Mourn for Pushing Daisies

ABC pulls plug on "Pushing Daisies"

New episodes will not be ordered after this season. Oh, just fracking great! A show that was actually entertaining and intelligent, one of a handful out there in TV world that actually kept my interest and ABC is burying them. How sad, how truly and terribly sad.

But then again, we've also seen shows such as Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls go the same route. Firefly was another of those gems that tv executives did not understand and therefore axed. It seems that if you are intelligent and have an attention span of more than 5 minutes, you are not part of the average population.

It seems the average television viewer wants to be entertained with insipid sound bites, visual oohs and aaahhhs. Case in point, Dancing with the stars, American Idol, Wife Swap, Supernanny and many many others of the same ilk. Come on now, have we become as goldfish, with only enough brains to turn on the tv, sit and watch whatever drivel the executives "think" will get them the most advertising dollars? Have we become so inured by these that we can't even find within ourselves the strength to say NO more!!! Judging by what is on TV these days, I would have to say "I rest my case" and turn the box off.

I will truly miss Pushing Daisies, the knitting, Digby and all the lovely intelligent characters that made up such a wonderful show. Shame on you ABC, shame!

Goodbye Pushing Daisies, you will be missed by many.

Friday Follies

I can't really say what I'm knitting right now since it's a Christmas present for my daughter and since she reads my blog.... :)

It's been very cold here, -13C brings back memories of home where you had to wrap the kids up in their snowsuits in October to go trick or treating. And by mid November, you better not forget your mitts, tuque or scarf or you were in trouble with bright red fingers, noses and cheeks. I know I said in a previous post I don't like winter, what I really don't like is a ton of snow especially with the lousy snow removal this city has. I hate walking down the street because the sidewalks are piled high from the snow plow going by. Drivers aren't really being cautious either which means it's a crap shoot every time I step out the door to walk to work.

The city in their infinite wisdom decided to equip their skid steer type snow removal machines with rotating brooms. Sounds cool for cleaning off sidewalks, but all these lovely rotating brooms manage to do is polish the sidewalks so they are sheer ice and with no sand/salt mix to give you a foothold, the street is safer to be honest.

Fall has fallen

As I stepped outside yesterday morning there was more than just a nip in the air. It was downright cold! I guess it's to be expected considering it's past mid-November already.

On my walk to work I pass several trees which are all but barren of their leaves by now. But, there is one stubborn willow tree which still has all it's leaves, albeit yellowed, but still hanging on for dear life.

I can smell woodsmoke, someone has their fireplace or wood stove going, more than likely a fireplace since this is a city. I have a feeling wood stoves are getting rare these days, except maybe in the countryside. A few birds flit by, European grackles aka Starlings looking for a quick breakfast. Not much to be had out there right now, everything is looking seriously frozen. The ground is still soft though. A few chickadees and wrens huddle under some shrubs looking decidedly cold. And there's the ever present couple of raucous blue jays squabbling at each other over a few fallen seeds from a bird feeder. You definitely know when you have a couple of blue jays taking up residence in your neighborhood. They are the loudest neighbors you'll ever have.

The sky was gray, the wind blew in from the north east. Definitely smell winter in the air. If it wasn't for Christmas, I'd hibernate. But with the season coming up fast, 37 Days and counting!

There are some things I look forward to around Christmas. It's not so much the food but more the time spent with family. One of our favorite things to do on Christmas eve is putting together a meal buffet style. All small amounts, eaten with our fingers or chopsticks put out on platters and bowls. While we share our food we usually watch A Christmas Story. This is a movie not to be missed. You will laugh so much you'll squirt pop out your nose. It's a classic as anyone will tell you if you haven't seen it... yet. So get out there, rent a copy or wait until Christmas Eve. The movie runs for 24 hours on a continuous loop on one of the American TV stations.

I also look forward to having my kids over for a few days. This year though, it looks like that will have to be in January since my daughter works during the season. Understandable in the restaurant industry. The cooks have to work!

