The End is Near

Just a couple more things to be knitted before Christmas. Mom decided that my niece and the puppy needed matching sweaters for Christmas. This is the final proof that she's finally become "that crazy old wop" she always poked fun at. It happens to all Italian-American women as they age. It starts with wearing increasing amounts of jewelery and ends with wanting to dress your grandkid and your dog in matching sweaters. Time to move to Arizona with the rest of them, Mom. They even have Dunkies out there just for the old New Englanders.

What actually making the sweaters says about me I'm not quite sure, but hubby is scared. I think it says I didn't want to argue with mom about how freaky it is to dress them both the same. My husband fears it means I've started down the path of "that crazy old wop" a little early in life. Mostly I had a lot of yarn left and why not make Mom happy on Christmas.

I'm also almost done the Christmas shopping. Just a couple more people and some gift cards to pick up. I try every year to be done by Thanksgiving, I can usually make it. I'm one of those people who starts Dec. 26th for the next year. Why? Because I'm damned cheap.. umm frugal, OK poor. Not like living under a bridge poor but like most everyone else lately every buck counts. Plus there's a certain satisfaction in finding a bargain and we have a pretty big Christmas list. Also, I make a LOT of gifts and i like to keep everyone kinda equal. I can't make something for just one person, it doesn't seem fair.

I never suffer the "oh s*%t I need to bring a gift" crisis. I have a whole closet full of goodies I can tap at a moments notice. I've bailed out a lot of family members with my "gift closet" over the years. There's always some last minute event or invitation and you really ought to be bringing a gift. I dislike regifting so I have my closet.

We don't really regift in my family, we kinda have a grab party. This is the result of having a lot of educators in the family. When you teach you get a LOT of little gifts at the holidays. We usually open them "shower style", one person opens while the others catalog for thank you notes. There's usually doubles or triples of a lot of things and the whole family enjoys them.

While I'm on the subject of teacher's gifts, and because it's my blog, I'm taking this opportunity to offend a lot of people by saying WHAT HE HECK IS WRONG WITH YOU INGRATE CHEAPSKATES?! Seriously, I was reading Consumer Reports about average holiday gifting/tipping and the people you entrust with your kids rate lower dollar wise than your dog groomer and hairdresser? I was at a craft show once, in a very affluent area, and overheard someone say they didn't want to spend 25$ because it was only for a teacher. I about dope slapped the woman. Here's the thing, teachers make NOTHING compared with equally educated people in other fields. Out of that pittance a lot of them have to reach into their own pockets for class supplies or go without. Show some appreciation! If you have money to spend at the holidays try spending some of it on the people who deserve something nice for the holidays for sacrificing all year for the good of YOUR kids.

I'm not talking about people who don't have much money or are hardcore poor. Believe it or not they are the most generous with what little they have. They appreciate the teachers far more than the snotty folks with the bucks. I've seen both my mom and sister brought to tears over a small 3 dollar gift or a handmade card with some homemade cookies from a family with nothing simply because of the appreciation it shows when money comes so dear. I've also seen the same 3 dollar gift come from a VERY WEALTHY family and what does that say about how much they think of an educator. Priorities people! This is another example of why I didn't go the family route of education, if I want to be taken for granted I stay home with my family =)

Strike! Strike! Strike!

Three cheers for the WGA, leading the way in getting everyone paid for new media! The studios make money off it so should the people who did the actual work. Lets hope SAG, AFTRA and the DGA follow.

I've seen a lot of stupid *^%$ on the web this week about this strike. Someone actually put on a blog that if this strike messed with "Lost" they were gonna thwap Tina Fey with a strike sign.... I only have one thing to say to people of that mindset and it's not for polite company. You get paid for your labors so should people in the media. TV beams into your little rikki tikki brain for free 24/7 how dare you presume to comment on what a writer or anyone else should make for putting there, ingrate!

There are very few secure jobs for writers, a lot of them are one shots deals or freelance and even if you have a regular gig there's always cancellation. Residuals pay the bills folks. They pay for insurance, heat, food, retirement and everything else the rest have to pay with your weekly check. The studios make a ton of money on DVD's and new media they just don't want to share. There's more money in the DVD's than box office now but they want to pay the same and keep the rest for themselves. If your boss wanted you to do more work but not give you more pay you'd tell him to go sit on something sharp. Same goes for the writers, their work is being used in all sorts of new media but the studios don't want to pay them for it.

For those of you who are of the opinion that "they're just writers, anyone can write a crappy TV show"... TRY IT. Go ahead, give it shot big mouth. There's a reason Hollywood is coming to a grinding halt without the writers, they cannot be replaced. Writers create the characters and stories you all are so addicted to and it's hard work.

