I'm All About the Brunch

See that? I finished something recently! A simple washcloth for my mother-in-law. Don't you just love her sink/faucet?! You should see the rest of her kitchen...

It's official- rhubarb and Amish friendship bread* work well together (was there ever really any question?), especially when served with good coffee, or tea, if that's your thing, sometimes that's my thing too...

Baby J, trying really hard to NOT touch the dvd player.

I was feeling restless last night, not wanting to go to sleep until I knew my asthmatic one was going to be good for the night- it's been a rough week with the heat & humidity combined with high pollen counts- and I had been putting off making another batch of Amish friendship bread, so... I started baking, at 10 pm. The air conditioner has already been working double time just to stay on top of this latest batch of heat and humidity (not looking forward to the next electric bill, if the last one was any indication...) so, why not run the oven? That, there, is classic Ali reasoning for you.

Still trying, can you see the inner struggle?

And as long as you're baking (after 10 pm), why not make a double batch? Oh, and remember how you wanted to make it a bit healthier and try it with fresh ground whole wheat? Now's as good a time as any, right? Can you hear the compulsive overachiever talking? Yeah, that side of me is hard to live with sometimes, but then, it's also the side of me that actually gets things done, so I let her stay.

Looking away, moving away, now that's self-control,

if it were only that easy to train myself that well...

Out came the Whisper Mill, and, since it was after 10, and despite it's quiet name, this mill sounds nothing like a whisper (it's all relative, apparently other mills are even louder), I headed to the garage to grind my wheat. Yep, the garage. I'm weird and compulsive like that.

Not that baking is weird, even if it is a fermented batter, nor is grinding my own wheat, I've been doing that for years, though not exclusively, and not usually in the garage; but put all of these factors together and remember that I was baking after 10 pm, and, well, that was weird.

End result- I occupied my time in between checking on my 6 yr old, who needed several rounds of meds to keep her oxygen level up in the night (really trying to stay out of the ER for a while) AND AT THE SAME TIME, I made 2 big pans of yummy sweet bread to eat for brunch this morning while I stay behind, home from church due to tiredness and several coughing kids.

In between eating and licking my fingers, I'm working on the finishing touches of a couple pairs of mittens, then it'll be onto the pattern editing, yay!

There are so many things I want to knit right now, I can hardly stand it. Teen's soccer season starts tomorrow, so it's time to pack a good bag- yarn, needles, pattern, and snacks, can't forget snacks. Have you ever tried to sit and knit while watching 6 young children for 2 hours while your teenager has soccer practice? My secret is snacks, lots of snacks, oh, and the jungle gym right next to the field, that helps too.

I hope you're all enjoying what's left of this summer- it's the last summer you'll get this year!

Happy knitting-

ali

*this recipe link for Amish friendship bread is my favorite because it calls for all natural ingredients (no instant pudding mix) so I don't have to buy anything extra to have on hand, and the variations on the sidebar, check those out, who knew there were that many things you could do with Amish friendship bread?! I just added a bunch of chopped up rhubarb to mine, because, well, I had a bunch of chopped up rhubarb and it sounded good... it was!

Making Me Smile This Week 7.3.09

Ideally, there would be another post or two in between these Friday 'Making Me Smile' posts, but no sooner did I start something new, to go with the new season, than life got crazy- crazier than usual.

Our 6 yr old's asthma began to flare up pretty bad last Saturday. We stepped up the meds, but they seemed to have no impact on the wheezing and her O2 level began a steady decline. After falling asleep it dipped into dangerous territory (right after back-to-back nebs) and we were off to the ER, a place this particular child knows too well. That doesn't make me smile, that makes me sad. But she's a trooper and a good sport and she likes getting new stuffed animals from the nurses and stickers! Stickers make kids smile, and smiling kids make mamas smile. It's nice how that works out.

So, let's see, making me smile this week-

• 6 yr old coming home after 3 nights in the hospital!
• 9 yr old leaving the land of single digits and entering the promised land of double digits!
• The way the youngers scavanged for 'presents' for new 10 yr old- they gave of their own toys, and even managed to wrap up his own compass and 'give' it to him for his birthday- too cute!!
• Baby J deciding to try real crawling
• Rose-breasted Grosbeaks right out my window
• Orioles coming to the feeder
• Listening to my 15 yr old fiddle
• Angel Lush with Pineapple- so easy! and so refreshingly yummy!
• The simple joys of hand-knit washcloths (knitting content! see, it's still a knitting blog!)
• A husband home to take boys mountain biking- even if there was a black bear sighting, and no pictures! what good is a handy dandy little point and shoot if you don't bring it with you and point and shoot?!!
• My new chairs- that was a great $10 spent! Yay for yard sales!

