Safety First

Dear Mom,

For 16 years and 43 days, not to mention the 9 long months before that, I have done everything I could to keep my boy safe. My radar has become finely tuned, and the eyes in the back of my head have not yet needed cheaters. For years, I slept with one ear open, or had my sleep disturbed by horrific dreams of toddlers stepping into oncoming traffic. I've made sure he was vaccinated and had regular checkups and balanced meals and knew to look both ways before crossing the street.

And all that time and through all that effort, despite all driver's education classes and all the hours practicing, I knew that this day would come. But somehow it never seemed real.

Today, the Young Man passed his driving test and earned his driver's license. He drove his dad back to work and then for the first time, drove to golf practice.In the car. Alone. By himself. In the car.

I am not waking up from this one. And I will not breathe right until the car is parked in the garage and he is back home safely.

I don't know how you did it Mom.

Love,

Kim

How things are

Dear Mom,
Spring break is winding down, and except for 2 cold rainy days, the weather could not have been nicer. In fact our spring has been beautiful, with everything in bloom all at once, it seems.

I can't remember ever having the serviceberries, pears, magnolias and redbud trees all in bloom together. Our back yard is so pretty right now.

It has been an eventful week. In addition to pet care and a written driver's exam (the actual driving portion of the test is scheduled for next week), the Young Man had his wisdom teeth extracted, the Young Lady's ipod died (replaced without hassle at the Apple Store) and Patsy was "fixed".

Bumper seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy his time being the only dog while Patsy was in hospital. He surprised all of us when he jumped off the couch and greeted Patsy at the door Friday when I brought her home. Bumper does NOT get off the couch for anybody. He does not greet me at the the door. Ever. And I know he loves me best. At least I thought he did. Maybe he loves Patsy more than he lets on. Anyway, it was a sweet little moment and they stuck close to each other for the rest of the afternoon.

Patsy is supposed to take it easy. She has not learned 'take it easy'. This morning I went to the vet to get knock out drops. Otherwise I was afraid we would be looking at more surgery. The emergency kind. Unfortunately, Dr. Vet did not give me enough medication to knock out the husband and kids, but suggested that if I take them, then none of the rest would matter. Tempting, but I have a LOT of knitting to do.

Actually at this moment, I am the only human at home. I should seize this moment, plug a book into my ears and start knitting.

Love,

Kim

My Other Twin

Dear Mom,
Do you remember this outfit?

I bought it three years ago when all of the April Cornell stores were closing.  It didn't matter that at the time, it was waaaaaayyyyyy too small for me.  Green with white polka dots always give me the warm fuzzies--I had to have it.  You and Bonnie Jo both questioned my lack of reason at the time.  "Are you sure?!" you lovingly (and a bit skeptically!) asked.  There really was no possible way it could ever fit.  And you both looked at me like I had gone off the deep end.
I am happy to report that after seventeen months of completely changing the way I eat and easing into exercise (I started out slowly walking to now running several miles daily!) I am now wearing my favorite outfit!!  And I am even happier.
I look like my other twin again . . . .

Huge Judy was my size when she was sewn for me (by you!) on my 5th birthday!  She looks fabulous for 38, doesn't she?!?!  She has kept her figure quite nicely and is still wearing her original dress.  Is it any wonder I love my green and white polka dots?!
Pipsqueak is now the keeper of "Huge Judee" and loves her almost as much as I do!
Love,
Wendy

Go Bulldogs!

Dear Mom,
In honor of tonight's game....

This is George, one of the many pets the kids are responsible for while their families are on Spring Break this week.
Love,
Kim

Knitting

Dear Mom,
I can't remember a more beautiful Easter Sunday, weather-wise. The afternoon was ideal for the family cookout.
After everyone left yesterday, and after my nap on the screened porch, I enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon and into the evening knitting on the patio.

I finished the latest pair of socks during the Butler game on Saturday night.  GO BUTLER BULLDOGS!!!

because of long color pattern repeats in the yarn, this is a fraternal rather than identical pair of socks

 

I worked on the next pair of socks yesterday. This pair is for a future issue of Creative Knitting magazine. I love the yarn they chose. It is Trekking Hand Art.

I also worked on knitting and  tweaking a pattern that will also be published soon. Nearly done with the knitting on this one.

