Friday Feines

Hello All,

Happy Friday and Happy December (tomorrow)!  It's a bit grey outside (again) and we expect some rain later on (again).  But hey!  The weekend is just about upon us and that makes me happy.

I did manage to knit during lunch one day this week, but last night saw no knitting at all.  Colin stopped by for dinner and after he left I ended up on the phone with a friend.  Hopefully more knitting at lunch today.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with Dee at a Mennonite Christmas Market (part farm market and part craft fair) - hopefully that will be fun and then hoping to find a nearby coffee shop and settle in for coffee, chatter and a bit of knitting...and some lunch.

We will get to see these two tomorrow night when we head over to Colin & Mailing's to celebrate Mailing's birthday (which is today).

I love Marcel's crossed paws...and what a fluffy tail he has!

Wishing you all the best of weekends!

One More Finished!

Good Blustery Morning!

Whew!  It is SO windy outside.  I heard on my drive into work that we were having tropical storm force winds.  Let me assure you, our temperatures are not even close to tropical.  It is just around 30 outside...there is snow on the radar map all around us - fairly close - but luckily nothing right here.  But those winds...they could knock you off your feet!  I am cozy warm though in fleece leggings, boots and a beautiful cashmere sweater that was given to me...gosh!  probably 25 or more years ago!

Last night I made a vegetable dish that my Mom always fixed at Thanksgiving - scalloped onions and peppers.  Basically you just saute some bell peppers (sliced) and onions (sliced) in butter.  Pour them into a casserole dish and then make a white sauce and add a boat load of cheese to that.  Pour over the veggies and bake in a moderate oven (325) for 30-45 minutes.  Fletch loves this dish...Colin doesn't eat cheese, so we never have it at Thanksgiving these days.  I enjoyed it, but I guess I'm not used to such rich food because I did not feel so good later on....

But, I did manage to finish the first mitt for my brother in CO:

Again, this is made using leftover Lopi yarn from the sweater I knit myself last year.  The colors are hard to see in this photo, but the bottom part is green and the top a kind of burnished gold.  The second mitt will be reversed.  I hope to get that started tonight.

Each day this week I've brought my sock knitting to work (and my book), but so far I have not had a chance to knit (or have a proper lunch hour).  I'm hoping that changes today.  It should be fairly quiet.

Mid-week and I am looking forward to the weekend!  Hope your week is going well.

Back to Work

Hello All,

How was your Thanksgiving?  Tasty?  Ours was delicious.  And also bitter cold (outside temp - not the food - lol).  It did not get above 28 on Thursday!  The gathering at Colin & Mailing's was smaller than usual as her parents were both in China.  Colin and I watched a few episodes of Monty Python (the original Flying Circus - now on Netflix!!) before dinner.  Fletch and I waddled home around 8:30 or 9 p.m.

It was so wonderful to have so much time off work!  I think I averaged 10 hours of sleep each night!  Of course, last night was the exception and I was awake most of the night (and am dragging this morning).

I did manage to finish the mitts for my sister-in-law.  The colors are not accurate in the photo.  The cuffs are grey, and then the other two colors are purple and blue.  I realized I did not have enough of any one color to make two mitts, so I just reversed the blue and purple and I like them!

The picture above makes them look huge, but they fit my hands nicely.  Being made with Lopi yarn, they are extra warm!  I'm more than halfway finished the first mitt for my brother- they should be finished this week.

I made breakfast bars using Colin's recipe and they turned out great!  They are a bit crumbly and easily fall apart, but the taste is wonderful.  Kathy B wanted the recipe, so here it is:

Breakfast Bars

2 Cups dried fruit (Colin used dates and cherries; I used apricots and cranberries)

2 Cups nuts (Colin used almonds; I used pistachios and walnuts)

2 Cups rolled oats

¼ Cup nut butter (we both used peanut butter)

¼ Cup honey (I used maple syrup instead)

Chop the dried fruit in food processor until it becomes a ball.  Put in bowl.  Either chop the nuts in the food processor or rough chop them with a knife.  Add to bowl with fruit.  Add the oats.  Using your hands, mix all of that together.

Put the nut butter and honey or syrup in a small saucepan and heat on low until it is all liquid.  Pour into bowl with fruit, nuts and oats and mix all together.

Line an 8” x 8” pan with parchment paper and add the mixture, tamping it down.  Put another piece of parchment paper on top and weight that down.  Place in freezer for 2.5 hours.

Pull out of freezer, cut into bars, individually wrap and store in freezer.

 Let me know if you make any!!

Some of you asked about the cranberry and fig sauce.  It was a recipe from the November issue of Bon Appetit and it was good...but I missed the flavors of orange and cinnamon.  Instead there were flavors of shallot and fresh rosemary and balsamic vinegar was added. 

On the reading front, I finished "To The Bright Edge of the World" last Wednesday.  Fabulous!!  Five Stars!!  I did not want the story to end.  Now I'm in the midst of reading The Alice Network which is an easy, but good read.

Friday, the 30th, is Mailing's birthday and we will be back at Colin & Mailing's for a birthday dinner on Saturday.  I think/hope here parents will be back from China and will join us.

Luckily it seems pretty quiet at work today.  I plan to order a few things on line this morning and then knit on a sock at lunch!  Hope everyone is doing well.

Unraveled Wednesday 11-21-18

Good Morning!


Boy did I sleep in this morning!!  Usually I'm up by 5:30 on work mornings and typically by 6:30 or so on weekends.  Today?  I rolled out of bed at 8:15.  What a luxury.


