Bibs

This is what I have been busy working on this week. This is what 3 dozen new bibs looks like.  Enough to fill a laundry basket.

If you would like a picture tutorial on how to make your own bibs let me know and I will find time to do it in January 2011.

Teri is home for winter break so I must spend time with her. Teri time is a very precious commodity around here. So have a nice evening and enjoy your families.

Sewing No - Knitting Yes

Not a stitch of sewing got done today. But things did get done in the craft room. 3 boxes of recyclables made it out of the room. The closet got reorganized. No big deal except that there was a pile of stuff that had to be gone through before I could get to the door. I have found all the small presents for my knitting friends. So all in all the room is cleaner.

I did almost empty the finishing basket and found charity projects that I had forgotten that I had knit. Does this happen to anyone else. So 2 hats and scarfs are ready for Privermira women's shelter. 1 scarf is ready for the guild project for next October. I must admit that I left the poncho in the finishing basket because I did not want to do that much sewing today.

I did do some knitting today, so far about 1/2 a skein of yarn. The further I get into the skein the more I think it may be hand spun yarn that was spun and plied but Soak was not used on it. So my plan for the scarf on the needles is to finish it and use some soak on it. If it softens up it will turn into a gift. Other wise it will go out with a batch of charity knitting. I am quite partial to hand spun made from mohair or top roving. This just does not feel like either to me.

Eric will be home with me until Monday. If he is feeling better I just might take him out for a little bit; but after a long week at home I don't want to get him sick again

Well my wonderful husband just drove up with dinner so it is time to end this blog. Have a great evening and enjoy your families.

So What Day of the Week is This?

After a long night with Eric, we went to the doctors today. The good news is that he has the crud that is going around. The bad news is that he will be home for at least 1 more day. My sincere hope is that with the grace from heaven above that he will sleep through the night tonight. And would it be asking too much for him to go to sleep by 10 pm?

On the bib front I was able to slip out of the house to look for bandanna's. The bad news is that I could not find any brown or tan bandanna's at the two stores I went too. Not even brown or tan fabric that was suitable was available. Not having a whole lot of time I came home empty handed. Thank goodness for Amazon they had just what I needed. So I will start the other bibs while I wait for the brown and tan ones.

A whole lot of knitting is getting done. I just need to do some finishing work so I can get my friend Nancy the hats and scarfs I have promised her for her work with Primavera Shelter for Women here in Tucson. I had promised 2 hats and scarfs which are done.  Being disorganized as I can get I also have one more scarf on the needles right now for her and I am positive that she won't mind the extra scarf. I will let you know later if I was wrong.

I think that I will go set up my bib production line now. Maybe just maybe my boss will let me have a little time to make some bibs for him during the day tomorrow. So have a great evening and enjoy your families.

Beef Stew

You might have guessed we are having beef stew for dinner so I will share the recipe.

Beef Stew

1 pound stew meat
salt and pepper to taste
1 large sweet onion peeled and roughly chopped
3 ears of corn broken in half
1 pound of carrots peeled and sliced
2 medium potatoes washed and cubed
2 medium tomatoes washed and cut in eights
1 cup of water
6 large stalks of celery roughly chopped
1 pound green beans washed de-vined and sliced into 1 inch pieces

In your soup pot spray the bottom of your pan with non stick cooking spray. Add the stew meat salt and pepper and brown the meat on a medium heat. Add the onion and stir in and cook for a few minutes. Then layer in the corn, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, celery and green beans. pour water over the mixture. Bring to a boil and then simmer for at least 2 hours.

This recipe can also be made in the crock pot by following the same layering plan as above. Cook on low heat 8 to 10 hours. If you put this in the crock pot in the morning before work it should be ready for dinner.

This will serve 4 to six people. You may substitute chicken that has been cubed for the beef. I have no Vegetarian or vegan suggestions other than to leave out the meat and have stewed vegetables.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been up to my ears in busy since Wednesday. In no particular order two Holiday parties Friday and Saturday night. I am very glad that I am not a drinker, fruit juice spritzers most of the way.  The end result is no hangover and nothing to worry about they next day.

I did learn a lot about my new sewing machine in between the parties. Taking a class on 4 hours of sleep was certainly interesting and not to be tried again. Eric's new bibs go into production next week. He needs between 2 and 3 dozen at about an hour per bib so if you can't find me next week I will be holed up in the craft room. There will be some design changes so I will make the first bib and see how whats in my mind translates into the fabric.

