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!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

    Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving yesterday!  My cousin, Ed, and Jeff's sister, Sherry, joined us for dinner... which turned out better than I ever expected!  The pork roast had a nice tasty crust on it but was tender and juicy...actually fork tender. So good!  (A Ronco rotisserie is a wonderful tool to have on your kitchen counter.)  Oven roasted butternut squash...from our garden, green beans and baked potatoes with gravy filled our plates.  I did a loaf of Italian bread in the bread machine and it was still warm at dinner time.  (I use regular flour...but shift it twice...instead of bread flour.) Dessert was pumpkin pie.  A simple menu but tasty.  I just piled the dirty dishes in the sink and hoped the Thanksgiving elves would visit but no such luck and they're still sitting there...uck.  Oh, well, I've changed the water twice...once more and I'll actually break down and wash dishes!  Jeff sent Ed home with a goodie bag of leftovers last night and still had enough for his late night snack.  I think there's enough for lunch but not for another supper.  Oh, well there is a small roast in the freezer....  Maybe we'll try a beef roast for Christmas.
   I sent in my order for sock yarn Tuesday.  I was comparing prices from my favorite catalogue with an online site and found that the online site was having an early Black Friday sale!  The yarn was half price...so I couldn't resist!!  Got enough for 4 pairs of socks (3 are Christmas gifts, 1 for me).  I have used the online site before (Webs) so I'm aware of it's quality and I can always order the other yarn from the catalogue later.  Judy had gotten me some sock yarn on sale at JoAnn's a couple of weeks ago using her coupons.  The 2 skeins of yarn she picked up cost less than the regular price for one!  I didn't have any choice about color...and since Jeff doesn't really care...I started a pair of socks with that yarn for him.  (It's not a Christmas present, just new socks.)  Then Wednesday afternoon Judy called from the shop to let me know that she had just sold my Black sheep hoodies(see blog entry for Nov 11 for photo.)!  I had cleaned the TV room that morning putting away yarn, etc so I had to dig out yarn and start another  hoodie.  Now I have a sock growing on short circular US 2's in a Deborah Norville Serenity washable wool sock yarn called Chili and a size 1 raglan-from-the-neck-down hoodie in a Red Heart acrylic called honeydew on US 5 & 7's with a Henley neck and a back zipper.  The sweater should be finished before Monday when I work in the shop again.  Hope I can get a couple of Santa and Ms Santa hats(see Nov 23 for photos) done by then, too.  I am surprised they sold!  I guess Jeff's new socks will have to wait until Monday.  
   The online knitting group (KnitTalk@yahoo.com) I belong to asked all its members to post what they were thankful for this year.  Here's what I posted:

• I am thankful for the man in my life...he makes     it interesting and difficult but never boring.
• I am thankful for the dog in our life... it would be dull without her.
• I am thankful for our friends and family... without them it would be lonely, no one to play 'remember when' with.
• I am thankful for this little house in this little woods...it may be old and ramble shack but it keeps out the weather and keeps in the warmth.
• I am thankful for knowing how to knit...it keeps me busy.
• I am thankful for the shop and it's customers...even when I get tired of making another baby sweater.  I meet so many nice people there!
• I am thankful that I took early retirement...going out 3 years early was worth it!
• I am thankful that I am a cancer survivor although radiation weakened my malformed heart valve resulting in valve replacement surgery and the rest of my life on warfarin.
• I am thankful. 

Deck The Halls!

