100 Books

I've seen this meme around.  When Betsy sent it to me on Facebook, I decided to play along.  I have read 48 of these - not saying I REMEMBER all 48, though!

The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. (I can’t verify this statistic).

Also.... The Da Vinci Code? Come ON... read this and it's no "great 100 books" sort of book.  Same for Bridget Jones' Diary.
   
1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (x ) In fact I am re-reading it, again, right now.

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (x )

3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte ()

4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (X )

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee ( )

6. The Bible ( x)

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte ( x)

8. 1984 - George Orwell (x )

9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman ()

10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens ( )

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott ( X)

12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy ( )

13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (x)

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare ( ) -

15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier ( )

16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (x )

17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk ( )

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (X)

19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (x )

20. Middlemarch - George Eliot ( )

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell ( X)

22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (x)

23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens ( )

24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy ( )

25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (x)

26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh ( )

27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (X )

28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (X)

29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (X)

30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (x)


31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy ( )

32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens ( )

33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis ( x)

34. Emma - Jane Austen ( X)

35. Persuasion - Jane Austen ( )

36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (x )

37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - ( ) -

38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres ( )

39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden ( )

40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (X)


41. Animal Farm - George Orwell (X)

42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (x )

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ( )

44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving ()

45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins ( )

46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (X)

47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy ( )

48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (X)

49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding (X)

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan ()
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel ()

52. Dune - Frank Herbert (x)

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons ( x)

54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen ( )

55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth ( )

56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon ( )

57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens ( x)

58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (x )

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (x)

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez ( )

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck ( X)

62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov ( X)

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt ( )

64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold ( )

65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas ( )

66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac ()

67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy (x )

68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding ()

69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie ( )

70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville ( )


71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens ( )

72. Dracula - Bram Stoker ( )

73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (X) -

74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson (x )

75. Ulysses - James Joyce ()

76. The Inferno - Dante (X)

77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome ( )

78. Germinal - Emile Zola ( )

79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray ( )

80. Possession - AS Byatt ( )

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (X)

82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell ( )

83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker (X)

84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro ( )

85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (x )

86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry ( )

87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White ( X)

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom ( )

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (X)

90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton ( )


91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad ( ) started but could not finish...

92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery (X)

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks ( )

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams (x)

95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole ()

96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute (x )

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas ( )

98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare (X)

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (X)

100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo ( )

Circus and Other Fun

We've had some fun the last few days around here. Wednesday evening, I took the kids to the circus (wonderful acrobats, cute animals, candy floss...good times!).

Today is Red Nose Day, so the kids dressed up in red and did crazy hair to raise money.  Lily was thrilled beyond words to have occasion to wear the red riding hood poncho, which did double duty as a twirly skirt by the end of the day...

David's hair is SO stiffly waxed and gelled that I am wondering how many shampoos it will take to get it clean!!

Lost in Austen

In keeping with my Season of Jane Austen, I found this wonderful miniseries tonight: Lost in Austen.  Imagine a Pride and Prejudice fan-girl falling into the story herself...   It was so good that I watched all four episodes in a row On Demand, which explains why I am blogging at 2 AM.  I will pay for that tomorrow morning, I know...

Wonderful Mr. Darcy, too.  I highly recommend this if you can find it on DVD.  I think it just aired in the States in January.

True, This...

]

True, even in small, half-day doses...

I Got Nuthin'....

Nothing exciting to report, that is. It's just been a random few days of regular old life, and I don't feel witty enough to make it interesting. That won't stop me from telling you all abou it, however.  Heh. I did get to googlechat with David for a good while yesterday, and I took the kids to Fakenham to scout the Kinnerton chocolate outlet and see a film (Pink Panther 2 - amusing enough, although some of it sailed right over the kids' heads).

 I like Fakenham; it's hard to believe we have been in West Norfolk over 3 years and this is the first time I've shopped the town.  Free parking - that rocks.  Three or four new charity shops to check out  - that also rocks!  I actually scored a very nice aran cardigan that's a size too small but still worth shrinking into, as well as a lovely pair of walking-around shoes.  The kids found some fun books, so a success.

Kinnerton Chocolate Factory has its outlet shop right inside the Aldiss furniture store.  Tons of great deals on various chocolates, including Easter eggs galore right now. I will go back before Easter to stock up for kiddoes.

Today was pretty straightforward - church in the AM, and hanging out in the afternoon. I knit some more on my Helter Skelter scarf, and watched Mamma Mia again. Illogical and stoopid as the plot may be, it's good fun to hum along with. And Pierce Brosnan is such an EARNEST bad singer. After dinner, I chased both kiddies upstairs to bed by 7:15.  I just feel in need of a little staring into space on my own tonight.

IKnit Weekender 2009

The most exciting e-mail just arrived at my in-box: IKnit London is a 2-day extravaganza this year and tickets are now on sale.





Did I buy mine instantly? You betcha!! I popped for the 2-day entry ticket, on the off chance that I can be in London for both days. At £15, it's not too much to wager.



I had such a lovely time at my first IKnit London event. I'd like to attend some of the workshops as well this year, which I didn't do last time around.



Knitting around Casa Honsinger right now - I've stopped on the Shepherd's lace shawl. I love the intense purple alpaca I am using, but I don't love it with the garter lace texture. I think a knit lace would work better, so that's in hibernation to be ripped out and reused on something else. I did start a Helter Skelter scarf, courtesy of Awesome Liz at Knitting on the Green. It's in a really subdued purple/grey/green wool, something like the bottom one in her blog post, and I need to get a picture. It's been really good telly knitting for when I watch Time Team!

Half-term Ate My Brain, or I'm Still Here...

Sorry, Gentle Readers! I didn't mean to go silent for so long, but the children had half-term holiday last week, and we kept pretty busy. Playdates, a cinema outing (Bolt wasn't half-bad), errands and a couple of days in London.

This week's been back to normal, if by normal you mean I am out of the house all day on various missions! I did go for my mammogram on Tuesday, which I had been dreading (four dear friends of my own age have been diagnosed with breast cancer already). However, avoiding one's mammogram is NOT the rational response. So that is done, over, and I hope shows all clear for another year.

David was thrilled to get to go to the Mart this year (local fun fair - see this page toward the bottom). I'd told him that I thought he'd have to miss it since Daddy is away, and I shuddered at the thought of dragging Lily around a loud carnival with lots of rides that are too big for her. Luckily, his friend Sam really wanted him to come along, so they got to ride all the good stuff on Tuesday, which was also Shrove Tuesday.

Lily and I had our Shrove Tuesday pancakes at home (topped with lemon and sugar, or chocolate spread - nom).

Anyway, back to our London mini-trip. We went down by train, and headed straight to Covent Garden in time for lunch (excellent savoury crepes) and some good street entertainment. Nothing like watching someone do a comedy routine while balanced on a ladder and juggling knives....good stuff!