This morning may even be more pleasant than yesterday. After some pet-sitting responsibilities, I am taking the Young Man out to track down some leads on summer jobs. He passed the written portion of his driver's test on Saturday, and the driving test is scheduled next week. I have mixed feelings about the thought of him driving. I am scared, and yet his independence gives me a little more freedom, too. I'll just pray hard and try to ignore that clenched up burning knot in my stomach.

We'll all be watching the game tonight. I may need to pull my mindless car knitting project out of the car to work on during the game. Tense fingers could throw off my gauge or snap those tiny sock needles into pieces!

Love,
Kim

Easter Eggs

Dear Mom,
I decided to try coloring Easter Eggs this way, and I love the way they turned out. I bought some silk neckties at the Goodwill store for a $1.99 each, cut them up, followed the instructions and TA DA! pretty eggs. I almost think the uglier the tie, the better the egg. Makes me want to try some more, but there is no way my family and I can eat that many hard boiled eggs.

Love,
Kim

Whooosh!

Dear Mom,
There has been so much going on and it seems like all the time I am thinking of something I should tell you, and then I get side-tracked and I forget or there is no time for blogging and before I know it lots of Not Blogging has been going on. Spring Break officially started when school let out this afternoon, and I feel like I better hurry up and tell you what I can remember, because there may be even less time to talk next week.

Spring is just a way too busy time of year, with all the pressure to 'get that Spring Cleaning done' and all the yard work that needs to be done all at once. This morning I heard the sound of lawns being mowed. I do have to say it was (for me) a happy sound. We are enjoying a beautiful spring and we deserve it. The only bad thing about hearing the lawn mower sound is when you hear it next door or behind you (or both) and realize that lawn mowing is something else to squeeze in. Maybe I can convince the Young Man that driving the tractor is good practice for driving the car. He needs to practice parallel parking. Can he do that on a John Deere?

On Tuesday evening the Young Lady and I stopped in at Lowe's to buy the crabgrass stuff for the lawn. In addition to the fertilizer, we left with a pot of English Daisies to plant, and 2 blueberry bushes. The Young Lady has been wanting blueberries in her garden and we found some that should do well in her semi-sunny spot. Hopefully we will have some fresh blueberries to share. See what I mean about getting side-tracked?  We walked in there on a mission for ONE THING and walked out with a cart filled with plants.

And that fertilizer is gonna kick in and then we really will need to rev up John, Dear.

Easter is practically HERE and all the Easter stuff is still in the attic. Enough said about that.

I spent some time with Daphne Joy, spinning some yarn for a gift. I have had to move Daphne upstairs to the guest/sewing/knitting/now spinning room because Patsy thinks roving and spinning bobbins are fun things to grab and go. The roving I spun came from Inish Knits and the yarn it turned into is beautiful. I took ONE good picture of it yesterday ( actually, I took several pictures and couldn't get one to do justice to the colors), and today I cannot find the photo on my camera, which means I must have hit the little trash can button on my camera when I thought I was saving the shot. I am disgusted with myself. I find that I do these things when I try to do too many things at once. You are just going to have to trust me. That yarn was pretty.

I moved my knitting chair out onto the screened porch. Just saying that makes me smile big and want to do a little happy dance. I have knitting deadlines, (yes, deadlineS! all good, pinch me) and I hope to spend lots of time knitting in my chair on the screened porch in warm air and sunshine.

The warm weather has enticed me to take the dogs back to the path in the field that I found last summer. Things out there are just beginning to wake up, but there is a little creek running along one side of the field and yesterday after school, the Young Lady spent the better part of an hour playing in the water with the dogs.

Also, that English Muffin Bread recipe that Aunt Chris sent us is so easy and good that I think we should share it on the blog. The bread is goood, but not so good that the whole family inhales it the minute it is cool enough to eat. Which means that I have enjoyed it toasted all week. I like that I still have home baked bread to eat days after I made it.

Aunt Chris's English Muffin Bread

6 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 packages active baker's yeast
1 T. sugar
2 t. salt
1/4 t baking soda
2 c milk
1/2 c water
coarse sea salt
a little bit of cornmeal

Grease 2 9X5 loaf pans and lightly sprinkle with cornmeal to coat. Combine 3 cups of flout, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda. Heat milk and water until they are very warm ( 120-130 degrees). Add to the dry mixture. Beat until well combined. Stir in remaining 3 cups flour until combined, but do not over mix. Pour dough into prepared pans. Sprinkle the tops with sea salt. Cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes  or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately and cool on wire rack.

At this point I have gone on long enough and I am surely forgetting to tell you something. If I think of it, I will try to remember it for the next blog.

