There Is Always A Silver Lining

   Well, it just goes to show that no matter how well prepared you are something always messes things up.
   The house finally looked clean this morning. The floors had been swept several times and looked good, the kitchen stove was nearly spotless and practically gleaming, the cupboard fronts and counters were washed, the hutches and shelves had been dusted and Jeff had cleaned the bathroom. The correct leaf had been found to expanded the dining table, and with the red tablecloth and the white plates and holiday napkins, it looked festive.  There was too much food (of course) but the stuffed roast beef was delicious and there was very little left over.  Same for the Italian-style spinach or greens.  Not so for the ravioli or mashed potatoes. The plate of Italian cookies was nibbled on and is now empting fast...every time Jeff or I refill our glass or cup another cookie or 2 disappears!  My cousin Ed brought a plate of roasted chestnuts or castagne which I haven't had in years that I'm really enjoying.  The honey clusters didn't come out as good as I hoped but not too bad for my first attempt. 
   Gifts were exchanged and well received.  Jeff's socks weren't finished because although the yarn (Patons Kroy Socks Fx) was in my mailbox Tuesday and I did start the first sock, it was apparent as soon as I finished the foot...all 10" and turned the heel...that 1 skein wasn't going to make the leg as long as 6'3" Jeff liked.  I'm going to order another skein and split that between the 2 legs.  Good thing he doesn't care if the dye lots match.
   This morning I started a pair of mittens for myself using Classic Elite Yarn's Liberty Wool, a worsted wt yarn and 2 short circular US3's with a pattern I found on p. 84 in Homespun Handknits edited by Linda Ligon. But the mittens are too small for me.  Instead of ripping them out, I think they will fit a friend who needs a little pampering right now.  Her husband has been in and out of the hospital this month and it hasn't been a very merry Christmas for them.  A pair of soft wool mittens for her and a scarf for him will make a nice surprise for them.  I guess mittens for me will have to wait.
   After our guests left and we relaxed a little (read
that as 'napped'), I finally got my Happy Homemaker Mojo back in gear and decided to put what leftovers there were in the refrigerator and just stack the dishes in the sink.  It was then I discovered that the
kitchen sink was clogged and then just as suddenly, it wasn't...because it was leaking! Water was running out under the cupboard door onto the floor!!  I started screaming and if Jeff wasn't finished with his nap before then, he was now!  Cut to the chase:  the drain pipe had developed a hole...not uncommon when you have sulfur water like ours.  So I can't wash dishes tonight even if I wanted to.  Hey there is a silver lining.... and, still no snow!  But 'seasonal' weather may be here on Wednesday.
   Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas!

5:15pm, 12/26/15:  The leak under the sink is fixed with new drain baskets and downspouts on both sides of the double sink for about $50...including a new wrench for 'the plumber' and the dishes from Christmas dinner are finally washed...just in time for tonight's supper.

The Day Before Christmas

   'Twas the day before Christmas and I wasn't ready.  The house was a mess and nothing was done.  I finally made pinulata  or honey clusters (or strufoli if you want to be technically correct) this afternoon and forgot that the plate I was using had a hole in the center for a handle that was long lost. 

Strufoli

Soon a river of warm honey was dripping on to the table cloth!  I put a small bowl under it and started to collect and redistribute the honey. (Now I know one reason why Mom never used that plate for it!  Two hours later it's still dripping...but the candy sprinkles aren't moving anymore!  I was complaining to myself about how much work it is to make with so little to show when Jeff came in.  He said he thought I had made quite a lot so I just had to show him the plate mom and I used when we made pinulata together.  I think we must have quadrupled the recipe!)  I arranged the cookies from the church bake

Italian Cookies, anyone?