I've finished the cat ears my daughter had requested. They are definitely interesting LOL I'll have to add pictures when the batteries have recharged.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

What is beauty? What constitutes beauty?

What defines beauty? That which brings enjoyment to the person who looks or contemplates. What can we learn about ourselves, our personality when we show others what we think is beautiful.

Beauty can be many things, a touch, a taste, what we see, hear, feel. Beauty can be found in all the senses. The thirst for beauty is what keeps us questing throughout our lives to find the ultimate.

What is beauty to me? What I find beautiful may not be the same for others, but these are the things that give me peace, make me feel that the world is a good place to live. I find beauty in images, photographs, sights, feelings, smells, a touch, a sound, a taste.

the sound of a purring cat
the feel of a baby's skin
listening to my husband's heartbeat
the smell of lilacs and lilies of the valley
storm clouds
music in any genre
a bite from a sun-warmed tomato fresh from the garden
fresh cut hay drying in the field
a robin's song before a rain storm

the smell of sweet grass
my daughter's eyes
my son's strength
drumming, dancing, singing
a warm summer breeze at night

You,know your job is mind numbing when...

Yes, you read it right.

You know your temp job is mind numbing when...

1. you catch yourself working out a pattern in your head while doing data entry or sorting and filing parking tickets for the city.
2. you actually wish you were home working on your knitting Christmas list.
3. hold entire conversations in your head just to keep yourself from falling asleep.
4. you plan out ways to shut off your coworker's singing without being rude because she sings to every song on the radio.. off KEY!
5. you zone out and sadly realise you've been entering the wrong data!
6. you watch the clock hands crawl towards lunch and then go in reverse for the end of the day... or so it feels
   
7. you check your email at lunch and actually look at the spam email for entertainment!
8. you are grateful when someone else walks into the room.
9. you take a butt break even though you don't smoke
10. you keep telling yourself that it's only a temp job and you need the money
11. You look like you have the hang over to end all hang overs at the END of the day!
    

That is one thing I have come to realise. I do not want to do data entry full time! I'm a gemini, the repetition is killing me!!! LOL

Wristwarmers II

I have one completed and half way through the second one. I'm still debating on the finish. These look pretty just as they are and would actually be nice for a man to wear since they are cabled with no frilly stuff I like the bronze color. It makes them look like bracers






Darling husband modeled the finished bracer and Gambit not to be outdone decided he had to model for one as well. Note the evil gleam in his eyes, I'm sure I will pay somehow. LOL

Wrsitwarmers

I must admit the design aspects are coming along quite nicely. Reconfigured the number of stitches to cast on and the cables are nice and snug fitting between rows of knit/purl stitches. Just have to figure out how to finish the ends. Somehow the raw edges of the cast on and bind off don't quite cut it for feminine wristwarmers. As is though, they would work very well for men. Will have to experiment with different edgings to find the one that suits the cables best.

Once I have it figured out, the pattern will take care of several presents all at once. Just have to use different colors for each family member.

The weather yesterday was really mild in the afternoon. The light breeze wasn't freezing your face and hands off like the previous day. Squirrels were doing the mad dashes across the wires, cheeks stuffed with nuts getting ready for winter. The trees downtown were covered with small song birds and each one was trying to outdo the other which meant an incredible cacophony of thousands of voices. Then a car backfired and the sky filled with silent birds all trying to find a new branch to perch on. Felt like a remake of the movie The Birds. As soon as they settled down again, they were back at it, full throated songs blasting across the park drowning out the sounds of traffic going by. I love this season, the crunch of leaves underfoot, the song birds packing it up for the long trek south leaving us with their last songs for the year before taking wing. I love the smell of burning wood as people get their fireplaces up and running. Not looking forward to winter mind you. If I could hibernate, I would!

Christmas Scarves & Hats

Christmas is coming, only ahhh umm... 42, Days. 13, Hours. 29, Minutes ...But who's counting.... What???!!! Oh geez, I'd better get busy.