   The shop is decorated for Christmas and the

The front door of the shop

outside looks beautiful!  Around 4pm the spotlight goes on and sign really lights up!  Judy, Sharon and Abby outdid themselves!  Judy also

The side of the whop

did a wreath with all natural embellishments for the Adorn-a-door silent auction to raise funds for the art association but for some reason I can't download that photo today!
   OK, I did finished the Gingerbread Giant...man...and decided it's definitely a stuffed toy, not a tree ornament.  Disappointing.  So I tried

The Gingerbread Giant w/Santa & Ms. Santa Hats

it again...this time with a size 1 needle and sock yarn.  Came out much, much smaller and looks cute.  But a real bitch when I drop a stitch!!  I'd like to make a couple that size for the shop but I don't know if my hands will allow it...especially when there's wood to stack.  Hey, I even raised a blister on the back of the ring finger of my right hand...and it just hangs there not doing anything...as the base of the needle rubs it as it passes by!  Not to mention how many times I drew blood from the tip of my left index finger! Knitting can be very physical. 
   The only thing of mine that sold this weekend has been a Santa hat.  Oh, well.  They're easy to make.  Hope more than that sells this week!  I need to send in my yarn order so I can start knitting Christmas presents!  Saturday is 'Shop Local Saturday', and Friday and Saturday are traditional good sales days for the shop. 
   Got to clean house a little this week before Thanksgiving.  Good thing no one looks too closely!!

And Another Load of Wood

   Jeff picked up another load of pallets yesterday and told the guys at the hardware store that that would be it for awhile.  There are always a few pallets left over from each load that don't get cut apart coz the trailer gets full of cut wood before all the pallets get cut up.  Eventually we have a pile of pallets waiting to be cut apart...like now.   Jeff wants to get all the pallets we have cut up and stacked... before they're covered with snow....before he picks up any more.  We've decided we're going to have to put up another woodshed, and probably get a face cord of hard wood, too, after the first of December.  If we get really inspired, we could even clean off the porch and take all the junk to the dump...oh, the politically correct term, to the recycling center...in north Utica and stack some wood inside.  Now, that would be nice.
   I finally finished the four size 6mo raglan-from-the-neck-down cardigans with plain roll brim hats with

top knots coordinated with them (but priced separately) to take to the shop Sunday.  Each sweater has 1 motif in a lower front corner.  There's a duck, baseball, black and white sheep.   I even got the Pretty in

Pink size 1 hoodie finished

Pretty in Pink Hoodie

and the sewed
the back zipper in last
night.  Then about 9 pm last night I started
looking for something to knit when I remembered I had bookmarked a
pattern at Craftsy.com
that I saw on Facebook.

It's a gingerbread man.  My mom had directions for one that we made for years but I can't find it.  This one looks pretty close so I thought I'd try it.  But it's working up 3x as big!  More of a toy than an ornament.  I still have got to get the arms and the head done and stuff it and then I'll decide if I like it.  It's done with worsted on US4's so it's not too difficult. (Calls for 4 dp's but I'm using 2 short circulars.) 
   There are hunters in the woods around us.  Fanny won't go out even with a human escort.  The gun shots even make me a little nervous!  Hope they know what they are doing.   Haven't seen any turkey or deer since hunting season opened.  
  

