So...

Not much has changed since I last posted. We're even having Cornish Pasties for dinner again tonight ;)

I've finished 4 squares for the crazy quilt, and I've another sock on the needles now. last few squares have been very pastel, and I felt the need for bright. So now I am knitting up my bright orange and red Bonkers yarn. And it's fitting, since what better way to celebrate autumn than to knit autumn colors?

Yes, fall is finally here. At least for the last two days. We've been in the mid-70s and I love it! Windows are wide open, all except for the dinner hour, and then once the house has cooled back down after dinner the windows open again. Wonderful!

We've had one rather significant change. The kiddo started junior high a few weeks ago (Ack! My baby!). And with that comes trumpet lessons. So we have a sick goose in the living room at the moment. But she loves it, so I guess my ears will recover ;)

And since Blogger decided to eat the rest of my post I'm going to stop here. I've got a heel to turn. See y'all in a month, lol.

Random bits

Cornish Pasties for dinner tonight, yum!

County Fair this evening when it cools down a bit. Swimming pool in a bit.

My blanket square is coming along slowly, mainly because I've had my nose in a book more regularly. I found a series of tattoo shop mysteries (because there's a series for EVERYTHING now, lol) and I've been reading them, and a few other odds and ends.

So, books I've recently read:

-The new Sookie Stackhouse book, Dead Reckoning. My reaction to it was just, "Meh." Didn't love it, didn't hate it.

-The new Queen Betsey book, Undead and Undermined. I have to say, I'm not enjoying them as much anymore. Betsey is just annoying and self centered and frankly, there's not much happening with the series, it seems stagnant. Betsey disappears, then has sex with Sinclair. Betsey fights with her sister, has sex with Sinclair.

Donna Andrews's new book, The Real Macaw was as enjoyable as always. The characters are fun and quirky and we finally get to find out what sex the new babies are :)

Cricket McRae's crafting mysteries, with Wined and Died most recently released. Cricket is actually a local author so I found her in a local display at the library. I've enjoyed all 5 books in the series.

And surprisingly, I like the latest Anita Blake book from Laurell K Hamilton, though I'm not sure where we go from here. Maybe back to Anita helping solve crimes? I'd like to see Edward toughen up a bit again too, that was the one thing I didn't care for, Edward just can't go soft lol.

Old favorites that I can't read any more:
Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan (funny I used to love this series, but I went back and re-read one and just thought, "What was I thinking??"

My Amazon wish list is looking pretty thin again, since I use it to remind me of books I want to read and now I've read most of them. Time to make a trip the the bookstore to scope out new releases lol.

What is it about summer

that makes me nostalgic for certain foods? Maybe it's because summer is block party and picnic season, so it was the only time we ever had them. But things like carrot cake, Pineapple Upside Down cake and of course my grandma's bars have been at the forefront of my mind for a while now. Carrot cake was easy to solve, I bought a single piece at the grocery store bakery. Yum!

The Pineapple Upside Down cake seemed an easy solution too, as Safeway sells slices. But it wasn't quite what I remembered from my childhood. Maybe because it was white cake, not yellow?

And of course Grandma's bars. I made them. I didn't cook the sugar mixture long enough, and I didn't put enough lemon juice in the frosting, so they were close, but not quite... I will try them again sometime.

Now there's a Pineapple Upside Down cake in my oven, Betty Crocker's recipe, which means it's probably exactly what my mom made when I was a kid, lol.

Now I just need some of my mom's potato salad and the cheese olive puffs ;)

Not sure how Pineapple Upside Down cake is going to go with our dinner of Chicken Korma, but oh well. Tomorrow is pulled pork sandwiches, it will go just fine with that.

Edited to add: The cake turned out perfectly, G loves it, though I haven't been able to get Isabel to try it due to the pineapple. Maybe tomorrow. Picky bugger, lol.

The pork is in the crock pot. Real simple, chop one onion, throw it in. Add pork roast, season with pepper and garlic power. I add a cup of apple juice for moisture and then 3/4 c of bbq sauce. Several hours on low and the pork will be so tender it will easily pull apart. I like to toast my hamburger bun before I put the pork on it. It reheats well, too.

Next up on the list of things we haven't had for awhile and must have soon: Cornish Pasties. Yum!

