
We have snow! Only an inch or so, but still snow. The animals are horrified and excited. We got the semi-feral cat inside, and she is being very persistent about getting pets. If only she didn’t go to war any time she sees the other cats, we would be in business.
So far the grid is holding.
We also have a fire. If you are getting this through email, there is a video of the fireplace here.
Kid 1 asked why it was this funky yellow color. It’s that color because iPhone attempts to enhance colors. Look at this yarn I bought.

Pretty, right? I bought it because it looked like that in the picture.
This is what it actually looks like in person.

This shot was taken far away. I stood on a chair so I would get a wider angle and the iPhone color correction wouldn’t kick in on the yarn specifically. It was like magic: you hold the iPhone over it and look at all the colors. You can even see that the color of the island is different, more yellow, and there was no filter involved. I tried turning off HDR and all that, but the color correction is still happening.
I’m not a fan of that brown. Just no. I’m not going to return it. It’s a small business dyer. Their overhead is already low and shipping yarn back and forth is silly. When you buy small batch dyed yarn, there is a chance for stuff like this happening, so I decided to dye over it. I wanted to experiment anyway so we will see what happens.
On that note, Expression Fiber Arts has yarn kits at 17% off today, according to their newsletter. Not today, Satan. Not today. I do not need pretty yarn kits. I need to finish my happy cardigan. I need to find some white worsted weight yarn for the trim somewhere. For some reason I only have off-white. Also I need to work! Yeah.
Yesterday we plotted the next scene and I ended up measuring the living room with measuring tape to figure out how big of a hollow we need.
The depression gouged the forest floor, about forty feet long, twenty-five feet wide, and two feet deep. It was less of a pit and more of a hollow, vaguely rectangular, but without defined corners or sheer walls that pointed at a human with a shovel being involved. The edges of the hollow sloped slightly, as if some giant pressed their palm into soft sand, and the ground at its bottom was bare and soft, like it had been plowed.
I’m going to make a big old pot of stew for today. I have mushrooms and parsnips I need to use up. Get stew cooking and then work. Maybe I will bake it. That way I won’t have to keep checking it on the stove.
Hold, grid, hold. Must make words happen.
I think you meant — forty feet long, twenty five feet wide and two feet deep. Not criticizing, my engineer eye caught it.
Thank you! Great catch. Sometime when I concentrate too hard, I end up with a mess. 🙂
Speaking of oven dishes, Ina Garten has a reel today (I saw it today) about baking risotto in the oven, a Dutch oven covered, Arborio plus broth, 350° for half an hour, then taking it out, adding the remaining liquids and parm, and stirring for two constant minutes, then adding frozen peas (or mushrooms, shrimp, asparagus, your choice). What a time saver! Who knew we could let the oven do the broth absorbing for us? Wonder if we could use a rice cooker?
I think I love you. I cannot make risotto on the stovetop to save my life.
I love risotto.
I do risotto in the electric pressure cooker (that also serves as rice cooker, and other stuff), with Arborio rice all the time. High pressure for 6 minutes for a mushroom risotto.
I do risotto in the oven. Is it as good as at a true Italian restaurant? No. Is it da**ed good? Yes.
I use my rice cooker for risotto. Initial saute of the rice, put in cooker with one third of the liquid, when the ding goes off add another third, and repeat.
I was looking at yarn just this morning only to find my local store has officially closed down. There’s a mountain pass between me and the next closest store in either direction. Sigh. Hope you find the yarn you need and that your stew is yummy. 🙂
Hold, grid, hold!
(We can all say it and it starts to sound like Dora the Explorer 😆)
It held!
I had this funny feeling there might be a knitting-esque post! I’m going to try arm knitting first the first time, ordering some chunky yarn to start that is inexpensive for experimenting.
Stay warm. Good vibes for the grid to hold! Massachusetts and Texas should not be the same temps!
I am an experienced crocheter, but just last week I cast on for the first time this go-round and am practicing the knit stitch. The BEST advice I received was to cast on over BOTH needles if you tend to cast on too tight. That was one of several reasons I gave up on knitting the 3 previous attempts over the years. And, learning the Continental way of knitting made MUCH more sense to my brain and muscle memory which has 30+years of crochet to overcome.
I wish I could renew to crochet! My grandmother taught me years ago. When I was little. I have a blanket she made on my bed now, maybe I’ll try to relearn after this knot project!
