Guh? It's Saturday? And daytime??

I slog out from my NOW FINISHED Christmas knitting, yes here is

(x)

isn't it lovely? I think the edging gives it just the right touch.

and

(y)

I hope they are the right size.

(Pictures after Christmas.)


Went to Godkid's 2nd birthday party. She looked at the llama puppet that I got. Hmm. Gently set it down, then proceeded to visually devour the "Is your Mama a Llama?" book, until she went into crash mode, and became the magic boneless child.

Went to my friend's book signing. I am envious. I had some little stuff published, a while back, but not more than a page or two. This was a big story, in a book! I will read it and get back on a review. (It's Sci-fi, and in L. Ron Hubbard's "Writers of the Future")

I am going to work on Christmas cards, now that I have one finally drawn up and printed.

Need to make more cookies, we are almost out, just because I was the good aunt, and so now my niece probably has enough cookies to keep an average size kindergarten class hyper for the next week... And I think I get extra points, I let her listen to the music SHE likes on the way home. (I kept control of the volume, or I do believe I could maybe have heard a nuke blast right next to the truck. Maybe. Let's just say I had to turn it way down just to hear HER.)

Oh, and now that I am finished knitting?

I am knitting... (Sheesh.) I decided I wanted to make a couple monster toys, (think "Where the Wild Things Are"), and so am making a first one. Glitter the Critter. This one has long donkey ears and horns, and will have three fingers, possibly the same number of toes. Named Glitter because it has this shiny stuff in one of the "fur" yarns I am using, that gives it a sparkle...

Thingy # 2 will have one eyeball and teeth, and whatever else I decide to make.

Yeah, Christmas are us, yeffer! If you're Stephen King, maybe.

Eh.

Veggie P*rn and Gingerbread.

I am getting all the new catalogs for the gardening season of 2008. Even the Mushroom season of 2008. Mmmm. Shiitakes, lightly saute'd with butter. ('Scuse me while I go wipe off the drool...)

Anyway, I am just utterly astounded at the variety of... well, everything! I swear there is 20-30 types of tomatoes! Reds, yellows, some sort of purple, big, tiny, sort of stripey, wow! Carrots, yellow, orange, fat, thin, long, you have your choice. Corn, white, yellow, red, multi, this year even has (for you Barbie Doll lovers out there) pastel colored corn! I am sort of planning out my garden. I have been so frustrated with the quality of corn (the llamas liked it, no one else did...), that I said I wasn't going to plant any next year. (My Darwinian gardener coming out again.) Husband has been putting extra soil in, and getting a trailer set up for my ATV, so I can collect llama doo for putting on the soil. He asked that I give it another chance. Hmph. Maybe. But I do want peas.

My dear neighbor might get to have venison, if I lose them to deer again this year! Sheesh...




Husband has been gone so I have made gingerbread for cookies. Why does Husband need to be gone, you ask? This recipe calls for a tiny bit of vinegar. That is a smell that Husband can't stand, I have seen him turn green and go outdoors. So, if I cook with it, he can't be around. He doesn't mind it in things, mixed, but the odor of "raw" vingear just makes him ill. (Which makes cooking a dinner he likes, chicken with sweet and sour sauce, a bit of a challenge. Hot vingear smell allllll over the house. Not a good thing, poor guy.

Well, in the knock me over with a feather department:
My niece and nephew came over last year, we made cookies. They seemed ambivelent, at best. I didn't bother inviting them over, figuring they would be bored. Ahem.

I was taking over some funds to my niece for a school fundraiser, (Auntie IS a pushover, yes she is...), and Niece spoke up, "Auntie, are we going to make gingerbread this year? I would like to make a house, I haven't ever made one before."

I in my sophisticated and suave manner, said "Gahuh, huh?"

She: "I would like to do cookies again, but I would really like the house this year, if we could."

I mumbled something about we'd have to see when I could, and oh, and that sort of thing. I know she's not been here since I adopted the llamas, and would like to see them, as well, so I at least have some OTHER activity, if her attention span is that of a... really short attention span niece, ahem. So, as you can see by the above photo, I am getting ready. By my calculations, I can make a gingerbread house, big ginger family, maybe a ginger pet or two, and still have enough left over to have way too many cookies!

Or I could just make a gingerbread skyscraper, and gingerbread Godzilla, and see what happens...

Mushrooms and Gingerbread and knits, oh, my!

What have I been doing today? Cleaning the hen house. Out with the old, in with the new (ceader...) Chickens were annoyed that they had to be outside when it was raining, but they came into a clean dry house, so they can just shush.
(No, I didn't take a picture, ceader covered with chicken poo just isn't photogenic.)