sale on a Christmas plate and added some of the honey clusters I had put in small muffin papers. Then I filled a small Christmas bowl with candy.  Jeff wants to know where I'm going to store these dishes overnight so the mice don't get into them.  Good question.  The bake-sale cookies have been in the hutch so that plate will probably go back in there but I'm not sure where the honey clusters will go. The refrigerator is close to it's limit.   Dinner tomorrow will be at 2pm:  a stuffed beef roast, mashed potatoes and gravy,  fried carrots...if Jeff digs them up, Italian-style spinach or greens, and ravioli and sauce.  Hmm, sound like a feast!  Ed is bringing a cake for dessert, too. I think I'll have to put a leaf in the table because of all the serving dishes!! I think there's enough food for 4 adults, don't you?
   Presents-wise, Ed's and Sherry's gift bags are filled but Jeff's socks never got finished.  The yarn got here Tuesday but it turns out the reason I never bought Paton's Kroy Sock Yarn FX a 2nd time was because there isn't enough yarn to make a sock for Jeff in 1 skein.  There's only 166 yds in a skein and with the size of his foot (a size 12) there isn't enough left to make the leg long enough to suit him. I'm going to have to order another skein and add a couple of inches on to each leg.  I'm glad he's ok with that and can wait for his socks. I hope I remember this the next time I order this yarn because he really likes the way it knits up.
   Jeff got the 2nd woodshed skinned today.  It's pretty weather tight and should hold plenty of
wood in 2 sections.

Skinning the Shed

A look inside

He's about ready to start cutting wood again so I can start stacking it.  Gee, something to look forward to.
.

Ready to fill!

Yesterday Was A Waste of Time

      Yesterday was a complete waste of time...almost.  We spent the morning in Cooperstown because Jeff had an appointment for a colonoscopy.  The procedure has changed since his last one about 5 years ago and instead of a chalky liquid prep he had a powder that had to be mixed with Gatorade and taken with 4 little pills.  No solid foods all day the entire day before the procedure, either, and by 10pm...in the middle of the Gatorade cocktail...his blood sugar started to nosedive.  He tried to counter it with high sugar liquids (which were allowed) but it kept falling so he ended up having a spoon of peanut butter with  some honey.  That stopped the drop and it went back up slowly.  He finished his Gatorade, took the last of the little pills and kept going to the bathroom throughout the night.  And in the morning.  And at the hospital.  When he was finally taken to the prep room...after sitting over an hour in the waiting room...they asked how the prep had been and he told them it was still working. This surprised them and he was asked if he had to 'go' then.  He did, so he did, and they checked it and said 'no go' and the colonoscopy was cancelled.  Seems Jeff is one of those people who needs a 2-day prep not a 1-day.  They'll rescheduled the procedure for later this winter or early spring.  Jeff's comment was "Yeah, we'll see."
   The nurse was nice and did arrange for us both to get vouchers for free food in the cafeteria.  Usually they give one to the 'responsible' adult who accompanies the patient but because the procedure had been cancelled, Jeff got one, too.  He got a cup of what he called 'weak' coffee and a steam-table hamburger (I got a bagle and a cappuccino) so our first stop when we got back to the Valley was Belly Busters on State St in Herkimer where Jeff ordered and devoured a 1/2-lb burger with everything on it!! It improved his spirits immensely. So did the 2 cups of their coffee!
   Oh, one good part of this trip to Cooperstown, gas at the gas station in Schuyler Lake was $2.11 opposed to $2.23 in Herkimer.
   We had left Fanny home, of course, and I expected she would have emptied the wood box and taken some it to bed with her but no.  The TV room hadn't been touched.  In fact, it took a couple of minutes to find Fanny.  She was stretched out fast asleep in Jeff's bed half under the covers!  But she had did have some treasures with her:  one of my sneakers, one of my old Crocs, an empty TP roll, a pair of my panties and a pair of Jeff's underwear (she raided the dirty laundry!).  She hadn't chewed on anything just made a collection!  She was a very happy doggie that we were home.
   I took a nap when we got home and Jeff spent time on his PC and drank a pot of coffee.   Then I made a chicken stir fry for supper...my first try...and was surprised how tasty it came out.  I tried knitting on a sock...no, the yarn for Jeff's next pair still hadn't gotten here...but couldn't handle the small needles so I stared at the TV for awhile, talked on the phone when Jeff's sister and then with a friend called to see how the trip to C'town had gone, and ended up playing cards on the PC till bedtime.  Yesterday was a waste of time.

Will It Ever Look Like Christmas?

