Saturday morning breakfast & bag

My favorite breakfast...the one I ask for on special occasions...is eggs in a basket. There was no special occasion today, unless you consider Saturday a special occasion like I do!Cut with a heart-shaped cookie-cutter. I don't think it tastes the same without a heart.Whole wheat toast with real butter, please. And a glass of OJ. Gotta have OJ.Of course I can't leave the puppers out...she gets dog food topped with beggin' strips...mmm...
After breakfast, I finished sewing my new knitting bag. Instead of hauling around my projects in a plastic grocery sack, from now on I'll have this to make me look stylish (& less bag-lady-ish).And then, after photographing my new bag, I just sat there, enjoying the nice fresh summer air with Cody. I feel like I need to soak it in before its gone.

I don't think I'm ready for Fall just yet.

Melissa

A remote idea

I know. Everyone says you shouldn't have a TV in the bedroom. But my husband & I enjoy drifting off to a nice sitcom. And, more importantly, where else would I go when Project Runway's on & he's watching something else on the living room set? To the bedroom I say!

The only problem is, we have to put our remotes between us on the headboard (so we can both reach them) & from there they regularly fall behind the bed. Many a night, I'm crawling around on the floor with my back-scratcher trying to push them within reaching distance. Such a pain.

Sewing machine to the rescue!
Now I can use my back-scratcher as a back-scratcher & not a remote pusher-outer.

Melissa

Jack of All Trades, Master of... Well, Whatever...

I've never been one to focus, undivided, on one task. I'm always coming up with some new thing I want to try. That's why stores like Joann's, Home Depot, heck, even Target are so hard on me. I walk in and all the little project neurons in my brain start firing up until I leave with smoke coming out of my ears and bags full of random items none of which are the actual item I came in for in the first place. I know the people who run the stores are all too familiar with my kind. I suppose there's a bunch of government funded researchers somewhere tranquilizing aimless shoppers coming out of Michael's to tag them for further consumer monitoring. We must do what we can to lift this recession, you know.

Well, here are a few of my latest little endeavors:

I was able to sneak in a day of raspberry picking. I froze a ton of them, but also made a batch of freezer jam. Can't wait to put a little of this in my fro-yo!

Of course I'm still working on the garden. I've got some fun little peppers coming in and some great tomatoes! Lately as I've been eating the garden-fresh tomatoes I've been wondering what those red things I've been buying at the store all year are. They look the same, but the taste doesn't even compare!

David and I finished our 50 Mile Challenge last month! Yay us! We finished it on the fourth mile of the 8K we did together. Now we are preparing a fun chart for our next challenge.

Melissa gave me her old sewing machine a couple months ago, so that's really getting the wheels turning on some projects. Dad gave me a bookshelf that I've been wanting to spruce up, so I decided to see what I could do with some paint and material. I love color, but I think I got a little too pastel on this one. I like the material and the paint, but together they look like they belong in a nursery. I'm still pondering this project... I've also been experimenting with my dining room wall. I added some vinyl words and want to surround them with pictures, but haven't gotten everything in frames yet.

Oh, that's just a sampling. I also have other projects scattered about my home and my life. We'll see what turns out and what doesn't! Now, if you'll excuse me, the last time I came back from Michael's I blacked out and when I came to I had this big, plastic bracelet on. I'm gonna go see if I can get that thing off...

*D*

Teddybear Massacre

Poor Teddy.Now if I could just figure out who the guilty party is???

Melissa

Knitting for cold body parts in need

It's over! My yard sale is finally over! I made a whopping $135 for all the blood, sweat & tears I put into it. Oh well. At least now I have extra spending money for my trip home to Montana. That's next week, baby!

So what's up on the knitting front? Well, not now, but come winter there will be a world of cold body parts out there in need of knitted things, like hats, scarves & blankies. I decided I want to cover them.