So far I have a hat and scarf done for my 4 yr old nephew.

I still need:

• a tam and scarf for my 7 year old niece - pink please
  
• a scarf and hat for my 5 year old niece - no clue on color
  
• a scarf and beanie for my 10 year old nephew - black and....
  
• wristwarmers for my 15 year old niece - steel gray and blue
  
• beanie and scarf for my 15 year old nephew - black?
  
• wristwarmers for my sister -
  
• wristwarmers for 2 sisters in law -
  
• wristwarmer and neckscarf for Mom - beige
  
• scarf and beanie for both my brothers - black
  
• hairbands for assorted nieces - pink, blue, red, green, etc
  
• something cute for my husband's half sister who is 5 and thinks her big brother is awesome :)
  
• something cute for my daughter - still working on that one
  
• something cool for my son - skull beanie
  
• something equally cool for my darling husband
  

Time Flies!

Good grief, where did the week go!!!

Between work and not having internet access whenever I want it is hard on the blog. I have to apologise for that. Soon we will get a new router and I will be back online as often as I want.

In the meantime, absence from the blog doesn't mean I've been sitting idle. I can't seem to just sit and watch TV anymore. Even if the show is really good, my fingers itch to be doing something... like knitting!

So I have been busy frogging a bunch of old projects that have been sitting in a box with me always thinking I'd get back to them. At the beginning of this week, I happened to need a certain type of yarn and knew I had some that I'd started using up in a pillow cover. This was meant to be a cat pillow cover adapted from a dishcloth pattern I'd seen. But that was a long time ago, when my knitting hadn't been very good yet and it showed. So I frogged the whole thing, and am now reusing the yarn to make a kitty cat hairband for my lovely daughter who requested one. It still needs ears, but it's soft and feels like you're petting a cat.

Still on my quest for the cool looking office wrist warmers I came upon this pattern from Deborah Pulliam, Knit cuffs with a Cable Twist. I thought I'd give them a go but once I'd spent 2hours and only had 3 repeats on a size 3 circular using fingering yarn I had to concede defeat. The pattern is not difficult. What was difficult for me was the size of the yarn, I couldn't feel it and the size of the needles I couldn't control them well enough. So yes, this one will head for the big ole frog pond in the sky, weighted down with a rock so it never resurfaces!

I still liked the pattern and wanted to retain some of it. I figured out how to do something similar using a larger gauge circular needle and thicker yarn. This is the first one partially finished. I still want to do something to finish the edges better. It looks a bit naked right now but I do love how the cables turned out though. I may end up knitting a completely new one since I want to make some changes to the number of CO stitches. I don't know if the yarn color shows up well enough, it's not exactly brown. It has reds and blues coursing throughout the yarn which gives it a bronze look instead of just plain old brown. The tag says Rustic Heather and is from Bernat Ombre yarns. I walked into the store and my eyes were immediately drawn to it. I figured if it looks good under the fluorescent lighting, it should look yummy in sunlight.

It's definitely a work in progress and I may change a few things on it yet that I'm not quite happy with. Blame the perfectionist lurking in my head! It won't let me do things halfway or just ok. Has to be just so or it won't leave me alone.

Cat Toy - Ball

I finally finished the ball yesterday. Looks pretty cool.

I rolled it across the floor for Gambit to see and hopefully attack and he just sniffed, looked at me as if he was saying "And you expect me to do what exactly??...." and sauntered away to go stretch out on the bed. Lazy cat!

I put several layers of stuffing around the outside of the ball and then inserted the jingle ball. Added more stuffing to cover and then sewed it shut. Looking at it, I'd say it would also make a pretty neat baby toy as well since there are no sharp pieces to poke out anywhere and it's soft.

The pattern can be found here.

Wristwarmers

As you all know, I started a temp job this week. I only worked Thursday and Friday but by Friday lunch I had made the decision I desperately needed wristwarmers in the office. My hands were so cold it was difficult to type. Considering I'm doing data entry for 7 hours, I can't afford to have fingers so stiff I start making typos.

