2009 in Review

Another year gone, I can’t believe it. It’s been quite a year!

Tags: General by --Deb
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2009 Favorites

My favorite books from 2009. Remarkably light on the fiction side, I know, but rather than buying new books, most of the fiction I read this year were books I’d read already.

Fiction:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Anne Barrows

Once Upon a Day: A Novel by Lisa Tucker

The Only True Genius in the Family by Jennie Nash

Non-Fiction

The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman

The Match by Mark Frost

The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin

A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams by Michael Pollan

Notes from the Underwire by Quinn Cummings

13 Ways at Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

Extraordinary Knowing: Science, Skepticism, and the Inexplicable Powers of the Human Mind by Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer

The Candy Bombers by Andrei Cherny

Titanic’s Last Secrets by Brad Matsen

I read fewer books this year than usual. In fact, except for 2000, this is the year with the smallest tally since I started keeping count in 1996. I blame the packing/moving.

How many? 226 books, of which 62 were new–the rest were re-reads.

And a recap of my readng lists:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by --Deb
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82,714 Words

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It’s only been about 10 years, but look! A finally-finished first draft of a book. My book. (Well, my second, anyway.)

I honestly don’t remember how long it’s taken me to get this far. I know I was working on this when Katy died in 2001, but was I working on it when I got her in 1999? I’m pretty sure I was, but don’t have any proof.

Except … according to my reading list, I read J. Winocour’s “Story of the Titanic” in February 1998, and Stephen Cox’s “Titanic Story” in October 1999, and since reading is one of my favorite forms of research, that seems a good sign.  Not to mention that there is a sudden rush of “how to get your book published” books in 1998, and since I started this one after I finished my first one, 1998-1999 sounds about right.

So … ten years.

This isn’t saying that the book is DONE, mind you. Oh, no. Lots of work to be done! This is just the first draft, but considering I was stymied for something like 6 years with a 1912-era legal dilemma that I couldn’t find an answer to, getting the story all the way through to the end … no matter how rough and bumpy it might be along the way … is a huge accomplishment.

As of right now, it’s 82,714 words, 289 pages long. Phew!

Next up? Reading it through and figuring out what I need to do to make it perfect, then I can try to get IT published, too. Because it’s not enough fun getting rejection letters for one manuscript, it’ll be twice as much fun with two (grin). The first change? The address on the first page. That’s kind of changed since I started this.

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I’m making knitting progress, too. Here’s my Redhook, coming along nicely. It’s about ten inches long at this point. This is the entire sweater, here–fronts and back all together, so the rows are longish, but progress is being made.

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And look at this little sneak. He stole his grandmother’s slipper … out of her closet … off the shoe rack … and decided to use it as a pillow while he waited for her to come upstairs and play the “Look What I’ve Got” game.

Speaking of coming upstairs, I was sitting here on the computer before and got an email, a tweet, and a direct message from my mom who was allllll the way downstairs, asking for help with her computer. Instead of trying to yell up two flights.

Yay for computers.

So, otherwise? I’ve been working hard on getting my “end of year” posts ready. Those are a lot of work! All those links. You’ll have to wait a couple days to see the one here, but..

Click here for a year’s worth of Knitting Book reviews at Knitting Scholar.

And, some of my favorite posts of the year from Punctuality Rules.

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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While We Were Waiting

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This is what Chappy looked like yesterday while we were waiting for my friend Dawn to come visit. I sat at our little writing desk in the front window–which give the view of a little slice of the street–and worked on my book, while Chappy sat under the desk, watching.

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And watching…. and don’t think these pictures were easy to get, either! I love how he has his paws folded, patiently. And how the window sill is JUST the right height for him. Oh, and see those mirrors Mom has leaning there?

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The reflection was pretty cool, too. (See him?)

And yes, Dawn did eventually arrive, and yes, we had a great visit. She approves of the new house (such a relief) and it was good to see her, as always.

Now, you’re not getting a long post because I’ve spent most of my day working on ‘year in review’ posts not only for Chappysmom, but also for Punctuality Rules and Knitting Scholar. Those kind of posts are very link-intensive and time-consuming, and doing them for three blogs?

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Well, you’re just going to have to wait a little longer for a “real” post.

Tags: Chappy, Friends by --Deb
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Happy Boys?