I love to crochet, but never got the knitting. I have a good friend that knits and I crochet so we can have both!
I do crochet and knitting. It’s fascinating that I crochet with my right hand but knit with my left.
My mom taught me to knit after someone else tried to teach me to knit with my right hand. I got so frustrated knitting with my right hand since all my stitches were dropping off the needle. Plus, the person who originally taught me to knit wanted me to use straight needles. My mom undid all that crazy teaching. She told me I could use circular needles if I felt more comfortable. The best advice she said was “if the bumps are in the back, that’s a knit stitch. If the bumps are in the front, that’s a pural stitch. Once you get those two stitches straight, all the designs will be easy to do.” She was so right! I pural with my thumb and not my index finger. I found out that’s a Scottish way to pural. 🙂
Right now, I’m crocheting a blanket using half double crochet and 450 stitches. The yarn I’m using is Red Heart Bitty Stripe in Sunset Stripe. The boarder will be in Red Heart Royal Blue in the same half double crochet. Both are acrylic yarn.
I agree with Jenn, Massachusetts and Texas should NOT be the same temp! (I’ve lived in both places) At least here in MA I wear thin silk or lightweight wool long John’s under my clothes around the house and don’t notice the cold very often.
Sending positive wishes for your electric grid to stay on!
We’ll all join the chant, “Hold, grid, hold” (especially those of us who live in Texas)! Stay safe and warm. Stew sounds perfect for today. ❤️
I’m way overdue to overdye several skeins in my stash. I have most of Dharma Trading’s pure dyes on my shelf. What are your go-to dyes? And can we see the result when you’re finished? Pretty please with a pompom on top?
My fingers are crossed for your grid holding!
I made a creamy ham and bean soup 🥣 it’s the weather for soup. Electricity is very important everyone stay warm.
I made a comment in a chat on a YouTube stream about it never being cold in California. I was told that I was mistaken. Maybe I should have specified that it rarely got colder than 50 degrees. Which isn’t COLD. Cold is snow, and ice to me. Admittedly, I live in Southern California, so that may be coloring my perspective also. Or maybe I should have worded it in a more specific way. “It’s rarely very cold in Southern California”
Fingers crossed for the grid holding. Stew sounds lovely. I like your solution for experimenting with your new yarn – good luck!
Cold for us here (in the 20s last night) but at least it’s sunny. Mornings are delicious.
Mmm!! Stew for dinner!! And parsnips! My dad was not fond of vegetables from his childhood, but we, his willing-to-try-anything-once (especially with gravy!) children were very fond of parsnips and rutabaga. Veggie variety in that winter stew!!
Lamb stew here. With parsnip and carrots and potatoes. Peas if I have them. Drinking hot beef bone broth post dinner. Hot Red Zinger tea. Hot water and tart cherry juice with a squish of lemon. Chambord in hot water with lemon and bourbon (the only alcoholic one), Hot cider by the tea pot full.. anything! Its Florida, middle of the state, thumb of the thumb so we don’t really freeze although they do in land and higher up the state. In fact its snowing in certain northern parts with freezing rain (ugh ugh!) in other spots…Here is raw with tapering rain, gust gale force winds howling round us over night…down to the upper mid 40s. It is time for the double layers, the heat pads and the space heaters, LOL. Heat pumps don’t quite do it. If you have a fire place now’s the time to get that chimney a work out… My four cats are all on their own heat pads in cuddle cups and one on his kennel pad basking in front of the chicken IR heater… heat sluts!
It is negative 35 here with windchill. The high is 0 degrees and I’m going to knit and bake later. I made some homemade chicken soup this morning and worked on packing orders for my small business. I’ll finish those later this afternoon after the toddler hurricane goes to sleep.
Is that Batty?
I too wondered if that kitty was Batty!
You have more winter than we have in Sweden for the moment! No freezing
Degrees for the next ten days which is unusual this time of year. All the snow we got in the beginning of the year has melted away.
I’m really curious about what they will find in the woods… I have just reread the first book… it was so much fun!
Torties love people. They love pets and cuddling. But if they are removed from the company of other cats, they desocialize very quickly. It’s a dominance thing. They think they are dominant to all other cats.
I’ve had torties since 1998. I adore them. They are the most loving, most demanding cats, no matter the breed. We’re gearing up to get a pair of kittens — with one exception, I’ve always adopted older cats, the exception being my 17-yo man who died just before Christmas. I’m 50, and I figure this is my last chance for real kittens. I don’t want to die and abandon them*. My one condition is that one is a tortie.
