Saturday FO: The Last of the Official Gift Knits

I am feeling very proud of myself - last weekend, I finished the last of the "official" gift knits for this year.  What, you may ask is an "official" gift knit?  Well, that is a gift knit that you planned in advance for a specific date - in this case, Christmas - and finished and is ready to gift.

Here they are - finished, with all of the ends woven in as of Sunday, November 24, which I might point out is a full month before they needed to be ready.  This is a new record for me.  Granted, in the past, I have put aside knitting for The Tim until the very last minute, so finishing and weaving in ends late on Christmas Eve and then hurrying to wrap the gift has in fact happened.

But not this year.

Project:  Christmas Vacation Socks
Pattern:  Generic Vanilla Sock pattern in my brain
Needles:  US size 1
Yarn:  Desert Vista Dyeworks Viso, in the "Oh Clark!" colorway
Modifications:  Nope.
Notes:  As I mentioned here once before, our family has a ridiculous and wonderful connection to the National Lampoon movies, especially the Christmas Vacation one.  So when I saw the name of this colorway, I decided to break my no-buy and get the yarn to make socks for The Tim.  These were fun to knit, watching the stripes and speckles show up.  They went quickly since there was no real pattern to concentrate on, so I was able to work on them while watching TV, or listening to music, watching a podcast, etc.  I also worked on these while The Tim was around, and I am 99% sure that he will nonetheless be compeletely surprised with them on Christmas morning.  :-)

The only concern I have is that this yarn seems like it might not be too sturdy.  I hope I'm wrong, but I just got that feeling while I was knitting.  It didn't give me problems while knitting, it just didn't feel like a lot of other sock yarns.  We'll see.

Now, my big decision is whether or not I want to start any other quick projects and still call them potential gifts.  I am seriously considering starting something and not calling it a gift, or calling it a gift for myself.  We'll see.  I also want to cast on 1,000 things, so I just really need to narrow it all down and start something and just enjoy the knitting.  That's the whole reason for doing it in the first place anway, right?

In Which I Create a List That Is Especially Pleasing

How was your Thanksgiving?  I hope you had a chance to enjoy the holiday, rather than have one that was tense or unpleasant.  Every time a holiday comes up where family gets together, I realize how lucky I am.  Whereas I know people who are trying to figure out ways that they can avoid getting together with their family, or who are dreading it all, I'm someone who wishes I could see my family.  We truly have such a good time together, and truly enjoy things as a group.  Due to work schedules and distance, we no longer get to see anyone during the fall and winter holidays, and though The Tim and I enjoy our own traditions, it would be fun to get to see others at least occasionally.

Anyway.  That was a huge digression, just to say I hope your holiday was full of good food and good people and good animals.  :-)

*****

A week ago this Sunday, two things diverged that led to the subject of this post.  The day itself - November 24 - was the 50th anniversary of my father's death.  Always a bittersweet day, since he was a holiday lover like me and it seems unfair that he died during his favorite time of year.  Of course, it's unlikely that even if he had been healthy, he'd still be here as it would mean he would be 103 years old.  Anyway, he was especially close to me that day, and then I was reading some blogs and came across a person who was sharing their Christmas Bucket List.  Hers was more about being organized, what gifts to buy, etc., but it was an interesting idea to me.

For whatever reason, I am in especially good stead this year as far as holiday gifts are concerned.  Not because I consciously decided to do X by X day, but more just because I was thinking about what I might want to make/do/buy for individuals.  So I don't need a list of what is left to do, since almost everything is done in that area.  I decided to make my own Christmas Bucket List, with my own spin on it.  Normally, I would wait until today or tomorrow to make it - but since in my OCD way, I wanted it to look good as well as anything else, I spent way too much time last weekend getting it to "look nice."  Because I guess you could say that's my thing - I love lists, but I want them to be pretty too.

(This looks nice to me.  Because this is as "artistic" as I get.)