So today, I looked through my stash and found some Merit Ombre Misty Blue yarn that I had left over from making my daughter's wristwarmers a couple of years ago. I didn't want to use a super plain pattern but I also didn't want to go super fancy with frills. I needed something that would keep my wrists warm and not get in the way of typing, turning pages and using the mouse. I also wanted a yarn that I could just toss in the washing machine and not have to worry about. And for a pattern, I finally settled on this cute pattern with a bit of cabling so it's not plain looking.

The pattern called for DPNs but I decided to give it a go using magic loop. I used size 6 circular needle and the knitting went rather well if I do say so myself. I had both wristwarmers completed within a few hours.

I suffer from neuropathy in both feet and hands. While I was knitting the first wristwarmer, my left hand kept going numb and it made it hard to knit but I kept on going by taking small breaks to let my hand relax. When I was finally done knitting the first wristwarmer I slipped it on my left wrist and started knitting the 2nd wristwarmer. I realised that my left hand wasn't going numb while I knit the 2nd one which is quite amazing. I'm guessing that by keeping the blood warmer around my wrist that it also keeps the circulation going a lot better which means my fingers don't go numb!

These wristwarmers are very comfortable. That was another point I was a bit worried about. But as Otter's pattern explains, cables are forgiving! and so is ribbing. Means my wrists aren't squeezed to death but are gently kept warm. Thank you Diana for the really cool pattern.

I'll be knitting several more pairs to match my clothes and for variety.

Thursday night and what is happening?

Well, it's Thursday night. How am I doing so far this week? I just started a new temp job that hopefully will last until the beginning of December. Data entry for 7 hours a day, bleh! but it's a job! and a pay cheque! :)

On my way to work this morning, walking down the street, it was so foggy it brought an old saying to mind "Pea soup Fog" and it really was thick enough I could have cut it with a knife. It felt so eerie, you could hear muffled footsteps on the sidewalks but it felt like there were cotton balls stuffed in my ears. People would appear and disappear out of the fog like ghosts drifting by. The houses and apartment buildings on each side of the street were dim shadows with the odd glimpse here and there when the fog broke open but quickly filled the void once more.

I just found out a dear friend lost her sister this week. My heart goes out to her. My mother called last night to tell me a long time school friend passed away this week from an alleged hunting accident, he had cancer, inoperable and knowing him, he didn't want to face the pain and humiliation of the later stages. I wish his wife, children, and the rest of his large family strength in the days to come dealing with the loss.

I bought some plastic jingly balls (cat toys) to stuff into the cat ball toy I knitted last night. I figure if I stuff batting all around the plastic jingle ball once it's inside the knitted ball, it should work just fine. Guess that remains to be seen.

Dearest husband wasn't up to cooking supper so I picked up some Subway. BLT sub for him and a chicken bacon ranch sub for me! No dishes to wash, no fuss, no muss and it was good. Who can complain. Not like we do this all the time so it was a nice break.

I will be making some chicken salad spread for him so he can have something other than peanut butter and nutella for lunch. I'd rather make it myself, that way I can control how much salt goes in it and it's fresh, no preservatives. It may look like baby food, but it's delicious!

Chicken Salad Spread

300 gr chicken breast
1 tsp mustard
pinch kosher salt
pinch freshly grated black pepper
2 heaping tbsp mayonnaise (low fat)
1 heaping tsp relish
2 to 3 tbsp red onion

Cook the chicken breast, let it cool. Then cut up into chunks and put in food processor. Cut off the equivalent of approximately 3 to 4 tbsp red onion and add to processor. Blitz those together until chicken is ground down to a paste. Add mustard, salt, pepper, mayo, relish and blitz until blended. You may need to add more mayo depending on how spreadable you want the chicken to be. Taste to adjust seasoning.
Put chicken salad into a resealable container and keep in refrigerator. Makes a great spread for sandwiches.