You want your TV back? Call or write the studios and tell them to give the writers what they want and deserve. In the meantime, go buy a few dozen box lunches and deliver them to a picket line. To those of you who can't appreciate the work of the writers and see the validity of their demands.... bite me you deserve a bunch of reality and game shows.

Stormy Saturday

It's cold, wet and windy here today. The remains of a hurricane are moving through coastal New England but it's a good excuse to cook and nap the day away. Lucky for me my Brother-in-Law brought down our share of the side of beef we got from the farm. If you've never bought meat farm-fresh, you ought to try it. They're from small farms not giant corporate ones. You know who is slaughtering and cutting your meat, their family eats it too so they have a vested interest in cleanliness. You pay by hanging weight not cut, so while it might be per pound pricey for ground and chuck it's VERY cheap for steaks and roasts. The cows are free range and organic. They get to be happy cows while they're growing and you know what's being fed to them. The meat is cut and packaged to your specifications. Hate making roasts they'll grind them, want a prime rib they'll leave the bone-in, only cooking for 2 and they'll pack in small portions. We get pork this way as well.

One of the best parts of buying meat this way is you get EVERYTHING. That includes the fat, suet, organs and we take some of the bones as well. The organ meat goes to the old-timers in the family who have trouble finding heat and tongue nowadays. Grandma always wants the pig's feet, I say yuck but she's and old Italian and she misses having them. The beef suet gets rendered and made into some of the best soap on earth for hubby and laundry and the fatback from the piggies I brine into old fashioned salt-pork a must have for baked beans as well as lard for pie baking and soap. My sister handles the sausage making and does up some hot dogs as well. Waste not, want not is a big motto around here and there is something to be said for hanging on to traditional skills.

Now for what's in use today, the bones. I got a nice sack of meaty joints delivered into my hot little hands Thursday and they went straight into the oven to roast for stock. If you've only every had beef stock from the store, you have no idea what the real thing is like. Real stock makes a rich, thick and out of this world stew like nothing else. It's a little time consuming but worth the effort. Older cookbooks usually have stock making directions so go hunting at the library but it's pretty straight forward. Roast the bones and some onion, celery, and carrot. Dump in all in a pot with cold water and simmer for oh 8 - 24 hours and skim it every so often. Then you strain it simmer it and maybe repeat depending on how you'll use it. When it cools, if you've done it right, you have a clear, brown jelly-like substance that freezes well and has a million uses.

Today I made beef stew. Doesn't it look yummy? Real stock also has some extras that store stuff just can't say. It's fat free, you skim and skim and then when it's cool the fat makes a solid disk on top that you lift and toss. There's calcium and other minerals from the bones that we mostly take as vitamin pills. It's loaded with natural gelatin, remember that stuff they always told you to eat for nice hair and nails, it's in there. Plus it tastes wonderful. You also get the satisfaction of knowing you minimized a lot of waste and utilized every bit of the cow who died to feed you and your family and the knowledge that it was well treated before it hit your plate.

There's another recall from one of the super-farms today on ground beef. I never have to go hunting to see if something i got at the market is going to kill one of my family members. I know exactly where everything came from and who handled it. My suggestion, buy a deep-freeze for your basement or garage and try buying meat direct. It's well worth the time and effort.

Is it Friday Yet?

Not quite? OK, I can make it couple more days. Hmmm I haven't posted in a week, let's do a quick recap...

I was supposed to sleep late, first time in months, my crazy grandmother let herself into my house to complain about dad and woke me up early anyway.

I went to a brutally SLOW craft show that went until 8pm, sales sucked.

I went BACK to the brutally slow craft show, it still sucked. Someone hit my van in the parking lot and left without leaving a note. They also screwed it up big time and locked the real wheels. I waited 2 hours in the dark and the rain for a tow truck.

The final day of the craft show, it still sucked. I dropped mom off at the airport before I went in the hopes that she could find a van to get all dad's stock home. Mom got lost on the way to the show, I threw my phone at a policeman and said she was driving me insane. he calmly gave her directions. I gave him free stuff because he was so nice and putting up with wrong-way-mom is so NOT in his job description, he tried to refuse, I insisted. Some F*&$%#G A^&U&%E ripped some poor woman's rear hatch off in the parking lot because he was too stubborn to wait 10 seconds to leave. He laughed when he got out of his car and everyone had to wait while the police took a report. I yelled at him for being a subhuman, empathy lacking, self centered, waste of carbon. We finally got to leave the craft show. The Red Sox won the World Series.

I did the receipts for the weekend. Had Chinese food for dinner, I was too tired to cook.

Had my niece overnight so my brother-in-law could surprise my sister with tickets to a show. We carved a pumpkin and she had too many bubbles in the tubby. She went to bed without too too much fuss. She slept straight through the night.