Anyway, I finally got it to look the way I wanted it to, and I am ridiculously excited to share it with you.  This is a list of things I would like to do, and though they have been "assigned" certain days - it's more like a list of reminders and activities that I enjoy rather than instructions for particular things on specific days.  And some things are more than one day - for instance, I do baking on more than on day.  The only one that will be done on the day it is listed is the first one - "Put up cardboard wreath," because that is something I do every year on December 1st.  :-)

Anyway, here's what is on my list:

1.  Put up cardboard wreath. 2.  Baking! 3.  Listen to Christmas music. 4.  Make a decoration. 5.  Make holiday cheeseball. 6.  Decorate the house. 7.  Put up/decorate tree. 8.  Neighborhood walk to see lights/decorations. 9.  Have some eggnog. 10.  Pay someone a compliment. 11.  Participate in Giving Tree at church. 12.  Watch cheesy Christmas movie. 13.  Have some hot chocolate. 14.  Wrap gifts. 15.  Attend holiday event (play, concert, etc.). 16.  Donate to an animal shelter. 17.  Mail cards/gifts. 18.  Enjoy some quiet. 19.  Walk every day. 20.  Take something to security guard at work. 21.  Stocking stuffers! 22.  Buy a Wawa gift card for a homeless/needy person. 23.  Enjoy it all! 24.  Light some candles.

I posted this on Instagram, and mentioned that it combined two of my favorite things - lists and Christmas!  I think it will be fun to have this guideline, and be able to mark things off as they are done.

If you know me at all, you know I love to find ways to enjoy Christmastime and the whole holiday season.  This, for me, is actually a list that I am looking forward to using, and I hope that I can check off every single thing - and maybe think of things to add next year!  I am also sure that my dad would approve ...

I'll keep you posted - and if you decide to join me, let me know!

Here's hoping that the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend is relaxing, fun, and enjoyable in anyway you might like it to be.

Thanksgiving Day

To my American readers, no matter where you are located, have a wonderful holiday.  

For everyone else, I hope your Thursday is a good one.

I saw the quote below the other day, and though I don't remember who said it, I think

it is something worth keeping in mind.

Enjoy!

"Be thankful for what you have.  Your life is someone else's fairy tale."

Thanksgiving Eve People

Yesterday afternoon (which is technically Thanksgiving Eve Eve), I had delivered something to another person at work and as I was leaving their office, I said, "I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving."  Because I knew it was unlikely that I would see that person today.  And her response was, "HOW can you tell me to celebrate a holiday that is all about the oppression of Native Americans and celebrates gluttony?"

Look.  I get it, I really do.  There are lots of problems with American history, white privilege, and oppression and exploitation of non-white peoples.  And I am also aware that the first Thanksgiving was not two groups of people joining together to sing "Kumbaya" and say that everything was perfect.  (OK, I especially hope they didn't sing "Kumbaya," but you know what I mean.)

I do want the world to be better.  I even try to do what I can to make it so, and I wholeheartedly support those who make it their lives' work to fight for justice.

But I also love Thanksgiving, and what it means in the most general sense.  Yes, I know we should all be thankful every day, and I do try to do that.  But I love that we have a national holiday devoted to that.  It's the coziest of holidays, if you ask me, and I know that for some this holiday - or any holiday really - is fraught with stress and/or unhappiness, and that makes me sad.  I am however not directly responsible for what others experience or feel on or about the holiday.  I can only live my life with  my truth.

And all of that was my long-winded and ranty way of getting to the topic of the people I interacted with on my way to work on this Thanksgiving Eve (btw, I hope you also enjoy today,Kym, since I know you also "celebrate" Thanksgiving Eve).

First up was a woman and her dog that I see on occasion when I am leaving for work.  She appears to be a lovely young woman, and her dog looks like a mini-Golden Retriever.  We always stop and say hello-and-how-are-you to each other, and of course I make a fuss over the dog.  We had a lovely, if brief conversation, and she was looking forward to going to her parents' house tomorrow (with the dog) and enjoying the meal, even though she is disappointed that she has to work on Friday.

A few blocks away, I met a young guy with a black Labradoodle puppy (9 weeks old!) named Monty.  As you can imagine, Monty was ADORABLE, and very kissy.  The guy said he was a puppy who was "simultaneously cute and a demon," which made me laugh. 