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Don’t the boys look happy? Opening their Christmas Stollen?

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Though, really, the “happy” part started earlier. When I opened the bedroom door for Chappy this morning, he ran straight downstairs to admire the Christmas tree.

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Well? Guys? When do we get to open the presents?

We paused for breakfast (pancakes) and then sat by the tree for a bit … Chappy, though, was very focused…

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I’m not entirely sure he remembered to blink! Seriously, he just sat and stared.

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We moved the ottoman out of the way, and he moved closer … but I’d still swear he was staring so intently at that present in the front that he forgot to blink.

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Naturally, we let him open his present first–a red ball that has a blinking light inside.

He helped open the other presents … or did after we let him open his second present–some biscuits I bought for him. (Well, my helper did, since the store was closed when we went there on Saturday.) We gave him one of the biscuits, of course, but now they’ll wait while he works his way through the batch of biscuits my niece made for him–because homemade is better!

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Anyway, he helped open the other presents, but … like any kid … decided that that wrapping materials were more fun to play with than the actual gifts.

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He was happy for this one, though! The inside is a different color, but he doesn’t care–he’s got two, full-sized dishes again!

We got out for a walk this morning, too, before the rain started. We expected it earlier, in fact, but actually, the rain held off for most of the day and only started around 5:00. We had turkey with trimmings for dinner–more or less a complete replay of Thanksgiving–and all in all, it’s been a pretty nice day.

Tomorrow, Mom and Dad are going to my cousin’s farm. We were going to go last weekend, to deliver their allotment of Christmas Stollen, but Mother Nature had other plans.

So, we rescheduled for this weekend, but my best friend is home visiting from California and tomorrow is the only day she can manage a visit, so … Chappy and I are going to stay home and let Mom and Dad go without us. (Mom’s a little bitter about this, “It was your idea,” but what can I do?) Chappy would probably have enjoyed meeting my cousin’s dogs and possibly even seeing the horses, but my guess is that he won’t really MIND not having to spend 3 hours or so in the car tomorrow, after 2 hours yesterday (grin).

All in all, though, how do you think he feels about his Christmas?

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Lick-smacking good?

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Or “Man, that tastes bad” disappointing?

Tags: Family, General by --Deb
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Merry

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Wonderful

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Chappy hopes that all of you are having as wonderful a day as he is.

Since this is Christmas Eve, we spent the day at my sister’s house. There were some presents, there was some yummy food, but mostly, there was love and a good time.

It was a beautiful day for a drive, too–the first time Chappy’s been in the car since, well, I would SAY since we moved in, but technically, the next day we took him in the car while we ran to the election polls to vote because we knew he would freak if I left him in this strange house. But, still, that was just a couple miles up the road, for just a few minutes … today was an hour there, an hour back, so it was a big day for him!

Anyway, we’re all in for the night, and I keep yawning, so I’m cutting this short.

Except, of course, to wish all of YOU a Merry Christmas tomorrow (whether you’re celebrating Christmas, or just–hopefully–enjoying a day off from work).

Tags: Family by --Deb
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Moment of Silence

Let’s pause for a brief moment of silence, for today, on the darkest day of the year, a light in Chappy’s world was snuffed out.

Well, not a light, exactly, so much as one of his cherished possessions.

His food dish.

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Chappy has had his “Life is Good” food dish for four and a half years now. It was a birthday gift for his fourth birthday, which means he’s been polishing it clean for more than half his life now. They’ve had so many happy meals together. Over three thousand breakfasts and suppers, cooked specially for him by his Mom. Every now and again, he’d have lunch, or would find a treat hiding in the dish, waiting to be discovered.

They had good times together, Chappy and his food dish.

Sadly, a suicidal jar of applesauce leaping from the pantry this morning, took Chappy’s beloved dish with it. The tragedy was witnessed by his grandma who was shocked at the event. “It just jumped from the pantry. There was nothing I could do,” she said, the horror plain in her voice.

Chappy is mourning.

Chappy’s food dish is survived by its mate of four years, the water dish, whose eyes haven’t been dry since the accident. I suspect her faithfulness, though, as I hear she’s already shopping around for a new mate.

