Whine, and ye shall receive ....

... sorry to sound a bit whiney guys.... but, also, thanks for the commiserations and the hugs....

Blog buddies are the best.  Kind of like family; even better in some ways.  They don't expect anything of us ... which is also good...because some days we don't do anything.  Other days ... if we feel a bit down, and say so out loud...we're buoyed by their kindness and caring... it's just nice.  And, I wanna say "thanks".

My Mom used to say "a burden shared is a burden halved" ...  (she was a very clever lady) ..  but, even  if not quite halved, at least it seems less of a burden sometimes just to say a thing out loud doesn't it?  Get it out there and be done with it.  I'm thinking it's sort of cathartic even though I'm sure some folks think I'm just a complainer.

This morning I woke up, rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up.  Hey!!  No yelping from the rib pain!  Woooohooooo !!  something good happened overnight.  Not that they are perfect yet...but, a huge step in the right direction.

It's a beautiful sunny day...brilliant blue sky... sparkling snow all around..... a lovely wintery day.  I'm starting to feel so much better.  My wrist is great...my foot works again...and now the ribs...

Look out.... In a few days, I'll be dangerous!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And....I can even sit still long enough to stitch a bit.

Yes.... these are just test eyes Maggi. ( I might as well admit to it...cuz she will ask. )
I take a photo of my little guys and fail to admit that they are not really finished.  Can you believe I even have some still sitting with backs open and eyes not firmly inserted?  Sigh....yep.  It's true.  I'm such a procrastinator.  She tells me I should have a week of just finishing things...... yeh, sure, okay.... ....I know... ..it would be a good thing.  But...somehow, once I have them assembled and take their photo?..unless they are sold or going to live in "a good home"... they usually get put in a spot in the curio or a cabinet ..with other little guys...and they don't ever get totally finished.  Wonder what a shrink would read into that one?  The 'fear of finishing' springs to mind....seems to me I've read about that somewhere before ....hahhaha... oh, never mind.

Onward.

Let me show you "test eyes" for those who are not familiar with them.

They are little eyes on stick pins.  You can easily test various sizes to see which you like best in your bears and animals.  I even use them for test noses.  They come in various sizes... this is the collection of smallest.

Chocolate brown was my first choice for inner ears and paw and foot pads...but, when I held it beside the fur, it just seemed to disappear.  So, instead, I found a lovely cinnamon coloured soft cashmere in my pile of goodies...

His ears...

Turned...

They seem a bit large.... and when I left them rounded when pinned, he looked like a scratty little mouse.  Poor guy.  I just laughed and re-arranged them.  Now...he looks like Rachel's little dog....

.. but....I think he's pretty cute.  Yes...the ears are just pinned on too, Maggi.  They may change... but, I like to leave him on the table for a day or so to check him out every so often.  I hate to hurry this part. I move the eyes closer and further apart and use larger and perhaps even smaller test eyes... before I begin to finish the head.  The nose is a pin too...so I can change sizes and check which I like best before I begin to embroider his real nose.  I can continue with his other bits and pieces in the meantime...and get more of a feel for how I want him to look overall.  If I find an hour in between baking biscotti and making supper and running a few errands...I'll stitch up at least the body today...

yoyo'ing .....

See what I mean?

Two days ago we were the second coldest anywhere in the world .... so "they" say...whoever "they" might be ......

..... and, today....look how warm it is already this morning.... and still climbing....

already warmer than "they" said. Those "they" again ..... and they sure as heck don't always seem to know of what "they" speak.  Must be a Chinook wind blowing out there. ..... oh, look...at 37 kph.... yep.... it's blowing alright.... sun is shining now too..

Must go out and brush off the foot of snow still on the van... and the rest of the ice can melt.... we love our Chinooks... although, it is tough on the foliage.  Trees and shrubs can't always figure out what is happening....

I'll be sweeping gently and carefully ..seeing as I wrecked something in my ribs the other day.  After shovelling a ton of snow, I bent over to poke some leaves out of the downspout  ... perhaps at an odd angle...and something in my ribs went "proinnnggg"!  It was on fire and I coudn't even move for about 30 seconds.  Man...I feel like the walking wounded.  Anyway... it was just getting so I could breathe a bit easier and I was sitting on the couch, sort of massaging..no..I was more like caressing the area..and all of a sudden... "proinngg"! yet again.  What the heck is happening?  I couldn't sit, stand, or lie down it hurt so much... and I was gasping for air trying to stand up.  You would hardly think broken...and yet... one wonders....