Still Stacking Wood

    The weather today was sunny and pleasant so we spent about 2 hours this afternoon stacking wood.  Either Jeff is putting less on the trailer each time (I doubt it) or we're stacking faster!  There's just enough space in the woodshed for 1 1/2 rows then we'll have to decided if we're going to put up another woodshed next to this one.  And I actually cooked dinner today (Angie's Italian Fried Chicken, garlic mashed potatoes with gravy and green beans) which tasted pretty good if I say so myself...after working outside!  I just put together a Cherry Dump Cake and the smells from the oven are pretty good, too!
   I've been doing some size 6 months raglan-from-the-neck-down cardigans with a single intarsia design in the lower front corner for the shop.  They knit up fairly quickly and so far this weekend I've finished a white sheep on a honeydew green sweater and a yellow duck on a delft blue sweater. When I came in from stacking wood...and before I started dinner...I cast on for a pink sweater that will have a black sheep on the front. I'd like to do a baseball on a blue sweater, too, but I'll have to buy a skein of yarn first.  It's a change from working on the hoodies... even if they've only been size 1's... and since they work up so quick, these little sweaters are easier on my hands!  I'm not scheduled to work in Cooperstown until next Sunday so I might have time to do some hats, too. As part of a 'Shop Local' campaign, the shop will be donating part of our sales for the week before and after Thanksgiving to the food pantry.
   The on-line knitting group I belong to (KnitTalk on Yahoo) held it's annual 'Aftober' recently.  All members are encouraged to finish projects and talk about them.  Those who do receive a well-decorated envelope and a mystery 'prize of no great value'.  At the end of the month the prize is identified.  This year it was a Kumihimo loom (google it!). I'm looking forward to coming up with a project to use mine with.  Thank you, again, Afton and your helpers.    
   Our autumn visitors seem to have decided to move on.  Haven't heard them since we put D-con in the attic way and on the cellar stairs.  I have heard them a couple of times in the water closet in my room but it sounds like they were moving the D-con dispenser around to get into it easier.  Hate to do that to Mickey M's relatives, but.... 
   One of my Christmas cacti decided it was time to bloom.  This one blooms between Halloween and Thanksgiving and the other one between Thanksgiving and Christmas.   I was surprised  when I moved some furniture in the parlor yesterday to dust to find this one in bloom!  I guess it does pay to clean...once in awhile. (photos will be posted tomorrow.)
  

Time For Something New

That's my Black Sheep Hoodie

   It's been decided that it's time...and we've got the money...to put together a new brochure for the shop.  It's been about 10 years since the last one was assembled and things have changed a lot.  Here are a few of the photos that are in the running for inclusion on the brochure.  Now these were taken with a point-and-shoot digital camera!  WOW!!  The actual photos for the brochure were then taken with a digital SLR.          
The ladies who put together these scenes spent about 6 hours in the shop yesterday picking things out and taking the photos. Thanks Sharon, Deb B and Judy for doing a great job!  And these wonderful photos represent roughly half of what we've got in the shop! 
   The shop is Cooper Country at 2 Doubleday Court in Cooperstown, NY.  We're open 10am-5pm every day...except Thanksgiving...thru Christmas Eve.

Busy, Busy!

    Boy, did my sweater display look empty yesterday...and the hat rack, too!  I brought two hoodies and 5 hats with me but they didn't take up much space.  Good thing Judy suggested keeping the 2 pumpkin hats on display until Thanksgiving or the display would really have looked poor!  I've got a 'Pretty in Pink' (pink with white trim) hoodie...with a cable around the hood and 2 down the front...on the needles ready for sleeves.  Before I headed for Cooperstown I stopped at Walmart and got a skein of honeydew...a nice pale green... yarn for another hoodie with cables.  I've got some baby yarn around here someplace so maybe I'll do a couple of newborn sweater sets just to fill up the space, too.  And, Judy picked up some sock yarn for me on sale at JoAnn's on Sunday.  Jeff's socks are wearing out and I haven't ordered my yarn for Christmas gifts yet so it will come in handy. 

What's left of the teapot collection

   I'm not scheduled to work in the shop again until the Sunday before Thanksgiving so I think I have enough time to knit...and stack wood...and maybe even clean house a little. I've been boxing up and putting away a lot of my teapots as I clean the shelves ever since the type-drawer shelf in the kitchen fell off the wall this summer.  The Christmas teapots...and most of the holiday knickknacks...have taken over since they don't get put away.  There was just getting to be too much stuff with everything else.
   This morning Jeff and I stacked wood and we got the trailer emptied!  He didn't think we'd get it all done but we did! 

The shed's almost full!

When we were finished he went to town to check the parking lot but the hardware store didn't have enough pallets stacked up to make it worthwhile to hitch up the trailer and go get a load. (YEA!!) He's got a lot of pallets taken apart ready to be cut and stacked so there's enough to keep him busy...hey, do I hear the saw??  Oh, no!!!
   We've been waiting for the man from Harbor Point to come over this afternoon and clean our furnace and he just got here.  (Jeff insists we do it every year  and it's kind of late in the season to be doing it in November!)  Fanny barked threaten-ly and then hid under the kitchen table.  (Oh, thank goodness for tablecloths that hang over and create hidey holes!)

