Oh My!

Okay, things have not been frenetically busy. My days have not been filled with unending business...things have been rather...slow. Mellow. I get my chores done and have time to read a bit on the web. Or a book (shudder w/delight!). Play with my kiddo's. In other words, life is good.
So, the pic above is my darling KC, 3 days after turning 5. Can you believe that? My wee lad is
a 5 year old!!!??? He's sleeping here, leaning into his Ooma's (Lee's) lap....at Fenway Park! Only my son could sleep through a baseball game where the Red Sox kept scoring run after run (they were up on the Angels by 9-3 when we left in the 6th inning because of how windy/chilly it was getting), which means fans were screaming wildly all around us...yet he slept on!

Robbie, almost 13 now, all geared up for the game, having a BLAST. Our company has a Patriot's Day event (you know, "t'was the 18th of April in '75 and hardly a man is now alive who remembers that famous day and year...") well, it's a big big holiday here in Massachusetts, with the running of the Boston Marathon, events at Lexington and Concord ("by the rude bridge that arched the flood, her flag to April's breeze unfurled, here once the embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard 'round the world...") and of course, Baseball.

The main office of our company is on Commonwealth AVenue, the very last leg of the marathon, so we get to see runners just before they cross the finish line a few hundred yards up ahead of us. (if watching a marathon is your thing, I guess it's fun!) They do a nice spread for breakfast, and lunch, provide free tix to the Red Sox game. We rarely go in for this event, as getting 5 of the 6 of us up and out on a Holiday from work, means getting up and out before we'd ever have to leave for work...ugh! But this year we said what the heck, and went. The air was brisk, and when the wind picked up in th e 5th inning it was quite chilly. Since we were up high (very last/top row of the bleacher seats, FANTASTIC fun seats, btw, maybe not so much "kewlness" as sitting 8 rows behind home plate like we did last year, but the fans are way funner in the bleachers,lol!) the wind kept "foaming' up over the wall and pouring down on us. It was neat. Cold, but neat. Everyone agreed it was a great day, all in all! Sometime I'll tell you about the sardine T-ride into Boston...or maybe not, because that was NOT a fun experience, but it was blessedly short (although my kids were as freaked out as I was), and will someday make a funny family memory. It's those "bad"-ish things that happen that make the story stick in the memory, after all. And it wasn't sooo bad. Un pleasant, yes, but it could have been worse. The guy with his butt plastered against my side could have let one loose and killed me, after all LOL!

Finally, the wee missy, Elisabeth, you can't really see her twists here, but believe me, Lee is having a blast designing hair styles now that her hair is getting so long. It's a ton of work to do, but the styles usually last about a week. I'll try to remember to upload her beaded head from last week...too cute!

Okay, I've written a book. Sorry bout that, but ...call it catching up a wee bit!

February was the last post I submitted...what the heck?

Yay!

Here is Blake, surveying our "breach" in the ice dam that was across our driveway!

The ice has thawed considerably, but still, almost 2 months since the ice storm of Dec

13, you can see how thick the ice is.

This wide shot shows the ice moat that once surrounded where I park the van. Now we can drive straight into the spot, and not up and over the moat "entry"! Oh YAY! A breach at each

end...can Spring be far behind? I should mention that yesterday and today were the first "melting" days we've had since Dec 13....hasn't been above freezing since then.

And last, but by no means least, our back step! It's been missing so long, under (at times) 4 to 5 inches of ice. There's a drip off the porch roof that lands here, so this area is subject to massive

ice build up every winter.

Lovely Lissa!

Okay, so she looks a wee bit pissed off in the above pic, and so she was. She wanted to be holding the camera, not stuck in her play room area! In between pics, the ME ME MEEEEE's rang out at a deafening volume. When she could see that I was trying to get a good picture of her new ear piercings, she finally calmed down enough so I could take this shot:

And Voila! Here is a calmer Lissa with her brand new pierced ears! Although she is just 2, well technically nearly 26 months now, she has wanted pierced ears for 4 or 5 months. Every time I changed her diaper, put her to bed, or held her, she would reach up, toy with my earrings (which I finally started wearing in the Autumn after a 4 year absence) and say "Me, ear?"

I know Lee didn't necessarily think that Lissa *really* wanted her ears pierced, but me, who has heard her ask this somewhere in the vicinity of 100 times, *knew* she really, really wanted pierced ears.

Last Friday, Lee took all the kids to the mall after she got home from work. They were shopping for my birthday. Since the economy sucks, the mall was pretty deserted, and there was no one at the Earring Pagoda...and two clerks on duty meant that both her ears could be done simultaneously. They picked out her December birthstone (blue topaz) and let 'er rip! I guess it went so well the clerks were amazed. She screwed up her face in her "pre-cry" mode, but then the VERY smart woman says, 'hey Lissa, want to see your new earrings?" and holds up a mirror. Lissa grabs said mirror, turns her head this way and that and croons "ooooh pwetty ears"!!! Never a tear shed, and thus far (knock wood) no redness, swelling, pain or upset about her new ears! She loves them.