   It is cold and gray outside today.  Yesterday there was blue sky and sunshine and the Tug Hill...Boonville...and Speculator got about 5" each while we got nothing until late afternoon and then it just sprinkled snow.  The temperatures this week are suppose to rise steadily to 50 on Christmas Eve! But with no snow!  At least the skiers can go north for their fun.  I wish Mother Nature would just decide which season we were in and stick to it.  This back and forth is murder on my arthritis.
   Jeff started a 2nd woodshed the other day and is outside right now finishing the bracing for it. 

The compost bins will have to be moved a little.

Actually the front is square, I'm off!

Once it's all nice and steady I'll be drafted to help cover it with the plastic...something I'm not looking forward to.  The only gloves I could find yesterday when Fanny and I went for the mail were my work gloves.  They are warm...if a little bulky. I think I may have to knit myself a pair of gloves.
   Jeff came in ranting about that 'damn dog' a few minutes ago.  Since she was sleeping in the chair next to me here in the parlor I wondered what she had done.  He had just seen a white animal about her size running thru the woods along her latest 'Magellan' (or exploration) trail who didn't pay any attention to his call.  He isn't sure what the animal could have been...a coyote, mink, weasel?  No wonder Fanny's been so interested in that trail.
   I'm still waiting for my last yarn order to be delivered.  The company said it would arrive between Dec. 17 and 22 and I think tomorrow will be the day.  That will leave me just enough time to knit a pair of socks for Jeff.  I hope.
   Yesterday I mailed the 5 Christmas cards I had...had to buy stamps (!!!) and decided enough of that.  This morning I sent Facebook greetings/cards to the rest of my list.  To be honest, the Facebook card was prettier than the actual cards and they'll get delivered faster.  As long as everyone knows they're being thought of...
   I've promised myself I'd do pinulata or honey clusters this afternoon. That's the only baking I'm doing for Christmas.  I bought 2 trays of cookies at the church bazaar and that will be it.  The more there is the more we'll eat and let's be honest, we don't need it.  Still got to get some candy to fill in the spaces and put in my gift bags but that will have to wait until Wed. or Thursday.  The brakes on my car went yesterday and we're a one car family now.  Good timing, huh?  Could of happened tomorrow as we drove down the hill into Cooperstown(or Mohawk) since Jeff has an appointment.  Oh, well.  Time to start a fire in the stove.  It's getting cold in here!  Who's playing football this afternoon?  I've got knitting to finish. 

When Will It Begin To Look Like Christmas?

   Still no snow...but at least it's now in the forecast for over the weekend.  Maybe it will put me more in the holiday mood.  It was 64 on Monday and people were wearing shorts!

Holy Roller in Big Sur Tweed

   I got tired of waiting for my yarn orders to get here and went to Walmart Monday.  Got 4 balls of Hometown USA, a super bulky acrylic by Lion Brand, in a nice blue, Big Sur Tweed, came home and knitted a hat for Jeff's sister for Christmas.  It called for US 10's and it took me about 20 minutes to find a pair in Mom's old needle box.  They're 'straight' plastic and but have developed a curve in them you wouldn't believe! (I kept waiting for the snap of one of the needle breaking but luckily, it didn't happen.)  The pattern...Holy Roller,  that I found on Craftsy.com...called for circular needles but I couldn't find any circular 10's. I used the straights until it was time to decrease the crown , sewed up the back and then I switch to double-pointed needles.  The hat came out pretty good but boy, did my hands have a hard time holding on to my work!  I had forgotten how difficult bulky yarn can be to work with!! And I don't think I ever used a super bulky before!  I finally settled on a slit scarf that I found at Ravelry.com., too.  I bought too many balls of this yarn...to be sure I had enough... and now I have to return what I didn't use.   And I finished a scarf in a zig-zag rib

The Blues Scarf

using Liberty Wool, a worsted washable wool blend from Classic Elite Yarns, on US 7's for my cousin.

Oh...the skein of yarn I ordered from that new site I found...Skeino...just arrived, too!  It's a superwash merino and nylon blend in browns-logan green-black- and-orange called Cosi fan Tutte (like Mozart's opera). A lot of their yarn is named after operas... Aida, Carmen, etc.). I haven't decided who's going to get the socks from that yarn...my cousin, Jeff or me!  We'll see how it works up.  Anyway, yesterday I ordered Jeff's favorite sock yarn from Craftsy.com and got an email that it was shipped on the 15th from Hebron, Kentucky to Elizabeth, New Jersey.  It left New Jersey on the 17th and would be delivered between the 18th and 22nd. If that gets here by the end of this week he may get a pair of socks for Christmas...otherwise, it will be a day or 2 late.