Halloween! My niece loved her fairy princess costume and handing out candy. We gave out giant pixie sitx, I think some parents stole them from their kids. Some parents know no shame and asked for one too, it was fun. My hubby followed my niece, sister, mother and Tilly dog all over the neighborhood with the video camera. Everyone's exhausted, and happy.

Soon it will be Saturday, I will have a day off. My brain will work normally again.

The Good, the Bad, and the @$^&%#* Dog

First the good, I got my goodie box from the Knitters Tea Swap yesterday. Just look at all the goodies Sarah in AZ sent me. There's coolest sock yarn, it's brown with blue, pink and orange and it self stripes in a trippy pattern, I love trippy socks. She also sent me a set of DPN's , a vanilla lip balm tin, two different organic teas, Raspberry and Black Chai, a little round tin of pomegranate green tea perfectly purse sized and that's just where it's heading. There's also snacks, Walkers shortbread, lemon cookies, a tin of spiced caramels and a roll of gummies for my niece. There was also a beautiful set of stitch markers with turquoise beads and a new knitting journal. I feel so special, thanks again Sarah!

Now, the bad, I broke 8 of 10 fingernails today cleaning the stove. I HATE breaking them, they never get really long but at least I can usually get them about a 1/4 inch past my fingertips. It's just annoying that I'm the ONLY one who seems to clean around here. On the bright side the stove is shiny and like-new spotless, at least until morning when someone burns something again.

Finally, the @$^&%#* dog, she ate ANOTHER set of DPNs that makes 5. There must be something about the bamboo Crystal Palace uses because those are the only needles she touches. Never ones of birchwood and never the rosewood ones. They're starting to wonder at the LYS what the hell I'm doing with all these sets of 2.5mm DPNs. I'm going to have to talk to the vet about some new training methods because Tilly isn't catching on, TO ANYTHING. Maybe it's Bichons in general or maybe, and this gets my vote, Tilly is just STUPID. We had a dumb dog once, really dopey, but at least she wasn't destructive. She keeps doing the same things over and over. She's a puppy, yes, but that excuse only goes so far for so long. Perhaps she needs a formal puppy school over Christmas vacation, it'll be the first time we've ever had to resort to that but I can't take too much more.

Just to end on a happy note, look at the photo my sister sent me. That's Chaos the kitty meeting dinner shortly before it hit the pot. For those of you away from the coast a 3 1/2 lb lobster is a big'un and I should note that cat weighs a good 15 lbs. He's not chubby either just HUGE, bigger than the dog. He's better at playing fetch than she is too, yeah cats can play fetch, they just want to fetch balls of yarn.

Socks, Socks, Socks

The last of the Christmas socks for the nieces and nephews is DONE! That makes 15 pairs so far this year into the stash. The socks for the boys as always get an easily replaceable afterthought heel. You can see in the photo what it looks like after I've removed the waste yarn and picked up the live stitches.

I still have a couple things left on my list to knit but I've got 2 more months so I should be OK. I want to knit a sweater for my 2 yr old niece. Baby ones are fast, so that should only take a week of evenings. A dog sweater for Mom's Bichon, also a quickie. Last but not least, more felted catnip mice for my sister's three cats. They LOVE the felt catnip mice. It took them all year to rip the heads off last year's batch. I think it's because the texture of the felt is pretty close to the texture of a real mouse but I'm not going to check. Is it sick that I feel bad we didn't get any field mice in the house this year for them to hunt when they visit? They just look so proud when they catch them and present them, it's adorable.

We'll have them a couple weeks this winter while my sis and her hubby go on vacation. Amazingly, they adapt well to switching houses several times a year. Hopefully the dog we had to put down's smell is out of the house now. Last time kitties came to visit one of them spent a week sniffing and mewing in Roo's usual spots. He didn't understand where she was, it was really sad. Odd though, he's the cat who always messed with her and he was the one to really missed her most.

It will be fun to see the Bichon put "back in her place" by the female cat. Kitties have their favorite perches at this house and they decided last time that this new interloper was a little big for her britches. Acadia is phased by NOTHING. She has her favorite perch on the back of the sofa to look out the window and no puppy is going to move her. Last time she was in her spot and Tilly was right behind her barking up a storm and got NO REACTION, not even a glance of acknowledgement. Not too many cats are stubborn enough to ignore a barking dog 6 inches behind them, Acadia she's gotta set of brass ones. Also Acadia loved Roo, she even slept with her doggy cousin at night when she was down here and I don't think she was happy Roo was gone and there was a new, and annoyingly loud, puppy.

My First Sourdough Rye

Isn't is beautiful?? It's a pumpernickel rye and next to it is a plain sourdough sandwich loaf with some cracked wheat for crunch. I love sourdough bread and the idea of using the little yeasties that are floating around naturally. My last starter died from some too curious person messing with it in the fridge but I got a new one last week. After a few feedings I was ready to go.