Have a fantabulous holiday weekend- if you've got kiddos, try some of these Independance Day printables, or maybe pass some time making a zillion 5 pointed stars with 1 snip, and let me know what you think!

Time to head out for some personal pan pizza party fun, inhalers in tote.

Happy knitting-

ali

*mental note- get pics off of camera and onto computer before sitting down to blog next time...

Making Me Smile This Week 6.26.09

Freestyle sewing- no patterns needed- so liberating, and fun! (Although it does steal some time away from the knitting...)

Kids laughing and splashing in the pool.

Homemade cole slaw- I love this recipe (it has buttermilk! I love buttermilk.) I will never again spend $3 for a jar of someone else's cole slaw dressing, not if I can help it. Sorry, no pic, I always eat it all too fast... seriously. (And I don't have the first clue about how to take a nice picture of cole slaw...)

Kids drawing birds.

Blueberry Scones- Why did I wait so long to bake these for the first time?

4 yr old's family portrait.


Sun tea. Yep. Summer has officially arrived.

Happy knitting-
ali

If They Could Just Stay Little

If they could just stay little 'till their Carters wear out, and maybe their wool socks.

Would you believe that I am already weeding through things that no longer fit this baby? All those newborn clothes, anything that says 0-3 months, oh, and these-

I made him some tiny Garter Rib Socks to match mine. Those were the first socks I ever finished, not the first pair I started, but the first I managed to stay focused on enough to complete. It's rather a bright shade of blue, for the fun and spunky days I guess. Being the compulsive hoarder that I am, I could never bring myself to part with the leftovers from that first skein of sock yarn- I just knew I could use it someday, and I finally did. Now I need to finish another pair of socks so I can have some more leftovers, so the babe can have some more socks, ones with a few more rows to accomodate his growing feet... (I could also use about 24 more hours in my days.)

I still need to get Mercy's hat blocked, isn't that awful? (The crocheted edging has the tiny bit of flaring going on...) Okay, now that I said it (proving to the world my talent and skill at procrastinating) I simply have to get up and block that thing! I mean, this is Minnesota. It has gotten cold, and we finally have snow, which she actually likes to go out and play in, for a few minutes even. Sure, there is a hood on her snowsuit, but it isn't alpaca soft and warm.

I was a wee bit discouraged by her initial reaction to her lovingly handcrafted hat, though...

Kids. My sister may be right- just give them some gel pens and notepads from the dollar spot at Target and they're happy, spend precious knitting time on people who will appreciate it. She may be right, but then again she may be wrong, and my kids could grow up feeling neglected if I spent all my knitting time knitting for myself, I mean, for grown friends and family, ehem. I think I'll give the little buggers a few more chances, and probably some more pens and paper as well... I am such a softie, or is it softy?

Speaking of softies, and gifts, apreciated or not, I've got a book recommendation for this season-

The Mitten, adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett

"In The Mitten, a Ukranian folktale, a boy named Nicki loses his snow-white mitten. He can't find it in the snow... but the woodland animals do!"

A grandmother knitting mittens, white wool, a child playing in the snow, woodland critters- so cute, and I just love the very last illustration, the puzzled look on grandmother's face as she looks at the two mittens... so cute. It would make a wonderful companion to a handknit pair of mittens for a loved one in your life, and every knitting mother should have a handful of beautifully illustrated stories featuring our favorite handcraft, don't you think? Seriously, this is just such a sweet book. (Moms- Jan Brett has a ton of free printables on her site, like these adorable ABC flashcards!)

I've got quite a few projects up my sleeve at the moment, and my Ravelry Queue is getting out of control... No one could knit that much, well, maybe somebody could, somebody who didn't need to eat or sleep for several years, but not me, gonna hafta start cleaning that thing out- one of these days...

*Bonus dinner recommendation (I'm feeling rather random)- I made Meril's Kicked Up Mac and Cheese tonight, Emeril's Essence and all. This one's definitely a keeper- very fun and tasty meal!

Happy knitting-

ali