Thursday, December 29, 2005

almost the new year

well, I've been accused of not keeping up with my blog. yes. it's true. but between joe & his back surgery & installing Kazaa, a hideous program that downloads music & stuff, I have screwed up my pc...bigtime. and my lace scarf is really coming along so beautifully that I simply MUST take a pic & post but I still don't know how. I still don't know how to add a link. I'm a mess. so forgive me...especially you, sandie!!!!!!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

where am I????

I clicked on my blog to put in today's post & all I saw was a brown background w/white swirlies. nothing else. not a drop. not a letter or word or anything. maybe they booted me out?? I thought hmmmm. maybe I should just attempt to post & see what happens. so here I am, typing away. I have no idea what I was gonna post originally because the shock of my nothingness knocked it right outta my head. ok, I'm coming out of here now. we shall see what happens. get ready. here we go.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

saturday already??!!

would someone please tell me what happened to friday?????
I thought today was friday but no......so somewhere I lost a day???!!!!

but the cheesecake came out really good!!!!!!! a titch dark where the side meets the bottom but the rest of it is wonderful...even the nut crust. the weird thing was that right in the center there was a gully. I know cheescakes crack sometime but this was long & deep thing. point is, it tasted awful good!

I finished the 1 scarf...it came out really nice. whipped out a dishcloth too.

pics would be such a nice touch here...& links too. I just wish I knew how to do it. later all.............

Thursday, December 15, 2005

cheesecake.....

I told you all that I made the crust for the cheesecake & I just finished making the cheesey part. I baked it on high for 15 min then you lower it all the way down to 250 for an hour & 15 min....but the top is pretty dark...I hope my oven isn't busted!!!! if it burns I'll be pretty disappointed but hey, it's just a cheesecake I guess. no reason to get in a tizzy over it. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. I better get back to my scarf.....see?? I told you I was lazy....a lazy knitter, that's me!!!!

xmas party

well, I just have to say that the knitting party last night was just fabulous!!!! we went to the yarn shop owner's country club, had a wonderful buffet w/drinks (whoo hoo)& then back to her house to exchange gifts. her house is gorgeous & it was all decorated & oh my, what can I say!!!!!
I'm almost finished my scarf & I must say, it is really looking good. it's a lovely merino wool in a deep purple & I'm using a pretty stitch I found in 1 of the barbara walker books. just lacy enough but not overdone. I still can't beleive I haven't ripped the whole damn thing out yet!!!!! after I block it, it should be about 7" wide. I really don't think anyone needs a scarf wider than that, if so, then make a shawl, for heaven's sake. but like I said before, I'm a lazy knitter w/ADD so I can only be distracted for so long in between my knitting!!! LOL!!!
other than that, joe goes into the hospital monday for his back surgery & I still haven't gotten him his gift yet. I told him we better wait just in case he doesn't survive, so that I don't have to return his damn gift. well we laughed like crazy over that, like we usually do, & I think that made him feel a little better & relieved some of his fear. if he thinks I'm scared then he'll be a basket case. but to be honest, I am a little bit worried because of his COPD & Emphysema...like anything could happen. like ralph on the honeymooners said "what I say about him is 1 thing...how I feel is another!!"...and I do love him like crazy.
ok, have a great day everyone.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

hello hello!!!!

happy wednesday to one & all!!!! so glad it's a new day. I just cooked a batch of chicken to take to work tomorrow because it be fri chicken day!!!! something we just made up but hopefully will continue every few weeks. of course, I didn't fry it, I baked it, but that's such a small lil ol formality, ya know!!!!
I'm still working TENACIOUSLY (ha ha!!!) on my scarf. it wants to lay there quietly but I ain't havin none of that!!!! did I use the word correctly this time, girlie girls??? I hope so!!!!!
I also made the nut crust for the cheesecake. I'm not having much luck w/nuts these days as the 2 brand new bags of macadamias I bought were rancid. I smelled it as soon as I opened them. so they're going right back to the store. instead I ground up walnuts & almonds. we shall see how it comes out!!! it sure does smell good tho!

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

tenacious you say?????

I felt like using that word today. I just hope I'm using it in the right way. here is my story.
I left my car keys at work on my desk yesterday so when I got back home to the parking lot where we all take the vanpool, no keys. I ended up taking the van home. This morning I pile all the gifts to bring tonite to the knitting group & figure I'll just lock them in my car trunk. no keys. so the presents come alllll the way here to work with me, sitting in the van all day. So anyway, as I go to get my coffee out of my drawer, because we all know that ollie must have her coffee, I can't get in because..........no keys. I end up calling the locksmith, who is also 1 of the drivers in my vanpool, so he at least got my drawer picked open. now I just need to figure out how to get my keys. oh, I left out the best part. I had left my keys on my desk so I called & got a nurse who said she would just lock them in her locker. When I got to work today I find out she called in sick. so, no keys.
so now, all I wanna know is, was I tenacious???? don't make me get out the dictionary & look it up, please.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

ah sunday.....

