Short Story Long

Somewhere in the last few years I stumbled across someone who had Christmas Quilts.  The quilts came out on December 1st and graced the beds only in December.  What fun!  I thought knitting a blanket would be faster than quilting, so I began last September (2010) on this blanket.  It is wide enough to cover our couch end to end - that's about seven feet, so all my boys can snuggle under it while watching a Christmas movie.  It is about four and a half feet long.  It took me a year!  I would have liked it to be a little more square but after a year, I just wanted to be done.  We got the blanket out sometime around Thanksgiving and it has definitely gotten some snuggling but I think I've used it the most!  If you are curious about the details you can find more information on my Ravelry project page , including how many skeins (14) it took.

When I was little, my brother, sister, and I always got to sleep under the Christmas tree the first night it was up in our house.  We did not start this tradition right away with our kids, but last year it came up in conversation and my kids wanted to do it.  The kids slept under the tree last year; this year, we all slept in the living room last night, even though it was a school night!  Last Friday we joined my brother's family at my parents' in the mountains to cut a Christmas tree down.  While we were there, we got some Christmas pillowcases from my mom, a newish tradition she started a few years ago.  I had told her that I was trying to stay with red, green, and brown for all my decorations so she found this cute fabric.  I love them!  How about you?  Any out-of-the-ordinary holiday traditions at your house?  Come on, I know you want to share!  In fact, if you post about it and tell me, I'll link to your post.  Let...

It's family picture time!  How do I know this?  Because I've been taking family pictures like crazy!  I'm hoping to squeeze in some of my own soon.  I love family pictures, no matter what people look like, no matter if the kids are all looking or smiling at the same time.  It's  this moment, and every moment is perfect in its own way.  Know what I mean? 

graffitti black cat She'll sit all evening next to BFJ but try to catch her outside with good lighting and she runs around the yard.  Finally I caught her between a screen and a dirty window!  I like it, though. heritage Hand written notes in the end pages of my grandfather's Bible.  It is currently being rebound for my uncle by Denver Bookbinding, and they are keeping all the end pages.  candlelit In a candleholder my dad made. crunchy leaves fog/mist Since I don't live near much water that would lead to fog or mist, I had to settle for foggy car windows.  golden pumpkin The white, the gold colored ones, and the little oranges in the foreground are all from our garden! something eerie or creepy I ran into Frank the Rabbit (from Donnie Darko ; I still don't understand that movie) at the end of a haunted house for kids.  None of the creatures jumped out, which I guess was the kid part.  Personally, I found the silen...

Was I gone awhile?  A few of you wrote to ask if I was alright, thank you!  You may have thought I lost my way.  I guess I did.  I was stressed / depressed through most of October and I was too busy, but now I'm not.  So there you go.  So I'm back!  Two good things have happened to me recently.  One is that I have done some reevaluating of my life, and have trimmed back a few things that...  just aren't as important as the time they were taking.  I'm increasing my margins, as my dad would say.  The second thing is that my parents came for a visit, which is funny because they don't live that far away, but they came for a couple of days.  (We wanted them to.)  They were willing to do whatever I wanted so that included helping me get my car to the mechanic, some decorative woodwork that needed touching up, making Christmas neckties for the guys, making cookies, reading with the boys, and so on.  Sometimes you j...

I love taking family photos!  It's so fun to see people spending time laughing with their kids.  Here are a few groups I've had the priviledge of shooting in the past month.  You may have seen one or two of these on my Flickr page but I'm having so much fun with them that I thought I'd do a little post here, too.   

I'm enjoying a delicious tea that my mother-in-law recommended while BFJ is loading the back of the garage with firewood, and turning my garden beds over for the winter; two boys are watching cartoons, and one is coloring.  Someone pointed me to the perfect barn and giant tree for my afternoon photoshoot.  This evening, I'm invited to a birthday party for one of my favorite little girls.  If I were just binding off the perfect sweater, or sewing down the binding on a sweet little quilt, it would be a flawless fall day. 

It's almost jack-o-lantern time! Are you working on a Halloween costume?  I would love to hear about it!

I've gotten several knitting projects finished up lately.  I have not taken the time to post about them because most are gifts, but maybe I'll take a moment this week to get some pictures of those that aren't or have already been given.  Or make something for myself?  Hope you're all enjoying your fall preparations!

I know you can't believe everything you read on the internet but what if .  And I know that 83 experiments won't convince everyone.  But what if you knew for sure, that this is true ?  Would it change your lifestyle, or would you just think, "that's too bad," and continue on?

"Kathleen, you are a lone reed. You are a lone reed, standing tall, waving boldly in the corrupt sands of commerce."  -Frank Navasky Do you ever have that thing where you say something out loud, and the moment the words leave your lips, you wish you hadn't said it out loud?  Almost like you jinxed it, even if you don't believe in jinxes?  I just had to go and say that my word for this year is 'contentment.'  What I have been struck with this week, several times, is the irony that I am seemingly alone, or perhaps one of very few people, looking to have deep, meaningful connections with real friends.  I invited every friend I have that a) lives in my relative corner of the world that I b) thought would be interested, to join us in some of our traditional fall festivities.  With the exception of my parents, and one VERY wonderful pair of friends, everyone has declined.  Everyone is too busy,  or in too much of ...

