Monday, February 25, 2008

Bowl Disaster (AKA The Breakfast of Champions)

So, lately this is what I've been eating for breakfast. It is delicious, and mostly good for you. It has protein, omega-3, fiber, good fats and yumminess all at once. Its the only thing that I've eaten for breakfast lately that keeps me from getting hungry before 11 am.

It is completely impossible to get out of a bowl without a good scrubbing. The dishwasher can't handle it. It also looks a little gross. Sean gets very upset when I leave "bowl disaster" in the sink. It's a pretty big joke around here. Here's how to have your very own bowl disaster!:

Start with a bowl.


Add some chocolate chips. The amount added depends on how bad of a mood you are in.


Add a lot of oatmeal (Old-fashioned, not instant. Steel cut is probably better, but who has that?)


Add a couple spoonfuls of flax seed. This is the secret weapon.


Add a big ol' scoop of peanut butter. The natural kind with just peanuts and salt. None of that processed partially hydrogenated crap.


Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir everything together. Eat it. Yummy.


Anyway, here are some pictures of mountains from my trip to Oregon last weekend. It was sunny and in the 60º's and beautiful! The pointy mountain is Mt. Hood. The roundish mountain is Mt. St. Helens.



Oh yeah, I've been knitting, too. The airplane ride helped with this a lot. Here are some socks! I keep getting messed up on the pattern and having to reknit parts of them. This means that there are some places with loose stitches, but I think it will be ok. It seems like I still have a million miles left to knit till I get to the toes. At least the foot part is half stockinette. Then again, the pattern was way easier to follow on the leg. It's all weird for the foot. Ah well. I am excited to have some knit socks that I love! Even if I sort of hate them.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Spinning wheel

I am going to get a spinning wheel. It's going to be a birthday present, because el husband is building himself a computer, and the only reasonable way to make an unjustifiably large expense go away is to create another one. My birthday's not for another month and a half, but this winter is making me more and more miserable by the hour and looking for a spinning wheel is making me happy.

I am trying to decide between the Original Lendrum and the Louet Victoria. Apparently I have to choose between single and double treadle.

Now, I personally know the three people who read this blog and I have never heard any of them mention anything about spinning, so I am not actually expecting any feedback. However, I have never used a spinning wheel before, so if anyone reading this is one of the creepy people who always seems to read blogs without ever leaving comments or anything (I am this person for lots of blogs...) and knows a lot about spinning wheels, this is the time to speak up.

Yes, I realize that Fae Ridge Farms has spinning classes and wheels and stuff, but by the time I have both the courage to call and the time to drive over there to take a class, it will be a very long time from now and I could have figured it out on my own by then.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Fun with Etsy

Now THIS is what all shopping should be like.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Snow Snow Snow Snow Hat Snow


That's the 8" of snow from Super Bowl Sunday, out on our deck. Yesterday, we thought it would be fun to see how much more snow we could get out there:

Apparently this is the worst winter in lots of years around here. I agree. This weather sucks. Mega hardcore sucks. I twitch every time I see another snowflake. Briony seems to think that it would be worse if it were 32ºF and rainy. I am pretty skeptical of this claim. On the plus side, once the blasted snow finally stops it's kind of pretty outside. Also on the plus side, we are DEFINITELY getting our money's worth out of our homeowner's association this winter, since they come by practically every day to clear our driveway and walkway.


Also on the plus side, they cancelled classes yesterday, for the second time this year! Apparently they never cancel classes. The last time they did before this year was when a tornado went right over the top of campus. I knew it was going to be bad yesterday when I got out of bed at 7:30 and I couldn't tell where my yard ended and the street began.

Staying home in my jammies all day was pretty fantastic. I made an Unoriginal Hat! I also managed to finish one of my Craft-a-Thon design contest projects!

In real life, the hat is much cooler than it looks in the picture. It's dark black, and despite the fact that I used natural light on a cloudy day, the picture still overexposed. Shoot. I love the hat though. I have too many brightly colored things. I think this will calm things down a bit, wardrobe-wise.

I am excited for the Craft-a-Thon tomorrow! I hope lots of people come and make things for the preemies! We have worked so hard to put it together, and it's going to be very interesting to see how it goes. I am also excited, because it will be a good excuse to buy some knitting books without feeling guilty. After all, it's for the babies! I can't wait to see what people have made for the design contest!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Snow Snow Snow Snow Cat Snow

What you can't tell from this picture is that it's POURING down snow and Cuddle Duds is completely covered in it. Plus he's eating it.


Adorable little toe prints.


There's the view off my deck. There are about 8" of snow.