Let's see how Friday shapes up to be.

More Halloween Fun followed by Birthday Fun!

I know this is a bit late, but that's the way things go sometimes. After spending Monday with my daughter and celebrating my darling husband's birthday, I had to regroup and figure out where I'm at in the various wips I have on the go.

When my daughter walked in the door she instantly beelined on my pumpkins and hinted that she would love to have a Zero of her very own. You can see that I have obliged such a sweet request and she will now own her very own ghost dog.

It was a lot of fun to make. I changed a couple of things from the pattern though. I used magic loop to knit the ears instead of doing them flat and sewing them up after. I also knit the collar instead of just wrapping yarn around this neck since this toy may end up in small hands at some point. The collar was easy enough; I CO 20 sts on #3 needles, knit three rows and bound off. I used the yarn ends to mattress stitch it closed around the dogs neck. Voila!

While my daughter was here, we ended up going to a couple of fabric stores to pick up a zipper for her Red Ridin Hoodie which is almost done. I had her try it on and it fits beautifully! She won't be cold wearing it when she's walking to and from work. I forgot to snap some pictures, but I will when she comes to pick it up. I love the pattern and would recommend it to anyone who wants and simple hoodie. The hood part drapes and reminds me of elven hoods which is what she wanted.

We also ended up at both Zellers and Walmart looking for a birthday present for darling husband. Oddly enough, we kept finding ourselves in the yarn and yarn accessories area at each place... Zellers was disappointingly poor in color selection so we went looking for a birthday present. Again, no luck with that either. So on we went to Walmart. Again, the inexplicable gravitation towards the yarn aisle.... Oh well, if you can't beat 'em... Strange things started happening; 2 balls of Bernat's black yarn that I needed to keep working on darling husband's Kenobi jacket fell into the basket. Then I look away and size 10 and size 8 bamboo knitting needles clatter to the bottom of the basket quickly followed by a size 10 and size 8 circulars in bamboo find their way to the bottom of my shopping cart. I didn't put them there! Honest! My daughter wanted to repay me for the hoodie and this is how she did it. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful caring daughter.

The only disappointing part was when I opened the circular needles, they both are short cabbles, no magic loop for those needles :( but I can definitely use them for everything else!

We also found darling husband's birthday present. A rice cooker/vegetable steamer. I know, doesn't sound very exciting, but he loves to cook but hates making rice. It usually sticks to the pot or burns. This way, it won't stick and/or burn. I also love the fact that it's a vegetable steamer as well since it will free up a burner when I'm making veggies and I have to make a cheese sauce.

Winter wear

Since I frogged the Not Quite Straight scarf I had to find something else to knit for my son in law. After asking my daughter for some input, she told me he's not fond of wearing scarves, oh goodie! but he does need a warm winter hat since he feels the cold more than the average person.

Hmn... how about an old fashioned tuque? I remember wearing one as a kid, kept my head so warm I sweated under it. He wears a black jacket, so obviously black yarn has to be the choice. After pawing through my stash, I could only find one ball of black yarn. Uh oh.... The pattern I had chosen to use asks for worsted weight yarn, 2 strands held together on number 10 circular needles. The whole pattern is done in k2, p2 which gives it a deep rib. But with only 1 ball of yarn, what to do. I kept digging in my stash and came across several balls of demin blue yarn in a much lighter weight but figured by using 2 strands of the blue combined with 1 strand of the black, that should meet the requirements of the pattern.

The blue yarn was recycled from a sweater I picked up for 1$ at a church sale. When I started knitting again a few years ago, I did not want to spend tons of money on yarn when I wasn't even sure if I'd be knitting for more than a couple of months and dropping it again. So I had gone to a church sale and picked up 4 sweaters, unraveled the lot, and hand wound the yarn back into center pull balls for reuse. I learned a few things doing that.

