A year in a cookbook...really?

I don't know. I saw the Julie & Julia movie and liked the idea. And I have to make out a new menu each week for my assisted living house. I have reached the point that my creativity has pooped out and I'm repeating my same old standbys every week. Now that I've noticed it, I've begun to search the cookbooks for fresh ideas and dishes. There are 2 books that I seem to always come back to: Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy. So, maybe I won't be cooking one recipe from one of these cookbooks every day, but I will be using both these books, and probably some more, on a regular basis. The problem is that I can't assume that the guys will like the taste of what I cook, even if I successfully execute the recipe. They are the ultimate "man and a can" dudes, preferring the taste of instant mashed potatoes and mushy canned veggies to fresh produce. I discovered right after I started working at the ranch that they didn't enjoy fresh garden vegetables or fresh meats. Seriously. Given the choice between ramen noodles over instant mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables and stuffed pork chops, they will go for the ramen and instant every time. I wonder if it's all a matter of educating the palate and getting them used to fresh, clean flavors and vegetables that haven't been cooking into flavorless mush and non-plastic cheese. So here I go on my cooking odyssey - starting with a shepherd's pie. Pork, carrots, green beans, garlic, and onions in their own juices and topped with REAL mashed potatoes. Wish me luck. They're a tough bunch.

New News

Okay, so here's my big news: My son-in-law has gotten a job with a company that contracts with oil companies to repair their drilling equipment. That job has taken him to Wyoming! He's in Rock Springs, and will be there for some time to come, from what I understand. So they will be in my neck of the woods early next year. O will be flying there to help pack things up and drive the moving truck out. He is thrilled to be involved in all this. It makes him feel very needed...and he is! The great thing about this move is that they will be out of the big city. Rock Springs is small, but gorgeous. I think they'll enjoy living there. Lots of things to do around the area - hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and close enough to Cheyenne that we can visit. Not so close that there will be family interference, though. I am just tickled pink with all of this! The downside of this is that it is more than freezing in Rock Springs right now, as it is in all of the High Plains and Rocky Mountain regions. That makes it dangerous work for a person inexperienced with the extreme cold. I worry about that.

Little Man, BiG Smile!

Here's my grandson, the spitting image of his mom at the same age - chubby and happy!

Craft Fair!!

Yay!! We're back into craft fair mode! Last weekend My sister and I did the "Christmas in November" Fair in Windsor, Colorado. I sold some hats and a couple of sweaters, and generally we did pretty well. I'm in the process of filling a custom hat order that resulted from that fair. WooHoo! Baby, we're back!

They say everything's big in Texas...

...even the smiles!!! Here's Roman's first recorded smile (that they are sure is not just gas.)

I think there will be many, many more of these. They have such a happy family! There are always lots of smiles and laughter :o) I hope they always have a happy home!

Overheard at work...

"Her grandson is a little boy!!!"

My big contribution

It's finished now, but I don't have a picture of it.

Summer's End, Winter's Plans

August is drawing to a close, thank goodness. I'm pretty done with the heat, grasshoppers, and other bugs, and am looking forward to the first frost! I have plans for the fall and the winter.

The greenhouse experiment continues...

This past spring was my first experience using a greenhouse to start plants in, and it wasn't a complete success, but wasn't a total failure, either. I learned a lot about light and greenouse planting, and learned a lot about the people I work with, too. One thing I learned was that plants need a LOT of light in order to germinate, and they will sprout even when it's very cold out, if they have 10 or more hours of light per day. So in order to have plants throughout the winter, I intend to plant a seed bed inside the greenhouse in mid-September to mid-october, and also to dig up and transplant some of our not-so-mature cold weather plants, like brussels sprouts and cabbage that were planted quite late, and then neglected for some reason. All I have to do is water them and keep the grasshoppers from demolishing them in the meantime.

In the seedbed, I plan to sow a few types of lettuce, kale, and chard. I think some carrots and turnips might even do okay, if I get them in soon enough!

I think I might be to keep my plans to myself. In the spring, I had planted lettuce in the greenhouse and told my co-workers...big mistake. One of them was positive it was a ridiculous plan and that since her dad was a master gardener, she must also be. So she gave the seeds 2 weeks and then ripped up the seed bed. She did it in the garden, too, later in the spring. To her chagrin, my little plants came up in spite of her, but not where I was looking for them, making it initially a little hard for them to get water.

I also plan to experiment with outdoor cold frames. We have an abundance of those poor brussels sprouts and late cabbage, so I hope to include these in my cold-frame experiment.

Newer Pictures

Here are some more recent pictures of my daughter and her family. Enjoy!


Mom and boy!

The boy!

My son-in-law with his boy.

Babbling on Thursday

I've been having issues with posting for the last few weeks. I hope I have it figured out by now and this one will actually go up.

I'm still working at the ranch with the cognitively challenged adults. I just passed my first year anniversary working here and I have to say it HAS been a challenge. Thankfully, Porter and Celeste are still with me, and having them is a blessing. Two normally-thinking minds in the midst of the abnormal. Celeste keeps everyone in line while Porter lets me know when things like seizures are happening.

Porter has recently begun to let me know about seizures more in advance. There is only one in the house that seizes, and before the seizure starts, Porter sits in front of the person and works to make eye contact with me. He keeps his back to the seizure, I think because it upsets him, and stares at me. He does not move, otherwise. Porter used to bark a lot to get someone's attention, and waited till the seizure was obvious before he did anything. So I am imagining that his understanding of seizures is evolving some.

Celeste is aloof. She has no desire to become involved with the residents of the house. She used to bark at people who had tantrums and yelled, but lately, she has simply sat looking at them, as if to study the behavior.

It appears that I have two canine scholars who are working at their degrees in human bahavioral studies.