And of course, she is so pwetty!

lots of snow and more on the way...

Robbie is nearly 5 ft tall, and you can see the great size of our 2nd
snowman of the winter! We got 13 inches or so of snow
last weekend (not this one just past, prior to that) in
two back-to-back storms and it finally warmed up this
past week so the boys could go to work on this fellow.

I guess he'll get a companion sometime this week, as
we're expecting another 12 inches of snow tomorrow.
Rumor has it that we might get (*ugh) ice at the end
of the snow...

still have ice from the Dec 13 ice storm all over the ground.
I have a 2-3 inch tall "hummuck" of ice/snow that never
got shovelled up from that storm that surrounds my van's
parking spot in the yard. I think it will be there until
Spring arrives...sigh.

Done and Huzzah!

This is the sweater coat detail...

And THIS is the sweater coat!!!

I started knitting this in April last year (08) for Lee's

Yule gift. Didn't finish it completely by Yule, as the collar

and button bands were not done by then, but today, just

1 month from Yule, the sweater is done! I'm ecstatic!

It looks wonderful on her as well. (and fits beautifully,

so there's a lesson in not rushing things!)

I was going to knit a vest for myself, but with the ongoing

weight loss, I won't start that until I'm at my goal weight, by

the Autumn.

I've been making hand warmers, those fingerless/topless

mittens with a thumb hole. Found a sweet and easy pattern

in a library book, and have made at least a half dozen now.

First set was for Lee in an oatmeal wool yarn, now I'm going to

make her a set from the leftover sweater yarn to go with that.

They only take a day to make (I knit both mitts at the same time,

same as I do with mittens and sweater sleeves).

Well, off for more laundry. How a family of 6 generates

4 loads of wash from Sunday night to Monday morning is

one of the great mysteries of life!!

Me, a work in process! Progress? Hmmm...

Here I am.
Been awhile
since I
blogged.
Busy,
tired,
holidays,
ice storm
no power
no time,
tired,
busy.

But, one thing I've been working diligently on since
I got sick in late October, is losing weight. Doing it
on my own, since the stomach bug I had made me not
eat for almost a week, with only small nibbles to sustain
me. Helped "jump start" me, I guess. Now, in mid
January, I've lost 30 pounds. Super, duper psyched!!
I never hit the evil "200" pound mark, but since I was just
8 oz off that mark, I was scared I would be heading into
my 50's the same way I spent my 30's and 40's...fat.
But....I won't!
Not now.
Oh my, it's been nearly 3 months and I'm still doing it!

As my hair has grown out, my waist has been

emerging!

So looking forward to Springtime when I can walk

again. It's ice and snow for over a month now, too

treacherous for walking in early darkness, or late

afternoon dusk. Soon. Don't want to rush the

winter away. I like winter. Really!

Just 2 weeks until I'm 50.....

....and I'm so happy with my life.

Spooky Fun!

Miss Elisabeth at the Spooky Tea Party.
Her witches hat is on the table....















Big Brother KC is wearing his witch hat and
enjoying moon and star cookies

Having a tea party with Ooma is great!

glow in the dark autumn decorations glow

eerily while 'worms' are consumed...

and Momma witch poses before heading off

to work at the Halloween party at her job.

EEEK! Post spooky

Downside up, upside down! KC looks like a

strangely put together person!

Well, I started out with the greatest of intentions, and this last 10-12 days I've really fallen off the writing wagon, haven't I?

Maybe my life is just kinda boring. It's okay that it's boring. It is boring to read about, but not boring to live, if you know what I mean. Life is full and busy and crazy with the kids. With the sudden onset of much cooler weather, the kids and Lee have not gotten to the local park after dinner, thus the chaos and pandemonium that is burned off there, explodes in my house! This does not make for interesting posts, unless you like hearing a 4 yo talking about butts, farts or burping, and an almost 2 yo yelling NO NO YES YES and spitting at her brother. The older brothers either stoically ignore the two younglings, or, worse, they join in. Ah, the strange after supper conversations that happen between the living room and the kitchen when the parents are out of sight, but not out of earshot!!

