I Just Wanted a Picture....

On Thanksgiving I decided to take a picture of the beautiful lemon meringue pie that R made. I just wanted a simple picture to show what a great job she did. Every single bit of it is from scratch. She used Alton Brown's recipe and followed it exactly.

The pumpkin pie was sitting there in its pumpkin shaped pan, looking so cute. I had to take a picture of it too.

Was that good enough? Oh no! My photographer's assistants decided it had to be artsy fartsy. So, the two of them placed pies like they were pieces of art.

We have a chocolate chip pie on the left, followed by Mom's fabulous apple cake, the pumpkin pie and the lemon meringue.

(Yes, my kitchen/dining area actually has all that crafting garbage in it!)

Okay, maybe their pictures were better than mine. I guess it was nice of them to make all the fuss. All we have to remind us of the pies and cake are the pictures anyway...well, that and the pounds!

Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Crafting

Today is the official baking day around these parts. I know we're not the only family in the U.S. in the kitchen. Special requests have been made and groceries have been bought. Now to get down to the business at hand. R requested an apple cake from Mom. RL always loves pumpkin pie. I want a chocolate chip pie. R wants to make a lemon meringue pie. L just wants it all! Ever since he was a little bitty thing, if someone asked what his favorite food was, he would say, "Thanksgiving Feast!" So I think he will probably be easy to please! Lucky for me, RL is the master Thanksgiving chef. He makes the turkey, dressing (which we all help with), and whatever else needs to be done. A year ago he had to go to Florida to visit with his parents because his Dad was going to have emergency surgery on an aneurysm that snuck up on them. RL plopped the turkey in the oven, left instructions and his cell phone number and hit the road with L. Even with his unexpected trip, he left us taken care of. What a man!

The Christmas frenzy is upon us! A month away...ARGH!!!! The kitchen table is officially the crafting table. That will take a real job to get it presentable for tomorrow! Here are a few crafts almost ready to be wrapped:

I thought the baby next door needed a little Christmas wrapping - so she is getting this little stocking cap. What a quick and fun knit!

Since the baby's Mom graduated from Appalachian State, I figured baby needs a little team spirit too. As soon as the "A" is sewn on, it's ready to be wrapped too.

As for the rest of it - you'll just have to wait! I still have some finishing touches on some sewing projects and then - maybe - I'll show you!

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Ginger's Wild Ride

Yes, Ginger? You have your paw raised. Do you have a question?

Yes, you do have to go to the vet today. Why?
Because of that nasty sore above your eye that you keep picking.

What an adventure we had today with Miss Ginger. Man, oh man! This is a cat that squeals the minute she sees the carrier until she is officially out of it. Since it was time to have a yearly checkup as well as get that nasty sore looked at, we loaded up the car and headed to the Animal Ark. What a thrill! R pushed her into the carrier as nicely as she could and off we went. If she had been on top of the car we could have sped through town because people would have thought we were the police! Yes, it's that bad!

They used to have a CAUTION written on her folder. However, the vet's assistant came in without any fear whatsoever on her face or without the leather gloves that they wore the last time. She sprayed the room with feline pheromones. P-U! Ginger didn't mind. She totally mellowed out and laid down in a basket of bags of treats! The vet came in and seemed to understand her completely. He is absolutely wonderful with animals!

She's in great health except for allergies. A cat with allergies. Get this - she may be allergic to wool! That is not something you tell to a family that insulates their house with wool yarn! The vet gave her a cortisone shot and we have to apply Neosporin to her wound. Aside from a little limp from the shot site being sore, she's doing great. Wish us luck so she doesn't have to go back - I don't think I can handle it!

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had our first snow of the season last night! What a great treat to wake to!

Logan's Hat

Don't you love seeing something you've made being used and appreciated?

Remember this hat? I made it this past summer for some of my Mom and Dad's friends first grandbaby. (Whew, doesn't that sound confusing?) It was such a fun knit and I hoped it would be enjoyed.

Even though he looks like he's not quite sure of this whole hat thing, the hat looks great on him! It fits! Joy! Every knitter's dream!

Thanks for modeling the hat Logan! You're a real cutie!

Thankful Days

So much to be thankful at this time of year when we are all thinking of Thanksgiving. RL and R made it safely home last night. Whew! L and I sure did miss them and were thrilled they made it back so quickly and safe. They were able to do some things for RLs parents that needed to be done. They also got in some touristy stuff too. They got to see the night time launch of the space shuttle from the river, got to go to a seafood restaurant in Titusville, went to the beach for seashells and sandy feet, ate at our favorite sandwich shop 'Doubles' and then hit a yarn shop in Cocoa Village. Being the wonderful daughter that she is, R got some sock yarn for me.

There are quite a few colors mixed in there that are hard to see. I know this yarn will make some beautiful socks! Unfortunately Christmas knitting takes top priority, so it will have to sit with the rest of the stash and get acquainted with all the other future pairs of socks!
Some Christmas knitting is finished. I made a pair of socks for my FIL. Since he's had cancer treatments he has a tendency to get cold and stay cold! I felt like a new pair of socks were in order to help remedy that situation.

I got a wonderful surprise in the mail from a Ravelry buddy. Six lovely Christmas place mats! I'll have to find a red or green table cloth to really make them pop on the table. R and I also got an extra surprise of fingernail polish in several shades. Our fingers and toes will be lovely through the holidays now. Thanks so much!!!! You made our day!

All of that makes us thankful, however, we have something to be really thankful for. I just found out that our neighbors were involved in a car accident which flipped their car and totalled it. Mom and baby were in the car at the time. Some great people stopped to help them out and they escaped with only a little soreness - no broken bones. Although the expense of a new car is never cause for thankfulness, especially at this time of year - having your family intact is. God was truly looking out for them!

