There we go again
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Ray Parker, Jr.
Topic: Knitting
Stephanie in her bookbookbook2 talks about "IT".

If you've read her book, you know what I'm talking about.

Finally, someone that understands the insanity of what we put ourselves through. And to be honest, a lot of what I've read in her book (which I really am enjoying!) I can identify with. From the wool stashed away in various places in the house to making myself crazy with IT knitting.

My first time "IT" happened was when I stumbled across a yarn store in Northampton back in 1986 I believe. A nurse from the local hospital had opened a little shop for machine knitters, selling the ISM, and coned yarn. It was like heaven to me to walk into there and see all these various colors of yarn and think "Ohhhhh, wouldn't it be nice to have one of those, and one of those and one of those....". So, I talked my father into helping me purchase an ISM. Only, there was a catch. I had to knit hats for each and every one of my cousins that were under the age of 16, which was about 15 kids. So, I set about picking out various colors of yarn, setting up the ISM in the family room and getting to work. Only at that time, I really didn't understand how knitting worked, so there were a lot of dropped stitches at first (which I was able to fix, but lets just say those early ISM's weren't the greatest). I went down to the wire on that one, handing off the last hat to my parents as they packed up the car to spend Christmas at my Grandmother's house while I stayed home to work at my job. Not fun. And did I stop there? Oh no. I went back to that yarn shop and learned how to knit a sweater for myself on that machine. That was an experience I never wanted to repeat. The ISM sits in the basement of my parents house, unused and unloved for 19 years now. Perhaps that is where my fear of sweater knitting started?

Fast forward to Christmas 1997, when I relearned how to hand knit. This time knitting was fun! I had oodles of time with my husband working the night shift and I enjoyed spending my evenings sitting in front of the tv, knitting while I watched my favorite shows. And, being pregnant, I had lots of ideas for what I was going to knit for my bundle of joy. But instead, I decided that I was going to do "IT" again. Only this time, I was knitting for my own nieces and nephews and other family members. Hats and scarves were the projects that year. Three girly girl hats for my nieces, a nice hat for our nephew, a hat for my mother, scarves for my younger brother, father and uncle. I started out with 2 weeks to go. Surely I could get 5 hats and 3 scarves done in 2 weeks working a full time job. Yeah, right. Instead of sending the knitted items with my parents again as they traveled down to my Grandmother's house, I wound up FedEx'ing everything down so that it reached her house on Christmas Eve, with specific instructions for my brother to wrap everything up for me. I was nice enough to wrap up his scarf so that he wouldn't see that. My nephew's hat was finished on Christmas Eve afternoon, just in time for me to take it up to my husband's family Christmas party.

So why am I writing about this now? Because it just occured to me that I'm about to do this again. I have lots of ideas on what I'd like to do for people this Christmas, when I know that they would be just as happy with something that was store bought (especially my kids; after all, is any knitting safe with kids that go to school? Isn't that what the Lost and Found is really all about?).

I'll do it because I love them. And because a little insanity is good around the holidays, isn't it?

What's Cooking?
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Survivor "Eye of the Tiger"
Topic: Food

One thing I love to do is cook. But, I must have enough time to cook, or else I don't get a meal prepared that is really worthy of even having said "I made dinner tonight".

I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and I adore buying cookbooks, especially regional cookbooks from New England, Southern NJ/Eastern PA, and Nebraska/Midwest area.

Having been born in New England, this area really influences my cooking. I love making various seafood dishes, and LOVE fried flounder!

But today, being a rainy day, well, it just struck me as a "soup" day. And one of my favorites is black bean soup, even though it isn't a "regional" food.

Now, my favorite local restaurant for lunch is Panera's. And until a couple of months ago, they had a vegetarian low fat black bean soup on the menu which was to die for! As much as I love Panera's sandwiches, most of the time I would order half a sandwich and a bowl of the black bean soup. Only they changed it. They now offer a Cuban Black Bean soup, which isn't as good IMO.

So, I was forced to scour the net and my vast cookbook selection for a soup that was just as good. And I think that I've finally come up with one. I've taken the 2 basic ingredients from one recipe, and seriously added it. Keep in mind, that this recipe isn't vegetarian, or even low fat, but it's pretty darn good, and I've made two versions of it which I'm happy with. The one I'm sharing today is the Hearty Black Bean Soup. My batch is in the crock pot as we speak, and will be ready for dinner tonight. Yummmmm!

