Her real name is Muffin

Dear Mom,
Straight off the pages of a James Herriot story, the cul-de-sac has adopted, or more accurately, has been adopted by, a cat. The Cul-de-sac calls her Patches. Patches started hanging around late in the summer of 2008, when it seems that the only human in the family she truly cared about left for college. Better that she finds an alternate close to home rather than trot along the side of a divided highway in search of her girl.
Patches knows the cul-de-sac routines, what time the kids leave for school in the morning, when the bus brings the kids home from school, the sound of my front door opening and closing, and maybe even the sounds of our cars. She definitely knows the sound of the doggie door flap, so she can skedaddle out of the back yard before Bumper Joseph spies her. She keeps me company when I work in the yard and I've noticed her watching me from a safe spot in the driveway when John, Dear and I mow the grass. She has spent the occasional night in various cul-de-sac garages after having been unintentionally closed in.
The kids play with her, of course. I hear the Boy Next Door call for her while he waits for his ride to school. The Young Lady found yarn (what a shock!) to tie in trees and amuse the cat. And Patches does that cat thing where she pretends not to be interested, but really is. We tried introducing Patches and Bumper Joseph to each other, but the strong negative feelings are mutual.

It didn't take too long for this animal lover to start feeding Patches. I kept it a secret for awhile, with the bowl hidden to the side of a planter on the front porch and the cat chow in the front closet. The ever observant Young Lady caught me feeding her one day, and then it was our secret. Until My Hero, who is not a cat person, stepped onto the front porch, spied the dish and bellowed, "WHO IS FEEDING THE CAT!?" The Young Lady didn't waste any time giving me up. (And probably thrilled at the opportunity to tattle on Mom.) But I still feed her. (The Young Lady and Patches.)

Every few days Patches' real mom walks down the street and calls for her. Actually, she calls for Muffin, and Patches follows her home. Sometimes for the night, sometimes for just a short visit.
About this time last year, we started to worry about the approaching cold weather and Patches' plans for the winter. Fortunately Patches is smart enough to set aside her grievances and go home to Muffin's house and where she will stay inside until spring.

Love,
Kim

tiger beat

Dear Mom,

Two words.


Donny Osmond.


yep.

I may have to break my unspoken rule and actually VOTE on this season of Dancing With the Stars.

Love,
Kim

Dancing with the Stars....not

Dear Mom,
I can only give you a sneak peek at yesterdays finished project. It is destined for the July 2010 issue of Creative Knitting magazine.

It is always a thrill to have an idea become a successful reality, and it is also a relief when a deadline knit is off the needles. This project awaits a few finishing touches before it is handed off to the magazine, but I can now, with a clear conscience, return to my black lace work in progress.

The Young Man seems to have had a fun time (and actually dance) at the Homecoming Dance on Saturday night, in spite of (or thanks to) all the coaching and dance demos My Hero and I gave him. As if we have any business giving dance demos. A Crisis was avoided when, with less than 2 hours before the dance, The Young Man discovered that his arms and shoulders had significantly and seriously outgrown his dress shirt. My Hero and I calmly sent him up to the shower, left our dinners half eaten on our plates and drove to the nearby Kohl's where we were able to find a couple of shirts and save the day. Wooosh. When he left, I let out the breath I was holding, then took another one and held it until he got home, smiling.

Love,

Kim

Vibrant Individuals

Dear Mom,
While the Young Man was making his own High School Homecoming memories- walking with the tennis team in the Homecoming Parade, and watching the Powderpuff Football game- I was spending the evening with my two bestest friends from High School, Polly and Jill.

We did not say "cheese". We said, "Chins UP!"

We did not do too much reminiscing, though, because THANKFULLY we are all still living our lives, and they are all individual, interesting, rich, happy lives at that. We all still have much to accomplish. We care about each other's todays.
The three of us have not been together for years, but it was as if no time had passed. The only evidences of the years gone by were the presence of alcohol and the absence of Noble Roman's pizza.... And the fact that Polly told Jill what she would be wearing as if we would be unable to recognize her..... And that I needed cheaters to read the menu and Polly told us she has cataracts (thank goodness Jill is the Lasix Miracle, in another ten years we may need her to read the menu next time we get together).... but really, we are the same!!!!! THE SAME, I TELL YOU!!!

While awaiting Polly's arrival, Jill and I warned the manager that we three would be talking and laughing, possible loudly, and that he would be wise to seat us in an area where we would disturb the least amount of people, like, possibly, our own ROOM. We also gave him permission to Shush! us if he needed to, but that we would probably not stay shushed for long. (We did get shushed, but only in jest.) We also warned our good-natured waiter, Brian, that we would be in his booth for the entire evening. Brian is a real pro, barely pausing in the midst of taking Jill's order to pose for this candid shot. And he took the excellent photo of the three of us.