The kiddies also wanted to visit Build-a-Bear, which we have avoided since we got here. They were thrilled, and didn't much mind waiting in line with all the other over-excited half-term children for their turn to push the buttons and turn the cranks to stuff their very own bears.


Lily chose a basic, and very soft, brown bear, which she named Talitha after a little girl we know. David went for the koala, and chose a leprechaun outfit for him. The koala was dubbed Sydney O'Beary. Both bears travelled the rest of the trip peeking out from the kids' backpacks.

Backpacks - my personal secret for overnight trips to London. Everyone gets a backpack, with their pajamas, next day's clothes and toiletries. Mine's a bit bigger, so I carry the snacks and paper/crayons/book/camera. We keep it light by wearing our jeans twice, bringing light PJs. I also cleverly made everyone wear old socks and underwear on day one, so we could trash it in the morning, rather than packing it up again.


Day two of the trip was spent entirely at the London Zoo, and sadly I have no pictures. We were too busy watching the animals to take many pictures, and none have people in them. Trust me when I say we had a great day. We enjoyed the monkeys the most, but the Komodo dragon exhibit was pretty neat, as was the butterfly house.

For my friends who are or have been in Omaha, got to say...the Henry Doorly Zoo is better. Seriously. The London Zoo is nice, but the Omaha Zoo is NIIIIICE.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures.

Lily spied this wonderful plant near Covent Garden:



David and Sydney O'Beary - we decided Sydney looks sort of like a tidy Einstein:

This Victorian postbox has been painted orange and is used for Zoo donations.

Valentine's Weekend

 Happy Sunday, everyone!

We had a quiet but good Valentine's Day here.  Kiddies got a little bit of chocolate and Red Noses, and I enjoyed some chocolate from David (a little Green and Black's Butterscotch bar).  We also got a special call from our far-away Valentine, and he sent red roses, too.  Aren't they pretty? 

'Cause he's  a sweetie like that.  I know how lucky I am.  [Thanks, baby!! I hope your Valentine's chocolate wasn't too melty...]

Snow?!

Wow, just when I thought I was getting to know the cycles of East Anglian weather, it went and started snowing. Again!  This is our second substantial snow in a week, if by substantial you mean 3 inches or more...

David's scheduled playdate with James here has turned into an impromptu sleepover, thanks to the white roads.  PJs and a spare toothbrush have been doled out, and today's clothes are in the washing machine, ready to wear again tomorrow.  I think the odds of school being in session are pretty good, but if not, they will have a BLAST playing in the snow again.

Me, I'm happy that the kids are happy, I'm happy that the snow is so pretty, I'm happy the visa paperwork got turned in today before all the snow arrived, and I'm happy to put my feet up and drink a cuppa.

Snow days...

A Lovely Day

It's been a busy week here at Casa Knitfarm. We saw off David on Monday morning and he's now safely arrived in the Hot Place.  This time around, he'll be missing Valentine's Day, Lily's birthday, and my birthday, which happens to be today. 

Despite that fact, it's been a really nice day so far.  The goodness started early, with a phone call from David.  He even sang Happy Birthday, although he was in a crowd of other people.  My sweetie...

I've gotten tons of birthday wishes/cards/calls, and even lovely gifties like sock wool, chocolate, roses, and the sweetest pale blue and white teapot just for me. I had a lovely morning chat with Afton and Ali, two friends from church; I bought a gorgeous brownie chocolate cake for my birthday cake; and I topped that all off by meeting up with my friend Ruth at Sandringham for some gorgeous cocoa and a large flapjack (which I cut into bits so that the calories would fall out).

Lily's at a friend's for playdate and tea, David is sitting next to me making up heraldic shields (his latest enthusiasm), and all's mellow in my part of the world.

The Day After...

All the lovely snow is turning to slush, and it's raining pretty hard right now. I ran to Tesco after school drop-off and got some groceries (the traditional pizza for the kids for our date night tonight - they demand Tesco pizza for tea when they are being babysat...it's quite amusing). The lines for the tills were incredible! You'd have thought we'd all been snowed in for a week, the way people were stocking up.

The high point of my Tesco run was finding some redbush CHAI tea. I've just made a cup now, and it smells and tastes heavenly.... lovely for the cold day.

Date night tonight, if the weather holds, will be Nando's for peri-peri grilled chicken dinner and then Slumdog Millionaire, which has finally made its way to our neck of the woods.

Here's to the weekend, everyone!

p.s. Picture from this site.

Crazy Long Picture-heavy Snow Day Post

Lily and I enjoying the snowy goodness of the garden. I was very grateful for DH's special wool socks with microfleece liners, I will tell you!!

Here David is getting started on his snowman...I really love this picture.

Here's the finished product: a snow pirate with cutlass, hook hand, peg leg, eye patch, hat AND shoulder parrot.  Trust me, they're all there.

Lily giving David a bit of assistance.

Lily and her own snowman, who is named Bob. Really.

I like this shot of the house, and the very snowy lane...

I'm Baaaack! Plus Picturey Goodness of Contest Winnings

I know you all have been simply pining away for lack of posts on my part,but fear not. I have returned!!

 The laptop is still awaiting its new power supply (on order), but we seized the moment to update me to a new teensy laptop (10.2-inch screen) with three times the hard drive space of the old one.  D. and I had been talking about it for a while, and when he saw one on sale, I was sold.  The old one will become backup and be cleaned up and set up for kiddie games, as well

I've been getting used to my new "wheels" for a few days now - the hardest part  has been getting accustomed to the British layout keyboard.  It's only ever so slightly different, but that's enough to create constant typos for me.

Everyone's fine, although my head feels stuffed with cotton wool. No exciting knitting news, although I did start some purple lace (Spinner's Lace shawl in deep purple Artesano Alpaca). When it's more than 20 rows, I will get a picture.

I do have some gorgeousness to show off, however.  I was fortunate enough to be quite a winner in Liz's (that would be Liz at Knitting on the Green) blog contest, and the prizes arrived this morning.  Oh. Wow. Isn't the velvet project bag stunning?  I want to wear it, even if it could only be a glove.  But wait...check out the two skeins of hand-dyed wool - Liz's own handiwork. I am SO impressed at the depth and richness of the colors.  This photo is pretty accurate for color but not perfect. [Click on photo to embiggen] Isn't it awesome?  Any suggestions for the perfect project?  There are 440 yards total, I believe.

Stoopid laptop...

My laptop cord/power source problem returned and so I am temporarily computerless.  Thank heaven for my lovely, lovely phone, which allows me to read blogs and send email. However, blogging from the phone...not so much yet.

Stay tuned for scintillating posts after the weekend, I hope!

A Little Knittin' Content

Greetings, fellow readers.  David seems to have beaten the laptop cord into temporary submission, so I can once again email/blog/read blogs.  Whoo hoo!