Trail Ridge Road

The family and I went up and over Trail Ridge today, the first time I've been there in years. It was absolutely gorgeous. With the well above average snow pack melting slowly up in the high country and the rain we were getting every afternoon, the wild flowers are just gorgeous. I can't remember ever seeing that many wild flowers, certainly not this late in summer. Even the alpine tundra was covered in little white and yellow flowers.

And the weather was just gorgeous as well. While Loveland hit 97 today, it was a nice 58 degrees at the Alpine Visitor Center. We drove along with the sunroof open and the windows down.

We spent some time walking around in Grand Lake and then on the way out of town saw tons of people standing on the side of the road. We pulled over and crossed the road to see two huge bull moose. The biggest one wouldn't take his head out of the greenery he was eating, but you could see he was a big boy with an enormous rack of antlers. The other bull was farther away, but he was out in the open and even gave me a nice profile shot or two.

bull moose (click image to see full size),
originally uploaded by zukeeper.geo.

It was absolutely amazing to see them that close to town, that close to the road. the bigger of the two was literally a few yards away. Which was actually a bit scary, since moose can be quite dangerous, but these guys were too busy munching to care about anyone else, and the crowd was actually being pretty respectful and keeping their distance.

The saddest thing about today was seeing just how much devastation the pine beetle has wrought in Colorado. I noticed a ton of beetle killed trees on our side of the mountain, a lot of them new enough to still have the rusty needles. But the Western slope has just been decimated by beetle. There were swathes of trees that there were way more dead trees than live. And all along the roadway there were huge slash piles of killed trees that the park service has cut down. For the Park Service to cut and haul trees, there has to be a major issue, since the usual policy is to let nature take its course. It's such a huge problem that all they can do is remove trees that could be a danger in high use areas.

It's estimated that withing a few year's time ALL of the Lodgepole pines in Colorado will have been killed by the beetle epidemic. So for those who say Global Warming isn't an issue, come look at my mountains. Beetle only die off at temps lower than 40 below zero. Colorado hasn't gotten that cold in about 10 years, thanks to global warming. :(

My crazy quilt so far

all three,
originally uploaded by zukeeper.geo.

The squares are actually quite quick to knit. Well, when I don't have a smashed middle finger anyway. Amazing how much that finger just gets in the damned way.

Two nights ago it got in the way of my sliding glass door as I went to shut it. Wouldn't be surprised if my mother heard me swearing all the way in Iowa, lol. Goodness knows, I swore long and loud, along with some crying and whimpering. Yep, I am a baby. Poor G was trying to help by making me stick my finger under cold water but anything touching it just made it throb worse, so of course that made me whinge more. I wouldn't even look at my finger for ages, I was convinced that if it hurt that badly I must have lost part of it, lol,

Today it's still swollen and sore, so I managed only one round on the light blue square. Waiting to see if the nail goes black and falls off. Ick!

Crazy Quilt

I'm cruising right along on my crazy quilt squares, two down and number 3 on the needles. I'm going to run out of yarn before I run out of love for this project. I just love the squares, with it's itty bitty hole in the center from where you start knitting in the "square" ;) they have a bit of a lacey look, and I can't wait to have enough to start putting some together. Lucky for me and my marriage, JoAnn's carries some decently priced sock yarns now so I can occasionally buy yarn just for my blanket.

Miche

Deniece,
originally uploaded by zukeeper.geo.

Went to a lovely Miche party this afternoon and was very naughty. I bought two shells, Deniece, which is denim and "ostrich" skin, and Hope, which is their newest cancer awareness shell.

I swear, I only went with the intention of buying the Deniece, but then I saw the Hope shell and all good intentions went to Hell, lol. If you don't know what Miche is, you really need to go look at their website.

Miche is a bag system where you buy a plain base bag, and then you can change the look of it by changing the shell. It means you can change you bag's look to match your outfit, instead of changing everything over to a new bag! AWESOMENESS!

I do love my interchangeable accessories, lol.

Hope,
originally uploaded by zukeeper.geo.

Memories

I was reading a book the other day and the protagonist served olive cheese puffs and I flashed back to my Grandma Penny's kitchen when I was probably 7 or 8, and eating olive cheese puffs hot out of the oven.

