greenclogs

a star is born

Sorry for the radio silence after all that posting. Annika just finished the short run of her first play, and we've been pretty overwhelmed by that for the last week. Gunnar took over the sound board at the last practice, so the whole thing has been a family affair. 

The play was Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, set in the 1950's. There were a few young children who wanted to be in the play, but there weren't good parts for little ones. So, the Muses were born. Annika was the Love muse, who introduced and tied together each act along with her compatriots, Tragedy and Comedy. 

Here's a short clip of one of her scenes. I apologize for the terrible lighting - the stage lights went out at performance time and we had to cobble something together at the last minute. 

The video I won't show is the one from Monday night where she forgot her lines, panicked and ran off the stage. Poor baby! I went back there and we talked quietly until she stopped crying and begging to go home. The other kids really built her back up and she went on for her next scene, strong as ever. My girl is one who struggles with doing things that she can't do perfectly so this was such a great lesson for her in making a mistake and moving on. I was one proud mama.

Her feelings about the whole experience? She's ready to try out for a role in Peter Pan. Gunnar is planning on learning lighting and building sets. Me? I see a lot of knitting in my future. Good times for all. 

and then he was old

 

Today is my sweet husband's 40th birthday. I don't talk a lot about Jeff in this space, but today is a special day. 

I'm very lucky that we met on the bus nearly 10 years ago. Every day, I'm thankful for his steady presence, his laughter, his knowledge and his kindness. He's a wonderful husband, a loving father, and a good friend. He puts up with me starting more than I finish. He'll do the dishes without too much complaining. He puts our happiness above his own. He has kept all of his hair (very important to him!). 

For his birthday, we gave him a beginning brewing kit so that he can also have a productive hobby that will consume his brain when he's not working. He loves beer. He loves science. He should love brewing. 

Here's hoping that the next 40 years of his life will be even better than the first 40. Happy birthday Jeff!

take one

We did a quick photo shoot today before Lindsay headed back to school. Luckily, she'll be back briefly next weekend, since I didn't really get what I wanted (and those photos with me in them? ugh). This is my favorite shot of the afternoon. 

I need to do some cleanup in Photoshop, but I think they're pretty cute. I'll keep them. 

For those who are also Christmas crafting and freaking out a little concerned about the time, I have 1 apron, 2 pj pants, and most of a long sleeve tunic finished. Many, many to go. I made the official list today. Oh, and the advent calendar pockets are embroidered to 10. Busting out the rest of it tomorrow. 

Have a great Monday!

meet Bessie, the bias tape maker

test strip wound

About 10 seconds worth of work. We are pleased. 

We need to shoot a video in the morning - this was too late to get good light with Gunnar's Flip camera. Then you can see how speedy it really is. The best comment in the video we tried to shoot was Annika saying "Mama! This is going to save you so much time!" Smart girl. 

the countdown begins

Christmas crafting begins in earnest tomorrow. Actually, it started today with the cutting of 5 sets of patterns - pajama pants and robes, jumpers, tunics, a boy's dress shirt (with buttons and a collar and cuffs! oh my!) and the pillow pattern. Tomorrow is a fabric cutting day, along with embroidering numbers on advent pockets. Sunday, I'll start to sew. I guess I'd better check the thread supply in the morning and stock up on the necessary colors. 

I'm tackling this year's gift by type of gift, in the hopes that with repetition comes efficiency. How do you organize your gift making so that you're efficient, but are still entertained? I'm hoping all the pretty colors and patterns are enough. Oh, and the use of this nifty tool, which was incredibly inexpensive after the application of the Joann sale price, two coupons and a gift card. Yay! I'm having a hard time not cutting everything into 2" strips just to try it out. So long as it saves me some burned fingers and a lot of time, then I'll be a happy camper. We'll take a video of it in action tomorrow so you all can ooh and aah, like I did when I watched one demonstrated this summer. 

Have a great, and hopefully quiet weekend, friends. 

bested by the pie

It started with the pear pomegranate crisp (inspired by Grace)

and then we swung into action. Food had been prepped over the last couple of days, so today was the dance of bringing it all to the table. 

Jeff basted the ham in honey and orange juice until it was mahogany. 

The dressing was made because dressing doesn't need turkey. Our recipe has sausage and apples and dried cranberries. I made approximately five times as much as we needed. Hello, lunch for the next week. 

Lindsay developed a sudden hankering for deviled eggs, so she found a recipe and made them all herself. People, this is the girl who thinks that if there is no packaged food in the house then there is no food in the house. Maybe there's hope for her after all. 

And we sat down to a feast. We didn't do a fancy table or match all of the dishes. It was just the five of us gathering together as a family and being grateful that above all else, we have each other. 