Tortietude is real. And it’s wonderful. If, of course, you like being completely owned by a cat.
___
*going by actuarial tables. Life is, of course, unfair and chancy. Still, I’m placing my bet.
Money cats
I have a tortie (Shiva) and a grey tabby (Wendi). Shiva seems to dominate, although Wendi gets her licks in. I love torties, they are (usually) so beautiful.
“Yesterday we plotted the next scene and I ended up measuring the living room with measuring tape to figure out how big of a hollow we need.”
I’ve said it before, but it’s this level of attention that makes your books wonderful. One of the things, anyway.
Yes. To paraphrase the carpenter’s rule: Measure twice, write once. Dimensions and distances that are off pull me out of a story really quickly.
And ones that help me visualize pull me in deeper.
Snow makes Texans go into a tizzy. We got .10 inches n San Antonio. Schools cancelled, nobody can drive in it.
I’ve got brothers in Dallas, Austin suburb, and San Antonio, and nephews in Raleigh and New York. I’m in Maryland. We’ve been sharing pictures of snow and temperature readings at all our locations.
One nephew is in Nashville on business and will be outside this afternoon with feel-like temps in the negative digits. His mom told him she’s going to call his work and tell them her baby can’t work in those temperatures. 😉
It is the same here in Eastern NC. However, we did get about 5-6 inches which is unheard of here. When we first moved here in 2010 we got snow like this in February of 2011. I started early for work and drove the 20 miles to the office and no one was there. I was a bit late, but no one was there???? And the funny part was there was no snow about miles before my office. As I was deciding who to call another co-worker came in to get some things to work from home. She looked at me and said, “I guess we forgot to tell you that everything closes when there is a hint of snow possibly coming to the area”. I grew up in snow so I can drive in it, but I did see no one else on the road knew how so it is safer to close down.
Houstonian here, my shaded yard is still coated in snow.
My brother pulled his newest employees aside to give them “the talk.”
“Dudes, I KNOW you can drive in snow and ice. You’re not the problem. WE ARE! Stay home.”
😂
Try washing the yarn first. It may be overdyed and it will be much lighter.
As for color in pics, I struggle to color correct pics with my iPad. Along with the fish eye distortion. It’s a real thorn in my side.
I was going to suggest washing, too. Leaving the yarn in the sun (if you have a sunny window) for a few days will probably also lighten the colour–rather unevenly, because it will only bleach the bit of your skeins exposed to the light, but that doesn’t seem like it would be a problem for that yarn. Though you may have to wait until there is actually some sun.
Stew sounds lovely. I’m in northeast Tennessee and weather there is snow or not if it gets too cold they cancel school. My kids have missed almost 2 months of school this year due to the flooding and now the polar vortex hitting us. I just got laid off last week so now at least I can do some homeschool work with my kids in between job hunting. Anyone on here need a professional development specialist or a facilitator? 😅😅😂😂 My kids would rather I work because I take homeschooling too seriously. But really though the south doesn’t joke around with the cold or the snow. They be like “nope, not today” and school is canceled again.
Good luck with the grid holding! We are hoping for that as well!
* whether
I do wish your grid holds. You must, indeed, make words happen.
Stay warm and comfortable, and as to your semi-feral, she’s a cat – they are what they are and do what they will.
yay for another HA post!! you’re spoiling us this week, I love it. thanks for the life snippets!
I’m in Houston, TX. Yes Houston has snow, ice, and pipe busting cold, but never, ever would I think it was possible to have a blizzard warning in Louisiana on gulf coast. Globally mother nature has lost it.
I thought the yarn was a bunch of hair. Maybe a character that takes hair as a token once they slay someone. That’s what I get for scrolling quickly and not reading. Haha!
In Houston we got about 2 1/2 inches at our house. Enough for a snowman and our boys had us playing football in it. Enjoy your snowy day!
I’m loving it!
I saw it and though of braided horse tails
When I lived in Raleigh about 25 years ago, there was a restaurant near work we went to that had chicken stew. I’m almost positive they called it chicken stew and not chicken pot pie or chicken and dumplings, but it seemed to be a mix of the two. Instead of dumplings it had really wide noodles. The Amish market has something close that they call chicken pot pie, but I want a recipe that I can make at home. Preferably in a crock pot. That sounds so good right now.