It occurred to me after my day with Jill last week, and was echoed again last night, that as high school friends, were all individuals. Each of us secure enough in ourselves and our friendships to pursue our own interests. We did NOT have to do everything together, belong to the same clubs, have only each other as friends. Which is remarkably mature, I think, considering we found each other when we were what? 14? 15? We were lucky to have found each other.

I just thought of another difference from the Noble Roman's days. We were home shortly after 9. Polly had to go to work today; I had to get home to the Young Lady and Project Runway. And, except for the Lasik Miracle, our eyes probably don't drive at night so well anymore.

It was fun. I miss them already.

Love,

Kim

Plums

Dear Mom,

I think I may have been overcome with cider fumes when I came home from the apple orchard with not just the apples and cider I drove out there to get, but a half peck of plums.

Plums remind me of climbing the trees at Missy's house and eating them up there in the branches.

Last spring, or was it summer? I got this cookbook and I am counting on it to provide me with something to do with these plums other than eat them plain.

For dessert tonight, I tried the Vanilla-Spiked Plum Galette. I made it exactly as I was told, with no substitutions or shortcuts. Sometimes I have Betty Crocker delusions, but certainly not Julia Child delusions, and I think I can improvise or make changes to recipes. And many times I rush through recipes, or rather, rush the recipe along, not taking the time I sometimes should.. Sometimes this works fine but more often I am left to wonder why it all didn't work out so well.  I get ahead of myself and then realize, too late, that I forgot something.

So, I specifically went out to buy the fine sea salt and vanilla beans that the recipe called for, but were not in my cupboard. Luckily I found them both in the regular old grocery store without too much searching. (I did have to ask for the manager's help, but this turned out to be a good thing because 2 other people in my aisle needed him, too, so I actually helped a lot of customers today.) And I took my time and did all the steps in order.

The results were delicious, even though my galette dough (which I would describe as a sturdy pie dough) was not tough enough to hold in the fruit juices and the kitchen got a tad smokey. And the baking sheet is not really pretty to look at and may need to soak for several days to get all the black baked on juices cleaned off. I will try correcting the galette dough issue and make this again, though.

My Hero and I decided the results were tasty enough to have a second piece, and I decided that mine would be perfect with a cup of hot tea. It was.

 

One really nice thing about this is that there is little sugar added, letting the natural sweetness and flavors of the fruit come through.
The recipe, however, barely made a dent in my plums. Thankfully there is a recipe for a Stone Fruit Slump, and one for Stone Fruit Tea cake and one for Stone Fruit Upside-Down Cornmeal Cake....
Love,
Kim

Pipsqueak's Hat

Dear Mom,

Pipsqueak and I spent some time this summer dying wool.  She used red, purple and orange RIT dye.  We soaked the yarn in water before she did all of the dying herself.  I microwaved the yarn and then we let it set and dry in the summer sun.  It took me about 45 minutes to knit this beanie hat for her with her dyed wool. 

I cast on 44 stitches on a size 15 needles and knit for about 6 inches. I decreased on the last 3 rows by knitting 2 stitches together all the way around.  I ended up with 6 stitches which I gathered at the top.  The Pippers slept in her hat last night, despite our 80 degree weather, so I think she is happy happy!
Love,
Wendy

The Young Lady's Jacket

Dear Mom,

After weaving in countless ends of yarn, the Young Lady's Child Surprise Jacket was completed on Sunday night.

Because this is constructed in one piece and looks more like a blanket with alot of mistakes in it until at the very end, when, with a couple of folds and seams at the shoulder abracadabra! it turns itself into a jacket, drastic measures to assure the proper fit and sleeve length were employed:

Here is the Young Lady, laying down on the work in progress, after I folded it around her to make sure I was on track with the sleeves. Notice that her tongue is sticking out in the classic "dead child" pose.

There was a point at which it seemed the garter stitch would never end, but the stripes kept it interesting. I cursed all those stripes when I was weaving in their yarn tails, though.



I added Afterthought Pockets, which, as it sounds, are constructed after the garment is finished to insure proper placement. After marking the pocket's location, a single stitch is snipped and the stitches to either side of it are unraveled to the desired width. These unraveled stitches are then either bound off for the outer edge of the pocket, or knitted for the pocket lining.




