Taking a vote

My husband wants to go on a holiday to somewhere warm. I'm dragging my heels, because the calendar is just soooo full. So...should we go somewhere? And where should we go if you think yes?

No, I will not take you along.

But I will post pictures afterwards.

I need some comfort!

These are comfort books: Tears of the Giraffe ; Morality for Beautiful Girls. These are the kind of books that don't shock you with bad language. They make you think a little, but confirm your worldview. Other comfort books that I've read in my life include The Blue Castle (over and over again when I was a teen) and The Ice Child (I finally bought my own copy as I was afraid the library would discard it).

My hats are off to the bloggers who continue to delight me with daily writings. Thank you for the slices of life that I enjoy dipping into each day.

I will delight you with a small gallery of finished knitting. Knitting keeps me sane these days.

The shawl is for a lovely lady at church - to honour and bless her for her tireless serving and devotion to God (Multnomah shawl; Smooshy yarn). The fingerless gloves were a commission knit from a co-worker of my son's, who had admired the ones I made for him (Red Heart Comfort Sport yarn; generic gloves). Gloves are a challenge! The cabled slipper socks were also a challenge, but not as hard as I thought they would be (Log Cabin socks; Cascade 220 Superwash yarn). They are for a man at church who is taking chemo treatments. I call them comfort socks :)

Life as a homemaker

Two reasons I have a hard time doing housework…no, three.

I actually often feel guilty doing it. There are so many other pursuits that seem much more important. Like playing/talking with my kids, knitting something for another person, reading to improve my mind. I have to remind myself that a clean house is a blessing to my family and so has intrinsic value in and of itself.

Around here, you no sooner clean something up, and it’s messy again. I have kids in the house 24/7. You make a meal and it’s gone in 10 minutes. Imagine spending the day at the office drawing up the blueprints for a building and the next day when you go in, all your lines are gone; erased. A lesson in frustration. To reduce the frustration level, I have simplified some jobs so that my expectations are less. For example - I used to keep my towels upstairs in the “linen closet”. After wash day they would all be nicely folded and stacked. The sight would warm my heart. The next day they would be in disarray and half gone. Now, I roughly fold the towels straight out of the dryer and store them on a shelf beside the dryer. They never leave the basement laundry room until someone wants one. And the only bathroom that I stock with towels is my own. The kids can grab one when needed. Now my linen closet holds games and yarn. A good trade-off J

The third reason has a little to do with laziness and a little to do with “messy syndrome”. I have a jumbled mind that can’t make mental lists; I'm easily distracted. You could call me organizationally challenged. So written lists and planners are my friend. It’s the keeping up with them that presents the problem and therein lies the fact that at any given time if you arrive at my house unannounced, you WILL find creative mess around. So if you’re concerned about that – give a call before you come. If you’re not…I welcome you in J

Knitting notes: I finished some Christmas gift socks. They’re out of Opal yarn (Rendez-vous, 2063). The contrast heel and toe was fun to do and keeps the stripe patterning consistent. The cream yarn was Paton’s Kroy.

One chapter down...

The problem with having a blog with a reading theme and containing mostly book reviews is...what if you aren't reading? It seems I can hardly take a breath these days as I deal with the "stuff of life". Books are being read a page at a time, rather than gulping down chapters as usual. So a standard book review will have to wait.

In the meantime, a well-known (to homeschoolers, anyways) young man (and author and pastor) has written a new book. After reading the first chapter I am anxious to continue and put it on my Amazon wish list. It is interesting to see this man, who I first got to know when he was just a teen, becoming so mature. He continues to influence and God is blessing his ministry. In fact, I regularly listen to his church's sermons. http://www.covlife.org/

Since the weather is becoming a little nippy and I had some so, so, soft baby camel yarn from China to play with, here is a so, so, cute pair of fingerless mitts I made the other day. About 6 hours from start to finish, they are a warm treat to wear and a pleasure to fondle. In fact, I keep them in the car beside the seat, to do just that.

This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada. It’s fitting that at least once in the year we take some time to reflect on what we are thankful for. As Christians, of course, we should be expressing our thanks to God daily. I am thankful for a God who loves me and brought me into his family at a time when I was most needy. My attitude towards life changed, even though my life circumstances didn’t right away. The bible tells us to acquire wisdom. I am thankful that today I am wiser than I was 24 years ago, pre-Jesus. But it’s humbling to realize that the “growing in wisdom” never ends.

