The Fifth Hen

Dear Mom,

This is what I call my "Fifth Hen".  It makes an appearance in the chicken run every winter.

The Fifth Hen is not just an upside-down clay flower pot and saucer--it is actually a warmer for the hens to cozy up to on cold days.  It is wired with a porcelain socket containing a 75-watt light bulb, and it plugs into an outlet in the coop. I got the "idea" from the February/March 2008 edition of Backyard Poultry.

The heat radiates warmth to the surrounding perch area. 

I often find Meg snuggled up to the Fifth Hen.  She does not have as much heavy feathering and fat as the big girls, and it has been a cold winter!!

I won't argue with the fact that the Fifth Hen probably does more for my conscience than the hens' comfort.  What can I say?  I just adore my girls!

(And I think my girls kinda like me, too!)

Love, Bonnie Jo

Best Friends and Brownies

Dear Mom,
Few people are blessed with all I have been blessed with.  Two of my blessings are best friends.  My first best friend is my BFF, Brooke.  I met her several years ago at the yarn store.  She was an employee and I was only just a customer then.  After searching for a very long time for a knitting friend, she spoke to me about a hat she had designed in "short rows".  She had me at "short rows".  It was love.  There was no going back.  Now we both work at the yarn store and she dances with me to Mmmm Bop (by Hanson).  She is extremely funny.  She shares my love of knitting and Burn Notice.  She is an encouragement to me in ways that are unbelievably incredible.  She loves me in spite of who I am!
My other best friend is my neighbor, Joey.  I met him a few years ago when they moved into our neighborhood.  I couldn't remember his name so he said, "Doughy Joey cuz I'm not done yet!"  Okay.  He had me at "Doughy Joey".  We have kids the same age; one of each of our children share the same birthday.  He shares my love of coffee and baking.  He is also extremely funny and very much reminds me of Daddy.  Which is why I like him so much.  He travels often so there are stretches where I don't see him. (I do, however, see my third best friend, which is his wife, Kim!  And she is fabulous that she even tolerates me.  And Joey and me together?!  Remember--he is like Daddy!!!)  He was home on Friday and asked if I would bake these brownies with him.  I think he really just wanted my cake flour!  I decided they would be the perfect "cookie of the week"!!  We are snowed in, after all; who doesn't want a fluffy brownie?!?!
So.  We decided that we should double the recipe (which turned out to be a very wise decision!).  So we (and when I say "we", I really mean "he" because he kept reminding me that I needed to take pictures for the blog!) beat the eggs whites until stiff; gently folded the egg whites into the chocolate mixture ("very gently otherwise the egg whites will fall" . . . . says Doughy Joey.  Up to me, I would have added everything all at once and had flat egg whites!!!  Chocolate is chocolate; brownies are brownies!)  We licked our beaters.

We (again when I say "we", I really  mean "he") gently poured the chocolate batter into our mini-muffin cups.

We baked the mini cupcake brownies for 12 minutes.  They were light and fluffy.  And as we were taking them out of the oven, we (and when I say "we", I really mean "HE") DROPPED THE PAN OF BROWNIES!!  All. Over. The. Oven.  (I reminded him that I had to take a picture of it for the blog!)

See?  Good thing we decided to do a double batch!  Because we (yes "we") were able to make our second batch, bake them successfully and dollop each of them with melted chocolate frosting.

They were extremely yummy brownies and I will bake them again.  Admittedly, most of the fun was baking them with my best friend, Joey.  BUT, if we (I mean "he") didn't drop that first batch, maybe my BFF Brooke would have been able to have some of these brownies, too.  She has been patiently waiting for a cookie of the week cookie and hasn't been able to have one yet.  Soon, BFF Brooke!

Thanks for taking your Friday afternoon to bake and giggle with me, Joey.  And thanks, Kim, for letting us bake and giggle!!  My blessings are huge!

Love,

Wendy

Why God makes Puppies Cute

Dear Mom,
I have to post this quick.
Patsy is napping and I may not have much time.
I have learned that roving is very appealing to puppies. So is yarn.
I am sorry to have to tell you that these two facts along with her sassy puppy attitude and a few accidents yesterday have earned Patsy a middle name.

Patsy Judith.

In the past two days, there was a stand off over a Tiger toy.

And an excellent game of tug-of-war. I wish I could post sound with the photo. Pardon the blurry nature of the photo- the action was pretty fast moving and intense.