As for me, I periodically have to remind myself that I am not defined by my job. I have an idea of how the parents of these people must have felt as they watched their child grow up, knowing that their capacity for learning and functioning in the world would be quite limited. It's sometimes disheartening to realize that as adults, they have no more capabilities than they did as little children. Arrested development. What a thought. As I move around the world of the mentally handicapped, there are so many more than I was ever aware of.

It all makes me so thankful that my own daughter is a gorgeous and normally functioning adult. I do not look forward to spending more time working here, but there must be something else that I am to do here, since I haven't been able to find a different job yet.

The grandbaby has arrived!

Oh, I've been a busy busy little bee...

Playing with new hat shapes...

watching the Stick Queen do her thing...



and doing a little spinning...

snagged in a destash...

Pele's Hair top whorl spindle, mango whorl, birch shaft. Spins beautifully. Again, the Pele's Hair spindle. Made in Hawaii by Glen Grace.

Avi Wasserman spindle. Ebony wood shaft and Yew wood whorl. Exquisite and elegant...and smaller than I expected. Would be very good for spinning laceweight singles.

Into the Garden

(Not my photo...mine were smaller, but no bug bites at least!)

Whew! It's almost summer, and I've been in the garden. This year, the garden at work seems to have fallen somewhat to me, so I've been out there planting and, just today, harvesting. Our baby bok choy is already matured...isn't THAT an oxymoron...mature babies. Hmmm...

So, anyway, I harvested the bok choy babes and cooked them up with some frozen stir-fry veggies for my lunch. All the residents in the house decided to go eat at the local restaurant and left me to whip up something for myself. I have to tell you - the fresh boy choy was far superior to the frozen veggies in both texture and taste. There's nothing better than fresh, I think. After a bite of fresh bok choy, I got a mouthful of frozen broccoli and green beans, and even though they were no longer frozen, steamy hot and seasoned well, there was the residual taste of FREEZER. Hmm...not so great. So now I'm spoiled. I doubt the guys in the house will have anything to say about the fresher taste...they prefer instant mashed potatoes over real ones...but they might enjoy the idea that their veggies are coming from their own garden.

Anyhoooo...I have my own garden plot at the ranch, which is a benefit for employees. I took over the failed strawberry patch and planted green beans, peas, two varieties of eggplant, and some lettuce varieties. Some other things, too, but I can't remember right off what they were. I planted some things that I love and can't wait to eat, and some other things that I also love, but have never grown for one reason or another. And some herbs...basil being my favorite, I planted an entire row of bush basil. I have some mizuna and mesclun to plant, and I started some cress that I can hardly wait to have in my summer salads. There is also a large pot into which I plan to transplant lettuce and cress and herbs for salad additions for the house I work in. I'm not sure if the taste will be too different for the residents...they tend to want the same things all the time. Change is hard for them. New flavors and colors in the food aren't met with the greatest of enthusiasm.

(also not my photo...mine is much smaller and just starting to come up in it's little cups!)

But there is it... my own gardening enthusiasm is overtaking me and sweeping me out into the garden every evening! I'm out there watering, weeding, and peeping into the little garden boxes, hoping to see little green cultivar tops popping through the soil.

I am not, however, putting aside my fiber. I will have pictures to show you after my spinning of aqua-colored mohair is a little more advanced on the spindle.

Introducing...Spud

Finally finished! And to celebrate, we had a little punch in party cups. (He's a sheep, just in case it's hard to tell.) I hope all those dred locks aren't too hot...he'll be going to Houston in the summer to meet a baby. Spud is all acrylic, non-allergenic, and machine washable and dryable. he could even spend the night in the freezer to kill dust mites, if necessary.

new spindle!

Bocote with a clear green glass focal, by Brandywine Woodworking. Can't wait to get my little hands on it! If I can't spin on it, I can always use it as a magic wand.

Stuff from the last month or two

Soooo...yes, I have been doing a little knitting, spinning, and felting. First up, a teddy bear for my grandson.
And some spinning on my tibetan spindle. I love this spindle! Sadly, the artisan passed away this past winter. No more of these to be made.
And I knitted and felted a little gray mushroom hat. She's warm and toasty, and will be in my Etsy shop this fall, hopefully along with a few other hats.
This beauty is a Rose supported spindle, made by Lisa, of Gripping Yarn. It's heavy and big but spins great! It's got a bit of wenselydale wool on it at the moment.

Yip Yip Yip Yow!

Not only are they playing together and behaving well together, but they are singing together as well...right in the middle of the living room at work!

Spud Project

See that cute little sheep? He's driving me crazy. His name is Spud, and he has hundreds of little twisted, hand-knit dredlocks on his pudge. I started him a month or more ago and I am almost finished with his frustrating, time-consuming little behind. Still to go is his head, legs, ears, and tail.

As hard as it is to stay with this project, I think it will turn out to be a great baby toy. I'm planning to make his friend, Chloe, too. I think she might prove to be a faster moving project...at least I'm hoping so.

Whatta pair

I can't believe I am looking at Celeste and Porter actually playing together. He adores her and wants to play. She tolerates him and distains his company. She adopted a queenly, queenly attitude, became very snotty, and Porter did what any self-respecting all-American Joe would have done: he peed on her. Her queenly attitude remained intact, but her crown is askew and a little soggy.

The country life isn't really making much of an impression on Celeste. Her major thing is that Porter is running free and taunting her to play, and she doesn't know how to respond to him without loosing her prima donna coolness. And...she doesn't know how to run. Life on a leash and inside didn't teach her to run and play like the dog she is. She's clumbsy and gangly-looking when she gallumphs around the backyard, with a short, plump Porter literally running circles around her. She was delighted, though, by the little snowstorm that shot through here earlier in the week.

A husky finally in her element.