This whipped up rather quickly after work on Friday:

[July Baby Pom-pom Hat]

I hope it fits a baby. I do not have any babies to test these things on. Can someone lend me a baby?!! Okay, well it does fit this big-headed stuffed dog.

So this year, I've chosen The Dulaan Project. An organization out of Flagstaff, AZ collects knitted (& probably sewn) warm items throughout the year & sends them to Mongolia, where the winter temperatures plummet to way below freezing. The next shipment goes out in July 2010, so this gives me 12 months, in which I will try to make 12 items to cover 12 cold body parts.

Next month's hat:

This hat pattern was ripped out of a Martha Stewart magazine forever ago. It's the only hat pattern I can do, so there will be many versions in different sizes & colors.... Oh! Wouldn't earflaps be cute?! I might have to experiment with that.

Or maybe I should learn to knit beyond rectangles. Don't be fooled by my hats & purses. They look round, but they are all rectangles that I've folded over or manipulated into something else. By the end of the year, I want to have some socks on my circular needles & be knitting in-the-round. I bought this book for inspiration:

The Coquette sock will be first on my needles; I like ankle socks:

Second on my needles will be the Ragg Hiker; oooh, they look warm:

Another purchase:

I WANT THESE LEG WARMERS!!!

And how cute are thes angora baby booties?!! Again, can someone lend me a baby?!! :)

And, finally....yes, Coy, I'm still working on your scarf! [I was going to put a picture here, but I decided you'll have to wait.] It is soooo much better than the one I made for myself. I think your neck will have something soft, warm & cably to cover it this winter.

Until then, keep cool everyone!

Love, Melissa

When my husband gets back in the Fall

These are the things I look forward to most.

~ long walks, with Cody leading the way
~ taking in new movies at the big theatre
~ his homecooked meals
~ camping at Bear Lake, just like last year
~ smoothie & poker nights (or Skipbo, or Uno)
~ knitting, while he watches football
~ 4-wheeling to the mountaintops
~ just knowing he is there

Is there a hanger fairy?

And if I pile all my plain white plasticy hangers under my pillow tonight, will she replace them with these lovelies? Well, I think it's worth a try...

Au revoir, Melissa


Photographer is Miss Retro Modern. But they were spotted first on Knitting Iris's blog.

Performing a Clutterectomy

It's a yard sale at my house! One week from today.

Signage. Check.
Pricing. Check.
Friends commissioned to help set up. Check.

I'm going to make this a pleasant day for myself. Sort of a summer party feel, so I can be relaxed & friendly around my customers, which is most important. The night before, I'll put up some leftover 4th of July decorations & bake cookies. The day of, I will sit in the shade with my radio & knit during the lull moments (hopefully not many of those).

Okay, this is about the time where I overwhelm myself with worst-case scenarios & panic, which I did earlier. A little. And just now my stomach feels a bit queezy. But really, things are moving along quite nicely.

:) Melissa

Grandmother

A few months ago, I emailed a photo to my friend Kay & asked her to make me a beautiful heirloom. Well, it arrived in the mail today (yay, mail!) & I was soooo happy!

Isn't she lovely? Her name is Maude & she's my grandmother.

Truly, the more I look at this sweet frame, the more I adore it. I'll be hanging it above my nightstand tonight. I never knew Grandma Maude & we have a lot of catching up to do.

Melissa

Independence Day

Yay, fireworks! Did you ever lie on your back in the grass & gaze up at elephant shaped clouds? Just like the clouds, I felt like I could see pictures in these fireworks tonight.

As seen from my bedroom window, with a camera in one hand & a dog in the other...

These look like red poppies.A green space monster, hurtling to earth on a stick?A swan, swimming under the moon.I don't know. Just pretty fireworks in this one. :)I often take it for granted, but today I am reminded to be thankful for my freedom. Hope you had a beautiful 4th of July too!

M

A glorious weekend

Yes, I said glorious. Why? Because the sun was shining longer than 5 minutes & because I scored free paint & a free chair (above).