I did manage to knit after dinner last night and finished the first sock.  Lest I enter into Second Sock Syndrome, I promptly started the second:

A little busy on that Fall tablecloth....I have not measured exactly yet, but I think I managed to start the second sock in approximately the same place in the yarn colors as the first one, so they should be close to matching.  I think these will be for Fletch - he has been admiring the texture (Hermoine's pattern) and likes the colors.  Hoping to knit a bit more today, but also want to work on the fingerless mitts.


I did make the cranberry fig sauce this morning.

I'm anxious to taste it when it has cooled more.  While warm it was good...but not my favorite.  However, we all like trying new things, so that's good.  There are shallots and fresh rosemary in this as well as balsamic vinegar (and the only balsamic vinegar I have on hand is honey-ginger...so a few more flavors thrown in).


A few weeks ago Colin had brought over some home-made breakfast bars that were so good.  He gave me the recipe and I plan to make some of them this afternoon...will let you know how they turn out.  I will also mix up the dough for my pie crust.  I am only making a pumpkin pie this year (usually I make apple and pecan as well).  But I think Mailing's sister may bring a pie and there will only be five of us...so no need for a ton of desserts. 


I also need to run out to do a couple of errands this afternoon.  Hopefully places won't be too crowded (not holding my breath on the liquor store though).  Fletch heard that someone is now making a cranberry liquor - hoping to find that we well as some wine to take to Colin & Mailing's.


On the reading front, I am almost finished To The Bright Edge of The World.  So good!  I don't want it to end...but my overdrive loan ran out a couple of days ago, so time to finish it and let it wing back over the airwaves to someone else.


Linking up with Kat and friends this day before Thanksgiving. 

More Fog

Hello All,

Another very foggy morning here (this time mostly outside...my brain isn't quite as foggy this morning).  My bosses agreed I should not come in to work tomorrow.  Woo-Hoo!  I'm going to try a new recipe for a cranberry sauce that includes dried figs in it - I'll let you know how that turns out.  It will be so nice to have the day tomorrow to putter around and get a few things made.  I'll most likely make the dough for the pie crust, but will hold off baking a pie until Thursday morning.  We won't be going over to Colin & Mailing's until mid-afternoon.

I did manage to knit some last night and I only have 8 rows or so until the toe decrease on the sock.  I brought it to work and am hoping that I can take a little time to knit today.

Our weather forecast for Thursday is showing only a high of 28!  Brrrrr.  Meanwhile, here is an image I found on the web years ago and just love:

Wishing you all a Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Foggy Monday

Hello All,

It is a foggy morning - not only outside...but also in my brain - lol.  I'm having some problem getting going this morning.  Even stopping at Starbucks on my way to work didn't help.

The weekend was relaxed which was lovely.  I met up with Dee on Saturday morning at "our" hangout - Backyard Beans.  Yay!!!  The Cardamom Black Pepper Latte is back.  So good!  We had some of that and then we had some tea and knit and chatted.  For me, an ideal Saturday morning.  I worked on the fingerless mitt for my SIL and got up to where I will increase for the thumb:

(Nothing more has been done on this).

If you read Dee's Blog you know there was a parade in Lansdale that day.  We were almost trapped!!  The main road and many side roads were blocked off, but we managed to make our way to the diner and ended up with front row seats.  It was a little chilly, so it was nice to watch the parade from inside (and while munching on fries!!).  Lots of fire trucks, local high school bands, some penguins on a float and, of course, Santa!!

Sunday I woke up late, but still managed to cook breakfast for Fletch and me (pancakes with Asian pear - yum!!).  We did some grocery shopping and I got a bit of knitting done on the sock:

About another 40 rows or so and I can decrease for the toes.

This is a short week at work.  My office closes at 1 on Wednesday and then is closed Thursday and Friday.  I may not bother coming in on Wednesday.  There are a few things I'm making for Thanksgiving to take to Colin & Mailings and I could use the day at home.  I'll see how things flow today and tomorrow.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!!

TGIF 11-16-18

Hello All,

It seems as though Winter is upon us.  The snow started here around 11 yesterday morning.  The snow was very pretty coming down....my 12 mile commute home was not so pretty - lol.  I left the office around 1:10 p.m. and walked in my door just before 4 p.m.  The roads were so packed with folks that I averaged 3-4 mph the entire way!!  Initially I was attempting to take back roads home, but there were so many cars stuck that I headed for the main highway.  I got home safely and that's what matters. 

Meanwhile, our Thanksgiving luncheon yesterday was so nice.  Shortened up quite a bit due to the weather - no one hung around for long, but the food was excellent.

This morning I woke up to more snow - crazy!  It was supposed to turn to rain, but it did not.  Once it stopped around 7 a.m. I went out to clear the car and warm it up.  No problems getting into the office - very light traffic and just slush on the roads.  Breakfast was just delivered, so all is good!!  And...my boss told me to leave by Noon today.  Nice!!

I was pretty tired after the commute home and actually fell asleep at the table knitting - lol.  Here is the start to the Lopi fingerless mitts.  These are going to be SO warm!!

I was not the only one who fell asleep!  Tyg must have been in and out of the house 15 times within a 90 minute span of time.  He'd go out and then want to come in...he'd sit by the door and meow to go out again. 

And here are some more Friday kitties for you.  Colin texted me this picture of Talbot and Marcel this morning:

They look so cozy.  The green trunk/chest that Marcel is sitting on is one my Dad used when he was in college!!

Wishing you all a lovely and snow-free weekend!  Stay warm.