We had a lot of sick days and long nights I am I hoping for a much better week although it looks like I have a boy who will be home tomorrow but an over night miracle will not be turned down.

Not much left the needles last week,but a lot of yarn decided to hopped on the needles so I am up to an uncountable number of UFOs. Which means I really don't want to know how many projects I have going, that would mean sitting and finishing things.

I am glad that my friend Nancy is recovering well from surgery so well. I am also glad that she was gracious enough to let me bring lunch and knit with her for a while.

Well it is time to start the dryer and head to bed. So enjoy your families and have a great week.

Chicken Casserole

Chicken Casserole

2 chicken legs and thighs washed
salt and pepper
1 pound mire poix mix from Trader Joe's or mix 1/3 pound each of diced carrots, onions and celery
10 ounces mushrooms
1 pound small potatoes
1/2 cup of water.

In a small oven proof covered casserole dish sprayed with non stick cooking spray, Layer the ingredients in the order given. Cover the casserole and bake for one hour at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If your are using a glass casserole dish lower the oven temperature to 325 and cook for 1 hour15 minutes for the cooking.

For a change of pace you can add some raw biscuit dough to the casserole in the last 20 minutes of baking to make quick dumplings. When I do this I use the plain Pillsbury biscuits. You can also use Bisquick or any biscuit recipe from the Internet. Just make sure it is a basic flour and shorting mix with no added chilies or cheese.

After you wash the chicken make sure you clean out the sink with a cleaner like Comet before you wash the vegetables to avoid cross contamination.

This recipe serves 2 to 4 people and there is no vegetarian or vegan replacement for the chicken that I have tried.

Why I Should Never Plan

Why do I even try to plan my life? Sometimes it just get thrown into a blender. Take yesterday for instance. I was suppose to get the men out of the house and then go through my long end of the year to do list and a little bit of shopping for my self, a trip to the post office. A little knitting thrown in for just the heck of it. It sounded perfectly reasonable to me.

Well here is how my day actually went. Sunday night Eric started eyrping and continued to do so until 3 am Monday morning. I got Eric settled by 3:30 am. To tired to change and not wanting to wake John up I fell asleep in the guest room. Yes I was even too tired to bother to turn out the lights too.

The day started at 5:30 am with a quick shower and it did not even remotely wake me up. Eric's morning aide agreed to skip the gym and watch Eric for me while I took a much needed nap. I did get to nap until 1 pm.. I woke up to eat a very late breakfast and just in time for Eric to spike a fever. Which meant that Eric earned another day at home for Tuesday. Did I mention that going to sleep with very wet hair meant a bad hair day to boot. We had a great time watching TV and I did some knitting. Then made a very fast dinner with the end of the leftover turkey.

I am thankful that Eric slept most of Monday night and only woke up at 4 am with his fever. I settled him down by 5 am in time for a short nap before the day started again at you guessed it 5:30 am. I managed to get Eric's aide to stay until 2pm today and got my errands done. The trip to the post office which turned into a teaching experience. The Postal workers had never heard of stitch markers so this being post the latest scare the box was opened and inspected. I then explained what the markers were used for, which was very easy as when I have to wait in line I always have a small knitting project with me. Before it was repacked they told me it would be shipped the same way to New Zealand but putting it in a priority mail box would be more expensive. So into a readdressed padded envelope they went, I did not even have to fill out a new customs declaration. By the way our post office employees are great that way.

It was 42 degrees Fahrenheit when I pulled into Starbucks to get my iced tea, in deference to the cold I had them go light on the ice. I was still to tired to try a hot beverage. Then off to Goodwill with the latest overflowing box. Then it was time to drive across town to pick up some clothes that I had put on hold. I can not believe that the store put the order under my first name instead of my last which meant it took 20 minutes to find the order.

I don't know about you but when I am cold and over tired I crave yeasty sweet things. I managed to drive past my favorite bakery not just once but twice with out stopping. Being just a few pounds lighter than last year I found it easier to find clothes and want to keep the trend going and maybe loose another dress size by the end of next year. I did a quick stop at Trader Joe's to pick up things for dinner. I also managed to skip the goodies there too.

I had time for a quick lunch and then it was time for the aide to leave. So Eric and I watched a little TV and I did some knitting. I do feel a small flare up coming so I did manage to take a short nap before I made dinner. The chicken casserole will be tomorrows blog just in case you want the recipe.

I think I also managed to break a few fences that need to be mended before the week is out. I do hate broken fences. So now it is time to put the finishing touches on tonight's dinner. So have a good evening and enjoy your families.