No point in going to the doctor... they don't do anything for ribs anyway.  If there is a break...they just give you pain killers and send you home to wait it out for 6 weeks or so.  Oh, after taking plenty of xrays.  If it is torn tissue... same thing... wait.. til it feels okay and then do some light stretching and strengthening when you can.  PLus...they want to take more x-rays...and I don't want any more this year... I already had some a few times for my hand... for my teeth... which is another story and I had a tooth extracted yesterday after many visits and many second opinions...and many $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ .... plus a scare about having any dental work done when a person is taking Actonel...  it's been an annoying several months really.  Totally off-putting in the motivation and creation department...but... now... I think I have it mostly under control.

The ribs feel pretty good today, but, I did get some good drugs for jaw pain in case...and they totally work on the ribs.  Hardly feel 'em at all this morning.  Wheeee......    I did the ice packing of my jaw...and so far..no swelling at all.  If the clot stays in the socket and healing begins... I will be fine.  If it pops out; a dry socket and infection occurs..well...I'll probably be taking them.  If you've ever had a dry socket you know what I'm talking about.  But., so far,  so good.  Having worked as a dental assistant for 18 years...I know the ropes and the possibilities... which isn't always a good thing...but, at least it helps in the "doing the right thing" department as far as healing goes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


And... my friend Maggi came to play on Monday...

we cut out a bear!  Finally...I'm going to do something....

look how cute.  He will be a fluffy guy... about 6 inches.... here is a side head piece.... just a second...that looks like a dog I know!

It's officially winter..

For me it always begins with cold weather and snow... and it has been snowing since Monday.  And... it is cold. ( -15C right now.)

It began innocently enough.... a few inches of heavy wet stuff ... pretty on the red branches of the barberry ... still plenty of colour on them because we have had such a nice long autumn.

I love how they droop so gracefully under the weight...

The spirea also still have plenty of colourful leaves...

I shovelled for over an hour... ooooh.... heavy and wet and it was sticking to my scoop... I almost threw my arms out of the sockets with every scoopful. We have a long expanse of city sidewalk because we live on a corner lot... and I got fed up with that half way up the side of the house.
I was resting on the shovel handle, grinning at a huge flock of geese trading places in their formation as they flew over .... ... I love the geese.  They were honking away and doing all sorts of weird maneuvers and then, all of a sudden, they were in a perfect V.
 I was thinking how clever they were.

And... all of a sudden.. I, too, had a bright idea and thought how clever was I !  Marched myself straight back to the garage and found some silicone spray.  Sprayed it all over the scoop shovel and went back out there.  It worked like a charm!  Snow slid right off every time instead of clinging to it.  Whew.... that made things a lot easier.  When it is wet like that it is the worst to shovel...it sticks in huge blobs and is just too heavy to shove or to throw.  It's also the worst to drive on.  It fills the cleats of the best winter tires and makes it like driving on slicks.... there were hundreds of driving accidents in the past few days. And..it's still snowing..... my van is sitting in the driveway covered in snow...and it can just stay there.  It doesn't get around well enough to chance it.  If I need to shop or have an appointment...I'll just wait til Greg gets home.. and use the 4 wheel drive ....

Yesterday... it was this deep.  The squirrel who buried his peanuts in this pot will be tunneling through about 8 inches of snow to find his stash..if he remembers where he put it.  Personally, I think it is just instinct for them and they immediately forget where they put things. I'll be digging up peanuts in the spring when I turn over the dirt before planting my pots.

Elmo decided we could measure .... and, apparently it's only 7 inches...

my calibrated eyeball was off by an inch...

....as soon as I finish my second coffee....I'll be out there...shovelling.

... ...... ..... Jingles Bells anyone? ..... Now I'm thinking my Christmas Cactus knew exactly what time of year it is....no wonder it bloomed.

Waaaay early...

I bought a new Christmas Cactus this year.  I'm a sucker for some of the little plants, placed perfectly, just inside the door at my local Safeway.  They know how to lure us in.... I always have to stop and look at the new little guys.  The new pots...the vases.... all of them perfectly positioned, just to have me do exactly that.  Mostly I just look...but...the odd time...I have to take one home.  It's more like a plant orphanage....

It was loaded with buds.  And now...this thing has been in bloom for a week already!  I think somehow they must force them to bloom early in order to get them on sale soon enough to sell all of them....but, by Christmas... of course, all the blooms are gone.  I wish they would bloom on and on...til Christmas.
I wonder what date they will bloom next year?

The past few years... my older cactus bloomed on or about American Thanksgiving....but, this year?  .... wha' hoppen'??  somebody is very confused.  Maybe the weather? maybe I just overwatered even a tiny smidgen? .. maybe it got less hours of daylight and thought it was later in the year already?  Who knows......

