Shrinking Feet Again

Since giving up soda a little over a month ago my feet have shrunk another shoe size. I was under the impression that your feet were suppose to get bigger as you aged.   This is the second time in 12 months that I have had to get rid of shoes that were to large.  Oh well, who is up for shoe shopping with me? Maybe I should only get a few pairs and see where I am 6 months from now. 

Oh, did I mention that the skirts that I bought to wear with flats in December now require high heels, yes we are talking 2 inch heels. This means that the skirts are now 3 inches longer. My hips have lost some padding. I think I will hold off on clothes a few more weeks to see where I settle out.  Just maybe I will get back into my skinny clothes.  

Now if I could just figure out what is going on with my hip things would be better. 

Knitting Again

I am making my way back from the arthritis flare up caused by flu.   I know this because I finished knitting 3 hats and 1 scarf today.  I also cast on a few more hats too.  I have not counted the rows yet, I will do that tomorrow.  

Still Resting

Eric had a rough night, last night. I never did figure out what the problem was, but a long mommy hug seemed to do the trick. I was only up for 3 hours with him. John was so nice and took care of everything this morning. Even so, this lead to a very tired day for me. I screwed up on the same section of scarf twice, so I put it aside for when I am more awake.  I was too tired to do laundry today, so all the baskets will be at least knee high tomorrow.  

I am looking forward to tomorrow.  New Mobility is coming to the house to do the updates on Eric's wheelchair. How cool is that? I don't have to pull Eric out of his program or drive across town for wheelchair modifications.  Maybe I'll celebrate by doing some laundry while they are here. 

I hope to have more energy tomorrow.  Maybe I can catch up on a few things around the house. It's time to go tuck Eric in for the night.  

Laying. Low

I spent the day laying low today.  Eric and I napped while John worked on setting up his work shop.  He is doing a great job.  I am hoping that laying low will give my body time to finally kick the bug and after effects that have been slowing me down.  This afternoon Eric and I watched a documentary on John Denver. I also got some knitting done.  I am planning another lay low day tomorrow.  

An Updated Chicken Soup Recipe

I have updated an old family recipe to include parsnips, which by the way tend to have the taste and texture of potatoes in this soup. A good friend Lisa loves this soup and wanted the recipe so she does not have to wait for me to make it.

This is my families favorite chicken soup. This is a basic recipe that you can change up with the addition of matzo balls, dumplings or noodles or a combination of noodles and dumplings or matzo balls.

1 whole chicken ,washed in cold water.
1 teaspoon salt
water to cover chicken
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 pounds of carrots peeled and sliced
1 large celery sliced, this will be about 7-8 cups
1 onion diced
1 Large Parsnip peeled and sliced*

In a large pot add cleaned chicken and salt. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Skim the pot of any junk that comes to the top, this should take about 30 minutes. While you are waiting for the chicken to boil now is an excellent time to scrub down your sink with your favorite bleach cleanser. It is important to clean the sink and the surrounding area before you chop the vegetables.

Once the chicken is not making any more junk and the broth has been skimmed clear, Add all the vegetables at once and add the pepper. Turn the stove to medium low and and simmer at least 2 hours.

After about 2 hours I carefully pull the chicken from the pot and de-bone the chicken, this is the process where the skin is pulled off and the bones are taken out of the chicken. Smaller pieces of chicken are tossed right back in the pot, I tend to dice the larger pieces before they are put back in the pot.

If you are going to add dumplings this is the point where you add them. For a quick dumpling just use a regular biscuit recipe and spoon into the boiling broth and turn down the temperature and simmer for about 20 minutes. For and even faster dumpling just get your favorite ready to use biscuits and layer them on the top of the broth and simmer for about 20 minutes.

I usually make the noodles separately and keep them separate from the soup. Since everyone has their own noodle preference I let everyone scoop their own noodles and then add the soup. The only exception to this would be alphabet noodles which just taste better when they have more time in the broth.

The soup is ready to serve. I usually serve this with bread and margarine.

Enjoy this soup recipe and add your families favorite vegetables to the soup to make it your own.