   Jeff's started to put up the 2nd woodshed yesterday.  I'm waiting to be called to hold things in place as he secures them.  Tomorrow we'll put the plastic over it...definitely a 2 person job and one that isn't done when the wind is blowing like it is today!

Snow? Snow? No Snow!

   Still no sign of snow.  In fact, the temperature today was in the low 50's and tomorrow it's suppose to be even warmer.  It doesn't feel like December at all!
   Sales in the shop in Cooperstown have slowed down.  Tourists are around on the weekends but it's  been mainly locals during the week and then most of them head to the mall in Oneonta.  Oh, well.  I finished Jeff's 'thanks for cutting wood' socks last week and started playing with the wool yarn that I got from WEBS in Massachusetts.   I love the way it feels but the colors in the ombres don't blend that well.  There is always one that stands out too much for me but I'm still trying to make some scarves with it.  I'm waiting for the one skein of sock yarn I ordered from Skeino last week  I called them yesterday and they promised I should be getting it in 2 or 3 days.  (Yeah, right.)  If I like the quality of that yarn I might order more.  They're running a nice sale.  We'll see.  Wonder if it would get here in time for me to knit socks for Christmas??
   I've been trying to decide if I want to bake Christmas cookies or go to St Anthony's/St Joseph's bake sale and buy a couple of small trays of assorted Italian cookies.  I could put them in the freezer without Jeff even seeing them and we might have cookies for Christmas Eve/Day.  Maybe a tray of cookies and a tray of pinulata?  All the delicious goodness without the hard work??  That sounded like a plan to me.  Wondered if they'd take checks or credit cards?  So this morning I got organized and went to the church bazaar/bake sale, getting down there around 10:45am...45 mins after it opened...to find that they had already sold out of pinulata or honey clusters and cuccidati (Italian fig and date cookies).  I ended up getting 2 1lb trays of assorted Italian cookies and spending $17. I feel rather foolish, I don't think it would have cost that much money to make those egg cookies, just time.  I'll probably make pinulata...it will be a break from knitting. But I am disappointed.
   Disappointed seemed to be my mantra for getting ready for Christmas this year.  I'm disappointed with the yarn I ordered.  The scarves aren't coming out the way I had hoped. The colors, patterns...nothing seems to please me.  Then by chance I found the heavier sock yarn that Jeff likes at Craftsy.com, a site I've been using to get new patterns.  Not only do they have it, they have it on sale!!  And they also have an acrylic sock yarn that looks pretty good on sale, too.  I'm going to wait until Monday and if they still look good to me I'm going to order them.  Jeff's socks don't have to be finished by Christmas so I might just squeak by.
   Since our wood shed is now 99.9% full with less than a row to fill, we went to Tractor Supply today and got 2 cattle panels for a 2nd shed.  Jeff's got the pallets broken apart already so he just has to put the shed together and we can start filling it. We're going to get a load of split hard wood from the wood stove store on Rte 28 to put in the new shed, too.  Last year we bought bundles of split hard wood from Stewart's every other week.  It will be cheaper buying it this way.  
  

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like....