But as I made dinner tonight, a vegetarian faux beef stew, I realized that FRIDAY is Halloween,

and that means Post spooky ends...and I've been sooooo inconsistant. Sorry all! I've been trying to squeeze out time to read everyone's posts, usually Sunday evenings, but this week I fell behind. Promise I'll catch up when we get our "extra" hour back when DST ends Sat. Between that hour, and the fact that I won't be getting to our UU church much this year either, I'll have more time to catch up. Lissa just hated being in the nursery, and got so freaked out this past week that I was going to put her there that she threw herself full throttle onto the floor,banging her head and adding to the shreiks of fear (oh, yeah, it was fear in that wee voice) were the shreeeeeeks from banging onto the floor that hard. Well, I'm not going to put her through that again. Two weeks is enough. I dunno what happened there, but I'm not going to make her fearful over it. We two will stay home and I'll get caught up on house chores, and SEWING, and maybe even some knitting! With the forthcoming holidays, extra time is a wonderful boon.

Tomorrow I'm going to post before and after pix of the trees. We had wicked winds these last two days, and my trees are just about stripped bare. Yay for raking, but, oh it was such a beautiful year for the color. I'm going to miss that golden glow through my windows, and now I really, really need to get my insulated curtains finished.

Blessed be!

Hmmmmm....

This was my perspective while lying in my
camp chair at the end of August. It was lovely,
warm, sunny. Lee and kids were at the beach,
I was back at camp with the dog, as dogs are
not allowed at the beach until after 4 p.m. or
something weird like that...ahhhh, peace,
quiet, ......

Oh, there's my footsies...and the camp stove.

Do I want a cuppa?......

Naw, I'll just doze here awhile....

Yeah. So I was puttering around earlier this

evening, kinda planning out the weekend...

I mean T G I F for sure this week...busy every

day, no down time, just on the go from 530 a.m

until 11 pm...I'm just beat. And tomorrow I work

out of the house, but, NO ALARM CLOCK!!!

The one day I can sleep until 7!! Sometimes I

get up earlier, but Saturday, my clock is

sleeping in too!

Anyway, that's off the subject. I was looking at

the calendar for the weekend and the upcoming

week, another busy one, with mucho DR.

appointments. Rob has a glaucoma check up

that is a "long" appointment where they dialate

his eyes and take a ton of readings to check

progression on Tuesday, and then he, Lee, and

his older brother all have flu shots in the afternoon.

The littles and I have ours the day before. There are

other things, like I have to work extra hours Thurs.

and Friday. Bummer, I have to work on Halloween.

But I do get to dress up, as we host the party for the

kids who live at the apartment complex where I work

in the clubhouse. It's a gathering area for the kids

and the party is always exhausting! Then I realized..

That means next Saturday is the first day of NOVEMBER!

I mean, wasn't I just laying in that lawn chair and

taking pix of my feet for this blog???? Wha?

Where? Where has the time gone? And yet, I know

the days have been full. We have had morning walks

together, the kids and I. Music Movement classes

for the littles in Worcester. Trips here and there.

Work. Gardening. Canning. Cooking and freezing.

Yardwork, final camping trips, reading books, painting

pictures,makingcraftsridingbikesplayingintthebackyard

cookingtogethereatingatFriendliesgoingtotheAudubonsanctuary...

Breathe....

Okay, I guess all of that can't fit in one or two days.

So the time has passed, well spent.

No days of lolling about, to be sure. We're not "lolling" people,

but we're not overprogrammed, either.

November. Wow.

Feel that wheel spin, much?!

The last canning of the year...

First, the crew assembles to pick the last
apples of the season















Oh, look at that view! Orchard is to the left,
right and behind us too! The community garden
is behind us as well.















All hands to apple picking! Lissa LOVES picking
apples. Too bad I was shooting against what little
light we had so you can't see the gi-normeous
grin on her face!















Older brother hates the smell of apples. He doesn't
like to pick apples. But these Suncrisp apples
have next to no smell at all and soon...














KC gets in the act too! Rob climbed up a tree
to retrieve a really HUGE apple, and He was
so proud to have overcome his fear of heights
to get it.
Spent all day today making apple pie filling
(and a fresh apple pie, too) from all the apples
we picked yesterday. I made 6 quarts this a.m.
and 9 this afternoon. Once the timer goes off
the canner will go down cellar for the season.
I'm very tired, but it's a "good" tired! Now we
can enjoy apple treats all winter long. Nothing
like putting a pie in the oven when it's snowing
like crazy outside, knowing that we picked the
fruit 4 miles from our home!

I;m late, I'm late for a very important Spooky!

the kids pumpkins in a great light and shadow
play..














this was a few days ago, these maples
have fully turned brilliant red and orange now
















this was yesterday, from my bedroom window.
This maple is one of the last in my yard to turn,
but that one orange/yellow leaf is so pretty!
















The view when I sit at the kitchen island for
breakfast. Sun has just broached the houses
across the street and smack full onto the side
yard maples. I love how the glassware
contrasts against the outside color and texture.