I did get a little knitting mojo going this past week. I found out Tuesday that someone I know delivered her daughter early, over New Year's.  Very early - she is in the hospital and growing away, but has a long way to go, little princess.  I checked out some preemie patterns and made two teensy hats for her, which fit snugly on my fist.  One was a pale pink with lace edging and the other a pale peach ribbed number. Unfortunately,  I don't have any pictures as I couldn't find the camera and wanted to get them to the mum right away.  I hope they will warm this little girl, and that she will oh-so-quickly be in need of much bigger hats.

After that, I eyed my stash a bit (thanks, Lynn, for the tip) and started some Fawkes socks (sort of a flame pattern) in a rust wool that my friend Jill gifted me.  I'm thinking it may not be the right pattern though. The ankle ribbing is just right for me, but the patterned leg is looking pretty baggy.  I can't do much to alter it as there's no fudge room in the pattern and I'm already using size 0 (US) needles.  Sigh.

We'll see.  Maybe Lily's legwarmers, after all!

Stooopid computer

My laptop power cord is NOT working and it also seems to be sucking the charge right back out of the computer, so my time online is very limited.  David promises to take it to the computer dudes on Saturday but meanwhile, sorry I am not around.

Knitting mojo - got a little bit back and will post about that soon.

Love y'all!

Birthday Wishes and Jane Austen

First things first...happy birthday to my fantastico sweetie pie. I love you, babe. Thank you for all the happiness you bring to our lives.  May 2009 bring YOU much happiness.

There will be cake, and steak, tonight.  Let the revels begin!!

Now, on to lesser things.  This seems to be my season of Austen.  I so enjoyed listening to Pride and Prejudice on DVD a while back.  This past month, I've been sloooowly working my way through Emma, which is just as funny.  I do get distracted by other things, like being really ill, but I think I'll finish it this month. I can't just sit and plow through Miss Austen's books, however.  Nineteenth century authors are a real challenge to me, even though I define myself as A Reader. I have to take it a chapter at a time.  I'm also reading a biography of Jane Austen - will have to go dig out the title on that one  - which is dense, but interesting. 

All that is preface to a Funny Thing I found last night - what if Pride and Prejudice were a series of Facebook posts?  Check out Austenbook.  [Unlike real Facebook, the entries read from top to bottom, for ease...]  Enjoy!!

Brilliance

I have recently discovered Zen Habits, a blog about simplicity. Today's post is perfection. If you read nothing else this year, read this post.

Here's the money quote, but the entire post is so worthy.

Stop waiting for happiness. Happiness is right here, right now.

I have spent a lot of time saying to my nieces, and now to my own children, "Live in the now." We laugh when I say it, but I mean: stop thinking about what's coming next; enjoy where you are right now. For all the times I say it to the kids, however, I seldom remind myself.

Let's all live in the now this year. That doesn't mean stop paying your bills and making plans, it just means savor each day, savor the people with whom you interact every day. I'll be working on it!

My Other Love

My not-so-secret celebrity crush is back - yes, Time Team's 2009 season has begun!!

Knitting Mojo - I Haz None

Or, as Austin Powers would say, "I've lost my mojo!"

I feel the itch to knit, yet I can't think of a thing I WANT to knit. So very strange. I haven't really wanted to pick up the needles since before I had the flu, and now that I do, I feel all whiney and "I don't knooooow what  I want." Annoying.

I do think my reluctance to knit before now has a little to do with the Mystery Socks. I'm so sad to say it, but the patterning along the foot just does not agree with me, even when I ripped it back and tried simple ribbing. Just...meh. I am a plain foot girl, I suppose.  I have decided that's OK, however.

I do have some absolutely gorgeous pink/purple merino sock yarn I bought at John Lewis in December, but it is also hand-wash only, and I just can't decide whether I am up for hand-wash socks. It's so pretty, maybe it should become a scarf or something more visible, but it's also very strongly variegated.

Hmmm. I thought briefly tonight about some legwarmers for Lily out of some yarn she loves. I call it "pink vomit." Got it in a Lucky Dip at IKnitLondon in September. Check out this website - it's the large skein pictured.  I can't think of a better use than Lily legwarmers, can you?

I shall call you .... Jane.

Today Lily got her Christmas fishies. Because it's a small tank, she's limited to 1 goldfish or 4 minnows, plus a butterfly plecostomus (awfully pretty name for a rock-like, scum-sucking catfish thingie). Today we got the minnows. We'll have to wait a month or two for the plecostomus so we can build up some scum.

Much fun was had deciding what to name the minnows. I liked the idea of Ip, Dip, Sky, and Blue (sort of a Brit eenie, meenie, minie, mo), but Lily didn't. Now, three shall be named Rainbow Shark, Sallerina, and Ella. And one is Minnow To Be Named Later, I suppose.

Myself, I like a collective name for the fish. And so, I shall call them Jane. Jane Austen.

Thanks to Flickr for the image...

New Year's Eve

I wish you all a wonderful New Year's Eve, and a fantastic new year to come. I'm feeling like 2009 will be a good year, and a productive one.

I am so thrilled to be feeling better, finally. This flu completely kicked my butt. I commented to David today, as we had stir-fry for lunch, "It is so nice to have the energy to cook something from scratch again." I even made a start today on the MOUNTAINS of laundry that built up over two weeks of sickness. Three loads down, and six to go.

Our New Year's Eve is going to be lovely and low-key. Lots of nibbly party finger foods, the Looney Tunes DVD set to help us stay awake (small David's idea, after enjoying it so much last year), and then fireworks on the BBC on the big telly. Good times...

Christmas was good - I was still sick then, and slept much of the day, but the kids really enjoyed their presents and David made a lovely ham for Christmas dinner. Kid David's 10th birthday was low-key but nice. He requested Pizza Express for his birthday meal, and we were happy to comply. I cannot believe he is into two digits now. After birthday dinner, we looked at newborn David pictures and squeezed him a lot. He's also grown half an inch this month, as has Lily.

Sick

Sick, sick, sick. I spoke too soon. After I posted Weds. afternoon, the symptoms came back with a vengeance, and I have been laid out on the couch, shivering and acheing and miserable, coughing. Add to that tossing my cookies violently, after trying to take cough medicine.

Small ones are coughing but fever-free. Both have been angels, and very good about getting their own food, etc. David came home Thursday coughing and shivering, and seems to be 24 hours behind me in symptoms, but without fever. Of course, he got a flu vaccine through work, so we think maybe that has lessened the impact.

Right now, I feel stuffy and achey and nauseous, but that is pretty great compared to before. Thanks to my angel neighbor, who dropped off AlkaSeltzer Cold and Flu on the doorstep after she called this morning to see how we were because I didn't make the school run. I cried tears of joy when David brought me the medicine. I'm not kidding.

Easy Christmas Elves for Knitters

The lurgy's on me with a vengeance, but had to struggle up off the couch to share this post with you. Check it out. Wouldn't those make the CUTEST Christmas elves ever?