Amish make a chicken pot pie soup which is thicker than the traditional chicken soup. The dish with a crust on the top we would call chicken pie. My father was Pennsylvania Dutch so this was a hot topic for our family when frozen pot pie hot the grocery shelves.
Our local Chinese chef gets his ingredients from Amish farmers and offers an Amish chicken stew at his flagship restaurant.
Talk about a melting pot!
This is what has made America great, and (fingers crossed) will continue to make it so.
Sending hoped for your grid to make it through.
I live in Anchorage, Alaska, where it has been RAINING all month. Seriously, rain in January?!? I will gladly swap back with you and take the snow, you all can keep your January rains haha.
Also, we had a windstorm last week and over half the city lost power, but my neighborhood held fast, so maybe I still have some good electric grid juju to pass along- hold, grid, hold!
I bought a new parka online this summer. Got it. Looked at its bulkiness. Tried to figure out why the heck I bought it.
Found out today!
Good luck with your grid.
I am watching my local news right now. Earlier, they were talking about Texas’ electric grid. The electric grid operator canceled a watch they had on equipment. It’s holding!
Ilona, you can have all the words. 😁
The DFW area is just cold. 🥶
I have gone nuts with Expression Fiber Arts over the last 6 months or so. I received a nice yarn haul from them today (the 12 colors in sale priced Blossom Fingering I chose for the Connote Crochet-A-Long), and am waiting for the January Yarn Club skeins which will be my last order for the time being. The kits she has are SO tempting. I need to use up some of what I have purchased before buying more though.
me I ve been knitting 4 ply and I have lots of it in a few colours of cashmare to knit from temu
I’m here to have the update on the dying of the beautiful yarn, of course after much writing because BDH for life. But the fellow sewer and knitter in me wonders if bleaching is the answer, then adding the gold accents you wanted in the first place….. just a thought.
me I picked nearly a kilo of strawberrys yesterday and made jam also apricots are in the shops time to bottle some yum. all this because I’m in summer.
Hold grid, hold! The BDH wants HA to be nice and warm and cozy, and you KNOW what happens when the BDH is not happy! (There, that ought to do it!) 😁
It’s almost a heat wave here right now (16F) compared to this morning (2F), but I have to admit that I am loving this weather and the snow we’ve gotten this winter. Of course, I can stay inside and admire it from the window, so that helps! 😂
Stew sounds wonderful! I made chicken and dumplings yesterday, tonight is shrimp scampi and baked salmon (hubby refuses to eat salmon 🙄), and tomorrow chicken enchiladas. That should keep us warm for a while!
Stay warm everybody….here’s hoping everybody’s grids hold up! 😁
ooh, how will you overdye it? do you have a plan? I got the zollie palette scout for the holidays for just such situations. good luck!
Semi-feral tortie is adorable.
Two weeks ago my sister and I had to go to a law office (we’re survivors) to sign paperwork and stopped by a yarn shop on the way home. She was ready to drop some cash on Madeline Tosh, but it turned out that the regular buyer for the store left and the new buyer isn’t stocking anything special. So disappointing. She bought a nice pale gray and last week was knitting up brioche swatches with her various variegated to see how it looks.
I had an outdoor cat a couple years ago who repeatedly tried to run my own cat off. I thought for sure she hated other cats. But once she was removed from my yard and placed in a foster home she turned into the sweetest, most nuturing girl.
The rescue sent her to PetSmart where she became like the Room Mother until she was adopted a few weeks later.
Looking back, I think she was just feeling jealous and territorial.
Everyone talking about food is making me hungry. Enjoy everyone and stay safe with the weather.
I live in Southern California about 60 miles north of San Diego which is quite a distance from the fires in LA. Prayers to them.
Unfortunately, two areas in San Diego decided to start fires today. Edison Electric Company decided to cut all power in our area for three days to be safe. It is cold and REAL windy. There is no power, therefore no heat.
Everyone stay safe.
I am really starting to wonder if Global Warming is around the corner.
Stay safe everyone.
Have you tried a slow cooker? Put a liner in & it requires no washing😊😊. You can bake a cake, cook lasagne, cook stews all without continuously looking at them.😊😊.
Who knew that the definition between pit & hollow could be so exact?