Unfortunately I have no vegan or vegetarian options for this soup.

* The parsnips are not in the original version published in 2009.

Have a wonderful day and enjoy your families.

Wanna Bee's

This is an open letter to all Printshop Owners and People who want to second guess my art.

Dear Print Shop Professional,

Your staff screwed up beyond belief today. I won't be coming back. Thank goodness it was a very limited run.  Not only did your staff MUCK with the color of my new knitting pattern turning a medium blue into a dark royal blue after, yes I said after my color approval.  The reason is because they thought it looked better. if your employee wants to be an artist fine, yes really.  That does not give them the right to MUCK up my artwork.  The blue almost black your employee turned the picture made the picture worthless to the knitters who will be using the new pattern. Not only that but you charged 80 cents more per copy than last year. $1.00 per copy this year verses 20 cents a copy last year.  Inflation is just not running that high around here.  

Depending on the size and scope of the project it can take me any where from 20 to 80 hours or more from design,to knitting the sample,to getting the finished pattern out the door.  This is why I am so mad. If they wanted to get into the act of this pattern design, they should have showed up in early January. 

Now I will take the high road and not mention your print shop by name.  I have no idea why you hired this person in the first place and frankly I really don't care.  What I do care about is getting my project done right, yes my way.  Also be aware that not everyone has an eye for color. There is a world of difference between a verigated medium blue and a royal or black blue. So if you or your employee does not have an eye for color, just don't mess with my color.  Don't presume that I don't my colors and won't notice. 

Feeling Better

I think I have finally kick the flu and the secondary.  I am still going to take it slow.  At least the house did not take too bad of a hit. I have got my knitting mojo back, so maybe I can get some projects off the needles this week and get 2 patterns out the door.  Well it's time to go back to knitting.  

I Am Bored

This is day 2 on the medicine. I am exhausted. I am even too tired to knit.  I was even too tired to watch tv or listen to books.  So I spent most of the day resting and sleeping. The big excitement of the day was a flickering of power followed by a power outage that lasted an hour and a half. Eric was not a happy camper.  It was so wide spread that I could not even bring up Twitter to find out what was happening.  The power company has still not called me to say that the power has been restored. At least we have lights. I still have not reset the clocks around the house.  Maybe I can get John to reset them tomorrow.  

The Flu Morphed

The flu bug morphed.  I tried to get into my doctors office today, the earliest appointment was Friday.  So I headed to urgent care.   I also managed to lock my keys in the van.  Not only that but dropped them under the seat where my hands could not reach.  John came to my rescue, he not only brought the spare keys, but was able to reach under the seat to get the keys.  He then went to pick up my medicine so I could go home and eat some lunch so that I could take the medicine when he got home.  

I spent the rest of the day resting.  I hope to kick this bug soon because I am not a sit on the couch for days type of gal.  I did not even have energy to knit or do laundry today.  Tomorrow will be better.   

Teri Time

Teri time is almost over. Teri and I had a great weekend.  I will pack before bed tonight; have breakfast with Teri; and then head to the airport.  I still have some knitting to do on the flights and while I wait for my planes. I will get home in time to tuck Eric into bed. It looks like the guys did great on their own. : )

Teri Time

I get to spend the weekend with Teri.  We are having fun shopping. Need I really say more?

Time to Tink

Sometimes when I find a projected buried at the back of the closet there is a very good reason for it.... In this case I was not fond of the pattern and could not see me wearing it.  Between the price of the yarn and the time it was taking to make it would be too expensive for me to sell. It is also not a charity scarf. So while Eric is doing his breathing treatment I will frog this scarf and make something more useful. Rip-it rip-it rip-it.

Addendum: As I was tinking the project the yarn just started breaking. I gave up after the 7th break in less then 1/4 of the skein. So Now the yarn and scarf are in the dog pillow stuffing box. I am not going to waste any more time on it.

We survived

Eric and I are both feeling better. Just maybe he will go to program on Thursday.  I also picked out one of my knitting projects for the weekend.  Just maybe I can get a few things for me done.  Well it's time to call it a night.  Eric will still be home tomorrow.