Also, I totally love my husband, who wrangled dinner and managed to find one of the last two Christmas gifts to be got for kids, in between picking up new uniform items and a ton of other errands. Even as I type, he is upstairs putting Lily to bed so I can moan, cough and blow my nose in comfort. He does it all, not because I ask, but because he's the dad. And a very, very good guy.

Derailed...

This lovely photograph is not icicles. It's the flu virus. Who knew something so lethal could be so beautiful

As the title says, I've been derailed. Yesterday morning, I was fine. Yesterday afternoon, I coughed once or twice. By 5 PM, I was starting to feel shivery. It all went downhill from there. I shivered under 3 blankets, with a lovely fever, aches, and chills. Did I mention chills? Fortunately, by this morning, the fever and its friends were gone, except for a brutal razorlike cough and headache. I don't think it's flu because it's moved so quickly through the stages, to be honest. It sure felt like flu, though. Maybe it's Super(Rapid) Flu...

Sounds like the day's back on track. Right? Not so fast. Small D. complained of feeling cold and tired last night, and went to bed voluntarily at 6:30 PM. He was a bit warm last night when I made it up to bed, but at 7 this morning, he had a good ole fever and a massive headache. I got Lily (still healthy, but for how long?) to school and dosed up David (still wan, in bed) with some Calpol. He complained that his legs were "dizzy" when he got up to use the bathroom, so I've moved him into our bed. Dizzy legs and a loft bed are a dangerous combo. He's feeling less headachey now, but is still happily in bed as of 11:15 so you KNOW he's not feeling well.

So. I have sympathy for him. Believe me, I do, especially after how miserable I felt last night. However, I'm wondering where I will find an extra day in my calendar... I have had to cancel my drop-in at craft morning for Christmas festivity, the meet-up with my girl Chrissie to exchange presents, and the mailroom run to mail off "New Year's" packages (little somethings for my sis and family, etc.). And the purchasing of the last bits (paper goods, snacks, soda) for Saturday's Christmas party at the chapel. And the purchasing of the last presents for David and Lily with money from Grandma and Grandpa (I have put David on the case there, though - we'll get it done!). And the mini-commissary run. And I am sure there are 50 other things to be done.

Instead, I'm here at home curled around a mug of herbal tea, and adding sneezes to my repertoire. All things considered, I'm probably better off here than breathing on friends and the public, but I feel like such a slacker. I could sort and wrap the 30 Santa presents for Monday's Santa event at the squadron, but I don't want to risk David seeing them, even though he "knows" about Santa. There are also, of course, the kids' own Christmas presents still to be wrapped, but the same applies there.

At least I have a festive environment in which to sit and be miserable. I have warm things to drink, blankets to wrap up in, and heat to savor. I have a beautiful Christmas tree to look at, and a stunning evergreen/floral arrangement to dote upon (thanks to the three lovely ladies who will remain anonymous). I must download the pictures I took, so you can all see how pretty it makes the living room.

Christmas Cards for Bloggers

Because you know the three wise men were bloggin' dudes. This card absolutely cracks me up.

Go here to see all 11 great geek Christmas cards.

p.s. Twelve days of Christmas gifty update.  Day 1 was icicle ornaments, day 2 was a dozen mini-candy canes, and day 3 (today) was a set of Cadbury milk chocolate ornaments.  How sad will it be if they don't even make it as far as the tree?  YUM!

Secret Santas

I like surprises, when they're nice ones, and I got one of the nice kind this week.  Someone from church put together a Secret Santa Sisters bag for me, with 12 days of Christmas.  These particular 12 days started this morning (13 December) and will take me up to Christmas Eve.  The kids and I had a fun time sorting the little packages by day and putting them under the tree before I opened day 1.  Now that I'm a "grown-up," Christmas is about making things special for the kids, more than presents for me, and I generally like it that way.  So I was surprised at how FUN it was to have packages of my own, and a little something to look forward to every day as we prepare for Christmas.  This Secret Santa thing...it's cool.  Very cool.

Gratitude, or...When I Was a Kid.

When I was a kid, we had to walk to school. In the snow.  Uphill. BOTH ways.  You know the drill... [Actually, my mother totally won this one with "When I was a kid, the snow came up to the second story sometimes. We had to shovel a path.  We STILL walked to school.   It was so cold we couldn't wear rubber snow boots. Ours were FELT." All true, boys and girls.  Rural Sweden during the World War II years.  She didn't see a banana until she was 9, after the war.  That impressed me, and my children.]

It amazes me sometimes what we, and our children, grow accustomed to.  My friend Sheena sent me this link.  Watch, laugh, and remember to be a little bit grateful for all we have today.

Our Christmas Traditions

I've written about the Christmas elf in this post but I wanted to blog it again, for Jenn at Frugal Upstate, who is doing a collection of Christmas posts. This week, she's talking about frugal traditions.

For us, Advent calendars and the Christmas elf mean Christmas is coming.  Every year, we buy a chocolate Advent calendar for each kid  (pound shop or grocery store).  In addition, we have two felt calendars with pockets (very pretty nativity scene on each), and every day there is a tiny gift in the pocket, like a 20p coin, a small candy cane, or a chocolate coin. 

The Christmas elf is a tradition that comes from my family. My mother was Swedish, and the Jultomten are a Scandinavian thing.  At the beginning of December, the elf appears in our house to watch over the children and report back to Santa Claus. Every day, he's somewhere new (usually somewhere up high so little fingers won't grab him).  Ours is a little wooden elf (an ornament from IKEA bought years ago).  He's about 3 inches tall. When I was small, the Christmas elf was made from a wooden spool. He had a red corduroy jacket, a stocking cap, and ravelled wool for a beard.  I can still remember him vividly, although he was lost many years ago.

The kids LOVE the Christmas elf tradition. It brings them downstairs, excited, every morning.  On Christmas morning, he lands in the tree, then disappears until the next December.

Christmas Trivia

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. My little silliness for you....


1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping Paper

2. Real tree or Artificial? I love real trees but we have a pre-lit artificial one right now, and I love the lack of shedding needles. I just burn a pine candle and pretend :)

3. When do you put up the tree? Sometime early in December

4. When do you take the tree down? On Epiphany (6 Jan), although there was one memorable year it was still up at Eastertime. That would be why I like to take it down earlier these days.  The shame...

5. Do you like eggnog? Yep, even the kind in a can...

6. Favourite gift received as a child? Many, but I remember the year I got a Fisher Price Little People castle and A-frame. That was a VERY good year.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, plus some on the tree. This year, the nice set and the Veggie Tales set have gone AWOL. I hope I find them this week...

8. Hardest person to buy for? Family gift exchange

9. Easiest person to buy for? Lily

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? E-mail, the past few years. I love, love, love getting mailed cards, don't get me wrong. However, I get overwhelmed at the cost of mailing to all our friends and family, and am trying not to feel guilty about cutting out mailed cards.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? If there was one, I don't know what it was. I don't really care what I get - I just like being here at Christmas, KWIM?

12. Favourite Christmas Movie? Lots! A Christmas Story (you'll put your eye out!), Elf, It's a Wonderful Life...

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually November, although I may find something early and put it aside. 