The I decided to stop and treat myself to a cup of tea at a place on the way.  The young man who took my order said "Have a wonderful Thanksgiving," as he handed me my change, he also smiled.  While I was waiting for my order, a guy moved in front of me to get a napkin.  He had on a sweater with a really beautiful yoke design.  I complimented him on the sweater, and he pointed to a woman nearby and said, "Thanks - but you should really compliment her, she knitted it.  She also made me this hat," and the three of us proceeded to have a very pleasant conversation about knitting and knitting for those who appreciate it.  (The sweater was this pattern, for those wondering.)

This was a really nice way to start a morning, any morning, but especially this one, after my last interaction of the day yesterday was with someone who gave me a lecture. 

And you know what?  These are some of the things I am thankful for - the actual kindess of strangers.  People usually think that cities are just a bunch of nameless people ignoring each other, or worse, doing/saying terrible things and not caring.  And trust me, people in Philadelphia do not suffer fools gladly (maybe that's why I like living here)!  But it occurred to me that overall, I have more interactions like those this morning than negative ones.  As a matter of fact, a lot of the negative interactions occur more with people I actually know.

So on this Thanksgiving Eve, I find myself being happy that people I do not know, some of whom I am likely to never see again, were able to be kind.  I am happy that they reminded me that each of us is doing the best we can to get through life, and that it doesn't have to be perfect to be OK. 

I hope your day goes as well.  :-)

In Which I Have Nearly Everything Except ...

The small hoops - where are they????  I didn't really expect to have anything to actually show you for Tiny Needle Tuesday, but I thought I could at least tell you about my next project. 

About ____ years ago (I don't remember, it was so long.  My nieces were young children, so ...), I stitched cross-stitch ornaments for everyone, with the idea of attaching them to the bows on their gifts.  This was a great idea, and I got nearly all of them stitched.  Then I fail to remember what happened, but the pieces and the supplies got put away into a box and that was the end of that. 

Fast forward to now, when I realized that I could a) put the ornaments already finished together, and b) stitch some more.  Because now there are a lot of different people who might enjoy them.  I found the box, and the stitched items were safely inside.  I found more of the patterns/kits that I had to move forward, as well as needles, fabric, and floss (so much floss from my mother!**). 

What I did not find?  Small hoops.  Not a one.  Now I am not a person who can successfully "stitch in hand," as they say, particularly on really small items.  So I need the hoop.  I do not consciously remember throwing away the ones I'd had, but after looking in all the places I could guess they might be, I still came up empty handed.  Sigh.  It's like a version of "Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink." 

This is of course not insurmountable.  I can walk to A.C. Moore over the next few days and buy a few hoops.  Or at least I hope I can - I just heard on the news this a.m. that A.C. Moore is going out of business, and that some of the stores will re-open as Michael's, but not until after the first of the year. 

I think I will however, not count on doing anything for this year - I can get a start on next year because since they are small items, they don't take long to do, and would be good palate cleansers in between projects. 

But I still need some hoops.  :-)

In Larger Needle News, I did the bind off on the funnel neck of my Pabaig sweater, so there are just the sleeves left to knit.  I also received the second set of yarn that I ordered to finish it - that came in record time, of course.  Anyway, I'll knit the sleeves, and the leftover as well as extra yarn will be incorporated into a hat or something like that.  But I feel certain that I'll able to finish the sweater soon, which pleases me, since I wanted to at least be finished in 2019.

And that's the plan ... I'll keep you posted.

**Seriously, folks, I have A LOT of floss - if you need some for a project, feel free to contact me before you buy any - I'm happy to send some to you if I have it!

Recipe: Mainstay French Toast

Why not start the week by sharing a recipe?   Since this is the time of year that a lot of people have guests or extra family visiting, I though I'd share one of our favorites that is always a big hit.  It makes a nice amount and you organize it the night before you are going to serve it. 

The Mainstay Inn is a bed and breakfast in Cape May, New Jersey.  I've never stayed there, but years ago, the local newspaper had a feature on the best recipes from local B-and-Bs, and this was one of them.  I've made it several times and it has always turned out perfectly. 