Rye breads have always given me problems, bad rise, bad texture, less than RYE flavor but I was determined to beat it. The first loaf was a disaster but the second one, traditional shape was good enough to be eaten in two days by the family. This one is sandwich shaped by request and I think it's just lovely.

I started the sponges last night and let them go through the first rise during the Red Sox game. Once I got them shaped and into the pans I covered them and stuck them in the fridge over night to really slow down the second rise, it's supposed to make the bread even more sour. I let them come to temp for a couple hours on the counter this morning then into the oven they went. I was surprised now nicely the rye loaf rose. I'm thinking the fridge trick might be part of it but more experiments are required. Meanwhile I finally got a good rise out of a rye and a sourdough one at that so I'll be doing the happy bread dance for the rest of the afternoon.

It's Almost Halloween

Ahhhh, a weekend off, nice weather, a Red Sox win, and shopping... what could be better. I gathered the rest of the goodies for my swap today, it was fun. Just have to wrap them and mail the box-o-goodness.

I was at the Classic Elite factory store today and I brought a treat to my niece on the way. Yummy gingerbread muffin, she was very excited. She's NOT spoiled! We're trying to teach her to say "trick or treat" there's not much time left before Halloween. Her costume is all finished just have to finish the dog's, she's going trick-or-treating with her. They're so cute together.

I got my huge box of stuff from King Arthur Flour Thursday. I made my first loaf of pumpernickel bread. It came out great and it's almost gone already. Everyone wanted sandwiches for lunch and supper. I'm going to try to make a sourdough version tomorrow. My new starter is bubbling away happily. It's had three feedings since I got it so it should be good to go. It was so satisfying to toss a ton of old pans. Anything not going to AZ with the parents when they move is now fair game. A little at a time it should be manageable. I don't want to end up renting a dumpster when we buy the house because they've gone and left behind 40 years of junk even they don't want anymore. I come from a clan of packrats.

Tomorrow is for sewing and baking, at least until the baseball game. Then it's snacking and relaxing. I can only hope that if they win they don't tear the city apart. People up here get a little nutty with the Sox. OK, they get a little nutty and a LOT DRUNK. Hubby has to drive into Boston Monday morning for work and I don't want him to have to sit in traffic and take 8 detours because the city's turned into a cage-free zoo of drunken primates. There's been some bad incidents over the years, it's like the Darwin awards.

Boston is weird. New Englanders are weird. I noticed something tonight that outlines the weirdness. All popular songs about Boston are about how Boston sucks. Who celebrates suckage?? We do! Two glaring examples are 'Dirty Water' and 'Charlie on the MTA'. Every Red Sox game they play 'Dirty Water' and everyone sings. No one notices they're singing about how famously nasty and polluted the Charles River was, still kinda is, but it's better. Yay everyone sing a song about swimming in a sewer!! Gross and ... well weird.

'Charlie on the MTA' is about how some poor working stiff has to stay on the train forever because the rates went up after he boarded and he can't afford the exit fee. Seriously, they're celebrating that it's painfully expensive to live around here. Think that's weird?? Try this. They finally went from tokens to swipe card passes for the trains and trolleys and they call them CHARLIE CARDS! Right on the front is a drawing of good ole Charlie who's been on the freakin' T for about 60 years now. Weird.

Combine this mentality with Boston being the only city where you'll get directions that include the words "take the illegal left turn..." and you get a taste of what it's like to grow up here... and why people so passionately LOVE growing up here. We're weird. it's fun!

Mutts and Moms SUCKS!

Anyone who would take a dog away from children needs a serious dose of empathy and common sense. All this BS about not giving small dogs to small children and having to return a dog to a rescue rather than finding it a good home where you can still visit just rubs me the wrong way.

First off small dogs and small children get along great same as big dogs and small children. Kids and dogs go together. My mother's Bichon puppy and my 22 mo. old niece are inseparable all day. Yeah, there's a learning curve. Tilly needed to learn not to nip Tala and Tala needed to learn not to pull on Tilly's ears, took a week of extra monitoring, not a huge investment. Now, they watch out for each other and share everything from binkys to lunch.

When Tala takes a tumble, as toddlers do, Tilly rushes to bring her toys, bottles, anything she knows Tala likes to soothe her. When Tilly's bowl is empty Tala has been known to try and get the dog food bag to fill it up again (I am glad she can't quite reach the water dispenser on the fridge). I once found Tala starting to swing from the drapes Tarzan style from the back of the sofa but Tilly was stopping her buy grabbing on to the back of her pants by the waistband and holding fast. Even at this young age they watch out for each other.

As for returning the dog to the rescue rather than finding it a good home I call BS on that. Their argument is that sometimes these animals end up back on the streets. If they gave the dog to someone who would do this, didn't they fail to find a good home in the first place? Anyone who takes the time and expense to get a dog from a shelter, go through the interview and application process should have proven enough trust to find a home for an animal should things not work out. Sometimes things just don't work out, particularly when there are already pets in a household. There's really no predicting it.

