Furry Friends

I try not to be too crazy about my family on this blog, for their sake and yours, but I just had to welcome my newest furry friend, Zoey the kitty, to the family in a big way. Why, you ask?

1) After the spraying, clawing, and insane howling of our old tomcat, my husband swore to never allow another feline into the house. Ever.
2) After the spraying, clawing, and insane howling of our old tomcat, I didn't think I would ever want another feline in the house.
3) I tried to think of another reason to list here, because three is a nice round number - but really, spraying, clawing and insane howling are way more than reason enough for me to think I would never have another cat.

Anyway, after we sent the tomcat to go live on a farm where he could be happy outside chasing mice*, I really felt the lack of a cat in the house. I knew that there would be no convincing DH to agree to get one, but that didn't stop me from dragging him over to look at the cats in them adoption center in PetSmart, or informing him that there were kittens free to a good home down the road from us.

DH must have picked up on my *ahem* subtle clues over the last two years, because yesterday he came home from work early, changed his clothes and had me get in the car -refusing to answer when I asked where we were going, but assuring me that jeans, sandals, my old Red Wings t-shirt and a messy ponytail were appropriate attire.
I have to say that I had no idea where he was taking me. When he pulled into the parking lot of the Humane League of Lancaster, I actually teared up a little. DH now thinks I am completely clueless, and I have to agree with his reasoning - just a few days ago, DH and Thing 2 were cuddling on the couch, whispering and seeming very secretive. When I asked them what they were being so quiet about, Thing 2 announced, "We weren't talking about getting you a puppy..."
In my defense, it did cross my mind that maybe DH was thinking about getting me a kitten for my birthday, but I didn't expect to be taken to the shelter to pick one out two days before my birthday. Just sayin.


So, Zoey is a sweet, affectionate (or maybe just territorial), four year old calico. This is the best picture I could get of her because she hasn't been still for more than a few seconds at a time - at least, not when I've had a camera around.
She seems to be fine with the boys, but she's not quite sure about the dogs yet (we're keeping her by herself in the guest room right now, with a towel that the dogs slept on to get her used to their smell, as per the instructions from the very helpful staffer at the Humane League). We have introduced the dogs to her, and she got her back up and ran from both of them, but only clawed at Lucky- which is understandable, Lucky has been giddy and goofy since we brought Zoey home, and was a little overly friendly when she was introduced.
Zoey seems pretty relaxed since we brought her home, and eager to get out of her room and explore. Even DH seems to like her - yay! Welcome to the family, Zoey.

*(seriously, that's not just what we told the kids, a nice Mennonite family adopted him as a barn cat)

Generosity Rocks Out Loud!

Guess what some sweet Freecycler gave me for an awesome free pre-birthday present? (They didn't know it was a pre-birthday present, but I do!)




Oh yeah. I am so geeked.
Revel in the seventies awesomeness.
I will be able to slice and dice and grate and mix like nobody's business. I'll have to make sure I post pics of the incredible foodness that is sure to follow.
Whatever.
You know you're jealous.
But just cause I love you, I'll post pics of (and the general recipe for) the cake I made for MIL's 50th birthday, anyway. Pre-processor, of course, which just makes it even cooler. (Things 1&2 were soon un-thrilled with being allowed to use the grater, let me tell you... 4 cups of carrots is a lot!)






Crazy-good Carrot Cake*
4 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup applesauce
1/4 c oil
1/2 cup raisins, ~just~ covered in water and microwaved for 30 seconds, then drained
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs, lightly beaten-? (I think I added eggs; I honestly can't remember.)

Mix dry ingredients, and sift together. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients together well, then add to 'dry' bowl. Mix thoroughly, but quickly - Pour batter into greased and floured cake pan(s), bake in 350-degree oven for approximately one hour, or until toothpick inserted into middle of cake comes out clean.

*All amounts are approximate - I looked up a bunch of carrot cake recipes online, and then took the ingredients I wanted and a few I thought should be included, and guessed on how to best put them together. Feel free to use all whole wheat or all white flour, all white or all brown sugar, whatever you happen to like better, with the understanding that results may vary. My cake rose well, and was moist without being sticky.