Mainstay French Toast

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 Tablespoons corn syrup
2 tart apples, peeled and sliced
5 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 loaf French bread

Cook sugar, butter, and syrup until well mixed and syrupy. 

Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish, and spread apple slices over mixture.

Slice bread into 3/4 inch slices and place on top of apples.

Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over bread.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.  When ready, heat oven to 350 degrees, and bake uncovered for 40 minutes.  Serve with spicy apple syrup if desired.

Spicy Apple Syrup

1 cup applesauce
1 (10-oz.) jar apple jelly
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
dash salt

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until jelly melts and syrup is hot.


NOTES:

*Even though I have made this numerous times, I have never made the apple syrup, so I can't say how good it is.  We just always serve it with maple syrup.

*I have also on occasion added raisins, dried cranberries, or dried sour cherries to this along with the apples. 

*This recipe as well as others I've shared here will always be available at the Recipes tab of the blog.

Let me know if you try this, and if so, what you think!

Bon appetit!

Sunday Silly - Thanksgiving Week Edition

This made me laugh, because nearly everyone I know has issues with this word!

Enjoy your Sunday.  :-)

So Far Today

So far today, I have:

Gone for an early-morning walk with Hamlet;

Enjoyed cuddling with Pip for nearly two hours while he sat on my lap;

Taken The Tim out for breakfast as his birthday week starts winding down;

Finished putting together a package and walked to the post office to put it in the mail;

Also bought some Christmas stamps while I was at the post office;

Gave the first floor a good clean;

Moved a lot of stuff on the third floor out of the way so The Tim can take the a/c unit out of the window;

Walked over to CVS to pick up an Rx that was waiting;

Knit about 3 inches on my Pabaig sweater (it felt so weird, since it's been so long since I picked it up!)

Sat down to start watching the Boston College-Notre Dame football game; 

Wrote this blog post.

And now I have decided that I get to just enjoy the rest of the afternoon and all of the evening however I would like to!  I feel more knitting and a manicure in my immediate future ... ;-)

I hope your Saturday has been a good one as well.

If ... Then

OH EM GEE.  Friday, you have no idea how welcome you are!  'Nuff said.

So I've been thinking about various random things this week - more so than usual - because I needed to be able to get out of my brain even more than usual.  This has been one of those weeks when, both in thought and deed, I've wanted to go up to people and say, "You know, IF _______, THEN _____, so deal with it."

Since it is neither socially acceptable to do this to others (particularly strangers) - and could even be dangerous - I'm going to say it to all of you.  Should you find yourself feeling addressed or even attacked in any of these circumstances, please do not take it personally.  But you might want to give things a bit more thought ...

IF you are a person who usually complains at a fever pitch about holiday decorations, music, etc. being in the stores too early. but you have for whatever reason decided that this year, you are embracing it all right away because "it's been a tough year,"
THEN maybe shut up about it related to any place or any person going forward because you no longer have the "moral imperative."  Stores do things for business reasons, they always have - get over it.  People do what they want to do, when they want to do it because it is up to them.  Just because *this* year has been tough for you (which, truly I'm sorry that's the case), it doesn't mean that if next year is great, you can go back to your previous proclamations.

IF you bake a delumptious birthday cake, and have some for dessert every night,
THEN don't be surprised that it is gone after a few days; but, THEN remember that Thanksgiving is next week, which = PIE!!!

IF you don't pay attention to weather forecasts,
THEN don't be surprised and/or complain all day when it is cold, or raining, or whatever and you are inappropriately dressed.

IF you realize/decide that you have lots o' knitting supplies that you don't need/don't use/don't want/don't whatever,
THEN put them into a box and donate it to a women's shelter, an old age home, or even a local school.  Lots of times these places have knitting/crocheting groups or lessons, and rely on donations for supplies.  For anyone in these situations, having access to the supplies, nice yarns, patterns, etc. is a wonderful treat since they are generally not in a position to treat themselves to those things.

IF you are constantly talking on your phone and not paying attention to what is happening around you,
THEN do not give others dirty looks when they try to pass you, or they bump into you because there is no place to move on the sidewalk and you were not paying enough attention to move to the side.  Also, who are you always talking to?  And about what?  I'm lucky if I can come up with ten minutes' of conversation twice a month with one of my sisters!  Of course, maybe that's because I am working on the assumption that, much like me, they do not care to have a moment-by-moment rundown of my life ("Right now, I'm walking past a store.  Now I'm crossing the street.")