All the TV stuff aside these women are shrill and mean. I wouldn't trust anyone who would so strictly adhere to rules that they tear a beloved dog from children. It's damaging to the kids and to the dog. Aren't they supposed to be worried about the dog, at the least?

I've always had reservations about some of these private rescues as opposed the the local ASPCA or Humane Society. There is always a story about some woman who "just wanted to save animals" getting arrested because the neighbors couldn't take the smell and called the Health Department. Some of these people are just weird. They have so little in their lives, or worse a mental illness, that they exert control over these animals as a last ditch effort to salvage some sense of self worth.

Every dog my family has ever owned has come from the MSPCA or from someone who got a dog and couldn't keep it for whatever reason. They've all had very long, very happy lives, and I cannot imagine what I would have done had someone shown up at my door to take one of them because they were second hand. Someone probably would have gotten seriously hurt.

We just had to put down a dog after a wonderful 16 years and when we're ready my husband and I will be adopting another one. After seeing what these private rescues are really like, we won't even be considering a dog from one of them. We'll stick to the MSPCA and wait until there's a dog there that fits with our family. Maybe we'll just luck into one, like Mom's Bichon, she came from the dentist's office.

Bichons are NOT Purple...

Unless they live here as best friend to a very sneaky toddler who's favorite things are said Bichon and the color purple. What's wrong with this picture?

Need help? Look closer. Yep that's a purple dog. Crayola marker purple to be exact. It's discovery what shortly followed by the words "Nana is going to kill you when she gets home".

Thing is, while Crayola makes a great product that washes out of most everything it doesn't seem to wash out of Bichon fur, which is more like hair. Very fine, very soft, usually very WHITE, and very dye friendly. Of course the dog doesn't care she loves the evil little monkey and any game she makes up. My niece doesn't care she loves the dog and purple so she's happy as can be. I don't much care, it's almost Halloween and well, it was kinda funny when it happened because it was really FAST and we were video taping the baby playing with the dog.
My mother, Nana to the evil little monkey and mother to the VERY EXPENSIVE dog that she dresses and carries around in a bag is MAD. Mostly because she just paid 75$ to have doggy groomed less than a week ago and now she has purple racing stripes.

The whole thing went down something like this. My husband says "lets tape them playing." "Look how cute." "They're best friends." "Is that a MARKER?!" "IS THE CAP OFF?!?!" "OH MY GOD SHE'S GOT PURPLE STRIPES!"

So really it was just another day around here in the bizarro world I call my life. Did I mention someone broke into my brother-in-law's car last night to steal ... wait for it... it's so strange .... a box of diapers! Somewhere in Lowell, MA someone took the time to steal a box of diapers out of the trunk of a POS old Toyota and left the stereo and anything else of value. Even the cop was confused. So if you ever park in Lowell don't leave diapers in your car. Heck, just don't park on the street in Lowell if you can avoid it, there's a gang of weirdos in desperate need of diapers roaming the streets there and the cops have no leads.

On the bright side my swap shopping is going nicely, got tea, got goodies, gotta plan to go shopping for the last few things I want to put in there on Saturday.

The Car Sold!

Finally! I'm off shopping restriction! OK, not like a millionaire but I can have some fun money now. I have a list of things I want at King Arthur Flour, now that the cool weather is here I can bake bread again without heating up the house. Home baked wheat bread is soooooooooooooo much better than anything from the store, and a lot cheaper. You also get to put just what you like in a loaf as far as oats, seeds, and grains.

I've been dying for some new baking pans since I've yet to unpack most of my wedding gifts, yes 3 years later, and I've been using my mother's 30 yr old pans. If she would just RETIRE already and take Dad out west where he wants to be, I wouldn't have to share the kitchen and I could really unpack. My greatest fear is that they won't take all of their stuff with them when they finally go.

I think my mother is afraid of retirement, she's too used to having a secretary to clean up after her at work and, since dad got sick, me at home. Before that it was my Nana, I've checked, Mom's always been a SLOB, the clean gene seems to skip a generation. My parents have been married for almost 40 years and my mother STILL has stuff in her parent's garage. The sick thing? She used to tell us kids that it was our fault when the house was a wreck, and we believed her until college. Some people are just wired to put something down wherever they happen to be when they are done with it. There's something odd about saying to a parent, "you're not going to just leave that there are you?"

At least I get to do some shopping. I'm in a swap and I'm excited, picking out and packing goodies is a blast.

I Don't Like Being Serious on Here but...