Frosting (well, kind of)

I made a fondant-type frosting- for the first time! I used the same method as above, researching fondant and then just flying by the seat of my pants. It was delicious - but sweet!

1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup margarine or softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash salt
2lb. bag of 10x confectioner's (powdered) sugar

Combine honey, vanilla, and butter completely, add salt and slowly sift powdered sugar into the mix (I added it by the 1/2 cup), stirring until completely mixed after each time. Eventually (after about 2 cups for me) the mix will be more solid and almost doughy. When this happens, put the dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour. Remove frosting, lightly dust a smooth surface (I just used the counter, but a cold pastry marble would be awesome for this) with sifted powdered sugar and knead more sugar into the dough. When the dough begins to look more flat than glossy, it should be about done. This part you'll just have to experiment with, because you want it to be dry enough to handle, but wet enough to not crack as you drape it on the cake.
I frosted the cake very lightly with store bought cream cheese frosting, then rolled out sections of my frosting and covered the whole cake. They don't have to be perfect, you can trim them and mold the edges together!
With the left over icing, I kneaded food color into it, rolled it out and used a cookie cutter to make the stars (I found an easier way to do it after I was finished - of course- but that's another post) which I then placed strategically over areas where the frosting was less than smooth.
(One caveat - be careful with poking toothpicks into the cake, or wrapping it - this frosting is like play clay, and stays partially malleable the whole time. If you look closely, you can see the wrinkles where I tightly wrapped this with plastic wrap to keep it in place during the 1-1/2 hour drive to MIL's party!)


Ta-daaa!

No More Nemesis

Okay, so the guy wasn't really a nemesis, but still... he had a way of pissing people off. On purpose. He was one of those kind of guys who can't resist pushing just to see how far he could before someone would push back- and then once they started pushing back, he would promptly (and figuratively, of course) kick their ass.
I am one of those nicey people who just doesn't like to say bad things about others, so Steven Wells was pretty much my polar opposite. I first became aware of him because of these two articles he wrote about how knitting is completely not as cool as hipster knitters think it is.
Now, I have been crocheting since I was 17 and more recently started knitting, but before the apex of the trend really hit. I was kind of glad to finally see it being promoted as a punk-rock, hip type of hobby- considering that even my loving DH constantly referred to me as 'Granny' when he would see me knitting something (didn't stop him from enjoying the blanket I crocheted for him, but that's beside the point), I thought it was about time that crafting became kind of cool. There's nothing wrong with preferring to wear or use something you've made by hand, rather than using or wearing something that an underpaid worker in Guatemala made with a machine. I also enjoyed the fact that all kinds of people were interested in knitting and crocheting and crafting - from granola crunchers to dominatrices, there was something for everyone in the knitting world, it was no longer just doilies and cardigans.
Well, Steven Wells set me straight. He let me know that no matter what kind of gloss you put on it, no matter what you were knitting or crocheting, it was still not edgy or punk rock. After my initial pissiness, after composing comments in my head that I would never repeat (or type), I just had to laugh. I read a few of his back articles, and was hooked. He just seemed to be one of those people who can't help but tell the truth the way he saw it, everybody's pwecious widdle feewings be damned. Plus, he was hilarious. Since I can take a joke, even if it's on me, I immediately subscribed to Philadelphia Weekly.
Then, the Anticraft replied to his criticisms by posting these wonderful Vlad the Impaler hats. I literally laughed out loud when I saw the quote by Steven Wells at the top of the page. I thought, "Hey, that's a good idea, turn that anger toward creative pursuits, you've shown him." I continued to thoroughly enjoy both Steven's articles and the Anticraft's quarterly issues. My inbox had a new issue of PW this morning, with a surprising title - "In Memoriam: Steven Wells".
I didn't know him personally, or even as a writer for very long, but I really enjoyed his cynicism and sarcasm, so I spent a good portion of the morning learning about Steven Wells and his battle with cancer, and I think that it's a story that would touch all but his most vehement haters. Sure, the guy was abrasive, insulting, and often rude- but he was also honest, and his story is frightening and touching and just made me sad that he had to go now, when I was just becoming a fan.
Farrah Fawcett was before my time, Ed McMahon has always been old to me, and I was never a fan of Michael Jackson (or Billy Mays, for that matter), so other than the surprise of how close together their deaths happened, I haven't been saddened or personally affected by them - but I will sorely miss Steven's wit showing up in my inbox every week.