After a bit of a scrub, I made post Christmas Gingerbread cookies. I had the dough left over from when my niece and nephew were here (they more or less made the dough), and thought I had better finish it up, before it solidified into a fruitcake or something. The kids did a pretty good job!


Husband went to visit someone to help them with a generator they had problems with. Husband has worked on several, and has paperwork on them, so I guess they had a grand old time working out the kinks of the rig, and these lovely shitake mushrooms were a thank you gift. HOO BOY, we are eating nice tonight! Or soon, anyway.


Mom's sleeves are going to be a few inches shorter than the pattern says, so I get to be creative and figure out how I am going to increase to make sure the silly arms line up with the sleeve holes! Wish me luck!



This was the UFO that I said was just yarn and a pattern on my shelf. I started it, it's called "Vegas Knitting". More or less, it's a process with coins and dice of deciding what you are going to knit stitch wise, and what color or type yarn you will use each row. I really like it, and might make a few more.

So, the achingly exciting life of Cat continues.

Brain Sucking Santa Hat, Holy Christmas Blop. Oh, and some knitting.

I went to my best gal friend's house for my God Daughter's birthday. Officially a one year old! She was having an odd time of it, I don't think she was totally used to the idea of cake, if you can believe it. She didn't want cake, she didn't really want to sit in her high chair, and she was a bit tired, I suspect. After we opened presents, she sat, as she does sometimes, up against my legs. I leaned over to look at her, and she realized I had this THING on my head. They gave out the dunce cap style party hats, and I just stuck the Santa hat over it. This gave it a tall, swinging motion, that scared the livin' POO outta her! She slid down my leg, stared at the evil Santa hat from Hades, then crawled as fast as she could move to Mom. No more being with "Auntie" that evening. She didn't even want to LOOK at me! Oh, well, soon Christmas will be over, and the Brain Sucking Santa Hat will be retired for another year.

Had my niece and nephew over for making cookies, a task I suspect they'd never done. My reasoning, trying to get them to understand that a cup of flour means that you FILL the cup, and you put in molasses, you FILL the cup, and (name ingredient here) you FILL the (your measurement here)... But, we got thru. I didn't think Nephew would be that thrilled, he being almost 18, but as he said, "hey, gets me out of the house..." Eh. Neice was more excited, but still not really as into it as I'd hoped. When I was younger... Well, actually, even now, decorating cookies is like major leauge fun. Not these two. Thank all that's Holy I didn't make a double batch of cookies. They decorated about 10 each, and that was enough, thank you. Uh, guys, we still have 1/2 the dough left. I proceeded to cut out cookies to finish it up, traditional gingerbread boys. Nada. They yawned. That's enough, auntie, we will just take them with us, we don't want to decorate anymore. As I try and get my head around the fact that decorating isn't the wonderful fun activity for them, Husband comes to the rescue and takes them out to play with the dog. I box up all of those poor nekkid ginger kids, and sniff lightly. Being sent out with no proper frosted or sugared clothing. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! But, hey. I have another batch of cooky dough in the fridge, just waiting to be little well dressed ginger folk. Take THAT, neice and nephew! (Actually, don't. I didn't keep any of the cookies we made that day.)

One funny thing that happened, I had almost finished, and there was just a wee bit of dough left, so I patted it into a hamburger patty type shape, and threw it in the oven with the rest of the cookies. Niece asked, what is that? A cookie... Yeah, but what is the shape? (We'd been using some of my cooky cutters that are rather old, and have some interesting shapes, not necessarily Christmas. In fact, nephew was quite taken with an axe cookie cutter. I didn't have the heart to tell him it's generally for use on Washington's Birthday...) I looked at the little end bit, and told Niece, "It's a Holy Christmas Blop." Her eyes got round as saucers, and she asked, nearly in a whisper, "Why?" I replied, "Because that's the quickest answer I could think of after you asked..." They didn't know whether auntie was serious, crazy, or just in need of a good stiff drink. (Probably a little of all three, truth be told.)

And finally, knitting. I had a gal saying she wanted to knit some hats for her grandsons in Holland, but she hadn't had time to learn. I got a wild hair, and knit two up. One for an 8 month old, and I believe she said the other was around 4.



And another friend, who was my belly dance teacher, has a 3 year old, and I wanted to make a 'gnome' for her.



I am planning to make smaller versions of these sometime, and make "elves". I think it will be about the time I win the lottery and grow 4 more arms to handle all the knitting, but hey. I still can imagine.

I have one more item I've been knitting on, and will be showing that after said recipient does said receiving... (Hi, Mom...)

So, Merry Christmas, we have safe and healthy trees, animals, family and friends, and are looking forward to a good Christmas. Take care.