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Monday, November 25, 2013

Monday Musings.

It is so funny/odd that, every year when the temps plummet and the snow falls, I sit back and sigh in relief.  Of course, it doesn't last long - this relief.  But it's like I now have permission to do some fun things inside.  Never mind that I am still doing not-fun-but-necessary things outside.  Two things happened earlier than usual now that winter has set its sights on me - I've had to rig up the light in the coop (usually I am not compelled to do it until mid-January at the earliest), and I've started to cling to my vision of next year's garden like a sailor on a life raft.  Already.  And the seed catalogs haven't even arrived.  Oh, Nellie.  It's going to be a long winter.

I also tend to forget that not everyone on the LLF has experienced the joy of snow.  When I open the chicken door, Dotty is the first out (Speckled Sussex).  Close behind are the banty sisters, Pippi and Dora.  Sunday morning we were greeted by arctic temperatures, plus a nice, brisk gale force wind, plus snow.  As the banties shot out the door, they lifted off and flew frantically around in a circle, not wanting to land on that awful, scary white stuff.  WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS!?!  They managed to only hit the ground just in front of their door, where they scooted inside and stayed.

I am trying to figure out whether I have a mental blind spot, or if it is just a matter of being in too much of a hurry all the time.  Example:  I am knitting an alligator scarf for my large animal vet's little boy.  This is one of my all-time favorite kid's knitting projects.  I have made more than three.  Yet, I kept making a mistake at the same point.  Over and over.  I'd look at the pattern, knit away, and end up with way too many stitches.  When I finally took a deep breath and frogged out the six rows, I looked at the pattern again.  Miraculously, there was another step on the same line that I had read over and over.  And missed.  Geezloueeze.  Now that I fully comprehend what I am doing (duh), I am zipping along.  Because I have another gator scarf to make for a certain dinosaur-loving cutie pie as an early birthday present.  I am making Aidon's little brother a matching (colorwise) hedgehog, as he is just a tiny boy. 

This same blind spot reared its ugly little head again yesterday, when I went to make my Big Lunch Cook Off.  I apparently only read (comprehended) half of the recipe.  I missed the part where they say to make it a day ahead.  Ah, well.  It was still fine - Shredded beef, tomatoes and wine over polenta.  And I tried a new side - Carrot Mash - to see if I liked it.  I did.  So that will appear on the Thanksgiving table.  I also made my very favorite in the whole world GF dessert - Crustless Cranberry Pie.  This recipe is thanks to Little Homestead in Boise, who adapted it deliciously, and I then adapted it to be gluten free.  OMG, I love this pie. 

So far the Apple Pie Blueberry Sauerkraut is coming along fine.  I keep it in the guest room - which is the second-coldest room in the house (guests beware...)  My bedroom is the coldest.  There is nothing quite like snuggling under the fleece sheets/down blanket/down duvet, with only one's nose in the cold.  The only downside is the fact that it's very difficult to force yourself out of your warm little burrow in the morning.  I wait until the tap-tap-tapping of Scrappy's toenails outside of my bedroom door take on a frantic tempo...

12 comments:

Sue said...

LOL
Scrappy has to go---get out of bed--LOL!
I know that wondrous feeling of a really warm bed in a really cold room. I never thought of it as a burrow--that fits! We don't heat the upstairs. It's quite nice for sleeping.....but yea, the mornings ....suck.

petey said...

I wish I could knit. I found out that I am not athletic enough, as the few times I tried I got the most horrendous cramp I thought I was going to die from it. sheesh.

Mama Pea said...

You have snow, too? Waaaah, I want snow! We've been seeing snowflakes on and off for about the past week, but so far nothing to really even cover the ground. Supposedly our area is forecast to have a warmer than usual and snowier than usual winter. Sounds good to me!

LindaCO said...

Hats off to you for doing gift knitting. Alligators sound like a fine thing to knit, and I guess frogging six rows is better than 12. Would love to see a picture!

Carolyn said...

Click, click, click, click, click, click x infinity. The sound of a doggie wanting to go outside. When you're snuggled warm & sleepy under the piles of quilts. Just give them the key to the back door and train them to let themselves out to pee.
Either that, or get carpeting.

Susan said...

Sue - It's like he is hovering outside of my door, waiting until he hears a change in my breathing. It IS hard to crawl out into the cold..

Susan said...

Petey - I have never thought of knitting as an athletic event, but I think you're right. It wreaks havoc on my carpal tunnel...

Susan said...

Mama Pea - I suppose it would be cruel to mention that today we awoke to 3 inches of the stuff (Tues). It seems to me that winter is pushing the envelope this year...

Susan said...

Linda - It is such fun to knit! I will try to take a picture of it, although it's a dark blue, so I'll have to work on the lighting.

Susan said...

Carolyn - Yea, between Scrappy's toenails and my knitting needles, it's pretty noisy around here! I wouldn't trust Scrappy with the keys to anything...had carpeting, but Bernie was eating it.

Candy C. said...

I've had patterns where I keep missing something over and over...I finally get out the highlighter and mark it! LOL!! Isn't it fun the first time chickens see snow? I know what you mean about not wanting to get out of bed on cold mornings. We keep the bathroom door closed at night and hubby has started calling it The Outhouse! ;)

Fiona said...

Keep at it....it is almost a therapy to keep your hands limber, plus if your using yarn that is more natural and less processed and milled the extra lanolin makes your skin wonderfully soft. My mother used to knit winter socks with a heavier yarn that wasn't washed so much and it kept our feet toasty warm! I use the less washed yarn now to keep my "OLD' feet from callusing up so much! I knit over sized socks I call bed socks for around the house at night. My husband loves them but complains they won't fit in his boots for work!