I used a 2 stitch i-cord bind off on the pocket edge and added a little loop so the pockets could be kept closed with a button.

The inside of the pocket was knitted with one of the stripe colors, just for fun.





I also added a "locker loop" to the back of the neck, so she can hang it up.


The buttons were made with these and the some of the yarn used in the jacket. They are just right for this jacket, but took way longer to make than I thought they would. I'd use them again, though, if the project called for it.

Love,

Kim

The Tipton County Pork Festival Parade

Dear Mom,

That sounds like a book title, doesn't it? Could be a murder mystery with Indiana's version of Miss Marple solving the crime behind the scenes.....hmmmmm.....

I thought I would share pictures and recap Saturday's afternoon at the Tipton Pork Festival. This being our first year to attend in the afternoon, rather than the evening, we were treated to a wholesome slice of Americana- the local parade. This was the kind of parade that, as Will's Lady pointed out, if you have it in your barn and it moves, put it in the parade.

In addition to everybody's tractors, there were the obligatory 2009 Pork Festival Princesses,

and the 4-H Queen,

and Princesses from last year,

And a Princess from yesteryear.
There was even a Prince.

I didn't even know there was an Indiana's Hottest Farmer Pageant.

It has been a long time since I have seen a Baton Twirler. I think they may be an endangered species.

In fact, just seeing those batons brought back a flood of memories: twirling away in the back yard, twirling away in the driveway, bruising my forearms, throwing the baton up high and trying to catch it, and then ducking so I wouldn't be clobbered in the head. You just don't see girls having that kind of fun anymore. My twirling career ended at age 6, when, in what I look back on as an obvious Desperate Measure, you called my baton into action to repair the clothes line. Just as well, I suppose.


This parade was healthy with Marching Bands,


and "floats". This one from the local Beauty Shop, wins my prize for most original. There is a real live pedicure happening on this one.




There were patriotic displays,

sleeping kids,

and creepy clowns.

And my vote for Most Important Person In A Parade goes to:

This guy.

Love,

Kim

Happy Days

Dear Mom,
If I had a list of Happiest Days, yesterday would be on it. And I wasn't even knitting.
One of my most favorite people is in town visiting her parents and we spent 8 hours together. It felt like about 8 minutes.

Jill and I have been friends since 9th grade, and we probably haven't seen each other for about 10 years, I think. We write, email, exchange birthday and Christmas cards and read each other's blogs, but those things pale in the bright light of sitting across a table, talking and sharing laughter.

We were 17 again, trapped in bodies that were 30 years older. And despite those 30 years, both of us proclaimed the other to have not changed a bit. That is looking through the eyes of friendship love, I tell you. We reminisced about high school days, and looked through our senior yearbook, at pictures of the two of us when we each had one chin and smooth, skinny necks. We are glad that big eyeglasses are out of style. (Jill, who is now a Lasik Miracle, was relieved that her senior picture was taken without her glasses, and laments the fact that she was wearing them in her wedding pictures. But hey, she had to actually see to get down the aisle.)

We shared High School P.E. Class outrages, and the fact that one cannot do "Swivel Hips" on the trampoline should really not cause one to be Scarred For Life. And personally, unlike the pain of childbirth, I will never forget the pain of struggling to do a somersault on the balance beam with the snaps of my gym uniform digging into my shoulder. This was back in the day of polyester one-piece gym uniforms that you stepped into and snapped at the shoulders, leaving you both prone to the aforementioned shoulder pain and the fear that if you stretched yourself up too tall, your whole uniform would pop open and fall off.


We revealed scandalous secrets- dare I mention a beaded Indian belt and a pair of underpants? I hope Jill will share that story on her blog, or in a book someday. And we confessed childhood injuries never reported to our mothers, things that occurred when we were Breaking The Rules, and thus must be dealt with in secret. Like the time I rode my bike barefoot! and in an attempt to perform a "stunt", stuck my feet into the spokes of my back wheel.


We mourned the loss of the day when kids waited for their mothers, not the other way around. Because back in our day, You had better be out there waiting for your ride, young lady, when so and so's mother came to pick you up. I remember thinking Sue's mom the "coolest" because she drove a VW bug and squeezed in a bunch of us to take to the mall. But we still would not have dared to make her wait.


The weather was perfect. We spent several of those hours together outside, sipping iced tea, and later, wine.




For lunch, I fixed that yummy salad you and I had in Cicero, which I have cleverly named Cicero Salad.

We laughed, HARD, at each other as we staged and photographed our lunches for the blogs before we took our first bites.




