Tuesday, February 22, 2005

still plugging along

just chugging away

putting at least 4-5 threads worth of work into my Eagle Exemplary

should be done in a week or two even at this snail pace

does that mean I can officially look at new projects?

I think I said, can't buy anything new, without finishing a work in progress first?

Now. That is incentive.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Boy Child

Yesterday was 16th birthday for the younger at our house. That means it has been nearly 16 years since we left Germany to return to the states. Imagine if you will moving from one continent to another with a newborn and a nearly 2 year old sister. What were we thinking????

At our house we have a tradition: request a birthday meal and Mom will make it. This year he went easy on me. We owe him a dinner at the CIA, so he didn't get complicated in his request. We had Italian wedding soup and fancied up grilled cheese. Oh and a maple syrup cake.

As I'd never made a maple syrup cake before, I went internet hunting. Then decided just to modify a butter cake recipe. Recipe still needs some modification as the cake was a little bit heavy. But tasted fine - smelled like pancakes at my house while it was cooking. And the maple syrup frosting from the King Arthur Flour cookbook is excellent.

Boy Child

My younger is now officially 16. That means it was nearly 16 years ago that we left Germany to return to the states. We were just waiting for him to be born. Of course, I went 2 1/2 weeks past my due date. Felt like forever. And there's is nothing like moving from one continent to another with a newborn and an almost 2 year old sister. What were we thinking????

At our house we have a tradition. Tell mom what you want for your birthday dinner, and I'll make it. But this year we owe him one trip to the CIA for dinner, so he went easy on me.
Italian wedding soup and fancied up grilled cheese. And a maple syrup cake. LOL

I didn't have a recipe for a maple cake so I created one. Took a basic butter cake and changed things. Recipe needs a little work as the cake was a little bit heavy. But when kids walked in after school they accused me of cooking pancakes. So at least it smelled right. The frosting was most excellent. But all in all, it's a bit much. LOL I can't believe you can overdo maple, but you can!

Monday, February 14, 2005

bought w/birthday money

I purchased 2 new beading books with my birthday money. One, the Beader's Bible has over 300 patterns and thankfully is spiral bound. Now there's a publisher that was using brains!

After browsing through many beading books, I think I finally have the courage to remove my first beading project done on a loom. As it's just one of those cheap little wire looms that they market as a Native American beading loom (cost under $10), the directions were less than instructional. All my other beading books said to follow your looms instructions! Argh. But now I know the different way to finish off a loomed project, and will experiment later today.

The other book - whose name escapes me - has a plentitude of great projects including the directions for several variations on a bracelet pattern I was looking for.

Friday, February 11, 2005

EGA Meeting

Ah. This week we had a lovely presentation by Patti Schreiner on Gems, Baubles, and Beads in quilting. Oh the fabric. Oh. Oh. Oh.

Such lovely things. And she passed most of them around for our very close inspection. Heaven.

Saturday, February 05, 2005

Cheer for Patriots

Alright.
Time for the Superbowl.
Yippeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go, Patriots!

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

February

I realize that more than a few people seem to have a deep dislike for this month of the year. But I love it.

A little borrowing from Wikipedia:

February is named for the Roman god Februus, the god of purification. January and February were the last two months to be added to the calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. This change was made by Numa Pompilius about 700 BCE in order to bring the calendar in line with a standard lunar year. Numa's Februarius contained 29 days (30 in a leap year). Augustus is alledged to have removed one day from February and added it to August, (renamed from Sextilis to honor himself), so that Julius Caesar's July would not contain more days. However there is little historical evidence to support this claim.
February was nominally the last month of the Roman calendar, as the year originally began in
March. At certain intervals Roman priests inserted an intercalary month, Mercedonius, after February to realign the year with the seasons.
Historical names for February include the
Anglo-Saxon terms Solmoneth (sun month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage) as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung.

Go ahead. Call it the cabbage month, if you dare. I prefer the purification designation. And Augustus. What an egoist!