In lieu of flowers, Chappy asks that you put extra food in YOUR dog’s (or other pet’s) food dish tonight, in memorial of a food dish that made him so very, very happy. (Or, well, he says you could send him biscuits, but that’s what he ALWAYS says.)

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Even the sunset made an extra effort to be glorious tonight.

Actually, that brings up an interesting question–someone on Ravelry pointed out that while, yes, today is the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year, the actual earliest sunset of the year happened two weeks ago, but that when her physicist father started to explain why, her eyes glazed over. So now I’m curious–doesn’t anybody know why this is? I had actually noticed that the daylight was lasting longer these last few days, but hadn’t pieced that together.

On a happier note, look what I got in the mail today:

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A copy of the new Abigail Adams biography by Woody Holton. I’m really very excited about this. I saw it at the bookstore last week, but since I AM trying to save money and not buy as many books, I put it back with a wistful, “Maybe when it’s in paperback.”

Imagine my surprise when a couple days later, I won a copy at the Wonders & Marvels blog. (Note the blog post by the book’s author, about Abigails foray into “junk bonds.”) Talk about great timing! Abigail Adams has always been a hero of mine, and it’s been a while since I read a biography about her, so I’m really looking forward to this. Thanks, Wonders & Marvels!

Tags: Chappy, General, Reading by --Deb
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Did You Get Snow?

It seems to be THE topic on the internet today–how much snow you got in the weekend’s blizzard.

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It’s kind of hard to say, actually. It was kind of windy, so it’s hard to say. I mean–this is what the archway looked like this morning–snow on one side but not the other. As you know, snow doesn’t usually fall that way.

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All I can really say is that we definitely had snow.

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Chappy is all wistful. This is one time when we both miss having a backyard to romp in.

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He did help his Grandpa shovel off his deck, though.

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Luckily, I got a picture of our deck chairs beforehand.

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It’s been a fairly quiet day, really. I made some granola, and have pot roast on the stove. (The house smells yummy.)

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I gave this fellow a haircut, too.

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Although he was all kinds of difficult when I tried to take his picture. Look at that silly face he’s making!

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This is really the best I could do. Trust me, though, he looks cute.

I had wanted to get my Christmas presents wrapped today, but didn’t quite make it. I got distracted watching “Shall We Dance” on tv. You know, the 1930s musical with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, with all that wonderful music from George Gerswhin? So many great numbers, especially the one on roller skates. That Fred Astaire sure was a man ahead of his time.

Tags: Chappy, General by --Deb
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Penny for Your Thoughts

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Isn’t this an adorable ring? And what could be more perfect for a writer, than a ring made out of money that says “Penny for your thoughts.” And from my birth-year, too! (From Nina Gibson Designs on Etsy.)

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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by --Deb
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Redhook

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Here’s the beginning of my sweater … though it looks rather more orange than it should. (The color in this post is pretty accurate.) It’s about 3″ now, but yes … it’s definitely making my hands dry as I knit.

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And look–the start of my new sock.

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The yarn again. It’s Mountain Colors Bearfoot in “Northern Lights” and is really lovely to work with.

My father nicely took my car to be inspected today. (A bi-annual requirement here in New Jersey.) He drove to the office, took my car, and headed off to the inspection station. Time passed, and more time. Then more time. Hmm … I was starting to worry, when Dad strolled in the door and dropped my keys on my desk. “Did it pass?” “Well, I had to go twice.”

Twice? It turns out, my car failed inspection. Not because of the brakes that are going to need replacing, or the two tires that will be replaced the same time … but because of my windshield wipers. Apparently they were insufficient, despite the fact that they keep my windshield clear without streaks, and anyway, who knew that aging windshield wipers could flunk a car?

So, anyway, my good father … who earned at least one of those loaves of Stollen … drove all the way back to our mechanic, had them replace the wipers, and then drove back to Succasunna to the inspection station to get it reinspected. Wasn’t that good of him?

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Sorry, I have no new pictures to share with you tonight. I’ve been working on my Redhook–it’s only about 2″ long at the moment, and the only real problem I’m having with it is that the yarn is making my hands dry.

Odd, don’t you think? This is the hand-dyed yarn I bought at Rhinebeck, and it smells faintly like vinegar, which is fine. But after a couple of rows (that’s about 200 stitches), my hands feel dry. Could it be whatever kind of dye was used? The vinegar used to set the dye? No idea, but that means that I can only knit on it about half an hour at a time.