One more orange leaf pic...well, for today. A
short breeze blew just as I snapped this, but I
love the blurry image. Someday, someday
I will have time to make this into a quilt. But with
full blue sections sparkling behind the colors, like
the photo a few frames up.
Oh, I can't believe how behind on blogging
and blog reading I am. After 10 days with no
factory work, I suddenly had jobs at the two
that I do home work for...nearly simultaneously.
And all due "yesterday" so we were flat out between
that, and making time to rake up those beauties as they
fall!
I'll be catching up over the next few days. Down to working
just one job now here at home, canning is almost done.
Well, we went and picked what apples remain at the orchards
so I can can two more batches of apple pie filling (great with
the kids' oatmeal during the winter). And just when I had my
son take the canner and extra jars to the cellar...who knew the
orchard would be open after the first frost? Live and learn, I
guess. Anyway, this makes tomorrow a great "go nowhere" day.
Weather will be turning windy and raw and wet, and we might
see a few snowflakes, our first of the season!! (see, I knew I'd get
a scary thing in there somewhere!!!! Snow before I get all
the leaves raked for the season?? eeeeeeekkkkkkk!!)

more autumn pix, maybe spooky, too!

Isn't it strange that one side of the road has turned color,
but the other side hasn't? Same climate, but less sunlight?
Hmmm, spoooky!

















And just a bit down the road...sha-boom~ a gorgeous
riot of colors, even on this murky day.











And in my own yard, my "slow" maple has begun to turn as well,
a gorgeous tri-colored delight. I love how the red-orange
just glows in the low light from the overcast. The dark
pines behind make a nice contrast, too.













And my own cheery front door! KC painted the jack o lantern
last year, when he was 3, hence the few missed spots that make
it all the more precious to me.
Didja know that Indian corn was hung on doors to symbolize
that harvest had ended? I didn't know that! And our harvest
has indeed ended, pout. I was soooooo terrifically sad to turn
in the garden plot. We had to have it all done by today, so the farm
could plow it under. I loved my community garden plot, the location was
only 4 miles from my house, and high on a hill. Sunsets and thunderstorms were
awesome from up here, and the gardens got great wind movement to help
them to grow strong and steady. It was so sad to pull up the vines, pull up stakes,
literally and figuratively, and say goodbye. And yet, there is a larder full of things
from the garden, to fill our bellies with our own grown food!
As Candice Olsen from HGTV says...."How Divine"!!

Apple Peel Jelly/Halloween Bones Recipes

Apple Peel Jelly















peelings from multiple apples (like after making
apple pie)
place peels in pot with 5 cups water (I usually
use a generous 5 cups, closer to 5.5 cups).
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and
cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat w/cover
on pot, and let sit overnight.

Strain liquid into measure cup, be sure you have
5 cups of liquid. Dispose of apple remains in your
compost bin, and put liquid into a bigger pan.
Add one box pectin, stir to dissolve pectin.
Heat on high, bringing to boil, and
add 7 cups of sugar all at once to pot, and bring back to boil.
I also add about 1 tsp of butter (not marg.) to help reduce
foaming.
Let boil hard for 1 minute, then remove from heat.
Pack into sterile jelly jars leaving 1 inch headspace.
boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

This is sooo yummy, although my next batch I'm going
to try reducing the sugar by 1 cup as 7 cups is very
very sweet.

My jam costs 34 cents a jar, for something that would have
gone straight to my compost.

Halloween Bones via Recipezaar #44079
Ingredients
2 large egg whites
4 ounces confectioners sugar
Directions
1Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2Beat the egg whites until stiff, starting on a low speed and gradually on a higher speed.
3Then start adding the sugar, a tablespoon at the time, keep beating until you have a thick and glossy meringue.
4Line baking trays with paper.
5Using a piping bag with a plain nozzle, pipe a straight meringue bone/line of approx 4 inch long, pipe 2 meringue balls at each end of the bone/line.
6Take of any pointy bits meringue on the balls with a small knife or use scissors.
7Bake the bones for 1 ¼ to 1-½ hours until they have dried out, let them cool on the paper.
8If you like the bones to look more brittle, then mix in some chopped nuts.
9The yield will depend on how large you make the bones and on the size of the nozzle.

October and it's moods...

first shot of moonrise two days ago..
















last roses of summer bloom on...















And Elisabeth is done on the swings!
(talk about moods, that one!)

Post little spooky

My "spooky" window....
My living room window, tree "leaves" made
by KC and I this week, and added to our
fall tree...took this pic last night, and it doesn't
do justice to the glow of the backlight, and the
beautiful stained glass effect of the leaves
not to mention the real stained glass above the
window.
I just love my old, old house!














One other thing you can do with apples...waste
not, want not.........
Apple Peel Jelly! (yommmmy!)

apples apples!

put in jars,

processed in boiling water bath

consume when snow flies!

spooky foods

Halloween Bones














Jack O'Mac















Spooktacular Salad
















All Hallows Eve