In trying to persuade loads of friends to go with us to Miller Farms , I looked all over for pictures I've taken, and did not find many.  I will be sure to take many this year.  In the meantime, as we were making Mr. Shagnasty yesterday, we discovered a previously untouched pile of indian corn from last year's excursion to the Farms.  We don't have loads of friends, but we do have a select few of the best! On the schedule for today:  church, lunch, applebutter-making.

One person woke me up this morning singing, "We get to decorate for Halloween today."  The next person plotted to find some branches.  Yet another sewed...  We borrowed a shirt from this Grandpa , some pants from that Grandpa , and a couple of buttons from Marie .  Not quite done, but meet Ukulele Threadneedle Shagnasty.  More to come...?

One of my kids asked today if we could put up the " nut line ."  I'm laughing hysterically inside!

September is drawing to a close. Here is my 'harvest' picture for the photo scavenger hunt.  Have any good tomatoes recipes or canning tips??

Today, we went to a train party.  A model train party.  Isn't it fun to have friends who do things you would never have thought of? ETA:  Someone asked if I have more pictures so hopefully they'll check back.  Here's the rest  of what I shot, on Flickr.  (If you are not familiar with Flickr, let me just point out that you should click on the first thumbnail picture, and then click it again, and then "Next," so you can view all the pictures large on black; so much better that way!)  Maybe I should go back with a tripod and get some more pictures!  Do you think they would notice me slinking through the yard and basement?

M is for marigolds, which remind me of my mom.  As a child, I thought they were so orange , and not fancy.  But then I became a gardener, and realized that, like my mom, some things have a hidden value, which I never appreciated growing up.

Perhaps it is the voice of experience talking:  Speed:  You know mint toothpaste?  Don't ever put it in your eyes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On a different note, I made the mistake (?) of eliminating everything from my blog yesterday to make it poignant, and now I cannot reload the / any picture on my header.  UGH.

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I had such a great response to my red sunflowers last year, that I planted all the rest of the seeds this year.  They are such beautiful flowers.  This morning, as I was talking pictures in the garden, the Bruise shared with me that his teacher told him there are not red sunflowers.  I asked for a clarification on that.  Apparently, he had added to a discussion about sunflowers, "...and red ones."  To which she replied, "You mean tulips or roses.  Sunflowers are not red."  Guess who will be learning something at school tomorrow!

Fresh Strawberry Syrup Ingredients: 1 c sugar 1 c water 1 1/2 c mashed fresh strawberries Directions: In a saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil.  Add strawberries and return to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Serve over pancakes or waffles. Recipe from www.allrecipes.com . I visited Berry Patch Farms again with a couple of friends.  This time, I left triumphantly with a whole flat full of strawberries, and a few pints of raspberries.  I could have picked more, but you know, I did have to pay for them!  From this:  We now have one bottle of syrup, three pints of raspberry jam, at least six pints of strawberry jam plus more on the stove now, eight little packs for lunches, and several snacks on the go.  Yum!

My latest photo venture.   1/100 John George. To read more about it, click on the picture!

My cat, Stitch.  We also have a black cat, Trixie, but she slinks in the shadows.

Today, at the last minute, we decided that we would go, afterall, to the open house at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.  We got there too late for the free lunch and prizes, but we had a lot of fun looking around.  Set minature for To Kill a Mockingbird.  How small is this miniature?  That is my smallest child's blurry head in the foreground. Costumes from Dracula were out for everyone to look at:  Sketches of Jacob, and Marley (dead these seven ye-ahs): A set miniature for A Christmas Carol:  A huge splurge for our holidays, and one we haven't indulged in for a few years, we've already got our tickets for A Christmas Carol.  I might not have gotten them, I might have just thought about it, but if you buy them in July, you can get them half price!  And this year, we are taking the boys.  I am SO excited!  We also missed the backstage tours, which I was really bummed about, but we did get to see how they make 'snow' ...

The Addison Hat is now available for sale on Ravelry here .  Several of my wonderful friends test knit this for me, and one of them even bought the pattern even though I said I would give it to her.  Aren't knitters nice?!  And in answer to Anna's (and possibly others') question about the shop on Larimer, I don't remember what the name of it was but everything was French-, wine-, or dish-related, so I could have spun around with a blindfold on, reached my hand out, and found a good gift for my mother-in-law!  If I think of the name, I will post it. 

Okay, not millions, but whenever I think of peaches, I think of that song . My kids are learning to sing it. One batch of Spiced Peach Preserves : I can't figure out what I altered last year but I didn't use a vanilla bean - don't have any; instead, I used a dash or two of vanilla extract. I wish I had more peaches for more batches but alas! other members of the house wanted some fresh.  We also made some of Guy Fieri's  Cin-Ful Peach Cobbler , which was delicious.  A very big hit with everyone!  I left out the cranberries (didn't have any) and if I had it to do over, I would leave out the almonds as well; I didn't think they added anything. 

My favorite client (my husband) is selling his guitar, so of course I was happy to take some pictures for him.