IF you start knitting/making gifts for people early in the year, or just earlier than usual, and actually finish them all well before the deadline(s),
THEN do not decide that you need to make several more, especially if others would not appreciate said handmade gifts as much.  You have just been given the chance to either a) make something for yourself, b) make something for the holiday on your own time, or c) just enjoy being finished with it all.  Geez.

IF you are with your child in a public place, and said child is running around screaming and hitting people for no real reason, and you are either not paying attention (perhaps you are on your phone), or don't seem to care,
THEN don't get annoyed at people for telling your darling spawn to stop doing it.

IF you lay off approximately 25 people suddenly (two departments' worth of people) in early November, and then don't address it with the rest of the staff until the end of November,
DON'T act surprised/hurt/attacked when the room is tense and the questions are pointed.  Jesus Christ on a snowmobile, grow a pair!

IF someone pays you a compliment,
THEN say "thank you" at a minimum and leave it at that.  When you say something in response like, "Oh this is old," "Oh I don't really like it," or any such apologetic/negative remark, you are negating the kindness of the person who took the time to compliment you.  Someone is being nice.  Smile, accept it graciously, and move on.  Learning to do it this way may be difficult, but soon you will realize that your smile is a genuine one and that you truly are appreciating the compliment. 

IF you have read this far,
THEN have a good weekend!

:-)

Fascinating and Beautiful

Occasionally, I look at the website for the Astronomy Picture of the Day.  I came across this by accident once at a previous job, and the images generally fascinate me. 

Today's is both fascinating and beautiful. 

You can read about it here.  I do have to say that this one really really appeals to me. 

Just a reminder that the world is amazing, whether or not we consciously pay close attention.

Sew ... Here's a Plan ...

Oh I have to tell you how much I enjoyed everyone's comments about "Poverty Meals" from my last post, and reminders of some of the other things that were regular meals/foods growing up.  Isn't it funny how - especially when you are a kid - you just figure everyone else's family does the same things, eats the same food, etc.?  And then the first time someone mentions something different or you visit a friend's house, it's like WHAM!?

Thanks for the trip down memory lane (though who am I kidding, The Tim and I still like some of that stuff).

I know I don't talk about sewing here very much, though I have a sewing machine and enjoy the basic things I know how to do.  But I seldom use my machine, mainly because I pile so much crap on the table above it, I would need to clean it off first.  I had been toying with the idea of setting it up on the table on January 1, and just leaving it out, thereby providing fewer possibilities to create piles o' crap.

Then a few weeks ago, I was scrolling along on Instagram, and saw that someone I followed had linked to this post.  Hm, I thought, this might be worth looking into.  So I watched the informational video, and decided to sign up.  This will provide me with actual incentive to use my machine, and - at least theoretically - by the end of 2020, I'll have added some useful things to my household and repurposed some materials. 

I'm sharing this with you because it occurred to me that some of you may also be interested.  If you sign up before November 30th, the cost is half, even though the full amount is not that expensive.

Not that this means I'll be only sewing in the next year, because I would miss knitting too much.  Rather, this is just a plan to help me get back on track with sewing, and also refrain from creating too many piles of random stuff around the house.  So hopefully for me, it will be a win-win!

I have been thinking of goals for the next year, and I'm hoping that this one will actually stick. 

Stay tuned ... :-)

Did You Eat "Poverty Meals" When You Were Growing Up?

Thanks for all of your kind words and wishes for The Tim's birthday.  He seemed to really enjoy his dinner and his cake, and was thrilled with his Crazytown Hat!  I'll see if I can get a photo of him wearing it.

When I told him I had made his birthday cake like they did in Roman times, he looked puzzled and then said, "Did you put columns on it?" which amused me.  He appreciated my "artistic" efforts.

It was a good weekend and a good day all around.