what a lovely day it was. I actually baked cookies today. I can't even remember the last time I baked cookies. I tasted 1 & it was extremely yummy but within an hour my stomach was on the warpath. for the past year I seem to get sick if I eat certain foods with wheat. but it isn't ALL foods with wheat. so I am perplexed. I know it isn't Celiac disease but I eat as tho it is.
I spent way too much money [at a gluten free store] on different flours hoping to blend them together into something decent enough to pass for what I'm used to. the assorted bags are sitting in my freezer like they have some kind of disease & I'm ascared to come near them. LOL! but 1 of these days I'll concoct something. what really made me sick is the 12 oz bag of pasta from Italy that cost me 7 bucks. you heard right. I still haven't made it & the bag is all in italian so I can't even try to duplicate the ingredients.
but getting back to my cookies, I originally wanted something biscotti-ish. I don't much care for anise so those recipes I had were tossed aside. I saw 1 for poppy seed cookies & thought, hey, I have those in my freezer!!! thankfully it called for the seed & not the paste stuff in a can. anyway, joe had removed them from the freezer saying they were not a real food & they were taking up good space that might otherwise go towards his hot pockets. so he put them in the pantry. how long ago, I don't know. so I open up the container & they smell rancid. so no poppyseed cookies. but I DID have sesame seeds!!! so I threw them in a pan on the stove & toasted them, ground up some almonds, creamed some butter w/flour, vanilla, 1 egg & a little salt, rolled it all up into 3 logs & threw it in the oven for about 12 min. after I took them up I let them cool, sliced them into biscotti look alikes & popped them back in. man, were they good!!!!

Saturday, December 10, 2005

it never fails

I tried to stay up as late as I could to try & prolong the weekend but here it is, saturday morning already. that means that it will be monday morning in like, seconds from now!!!!! eeek!!!!
I had something very delicate & lovely on the needles. I had just done the provisional cast on & added the delicious new yarn to it. I maybe did 2 rows when I realized I just couldn't keep my eyes open another minute. so I tuck the project gently into a fairly large knitting book so that feline fingers won't get at it, not that she's a big fan of my knitting stuff, but I never like to take a chance. and this morning I notice my addi needle on the floor. that lil assh-le left the knitting intact in the book but pulled out the damn needle!!!!!! I know, it's my own fault & this is my punishment for doing something that I knew was wrong wrong wrong.
I shall spend my morning re-doing if I can't get those lil tiny stitches picked up again. woe is me.

Friday, December 09, 2005

it be fri chiken day!!!!!!!!!

atz right. today is friday. today is also fri chiken day. why?? because it is.

it's also a lovely chilly winter day here in arizona. for which I can wear my mittens. mittens that I just knitted up in a hurry because my hands were numb every single morning for the past 2 weeks. mittens for which I have 1/2 a cable pattern done & no thumb on the 1 mitten & a thumb but no cable pattern & big enough for 3 hands on the other. but they are wool, army green to be exact, & they have been keeping my hands nice & warm. besides it's pitch black in the morning so nobody will ever see them. I had gotten the wool from a yarn shop in Scarsdale, NY back in the 80's I think....they were going out of business & I bought all the Pinguin wool they had, for 69 cents each 100gr skein. they only had 2 colors, army green & halloween orange. not that that was the official names of the colors, just the names I assigned them. I made the elizabeth zimmermann sweater in the round, my very 1st, w/a huge turtleneck in the orange, & since I never ever ever bother w/doing a gauge, it mighta come out just a wee bit on the gigantic size. but a good turn in the washer & it shrunk & felted to the most comfy, warmest, soft as butta sweater I ever had in my life. so the lesson here is.........sometimes ollie gets lucky...yeah, it's the only lesson I could come up with. ta ta for now, kiddies.....

Thursday, December 08, 2005

is it friday yet????

has this been a long week or is it just me????
I made 2 tiny baby caps for 2 friends out of the Berocco Plush, just knitting around until done, & they both came out very soft & nice. I originally bought it to make the cute lil Ugg baby boots but my skin is so dry that the suede yarn keeps sticking to it. not fun. how many times must I file my skin down w/the nail file????? and then all that lotion. I don't drink enuff water so my skin is under-hydrated. you can't win. either you're too oily or too dry. such is life.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

ah, friends.....

you see what threatening your friends can do???? a few have already posted!!!! well, especially now, holiday time & all. They know what side of the butter their bread is on, I tell you!!
I really am lucky tho. they are THE best!!!!!
as I type this, my cat is lying directly under my feet, cleaning herself, & every once in awhile her nail stabs me in my leg. I about nearly fell off my chair. she demands alot of attention all of a sudden especially since we lost our pup, Sandi, recently. I had her (Sandi) since she was a baby & she & the cat grew up together.
Anyway, now the cat seems to be pawing at my butt hanging out thru the chair rungs. enuff about her.
I will be starting a scarf for the scarf exchange I just joined, thanks to kerry of kerry knits. I wish I knew how to post links to other peoples blogs & list stuff but for now you'll just have to listen to me drone on & on. I must write to my partner to make sure certain yarns are not off limits. I'll probably keep it fairly plain but will use a yummy yarn, hopefully. ok, I'm tired so off I go. till tomorrow!

let's try this again!!!!!

ok, I started a blog about a month ago. don't ask me where it went or why I didn't save it, but alas, it's in the land of lost blogs & hopefully will turn up in about a month or so.
but anyway!!!!! I'm a knitter. and an animal lover. I don't wanna tell you too much because I might get tagged by someone & then I'd have to type it all over again.
I have many friends who knit & they are all wonderful, great, terrific, fun, silly & nuts. I wouldn't trade them for all the yarn in the Rowan warehouse. ok, let me re-think that.......naw...I'll stick to what I said the 1st time!!!!! in the meantime, I'll make this brief so I'll have something worthwhile to post tomorrow!!!! and please bear w/me.....I'm a newbie!!!! Meg or as my friends call me...Ollie!