And in a strange turn of events last night, when nearing my wits end, I decided that Patsy could just sleep in Borrowed Crate#2 and got her all settled in.  Bumper Joseph started barking at me and didn't stop until I let Patsy out. They slept together in our room... All night. No accidents. No early wake up calls. I would feel betrayed by Bumper and outnumbered by dogs (because, I guess, I AM)  if not for the fact that I didn't have to put on my coat and boots at 1:50am.

Plus she is so darn cute.

Just look at those cute paws.

Love,

Kim

Sock #5, Baby!

Dear Mom,
Sock #5, finished while Knitting With Friends today, kindly photographed by CarolWho'sHouseGotStruckbyLightning. The sock is shown here surrounded by a puppy bone for Patsy and some big brother toys for Bumper from the very thoughtful DebbieWithThePrettyFarmhouse.

Sock #6 has been started.

No crate escapes. Borrowed Crate #2, I love you.


Love,
Kim

Not cool enough

Dear Mom,
I am not cool enough to pretend that it isn't exciting when I see one of my designs published. It is. I look at the knitting and then at my name and then do an internal happy dance.
It is even more exciting to see knitters actually knitting my designs. And to use one of my patterns as a spring board for further creativity is the best. Like CarolWho'sHouseGotStruckbyLightning's Walk in the Parka and WendyBee's Quilted Vest.  I'll be watching that one- can't wait to see it finished.

Patsy "Smarty Pants" Wagner escaped from the deluxe borrowed crate on her first official time in it. I came home from the desperately needed haircut ( I was looking like an 80's hair band groupie) to find the puppy Not In the Crate. No damage done, no accidents. I imagine the escape was so exhausting that she had nothing left in her but a nap. Borrowed Crate #2, a more utilitarian crate, is scheduled for delivery this afternoon. We shall see if that contains her. I do not want to miss knitting with my friends tomorrow.

Both dogs are sleeping on the floor next to me. I feel like the mother of an infant. Do I take advantage of the quiet time to knit or nap?

Knit. Especially if I am going to have a sock #5 to show you.

Love,

Kim

The Libby Sweater

Dear Mom,
Here is the Diva's sweater from my new friend to knit with, Leslie!  The pattern is called Libby and Leslie designed and knit it for a special little girl.  When I saw the pattern almost a year ago, I thought of my special little girl, too and knew it would be perfect.  I used Ultra Alpaca from Berroco yarns.  The yarn is pilling but I'm strangely okay with that because the Diva is wearing the heck out of this sweater!  I mentioned before that this is a FAB sweater pattern!  Very easy-to-read-and-understand directions.  This is a good pattern whether you are a beginner or a more advanced knitter.  I am in love with the swing coat look.  I love the decreases.  I love the simple beauty of the garter rib.
This is my year of the finished project and I'm soooooo happy that this is the first finished sweater of 2010!!!

Very very happy happy!
Love,
Wendy

Her name is Patsy

Dear Mom,
The vet's diagnosis?
It's a dog. A good old mix of everything good, no particular breed. Which is a relief because I was sure I saw some Great Dane in there and pictured myself driving my little Matrix around with Patsy's head sticking out of the sunroof. She will be a Large Dog, but not a Giant.
I had forgotten how wiggly puppies can be, and the only good photos I can get of her are while she sleeps.

yes, that is a handknit blanket she is sleeping on

As the shock and awe wear off, and I adjust to my new reality, I have decided that Patsy is a very bright little girl. Bumper, however, like all older siblings, just wants her to go away.

This New Reality has put a cramp in my sock-a-week resolution. I may not git-r-done this week. We'll see. In my rattled state, I've done very little knitting since Friday. Not good.

But....

Amidst the chaos, I received a package from Wendy. It was filled with a variety of spinning fibers.

In a random fashion, I spun and plied a good bunch of it with the hope of creating an interesting novelty yarn, and ended up with this!

This distracted spinning and plying was the perfect respite and a fulfilling bit of intermittent creativity this weekend. Thanks, Wendy!
Love,
Kim

The New Cookie

Dear Mom,
The cookie recipe for this week is from one of Diane Mott Davidson's culinary mystery books.  Title of the book unknown--oops.  I was clearly more interested in the cookies and not so much the mystery.

Vanilla-Frosted Fudge Cookies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 egg whites, unbeaten

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2-3 Tbsp. skim milk

additional unsweetened cocoa powder

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together; set aside.  Mix together the oil, sugar, 1 tsp. of the vanilla and the egg whites until well combined.  Stir in the flour mixture.  Chill 1 hour.

When ready to bake, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a large non-stick cookie sheet with vegetable oil spray.  Using a 1/2-tablespoon measure, scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between cookies.  Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cookies are puffed and cooked through.  Do not overcook.

