital photography. Kind of old, but I wanted to revisit it.

18. Mandy by Julie (Andrews) Edwards (279 p.) This was the “trip book” Mom and I read together on Martha’s Vineyard. My sister got her own, hardcover copy when it was published back when we were little and she and I both loved it, but Mom had never read it. So, obviously, that needed to change. This is a sweet little story of an orphan who climbs over the wall behind the orphanage’s orchard and finds a little abandone cottage and decides to adopt it for herself. Very sweet.

19. Photoshop for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby (349 p.) Well, I’ve already raved about this one. What fantastic tips and tricks for making photos better!

20. Teach Yourself Photography by Lee Smith (146 p.) Another photography book pulled out of the back of the library. More useful than the other one since it talks (and shows) more about how to see good pictures and then capture them. But, still, it’s a film-photography book and I haven’t picked up a film camera in years, so it’s not AS useful as it could be (grin)

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by --Deb
5 Comments »