So I emailed my mom asking if she had that recipe. She of course doesn't remember anything like it, lol. And didn't find any recipe for it in her recipe box. Good news is, I did find what I think is most likely the recipe. I think I shall have to try it out and see if it is as good as I remember or if it's just good memories coloring it.

There are a few of my Grandma's recipes that I think about making. As a kid she had a desert bar recipe that was always my favorite desert. My mom didn't make it often but when she did, I was in heaven. I keep thinking I should make them, but then I think if my daughter knew what was in them, she wouldn't touch them, and I know my husband wouldn't lol. Kind of a strange desert, coconut, graham crackers, brown sugar with a slightly lemony frosting. Damn. I want them now, lol. I wonder where my recipe box is...

Because it's that time of the year again ;)

I have to post it. Click Read More to see my favorite birthday scene, lol.

Honestly!

If you look at all the stuff out there about food and food borne illness, you'd never eat again! I've been trying to lay off the prepackaged frozen dinners for lunch and instead eat sliced turkey, tomatoes, lettuce and fruit. Strawberries made the most contaminated list, from pesticides, and now cold cuts and lettuce are on the list of dirtiest foods.

Frankly, I am getting tired of all these scare-people-to-death articles. Everyone is too worried about everything,and the media just makes it worse.

I rode around in a car as a kid without a seat belt (Not that I advocate not wearing a seat belt, I had a friend get thrown from a vehicle because he wasn't wearing his seat belt and get crushed to death. A seat belt would likely have saved his life. I ALWAYS wear my seat belt now and insist that everyone in my vehicle do so or my vehicle doesn't move. But I digress...)

I survived riding my bike without a helmet. (But yes, I make my kiddo wear hers, why take chances, lol)

I survived a game of tag on the playground, along with the swings and everything else. That schools are taking away swing sets on the playgrounds and not allowing kids to play tag, not allowing kids to be kids, that's just sick and wrong.

I survived unwashed fruits and veggies as a kid, (in the time of DDT even!) and under cooked meats. My father used to mix up the hamburger patties and then eat bits RAW for crying out loud.

We didn't have anti-bacterial soap. And you know what? We didn't die! Our bodies made antibodies.

But most important, we went to the doctor and we got our immunizations. And polio, measles and mumps went the way of the dinosaur. Until recently, when the scare-em-to-death reports started linking (erroneously, as it has now been proven that the studies were falsified!) immunizations to autism. Or parents got complacent. I have a co-worker who insists her kid doesn't need immunizations because when was the last time someone got the chicken pox?? And he's only around his cousins, not other people so he's not exposed to anything. Ummm. You leave the house, right? Yeah, you are super over-protective of your kid in every other way, but you can't protect him from germs...

Sigh. Stepping down from my soapbox and going to go get ready for work.

No new picture but...

My first square is coming along nicely, I'm about 16 rows from calling it done. I mentioned to my daughter that I only had "70 more squares to go" and I thought my hubby was going to have a heart attack! The idea of me knitting 70 more pairs of socks just about sent him over the edge, lol. But 70 was a bit of an exaggeration, as there are only 36 squares. Still, the idea of that many more pairs of socks is a bit much for him to handle. But I think I can get 2 squares per remainder ball, and I have 3 pairs of socks completed, one on the go and another sock kit ready to go whenever. So that could be 10 squares right there ;) Only 13 more to go after that, lol.

And I already know which yarn I would like next, well, which yarns I would like next as I love several Blue Moon colorways ;) Pepe le Plume, Puck's Mischief, & the Incredible Shrinking Violet to start! Apparently, I am into purples now ;)

Barn Raising Project

Started my first square this morning. This could be a fairly quick project if I actually had more yarn, lol. The square pattern is easy and quick (once I got used to fumbling around with 5 needles and 12 stitches!)

Wonderfully woolly!

We went up to Estes today for the Wool Market. This year the weather was most cooperative and it was not too hot, not too cold and definitely no rain or snow! The kiddo and I had fun walking through the vendor barn (or the Yarn Barn, as I like to call it). I bought a lovely sock kit with hand dyed yarn, and nearly bought another ball of sock yarn, but they didn't take plastic. It was a booth for a large somewhat local store though, so the kiddo and I will likely be taking a trip to Shuttles, Spindles & Skeins soon ;)

The lamb booth didn't have any ground lamb this year, so that was a disappointment, but the cinnamon almond vendor was there as always, this year I bought the biggest bag he had (the kiddo ate all of my small bag on the way home last year! I was livid, my once a year treat, gone, waaaaaaaaaaaaa. Not this year, lol).