August 1939, prior to the invasion of Poland, Adolf Hitler said :

"I have issued the command -- and I’ll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad -- that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formation in readiness -- for the present only in the East -- with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space [Lebensraum] which we need. Who, after all, speaks to-day of the annihilation of the Armenians?"

Not the Turkish Government
Not the ADL
Not President Bush
Not the US Congress
For this they should be ashamed.
FoxNews
Learn More

I Hate Frogging

I gave up temporarily on my gloves. I got close to "done" the first one before I realized I need different needles. They're a hair too snug for my comfort on US 2/2.75 mm needles but they'd be too large on US 3/ 3.25 mm ones. Sooooooooooo I need the one thing I don't have US 2.5/ 3mm needles. I know Crystal Palace makes them but I'm going to be good and wait. I frogged the one I did already and I'll just put them aside for while.

I worked on my niece's Halloween costume this weekend. Isn't it cute? The hem is the last step on the dress and I made the wand today. OK, I put pink paint and glitter on a dowel but once I put a stuffed topper out of leftover fabric on the end it'll be a wand. I'll do the wings when I get a chance they're easy, make a casing and stuff in the wire.

I've been good about the not spending lately, that's why I'm waiting on buying needles. I'm doing a swap though, spending money on OTHER people doesn't count! It sounds stupid but hubby bought it so it's approved. I've already started gathering things up that are local and I'm trying to get hubby to grab some stuff at work if he can. He works at a VERY representative place to out locale so I'm crossing my fingers. I hope I get a swap buddy from far away, makes it even more fun. I love packing goodie boxes.

I have tomorrow free of the baby, YAY! School holidays rock for auntie-daycare, my sister teaches so when she's off so am I. I'm not complaining, I love watching the little monkey but I need a break, the terrible twos are getting to me. Friday I had to separate her and the puppy, they were fighting over a toy. There was ear and tail pulling, pushing and one little nip. Of course once they were apart they immediately started crying for one another. The baby calling out for the dog and the dog crying and howling.

I think I'll make soap tomorrow since I have the house to myself. It's been too long and I'm a little behind. Besides I want to make a few experimental batches before Christmas.

Who is Hurt by Bootleg DVDs and Illegal Downloads?

Me! Yeppers me, me, me. I do not feel bad for Jammie Thomas, Fox News , not one little bit. Our heath insurance is going up again and the benefits are headed south. Why? Why else? Money.

Now before you say "it only hurts the big, mean, nasty record companies and movie studios" ... STOP, you're just wrong. You're wrong because of residuals and media unions. My husband is in one of the media unions and our insurance is through it.

Performers don't get paid just the day they show up, they also get income when something is aired, put on DVD or CD, or downloaded. It may seem small, and really the performers cut is small, but it adds up. This is how people can afford to live and maintain insurance between jobs, most media jobs are not 9-5.

I'm not talking about big stars. I'm talking about the work-a-day actors, voice actors and a lot of behind the scenes people. When someone gets income from a performance or residual they pay into a Health and Retirement program, Pension Fund, etc., just like most everyone else. So when you buy a bootleg DVD, illegally download something or otherwise steal media you aren't screwing the "big bad corporations", they already have plenty of money. You're screwing me and my family.

The less money everyone pays into the collective funds, the more expensive heath insurance gets for us all. It also gets harder to negotiate contracts for fair wages. These companies can cry poverty because of all the lost revenue and use that as an excuse to pay people less. Not everyone who works is radio, TV, films, etc. makes the big bucks, the vast majority barely make a living. They work for a union negotiated MINIMUM.

So the next time you see a folding table of cheap bootleg DVDs and CDs on the sidewalk do me a favor, don't buy one and call the cops. Next time you think it's not worth $1.99 to download a song you can steal for free, think about someone waiting too long to see a doctor because the co-pays went up again. Don't even get me started on the Chinese imports on eBay.

I Will Not Go to Classic Elite this Weekend!

I will not go, I will not go, I will not go.... Once again the guy who was supposed to buy my old Ford Taurus failed to show up. I want to get rid of this car! Don't get me wrong, it's a nice car but I don't need it and I don't want to pay to insure and store it if it isn't getting used. I certainly don't want to shovel a spot for it come the snow. Plus I promised myself I wouldn't buy any yarn or new baking stuff until I sold it. If he doesn't show by Friday I'm giving to the next best offer, I'm tired of waiting.

I'm being responsible, it stinks. But the credit card is too high from 2 years of vet bills and medications for Roo, my poor dog, and it has to come down BEFORE the Christmas shopping starts. As much as I loved her I'm a little mad at her that she sucked all my money and then we had to put her to sleep anyway for the one thing we couldn't treat. Though you can't put a price on 16 years, yes 16, of love and loyalty. She was the best dog.