Post # 18, Mother's Day Week

In which I do not kill anything, and I also try my hand at a new craft experience.
I have, rather than the desired 'green thumb', one of those black thumbs that people talk about. It's pretty much a running joke. In fact I currently have a pot that, at Easter, contained beautiful living tulips - but now contains only a brown mass of withered leaves. Maybe this is how tulips behave when they have finished blossoming, I don't know... but it makes me sad when I kill plants, because I really do love them, and they way they look inside the house and out.
When we first moved to Lancaster County, I was overwhelmed with the urge to grow things. Plants just thrive here, and all the conditions come together to create some of the best non-irrigated farmland in the country, possibly the world. Plus, the overwhelming beauty of all the trees and flowers blooming in the spring - it's enough to make even the most avid devotee of silk plants consider attempting to maybe keep at least a little cactus. Just to give it a shot.
Well, I am proud to announce that, after putting it off for four years, and only one failed attempt, I have not killed some plants! Yay!


(See the bonus marigold? There is also a hyacinth growing next to it- planted in a nifty self-watering pot - that wouldn't fit in the picture.)
All of these were sprouted by moi. Using recycled planting materials, no less. (Pats self on back)
Now, in the interests of full disclosure, I did kill the first round of seeds I planted; they became moldy, and only the beans seemed even interested in trying to sprout... but I have narrowed it down to four possible reasons why this may have happened:

1. The dirt. I figured that the clay-ey, sticky soil around here is good enough to grow literally tons of corn and what-not, so it should be good enough to start my seeds, right? Besides, those expensive potting soils are just full of chemical fertilizers, anyway. I failed to remember that the soil around here is also liberally treated with non-chemical fertilizer, in the form of liquefied cow poo. How I failed to draw this parallel at the same time that the pungent aromas of spring were drifting in through my open windows, I don't know. Apparently, I am not a smart person.
   
2. Over-watering. I figured seeds are dried, they must need a lot of water to get started. I may have been a bit neurotic about the watering.
3. The water itself. The reason that chlorine is put in city water in the first place is to dissuade bacterial growth. It would only logically follow that trying to make plants grow with chlorinated water would probably be counter-productive. This did not, however, occur to me until the moldy, half-sprouted seeds were already being mourned. In my defense, this is I think the first time I have had city water in my life.
   
4. Plants just don't like me. I may to go with this one, since it involves only a slight blow to my self-esteem, rather than acknowledging that I got pretty much every aspect of growing plants horribly wrong.

So, I set out to correct what I could, using my now severely depleted seed supply. I bought potting soil, rather than relying on my own front yard dirt (for now), I watered much less than I had the first go-round, and I also made a point of not watering the plants with any water that hadn't been sitting for at least 24 hours to let the chlorine dissipate. I also smiled at them a little more often to make myself more likable. Maybe that helped, because, as you can see from the picture, I have potential vegetables! It seems as though nearly 80% of the seeds decided to grow - yay! I don't know if that's a good ratio or not, but for me, anything more than 20% would have been considered a success!

In other, somewhat unrelated news, I have tried my hand at jewelry-making!
I made these lovelies for my mom and MIL, for Mother's Day. (Yes, I know I shouldn't be advertising what I made my mother and MIL on the interwebs, where anyone could wander across it and spoil the surprise, but we all - and by that I mean I- know that no one reads this blog anyway, and the chances of either of them stumbling across it and finding out what their gifts are in the next five days is roughly the same as the odds of Death Valley flooding. So I think I'm good.) Here they are, being modeled on my favorite shirt, mother's day birthstone pendants!