Anyway.... this was my older cactus... last week.....

This week it is in full bloom...well, all the blooms that are going to open because some buds just die on the tips of the leaves and never do open.  I can't upload the photos I took this morning....my USB cable is ..."at the office" ... somebody else is using my camera.

My old one never gets buds on the short pieces of stem that stick straight up out of the pot so it makes me nervous to nip off any of the longer stems ...... this new guy has tons of buds and blooms on all the short stalks....  more investigation is necessary..... the mystery continues....

My animals...

Well, sad truth is....I don't really have any (except for my hand made variety).  For various reasons.

But...I love them just the same and like to work towards helping out where I can.

You have all seen my little donkeys on the sidebar and you know I love cats too.. but, look at these guys who arrived by mail the other day.  Designed by Elle, who has a unique style with animals... please go see her creations.

This is a set of cards she designed for Greyhound Rescue West of England ....   a group dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of abused and abandoned greyhounds.  It's a great way to help out and also to get a beautiful set of cards designed by somebody I "know".  Not personally...but, from Flickr... where I've been looking at her art for a long time now.

I love the detail.... the whimsy and humour.....  her special love for animals is so apparent  .....

I don't know if there are any left as they always sell out pretty quickly...but, if you're interested..check out their site.

Found 'em!!

If ever you want to find something.... or need to know something...or even if you are just curious about this or that....  ask your bloggy buddies.  Somebody always knows... or knows somebody else who does ....   it's like belonging to an exclusive group .... a little Private Eye club all our own.

The other day I wondered if anybody had seen Christmas light bulb cookie cutters...and got a few sites and suggestions within hours.... thanks ladies!

I let my fingers do the walking because my foot is still causing me to hobble and just darn well hurts too much to go very far. ...  but, I found them and then...just had to go to one shop.  Michael's.  I didn't expect this great set either... the lady on the phone said she could only find smaller cutters even though she did say a bulb was in the set.. ...but, this is the whole set.  Perfect.

Since I had already tossed the weekend flyers, I had to dig through the paper bin... but I did manage to find my 40% coupon... and off I went.  I love a bargain.

There are 2 and 4 inch sizes of each of the shapes...  I can hardly wait to make mittens (even if I don't know how to knit!) ... and light bulbs...

Murphy's Law...

Or, perhaps it's Mrs. Murphy's Law.  I bet she had lots of kitchen disasters... and, after all, it did occur in the kitchen.  Let's face it... mostly the k-room is the domain of women. Okay... I'm not saying my mister didn't come to my rescue for the past month.... and, he did an amazing job of showing me up totally.  But, you know...usually.... (although, I do have to qualify that too I guess ... because it seems like cooking is quickly becoming a thing of the past with some and being reprised by others in special blogs and writings...  .. another of those "lost arts" I guess .... )  Actually, come to think on it.... I only know one woman in my real life circle who likes to cook or bake anymore. (it's only my blog buddies right now who love creating in their kitchens)   I can't believe how many women lately have stated right out loud that they don't and won't cook.  Shocking to me.  I love my own cooking.  I prefer knowing exactly what goes into MY food, thank you very much.  I've spent some time in restaurant kitchens....ick... no wonder I cook.

Ennyway........ back to the story....
Before I had the surgery on my wrist.... I did a lot of baking so I could freeze a few things because I knew I wouldn't be able to bake for several weeks.

The prune plums...or Italian plums as they are sometimes called.... were just arriving at the stores.  Darn it.  Obviously I wasn't thinking clearly ... why didn't I just buy a box of them and cut and freeze them?  Darn it again.  Now...they are long gone ... and......

I only managed to make up one batch. But, since the recipe was large enough for two loaves, I decided to use my bread baking pans.  Bad idea.  It's not that they are bad pans... they are great for bread......but, just that for these particular loaves...they didn't do the job.  Even buttered and floured....this is what happened!  I have no idea why.












I was ticked.  Mr. BV on the other hand, was overjoyed.  With a wicked grin he said.... "Well, I guess this means they're all ours!" ....   Me, with a totally disappointed look.... "Absolutely". ...

We scraped out the bottom chunks and put them into dessert dishes and had them with frozen yogurt while they were still warm.  I have to say they were very yummy.  It is a great recipe.... it just didn't look very wonderful on this particular day.

I expect perfect bottoms....every single time!   Like this Eggnog Loaf I made the other day.... yes....it's already in the stores...... look....a perfect bottom.  Glass loaf pan.

I've baked for years...and rarely does something like this happen!

Oooooooo!!!


Note to self::::::::      next time.... use trusty glass loaf pans.

got any cooking disasters to share? .....