Pardon Me

Posted on January 16, 2014 by atangledyarn84

Pardon me, for I have no knitting today. I’ll pause for the shock and horror……

Last night I had a tremendous opportunity, to sit in a room and spend time with some of the greatest women I know. My Grandmothers’ aunt….yes I said Grandmother…..turned 102 earlier this week. She still lives in her own home and has complete control of her mental faculties. She is a little unsteady on her feet but who wouldn’t be at 102?

Well, my Grandma (80 and proud of it) came for a visit to see her aunt (and two other aunts mind you, still alive and kicking at 90+ years each) and as chauffeur I got stay for dinner and dessert. These ladies came from a family of seven girls and four are sadly gone now. For as long as I can remember my family has called them simply “the sisters”. My Great-Grandma was the eldest (and lived to be 100 1/2). I can still feel her whiskers tickling my face when she would kiss my forehead. And she never did learn to pronounce my name, she would say Ray-shell instead of Rah-shell. Oh, how I miss her 🙂

On this night, I sat mostly off to the side with my knitting and just soaked in the wisdom. These women are strong, funny, and absolutely wise. I pray that I got some of those genes and that someday I can be half as spirited as these ladies at that age. Who says getting old can’t be fun?

So for this reason…I have no knitting update. I can’t remember if I made very many stitches or any at all in between laughing and listening. What I do have is a full heart and great memories of some fantastic ladies.

I now return you to regularly scheduled programming….

Holiday Hangover

Posted on December 30, 2013 by atangledyarn84

This pretty much how I feel….

I’m all Christmas’d out. Don’t get me wrong I loved every minute of it. But I’m exhausted!!! I spent five wonderful days with my husband and fur babies at my parents. It was a delightful break from the “real world” but boy did we work hard.

In five days we completed the following:

Butchered out 1 1/2 deer
Made 10 lbs of deer jerky
Defrosted and scrubbed all five of Grandma’s refrigerators and deep freezers (and threw 3 trash bins of crap away)
Baked 20 loaves of rye bread
Cooked three family dinners
And celebrated two Christmases

I got almost no knitting done, which was NOT the plan with five days off of work. I did manage to read a few chapters in the Yarn Whisperer. I took my Abalone and Sophisticate with me in hopes of finishing both. Yeah right…

We got just the slightest hint of snow so I took advantage and had some lovely walks with the fur babies. It was a nice way to take a break from the full house of shenanigans and to walk off all the holiday goodies! The dogs also LOVED the snow! Just FYI, I came home with three abominable snow creatures, lol.

Now I take you back to your regularly scheduled knitting!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 29, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Tasty food has been consumed, dishes are in the washing machine, and my in-laws are on their way home. The day was mostly a success aside from a few squabbles. My sweat pants are on and my feet pointed towards the fire. My knitting is in my lap along with my puppies. I bid every one a healthy and happy Thanksgiving!!

Warm Heads, Warm Heart

Posted on November 21, 2013 by atangledyarn84

A group of ladies I work with have banded together to adopt a family on need this Christmas. In fact we adopted our part time cleaning lady who is a single mom with six kids aged 18 to 5. We almost had to pry a useable list from her because she and her family always make do with what they have. Our goal is to collect a couple of presents per person and all the supplies for a grand Christmas dinner!

I thought long and hard about what I was going to contribute…and the I had a flash of genius! Everyone needs a warm head this winter….

I have three hats and three headbands, so enough for each kid. And I still have time to make something special for momma!

Now their heads will be warm and so is my heart!

Happy Knitting!

Last Bits of Summer

Posted on September 21, 2013 by atangledyarn84

The yard has been weeded and seeded. The apple trees have been harvested. The shrubs and tree limbs are trimmed back. And the patio is now clean. All that is left is to wait for gentle fall rains and grass growing. Then the leaves will begin to change and fall and we will have a whole new set of chores to get this house ready for winter.

For now we celebrate the last bits of summer with wine and a good reading…

Puppy snuggles….

Weanie roasts and smores….

Happy Saturday!!!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Posted on July 22, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Plaaaaaayyyy Ball!

The family and I made the trek to KC for a Royals game this past Friday. Such a wonderful ball field and we don’t completely suck this year!!

