Saturday, October 25, 2008

Scottie Pitcher/Knitting Sucks

Mary and Helen just got back from a trip down south during which they visited the Biltmore estate. While there they picked up this cunningly adorable Scottie milk pitcher. We love it! Thanks again, M&H!

I mentioned before that we started up the Thursday night stitching club again -- well somehow I let my sister talk me into learning how to knit. Ok, to be fair, I asked her because there are such cool things you can knit and crochet seems limited, but maybe that's because I'm not really advanced. Anyway she started me out with a simple project on circular needles. Hah! I think this is her way of getting revenge for nasty things I did to her when we were kids. It's horrible. My fingers are clumsy and it turns out I was knitting backwards, or inside out or something, which made it worse. Even after Annie corrected me it's still the pits. IHE.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Or, to help end the suffering.....

...maybe each of the Phillies players could donate 1% of their salaries to the Philly schools. Wonder if that would be enough to feed the kids?

Suffering?

The world series of baseball starts tonight and today's Philadelphia Inquirer had a huge spread, with the title, "Phils Know True Meaning of Suffering" in the middle of the page.

Also on the front page right next to the Phils headling, but much smaller, was this article caption, "USDA kills school food program", reporting that children all over Philly will not be getting their free lunches and breakfasts any more - maybe the only solid meals they were getting on a daily basis.

Who really knows the true meaning of suffering?

Monday, October 20, 2008

Pre-Thanksgiving Turkey

Yesterday while Annie and Jack were driving home from Boston in stop and go traffic, the rest of us were having dinner here. We cooked a turkey as a rehearsal for Thanksgiving using Mark Bittman's recipe in O mag - although I don't eat it the others loved it so I'm going to use the same method for the real turkey day. It was a good method and produced a nice brown bird and good gravy, which of course I spiked with white wine and brandy. But the best dish was delicata squash that I cooked in a sort of teriyaki glaze I put together - it was really tasty.

*******************************************


Taking poor Aspri to the vet today; her back and belly are covered with pimples and she can't stop scratching. I was going to try to make her do without meds for 6 weeks so we could get her allergies tested but I can't stand her suffering like this. I'll see what relief we can get her, and then perhaps in the cold weather when it goes away I'll get her off the meds and over to Metro Vet for testing. The problem is we can't give her steroids because she gets way too aggressive and attacks Puki and Mavri. She had poor Puki in a necklock last time. So I'm hoping Dr. B. can give us something else to help her out.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Phillies v Dodgers Game 5

I suppose everyone but me is a rabid Phillies fan right now - even those who don't watch during the regular season. It is exciting that they've come this far but honestly, could baseball be a slower game? Not really a huge sports fan anyway, I guess, except for basketball, and for soccer - looking forward to when the new stadium gets finished (finally) in Chester.

With apologies to M. Night Shyamalan, I See Phillies Fans. All around the area I see people, even toll takers in their little booths, wearing Phillies shirts and all; wonder if they were fans before now? Sure hope the team wins so the home crowd doesn't boo them out of town! I know, nasty, but Philadelphia fans, and I include myself, are notoriously fickle and vocal in their displeasure.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Tunisian Simple Stitch Simply Curled My Toes

Well. No pix to show you of my curled piece of TSS. It worked, and the stitch was lovely, but unfortunately I was using cotton yarn and I ended up with a tube which I ripped out. Then I tried stockinette, ditto. So, I think my stitches are too tight and I need a different yarn. Anyway here are the links, if anyone's interested, to some sites where people actually know how to do TSS!
These guys are all pros and have great instructions for all kinds of stitches.

I decided to use up a huge skein of baby soft yarn from Lion Brand that I bought for Michelle's baby blanket but didn't use, so I'm making a scarf. So far it's looking good.

I have Teresa's baby's sweater to finish, and the amigurumi elephant, then I'm going to try felting. Bought some great wool to crochet slippers for M which then get felted. We'll see.

Meanwhile we started up the Thursday night stitching club again but with a serious paucity of members! Actually, it was Mr. C, Annie, Mom and me last week -- waiting to hear from Helen and M&H will be back next week. I think we should expand our little circle!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Midnight Saturday

Amigurumi! Bah hum-crochet bug. That rabbit sucks hind leg, if you ask me. Annie et al hated the colors, and it was overstuffed and ugly as all get out. And the ears -- it was an exercise in crochet torture. It became a dog toy. Sigh. And I SO wanted to make it for the new baby.

On the other hand (or hook as the case may be) afghan/tunisian/african stitch is pretty cool and lots o' fun.....but do the tunisian simple stitch first. The others are a tad challenging. I'll post some pix tomorrow. And some good links for learning it.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Catching Up

So, a little catching up to do.

Friday was our last day in Maine (thanks again, Dotty Kay and David!) so we decided to really go tourist and spend the day in Bah Hahbah - and it was just as pretty as we'd heard it would be. Weather was great, so we walked along the Ocean Trail and through the town -- what a dog-friendly place that is!

Almost every shop has a doggie water dish, and all the shop owners welcomed our little companions. They were even allowed with us while we ate! All the pix are on SmugMug here. Look in the Travel Gallery for all the Acadia photos.



On Saturday we drove down to Boston (Woburn, actually) to see Ryan but it was so tight we only got to spend 2 hours with him over dinner at Asgard in Cambridge. Food was really great (although alas not vegan for me - eggs in the pasta, shame on you). Still, great to see him at all! Next time will be the holidays, I guess.



We stayed at the Hilton in Woburn and speaking of dog friendly! Unbelievable! Check out the Hilton dog bed, placemat and bowls! Pampered, anyone? We're lucky they were so accomodating. While we were out to dinner, there was a lot of coming and going in the the hallway and the Scotswomen had a fit. They did quiet down (or so the wonderful front desk clerk told me) but they had a restless evening. We haven't had that happen before, so maybe it's time to brush up on our hotel manners.


Thursday, October 2, 2008

Rainy day (mostly still) life




We woke during the night to pounding rain, and since we are sleeping right under the roof, it was tremendously loud, but we were all the more cozy for knowing it was miserable outside. Of course, neither Scottie will voluntarily go out in the rain. What is it about dogs and rain? Bella loved to swim, and so do these girls, and they'll happily wade through puddles, etc., but will NOT go out in the rain. So early morning business was a chore - involving leashes, coaxing, umbrellas and towels. It must have been traumatic because here's the result a couple of hours later.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Ocean Trail, Great Head Trail

Scotties looking down from Great Head Trail across Sand Beach
Yesterday was glorious; the weather held beautifully; sunny, cool, clear, perfect for walking. The Ocean Trail is level walking on a gravel surface mostly - easy going and unbelievable views. We walked that when we were here in 2005, but this time we went across the sand beach and onto the Great Head Trail. Some climbing, fabulous, cool, silent woods, and always the ocean crashing and murmuring. Pix are on smugmug. Scotties are absolutely pooped today -- two days of walking more than 5 hours each day left them a little tuckered out -- not to mention the humans.