We talked of marriage, husbands, motherhood and our kids, parents and siblings, of politics and blogging (do we abuse the use of commas, italics, parenthesis and quotations marks?).... it was a full day. One that I think both of us were reluctant to see end, but 2 glasses of wine was the limit and my family had returned and were starting to ask what the dinner plans were.

This is my favorite picture of the day, because when I look at this, I can hear Jill laughing.





When you are blessed with a friend like this, you just KNOW that somewhere along the way, you did something right.

Love,
Kim

The BEST Salsa....ever!

Dear Mom,

Last summer, I tasted the best salsa ever...at Wendy's house. Of course, it was her salsa recipe. All of my best recipes come from Wendy. In fact, if I need a recipe, I call Wendy because she always has somethin' good! So this summer, I made the salsa with tomatoes, green pepper and garlic from my own garden and jalapeno peppers and onions from the farmers market. I wanted to pass the goodness along, so I shared a small jar of the salsa with my neighbor. I wasn't surprised when she complimented the wonderful flavor and asked for the recipe!

Wendy's Salsa

3 fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 sweet onion, chopped fine

1 green pepper, chopped

1 Tbsp. lime juice

1 tsp. olive oil

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder (or 2-3 cloves fresh garlic)

1 jalapeno pepper (use pickled if fresh is not available)

1 Tbsp. jalapeno juice (from pickled jalapenos)

Chop all together. Adjust quantities to taste (if a stronger or milder flavor is desired).

Wendy gave me permission to share it with the world, and I am proud to do so. Oh, and by the way, Kim's Tomato Basil Cheese Pie was...EXCELLENT, and is another special recipe I will be making every summer!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Dear Mom,

Okay, so here's what has been going on around here lately. While the Young Lady continues to fish, the Young Man plays tennis, and Wendy bakes like Julia Child, (can you bring some of those cupcakes next time you visit, please?) I have made a bit of knitting progress. On Monday, I received the exciting news that another knitting design has been accepted for publication bringing with it a mid-October deadline, so until the yarn arrives for this project I will be doing my darnedest to finish the Young Lady's jacket and make some serious progress on my lace design. Here's what I have so far:

The body of the jacket is nearly complete. I started the border/button bands last night. I had to make a run to the yarn shop yesterday for a 40 inch circular needle to accommodate the bazillion stitches involved. The sleeves are worked last after picking up raw stitches and working down from elbow to cuff, so it shouldn't take too long to finish this. I meant to measure the Young Lady's arms before she left for school this morning, but in the midst of fixing her Toaster Strudel and checking the weather, I forgot. Oh well. It's not like I don't have other stuff to knit.

The black lace is moving along, too. Even with its daylight only limitation. I am definitely going to be calling the Ott light into action to get more knitting time on this one. Yesterday, I spent the morning cleaning, ran to purchase the knitting needle, came home and sat down to start knitting, and dozed off. DRAT! I was just too comfy and relaxed out there on the porch.

And in the "You Can't Make This Stuff Up" category:

I learned yesterday that I can give Claritin to the dog. This must be a bad year for allergies and Bumper Joseph's paws are nearly raw. So now in the morning, I take a Claritin for me and give one to him, take an Aleve for me and give a Canine Aspirin to him. I swallow my pills with my tea. He gets his wrapped up in cheese. Makes me feel like an Old Dog.

And one last thing-

Can you guess what My Hero gets to do tomorrow?

Love,

Kim

Cupcakes and a little bit of WOW

Dear Mom,

I have a new favorite cookbook. Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. I have baked several cupcake recipes so far and LOVE every bit and morsel of cupcake I eat --- er, um bake, I mean!!

Upon special request from a neighbor, this weekend I baked the Jumbo Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes. These cupcakes are WOW!

I whisked my dry ingredients and fell in love with the beautiful chocolate color. mmmmm

I mixed and beat my dry ingredients with my wet ingredients. And yes, I beat with a rubber spatula instead of a mixer. I just like the feeling . . . . crazy, I know. More love.

Bake for 25 minutes. Let it cool on the rack for 5 minutes. Baking chocolate smells love.


Turn cupcakes out onto the wire rack and let them cool completely. Almost can't stand it love.

Okay, Mom, ready for the WOW factor?!?! I cut the bottoms out of the cupcake and filled them with a heavenly, divine marshmallow cream filling!! After filling, I replaced the bottoms and . . . .


decorated the tops. WOW!!

The cupcakes were fun to bake. The recipe may seem labor intenstive, but not really. And in today's world, it feels so nice to share a little WOW with friends and family!

I think the only thing left to really say is . . . . . . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm WOW!

Love,

Wendy