Busy, Rainy Days

Gus is feeling NO pain! This is one cat that knows how to relax. I think we could all learn a lot from him.

We've been having some rainy, dreary days around here. It makes it easier to sit on the loveseat and watch movies while knitting. However, it makes going to the grocery store a real chore. The cooler temperatures are a nice change of pace and wearing sweaters that have been put away for months is like getting a whole new wardrobe.

RL and R left on Wednesday for a working vacation at my in-laws. It's been a year since my FIL started having health problems which soon spiraled into bigger health problems. Just a year ago we found out he had an aneurysm that needed to be taken care of immediately. During the testing and surgery for that, they found out he had lung cancer. As soon as he had healed from the surgery, it was time to start chemo and radiation treatments. Now, on top of all of that, he has emphysema in his other lung. RL goes down when he can to do the heavy duty work that needs to be done around the house. The kids take turns going and helping where they can.

L and I are manning the fort waiting for them to come back home. We've done some Christmas shopping, grocery shopping, hit a book store or two and watched some movies. Don't forget knitting! Knitting is always happening! Today we visited with Mom and Daddy and watched the cats. For some reason Gus thinks it's his duty to mess with my hair. When I say 'mess' I actually mean rip it out by its roots.

Now that it's dark and still raining, I think I might have to try that new yoga position Gus is demonstrating in the picture at the top. Looks like he truly knows how to relax!

'It Feels Like Hair'

This morning was Old Timey Day at the local elementary school. Since our friend who got R her spinning wheel had asked R to come demonstrate spinning, we felt like she should go. Although R was committed to being there, she sort of committed her brother and me to also be there. Sweet kid! We are not early risers. Anybody who knows us knows this fact. RL and I had been discussing it and decided that over a two week period we would prepare everyone to get up a little earlier every day. Somehow it worked. This morning at 6:30 everyone was up and getting ready for the day. That, my friends, is a major accomplishment! MAJOR!
I took some pictures while we were sitting around listening to the same speech during the same demonstration every 10 minutes for four hours. Every once in a while I would pull out a sock and knit. The poor kids! Most had never seen someone knit a sock. One little boy said it made sense to him. At least I didn't have to go out and buy some. I didn't have the heart to tell him how much sock yarn can cost and how long it can take to knit a pair of socks. (As for the quality of the pictures - it is very difficult to get decent pictures when you are trying to avoid getting the children's faces and they are everywhere! Since we didn't know any of them, we felt it was best not to use pictures of them.)

As for the title of this blog....R had different samples of fiber and yarn she had spun on the table. Every single group had at least one child, normally a boy, who would say, "It feels like hair." At first I laughed when I heard it. Then the second group came and another little boy said it. Then the next and the next. Pretty soon it became a game for us to figure out which child would say it and when. We only had one group not mention it. I thought it was so odd because I have never thought of that comparison.

Jan, our neighbor for the demonstration, had this basket under her tables of weaving. Do you know how difficult it was for me to keep my hands out of it? I wanted all of it!

Here's a picture of part of her display.

I believe she had woven all her samples except the napkins. The scarf in the upper right hand corner came home with R as a thank you for participating. This was the perfect day for a scarf and very sweet of Jan to give it to her.

This is a very blurry picture of the quilting demonstration. Some of those quilts were gorgeous.

On to the backyard. R took this picture a few days ago. Hard to believe we have flowers of any kind still out there blooming.

As you can tell from this picture and the one below, we have our raking cut out for us, don't we?!

As for the ladybuy migration I told you about a couple of posts ago, they are finished and settled in for their long winter's nap. This is a cobwebby corner in our stairwell. They will stay there (or in any other cubby they have found) until they either die or find their way outside in the spring.

Shhh, I need to sleep. I'm soooooo tired!

Old Salem

Instead of staying home and watching the news all day on Tuesday, we decided to head out for a field trip. R had been wanting to go to Old Salem for a while, so we loaded up the car and headed out. Of course the trees were gorgeous.The locals were a little curious.

Here's the firehouse.

We walked by the house where the guineas normally hang out, but we couldn't find them. Little did we know, they were out for their daily walk.
They seemed to know just where the 'guinea cross walk' was. They walked single file over a patched strip of road.

Here's their final destination. Well, the last place we saw them. We had other places to go and things to see.

Here's the African-American Moravian church. It is an absolutely gorgeous building that was built not too long ago.

Off to the covered bridge. The bridge has been built over a busy road and takes you from Old Salem to the Visitor's Center.
The inside is gorgeous. During Christmas they hang a huge Moravian star in the center. Everytime I walk through there I think it would be a beautiful place for a wedding.

Before we left we had to get another picture of the beautiful colors and buildings. Of course the trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to Winkler Bakery. Somehow we didn't get a chance to take a picture of all the goodies we got there. I can tell you they were worth all the walking up and down the streets!

We Voted!!!!

After seeing never ending lines at the early voting places, we decided to wait until election day. RL came home from work mid morning so we could all go together. One person was ahead of us - one! I didn't even get to knit on the sock I took with me because I just knew we would be there all day. I'm not complaining though! That sock could afford to sit and wait while I voted.

I took a few new voters with me:
R voted for the first time!
L voted for the first time! I voted - not for the first time, but I voted! (RL left before we were able to get his 'I Voted' picture.)

I was very proud of the kids. They were very informed voters. We have talked about this election from every angle and they were told to vote their beliefs. I was so proud that they even wanted to vote. I told the lady who took our ballots that I wished I had brought the camera for their baby books! I was definitely a proud Mom!