A Late Night Visit

   Last night around 9pm we had a visitor.   I was sitting at my PC in the parlor and Jeff was at his in his room watching something on Netflix when I heard it in the kitchen.  I stomped my feet and yelled and it scampered away.  Jeff came running to see what the commotion was about and I told him there was a mouse in the kitchen near the dog's dish.  Fanny checked that out (from behind Jeff's legs) and Jeff said we'd have to get some D-con or something today.  Then he went back to his movie and I decided to go into my bedroom with my little netbook well away from any mouse activity.  Fanny came with me for about half a minute, then jumped off the bed and went into Jeff's room, came back into my room...to make sure I was alright?...and then went back to his room and dove under his bed. (Brave watch dog, huh?)  She stayed there until he turned off his PC a couple of hours later.  She wasn't too sure about sleeping in my room until I put the puppy screen across the door way.  She sniffed it, decided it must be mouse proof coz she won't jump over it so of course a mouse won't, climbed back on the bed and went to sleep.  Now mice in the house in the fall are a fact of life in this little house in the little woods and they don't bother me too much, especially after I put out a couple of packets of D-con (on the attic and cellar stairs, well away from the dog) but I never had a dog that hid from a mouse before.
   Oh, I got a Facebook message from the shop yesterday afternoon...2 sweaters had just sold!  Judy called later and said I also sold a couple of baby hats and a pair of adult socks.  Not bad for the first week of November!  I got the embroidery finished on the 2 hoodies I've been working on, just leaving the zippers to sew in today, so they'll be ready for the shop on Monday.  I'd like to start another hoodie but I think I better spend some time making hats!  Jeff is outside cutting wood today so I know what he's planning for me to do tomorrow!!

At Last...!

    At last we got a couple of our green tomatoes to ripen!  The first group got the blight...inside the house!...and rotten right there in the window, but these two ripened nicely without any sign of the rot!
    We've been busy cutting and stacking firewood.  There's 3 1/2 rows in the shed now and probably room for another 3 1/2 rows with what Jeff's got ready to cut.  But he picked up more pallets today so I think we're going to have to put up another woodshed if he gets what he picked up today ready to cut for this season.   (He cuts for 2 days and we stack for 2 days and then take 2 days off to let our backs recover!  It doesn't get easier.)
   Yesterday we went to Gloversville to a sports shop Jeff saw advertised online.  It wasn't hard to find (would have been even easier if we had taken the right route) and the weather was nice for a ride.  Someone put a traffic circle on Rte 30 since the last time I was on that road and that threw me a little...got beeped at both going and coming!  I do not like traffic circles.  
   I finished my Black Sheep hoodie this afternoon.  Just have the embroidery to do on it and the Train hoodie...and sew in the back zippers and the buttons...got until Monday to finish them.  A little each day and they should be done and ready to take to the shop when I go down to work.  Got a few hats to take, too.  I got a couple of patterns for adult Aran ski hats that I hope I can get to this weekend, too. 

Christmas Already?

      After a slow but interesting day in the shop yesterday (less than $60 in sales/none of it mine, but with a couple of nice chats with customers...I even met a very nice and very polite black lab) where I got to read a lot of the book I brought with me, I decided it was time to start planning for Christmas.  A couple of baby-size Santa and Ms. Santa hats and red and white stripe baby socks were all I could come up with.   The display of pastel sweaters that are there didn't inspire any thoughts of sugar plum fairies, either.  Last year I tried a child's Fair Isle vest that didn't sell so I don't think I'll go that route again.  Of course, the train hoodie that's on my needles could be labeled the Polar Express...but it's not very girlish.  I'm not scheduled to work again until Nov. 9th so I've got time to come up with something new but I think I may do the hats this weekend and mail then to Judy so they will be available right away.
   I got home last night to find a crockpot full of Jeff's goulash...and a sink full of dishes!  The goulash is for supper today (it always has to cook for 2 days) and I had left a dirty kettle in the sink and he had added to it....but it was a small price to pay for the goulash!!  Jeff also cleaned the bathroom!!  Our sulfur water is hard on the toilet and he really scrubbed it getting hard-water marks off that have been there forever!  Fanny's back on Jeff's bed so I think he may have forgiven her for peeing on his bed