Happy Easter.
Love,
Kim

p.s. Michele left a comment on a previous post asking about the socks. Sock yarn is pretty thin.  I knit most of my socks on size 1 double pointed needles at a gauge of 8 stitches per inch. A tight dress shoe would not comfortably accomodate hand knit socks, but you probably wouldn't be wearing a thick wool sock with a dress shoe anyway. I mostly wear a clog type shoe, so the sock thickness is not really an issue. I pretty much don't wear any other socks all winter long, and I have worn through a few pairs lately. I need to learn how to darn socks, I guess.

The Dog Next Door

Dear Mom,
This is Brewster. 

He is the 106-pound Great Pyrenees/Australian Shepherd dog who lives next door. Brewster is probably the closest I will ever come to having my own dog.  Brewster and his dog-sister Shasta were adopted from the Indy Great Pyrenees Rescue.  The Great Pyrenees breed is often used to guard livestock, especially sheep.  Although separated by a fence, I have observed Brewster patiently watching over my chickens.  He is especially good at scanning the skies for any flying object that could be a threat to our society. 

Last week, a hawk stopped by my back yard, and I don't think it came for a friendly visit.  I have been completely nervous about letting the girls out for their evening stroll ever since.  Over the weekend, I invited Brewster over to my yard to help protect us from the evil hawk.  He arrived on his leash, ready to work.  Marge, Golda and Gloria clucked and scolded him, but otherwise went about their business of scratching and digging.   Brewster enjoyed patroling the yard and keeping an eye on other important issues.  It turned out to be a pleasant experience.

Why would I need my own dog when I've got Brewster next door?!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Wonderland

Dear Mom,
I don't know what happened, but the week went by in a blur. I want to blame it on the hour that is being used up taking the Young Man to golf practice after school every day and then even more picking him up if My Hero is not available to do it. I can also blame it on Patsy. The time it takes to wear her out so that I can get something done is wearing me out and it feels like Nothing is getting Done. The rainy days last week were awful. I despair of my floors ever being clean again. Add in a 6th grade production of Alice in Wonderland, hair appointments ( the Young Lady wanted her hair styled for her convincing portrayal of a Daisy- even though most of her head was covered by her costume), and a 7th grade scheduling meeting, and there goes the week. No one went hungry or without clean clothes, so I'll add that to the WIN column. I'll take the little victories where I can find them.
And while I am thinking about the 7th grade meeting. I must say that it felt Good to be a veteran mom, having survived Middle School once already. The Usual Suspects asked the questions I knew they would ask. Questions that were scarcely veiled attempts at letting everyone in attendance know that they were The Best Moms with The Smartest Kids. There were also the questions from Nervous Moms, doubting the safety of their soon to be 7th graders in school with- gasp!- 8th graders! I caught one veteran Mom shaking her head and sadly muttering "ohhhh, honey" under her breath. A new experience in this meeting was an Angry Mom. Her questions were LOUD and belligerent. I give credit to the principals and counselors who calmly answered her questions and did their best to diffuse the ticking time bomb. Parent watching during Angry Mom's questions was entertaining. Heads whipped around and eyes popped. After making discreet inquiries about the identity of the Angry Mom, I found out that she has recently lost a staggering amount of weight. I think she probably needs a cookie.
The week was not without it's accomplishments. I finished the next sock ( is it #12? I am losing track) and this week's sock is well underway.

I spun and plied some yarn, which is drying as I write this post and is such a bright lime green that I am unable to get a decent picture to show you. I'll keep trying.


And last night, on the heels of the 6th grade production, the kids and I went to see Alice in Wonderland at the movie theater. It is a rare thing lately, to find a movie that both kids want to see. As it should be, with a 16yo boy and a 12yo girl. Were this not the case, I would surely be worried about one of them.
Anyway, despite my love for Johnny Depp, this was not a movie that I wanted to see. The trailers for the movie looked too frenetic. Too weird. I decided that I would take some  knitting with me to the show, just in case.

I have a car project, started several years ago, to occupy myself during piano lessons, car pool lines, etc. It is something that requires no thought, can be on the needles a long time, and something I can leave in the car. It is your basic "Wash Rag" blanket, and I am using up all those tiny balls of leftover sock yarn. It won't be pretty, and it may not be blanket size for a decade, but it is satisfying many needs. Anyway, it was this project I stuffed into my jacket pocket and took with me into the theater. I knit through the entire movie, and made only one tiny error, which I will easily be able to drop back and fix.