Early Saturday morn, I was reading The Farm Chicks' blog where I found out Glidden was giving away free quarts of paint (which they've since run out of - but are now giving away free $5 rebates). And while I had no idea what to paint with it, I fell in love with the Canary Song yellow. Because yes, I went straight in to stare at all the pretty colors. I'm secretly mesmerized by paint chips & the names of paint chips. Who comes up with these great names anyway? "Sea glass" being my particular favorite of the Glidden collection.

Anyhow, the Canary Song was ever so cheery & I've been thinking lately that my house could use a good dose of cheer. I ordered it.

Hmm...now what to paint?

After the paint ordering frenzy, I felt energized & got straight to work Spring cleaning the house, getting stuff ready for my pending yard sale & taking our Winter/Spring backlog of recycling to the recycling center. I love recycling, but it really does take over your garage if you don't have a nice weekend to clean it out. And as I pulled our truck back into the driveway on arriving home, there it was...the chair I've wanted all along for my sewing table. I've daydreamed about this chair. The rounded, spindly back. Yes. My neighbors just set it out on the curb for Monday morning trash pick-up & I saved it. It's dirty, but I'm thinking some soap, water...& maybe some paint...yellow paint?...might turn it around. Actually, now I'm thinking a nice shade of blue. Ahh...well, something in this house will be painted yellow, if not the chair.

Now a few random things.
While folding laundry Saturday afternoon, these clean white towels stacked atop my white washing machine thrilled me to no end. I love white on white. I admired it for some time before giving in & putting the towels away. *sigh* I felt compelled to take this picture & share it with the world. Wouldn't it be great to jump in a pile of clean white towels? I think that is my newfound dream.I also think I might be turning British. Is that possible? No accent yet, but my evening treat before bed all weekend was tea & toast. Aveda tea, which is my favorite tea in the whole world. And cranberry orange toast from Great Harvest Bread Co., where I visit more often than is necessary.

And more evidence I might be turning British... I began yearning to watch something Pride-&-Prejudice-ish late Sunday afternoon. After a brief search at Netflix, I found Wives & Daughters which I was able to play from my computer. Of course, this taking place in early-1800's England, the ladies in the movie do quite a bit of needlework. Which got me in the mood to knit. I knit in the English method, not the American-Continental method (more evidence). So I picked up a project & knitted away 3 straight hours while totally engrossed in the movie. It is long, much like Pride & Prejudice, but highly recommended by me. Very good.

And that's all for now. M

p.s. If you want to sample my favorite tea, let me know. I'll happily slip a packet in the mail for you.

Summer livin' on the patio

My gardening plans this summer:

Firstly, impulse-buy one pot pretty pink flowers at the supermarket.
Secondly, sprinkle Crysanthemum & Phlox seeds in pretty ceramic eggshells, water them & wait for something beautiful to bloom...
Done.

Gee, that was hard work. Now I really must put my feet up & relax. Truly, I've been relaxing in my patio rocking chairs too much this summer. Things are getting neglected around the house.

No, no...it can wait. For now, there is tea to be sipped & books to be read. And very serious thinking to be done...like, shall I get one of these? One can never have too many places to put one's feet up...

xo, M

Superbowl Sunday

I pretty much missed the Superbowl today. Oops! I had more important things to do like laundry, general cleaning-up, 7-layer dip making, knitting, blogging (which I'm missing the end of the game for now...might as well! Jonah will catch me up.) I just don't seem to have the TV stamina I used to. I get too figity. Good thing I started knitting.

Speaking of knitting, Jonah just requested a scarf in hunter's orange.

I call it the "Outdoorsman."
My goodness that's bright!!! Yes it is. I'm keeping the pattern small & simple. Nothing fancy for my man...although, I did offer to embroider a heart or weave in a ribbon & bow. He said no to this.