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't know...I might have at some point, but I can't recall off-hand.

15. Favourite thing to eat at Christmas? Swedish gingerbread cookies (and anything else in my path)

16. Clear lights or coloured on the tree? I like both - we have clear lights on this tree.

17. Favourite Christmas song? O Come All Ye Faithful, O Holy Night, Mary Did You Know?, Silver Bells, White Christmas...all of em.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home, although home is far away from family...

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher-Dancer-Prancer-Vixen-Comet-Cupid-Donner-Blitzen. And himself...Rudolph

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? A star. Actually it's a beautiful greenish copper starfish star. Santa brought it when we lived in Monterey.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Pajamas for kids on Christmas Eve, usually, and everything else in the morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? The greed in the air, mailing deadlines, feeling guilty about not doing cards.

23. Favourite ornament theme or colour? Exploded Ornament Boxes...I like a LOT of stuff on the tree, and I don't have a color theme. Although we do always have red beaded garlands on the tree.

24. Favourite for Christmas dinner? Ham.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Happiness for everyone

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? I'm not tagging anyone. Hope you had fun reading!!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like Christmas...

It's been a very Christmassy couple of days here at Casa KnitFarm.

Last night, we went to the school's Christmas coffee evening. The bigger kids ran games (guess how many sweets, name the bear, etc.), there were cakes and coffees, tombolas, a raffle, and the children's Christmas craft projects were for sale to the parents. 

I love that part :)  They make the projects - we buy the projects...like we wouldn't!!

Lily made a Christmas mug, and some fudge to fill it.  Yom.  David made mincemeat and a candle in a holder.   We all had a grand time, and even won a Chinese-themed food basket in the raffle.  There was also a Santa's grotto. Santa had gifts for all.  Lily got a craft kit and David got a stargazing kit, with a booklet, charts and glow-in-the-dark stars.  Very cool. We've been hearing about constellations ever since.

Today we woke up early, so the kids and I could go to the annual Breakfast with Santa on base (only one parent per family, for space reasons).  It was terrific.  David and Lily loved putting weird toppings like cherries and chocolate chips on their pancakes, there were games and crafts, and Santa himself, of course.  Santa once again had a gift for every child.  Lily got some Blendy Pens (which they both played with all afternoon), and David got a gift card, which we took right over to the BookMark.  He used the gift card to get If You're Reading This, It's Too Late by Pseudonymous Bosch.  Is that not the most amazing title?

Tonight, we put up the Christmas tree.  I'm really pleased with how it looks - we managed to wedge a ton of ornaments onto the tree, even though it is smaller than trees we've had in past years.  Sparkly, sparkly, sparkly...

I'll post a few pictures -  kids with Santa (Lily looks nonplussed, as usual, but also has a cold), kids under tree, and a random shot of somewhere on the tree...

I love Christmastime. That's all I have to say about that!

The Movie

To answer the multitudes who inquired about Quantum of Solace, it's almost as good as Casino Royale, which blew my mind when it came out.  See Charming Husband's blog for a slightly more critical (and fairly so), but still positive, review.

Great action sequences, interesting female character, compelling story even.  Really, though, there are only three words necessary to explain why I enjoyed this film.

Best. Bond. EVAR. [Still.]

Perfect Day

Recipe for the perfect day
Take one husband, add train ride to Cambridge, sunny crisp weather, a trip to the Apple Store and John Lewis (and many other browsing opportunities), Wagamama for lunch, chocolate, the new James Bond flick, and a birthday present found for darling son. (Check out that link  - very cool.)

That was today, and it was wonderful.  Thanks to our awesome friend, who came over with her daughter to play, make pizza, and babysit so we could come back later than usual.

I feel like Christmas came early!! 

[Not so confidential to David:  I love you, baby...]

Random Morning Thoughts on a Wintry Day

D. looked out the window a little while ago, and reported, "It's SNOWING."  It was, too...big fat flakes.  Now, of course, it's raining, but it's wintry cold nonetheless.

Later, we have ballet run and a Christmas evening for me (ladies from church).

Turkey soup is in the works, so the house smells yummy. I have hot cocoa nearby, and I just took the Princess Bride Trivia Test.

I'm Inigo Montoya. Heh.  Try it for yourself...

Inconceivable! You scored ###!

A decent score, but you can do better. You may not have studied swordplay for 20 years, or watchied the movie 20 times, but you have seen and appreciated it, probably more than once. You are familiar with the basics but you need to work on the finer points (pun intended.) Watch it a few more times and try again.

To Start Off Your Holiday Shopping...

Happy December, everyone!!

If you're a yarny person, Sonny and Shear's got a nice 15% off coupon for the next 2 weeks, and a good contest as well. This is one of my favorite on-line retailers - AWESOME customer service. Check it out:

Now for December's contest. Who in Cher's life was named "The Bagel Boy" by the press?


Email your entries to contest AT sonnyandshear DOT com by December 27, 2008. Include your name, the name of your blog (if applicable) and, if you’d like, include your Ravelry ID as well. A winner will be selected using the handy dandy random generator and will be able to choose a skein of Blue Ridge Yarns (either one) in the in stock color of their choice.

 COUPON - Have a fiber filled Christmas. Save 15% off your total order*, by using the coupon RudolphTheRedNoseSkeindeer. The coupon expires December 15, 2008. (Madlinetosh is exempt. Coupon does not apply to club registrations, special orders and cannot be combined with other coupons.)

Santa Has a Blog!

Who knew!?  Yes, the Claus Chronicles is out there.  Ran across it today when small D. was researching time zones and Santa delivery tracking for a school assignment.  It looks pretty funny, actually...

Today is the final day of NaBloPoMo 2008. That snuck right up on me. I still find it hard to believe I've made it every day.  Wooohoooooo!

Great Quote

I saw this quote today in a Ravelry forum. This one's for you, sweetie DH! Isn't it great?

“Sovereign ingredient for a happy marriage: Pay cash or do without. Interest charges not only eat up a household budget; awareness of debt eats up domestic felicity.”

Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love, 1973

We're doing OK - my little car is back from its tune-up and repairness. One little part remains to be replaced, but DH has Ebayed it and will be sticking it in place this week. Meanwhile, the Awesome Mechanic has done some tricky bypass of said part, so the car won't just...stall. Cool.

I've even thought of a good Christmas present for the Great Gift Swap - can't mention here as potential giftee in-laws may be reading, but hope you'll like it!

Sadness

My friend Susie's brother David didn't survive the emergency surgery yesterday. Please, keep her and all of David's family and friends in your thoughts at this heartbreaking time.

Healing Thoughts and Prayers Needed

My friend Susie's brother, who's named David, was very badly injured at the start of this month. He had made some good progress in the hospital, but now infection has set in and things are quite serious. If you're a praying person, please say a prayer for him and his family, or send healing wishes. They can use all the good thoughts you can spare.