Transfer the cookies to a rack and cool completely.  Mix together the confectioners' sugar, skim milk and remaining 1/2 tsp. vanilla until pasty.  Add skim milk if necessary.  Spread a small amount of vanilla frosting on each cookie.  Put the cookies back on the rack, dust lightly with cocoa powder and allow the frosting to dry. Makes 4 dozen cookies

So now the "real" process.  I used bigger than 1/2 tsp. scoop so this batch only made 2 dozen cookies.  We also didn't dust with cocoa powder because we wanted to eat them right away; no allowing the frosting to dry!!!  These cookies didn't last an hour in the house.  They were delicious!!!!  Soft in the center; crispy on the edges.  Sweet all over.  I will makes these cookies again and again, probably with the same results---gone in under an hour!!

The Diva made the frosting and Pippers did the actual frosting.

I want to thank everyone for their kind, sweet comments from yesterday.  It is some kind of wonderful knowing that we are all strong women that can lift each other up with kind words and deeds.
In the top picture, the Diva is wearing a sweater ("Libby") that I knit from a pattern designed by one of my favorite blogging friends. My New Friend To Knit With (please come and knit with me; we can bake cookies together, share a coffee and everything really will be okay--thank you so much for that encouragement!)!!  I finished the sweater this week and have been waiting for a sunny day so I can take pictures (may be awhile).  I LOVE the sweater and the pattern is uber fabulous . . . . I can't wait to "show it off" on the blog soon.
Go make these cookies; eat them up!  Enjoy your weekend!!
Love,
Wendy

How I've Learned You Can Never Say Never - OR - Is He Still My Hero?

Dear Mom,
You might think that after all those years working for the pedodontist- the years before I became a mother when I boldly stated on hundreds, perhaps even thousands of occasions, "My kids will NEVER do that!" that after becoming a mother and eating most of those bold statements, I would have learned to never say Never.
As in, "I will never have another puppy."

Except My Hero (is he still My Hero?) must not have been listening because he came home from work with this.

Yes, it is the classic Puppy in the Dark on the Side of a Busy Street Story. Found by someone who couldn't keep her (of course), given to someone in an apartment and at work all day (of course) and that journey brought her to our house.

To say that things are turned upside down is an understatement. We can't even decide on a name for her.

But she already has someone who loves her.