What's killing me is that I haven't been the Classic Elite factory in months. For those not from Eastern Massachusetts, Classic Elite yarns is in Lowell, MA, 15 minutes away from me and 3 blocks from my sister's house. They have a real factory store, in a factory building, you have to go in a freight elevator up to the 4th floor and the area is a little sketchy but ohhhhhh the prices. It's actually my closest LYS, I admit it, I'm spoiled. One and a while they have a sale, we're talking a long plus-sized cabled Duchess cardigan for 80 bucks kinda sale, shhhhh it's for one my sisters for Christmas. I once got a cone of Premiere, enough for a whole lace sweater for 11 dollars. I want to try the new alpaca sock yarn they have but I can't until the stupid car sells! Oh well patience is a virtue.

I think I'm loving these gloves I'm working on lately. I don't need another pair of gloves but the yarn just wanted to be gloves and the peacock iridescent beads match so well (they look much better than they photographed) I had to do it. Not too bad for a pattern I'm making up as I go. This time I remembered to take notes so the other glove will be the same for a change.

I Need to Find Family with Smaller Feet

Enough with the men's size 12's! My husband has them, my nephews have them, and my BILs have them.

I finished these tonight. I like them a lot. This pair goes into the Christmas Stash for one of the nephews. I only have 1 more "must get done" pair then I can work on some "would like to get done" ones.

Tomorrow I'm going to introduce my niece to pumpkin carving. She's not quite 2 so no knives for her but I think I have a plan. I'm going to newspaper the whole kitchen floor, cut the top off the pumpkin, and let her have the scooping duties. She's getting to the age where she wants to help a lot and she can take directions now so putting pumpkin guts in a bowl should be just her speed. Hopefully I'll get some cute pictures to for my sister to send to her in-laws, they're so far away they only get to see the little monkey a few times a year. I'm spoiled I get to see her every weekday during the school year.

I Took a Weekend Off

Finally, and mostly because I'm still a little sick, I took a whole weekend off. For me this is quite rare and I did cave and do a few hours of "work" but the rest of the time I did NOTHING. I even have tomorrow off as my sister took the day off and my niece doesn't need watching all day.

I think I'll work on her and the dog's Halloween costumes. They're both going as fairy princesses all in shades of pink. At least the dog is a Bichon, they're not "quite" as strange to dress up in a Halloween costume and for some reason they don't seem to mind wearing them.

The new sock pattern for my knit along group is coming out tomorrow but I can't play this time around. I'm broke for a while so no yarn purchases for me. I have other things to work on though so it won't be too bad.

My happy thought for the day...there's a new "American Dad" on tonight. I know it's crass, rude, offensive and juvenile but... that's why I love it!

All I want for Christmas is Lead Poisoning...

No, it doesn't sound right to me either but today we have .... wait for it.... MORE RECALLS. Before that an apology to China!!

The devil you say, but it's true the big toy company said it was sorry, China, that you make crappy junk and are so irresponsible and uncaring to your own people and our children.

No, that's what they should have said, they mostly said sorry we made you look bad China it was all our fault please don't cut us off from the very profitable slave and child labor you got going over there. I am disgusted. I'm also boycotting and Christmas is coming, nuts to them.

Lookie, lookie, at what I'm doing instead. I'm MAKING a toy for Christmas. I found this old bag of plain wooden blocks ( made in Maine ) and I'm painting them with letters and stamping little puzzles onto them. Pretty cute huh? A couple coats of non-toxic, made in America, water-based varnish and they're all done. Guess what? My 2yr old niece won't know the damned difference and she'll still be happy with a new set of letter blocks. I'll know she can chew on them till her adult teeth come in and not drop dead or get brain damage.

Looks like we're all paying the price for outsourcing labor. Let's face it the toy companies don't really care, they care about getting caught. If they really wanted to know what was going on in those factories they wouldn't send Western clothed, English speaking, executives. They'd send native speaking Chinese "spies" unannounced and get a real look at what was going on in those factories, not the show they put on when the foreigners are coming to town.

OK, ranting over. Oh, and if you want to make some of your own wooden blocks go here http://www.craftparts.com/. They're in TX, they can tell you where EVERYTHING they offer was made, and they're wholesale. Get together with friends to meet the minimum order. Have a painting party. Just try making one gift this year, it's fun and SAFE.

Less Sick is Still Sick

At least I'm getting a little knitting done between naps. This sock is a really simple one. Self striping yarn and around and around on the needles. You can see the contrast thread where I'm going to open it up for an afterthought heel. They're for my nephew and I use this heel on almost all the socks I knit for men. It can be ripped out and reknitted quickly when the inevitable hole shows up. Just a couple more pairs after this one and the socks are done for Christmas this year.