Today is American Thanksgiving. I'm so thankful that our little family is here and healthy, and able to celebrate the holiday, even if the kids don't like anything except the pumpkin pie.

Scary, Scary Numbers

Spent my day with stomach upset and TV watching...not much to share with you, Gentle Readers, except this horrifying thought, from an article David showed me:

The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Jim Bianco of Bianco Research crunched the inflation adjusted numbers.
The bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion
TOTAL: $3.92 trillion

Nesting

It's mighty cold here in Norfolk this week. Cold wind, cold rain, cold hail, even that snow on Sunday.  Makes me thankful for heat, thankful for down comforters, thankful for woolen socks, and thankful most of all for a warm spouse at home. It's a good thing I'm practicing the thankfulness, with Thanksgiving jsut around the corner. We expats have to do our thing without benefit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or a jillion football games.  Just turkey, pumpkin pie, and each other.  [Actually, I think that's nicer...]

Completely Random. Also, Happy...

First off, happy.  David is home, and off work for the next long little while - see his blog for details.  It's a good thing.  We may even have a date or two in there, as well as some great days together.

On to randomness.  Haven't been knitting in days and days, and I realize it's because I have been avoiding the Mystery Socks.  Love the wool, loved the cuffs, love the ankle pattern.  Don't love continuing the pattern on the top of the foot, for a couple of reasons.  I don't like bulk over my instep, and I reaaaally don't like having to think about a pattern for half a round and then knit plain, for row upon row.  Solution therefore is to rip back to the heel, and reknit the foot in plain stockinette, so I have the joy of the pretty pattern up top and the comfort of plain vanilla along the foot. 

Smart, no?  I plan to do this tonight, while David and I watch an episode of Life together.

More randomness...still loving the audiobook of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  I'm through disc 8 of 11 now, listening only in the car.  My rhetorical question is this:  If you were an author, and you put in a character who was also your namesake, would you make her the incredibly annoying, rather dull, superhumanly nice character?  Why?  Especially when it's rather obvious that you are a student of human nature, and you DON'T really think the best of everyone, or else you never would have written the book.  Ahem.

Off Tenterhooks

I'm off tenterhooks because David is HOME!!  I was on tenterhooks (how I love that phrase) all morning, from the time I was woken up by a phone call (first plane delayed by three hours, please call all affected families) and looked out the window to see snow.

Scrooge that I am, I was not happy about the snow.  Nor was I happy about the freezing rain that fell for an hour.  When it changed to big white fluffy flakes, the children could not resist going out to enjoy it and try a few snow angels.  I spent the time inside, worrying about whether it would let up enough so I could get up the hill and out of the village.

Then, alleluia, around noon, the sun came out and things started slushing up.  We made it down to base in ample time, and David was only the teensiest bit behind the announced time. 

He is here. He is home. He is safe. My cup runneth over.

Hey, It's Tomorrow!

Here I thought I was getting in a double post today, but really I'm posting for tomorrow already.  Today. Whatever - it's late. Or early.

So....Twilight. Sparkly chaste vampire love and all that.  Yes, I totally AM going to see this movie as soon as possible. And I shall immensely enjoy myself.  Even though I'm a grown-up. Shut up.  Heh.

However, despite my affection for the characters, I still found this Go Fug Yourself post hilarious.  Even grungy, that Cedric Diggory/Edward Robert Pattinson fellow is still awfully pretty, don't you think?

Scrooge-Along

Doesn't that sound fun? Knittingfrau is planning a little Scrooge knitting (knitting something fabulous for one's self in the holiday season). If I had the yarn pictured in her post, I'd be making something for myself, too! Go have a peek.

I'm not a holiday knitter, in any event. I think it's hard to find someone who appreciates handknits. In addition, some people equate "handmade" with "cheap" unless it's a craft they are intimately involved with themselves.

Lily FeverBean is feeling better. No fever since yesterday late afternoon. Now she and David have matching coughs. How lovely! Just in time to welcome Daddy home in a couple of days, too...

[note - edited this because it didn't pass the “Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?”  test.]

Day Three of FeverGirl, plus Bonus Funny!!

Just as the title says, Lily Bean was home for the third day in a row because she was still running a temperature at 3 this morning.  Medicated that away, but she was definitely blossoming with a great cough by this morning.  So no school.  Unfortunately, I had unavoidable errands on base, so she had to endure two long car rides, but all was OK.  A couple of naps, even, so you know she wasn't at her best.

No fever since around 3 PM today, so one hopes we're back into normal "cold" territory again.

Sorry I haven't got any knitting to share with you;  I haven't picked it up all week!  However, I do have a funny bit about the decline of maths instruction over the years.  Enjoy...

The Evolution of British Maths Teaching


1. Teaching Maths In 1970

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?

2. Teaching Maths In 1980

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or £80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Maths In 1990

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is £80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Maths In 2000

A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100. His cost of production is £80 and his profit is £20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Maths In 2010

A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of £20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers. )

Black Boxes and Kind Thoughts

Lily's "polly" (poorly, as she pronounces it) again today, so we are once more housebound for the day. No big deal, really  - she's still got a fever, but is less wan than yesterday, so I expect she'll be feeling much better tomorrow.

Black Boxes - check out the widget to the right here. If you click on Decide, it gives you a series of choices and then you can click on a blog it thinks you might like.  Useless, but fun.

Kind Thoughts - while surfing blogs this morning, I came across a line in a comment that didn't really have much at all to do with the original post, but had a lot to do with what I was thinking. Here it is:

.... the sign over the phone read: “Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?” and hung there for 12 years.

That's a continuing struggle for me, to keep  from saying unkind or judgmental things about other people.  The quote above's quite simple, but it packs a punch.  How much better could I be if I subjected everything I say to those tests?

Love Letters

Have you ever gotten a love letter? The best feeling in the world. I'd like to share mine with you. My husband - he's a lovely, loving, warm, wonderful dude and I thank God every day for having him in my life. "I think we'll keep him," to paraphrase the horrible old Geritol ads.

Google Ancient Rome

Have you see this?  Google Earth has created a virtual ancient Rome.  Seems like a great tool for school lessons, among other things.

Another slow day at Casa Knit Farm.  Lil's got a little fever.  She seems otherwise pretty sparky, but given the rash of sick kids at school, I'm keeping her home today.  My babysitting friend is still willing to come tonight, unless the Bean feels worse, so I will still be going to the grant workshop tonight, in hopes of finding out how to get lots of lovely money for the preschool.

Otherwise, the day's a bit derailed.  Ah, well...

Feeling Logey But Still I Bring Gifts...

Hi, Gentle Readers...I ended up taking a "sick day" today.  Woke up with a narsty tummy, and after I got Lily to school  I came home, cancelled plans for today, and stayed on the couch with The Great Escape.

Feeling a bit better, but just tired, now. Lily and I are watching Valiant (a cartoon about WWII homing pigeons), and David's at Cubs (wonderful neighbor driving again).  Once I get Lily to bed, and David comes home, I will soon be in bed myself.