      Had to re-stock the mouse mazes this morning.  Around 11pm last night one of Mickey's cousins tried to naw it's way into the pantry closet...or my closet, couldn't tell which.  Fanny fled...she refused to be in my room until the clawing sounds stopped...with me right behind her!  It was so loud I was sure the mouse's head would pop thru the wall any second but after 5 or 10 minutes it went away.  Jeff was on the PC in his room and came down the hall knocking on the wall trying to intimidate the little rat.  It worked and the noises stopped.  Jeff laughs at me...and Fanny...for being so skittish.  He can't understand how something so small as a field mouse can be so scary to the dog and me.
   I can't say I've started decorating for Christmas since I don't do much and don't put away what I do after the season's over.  I have about a dozen of Mom's crystal trees on the shelf above the TV with a garland and lights behind it.  The shelves are in the original entrance to the house creating an alcove/open closet on the house side and a shelf unit on the TV room side.  You can see thru it and the display looks good from both directions...as long as I remember to dust from both sides of the shelf... especially when lit which I've started doing that this week.  I had to get a new extension cord because the one that was there disappeared (now, who'd take it??) but the new one has a button to turn on the lights that makes it easy to use.  I put our family motif (a ciucciu /cooch)...in glass, a donkey-pulled wagon, in the display this year with the wagonbed full of mini-wrapped packages. (Actually, they're 3-D stickers that I put together to give them color on both sides.  The package held 12 but the way I've got them put together I ended up with 6...which fits in the wagon bed nicely after I filled it with poly pellets.) The rest of the trees...9 or 10 of them...are with the glass snowmen on the piano.  There's a stand of lights around that...with another new extension cord.  That's about the extent of my Christmas decorations. Oh, there's a large glass apothecary jar filled with red glass Christmas balls on the mantel, too.  None of this stuff gets put away, I just stop turning on the lights.
   I got word the other day that one of the size 6 months sweaters...a blue one with the duck motif...sold.  That leaves 3 and unless another one sells today I'm not going to worry about replacing it this year.  I'll probably get to the shop tomorrow and find that all the Santa hats are gone but since Steve works next week I can send some down with him.  I've got 1 1/2 socks finished for Jeff that are not a Christmas present so I've got to get busy and finish them and start knitting for Christmas.  I love the yarn I ordered but don't know if I want to use it for what I ordered it for.  (Occupational hazard.)  So I ordered more sock yarn from Skeino and if I like that I may order more.  There is never enough yarn, just not enough time!!

My Mailbox Was Stuffed!

 Found my yarn order stuffed in the mailbox this morning when Jeff and I went to town. I exercised great control and just tossed it on the floor of the car and tried to ignore it...eventho it kept calling to me.  After we finished shopping we stopped at Belly Busters, a great new diner/bakery on State St. in Herkimer where Dandy Donuts use to be.  The coffee is good and they serve an all-you-can-eat breakfast all day for only $8.95 that Jeff likes.  While we were there having lunch, an older guy had 4.  Yeah, 4 breakfasts!!  We had burgers and fries and they were great!  I even saved a couple of bites of my cheeseburger for Fanny who was waiting in the car...guarding my yarn order.  When we got home, I calmly made a pot of coffee, put the rest of the groceries away and then tore opened my package!  The yarn is beautiful.  It looks great and feels wonderful.   Now I've just got to finish the socks I'm doing for Jeff...not a "Christmas present" but a "wood cutting" present...so I can start working on this new yarn.  Then today I found another site online...Skeino...that looks good, too.  So much yarn...so little time. 

Hello, December!

    We made it to December and you can still dig a hole in the garden...no snow and the ground is not frozen, yet.  In fact, it's raining today.  Kind of gray and cold.  The temperature is above freezing but not by much.  Just heard that some of the schools around Cooperstown had a delay opening this morning due to icy road conditions. 
   Jeff is still spending a couple a days a week cutting up pallets but he's stopped collecting them for now.  We've got enough piled up around here for now.  In fact, as soon as we stack what he has cut, we'll be off with the utility trailer to get a couple of cattle panels to build another woodshed.  Jeff figures we have enough pallets to fill half of a shed and the rest will be for the face cord of hard wood that we're planning to get from the wood stove store.  Hopefully, that will get us thru the winter...with the oil heat at night,  of course.                 

Small Gingerbread Men (w/Santa Hats behind them)

The Black Sheep is on the back!

   In the meantime, I've slowed up on knitting. I sold 9 hats and 4 sweaters in November opposed to 17 hats and 8 sweaters in October.  The Santa hats are popular now and I put 4 more in the shop yesterday along with another Black Sheep hoodie but that may be the last one for the season.  I'm scheduled to work only once more this season...on Sunday...and Steve, my 'runner', works once after that so those are the only 2 opportunities I'll
have to restock.  That's not so bad, either, because I

haven't started knitting Christmas presents yet.  In fact, I got the email notice this morning that my yarn order was shipped at 4:32 am today.  How long do you think it will it take it to get here from Massachusetts?  Oh, yeah, the giant Gingerbread man  sold on Sunday, too, so I put in the 2 small Gingerbread men yesterday. That's definitely all that I'll do of them for this year!!