And even though I knit my way through Wonderland, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. We all did. It was not at all what I expected. I was completely caught up and unable to separate the fantasy of computer animation ( or whatever it was) from the 'real' bits. Very clever, creative, imaginative. I am glad we went to see it.

Today it is supposed to be warm. The sun is shining. I think I'll pick up some pansies to plant and admire their happy faces.

Love,
Kim

MIA

Dear Mom,
I haven't really gone Missing In Action.
I have a new job!  A second job!  A second job that I wasn't too sure about but that I now LOVE!!!
I have been working over 40 hours each week between my two jobs.
And still a wife.
A mom.
A friend.

I am gently easing into this new chapter of my life.  But I have been baking---birthday cakes mostly!  My oldest and my youngest celebrated a new year. 

I am going to start the cookie of the week month again soon!

I'm not really MIA.

Love,
Wendy

Sock of the week and a tired dog

Dear Mom,
A few days late, but the sock of the week, #11, was finished last night while watching New Moon with The Young Lady.

I started sock #12, and if I don't allow myself to be distracted by other knitting or spinning, I should be able to finish it by Wednesday and be back on my self-imposed schedule.

On Friday afternoon, Bumper, Patsy and I met CarolWhoseHouseGotStruckbyLightning and her dog Fergus for a play date.

The goal was to wear this one out.

It worked. A few hours later, this is how I found Patsy asleep on the couch.

You will notice that the couch is now covered in a quilt. I have given up trying to keep it free of dog hair and now have a variety of quilts that I can swap out and are much easier to wash. Before you hyper-ventilate, these are store bought quilts. Not hand pieced and quilted. 

It didn't take long for her to fully recharge.

Love,

Kim

p.s. We used Golda's Enormous Egg in our waffle mix this morning.

No Golden nugget.

Oof! She did it again

Dear Mom,
This afternoon, Bonnie Jo and I met in the library parking lot to Accomplish a Mission. As we have been trained to do, multiple tasks were accomplished in addition to the main mission. We each had things that needed exchanging.

Bonnie Jo brought me a fresh egg sampler, and the second of Golda's Giant Eggs.

I brought Bonnie a special chicken measuring tape so she can start recording the size of Golda's eggs.

I thought it was the cutest tape measure, with an egg at the end.

I also hunted down the book we three all read at sometime. I know this because we have all written our names on the cover. Wendy had to double claim the book as her own by adding her name and the words "if lost, Please Return of call ###-####" on an inside page to which my Young Lady added the same words but our current phone number. I don't think The Young Lady ever finished reading  it though, because there is a bookmark in it on page156.

I wanted Bonnie Jo to see this artifact from the 1970's.

It is in pretty good shape for a book that may be 40 years old and cost 50 cents. The cover has been taped on, and the yellowed, dried up tape has been reinforced by packaging tape, but all the pages are intact.

I hope I don't find a dinosaur inside this egg, like the boy in the story. I am hoping for a gold nugget like the Million Dollar Duck's.

Love,
Kim

First Hand Spun Yarn Knitted Shawl thing

Dear Mom,
After blocking the living daylights out of the Boneyard Shawl, I can show you the results.

I think I love it! And I am pretty excited that that is my hand spun yarn. Remember that scene in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer when he flies because Clarise told him she thought he was cute and he shouted in his stuffed nose voice, "I'm cute, I'm cute, she thinks I'm cute!" ? ( or I'b cyoood, I'b cyood, she thinks I'b cyood!") Well, that is how I felt when I released the shawl from the blocking wires. I wanted to dance through the house with the shawl around my shoulders saying "It's good, it's good, it's really good!" I didn't though. Patsy would have thought it a great game and grabbed the shawl off my shoulders to play tug.

Blocking something like this can dramatically change the way it looks. I should have taken a 'before blocking' photo, because I believe the shawl was about half this size when it came off the needles. After thoroughly wetting it, I stretched the shawl out and pinned it to the floor in the guest room.

This is not difficult. It just takes a bit of time. The hardest part of this process was keeping Patsy off of it while I was trying to pin it down.

For thirty years I have used these pins to block my knitting.

They were given to me by one of the ladies I worked with at The Carmel Apple when I was in High School. I learned a lot about a lot of different kinds of needlework on my Saturdays working there. I also learned how NOT to treat sales people.