I am also thankful today for my hard-working husband who puts up with my ever-eccentric interests. I’m thankful for my children, who are all developing as interesting individuals and who all are following the Lord in their individual ways. I’m thankful for the rest of my family, all living close by. What a blessing that is! My good friends are also something to be thankful for. They keep me grounded. God’s grace is sufficient for my needs and I am eternally thankful for what He has provided.

It is fitting that I read The Book of Negroes this week. This tale is a reminder of the suffering that Africans went through for so long in the slave trade. I was on the wait list at the library a long time for this book – it’s obviously popular, and for good reason. It is well written and engaging. My heart broke all along the way and finally on the last page my tears came. This book is not for the faint of heart and is very graphic in its descriptions of what went on. But you will finish it having developed a relationship with the main character and will keep her with you for a long time. What really struck me as we followed Aminata through her life is how long the slave trade went on. When she was captured as an eleven year old and taken to America, there were slaves there who had been born in the United States. And then when she was old and working to end the slave trade, there were still Africans being kidnapped and exported; generations of people forming a tide of suffering, shame and humiliation. We must continue to read books like this one, so that we will never forget and hopefully, never repeat what went on.

One of my WIP (works in progress) resembles a Thanksgiving cornucopia. Can you guess what it’s eventually going to be?

Pets anyone?

I have some new pets.

Now keep in mind that I’m not the traditional dog/cat kind of person. We have two outdoor cats – allergies keep them in their proper place outside the home. I'd have a cat in the house in a flash, but husband and some kids would be miserable.

We’ve had dogs over the years. According to the experts, having a dog can build character in your children. Ours always tend to die or get killed; the last one was a barker and went to the SPCA. So I’ve found that worms make the greatest pets. No fuss; no muss. They mind their own business and produce fertilizer to boot. How can you go wrong?

But just when I thought that worms headed the list as the go-to pet, along came kefir grains. My kefir grains came dehydrated through the mail. A quick 24 hour soak-in-water later they were plumped up and ready to do my bidding.

It took about a week of regular 24 hour milk changes, but now those grains are producing a luscious, creamy, tangy milk kefir. I don’t know that it’s that much different than the product that came from the store-bought starter. But using the grains is so cool! Each morning I strain the baby grains out of the kefir and add them to a mason jar of fresh milk. That jar sits on the counter till the next morning, when I do it over again.

Right now I’m making just enough to drink in one day with a little extra for guests J. (Yes, I’m the only one in the house that enjoys this healthy drink) Apparently the grains continue to grow, so just like my worms, at a certain point I should have grains to share. Any takers? J

Lots of knitting has been going on, but the only finished project is a crocheted dishcloth. Having made many knitted dishcloths over the last few years, I had a bag of leftover cotton yarn on hand. Experiment time. Most crocheted dishcloths are too stiff for my liking. So I tried a granny square one for a change and actually quite like the prototype. It looks nice, works well and dries quicker than the others. So I’ll make more of them. Doesn’t this one match my dishtowel well? Purely accidental.

The Definitive Mac and Cheese

What does it say about me that one of my life goals has been to find the perfect macaroni and cheese recipe? I have already accomplished another – the perfect chili recipe. I was half-way to a successful life. And now, fait accompli – macaroni perfection. (these last four words must be said with a heavy French accent).

I discovered an excellent cooking magazine in the library the other day. It was supposed to be for my “loves to cook and bake” daughter, but she wasn’t interested. So I took a look through. You know how “Julie and Julia” made you want to go out, get Julie Child’s books, start at the beginning and recreate the movie? This magazine did that for me. (actually I did take 3 of Child’s books out – I’m not loving French cooking, but the thought was nice).

“Cook’s Country” magazine is taken from a Public Television show called “Cook’s Country from America’s Test Kitchen”. Each recipe comes with a short essay on the technique used or the history of the recipe development. It’s a mini cooking course with sidebar tidbits of food lore and diagrams. The food is more down-to-earth and eatable for my family.

I love this magazine so much I’m having to hold myself back from ordering the DVD’s of season one and two of the show.

Back to the mac’n cheese.

The recipe is actually meant as a make-ahead. Imagine that! Making ahead a pasta dish. I’ll have to try it. For this time we snarfed it up for supper and left-overs went with my son to work. The secret ingredient was the chicken broth and cayenne pepper that made it sooo flavourful. And if I had had the heavy cream that it called for instead of milk, the flavour would have been over the moon, I’m sure. I don’t have a problem with butter and cream. God made ‘em; they’re good.

Another goal accomplished yesterday – slipper socks for a former homeless man our church has befriended. He is going through cancer treatments and the weather is getting colder. His feet will appreciate some cozy socks. Cascade 220 superwash (in the best colour yet! – 863, a dark, rich burgundy)