Aren't they pretty?
The one on the left is for my MIL, the gems being emerald for my BIL and ruby for my DH. The one on the right is then, obviously, for my mom - aquamarine for my brother, rubies for my sister and I.
I made both of the charms with beads I picked up at the Lancaster Bead Company and some things I had at home already; all the beads and both necklaces ran about $40 total. IMHO, that's not bad for something nice and sparkly like these. Especially if you have gone out and priced mother's rings/pendants first, like DH and I did last week... ~shudder~. Even the 'simulated' (or, as fake as fakey fake can be) gemstone rings cost a ridiculous amount of money.
I like 'em (the moms, I mean), but there was just no way we could buy them both mother's rings.
For each pendant, I used two round silver beads and two smaller hematite beads, plus the birthstone beads and a decorative separator bead in between.
I strung them on thin silver wire, which made this waaay more difficult than it could have been... I had some previously purchased 32 gauge wire, which was quite a bit thinner than what I really needed. I twisted it back on itself (securing the hematite bead at the bottom first to keep all the other beads in place), and then ran the wire up and down the center of all the beads a few times to make it less likely to break. Doing that also created the bail (the loop that the necklace goes through) at the top.
If I were to make another one of these, I would use a head pin instead - much easier and faster to string the beads onto it, and the top could just be bent down with a pair of pliers to make the bail once the beads are strung. Example:


It took me about thirty minutes to make each charm, not including dithering some more over the layout of the beads (DH was about ready to scream in the bead store, I was changing my mind so much, but he was being good because he was trying to convince me we need a PS3... I'll take the cooperation with my indecisiveness however I can get it, though).
Had I bought the headpins, it probably would have taken me five - ten minutes to make both charms, not including dithering time.
I hope the parental units like them, rough as they are. Does the extra (ahem- and possibly unnecessary) time and effort I put in negate the obviously homemade nature of the gift? I'm not above pointing it out, if I have to...
(I could go off on a rant about how the appreciation of a handmade gift generally decreases in direct proportion with the age of the giver, but I'm trying to be positive here...)
I have to get my mom's in the mail, probably today, to make sure it gets to Florida in time, but we should be having supper Saturday with DH's mom, so I'll get to give it to her in person and see if she likes it or if she's just being nice about it. she'll probably like it though.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I hope you get something you like, whether it's a piece of handmade jewelry, or a dishwasher (DH has been dropping some not-so-subtle hints that he's probably getting me one - I'm cool with it!), or extra quality time with the kids.

Happy Earth Day!

Earth Day is such an important holiday, in my oh-so-humble opinion, and, as I just learned, is also the 3rd 'craftiest' holiday after Christmas and Halloween. It must be from all those milk-carton bird feeders and soda bottle maracas, right?
I feel terrible that I have not been very crafty lately... Christmas seems to have sapped all of my creativity for the last few months, and I am just now starting to get the urge to make things again, which I've been trying to channel that into finishing up some (previously put-on-hold-indefinitely) projects around the house, cooking, and starting a garden with the kids.
This doesn't leave a lot of time for doing much knitting, or for much crocheting either. I've started a couple of things, but haven't had any motivation to finish anything. :(
It's really a shame, because I lucked into some amazing yarns on Freecycle that have been calling my name for the last two months, but I've felt so guilty about all of my UFO's that I haven't dared to start anything new with them. Siiiggghhh.....
I am going to knit a couple of bags to hold the wheels and such for the Heelys that DH's mom bought for Thing 1 and Thing 2, though, which should be a gratifying, quick project. In the meantime, here are a few pictures of past accomplishments for my imaginary audience's viewing pleasure.
























This is the bearded hat I made for Thing 1 for crazy hat day, aka Halloween. I had to talk him into wanting it, but now he loves it.























And, also for crazy hat day, this one was finished as the kids were eating breakfast that morning, a crocheted Goomba hat for Thing 2; he loves all things Super Mario. It's a little too small for him, but he wears it anyway. What a kid.
Hopefully, I will have some more stuff to show off soon - not my house projects, though... I forgot to take pictures. Bad blogger, no biscuit....