1. Don't buy sweaters that are machine seamed. Means that the edges have been cut which gives you pieces of yarn less than a meter long. I spent more time knotting pieces together and finally gave up on that sweater.
2. Do buy sweaters that are handknit. You can tell if they are handknit by the way they are assembled. ie: no machine stitching.
3. And last but not least, buy colors you like! I have 10 balls of dark brick red yarn that I still don't know what to do with yet. It feels like cotton or a cotton blend. I'll figure out what to use it for, but not just yet.
4. Wash and dry flat the sweater BEFORE you unravel it. I found that some sweaters were unwashed and ahhh umm... smelled odd? and no, I don't want to know.

I finished knitting the hat which was knit flat. All I have left to do is seam it and try it on for size. I hope he likes it.

Birth Day Celebration!

Yesterday was my sweet loving husband's birthday. From a previous post, you already know that I would be cooking one of his favorite meals as a birthday present.

When I asked my darling what he wanted to eat. He gave me his 2 choices and it was up to me to pick one.

1. Quesadillas, home made.
   
2. Pork medallions with garlic mashed potatoes and cauliflower in a cheese sauce.

Quesadillas for 2 to 4 people (depends on how hungry you are)

1 large red onion
1 medium cooking onion
1 large red pepper
300 grams of chicken breast sliced into thin strips
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
1/3 of envelope of fajita spice
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 cup of chicken broth (low sodium)

8 large flour tortillas
2 cups of shredded very old cheddar cheese or any other sharp cheese.

If you have a mandolin, thinly slicing all the vegetables is easy. Otherwise, get yourself a good sharp knife and start slicing. Cut the onions in half and slice them thinly, same for the red pepper.

Put 2 tbsp olive oil in a non stick frying pan, add the onion and red pepper. Add a generous pinch of kosher salt and same for the black pepper. Stir often until the onions become translucent. If the vegetables start to look dry, add a bit of chicken broth.

Once the vegetables are done, push them to the side of the pan so the center is empty and add the sliced chicken, the fajitas spice and the balance of the chicken broth. Stir the chicken, breaking apart the pieces that stick together until chicken is cooked. Mix back into the center the vegetables you had pushed to the side. Once the chicken broth as cooked away, turn the heat off. With a spatula or a spoon split the cooked chicken and vegetables into 4 equal sections. Each one of those sections will go on a tortilla.

If you have an old frying pan use it for this part. Set the heat at medium high. When a drop of water sizzles in the pan, it's ready. Take 2 tortillas and put them in the pan. Check often to make sure the bottom tortilla isn't burning. When it has browned a bit, flip the 2 tortillas for the other side to cook. The top tortilla should now be the one that went in the pan first, flip that tortilla only and check to make sure the bottom tortilla isn't burning. When the bottom one is done, flip again, take the tortilla that is now on top off and set aside. You must move quickly now. The bottom tortilla is cooking. Take some cheese and scatter it on the tortilla in the pan, add some of the chicken mixture, add some more cheese and take the tortilla you set aside and put it cooked side down over the mix, press down with your hand to make sure it all sticks together. Now with your spatula, flip once more to cook the last tortilla. Hopefully you've done this fast enough that the bottom tortilla didn't burn. If you find the pan is too hot, turn the heat down a bit. You want to have it cook the tortilla just slow enough for you to put the filling in.

When the bottom is crisp and lightly brown, flip onto a large cutting board, cut into wedges and serve with sour cream. The hardest part of this recipe is the tortillas. With practice you will be able to manage the assembling and cooking of the tortillas.

Pork Medallions with Garlic Mash & Cauliflower in a Tangy Cheese Sauce
for 2 people

Warning! This recipe is for garlic lovers!

2 - 150 gram pork medallions trimmed of excess fat or gristle
1 head of garlic, peeled. Do not chop or mince or crush.
6 medium potatoes either yukon gold, russet or red, peeled & quartered
kosher salt
pepper
1 cup of shredded very old cheddar or any other tangy cheese
2 tbsp flour
5 tbsp butter
1.5 cup of skim milk
2 cups of cauliflower broken into florets
large pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

Peel, quarter & wash potatoes. Put in a pot along with all the garlic, add water to cover, a generous pinch of kosher salt and set to boil. Once potatoes come to a boil, lower heat to medium. They will be done in 15 to 20 minutes.