I started a new pair of socks, too. As in, right now, I have a toe but not much of anything else. I’m using a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot in “Northern Lights” color. I haven’t used this yarn before, but am liking it so far. That’s 60% superwash wool, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon–practically the perfect sock yarn.

I’ve also been very caught up in some hubbub in the freelancing world.

I explained the whys behind this question in my blog post at Punctuality Rules yesterday, but my brain is still locked on this question. The gist, though, is that there’s a successful freelancer, James from Men With Pens, who is, in fact, a woman, and just “came out” from behind her pen-name. She started using the pseudonym because she was having so much trouble making ends meet writing under her own name. I find this fascinating, brave, and downright depressing. You’d think we’d be beyond this sort of discrimination in the 21st century. Go read my post,if you like, for the longer version of why I’m asking. And, by all means, go to Copyblogger and read James’ post and the incredibly thoughtful (and generally supportive) comments. Like I said, brave of her, and cheers for her well-deserved success story … yet depressing at the same time.

And, one more thing–if you haven’t contributed to Norma’s baby, the Red Scarf Project, she’s extended the deadline for all those wonderful prizes. What are you waiting for?

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Empty Needles

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Okay, now my knitting needles are really empty … Well, almost.

I finished the body of my second sock last night–the one that’s been in my purse for months. This means that the only knitting I have at the moment is the need to add the two Afterthought Heels to these socks …I’ve never actually done Afterthought Heels, mind you, but I figured now was as good a time as ever. You have to try new things, right? I just need to decide if I want to do them in the same yarn, or in a contrasting color.

Oh, and figure out exactly where to put them. How DO you judge where to make the cut?

Anyway, after that, I’m done. Nothing to knit.

How scary is that?

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I do have this lovely little swatch, though. I knitted it out of the yarn I bought at Rhinebeck in October, and right now it’s sitting on the ledge overlooking the living room, drying so that I can measure it, get an idea of what my gauge is, and then do whatever pattern math is necessary to then knit a Redhook out of it. (And, thanks again Kim for lending me that pattern book.)

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It is a gray, wet, dreary day today, though. Freezing rain and apparently there are a LOT of accidents out there … and yet it looks so innocent!

I did something yesterday that I haven’t done in AGES, though. Months. An inconceivable length of time.

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I bought some books. Mom and I went to a bookstore where I actually got a chance to browse and buy some new books.

I know, I’m practically giddy … though at the same time I feel a little guilty because, well, I should be spending money on Christmas presents (and rent), not on me, right? But then … did I mention it’s been MONTHS?? Normally I’m twitching with withdrawal after a few weeks without a bookstore fix.

My friend Cindy came over last night, too, to see the new place. She was rather later than she had said. When we first discussed her coming, she said “after 3:00,” when we got more specific, she said “about 4:00,” but she didn’t actually get here until 4:30. Though, of course, I’m glad that she showed up this time at all. (Not like the last time.) We had discussed her picking up supper, but, while she called when she got in the car, that went to voicemail, and she said not to call her back, because she didn’t have her bluetooth headset with her, so that plan went out the window. So I ended up cooking a pasta and vegetable dish with what I could find in the fridge. We had a nice visit, though, and she stayed to watch “Julie and Julia” with Mom and me, which was fun. And, she approved of the new house, which is important–not that she would dare say anything else (grin). Chappy, in particular, was thrilled to see her, and told her many times to be sure to say hello to his best friend for him–nobody gives “I’m so happy to see you!” greetings like Chappy!

Tags: Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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What I Did Today

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So glad that Stollen Day is over for another year!

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Tags: Baking by --Deb
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Snow Day

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I took these last weekend on our morning walk … oddly, there were no kids playing on the swing set!

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And… Finished!

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There she is in all her glory–isn’t she pretty?

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And, yes, I went with the leather buttons. I agree that the brass ones looked great, too, but when I laid they om the sweater and stepped back … it felt like they took away from it. And the plastic ones were just too … plastic. (Not to mention that, since I bought them stapled to a piece of cardboard, every single one had a piece of wire threaded through it which I would have had to somehow remove before sewing onto the sweater. That was just too much work.)