Back on Jeff's bed

but Fanny's still not being allowed freedom when going outside.
   My turn to have clean sheets but it's not because the dog peed on my bed, it's just time.   Time to turn my mattress, too, but I got it wedged/stuck halfway around and had to call for help.  Jeff got it turned and I got the bed made and all the pillowcases changed...there are 2 pillows on my side and 4 on Fanny's side but she does stretch out across them...kind of like a 'princess on a pea' act.  I think I may put 'new pillows' on my Christmas list since Fanny used the corners of most of them as teething toys when we first got her.  Maybe that's why she has 4 pillows on her side??  I know I'm going to put 'new sheets' on my list.  Between us I think we have 3 sets, definitely need another.
   I just checked and my sneakers are still wet from walking in the rain thru Doubleday Parking lot yesterday.  My socks were cotton and soaked and my feet were like ice when I got home.  I guess that's the end of this year's sneakers.  I think I better do a pair of wool socks for me before I do any for anyone else but right now it's back to those baby Santa hats!

Santa and Ms Santa Hats ready for the shop

P.S.   Just finished a delicious supper of Jeff's goulash...we both had 2 bowls!  And there's enough left for lunch tomorrow.  Jeff was busy today cutting wood and has about half the utility trailer filled.  He says he hopes to get it filled tomorrow and then, the next 2 days we'll be stacking wood.  Good thing I got 2 baby Santa and 1 Ms Santa hats done today.  I hope I can get one more done tonight and that should be enough to start the season with.  6:59pm 10/29/2015

Never A Dull Moment

A row and a half stacked

       We stacked wood for the 2nd day in a row today and now have 1 1/2 rows in the woodshed.  I'm not proud to say that I whined most of the time (he was throwing the wood at me (not really), I was afraid I'd trip on the uneven floor and fall, my back hurt, etc.) but I didn't quit and we finally emptied out the trailer.  Jeff said he was surprised I had stuck with it!  Now he's got to cut up more pallets so we can do it again.  But first he went on a scouting mission to see if there were enough pallets down to the hardware store to fill the trailer. (There wasn't)  Before he

Pallets waiting to be cut up

starts cutting what's here he'd like to get another trailer load of pallets because the trailer will be out of service for 3-4 days while he's cutting and we're stacking, oh, well.
     While we were busy stacking wood Fanny was strolling around the yard pulling her usual disappearing act.  Finally we were both tired and out-of-sorts (that may be read as 'being in bitchy moods') when she disappeared again.  It took a few minutes before Jeff traced her down....down the dirt road/4-wheeler trail/old trolley bed that runs behind our house.  When she finally reappeared it looked like she had found a dead animal...possibly a deer...and rolled in it because she had dried blood on her back and legs along with the mud.  She also had small ticks on her back so when we put her on her lead I got the spray bottle and sprayed...her legs, belly, side, back, neck, head...and picked ticks.  She was not a happy puppy.  She does not like to be sprayed with flea and tick spray and especially not when she can't get away and hide.  She spent the rest of the time we were outside on the lead and when we came in she ignored both of us.  Now she has gotten even...she just peed on Jeff's bed.  I think Fanny will be spending several days on the lead. (It's safe to say Jeff is not happy.)

   I've got 2 adult cable hats ready to take to the shop tomorrow and this morning I did a baby's flower hat.  And after supper I started a 2nd flower hat but was interrupted by Fanny's dramatic presentation.  Now while one of Jeff's blankets is in the dryer and the other in the washer...the sheets can wait until morning... I can get back to my knitting. 