Love,

Kim

Just That Kind of Week. Oh! And Some Cookies

Dear Mom,
It. Has. Been. A. Week.
I love to blog and to read blogs.  But I am more the don't-like-to-feel-the-pressure-of-saying-too-much-or-trying-to-say-something-profound/intellectual/creative/funny-or-reading-too-many-words-on-another's-blog-so-I-would-rather-look-at-pictures-and-be-refreshed-type of blogger (so says the photographer!)!!  Except Today.  I'm making an exception.
Ya know how you can go along, trying to keep everything together?  And one thing, however trivial--or big--it may be and then you just burst into tears?!  Yep.  My week.  I am the first to admit (and Kim and Bonnie Jo will certainly not argue this!) that I cry.  I cry and pout and fuss and worry.  And cry again.  Until I need to be strong.
The husband took another paycut.  30% paycut in 1 year.  Big.  Huge, actually.
I have been picking up hours at the yarn store.  I have been knitting and sewing to try to earn extra money.  I have been on interviews for other part-time jobs.  I have been reminding past photo customers that Spring is right around the corner! I even went to a temp agency where, after 13 years of being a stay-at-home-Mom and having nothing to do with my "pretend life" of being a Legal Secretary for 11 years BEFORE the kids came, I STILL scored the highest scores in Excel, Word and keyboarding that that particular office has seen . . . (a testament to the quality of my education at Indiana Business College?  Or worse--a testament to my "competition"?!)  I got to boast of my abilities and how, when I graduated with honors from Indiana Business College, I was typing 110 wpm on a real typewriter since, in 1986, computers were usually in another separate room since they were too big to do anything but beep and flash and occasionally spit something out (after much sputtering!) from a printer in another different room.
I have already learned frugal with the first paycut.  I like to think of myself as "green" but really, just frugal because I need to be.  You know, hang the clothes on a line in the basement so I don't have to use the dryer (it's green not to use the dryer!  I'm saving the environment!); the girls and I handwash dishes so we can spend good quality time together (which is really true; but it's also true that the dishwasher is broken!); our thermostat is set at a chilly 63 degrees because that's good for the environment, too.  And honestly, our house is very warm because we are blessed with a nicely insulated house and sunshine streaming through windows (and on a side note--we have saved over $75 a month in gas/electric--it really does work!).  We also have fires in our fireplace and I am a knitter, for goodness' sake!  We wear those sweaters!  We don't eat out.  We  frequent the library weekly for movies, books, magazines (which we've always done anyway so that probably doesn't count on my journey to frugality!)
Not to be one of those wordy-need-to-make-a-point-bloggers but I wanted to re-emphasize that I'm holding it together.  Holding. It. Together.  Job interviews, managing money, creatively grocery shopping and meal planning, working at the yarn store, being a Mom--on one of the many days off of school, we made candles together (not to use in place electricity--yet!).  We do homework and play Monopoly and chess.  We bake cookies (you know--we're actually a family).  I am a friend.  I have a neighbor with MS and I sit with her on Monday afternoons.  I help her do light things that she isn't able to do herself anymore.  I have another neighbor that is hosting an exchange student from Denmark.  Anne-Sofie is having a birthday next week so I knit her a pair of socks (from my stash yarn!) because her mother knits her socks.  A small reminder of home.   I also keep the house (fairly decently) clean (okay, maybe not that so much).  I was able to finally put together packages and mail them to you and Kim and Bonnie Jo.  I was woefully and dreadfully late on the thank-you notes from Christmas but a bit proud of myself that I was only 1 day late in getting the birthday package to Kim.
Are you getting that I am busy but surviving?!  And surviving with panache and gusto, if I may say so!!  I like to think that I am a fairly "normal" Mom in this day of busyness.  So-------yesterday.  Still holding it together.  No tears shed from me, nuh-uh.  Not gonna cry.  Except that I got an email.  A reminder that I have been a disappointment to a friend in another state.  I cried.  Isn't life hard enough?  Rather than remind one another of  how we, as humans, are continually going to disappoint and fall short of grand perfection, can't we be friends that encourage and can say, "It's going to be okay".  I have painted above my front door this quote, "Don't Live Down To Expectations!  Go Out There And Do Something Remarkable!"  Every morning I give my husband and children a kiss, a hug and an "It's Going To Be Okay; Do Something Remarkable" pep talk as they go out that front door.  Really, isn't that what our lives should be about?!  Having friends that help us hold it together?  Giving that pep talk?  The cheerleading; the encouragement?  The smile?  The belief that everything really IS going to be okay?!  Don't we all go through our own rough moments but survive them with panache and gusto because we have friends all over the world that walk with us?
I guess I am trying to say in my very wordy way that it's very hard to hold it together all of the time.  To be the cheerleader for the husband and the children.  When do I get to have my breakdown?!?!  And when that breakdown opportunity comes, I'll probably be too tired to have one!!  So--can't we just be friends?!
Love,
Wendy
p.s.  I did make a cookie of the week.  I'll post that tomorrow.  My eyes are glazed over with so many words . . . hope yours aren't!

March issue is out

Dear Mom,
The March issue of Creative Knitting magazine arrived yesterday, and in it on page 34 is my Spring Break sweater.

And last night, after a birthday dinner and some DQ ice cream cake, I finished this while knitting beside the fire.

Hot Water Bottle Cozy #2.

This one is for the Young Lady.

Love,

Kim

Happy Birthday Kim!

Kimberly Ann was born on January 27, 1961.

A happy baby.

1963

1965

Kim was the typical oldest child...obedient, reliable, responsible, high achiever, and bossy!! :-)

First Grade

          

Kim with her new guitar - Christmas 1974

1975 - Doing knee bends with Wendy.  Dig the groovy sleeping bag.  Is Kim wearing an Elton John T-shirt?

Sewing (1976)

1976 - Lookin' good in gaucho pants and boots!  (I think this was one of Kim's hand-made outfits.)

Could this possibly be the first photo of Kim knitting (1979)?!!!

Daddy's girl - 18th birthday

Carmel High School Class of 1979

A new mom in March 1994

HAPPY 49th BIRTHDAY, KIM!!

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been." - Mark Twain

"The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune." - English Proverb

"The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age." - Lucille Ball

 

And in the end it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

 

Love, Bonnie Jo

Sock #4

Dear Mom,

Love,

Kim

Inside out Thin Mints

Dear Mom,
As part of our weekly routine, the Young Lady and I bake cookies on Sunday evenings while the boys are off playing hockey. The goal is to bake enough cookies to supply lunch boxes for the week. Any extras are bonus to be eaten through the week, and ususally do not make it past Wednesday. We are not too exotic with our recipes and have some favorites, but occasionally we try out new recipes.
This past Sunday, we tried what was a fairly easy recipe that we tried making easier so we wouldn't end up with chocolate up to our knuckles. We had a few "what if we tried this" and "oh! I know what we can do" moments and ended up with a really good, simple, no bake cookie.