My cousin, Coy, also requested a scarf. I decided on blue because her favorite color is blue. I know this because we used to fight over grandpa's one & only blue cereal bowl. I really didn't have a thing for blue. Just making things difficult. She isplanning a trip to Utah to compete in a triathlon...SO, here is the "Triathloner."Okay, if by chance you are the one person who has never tried 7-Layer Dip, here is how I make it.

This is the first...um, 5 layers? There really are more than 7 layers in this dip.

1 lb. ground beef mixed with taco seasoning
1 can refried beans, heated
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
1 small can diced jalapeno peppersNext, I add:

Sour cream (as much as desired)
Guacamole (ditto)
Salsa (ditto)
1 small can sliced black olivesThen, I top it off with:

A handful of lettuce, chopped up very small
1/2 onion (the other half)
1/2 tomato (the other half)
A few handfuls of Mexican blend cheese
Dig in!

Don your game jersey (in our case, it's the New Orleans Saints...poor Saints), grab a cold drink & plop down in front of the tube.Or pass out... My baby. Yes. She has a Saints jersey too.

Love, Melissa

Daily Grind

How do you keep your house clean? Do tell.

Personally, I've spent hours thinking about this & decided, finally, that there just isn't enough time in my day to keep everything as sparkling & put-together as I'd like it to be. I have to let go of that. But, one day last year, I dreamt up this house-cleaning schedule which works for me...us, I mean. J helps of course.

The laundry & dishes are constantly piling up...I mean, it's a battle just to be able to see the bottom of our sink or laundry basket...so we clean those daily. And J would rather clean the kitchen than do laundry & I, vice versa, so that works out pretty fair & even. Otherwise, I counted up the rooms in our house, the front step, back patio, garage, yard & our vehicles & spread them out over one week, including a day of rest (I'm so nice). J & I have one chore to accomplish, besides dishes or laundry, each day. Not so bad, eh? Of course there are days we don't get to it or don't feel like it, but we try.

So here is our weekly cleaning schedule (J & I switch chores for the 2nd week & then back to this schedule for the 3rd week, etc.)

Sunday: I clean the bathrooms, J cleans our bedroom

Monday: I mop all linoleum floors, J vacuums all downstairs carpets

Tuesday: I vacuum upstairs carpets, J cleans living & dining rooms

Wednesday: I clean the kitchen (other than dishes), J cleans front step & back patio

Thursday: I clean the laundry room, J vacuums our stairs

Friday: Day of rest. No cleaning!

Saturday: I clean the car & garage, J cleans the truck & does any yardwork that needs to be done (we usually don't alternate on Saturday because J likes yardwork & I don't)

And there you have it.

Yours truly,
Melissa

On Cinnamon

I remember when I was a little kid one of my favorite treats was cinnamon toast. The bread was Wonderbread white and condensed by the weight of melted butter. On top was a mixture of cinnamon and sugar that was always prepared in a sugar jar by the toaster.

By fluke, as I am writing this, I somehow managed to spell cinnamon right on the first try. The word “cinnamon”, like necassarily “necessarily” and knowlegable knowledgable “knowledgeable”, is one that on a rare occasion I may spell correctly, but never really know for sure unless I run the spell check.

Mostly I use cinnamon in drinks like hot chocolate or protein shakes. My favorite use in the winter is to throw my orange peels with a couple cinnamon sticks, a bit of cloves and allspice into a pot and heat it on low on the stovetop. This adds moisture to the air and makes my apartment smell like wintery treats.


One time a friend of mine added cinnamon to her chocolate chip cookies and everybody complimented her on her ingenuity. I thought it was a good idea to try it, but I just don’t think the cinnamon mixed well with the rest of the flavors.

I’ve never been sure why cinnamon candy is spicy hot. I’ve never had hot, natural cinnamon. I am allergic to cinnamon candy and gum so if I eat it my taste buds swell up and my tongue feels like I burned it with hot pizza. :P Deanna