I want to say it was amazing family evening….but….it was 95 degrees in the shade with NO breeze. The game was sold out and we were packed in their like sardines. We were seated under middle deck and couldn’t see the whole scoreboard. My mother found the margarita stand, several times. My sister got a stomach ache from buck night hot dogs. And I sweat through my t-shirt and shorts. It was even too hot and crowded to knit!!

My husband was a trooper through it all! I love him do much 🙂

On the up side, we won 1-0!! And there were fireworks!!

Boy am I glad it’s Monday and I’m headed to an air conditioned office. Next year I vote we stay home and watch the game on the plasma in the a/c and make our own margaritas and hot dogs, lol!!!

New Potatoes and Peas!!!

Posted on July 18, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Mmmmmm….new potatoes and peas

Every summer right after the first hill of potatoes was dug I can remember Grandma and Grandpa making this delectable dish. It’s so simple and yummy it’s crazy. It’s just boiled potatoes covered in a garlicky white sauce and peas. I just made a quick roux and thickened some milk. I seasoned with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

These tiny red potatoes came from our family garden. Their skin is so thin and tender. The meat of potato is soft and perfectly mealy. It tasted of home and family to me. Paired with some fried chicken the husband and I had an awesome sit down dinner last night.

It might not be the healthiest….but you gotta live once in awhile right? Does your family have any traditional summer dish?

The Good With the Bad

Posted on July 9, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I could not imagine my life without this face!!!

She is my husband and I’s first dog and our baby. She came to us a rescue and we couldn’t have asked for a better dog. She is sweet, loving, quiet, and full of snuggles. She is now a 5 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. She brings so much love and can instantly make my worst day better. (Even when she stares at me over my book, lol)

At a recent vet visit for her annual vaccinations, we got some bad news. She has a heart murmur. Now this is a common thing to Cavaliers, but was unknown to us. The murmur is a precursor to congestive heart failure. I’ll spare you the ugly details of the disease as they are unpleasant. Follow the link above to learn more about it. Right now Chloe has no other symptoms but the murmur. As the disease progresses there are medications that can mitigate some of her symptoms. But no cure. Chloe is unlikely to live past 9 or 10 years old and the last of those years could be uncomfortable.

I will admit this was a shock to me. And I spent the rest of that day trying not to weep. I grew up with dogs and I have been through the death and disease before. But this time is different because she is truly my baby. I have prayed and knit on this since that day. I have decided to make the best of what time we have left with Chloe and make sure she has the best most loved life ever. I may still cry from time to time but I will always love her.

Having animals always brings good with the bad. The trick is to make sure the good way outweighs the bad. I wouldn’t give up a chewed up shoe or early morning wake up call for a single day without her puppy kisses and puppy snorts.

Now if you excuse me, I have a puppy to snuggle and spoil….

A Tradition of Craftmanship

Posted on July 8, 2013 by atangledyarn84

My parents have finally finished their wrap around porch. Built board by board by the hands of my father. It’s the perfect place to sit and enjoy the breeze and a cold adult beverage!

My favorite touch is the deer antler name above the bay window. Very fitting for my redneck family!

My father in fact designed and built this house from the ground up. He is a teacher by trade but he teaches Industrial Arts like wood shop, drafting, and AutoCad. It’s the only home I knew growing up. I am so unbelievably proud of him and the house just feels so much more like home because he crafted it. His work is impeccable.

Over the years we have added a covered second story deck, apple trees in the side yard, and now wrap around porch. I just wish I didn’t live three hours away! Oh the knitting I could get done on these porches!! My favorite is to sit on the top deck and watch the sun come up with a hot cup of coffee….

Another recent addition is the terraced steppes in the yard. Trust me this is a much needed improvement! Growing up our yard was incredibly steep as the house is built into a hill. It could be terrifying riding the lawn mower up and down the steep slopes and praying you didn’t fall the down the hill or tip over, lol. The sprinkler system keeps the grass lush and green. I swear it’s like carpet under your feet. And my mom has been tending her roses and they bloomed beautifully this year!

I guess I can say I come by my “craftiness” honestly. I may not build beautiful homes or furniture but I do build garments and blankets stitch by stitch. Speaking of my knitting it’s time to get off my butt and go to my big kid job so I can afford to keep knitting!

Happy Monday to all!!