Ideas to share?

Since I'm not starting school on time, I thought I'd ask for some ideas while I was still enjoying my coffee and the kids are playing kindly with each other. Who am I kidding...the school across the street doesn't start for 10 min...so we're still ok for start time. But...I do want to know......

I have a skein of DIC Smooshy in Beach Fog. I bought it this summer in the bay area. I really want it to be a smallish shawl. Any pattern suggestions?

We've named him Charlie...

Rex is really upset that someone is spending time in the tree in HIS backyard. Charlie clearly doesn't care. He's pretty bold. I was standing about 3' from him to take these photos. He didn't want to interrupt his lunch, so he let me snap away with the camera. This is our "squirrel proof" bird feeder. Charlie's weight would close off the feeder, so he hangs out upside down.

See...I really was close. You can click on this one to see it bigger.

I think he was posing for the photo op.

Knitterly Hoodie 1

I bought the yarn for this Hoodie at Knitterly in Petaluma. It's GGH Aspen. That's a wonderful Merino/Acrylic. It's bulky...super soft...and I loved this discontinued color. Here we have the left front and the start of the back. I started the front in lieu of swatching. I figured if I was going to knit a full repeat of the cable to measure, then I'd might as well knit a piece of the sweater. I did end up frogging my first attempt and going down 2 needle sizes.

I LOVE the XO motif. I'm excited to be able to wear this. I think a short sleeve sweater is perfect for So. Cal. I was getting sad that I wasn't further along on this yet...but then a 105degree day reminds me that I've got at least a month before it will be cool enough for any handknits.

Cooking Update!

I did say that I would share more about the meals that must have made me gain 10# over the weekend. It's easier for me to cook with M home, so I decided to try some fun new recipes. And we had been watching food network while I worked on my dishcloth for DRT.

Saturday's breakfast was Buttermilk Waffles with Strawberries. Since it's not strawberry season, and since I'm a bit lazy in the mornings...we used jam. But, no one seemed to mind. I think the trick here is the cinnamon with the strawberries and the whipped cream. Everyone loved these. M thought they reminded him of all the things he loved about his birthday cake.

Monday's breakfast was to be Apple-Maple Chicken Sausage Breakfast Sammies. But we slept in a bit because M got home so late from the ER. 7 made these with me for lunch. I added an egg to hold the meat in little patties. And, this was supposed to serve 4. I used my large Pampered Chef scoop and made 10 patties. These fit perfect on a English muffin. M did eat 2, but still this recipe would serve 4 men.

For Monday's dinner we had smoked ribs. It was totally worth the $60 thermometer that M bought. M has been asking for a smoker. I found a website with instructions on how to turn you BBQ into a smoker. I think we'll stick with this for awhile, but I really see a smoker on the birthday list next July.

And a bonus recipe for you. Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding. This is WONDERFUL! I didn't make this. A friend brought this over for us to have during "B" week. Yes, we're eating our way through the alphabet again. Do make this. It's so YUM!

Hope you're hungry. Go cook something wonderful.

My Very Lucky 6!

Sunday Night we had some Chinese Exchange students over for dinner. We were just about to pull the food together and sit for dinner. M. was at the BBQ. I was pulling our apple pies out of the oven. 7 comes running into the house shouting 6 is hurt. 6 comes screaming covering his eye. I move his hand for a second...and it didn't look good. I carried him to the couch. 7 got our ice pack. I got a towel for under his head, a washcloth for his eye, and the 'just tears' eye drops. I had to get his dirty hands away from the eye. 7 got another washcloth wet and gave it to M to hold 6's hands and clean them. I opened his eye and used the eye drops as a eye wash. I got all the dirt out. But, there was still a piece of stick in the lower lid (at the left of that scrape). He put the ice pack on the eye...it was getting puffy and I took a minute to breathe and PRAY.

I went back trying to figure out if I needed tweezers or if I should let the ER remove the stick and it was laying on his upper lid! Our own Sunday Night Miracle! With the stick out...I didn't feel as urgent about getting to the ER. 6 said he'd rather eat then go. Growing boys...can't give up their dinner. Besides, it was after 6pm and our urgent care was closed and it seemed like we'd be low priority at the ER. After dinner, M took 6 and I cleaned up the kitchen. The ER Dr's words...."You're VERY LUCKY!" 6 was just a blink away from eye surgery. But, as it turned out...this is how black the eye was. We'll need ice packs several times a day for the first few days, but he's going to be ok. I do think we need consider switching hospitals. I stayed at Pres. because that's where I wanted to have all my kids. Now that we're done with babies...maybe we should choose a closer hospital.

I hope our exchange students still like us...at least we're entertaining.