While potatoes are cooking. You will be steaming the cauliflower so prepare a pot and steamer. Get the water boiling while you prepare your cauliflower, grate 1 cup of cheese, measure out the 2 tbsp of flour, 3 tbsp of butter and 1,5 cups of milk.

When the steamer is ready, add a pinch of kosher salt and your cauliflower. Cover and cook until fork tender.

While the potatoes and cauliflower are cooking. Prepare your pork medallions, trim off excess fat and gristle. Sprinkle fresh ground black pepper and kosher salt on both sides of medallions.

Bechamel Cheese Sauce

Get a non stick saucepan and put it on high heat. Add 3 tbsp butter, stir until it melts, add 2 tbsp of flour, stir until flour soaks up butter. Slowly add milk while stirring constantly. Keep stirring until lumps disappear (use a fork to mash stubborn lumps) and sauce begins to thicken. Lower heat a bit and keep stirring for another 4 or 5 minutes. Sauce should be bubbling gently. Add shredded cheese and keep stirring until cheese is completely melted into the sauce. Add generous pinch of freshly grated nutmeg & a pinch of grated black pepper. Taste the sauce to make sure it's salted enough. If not, add a bit more salt.

By now the cauliflower should be fork tender. Turn off the heat, remove the cauliflower from the steamer basket and add to cheese sauce. Keep cheese sauce on low heat and stir occasionally while you cook the pork medallions. The cauliflower will break apart and get coated by the cheese sauce.

In a skillet, add 1 tbsp butter, melt and add pork medallions. You want the pan to be hot to sear the meat. Cook until medium, flipping meat as needed. When done, quickly remove to a plate.

While meat is resting, drain the potatoes. Add 1 tbsp butter, a splash of skim milk and using a hand mixer, whip the potatoes until thoroughly blended.

Light some candles and Enjoy your evening!

Friendship

I have a really incredible friend who lives in Chicago. She is a very special lady, one of the Red Hat Lady society members. We've never met except across the internet but we feel as if we've known each other for years. We've shared happy times, sad times and life changing moments along the way.


All this to say that she sent me these lovely books out of the blue. I really enjoy the television show True Blood and after finding out that the series is based on books written by Charlaine Harris, I wanted to get them. Financially unable to follow through with this, my friend undertook the task of sending me the series by mail 2 books at a time.


In the last shipment, she included a very special bookmark made by the people of her tribe. That is one more thing we have in common, we are both Metis. It is so nice to have friends who care enough to give you the little things in life that mean so much. One way or another, I will be able to do something for her in return. And hopefully, we'll meet face to face one day.

The Mum Show @ Gage Park

If you live in or near Hamilton, Ontario it is worth your while to come to Gage Park to view this gorgeous display of Mums. The last day of the show is November 2nd, 2008.

Magic Loop Magick I

Halloween is over, but my pumpkins live on. One looks like it had a rough night and the other looks happy and perky. Hmm.... wonder what they were up to last night.

Fall is upon us. This weekend the clocks turn back one hour. Wheeee! Means we gain back that hour we lost in the spring, yeah right. If you believe that, I've got some prime farmland for sale in the bayou.


The fall colors are just about over. Soon the wind will blow everything away and then we have that cold, bone chilling season known as winter! I want to hibernate Waaaaahhh

Walking around town, I noticed that this building reminds me a lot of the building from the original Ghostbusters movie.

Kind of creepy looking with the grey clouds scudding along behind it. I could just picture all the ghosts and apparitions flying around the top of it. Since it's located downtown, I see it every time I'm down there which is pretty often. Halloween was quiet in our neighborhood. Very few houses had the lights on. We didn't see a single trick or treater.