I have and I do not like it as much for stew. I make stew the way a witch brews potions: add this, add that, splash 1/2 tsp more Worcestershire, a pinch more Italian herb mix… Kind of defeats the purpose of using the slow cooker, because the whole point is to set it and forget it. 🙂
I use my slow cooker in the summer for brisket. The way I do it is literally a set it and forget it method.
I’m here to have the update on the dying of the beautiful yarn, of course after much writing because BDH for life. But the fellow sewer and knitter in me wonders if bleaching is the answer, then adding the gold accents you wanted in the first place….. just a thought.
Snow, eh? At present, we’re just cold. One electric thermometer said -0° earlier. Chortle.
Best of luck with the dyeing. It’s been decades, but just thinking about it brings me a faint whiff of the vinegar my mother used as a mordant while dyeing material that she would use in her hooked rugs. Snicker … and I still recall the brand name ‘Rit.’
Cosy fire and warming stew sounds perfect when it’s cold and snowing 🥶 enjoy xxx
Thank you for the fireplace video. it made me feel warm again. I’m in the Northeast (DE) with the bitter cold.
whole house generator. pricey, but worth the peace of mind. sending positive thoughts. we just had a nice pot roast and veggies to beat the freezing cold here in Kansas city.
Browns, with some grey, throw in a dash of red and gold. It’s a no for you, and a YES for me! Any chance you can share the colorway / dyer?
It’s 13 degrees with leftover snow sticking in Atlanta. Just crazy. Stay warm, Horde! (Except for the southern hemisphere wing of the horde. Y’all drink water and stay cool!)
This email is just so wonderfully, stream-of-thought random! plus, I originally read it as an email and the tiny piece of story isn’t italicized in the email so it just reads as a run-on thought. It certainly woke me up! 😃
The grid will hold!
It’s cold here too, Eastern Ontario…temp is -20 C (about -5F?). We’ve been spoiled with warm weather the past few winters that it came as a bit of a shock. It’s making me very grumpy.
Stay warm, stay safe!
Unsolicited advice warning: We had a really good chimney sweep come (he used to work in New England on old houses there and had some interesting stories) and he filled all the cracks inside our fireplace/chimney and added a smoke guard to the front to keep the smoke from leaking out the top edge when we opened the doors to add wood. It has helped incredibly with both the generally smokey smell we used to have (I think from the cracks in the chimney in the attic area leaking smoke) and the specific mantle/stone/around fireplace staining from smoke. It was expensive but so worth it even for the 5 days a year we have fires in the fireplace 🙂 I love a good wood fire and it makes the living room so warm.
Hi Ilona,
I have dyed several sweaters after I knit them and recently I had some hanks of beautiful boucle yarn that was eye hurtingly yellow. So I bathed it in some warm water with peroxide, rinsed it and bathed it again with some fabric softener. If you take a piece of yarn and wet it, you can use it as a guide for how much lighter your batch is getting. You can also use a hair drier to dry a few strands to check your progress. Maybe it just needs to be faded a little bit for a vintage effect, and you won’t have to mess with dying it. Looking at your before and after pictures, I think that’s all you will need to do to make it look like the first picture. when finished, you can just roll it in a big towel and walk on it back and forth in your bare feet. I think it is going to be lovely! Bon chance!
I’ve tried all conventional methods and even simmered it with wool dye remover. The person who made the yearn nuked it hardcore with that brown. 🙁
Knit an ugly cat blanket?!
There used to be a charity shop near me who took *any* old wool and the little old ladies who volunteered there would just sit and crochet back and forth, back and forth, knotting all the wild and garish wools together to make blankets for the local cat protection place. They were the ugliest blankets you had ever seen but it sure got rid of all the wee oddments of wool!
Wow! You’re way ahead of me. why am I not surprised. I have some deep plum or eggplant dye that I’m going to use to over-dye a brown that I’m not fond of, so I know what you mean! Usually I have the problem of having the finished product fade too fast.
Our electrical co-op sent a “Hold, grid, hold” email around yesterday. Keep the thermostat at 68F, no space heater if possible, etc.
Meanwhile the heat pump in this 1200sf, century old house is struggling to hold the line at 66F. When the outdoor temp drops below 20F, it can’t keep up because it was sized for normal local weather. During the day I move a space heater* from room to room to help keep the whole house from dropping too much below the setting.
When the sun is shining, the south side heats up quickly. Outside south wall temp is regularly 15 degrees (F) or more above the air temp, and the indoor temp in the south rooms often rises above the HVAC setting. By afternoon I can sometimes get the indoor temp up to something more reasonable. That helps the house hold more heat overnight.
