A Perfect Day

What a wonderful day I had. I spent the day at the Tucson Wool Festival. The people were great, the vendors were awesome and a few sheep and goats got their hair cut. I would like to publicly thank Kathy and Mark Withers for putting on such an awesome event.

Some of the highlights included:

Demonstrations of spinning on wheels and spindles.

Farm tours.

Knitting and crochet demonstrations.

Carding demonstrations.

Mini lessons. I got to teach a wonderful 5th grader named Georgia how to knit. She had a good inch knit by the time the show was over.

There was a very quick visit by John and Eric. They were so wonderful and brought me a sandwich and of Venti cup of iced green tea from Starbucks. It was a little on the hot side for Eric so I sent John to look around and sent them packing after about 15 minutes. I did not think I have it in me to do an all nighter tonight.

Oh yes and I did not take home as much as I came with. I would also like to say what took me 4 days to assemble for the show was unpacked and put away in less than and hour. Go figure. Well it is almost 6 pm so I am headed out to Mayco's to pick up dinner. Have a wonderful evening.

EEK!!!!

It has been a very busy week around here. With Eric being sick all of Sunday evening into the wee hours of Monday morning. I was not being able to get some rest until 6:10 am Monday morning(this should read as an hour and a half nap). All I can say is thank goodness that Eric slept until 1pm and  I also got to sleep after the aide left. Eric was feeling better by dinner time but my dear sweet and wonderful husband still brought dinner home.

Eric did make it to school on Tuesday and the rest of the week. This did however leave me exactly one day behind in my preparation for the Tucson Wool Festival on Saturday. I did not get as much yarn spun as I had hoped for but what I have is very nice. To compound matters even more, my showcase piece sold before it was even off the needles, so I hurriedly started another one. I am happy to say that I am with in 4 rows of having it finished tonight. So off I go a knitting. I hope to see a lot of you at the Wool Festival tomorrow. Here is a link to the Tucson Wool Festival .

I also opened an etsy shop this week. You can find me at http://www.etsy.com/shop/skaro964 . After the wool festival I will add two new patterns and some other surprises.

Eric's Vacation Day 1

Today was Eric's first day off for fall break. So we went to the grand opening of the New Nordstroms Rack in town. It was too crowded to do any real shopping. In my humble opinion Disneyland is less crowded during winter break then the store was. I literally had people falling over the wheelchair so we cut our visit short and I will go back another day. We then went to Jacobs Park to play on the fantastic wheelchair accessible play structure. I was pushing 90 pounds of boy and 100 pounds of wheelchair up and down the ramps of the play structure. I gave out after 20 minutes.

We had a brief break and got to watch some Dinosaur Train, Barney and Sesame Street. When the aide came Eric decided to that mommy needed more exercise so off to the mall we went for a 2 mile walk. Eric is taking a break now so I am catching up on chores before spinning.

More vacation adventures to follow tomorrow.

Fantasy vs Reality

Fantasy
Yesterday my plans included 8 hours of sleep. Bringing the spinning wheel to the front porch and spinning for a couple of hours. It was such a lovely fall day. Followed by a trip to the post office. A light lunch and clothes shopping all before Eric got home.

Reality

Up half the night with Eric, but he did go to school. I tried to nap but the phone was ringing non stop. That was not all that bad I did get to talk to my good friend Donna. Thirty minutes trying to make a doctors appointment. Followed by lots of paper work, a trip to the post office. Three hours at the Social Security Office, a quick trip to Trader Joe's and lunch to go at Burger King at 3:30pm.. By the time I finished lunch I had 20 minutes to decompress before Eric got home. A few hours to get things done while the aide was here. If you have not guessed by now up until 1:30 am with a sick boy. Yes he does have the cold de jour. I did manage to finish one scarf and start another.

Today

I have been up since 6 am. Eric is home sick. I have managed breakfast so far, but not much else. My plans today include a lot of knitting and maybe some spinning.  I should also squeeze in some finishing work to clear the pile of freshly knitted objects. I will also try to figure out how to take in my skirts or dash out when John gets home so my skirt is not falling down during services this weekend.

Have a great day.

Butternut Squash Soup

When all else fails I will give you a new recipe. Yes, Eric was up until all hours. I had a fight with the insurance company over Eric's formula. Lets just say I lost round one. Unlike the old days of so last century the executives and decision makers don't take phone calls. I just love when a big company states we are exempt from state laws because they say so...are not...

The day was not all bad though. I did manage to use 1/2 of a can of Pledge on the front door. Boy that wood was dry. It just soaked up the polish like the prickly pears soak up the summer rain. The upshot is that the door looks so much better. I even did a few windows too. That was my exercise for today.

So without further ado.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 small Onion peeled and diced
1 Banana Nut Squash peeled and diced
2 medium Yams peeled and diced
2 tart Apples cored and diced
2 Tablespoons of Oleo
2 14.5 ounce cans of Chicken Broth
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

In a 4 quart soup pot melt oleo. Add the onion and saute until soft. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the temperature and simmer for 2 hours. Lightly break up some of the larger chunks of vegetables and serve.

This soup is definitely better the first night. Serves 4 for a main course.

ML4

As a lot of you who read my blog with regularity know that my youngest child Eric has ML4. You already know that a considerable part of my time is spent caring for Eric. I never thought that in my life time let alone Eric's that we would be able to find the gene that causes so many problems for Eric. Yet through the ML4 Foundations funding of research has help make that dream come true.  It would be nice to dream that in Eric's life time there was a treatment to slow or stop this life altering disease. This is a copy of a mass appeal fundraising letter that is going out this week. If you can find it in your heart and budget any help would be wonderful.


A clear link to the letter is ML4 Letter
In case you can't read the mailing address checks can be sent to

ML4 Foundation
719 East 17th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11230

www.ml4.org

Please feel free to pass this letter on to anyone who might be interested.
Have a wonderful weekend with your families.

A Simple Soup

I made this fast and easy soup for dinner last night.

White Acorn Squash Soup

1 White Acorn Squash - peeled, seeded and coarsely diced
2 Large Russet Potatoes - scrubbed and coarsely diced
1 pound frozen mixed vegetables
2 Cans chicken broth ( you may substitute a vegetable broth to make this vegan)

I put all my vegetables in my 4.5 quart Le Creuset pot. I added the 2 cans of broth. I brought the soup up to a low boil and reduced the heat to low and cooked it for 2 hours on low.  I did not add any additional seasonings, but feel free to spice it up anyway you would like.

This will serve 4 as a main course. I can't give you a calorie count but it will be pretty high in fiber.