A friend of mine sent me this link, with the message - "Wait! Did you know these were 'Poverty Meals'" and my first reaction was to laugh, but then it got me to thinking.  I know I have mentioned before that we were very poor growing up, but to some extent, we didn't know it unless others pointed it out.  We were lucky to have something to eat every day, and clothes to wear (even if they weren't necessarily nice clothes) and occasionally we were farmed out to live with relatives for a while, but that was always presented as an adventure rather than something that was a problem.  

But I remember being shocked years ago, when a discussion about foods we ate as kids but would never eat today was going on.  I mentioned that one of my favorite things as a kid was fried bologna sandwiches, but I would never eat one today, because a) I am a vegetarian, and b) I knew there was no way I could successfully duplicate the ones my father used to make that tasted SO yummy.  At which point, a co-worker said, "Fried bologna sandwiches????  That's what poor people eat!"  

I have to be honest, that never occurred to me.  Just like most of the things mentioned in the linked article never seemed like things we ate because we were poor.  Of those things mentioned on the list, we regularly had all of them except chicken livers and fruit in condensed milk (I feel pretty certain that my parents must not have liked them).  They were just part of the regular rotation of meals.  There are some I still happily eat today, that until I read this article, had no idea were originally around because of their low costs.  And for better or worse, I think of some of them as treats (cinnamon and sugar toast, for instance).  

A black woman I worked with once told me that "no one who was self-respecting" in her community would eat boxed macaroni and cheese.  I was an adult before I realized that people made it completely from scratch - I thought "homemade" mac and cheese meant that they used the boxed stuff and jazzed it up, or that they used the "fancy" boxed stuff!

(regular - we never had it with these 'fancy' veggies!)

(fancy - fortunately for my parents, we didn't like this version as well, 'cause I know it cost more ...)

I did find a recipe for truly homemade mac and cheese years ago that I make pretty regularly now - using whatever cheeses we happen to have - and we enjoy that.  But I've also been known to fix the boxed stuff on occasion ...

So - what about you?  Did you eat "Poverty Meals" and if so, did you know that's what they were?  

Now I'm thinking of some other things that likely fall into that category - in any case, this has all been quite illuminating to me.  :-)

When You Are Your Own Best Audience

How was your weekend?  Mine was good, with a nice combination of hanging out and also getting some things accomplished.  Today is of course The Tim's birthday, and we went out to dinner last night which was fun.  We tried a new local brewpub and the food was good, but the beers were really wonderful.

Today as previously mentioned, the stuffed cabbage that he requested for his birthday dinner is in the crock pot, and the house really smells pretty darn good!  I baked his birthday cake yesterday, and then added the frosting this morning.  I am always wishing I could think of ways to decorate his cake - not anything elaborate, but just better than a plain cake.  This is mainly because when it is my birthday, he always makes a cake for me that looks pretty as well as yummy.

This year I had an idea, and spent part of the weekend trying to figure out how I could make it work.  I gave it a try this morning, and was pretty pleased with the result.  (If you have already looked at Instagram, you've seen it already - and, spoiler alert, I'll probably post the picture on Facebook later too ...)

I made an old-timey birthday cake, just like during the time of the Romans!

TA DA!!

I am not just pleased that I thought to do it, and got it to work, I am ridiculously amused by it.  I mean, Roman numerals!  Frankly, I can't believe it even occurred to me in the first place.  This is the kind of thing that *might* occur to me three weeks from now, and by next year I would completely forget about it.

I crack myself up sometimes.  :-)

Sunday Silly

Every Monday at work, I send out an e-mail with a list attached of materials that arrived and were processed in the past week, so that the scientists can decide if there's anything germane to their interests.  I always put a meme or comic in the body of the e-mail, more for my amusement than anything else, but quite a few people seem to enjoy it.  

As you can imagine, in a natural history museum, this one was a big hit.

Have a good one!  :-)

Of *Course* It Worked Out This Way

Happy Saturday!  I hope you are enjoying yours.  It's cold but sunny here, and I went out again early to do some running around, so right now I'm sitting here working on a pair of socks, watching the Navy-Notre Dame football game.

So ... remember this?