What’s bothering me now is that the forecast keeps tacking on another day more of temps in the teens to this cold spell. I just want it to get above 20F and stay there so the space heater can retire.
*It doesn’t run at night because of safety concerns. Our half-century old, close-knit group of childhood friends and families lost a member to a space heater two weeks ago. We found out before the fire was under control (two firefighters injured). It’s awful. Please be very mindful of gas emissions and fire hazards with space heaters.
I live in Eastern NC and we rarely get snow, but we got about 5-6 inches last night. It is beautiful. The whole area shuts down because people do not know how to drive in it and we don’t have plows. Probably kind of like where you are. My dogs played in the snow and I took videos and pictures. My husband (yes I love him LOL) slept in his tent last night. He wanted to experience snow camping!!!! Also that is a bummer about the yarn. The lighter look would have been much better. Maybe try using another light colored thin yarn and crochet with 2 yarns together.
malabrigo Rios in white! love this yarn.
OK you guys – I just ordered a beginner kit from Expression Fiber Arts. We’ll see how it goes! LOL 🙂
Snow and bitter cold here too, in the NE, but only three inches in my town. I’m working on a scarf with some beautiful yarn I bought last year from a local yarn shop. Need to get it done while I can still use it! Keep warm!
Holding at 39F right now in Gulf Coast Texas. Waiting for that 40! Places are reopening.
I had about 2 inches of snow in my yard and the streets melted just enough to make them wet for the refreeze last night. High enough temps today for the roads to clear. Will need to reschedule an appointment that was for this past Tuesday morning when no on was going anywhere.
Squirt bottle. We used a squirt bottle to stop the feral we adopted from doing anything inappropriate (we have a no blood rule) to other pets. She learned that she could bring home wild creatures but not hurt our budgie, rabbits, or rats. Might not work for all. It is worth a shot.
On the other hand, it has not worked with the budgie. He is currently determined to remove all wood from the walls – paneling, moulding, picture frames, … I can so picture a giant budgie taking on Curran.
Hi! I just went through all the comments – trying to make sure no one made this suggestion, just to avoid duplicates.
For your semi-feral kitty – what *might* work are the pheromones that you plug in. They make them especially for multi-cat households to help cats bond with each other. I have two kitties that have known each other since they were only a couple of months old but as they’ve grown up, the youngest has become more aggressive. I *have* to use the pheromone plug ins – I immediately notice that when they’ve run dry, the little one is even more aggressive/there are more fights. I’ve learned this over a couple of years.
Tip – don’t plug them in anywhere with anything above it (like a medicine cabinet) as they will leave a greasy residue on the bottom of whatever is above them.
BTW – I get the generic kind that is available on Amazon (can I say A-zon?) and they have refill packs, too.
Each plug in should last one month and they recommend you place it where the cats spend the most time.
Good luck!! 🙂
*both kitties are female Bengals
Stew sounds lovely, just watched farmers wife homestead doing her 40 clove garlic chicken with mashed potatoes,[ she’s in New Zealand, ]just yummy , will have to try this once autumn comes along , we’re in the middle of our summer here in Australia. Hope your power stays on . The hollow sounds interesting, wonder where it’s going to lead .
yay another bdh from down under! we’re hitting plus 35 celcius every day and humidity about 40% most days here so all the snow stories sound magical. I really want chicken pot pie now people. Better turn on the Webber over the weekend and chuck it on out in the backyard.
Glad the semi-feral kitty is trying to be social w the humans … might take a while to realize she does not have to compete w other cats … everybody will get food and pets. Maybe that realization will come in the future, hopefully. My two feral-as-kittens have gone the other way … from very bonded always together to this competitive, guarding behavior, competing for my lap.
Fireplace is one of the must haves when I bought my place a few years ago … it’s gas … would have preferred wood burning, but it is still real fire. I’ve been trying to train the cats that when I say “foomph”, that means I’m turning the fireplace on.
On yarn, instead of over dye, could you lighten it, mild bleach or Rit color remover? Would that work?
I hate parsnips. I buy them every Christmas, force myself to roast them in honey, eat two sticks and vow never to do it again. The year there was a crazy price war on root veggies and so carrots, parsnips and tatties were 15p a bag! So I bought two bags of parsnips….