However, I do have a little something for you, especially if you're a Doctor Who fan.  There's a link to the Children in Need Doctor Who preview here.  Enjoy!  We did.

And So It Begins....

Nothing starts off the holiday season like a quick viewing of a Rankin-Bass production. Ahhh, the stop-motion animation of my youth. Loved 'em all, except for the Little Drummer Boy, fo some reason. We're watching Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town right now...

You know what would be great? A Wallace and Gromit Christmas film. That'd be awesome.

Saturday, Scattered Day - Some of Everything

Today's been a pretty good day so far.  We headed to base early because I wanted to meet a friend at the Christmas Bazaar, via a stop at the mailroom where a package was waiting (yarn and little girl clothes...  thanks, Jill - you rock!). The Bazaar was sort of Meh, but the kids enjoyed themselves and got to go on a couple of rides. I had fun spending a bit of time with Chrissie and browsing around, even if there was nothing that shrieked Buy Me.

Kids are watching Ratatouille (thank you, library, for free video rental) and I am catching up on blogs. After bedtime, I'll be collating some stuff I've written down and collected and getting my Sunday School lesson ready for tomorrow. Oh, and the house is still pretty clean.  Good times!!

Link of the Day - Feminist Mormon Housewives. The title alone makes this blog worth a visit.  The group of bloggers here talk about anything and everything, and the viewpoints are all over the map.  Many times, the discussion happening in the comments can be even more interesting than the blog posts.

How Did I Miss This?

A new on-line knitting magazine? Goody!! This is only the second issue of Twist. Isn't that cover sweater gorgeous?

Friday Links to Make You Laugh

I confess it - I have read Twilight.  My niece brought Twilight along this summer and I picked it up and inhaled it.  In fact, I've now read the whole series (thanks, Afton!). It's cheesy, but it's fun - chaste, angsty teen vampires and the klutzy, angsty girl who loves them. Oh, and her werewolf best bud.  Anyhoo, the movie opens soon, and someone's done a hilarious trailer spoof.  Funny, but a thousand times funnier if you've actually read the book.

Continuing the funny theme, have you ever seen the Saturday Night Live synchronized swimming mockumentary? Harry Shearer and Martin Short are two synchronized swimming brothers, one of whom can't swim very well.  Hilarious, although I can't find a link (darn copyrights!).  Anyway, my point is that synchronized swimming is a rich comedy mine, and these guys do a great job finding the funny at their talent show.

Happy Friday, everyone - I have umpteen things to do today, among them cooking a vegetarian meal tonight to bring to a family tomorrow. First, however, I think I'll have a late breakfast!

Teh Audiobook, It Is a Good Thing.

Last month, I borrowed the audiobook of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  from the library. Read by Douglas Adams himself, it's been the ultimate in drive-time entertainment. Today, I chose something completely different: Pride and Prejudice by the great Jane Austen.  Eleven CDs worth of Jane Austen is a LOT of Jane Austen, but so worth it.   

Now when I tootle back and forth to base, an hour each way, I'm really having fun.  Too bad I can't knit and drive at the same time...

Stretching a Dollar

Today, I'm totally interested in this blog. A couple decided to try and live for one month, spending jsut one dollar per day per person for food, and this is their story.  I can't wait to read more later, after I do the school run, the base run, and dinner :)

A Clear Space

Thinking about clearing clutter and what do I read but this great post from Alison at This Wasn't In the Plan.  What happens when your craft area is cluttered?  When it's clean?   Check it out!

This post really spoke to me because the Knitting House is currently the Everything Left from the Preschool Boot Sale Collection House.  And that's not conducive to knitting there. Or even getting in as far as the couch.

More On Decluttering

This one's for Kay, and Lynn, and anyone else who wants to know what works when decluttering.  I looked at this list and almost everything on it worked for me when I got rid of things first time around...

15 Great Decluttering Tips

In fact, the whole web site looks good!

Clutter - I Haz It and I Hatez It

Here's a theory for you:  fatigue, sadness, disappointment, and anger lead to clutter, which leads to more negative feelings, which generate more clutter, etc.    Clutter's been on my mind a lot lately, and I had the chance to talk about it today with a friend over lunch.  We each committed to decluttering a bag of clothes and a bag of papers this week, and that felt like a good first step.

I've been feeling for a while that the clutter is overwhelming me again.  The house generally looks pretty good, although I can't say that about this week. (Don't, please don't, knock on my door tonight!  The kitchen is dire.)  Anyway, even when the house is looking good, the cabinets, closets, and storage areas are hiding a TON of clutter.  Being fortunate enough to have lots of storage space, I've fallen into the habit of using it to stash stuff, not organize it.

Tired?  Just bung that batch of papers and flyers into a bag and toss it in the cupboard.  After a while, the cupboards get pretty full, and you don't know what is where.

Three years ago, almost exactly, I found Flylady and really "got" it.  Her systems got me motivated to unpack a whole houseful of moving boxes, and toss two thirds of what I unpacked. For about a year, I was really on top of things and the clutter was at a bare minimum. Since then, I've kept many of her routines for daily housekeeping but neglected the decluttering aspect. 

Now, the clutter's gotten everywhere, especially inside my head. I feel overwhelmed at the thought of it.  At the same time, I want to be enthusiastic about tossing stuff again.  Looking back at my blog posts, I found the story about 100 things and the man who's trying to pare down his possessions to the extreme.  That sounds really good right now.

Any thoughts, Gentle Readers?  Tried and true tips for decluttering?

Veterans' Day; Cat in a Box

Remembrance Day, or Veterans' Day, whatever you like to call it - today is the "11th day of the 11th month." Are you wearing your poppy? British knitters have been selling a pattern for a knitted poppy to raise money for the Royal British Legion. Great idea!

For a completely random, funny link: my sister sent me the link to this crazy cat who loves boxes. Thanks, dear heart! Very fun to watch. Cracked the kids up!

Pure Joy, Linky Love, and Christmas Pictures

Pure joy would be finding "Lost Camera" so that thinking about "Broken Camera of Doom" isn't quite so painful.  Now to charge Prodigal Camera...

Linky love is this post at  Small Notebook.    Simplify or use what you have?  What's the better choice? Is there a better choice?  When is one more desirable than the other?

Christmas pictures - wish us luck. The Good Photographer is in residence at the preschool this afternoon, so I'll be taking the kids home from school, gussying them up and heading over there in hopes of a worthy Christmas card shot.

That is all.  Hope you are having a wonderful day, wherever you may be.

Doctor Who Scarf or Blanket?

This morning  I had an e-mail from a friend (and sometime knitter - hi, Angie!) asking for yarn recommendations for a Doctor Who scarf, a la the Tom Baker incarnation of the Doctor.