I Hate Being Sick

I thought it was so cute when my niece wanted to share her soup with me on Monday. I feed her, she wanted to return the courtesy. Except, the very next day, she came down with one nasty cold. Tuesday I was OK, Wednesday I was fine, Thursday I chocked it up the seasonal allergies and Friday I was in denial. Saturday and today .... I'm SICK. I rarely get sick so I'm not very good at it. My husband has taken to chasing me with a ruler and the threat of a swat every time I dare get out of bed. There is just too much I KNOW isn't getting done while I'm down with a cold. I made a list, I hope at least some of it got done while I was napping away all afternoon in a NyQuil induced coma. At least I put some emergency meals in the deep freeze so I don't have to cook for at least a couple days. Leftovers will also be on the menu.

At least I negotiated some computer time and my knitting basket into my quarantine. Tomorrow I'm going to try the evil, yucky, burns your throat and nose, ginger cure. Tonight I'm a hot white needle tea and lots of lemon girl.

What Can You Do While the Cable Guy Goes Nuts?

Well I made a whole hat. Yep, either I'm the worlds fastest knitter he took a REALLY long time. More like a combination of both. Took the poor guy 3 hours, 2 cans of Coke, 4 calls to the office and 1 attempt by my niece to trade her stuffed pig for his wire strippers to get the cable upgraded yesterday. Comcast, fearing Verizon's arrival in town, decided to offer everyone a bundle two weeks ago, our uber-cable package, DVR, phone and broadband for about 60 bucks less a month than we're paying now if we opted in for a year.

Of course being Comcast nothing went smoothly. It's not the poor installers fault, his work order was wrong and we have some funny old wiring plus we were only converting one phone line in the house to the broadband phone. I don't want to lose a land-line just yet and this seems to have thrown everyone for a loop, even though I went over it thoroughly with the girl who came to the door with the offer. Ok, I admit it I grilled her like a salmon, but I thought she got it in the end. Needless to say the poor installer who came to do the work had a hard day. He was very nice, very patient and I must add one of the best they've ever sent out here. I'm blaming the office for the snafus.

So what do I do in the meantime? I knit a hat from the new Fall Knitty. http://www.knitty.com I used some handspun from my stash and added a picot bind off. It went really fast I was surprised. I have enough yarn left to make a matching scarf in the lace pattern and maybe mittens for a complete set. It's all going into the Christmas stash. With 8 nieces and nephews, my sisters, their husbands, my husband's 4 siblings and their spouses it's a BIG stash by December.

Now it's time to see if I can figure out how to set the new DVR to record my anime tonight. Wish me luck.

Another Pair Finished

Just in time for my weekend goal. Time to decide if I want to start the next pair or take a break with something easy like a hat. I like how these finished out but they're a bit fussy for a project that needs to be "completely" done at a specific time. They spent over a month in the "mostly" done category.

Guilt Free Pizza Dough

A few people have asked for this recipe so here goes.

1 cup skim milk
2/3 cup water
2 tbsp dried herbs (I use 1 dried whole rosemary 1 granulated garlic, or use Westminster Whimsy Sundried Tomato Dip Mix)
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp sugar (you need this to help the dough rise)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast ( or 1 packet active dry, proof it first)
1/4 cup flax flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 to 2 cups all purpose flour

Mix together the milk, water, herbs, salt, sugar and flax flour. Add 1/2 the whole wheat flour and the yeast and mix well. Mix in the rest of the whole wheat flour. Add enough of the all purpose flour to make a soft but not quite sticky dough. (I use the dough hook on my kitchen-aid mixer on low for mixing and most of the kneading)

Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes or until supple and stretchy. Form dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled 1 - 2 hours.

Cut dough in half and roll out each piece on a floured surface. Roll edges and pinch to make a raised crust if desired. Brush with olive oil and top as desired. Bake in a 475 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.

Makes 2 - 12" pizzas
Careful with this one if you take insulin, there are a lot fewer carbs to jack your sugar and my dad bottomed out the first night I made it. His nurse LOVES this recipe though.

I make this once a week, it's WAY cheaper than delivery pizza and MUCH healthier. Most people won't know it's whole wheat unless you tell them.

Time to get ready for Halloween

I love these shades of pink. What could be cuter for a 2 yr old and her dog for Trick-or-Treat than matching fairy princess costumes with sparkly wings. I think my niece is going to be thrilled. Sewing silky fabric is kind of a pain in the neck but it's a small project and it only has to be worn once so there's no need to be spot on perfect. I'd much rather make a costume than buy one that was made in China, who knows nowadays if anything imported for kids is safe.

The Christmas Knitting Goes on and on

I've been working of this pair of socks for 6 weeks now. I keep putting them down and making other things. They're not particularly difficult or frustrating, maybe I need to work on something more mindless for a while.

Between the first and second sock, I made 2 other pairs and a hat. Perhaps it's the coral color, it was nice in the Summer but now I'm more interested in warmer Fall tones. I'm determined to finish them before the weekend.