..
Big mistake…. Huge!
Completely aside and irrelevant to the conversation at hand: I’m in the midst of a KD re-listen. Just finished book 6. I know a lot of people grumble about that one because Curran really put Kate through the wringer, but it’s one of my favorites in the series. It’s the crucible of their relationship and they came out solid! Now…on to book 7 and Mishmar! (This series is totally my comfort read when the world outside is fretful.)
Omg that is an adorable kitty. I tried luring the stray cats inside but they weren’t having it…
We got a bunch of snow here near Destin, FL. I spent this past weekend building feral cat shelters in preparation. I feel bad for the stray cats, but I had a blast playing in the snow and just walking around enjoying the scenery. As someone that grew up in Florida, it felt surreal. I love it.
Glad your grid is holding! 🙂 Sorry the yarn isn’t what you expected but hopefully the new dye turns out great
We got almost 8” south of Baton Rouge. My Lab puppy thought it was wonderful and kept wanting to go out and play in it. My body, on the other hand, had other ideas. 7 spine surgeries means lot of metal which, for some reason, HATES the cold (imagine that!). After layering up, including my dad’s old Air Force insulated coat, me, hubby, and Diesel went for a walk on our property. Diesel and hubby loved it, I loved it for a bit, but then wanted to get back inside where it was warm. Thankfully, it was all snow, no sleet/ice, so no outages near me, though Baton Rouge did have a few. Interstates are shut down still, so no work until Friday!!!!!
One crockpot of chicken & wild rice soup and one HUGE pot of gumbo later, I have food for a week. Stay warm!
Hehehe Satan visited me today and I am $100 poorer…I needed the fluffy yellow yarn I bought though I’m working on my kid 1s blanket and he requested all the muted yellows as striping..so I’ve been adding to the stripe coloration all week. I think I have enough it was on sale and whatever I don’t use I’ll be using for a spring top or summer tank. Besides I was EMOTIONALLY COMOROMISED today cuz I finished Ruby fever and had nothing to keep my mind occupied while I knit except think of buying more yarn. It’s a sickness really…
Hi there, this is me trying to copy a tactic I have observed our resident cats to use very efficiently:
I am here, it is friday, I do remember your very good work that I enjoy while w*iting p*tiently.
I still might have to work on my cuteness.
Yes I like your work, I wish you a very relaxed weekend and good progress with the cardigan and a small voice in my head whispers: check their blog, it could be one of those days…
Team Higgra taking over from Team Dushegub I see 😀
Such a sweet kitty! Too bad I have allergies that kick in after 3 days. On another note, I bought little skeins of soft ivory yarn on clearance and the baby booties I made are NOT coming out newborn size. They will go to a different baby who is a big boy of 3 months since it is cold out. I’m good at sewing but my crocheting is a work in progress. I ‘m making the T shaped kimono booties. I used a lighter weight yarn and a different pattern and finally got the results I wanted. I think I’ll make pixie hats with 2 rectangles or something to use up the 8 or so skeins I bought. They were on sale for about 80 cents a piece! I hope your stew came out well. We are having crock pot rouladen today.
Her little white nose and chin are darling!
Mentioning the grid right after the warring cats made me think the pets and drawn invisible demarcation lines LOL!
Semi-feral kitty: No Tuna, you shall not pass! My corner ::purrs::
Took me a second to remember the Texas Power Grid debacle of 2021.
**had drawn (grr typo)
Lovely fire. That yarn is sooo pretty. Wish i knitted. That would make an amazing sweater or scarf and matching hat. Love the snippet, of course! now i know that size is similar to a very large living room. I’ve used parsnips and mushrooms to make vegetarian style potroast – slow cook in a dutch oven with broth and pinot noir plus some potatoes…mmmm…
I am not a cook so I did not know you can bake stew. I’m going to have to give that a try. Thank you
I have busted into my fabric stash and I am quilting. This always makes me want to buy more fabric. No! Must use old fabric first. The struggle is real.
We got a decent amount of snow for Arkansas. About 6 to 8 inches here. My kitty crossed the rainbow bridge back in July and there was a big yellow stray that has lived under the porch for a bit over 2 years. I let him come inside out of the wet and cold. Thought he’d hide out in the other side of the house with the food, water and litter box, but away from the hairless ape. Nope. My bed is apparently our bed now and the pillow next to my head is just right. Took less than 30 minutes for him to take over.