Place into a crockpot the contents of:

2 cans black beans (15 oz. cans)
1 can chicken broth (15 oz. can)
1/2 jar salsa (any brand, any variety depending on what you like)
1 pound of ground beef - browned
1 TBS. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. ground sage
1 TBS. oregano
1 tsp. Hungarian Sweet Paprika
1 TBS. lemon juice

Mix together, and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 7-8 hours. This allows the flavors to mingle.

Serve with chopped onions, grated cheddar cheese, sour cream and/or guacamole. Crushed tortilla chips in the soup is very good too!

For a different variation, leave out the ground beef. Or you can mash the beans from one of the cans to have a thicker soup.

Either way, this is delicious!

Oh, and if you want really good spices, I highly recommend Penzeys. I've only mail ordered spices from them, but they really are the best spices I've ever used. And that Hungarian Sweet Paprika, well, I use that on fried eggs, in my Curried Chicken salad and anything that I think needs a little zip.

Penzey's does have two stores in New England, one in Norwalk, CT and the other in Arlington, MA. I haven't been to either one, as their hours aren't the greatest, and with the price of gas now, it probably costs me less to have things shipped than to drive to either one. But, if I ever get down to either area, I'll be sure to stop in.

And the color is......
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Foreigner "Say You Will"
Topic: Knitting

Oatmeal!

O.k, so I didn't go for a sexy, vibrant color for the Rogue sweater like "Wine", "Raspberry" or "Turquoise". Instead, I went for a classic color and something that is going to look awesome with blue jeans. :)

I swatched up the baby blue Berkshire yarn today. This yarn is so soft against the skin, yet has nice stitch definition. It is 85% wool/15% alpaca.

Here is my sample swatch:

My gauge was right on with my first swatch on a #7 needle.

I'll be casting on tonight. After seeing Heather's post about the Rogue (which hit Bloglines *right* after I finished my swatch!), I knew it was fate and I had to go get the new yarn.

Of course that leaves me with about 130 yards of the baby blue Berkshire and a whole skein of Cascade 220 Quattro in the blue to use for some thing else. Maybe fingerless mittens?

Blogiversary
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Foreigner "That Was Yesterday"
Topic: A bit of everything
Today I celebrate my 300th blog posting! I've been blogging since April 12, 2004. I've really enjoyed every minute of it, and have met so many bloggers in real life who have turned out to be exceptional people. :)

This showed up on Steph's blog.

You Should Get a MFA (Masters of Fine Arts)

You're a blooming artistic talent, even if you aren't quite convinced. You'd make an incredible artist, photographer, or film maker.

Since I originally wanted to be a professional photographer for sporting events and musical concerts, I'd say this is right. :)

Nature's show of color
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Kool & The Gang "Too Hot"
Topic: A bit of everything

Last week, while pulling out of the Service Center Road in Hamp (those of us that have been around a long time call Northampton "Hamp", the newbies call it "Noho" which makes anyone that has lived here longer than 25 years just cringe) after visiting Webs. These trees struck me as being so beautiful. There was a burning bush on the left side, which didn't show up as vibrant in this photo as it did in real life, but I had to share it with you. We didn't have a particularly "red" autumn. This year was mostly golds and yellows, but these trees were especially pretty.

The only colors that are left now are the deep browns and burgundy's from the oaks, a few yellows on the remaining sugar maples and the deep merlots of the Japanese maples. But it is beautiful still. Fall never ceases to amaze me, in the colors that show up on nature's pallet.

My cold seems to be abating. Maybe the Airborne is working after all, but I'm still not going to further irritate my respiratory system by breathing in a lot of angora fur and shearing the rabbits. They will have to wait another day.

You know you are nearing the end of warm weather watering when....
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Stevie Nicks "Leather and Lace"
Topic: Rabbits

You turn on the hose to fill water bottles by the barn and there are icicles coming out of the hose into the water bottles. :)

Yes, it is that cold outside. But the weather reports on NECN are saying that we should see temps in the upper 60's tomorrow.