My Pabaigh sweater, SO close to being finished!  I really wanted to finish this to wear in the fall, but because I was making the body longer than the pattern called for, I ran out of enough yarn in the kit I had purchased a while back to finish the sleeves and the funnel neck.  And though I was trying to use up my stash and not purchase more yarn it once again meant that I would have to do that.  Fortunately, it's not too expensive, even with overseas shipping.  So I ordered two more balls of yarn at the end of  September.  I got a notice that it was shipped on October 1st.  

Oh, well, no big deal - I received a notice that it should take 10-14 days to arrive.  So I started other projects, and waited.  Finished a couple of projects and waited.  Finally decided I'd waited plenty long enough for it to arrive from Scotland to Philadelphia, so this past Wednesday, I contacted them and re-ordered 2 more balls, this time paying for tracking.  

We got the mail today, and as you have likely already guessed, this arrived:

with the shipping label dated October 1, 2019 ...  

This is only slightly more annoying than having to buy a whole other ball of yarn to finish the scrappy socks project.  I got notice this a.m. that the second package shipped today, so it's too late to contact them and cancel the order.  

Sigh.

Oh well, at least now I can finish Pabaig before the end of the year, and though fall will be over, it comes every year, and I can wear it as a layer anyway.  I'll use the extra yarn for a hat or something, it won't go to waste, but it just figures that it would work out this way, right?

Are You Saying That TGIF Means Something Else?

I couldn't resist this image - it made me laugh out loud and I hope it at least amuses you.

There are some weeks where you just wonder ... about a lot of things.  This has been that kind of week for me.  Granted, I'm always wondering about something or someone, but this week outidid itself.  

Because I am privileged to be able to do so, and in order to remind myself of the good, I've decided to do a TGIF post about the good.

Thinking about - The Tim's birthday on Monday.  I have a couple of gifts that I know he will like (this is one of them), and he has requested to go to a new pub attached to a local brewery on Sunday night, followed by stuffed cabbage and birthday cake on Monday.  Sounds good to me, as we have been wanting to try the pub, and stuffed cabbage and birthday cake are always a good idea, as far as I'm concerned!

Giggling about - this morning, when the Koodle entered the room meowing.  I said, "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Koodle!" and the Tim immediately followed with (in a deep, annoucer voice), "Straight from his groundbreaking act in Las Vegas!" and for some reason that is still making me crack up.

Interested in - watching the new season of "The Crown."  I really love Olivia Colman for one, and though I am not a fan of the royal family, I love costume and historical shows/movies.  I hope it will be as good as the previous seasons.

Feeling good about - being more on top of things this year regarding birthdays and holidays than I have been for the last few years.  Granted, last year I had a legit reason to struggle, since I had the broken wrist.  But without really much effort on my part, I feel like I know what I want to do for the people I buy/make gifts for.  I've even started thinking what kind of baking I might do (WHO AM I??).

I hope you can think of at least four good things, and that you have a good weekend. :-)

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Well, no, not *that* kind of darkness - though I guess it is an old friend, even if not that welcome - I'm talking about the fact that our daylight hours are fewer right now, and darkness is hanging out in the morning and in the late afternoons, instead of just "overnight." 

Unlike nearly every single person I know, I am always happy when there is so much dark.  Since today is Three on Thursday, and I haven't participated for a bit, I thought I'd tell you three reasons why I really like the darkness.

1.  It means that the holidays have come/are approaching, and if you know me, you know I love the fall and winter holidays!  This is the time of year that I really enjoy, as much for the anticipation of said holidays as for the actual days themselves.  

2.  The lights and the resulting coziness factor!  Lights in houses, office buildings, even car and traffic lights shine as much because they have to as much as anything else.  And then, there are candles, holiday lights, and such, which to me are such happy, twinkly smiles in the darkness.  They all show up so much better when it's dark, and where there is more darkness, you can enjoy them longer.  I never really feel cozy in warmer weather when it is light longer.  And I am all about cozy.

3.  It's easier to relax.  When it's still light during evening hours., there is always the feeling or implication from someone else that you should be enjoying it, doing something, taking advantage of it.  If you're not outside, people wonder if something is wrong with you.  Whereas, if you decide to stay inside during the evening to curl up and read a book during the time of the year when it's dark, no one gives you grief about it.