There weren't nearly the number of llamas and alpacas this year as there have been previous years, due to the equine herpes outbreak we had late last month.

But we did meet some famous names!

For instance, here we have Barak O. Llama!

And we can't forget country sensation Toby Keith! Well, the goat version anyway! And he certainly lives in the country ;)

Sock Yarn and stuff

I prefer shorter ankle socks to regular calf length, which means when I knit, I have extra yarn leftover. So I was wandering around the web and I found a blanket that is made from sock yarn. So I think I am going to take my extra yarn and start knitting squares for the Barn-Raising Quilt. If anyone feels like donating left over yarn give me a shout ;)

But first, tomorrow is our day at the Estes Park Wool Market, woot! Looking forward to the yarn barn. Last year I actually managed to get out without buying anything but some ground lamb, but this year... I do want to wander around downtown Estes too, it's been years since I've walked along Elkhorn! (We moved from Estes over 11 years ago, and I'm pretty sure it had been a few years before that!)

Then on Sunday I'm going bowling with the gang from work. It will be interesting to see how things sort themselves out between the children... Sadly, there's one kid going that no one really wants around, though she has latched on to another co-worker, convinced T's her new BFF, when really T just wants her to shut up, just like everyone else. I soooo hope she finds a new job soon, because I think once she goes, a lot of the childish behavior goes with her and morale will go back up.

Back to Junior High

*Sigh* For months now I have felt like I'm in high school again, thanks to all the bickering at work. We have a group of kids that just cannot get along. All of them are legally adults, but none of them are grown up!

So let me share with you my rules for the workplace:
1. Never, EVER, date someone you work with.
2. Never, EVER, date someone you work with, who is involved with someone else you work with!
3. You may not like someone, but guess what? You frequently have to work with people you don't like. Pull up your big girl (or boy) panties and deal with it like the adult you are supposed to be.
4. Leave me out of it. I don't want to get caught in the middle when you complain about each other. I'm old enough to be your mother, but I don't want to be. I'm not your BFF either. Nor am I your confessional.

Just... Stuff

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. By noon it was 85 and I decided it was time to hit the pool. We spent a few hours over there and then the sun got to be to much for me and we came home, changed and ran to the grocery store for a few odds and ends that I had missed on Friday. After that the heat and sun had me pooped, so I took a nap, lol.

I read for a while yesterday evening. I'm back in that rut where it doesn't seem to matter what I grab, it just doesn't hold my interest. I've been reading the Grace and Favor mysteries by Jill Churchill. Good books, I just can't seem to settle.

And I got the "last" book in the Clan of the Cave Bear series. I'd always thought Shelters of Stone was the last. And frankly, maybe it should have been (actually, Plains of Passage should have been the last, 'cause the 12 years we waited for SoS weren't worth it!). From what I have managed to read so far, Ayla is the biggest MarySue evah! And it's making me crazy. I'm not sure if I can make it to the end of this one...

Beautiful morning

I love spring mornings! Nice and cool, but comfortable. They are the best time to sit outside on my deck and listen to the birds and frogs sing. The pelicans are just starting to move around on the lake, searching for breakfast. Soon there will be babies in the osprey nest to watch as well. The sound of the redwing blackbird's call brings back so many childhood memories, good times spent at the pool while the parents played golf.

If I could drag my preteen out of bed I'd make her go with for a walk around the lake. I'm thinking I need to ban her current book of choice from the bedroom at night because I am pretty sure she is staying up to read. Yes, it's summer and there's no school, but she was awake at midnight when her dad came home for "lunch" the other night and when I woke up at 2:45 am that night I noticed a light on and found her wide awake and reading. No wonder she doesn't want to get out of bed at 9:30 am! Unfortunately for her, today is my day off, which means it's errand day. First stop, the bra shop, since my favorite (most comfortable) bra got eaten in the washing machine last night!

And now for something completely different...

The Estes Wool Market is only a week away! Yay!!!!