Well, I've never really given a lot of thought to making a Doctor Who scarf, so I headed to Ravelry, where I found a plethora of patterns and pictures of finished scarves, complete with yarns used.  Beautiful stuff!!  I also discovered that there's an amazing website out there by Chris Brimelow, who has done patterns for all the different versions of the scarf worn by the Doctor in various seasons.  Just browsing the pages makes me sort of want to knit my own, even though the thought of knitting yards and yards of garter stitch makes me a bit queasy.  It would make great telly-knitting, though.

Then, the thought occurred to me - what about a Doctor's Scarf Baby Blanket, or even Grownup Blanket? A quick Google search tells me there's not one out there, at least not at first "hit." Two ways you could do this, or three, that leap immediately to mind.

First, garter stitch on the diagonal, increasing with every row until you're halfway there, and then decreasing your way back down. Just use the shaping from this pattern link, but change colors as for the scarf striping. You could pick your favorite section of the scarf and work those colors.

Second - just straight garter stitch, like the scarf pattern, but about 200 stitches wide for a baby blanket size. Again, choose your favorite section of the scarf and work that, so it won't be 10 or 12 feet long.

Third - knit three strips of scarf, perhaps three different sections from the pattern, about 30 or 45 inches long, depending on whether you want a pram or crib blanket. Then seam them together, side by side.  Obviously, for an adult blanket, you'd want more strips, perhaps six or seven, and longer ones.

Definitely a great GeekBaby gift, I think!

If you decide to give it a go, let me know in the comments! I'd love to know if I inspired anyone...

Thanks, Neighbors!

Not much scintillation for ya today.  Last night's Guy Fawkes party was great fun. My massive pot of chili was inhaled, along with another and a vat of soup.  There were a bunch of folks from church, a great big bonfire and three Guys to toss on it (we made one), and a long fireworks display (all the guests contributed a few fireworks).  We had a real fireman and several helpers to run that, and they did a super job.  Lily was literally squealing with delight the whole time.

Tonight, I had just put Lily to bed when I heard some fireworks noise. Looked out the window to see that our neighbors just the other side of the stable were having a party and fireworks.  Gentle Reader, these were near professional quality. I said to small David, they must have spent hundreds of pounds.  I pulled  Lily back downstairs, and we all watched from the dining room window.  What a show!

Again, thanks, neighbors!

Bonfires in the Rain; Funny Movie Link

Good morning from not-so-sunny Norfolk!  It's grim and wet today, which bodes ill for the Bonfire Night party we'll be going to.  I need to get some fireworks to take along, and some newspapers to stuff the guy David wants to bring.

I missed the Link O' the Day yesterday - sorry.  Today's link is to Stalking Santa. Just read about this film today. It's a mockumentary about some Santologists trying to prove Santa is real.  The trailer, linked above, cracked me up.  Don't think it would really interest the kids, but looks like a fun and funny one for grownups.

Word Verification; Kids' Christmas Party Suggestions?

Cohiptoc.  Tylli.  Dimicapr.  Metubses. Stmene.

I spend too much time wondering about the verification "words."  Wondering - what language does that resemble?  I wonder what it would mean.   Cohiptoc is definitely Aztec, don't you think?

We're just starting to plan for the children's Christmas party to be hosted by our spouses' group.  There tends to be a big crowd, and the kids vary in age from 0 to 13 or so.  Makes it tough to settle on a theme.  More than likely, the party will be in their meeting space; it's got a counter, sink and some minimal food prep areas and then about a dozen tables of varying sizes.  Time - after work, so heading to dinner hour for most kids.

In the past, we've had some games, a visit from Santa, bouncy house (not able to do that in this smaller space), cookie decorating, food and there ya go.

I'm thinking an ornament theme for the crafts.  My new love of the laminator has given me some good ornamenty ideas where the kids can do minimal work but end up with a pretty durable craft.  And there's always popsicle stick Rudolph  - a brilliantly simple craft.

We'll have Santa stop by, maybe a game or two (any ideas? It has to be a game in a small space, so the kids can each have a go. We don't have room for group activities apart from half a dozen kids at a time at craft tables...).

Cookie ornament decorating. Maybe a table where you can write a Santa letter, or do a wordsearch or Christmas quiz page.

I'm wide open to some fresh ideas that I can use for this, or even for a holiday party here at home.

Commenters, I welcome you with open arms!!

Sleepless Posting

This doesn't make for eloquence - I hoped to get some sleep after heading to morning craft group to finish up the Laminations of Doom (the zillion pieces of Christmas game that I cut and colored last night while watching election returns).  No such luck. I did finish up the game, but now am waiting on the plumber to return, this time to fix a leaky outdoor tap that's bleeding us dry (waterwise and billwise).

Will send kids to bed early and go early my own self.  I'm absolutely shattered from staying up all night, but it was kinda fun, anyway. Would have been better with David here, and it made me miss my mom.  She never got to vote in a Presidential election, since she just got her citizenship in 2006.  That didn't mean she didn't invest emotionally in every single Presidential race, though.  We had some good times watching CNN :) 

My sister just called - Hi, Annie! - to say: "We won!  We won!  We won!!"  She's pretty giddy, in a good way, as the local candidates she did a bunch of work for have won, and that means good things for their town.  Politics really DOES reach down to the grassroots level, and it does affect us.  And that's pretty cool.

OK. Linky Love for today: This Wasn't In The Plan .  It's a life, frugality, family, and funny sort of blog, and very, very entertaining reading.  Plus the occasional cute kid pics, too!

Tuesday Linky

I'm back from my crafty evening (made Christmas games and laminated everything in sight), and now am about to settle on the couch with cocoa and popcorn and SkyNews, or whoever else is showing US election coverage.  I'm seeing headlines on CNN.com about record turnouts!  That's fantastic stuff...

I forgot, again, to post a favorite link today.  This one's been linked here before, but I'm linking again, just because her weekly menu plan is making me hoooongry.  Jenn at Frugal Upstate - neat, neat blog.

I Voted; Now I'm Ready!

I love presidential elections.  Perhaps it's the dweeb in me, but watching election returns is like watching the Superbowl for me, except I actually also get to participate. I generally stay up until the winner is declared. Since the first polls on the East Coast close at midnight my time, I think I may nap a bit first this year!

Sent my absentee ballot in a while back; DH had to download the federal absentee ballot for military folks since we couldn't get his to him in time to get it done and counted.  The bright side there is that I was able to take DH's to school this morning so David's teacher could show the class what an American ballot looks like, and talk about the election a bit.

I hope the results are clear and decisive. I have bad, bad memories of the 2000 election.  Hanging chads, anyone?  I want to know that the people have spoken, that we've chosen a new leader, and that it's final.  Then I am choosing to be happy that the election is over, and I look forward to the new year and a new administration.

Link of the Day

I got so excited about Halloween pictures that I forgot to add this.  Today's link is A Year of CrockPotting.  Seriously, 365 days of recipes for your crockpot.  What's not to love?  Except that MY crockpot has decided to stop working.  And it's only 3 years old.  What's up with THAT?  I need a good old-fashioned ugly orange or green crockpot from the 70s.  Those are all still working...they're the Dodge Darts of slow cookery.