We are calling them Inside Out Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies.

Here is what we did.


Dump one 12oz bag of Nestle's MILK Chocolate Chips (not semi-sweet) into a gallon-size zip lock bag. Add 2 or 3 drops of Peppermint extract. Seal the bag, squeezing out as much of the air as you can. Microwave the bag in 15 second increments, squeezing the contents after each round, until the chocolate is melted. This won't take long and you don't want to do the melting so fast that you end up melting the bag, because that would be a huge mess.
While the chocolate is melting, line the counter top with a generous piece of wax paper. Place a couple of sleeves of Ritz crackers in a single layer on the wax paper. Set aside the remaining 2 sleeves, but have them handy.
Once the chocolate is all melted, work the chocolate into one of the bottom corners of the bag and then cut a very tiny bit of this corner off, turning it into a kind of pastry bag. Squirt a blop of chocolate onto the center of each cracker and if you have a helper, have them follow behind you and place a second cracker on top of the warm chocolate. You will want to work fast enough to get all the chocolate out of the bag while it is still melty. If you are working alone, you can go back and add the top layer of crackers after you have used up all the chocolate. If the chocolate cools too fast on the crackers before you can add the second layer, stick them in the microwave for a few seconds to soften the chocolate and you are good to go.
Let the chocolate cool off and TADA! Inside Out Thin Mints.

This recipe is NOT intended to replace the real deal. When a Girl Scout comes to your door, on what is certainly going to be the coldest day of the winter, buy a box. It should be a law. I still bear the emotional scars of trying to sell cookies after Sheryl Place's mom got her out of school early so she could canvas the entire neighborhood before we even got off the bus. I don't care how many boxes I've already purchased. If a Girl Scout comes to my door, I always buy one more box.

Love,
Kim

A year later and still learning

Dear Mom,
You might think that after this blogging thing has been going on for about a year, (I think tomorrow it the blog's birthday, but I am not going to stop posting to go check. Let's just roll with it.)  that I would be better at taking blog worthy photos when I am presented with them. After all, my camera goes with me just about everywhere. Except today. My Hero has my camera. He gets to view the real live Stanley Cup in person and this apparently is photo worthy. But what can I say. I take pictures of yarn. Regularly. So today, when I leave the house, it will feel like I forgot my phone or something. And that is a whole 'nother subject because it wasn't all that long ago that our phones were literally tethered to the walls of our houses, so leaving with out one shouldn't be cause for panic. I digress.
On Saturday, you and I had a wonderful day together, a delicious lunch and some fun antiquing. Did I take a photo of the charming restaurant? No. Or the big pot of tea I drank? No. The big pot of tea YOU drank? No. The lovely group of tea party ladies? No. That group was having F.U.N. We learned they are a group of 20+ women who meet once a month at different places for tea. They quickly let us know that they "Are NOT Red Hats!(which was pretty obvious due to the absence of red hats) Too many rules. Too fussy."  They only have 2 rules: Do not talk about work, and I can't remember what the other one was.
So, in all that fun and activity, what picture do I have to show for it?
This one. Taken in the antique shop.

A picture of the lunch box I carried around during most of our time there. This is a duplicate of my grade school lunch box. As you know, I almost bought this one. It brought back happy memories and clued me in to the possible root of why the combination of red and yellow makes me happy. Reason won out and I returned the lunch box to its proper booth. For now anyway. I could always go back.

Another feast for the eyes did occur very briefly yesterday. It had been so long (a month? longer?) since I've seen this that I stopped the car and took a picture.

See that? It is a tiny patch of actual BLUE SKY. We even got a peak of sunshine for about 3 minutes yesterday afternoon. Then it got dark and poured down more rain for the rest of the day.

And this was finished yesterday. My Colts football nervous energy knitting project::

A hot water bottle cozy. I will be making more of these, as soon as I find the hot water bottles. I may have to search every Walgreens and CVS in the township. I have looked 3 places and only scored 1 hot water bottle. I am on a mission. The Young Lady took it to bed with her last night, got warm and then stuck it in my bed for me. It was still warm this morning. I am in love. Everyone should have one of these.
I used this pattern and one skein of Lamb's Pride yarn. Isn't it cute?

Love,
Kim