(And of course, my unspoken reason to enjoy the darkness this time of year - you know it's not gonna be hot and humid!)

Don't get me wrong, I love daylight, and there are definite advantages to longer daytime light, but I realized a long time ago that the darker, colder time of year made me a lot happier overall.

I can live with that.  :-)

This street is right near my house - the lights look so much prettier when it's dark (the street has these lights all year long)!

It's All in the Translation

Hi all - first of all, if you usually hear from me, and have not - in response to comments you left on any recent posts - I apologize.  My e-mail has been all wonky again and returned ALL of them to me as undeliverable, and I have no idea why.  It has to be something on their end, because I double-checked all of the addresses.  Sigh.

In any event, I got a charge out the comments people made, and the private e-mail messages I got regarding my Friday Letters post and the term "nebshit."  I tend to forget that it's a regionalism, from Western Pennsylvania and the area where I spent most of my growing up years (Wheeling, WV, about 40 minutes from Pittsburgh).  It describes someone who is always nosing into others' business, aka being "nebby" or a "neb-nose."  Which you probably got from the context.

I will admit that it's one of my fave words, because it so accurately describes the person being talked to or described.  It's also one of the classic words in Western Pennsylvania English (from Wikipedia):

Western Pennsylvania English, known more narrowly as Pittsburgh English or popularly as Pittsburghese, is a dialect of American English native primarily to the western half of Pennsylvania, centered on the city of Pittsburgh, but potentially appearing as far north as Erie County and Limestone, New York (north of Bradford), as far east as Sunbury, Pennsylvania, as far west as Youngstown, Ohio, and as far south as Clarksburg, West Virginia.

One of the things we never said/did (maybe because we moved around a lot, who knows), was call bologna "jumbo" as in, "Would you like a jumbo sandwich for lunch?"  The Tim's sister Kathy went to college in Cleveland, and when she said to her roomate that she was going to fix herself a "jumbo and ketchup sandwich," her roommate said, "That's not elephant meat, RIGHT?"  Which still makes me laugh to this day.  My mother did however, call rubber bands "gumbands." 

I love this kind of thing - regional words and phrases.  "Yinz" is a real fave as well - it's the plural version of "you."  And the Pittsburgh Steelers are often called the "Stillers." 

But my all time fave - maybe because as a kid it was considered the epitome of impolite - is "jagoff."  That's someone who can be a variety of things, a jerk, an a**hole, really stupid, or just annoying. 

I guess you could say that one of the worst things that could happen would be if yinz had a nebshit neighbor, who never shared a jumbo sandwich at a Stillers game - what a jagoff, right???

There's a million of them, everywhere.  And I love finding out about them!  I think it's sad that so many local expressions are being lost, because people move around a lot, or don't want to seem to be/sound uneducated.  I get it, but I also think we lose a lot of what makes it interesting to go from one place to another and meet people.

Words to live by. :-)

I Don't Know About You, But ...

I needed this today. :-)

Last Gift Pair - an FO Post

OK, so it's just a matter of time until something happens that will either a) make me look like a fool, or b) kick me in the butt.   Why, you ask?  Because I am feeling pretty darn pleased with myself.  Over the weekend, I finished the last pair of socks that need to be sent as Christmas gifts.  

Project:  Zach's House Socks
Pattern:  Vanilla sock pattern, with bands of color added
Needles:  US size 5
Yarn:  Encore Worsted, in the colorways, Red, Navy, and Denim
Modifications:  I made the "fancy" navy pops have a serrated ridge by doing them in slip stitches for the first round of the color change.
Notes:  My niece told me that Zach is particularly fond of reds and blues.  Since I had the most red yarn, I decided that would be the main color.  Haha, said Fate.  I ran out of the red right before the last couple of rows before the blue bands near the toes!  Nothing like having to order more yarn for a scrap project, right? 

But they are finished, and I hope he'll like them and that they will fit.  In any case, all of the knitted gifts for people other than The Tim are now finished, so I'm happily ahead of things that way.

How are you coming along with knitted gifts (if you are in fact knitting any gifts at all)?