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I wore it to work today and am happy to report that the sleeves behaved themselves. Long sleeves–especially sweater sleeves–usually knock all my piles of paper over when I’m sorting stuff.

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The view from the front isn’t really as good, since it shows way too much of my waistline.

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You’ll be glad to know that Chappy approves of the sweater, though!

Now–the weekend is starting a day early for me because tomorrow is the infamous Stollen Day. I’ve got the dough rising on the counter as we speak and Mom and Dad are heading to the movies tomorrow afternoon, where it’s safe.

Come to think of it, I should really be resting.

Do you realize, though? As of this minute, the only knitting project I have is the sock in my purse, that I’ve been working on for months.

Yikes!

I was thinking about the Redhook pattern by Jarod Flood … especially if the yarn I bought at Rhinebeck works, gauge-wise. (It’s also handy that Kim lent me her copy of Made in Brooklyn, which has some really great patterns in it.)

Tags: Finished Knitting, Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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Bigger Button Bin

Yep, it’s that time again–time to pick the buttons for my sweater!

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These I’ve actually had for years. They are almost exactly the same color as the sweater. They’re reflecting the light oddly in this picture, but trust me, it matches so well, they almost get lost. Which is both a plus and a minus.

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These I only photographed because–and again, they’re reflecting the light in a way that makes them look lighter–they are also the perfect color for this sweater. They are just way too big to remotely work.

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These could almost work. The color is just right, but they are wafer thin, which makes them less than practical for a sweater. I just don’t think they would hold.

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These little brass ones are a surprising possibility. I didn’t expect to like them this much on this particular sweater, but I laid them out and thought, Hmmm…

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But, really, these are the ones I’m leaning toward. Little, brown leather buttons with a color that doesn’t quite match, but which compliments it nicely.

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See? A second look.

My only real problem?

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My little button bin is overflowing. I have to come up with something bigger to store them in.

Anyway, what do YOU think about my button choices? I already have Mom’s vote…

Tags: Knitting/Spinning by --Deb
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First snow

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We had the first snow of the season yesterday. About 2-3 inches, but enough for us to find out that the townhouse people DO in fact clear away the snow from not only the streets and sidewalks, but the driveways and walkways between houses. I took this picture of our street on our walk around the block earlier.

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I tried, I really tried to get a picture of how this tree was shining as if every clump of snow was a diamond, but a point-and-shoot can only do so much–especially when you (1) can’t really see anything on the LCD screen and (2) you’ve got a dog more interested in sniffing and walking attached to the arm holding the camera.

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We decorated the Christmas tree, too, which didn’t take nearly as long as usual (grin).

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It looks pretty, though, and all our favorite ornaments are on, so we’re happy.

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Though the process kind of bored Chappy.

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Luckily, his grandpa came along to give him a good tummy rub.

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And, of course, a good nap is always useful. (I’m biased, of course, but isn’t this an adorable picture?)

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Oh, and my car had its eighth birthday on Thursday. I took this picture to commemorate the occasion. It’s hard to see, but that’s 54, 024 miles on the odometer.

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How about another picture of Chappy with his Grandpa? He (Chappy) likes to weave his way behind people’s legs while they sit on the couch, and sometimes, he’ll just sit there and relax.

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When he’s not busy napping, of course!

Tags: Chappy, Family by --Deb
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Cake and Granola

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So, what’s a girl to do, once she’s home from errands on what turned into a snowy Saturday?

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Yep. Make yummy stuff in the kitchen!

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I got my Cooks Illustrated yesterday, and this recipe looked really good.

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It smells really good, too. I’m just waiting for it to cool off enough to have a piece. Because–yum! I don’t know if my cream cheese filling has worked out the way it’s supposed to since it was a little too runny to position correctly in the center, but it smells so wonderful at this moment, I don’t care.

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There’s granola, too.

So, we looked around our house and realized that we really didn’t have room for our Christmas tree. Kind of a sad thing, but we can’t let that stop us!

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So, we picked up a little, 4-foot artificial tree for $25 and put it on the coffee table. We’ve only just plugged it in, so it doesn’t have any decorations yet, but it’s a Christmas tree, so no complaints.

Otherwise–did I mention? It’s snowing out there!

Tags: Baking, General by --Deb
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Type

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