Senses working overtime

I have to tell you, I haven't been spinning lately. My back was in a world of hurt and I just didn't want to risk it. BUT.. with a little help from my chiro guy Dr Grant (who I accused of voodoo and being a witch doctor. He laughed then we talked about UFC and our dogs. Could I have met a better guy to allay my fears about the chiropractic? I think not), the odd pain pill and the EMS unit I ordered and got in 3 days.. I am spinning again! GO ME!!!

All that downtime was not really downtime though..

I managed to knit a mini clapotis out of one skein of Noro Kureyon Sock:



This scarf gets so many compliments.. its crazy!



A drop stitch scarf from some hand spun:





And a Lion Neck Cardigan! This is done out of some merino/seacell I spun then dyed. I modded the sleeves a bit and changed up the neck.



It is so snuggly and sqooshy. I heart it so berry berry much.



Oh and I got a haircut and changed the colour. And got me some nails did. Chris has his company Xmas party this weekend and since he is an EXECUTIVE* now.. I reckoned its not a bad thing to not have dye stained raggedy ass hands. You know, for once. :)



*Did I mention he got a promotion to head of Mechanical Engineering after only 6 weeks? Oh yeah. He did. They even gave him a parking spot in downtown Calgary! He's still taking the bus though. And getting paid out for it. MOVE OVER JEFFERSON'S. WE IS MOVIN' ON UP.

Almost Famous

I got a really cool email the other day. From Blue Sky Alpacas. They wanted to know if it was ok if they featured my sock pattern, Betty Cable on their site? WELL HELL YEAH! So holy Hannah.. here it is! WOWSERS!!

Dudes.. I couldn't be more pleased.

Shill

Up these went into the shop today! Hard to part with ones too..

I'm off to the Chiro this afternoon. Of which I am more than a little freaked out. My back has been exceptionally terrible this week. My Dr recommended him (and gave me some good stuff) to see if this will alleviate some of the noxious pain I have been having. Wish me luck! And have a good weekend all!

Who wants a cookie??

That's what I yell to get the dogs to come in quickly. It ALWAYS works. Well.. except when Mr Pickles Houdini Chewbacca finds a hole the size of a soup can and manages to squeeze his fat ass through it into our neighbours yard*. If you've met Pickles, you know he is booty-licious, but still managed that. Damn dog. Anyways, I was thinking of making them up some of their own cookies and came up with this:

Peanut on a pumpkin puppy paws. (OMG I am so going to hell for that stupid name)

Oven at 350

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup pumpkin (not pie filling, the plain stuff)
1 cup milk (divided in half)
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tbsp baking soda

Mix pumpkin, peanut butter and half the milk until smooth. Mix the dry ingredients together then add to wet alternating with the last 1/2 cup milk. The dough should be pretty firm. Drop by spoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet (the dough doesn't spread much so they can be pretty close together), press down with a fork (to make them look like the cookies you used to eat when you were little, isn't that cute?) and bake for about 15 minutes until they are lightly browned on the bottoms. Let them cool and freeze them! Defrost what you need or give them to the doggas frozen.. they don't care. I LOVE DOGS!








*And bless Max's' old tattletale barking heart for ratting out the escapee. Max is getting old but he still knows whats the what. Well.. mostly.

The Smallest

Things are sometimes the most full of awesome.

-long weekends
-puppy cam
-a lapful of my *clean* snuggly puppies
-a new hoodie
-finishing a hat/scarf/mitt set for Chris
-home made pumpkin chocolate chip loaf
-finally getting a picture of my sweater (even if Chris did a shit job as I was interrupting his video game time)
-toaster ovens that work
-finishing a bobbin of lace weight
-awesome friends that come visit and praise my barista skillzor (see what you are missing assholes?*)
-nothing exciting politically to charge me up**
-hairdye
-sleeping in







Mmm.. sweater goodness.




* And no I haven't been back to you stbx. We are through. YOU HEAR ME THROUGH!
**A tip of the hat to the USA. This goes a long way to assure me that despite your shitty chocolate, private health care and GOD hates Fags people, you guys rock. Good job.

More Squash, Less gross.

So the last experiment with the squash was only moderately successful. It was.. erm.. less than fantastic, but for sure mostly edible. I wasn't put off by that, in fact it made me more determined than EVER to have a yummy squash recipe in my retinue. I have used spaghetti squash before, but really not for many many years. Like maybe when Jake was a baby. EEK! So I set off to re-experience this pasta substitute. Chris is amused by my obsession with faux foods right now. Whatever.. after you hit 40, its harder and harder to keep weight off. So nuh uh pasta. Hello squashes. I am pleased to report that this foray turned out fantastic.

Serious Sausage Squash Soiree.

You'll need:

4 Spolumbo hot Italian sausages (or whatever. Mr Spolumbo makes the BEST. SAUSAGES. EVER. If there is a Mr Spolumbo. If you want something else do it. I ain't your Mom.)
Half a white onion chopped.
A whack of garlic.
2 14 oz cans of chunky tomatoes
A glug of olive oil
I heart of celery chopped
3 giant carrots (or 5 normal ones) chopped. Make the celery and carrots approx the same size ok?
1 spaghetti Squash
Parmesan cheese, say 1/4 cup or whatever.

Roughly chop your sausage into bite size pieces and saute in olive oil in a nice big pot until brown. Add in onion and garlic. Now because the sausage I used is seriously perfectly spiced I used no other seasonings. For reals. Nothing. Why mess with perfection right? If yours isn't, I suggest salt, pepper, some cayenne and whatever else floats your boat. I know there is a little fennel in the Spolumbos so maybe try that? I dunno. Saute until the onion is translucent. Add in celery, carrots and tomatoes. Simmer for a couple, three hours. If you start to reduce too much add some chicken stock so it doesn't burn.

Turn on your oven now ok? Say 350? Sounds good!

Now you gotta cook your spaghetti squash. I cut mine in half, cleaned out the seeds and membranes and put it in the microwave in a covered dish with some water (cut side down) and nuked it for about 10 minutes per half. Then you take your squash (half at a time) and shred out the flesh into an oven safe dish. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on the squash then layer half your sausage mixture on top of the squash. Repeat. Pop this in the oven until Chris gets home say an hour or so.

Dig in! Seriously, this was amazing. And makes at least 5 servings or so. Very good for you, mostly veggies with a hit of sausage goodness. Mmm..