Secret Ingredient

Our local Aldi store has the friendliest cashier! She always has good ideas for preparing food that she passes on to her customers. On Saturday she shared a really good idea. Just take your favorite cookie or brownie recipe and substitute cooked and pureed beans for the butter or oil and eggs. Can you imagine? As odd as it sounds, it is delicious! She told us to use black beans in chocolate brownies, and the only reason I can't share a photo with you is that they are gone already. It cuts way down on the fat and cholesterol, and adds protein to your dessert. What's not to like?

Getting ready

I'm not normally a believer in "retail therapy". The exception is planning the garden in February!

Wild flowers are such fun to grow. Something different pops up every day. Last year's peas did so well, we're excited to try them again this year.

We've never grown cantelope before. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Are you planning your garden, too?

Except February

I was having a conversation with a friend at work this morning. "I like all the seasons," she said, "and I'm trying not to complain that it's snowing again. But WE NEED A BREAK!"

"I like all the seasons, too," I said. "Except for February."

February is a season unto itself. We are tired of winter, tired of snow, tired of scraping ice off the car, tired of shoveling snow, tired of being cold, tired of dark evenings. March starts next week, and with March there is hope. Yes, of course it will snow in March, but we will have some of those days when it's 55 degrees and sunny, and we will know that spring is almost here.

And you know what? We had one of those days on Friday (In February!) I washed windows, and Larry and I washed the car, and we went for a really long walk, and visited my mom, and just had a delightful day. How lucky was that, to have the day off on such a day in February?

The year Daniel was in first grade (21 years ago!) the first week in March was extraordinary.
We walked to school in short sleeved shirts with no jackets the whole week. The next week it was back to 43 degrees and rain, but that was a week I'll never forget. The memory of it gives me hope every year!

Have you ever read "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder? Whenever I am feeling unusually sorry for myself, I get it out and read it. Yes, it's winter and it's cold, but we have everything we need and then some, and we can get to the store and to work, and to visit family. It's best to read it on a really hot day in July, otherwise you will start to shiver just from reading.

I've started knitting another pair of socks, this time for David. I have been doing a bit of sewing, but since it's for my mother-in-law's birthday and she reads my blog, it will have to remain a secret for now.

Take care, and feel free to show me some lovely sunny beach pictures, you gals from Hawaii and Australia!

News Flash!

I am so excited! I went to the knitting group at the library on Tuesday, and one very talented knitter showed me how to graft. She not only showed me, she watched while I grafted a whole big cowl another knitter was happy to have someone else graft for her. So now I can graft the toes of socks. Yay!!

Adult bibs are just another form of small quilts, and a very useful project.

We are busier than we've ever been at work, somewhat limiting my time to sew, knit, and blog. I'm actually thankful that it's not summer. I don't mind so much missing out on my playtime when it's cold and icy outside. I hope you have a wonderful week, and a happy Valentine's day!

The measure of fame.

What is the coolest way you can think of to be famous? To be mentioned on "Jeopardy" of course! In the winter we love to watch the game show "Jeopardy" on television right after dinner. For those who've never seen it, it's a quiz show in which the answers to a variety of questions are shown on a board. Players select the answer, and then they try to provide the question. Larry is excellent at it, and amazes me with his knowledge. The questions cover every topic you can imagine, and last night one whole row of questions was about Sue Grafton's books. As if she wasn't famous enough!

But something even cooler happened a few days ago. You've heard me mention Stephanie Pearl McPhee, the self proclaimed Yarn Harlot. I visit her blog all the time www.yarnharlot.com and have been inspired to finish my most recent sock in the record time (for me) of five days. The contestants all tell a little something about themselves and the champ from the previous day mentioned that she had participated in the knitting olympics, which was a fun thing the yarn harlot began during the real olympics.

So . . . that is the true measure of fame. I'm quite certain I will never be mentioned on Jeopardy!

The importance of nail polish.

If you had to guess, would you think I was a nail polish kind of person? Nope, not a bit. Of course I've tried it, what ten year old girl hasn't? I don't like the way it makes my nails feel like they can't breathe. I don't like the way little bits of it chip off, possibly into the bread dough you are kneading. I don't like the way it takes time to put on, dry, and then remove a few days later when it starts to chip.

Nope, I'm not a nail polish person. Nor are my sisters, and my mom never used it either. Imagine my surprise to find that she now wears pink nail polish. At first I was outraged. How can they take a very forgetful lady who can't even see, and paint her nails pink? She didn't look like my mom anymore. I wanted to cry and shout about how wrong it was.

It made it hard to trim her nails - where was I supposed to trim? It looked sloppy when it started chipping off. But then I realized something. I can't be with her all the time. She thrives on attention. While having her nails painted, someone is holding her hand and talking to her. Someone cares enough to ask what color of polish she would like, and then carefully paints it on each nail.

So what if Mom never wore nail polish? She doesn't knead bread anymore. She's 88 years old, and a lady of leisure. If someone is willing to take the time to paint her nails, I'm thankful they are there to care for her.

My condolences to Daisy, who has been going through the same sort of situations with her mom, who has just passed on. Either way it's heartbreaking.

What?

What costs $5 and gives you three weeks of entertainment? (And then a wearable, useful object!) A nice ball of sock yarn! I love self striping yarn. It knits up beautifully. This color is called "denim" and will look so nice with Larry's jeans. Mary Maxim catalogue had it on sale for half price.

Did I ever show you my homemade sock blocker? I got the idea from a clever You Tuber ( I have absolutely no idea who, which is what comes of cruising around on Ravelry - so much fun!)

Purchased sock blockers are very expensive, so she advised cutting pieces of craft foam the shape of the socks. I have her to thank not only for the sock blockers, costing about 25 cents each, but . . . for the wealth of fabric I found for 75% off when Wal-Mart was closing their fabric department early last summer. I was there for the craft foam and saw the sale sign.

Did you notice the mysterious thing that happened to these socks? I started out trying to make them match, beginning the second sock in the same place in the color rotation as the first one, so the stripes would be the same. Well, as I was happily knitting along I came to a very small knot in the yarn, looking all innocent. The knot was tying on to a new bit of yarn in an altogether different stripe!! The nerve. But what the heck? Stripey socks are just for fun anyway, and it doesn't matter. Although these are for a gift, and I did want them to look, if not professional, at least not like beginner socks. After all, they are my fourth pair!