I was planning on finishing up shearing today, but I've come down with a cold. A chilled-to-the-bone, shivering, sneezing, when-is-this-going-to-end kind of cold. Not even my Airborne seems to be working. Or if it is, I'd probably feel even worse.

So I'm going to hang out on the couch this afternoon (what is left of it), and sleep.

Maybe if I get really ambitious, I'll make some bunny coats for the rabbits that will be shorn sometime in the next week.

Fiber? What Fiber?
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: John Waite "Missing You"
Topic: A bit of everything

Yes, again, no fiber. No rest for the weary as they say. But it isn't like I haven't been doing anything fun.

Saturday was the Old Deerfield Christmas Sampler down at the Big E. Because I missed the summer and fall fairs in Old Deerfield, I made it a point to get down there on Saturday morning, early. This is where I find some of my best Christmas gifts by unique artists.

And I wasn't disappointed either.

A new vendor was there, called Ripple Pottery. Brian, the potter, makes gorgeous working dinnerware and vases. He had something there that I've never seen.

See those red pieces in there? According to his assistant, those are a hard color to get, because you must deprive the kiln of oxygen which sets the red color. Oxygen will cause the red to turn white.

The red mug is for my mother's Christmas present. The rest is for me. :)

Sunday was spent up at my friend's house on Norwich Lake in Huntington. Carol makes decorative and functional birdhouses. She held an open house to showcase her creations. This is a birdhouse she gave me two years ago when I helped her at a craft fair over in Northampton.

I have ordered a working bluebird house from her which I'll put up next year in our back yard because we do have bluebirds in our little spot of the Pioneer Valley.

And thank you to those that wrote to me about Mac. It has been an adjustment going out there and not having him to play with and talk to. His brother Sparky is adjusting to him not being there and I do think he's lonely. But he does have Snow on the other side, and they are hanging out more together than they did before. Nature has it's circle and people and animals adjust, however slowly.

In Memory of Mac
Mood:  sad
Now Playing: The Cars "Drive"
Topic: Rabbits

Five years ago, I had the idea that I wanted to get into showing rabbits; not angoras, but rather mini-lops. So I purchased some mini-lops and did a few breeding's. I had one really successful litter, and Mac and Sparky were the result of that.

These two little brothers were partners in crime. Sparky stole the heart of my brother Luke, and Mac stole mine. Mac was as gentle as Sparky was fiery. They had lived in side by side cages since they were old enough to be separated. Mac loved to have his head and back rubbed. He was sable in color (it has been so long since I was interested in showing, that I forget the actual color name approved by the ARBA). Mac from the very beginning wanted my attention, and he got it. He was the last bunny fed every night, so that I could spend a bit more time with him.

I had figured that he was slowing down. He turned more slowly, and he didn't move with the bounce he once had, but he never failed to greet me at the cage door, not once, except for tonight.

I'll miss Mac, and I'm sure Sparky will too. He's gone to rabbit heaven, because if any little rabbit deserved it, it's Mac.

Good bye little guy. I'll miss you.

ACK!
Mood:  rushed
Topic: Whine

Here I am thinking this past Sunday; "Whew, the last show of the season is over. Now I can rest". Now what in the world made me think that?

I think I'm busier this week than I was last week and I'm just doing stuff for the family and my parents. There isn't any fiber stuff. The closest I've come to fiber is picking a large clump of The Evening Sunset roving off of my black fleece jacket on Monday night, before I wore it outside to feed the rabbits.

How do you all do it? Find the time to knit and spin so much? I'm serious; I would really like to know. Between taking care of 2 kids, and doing various errands for my parents, animal care and housecleaning (and trust me; there isn't that much house cleaning going on here, much to my husband's chagrin), I have 0 hours left in the day for fiber stuff. I truly have a headache now from thinking about the things I need to do tomorrow.

Yikes!

Tomorrow I will try to get back over to Webs and exchange the #5 circular I bought last week for a #6, which is what I need to start the FBLS.

O.k, whine over. I feel a bit better. :)

All Hallows Eve
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Young MC "Bust A Move"
I just wanted to wish everyone a very happy Halloween! I'm sitting here, answering the door for trick or treaters (only 4 so far, since 5:30 p.m.!) :(

My boys are out with my husband hitting the houses in the neighborhood. I'll post pictures of my little firemen when they get home.