There are blocking wires out there made specifically for blocking knitting projects. They significantly reduce the amount of pins needed, especially if it is lace knitting. I could never convince myself to buy them because they are a little pricey and I would rather spend my yarn money on yarn. A few summers ago I was participating in a Mystery Lace Shawl knit-a-long and read about an alternative to the costly blocking wires.

The answer? Stainless Steel Tig wires from the welding supply. Well! I knew right where the welding supply place was and drove straight there. Yes, I was a fish out of water, but I didn't care. I knew I was gonna give those welding guys something to laugh about when I left, but as long as I left with the goods, I was fine with that. After giving a brief explanation to the guy, he showed me what I was asking for and it that was what I really wanted. YEP. They would work. I took a bit of sand paper to the tips just to rid them of any tiny barbs and for a fraction of the cost, I have blocking wires.

They make it easier to pull and stretch large pieces of knitting, and to hold edges straight while it dries. I still use the pins to hold the wires in place, but the process and results are faster when I use the wires too.

As much as I love this shawl, I hope it will be many months before I wear it. I want to think that the weather will stay warm and that the murmurs I am hearing about snow on Monday are wrong.

I am also thinking that this won't be my last hand spun shawl.

Love,

Kim

Golda's Giant Egg Part II

Dear Mom,

I was a little bit disappointed to see that Golda's egg did not contain a double yolk, although it was so large it nearly filled an 8-inch pan!

I had a fabulous egg sandwich for breakfast this morning!

Thanks for breakfast, Golda!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Golda's Giant Egg Part I

Dear Mom,

I don't know whether to say "Holy Cow!" or "Holy Chicken!"  Look at this HUGE egg!

Golda hasn't laid an egg for two days.  This one looks like two eggs put together!  Stay tuned to see what's inside.  I will probably crack it open tomorrow.  Maybe its a double-yolker (twins)!!

Love, Bonnie Jo

Stitches

Dear Mom,
I think the weekend was so uneventful that I barely remember any of it. I spent the cold rainy days getting mostly caught up on laundry, listening to some good books, and knitting. I did not knit one stitch on the next sock, nor did I work on The Green Sweater. Instead I got the fever to start a shawl with some of my first handspun, and nearly have it finished.

I am using the Boneyard Shawl pattern, #10 needles, and I have no idea what my gauge is. The beauty of this sort of shawl pattern is that gauge really does not matter. The shawl starts at the neck edge, center back and works out. You stop when you are ready to stop, or when you run out of yarn. It is perfect for using up yarn- on this one I'll knit until I am almost out of yarn, do some garter stitch at the lower edge and bind off. I should be able to get this off the needles today and block it. I'll have Elle model the shawl once it has finished blocking.

And, except for weaving in the yarn ends, the scarf I knit for the Superbowl 2012 Project is finished.

I really, really, really  like this scarf. The pattern is simple but interesting and addicting. Adapting this pattern, which was written for fingering weight yarn and using Cascade 220 was easy enough.  I got the book  I ordered, The Fine Line by Grace Anna Farrow, who designed this scarf, and I feel a shawl frenzy coming on. Which probably explains why I needed to knit that Boneyard Shawl.

Busy afternoon- The Young Man has golf team tryouts and The Young Lady, inspired by the Olympics, is starting ice skating lessons. Before you make the leap to double toe loops, stop.  She wants to be a speed skater. ( I think my admiration for Apolo Ohno has rubbed off.) The thing is, I think she could do it if she really wants to. I'll let you know....

Love,

Kim

The Sweet Life

Dear Mom,

With two beekeeping seminars behind me and still a lot to learn, I've decided to just do it--beekeeping!  I ordered my bees from Wildflower Ridge Honey Farm in Anderson last week.  I will pick them up there on April 24. 

Photo of an Italian honeybee from Wikipedia

"How will I get them home?", you ask.  Um, I'm not quite sure how that part works yet.  But I can tell you that the bee colony is in California right now, pollinating the almond trees there.  When they come back to Wildflower Ridge Honey Farm, the colony will be split.  A new Italian queen will be added to the split, and the bee colony will become Italian!  Volare!  

The Italians (bees, that is) are less defensive, very clean, and make good honey supplies.  Michelle from Ohio, whom I met at one of the seminars said, "Italians are lovers, not fighters!" 

Here is a sneak peek at the "Bee-Ginner's" kit I am ordering.  The hive is an English garden style from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, Inc.

La dolce vita!

Love, Bonnie Jo