Minding my own business

I was walking up the sidewalk to the house, just minding my own business, and kind of spacing out after a long first day back from vacation. As I am walking my brain kind of registers that something is different about the sidewalk, so I stopped to take a look. There, just a few feet in front of me, was the biggest damned snake I've seen outside of a zoo!

Needless to say, I took a few quick steps back. The snake was stretched out across the sidewalk and not moving. No rattle, so I knew it was probably just a rat snake or something (the only venomous snakes we have in Colorado are rattlers), but I still wasn't getting any closer to it.

I pulled out my cell phone and called my hubby, just in case they should look out the door and wonder why the hell I was just standing outside, lol. By that point the snake was slowly moving off the path in to the rocks and shrubbery. Conveniently, hubby could see the thing from upstairs, so he told me I could walk past it without upsetting it. Now the kiddo was standing on the deck, and they were both watching it while I quickly scooted past it.

That will teach me to zone out on my way home! Poor snake, I almost stepped on you! Poor me, nearly had a heart attack when I realized it *grin*

Vacation!

We spent the first part of the week in Iowa with my mother. Mostly a good trip, though we had one night of terrible weather which brought back my storm phobia with a vengeance! Part of the problem is that they now sound the sirens for any severe weather, not just tornadoes. To me that is crazy! It's going to send folks back to the 70s when they sounded the sirens for tornado watches and people stopped taking them seriously. Sirens are going off and I am freaking out in the basement while my mom is puttering in the kitchen, totally unconcerned. According to the weather folks, they sound the sirens to warn people out of doors to seek shelter. After that it is up to the person to listen to a weather radio or watch TV to determine how severe the storm is! Great until you lose TV because of the weather and have no clue....

I'm sorry, but when I was a kid the sirens went off as a warning of an imminent tornado and to take cover immediately, not as a notice to turn on your bloody TV and check the weather.

Anyhoo.... Other than that night, the weather cooperated and we had a lovely time. We drove up the river and ALL THE WAY TO DAVENPORT (several times even!).

But I have to say I am happy to be home. Not sure I could live in the midwest anymore. The temp is the same here today as it in Bettendorf, and yet here it feels wonderfully comfortable. In Bettendorf it was muggy :( Blech. 7% humidity versus 70% humidity, we win, lol.

I don't go back to work until Tuesday. So today we bought some flowers and planted them for the patio. We also planted the starter plants my mom sent back with us. Wish I knew what the heck they are. They have narrow dark green waxy leaves and lovely clusters of small pink waxy flowers, if that rings a bell with anyone please let me know ;)

Over for another year

Whew. I managed to survive the daughter's birthday party! I think a good time was had by all the girls. We had pizza and soda, and ice cream cake for dessert, which sent the girls in to a sugar frenzy, lol. Then we tie dyed t-shirts. Unfortunately the weather was naf, so we had to do it in the bathroom. It mostly went ok, though it took me 20 minutes and a lot of Comet with bleach to clean out the bath tub.

After that they "settled down" to watch a movie, which apparently bored them, because they never did really settle down, lol. After the movie they wandered off to DD's bedroom to play really old Sega video games until the Party Pooper (that's me) stepped in and made them turn off the TV and video games and settle down (we live in a condo with neighbors below and next door, 11 PM is plenty late for shrieking with laughter, lol).

At that point I have no idea what they did because I went to bed. I had the alarm set so I could get up and make everyone breakfast before they went home, but Hubby decided that I needed to get up at 7:15. He came in and kissed me awake (which was nice) and informed me that, "The girls are hungry." Umm, really? You don't know where the pancake mix is?? *Sigh*

Then, since I go on vacation Friday!!!! I had to go to work. So I ran and took a shower, got ready for work, parents picked up there children and off to work (and quiet! Lol) I went.

I'm exhausted and it's only Monday, lol. I think Friday I will let DD set her alarm and get herself ready for school 'til the Hubby gets home and can ride herd. I'll sleep in ;) (Since the next morning I want to be on the road by 6 am!). We're off to Iowa to visit my mom. Hubby got screwed over schedule-wise so he won't be going with us. Though he secretly (or not so secretly!) might not consider that a terrible thing, lol, he is pissed at his employers.

And of course, being us with our luck, it's going to rain the entire bloody time we are in Iowa. Sheesh!