The two new Flower Hats in the shop on Wednesday!

Monday, Monday

     Ah, Monday, again, and that pile of wood hasn't 
moved much.  Jeff's got some of it cut and on the 
trailer waiting...for me...to stack it in the woodshed.
I've got a Traveling Cable Hat ready to decrease and

Traveling Cable Hat Waiting for decreases

The 1st cable hat

I'd like to get it finished before Wednesday so I can take it to the shop.  It's an adult hat and so far I've worked on it for 2 days but it's on US 6's in worsted burgundy and doesn't 'grow' very fast.  I've poked a couple of holes in my index finger, too...and I usually do that only when I doing socks!  The proposed price of this hat has gone up, too.  It's taken as much time to knit as a size 1 sweater so the price will probably be the same.  I did another adult cable hat that went faster without the finger punctures, too.
    Jeff's PC just got back from it's trip to the repair shop in Irving, Texas.  It beat all of the predictions of it's return...even the one on the tracking page that said it wouldn't be delivered until late this afternoon!  (The UPS truck was here before 11am!!)  He's busy checking passwords and so far, is pleased with the repair.  And yes, they did replace the Mother Board.  But, because he had purchased replacement insurance when he got the PC, the entire process just cost him some packing tape and time.  Not  a bad deal, at all.
   The green tomatoes we brought in to try to ripen developed blight and rotten eventho they didn't show any signs of blight before they started to ripen.  And they were ripening so nicely when they developed blight.  UCK!!  Most of the strawberries didn't ripen, either, but the 2nd basket is still flowering.  Don't understand why?????

Keeping Busy

   Jeff's been busy cutting wood this week. It's about ready to be stacked in the woodshed (oh, wonderful---my job) and not a moment too soon.  Today it's only  37degrees outside and it's almost noon!  Yesterday we went 'wishful shopping' and priced a fireplace insert.  It seems such a waste not to use the fireplace....   Anyway, it will be about $4000 to have a wood burning insert with a chimney insert installed.  Something to think about definitely.  Now, how many sweaters and hats will have to sell to pay for that?

   Here's another way to warm up this winter...Jeff's crop of Ghost peppers and Italian long-hots!  They're

 headed for the dehydrator and will end up as crushed hot peppers...so good on pizza and spaghetti!

   After Jeff's ophthalmology appointment in Cooperstown Thursday we went to Sal's on Main St for lunch.  I have been telling Jeff how good the food is at Sal's and he decided to try it.  Jeff had a sausage sub with onions and peppers and said it was the best one he's had in 20 years.  He even praised the bread!  I had pizza and Sal's is always good!  My mom use to say the sauce at Sal's tastes like someone's mother made it.  Now, that's high praise!

   Jeff had sent his PC to the repair shop to be fixed

and got word last night that it was fixed and would be shipped shortly. (Looks like my prediction of 2 weeks may be right.)  He thinks they just changed the mother board but if that fixes it....   Now's he tracking it home from Irving, Texas via UPS.  I'm saying it will be here Tuesday or Wednesday.  (Sharing this PC hasn't been so bad....)

   I went to the library this morning to print some knitting patterns coz my printer is out of ink (it's on the top of my shopping list for next month) and finally took the correct camera cord so I could download photos.  (Now I've got to mark that cord so it doesn't get mixed up with all the others again.) I added the photo of Jeff's wooded bowl to a previous blog posting...where it belonged...and put the 2 photos on this page so I could write around them when I got home. Now that I've done that I think I better get busy and knit. 

    This weekend's projects will be adult winter hats, and maybe some baby hats to match.  I have to work in the shop on Wednesday and want to have a few to take down.  We're still getting tourists on weekends and locals have started coming in during the week...to do holiday shopping??  I think I need

something new to catch their eye and I think I may have found it.  Photos to follow when something is finished!