Oh, and we were grateful for pie. Lots of pie. Lindsay and a friend made these two pies yesterday. She made them from a pumpkin. Not from a can. Not from Costco. I'd think this wasn't even my kid if not for the fact that she asked me to do her laundry for her. But still, major props for making pies that were delicious. 

also in the pie lineup was a sweet potato buttermilk pie. It was light and tangy and delicious. I did add some meyer lemon juice to the filling, which made it quite tangy. I'd probably reduce the amount of juice but not leave it out. It will make a delicious breakfast tomorrow. 

Along with this. Gingerbread, apples, caramel. How could you go wrong? I was napping when Jeff took it out of the oven for me, so by the time I flipped it over, the caramel had soaked into the cake, making all of it gooey and delicious. I'll be making this one again and again and again.

We brought the desserts to a neighbor's house and we had a lovely gathering of friends for pie and cake and play and talk. We weren't able to spend Thanksgiving with family this year, so having this time with people who mean so much to us was really special. Life would be much more empty here without them, and I'm thankful every day to call them our friends. 

At the end, Gunnar had to shove away his dessert plate after six - count them - six pieces of pie. He had been bested by the pie at last. Until next year. 

nearly advent

and I'm just starting the advent calendar. I've amended it some from the original (more simple) but I think it'll be just as pretty. Several bright colors on cream colored felt. Numbers embroidered in grey. 

Today was felt cutting day. Tomorrow I'll embroider numbers while the dinner cooks. Speaking of dinner, the rolls (6 dozen) are made, the sweet potato pie filling and pie crust are in the refrigerator, as is the cranberry sauce. The bread for dressing is cubed. And get this: Lindsay made pie. Two pumpkin pies made from actual pumpkins by her and a friend. I nearly fell over in shock. There's hope for her yet. 

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. 

not much to see

just some random thoughts

- I think we're going to get a vintage aluminum tree this year and go all retro rather than keep getting fresh trees year after year. Buying cut trees feels wrong anymore, and if I'm going to go fake, I'm going really fake. Now I have to find one. 

- My cat loves tomato. He was just licking the inside of an empty can of tomatoes. He'll also eat leftover tomato soup. I think this is weird. 

- I need to figure out what to make for my teenager who thinks handmade gifts are "weird." I'm thinking a couple of gumdrop pillows for her living room in colors that match the quilt I made for her birthday. And maybe a couple of patchwork throw pillows. 

- I made yet another hat today. I have one more to make and then I hope to be moving on to other things. Hats are nice and quick, but I think I need to knit myself a pair of socks. My feet are cold every night. 

- I think my poached pear idea for Thanksgiving dessert has been replaced by this. Oh. My. Goodness.

We're off to Tucson tomorrow to pick up Lindsay, so we'll spend the day at the Sonoran Desert Museum. Hopefully we'll bring home lots of pretty pictures. And that reminds me that I need to charge my camera battery. Goodnight!

at the ready

I think the reason I've been a reasonably productive knitter lately is that I'm keeping yarn and needles at the ready next to "my" spot on the couch. When I sit down, I can grab whatever project is in progress (tonight it's a toddler size hat out of the red and blue) and knit while I chat with the kids or watch a TV show or have my computer open on the arm of the couch. If I have to search for the yarn or the needles, then my progress slows dramatically. So, I'm trying to stick to one needle size with similar yarns to minimize the digging. A better solution would be to clean out the craft room (ahem) but I need to devote a whole day to that. Maybe after the Malabrigo runs out and I have to look for something new. 

The planning has begun for Thanksgiving dinner. I think it's just our family of five this year, so I'm trying to balance having all those traditional dishes that we love with not overdoing the cooking (and tiring of the leftovers). On the menu is a Hassayampa ham, since someone (the boy) has sworn off poultry. Something about those girls of ours in the back yard. We'll also have both sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes (for Lindsay), brussels sprouts, green beans, rolls, and dressing with ham gravy. Dessert is a sweet potato pie. We'll also poach some beautiful pears from the farmer's market. I think that'll be enough to feed us all weekend. I need to get to baking the rolls tomorrow and the pie filling and crust, so Thursday's work is minimal. 

Happy Thanksgiving week, friends. We have much to be thankful for. 

end of season

It was the last soccer game of the season today, and the boy was sad. However, he won't have to cool his heels for long because the spring season starts on January 4. Oy. I'd better find a chair that I won't get stuck in with my great big belly, because it'll be huge by then. I don't want to be stuck in a chair with my feet waving in the air waiting for someone to help me out of it. 

There are some good ideas coming in for handmade gifts - be sure to speak up if you have anything else. Today, we went to SAS fabric by the pound and the kids bought dollar bags of beads and 4 yards of red wire for $1. So far they're each made a necklace, G has made several Christmas ornaments, and A made a bracelet and there are a lot of beads left. Hours of fun for $3. Oh, and that doesn't count the fun the cats are having with the beads that get left on the table. Maybe the fat one will lose a couple of pounds with all the chasing. 

That's all I have. Jeff is home for the week, so I'm anticipating getting a lot done. Right? Right.