thistlebear

For now...

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 14:58:00 +0000

Hello, friends. It's been a while since I've blogged and I just wanted to let you know that I'm doing fine. We're all fine here, just starting our spring break from school and finally slowing down a little bit after a hectic couple of months. I'm looking forward to doing very little over the coming week!

I know my blogging has become sporadic lately, especially since the start of this year. To be very honest, I'm feeling burned out with blogging right now and I'm not sure what I want to do. Life has changed somewhat in the past couple of years, as my kids get older and we get busier with everything they want to do. I miss the days when I was home more, focusing on homemaking and crafting. I'm still home a lot, but my home time is more taken up with school stuff than it used to be, so I'm not doing as much of the blissful home-loving I used to do. That was also more fun to blog about than my current life, which feels like it's mostly lived in my car. But that's the way it is when kids get older, I think; gone are the days when they were happy to stay home day after day. Now they need rides and have all sorts of activities going on, and I'm okay with that. They're growing up to be interesting, independent people, which makes me really proud.

So I may need to think about changing my blog a bit if I'm going to continue. I would like to, but I'm not sure which direction to go. I think working on my writing might be a good idea, just because I enjoy writing and I think that I occasionally have something to say.

One thing that I will be changing is my focus on recipes. I'm sorry. Our household has recently undergone a major change in the way we eat, to support the Bear in a health diagnosis he received in late 2017. I'm no longer cooking the way I used to. I have shared a few things here that I have made in my new cooking style and have experienced an unfortunate response - messages from people who do not approve or agree with what I'm doing and who feel they know better. Maybe they do; I've never pretended to be a culinary or dietary expert. But we have done our research and are acting on solid medical advice. I'll just say this: it's difficult enough to experience a medical diagnosis, and to change everything I knew and loved about cooking, without feeling like I have to justify our choices. So recipes may become a rarer thing on my blog. I don't like having to make that decision, but I don't want to explain myself anymore either.

I've also been having a lot of technical problems with my blog these past few months. Since the autumn, I've been unable to link to previous posts on my own blog - every time I create a link, it just goes to the post I've put the link in. That's very frustrating and I'm getting a bit tired of it. I'm also having trouble uploading photos, which already felt like a time-consuming process when it worked; many times lately, they just get lost in the process and I have to go back and do it all over again. And then there's commenting: several people have reported that they can no longer leave comments on my blog posts (and bless them, they still make an effort to email me anyway, these lovely people). I didn't feel overly concerned (maybe it was just a weird glitch that would go away) until it started happening to me too, about a month ago. I don't know what would cause this issue, but I'm very sorry that it happens to people who want to comment here. I've combed through the Help forum and seen a few suggestions, but nothing has worked for me so far. All of this to say that I may need to think about moving my blog to some other platform, which is exciting (new look! new features!) but very daunting at the same time (what if I lose the entire thing?) It's a lot to think about.

So this probably isn't goodbye, but I feel I need to recoup my blogging energy (mojo, if you will). I need to think about whether my focus should shift a bit, now that I'm raising older kids whose lives are changing (one of whom seems less interested in having his life shared here lately, which is totally fair and something I need to respect), and with my technical issues, I just kind of dread trying to get a post up. I've enjoy blogging here very much and I'm so thankful for all of you who have been kind, supportive and friendly for all these six-plus (!) years since I first sat down and typed up a few blurbs about myself (I'd link you to my first little post, but alas...) I hope all of you are well and enjoying the first little touches of spring (or autumn!) where you are. Take care, my friends.

Mid-winter make and do

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 17:58:00 +0000

Happy Wednesday! How are you doing? Things are good here. I wanted to say thanks to everyone who commented on my latest ripple blanket. I appreciate your kind words! I know it's nothing all that special but I had fun making it. I'm also excited to have used up a lot of my stash; I gave it all a close look the other day and I really don't think there's enough worsted-weight acrylic to make another blanket. I can switch to smaller projects with it now if I want to. The next step will be chiseling away at the DK acrylic stash, which is a bit daunting if I'm honest. There's a LOT of that to use up.

This time of year always feels really productive to me, and I'm enjoying myself at home, doing little things here and there. One thing I've wanted to try for a little bit is a scarf pattern I found on Ravelry, the Spring Petals Scarf by a Ravelry member called Ragamuffin. It's a simple pattern and I figured it out fairly quickly. I decided to use another stash yarn for it, Caron Simply Soft in Pistachio. I love Simply Soft for scarves because it drapes nicely and feels soft and silky on your neck. I'm thinking about giving this scarf as a gift, but if I decide to keep it, I know I'll enjoy wearing it myself.

I started a new cross-stitch project too. I just finished a small one that is part of a set of two that I've been working on for what seems like years; my cross-stitch game was off for a little while (I'll share those two soon, I hope). But I feel inspired again so I started something new. This one is Polish Floral Heart, from an Etsy shop called Galaborn Patterns (click on the link to see the design in color; I only have a black-and-white printer and I can't show you the pattern in all its glory!). I love this design and have had it in my collection for a couple of years. I'm finally ready to work on it and it's a pleasure so far. I'm using stash embroidery floss for this design and it was fun to go "shopping" in my floss storage for colors, which are not quite the same as the pattern specifies, but close enough.

I've been catching up with my magazines lately, having let the pile grow during the holidays. But I made it through the January issues and am currently working on February. I love February issues of magazines; the colors are always pretty and the projects are sweet and lovely.

And I finally got my turn with a library copy of Tana French's new novel, The Witch Elm. I'm a longtime fan of her books, though I have not loved them all equally. I find her books to be a bit hit-or-miss, but all of them have been readable. This one is not related to the others, which featured the Dublin Murder Squad and its cast of crime-investigating characters, which made it more appealing to me (I'm a little tired of them, honestly). I'm only a few pages in and it's good so far, but I'm reserving judgment for now. It's just good to have books around and the time to read them. I've been adding new books to my library holds list lately, just trying to catch up with the latest hits. I probably won't see most of them until summer, but that's just fine since I will have more time to read then.

After watching my little philodendron languish in the corner of the kitchen for the past year, I decided to take it out of its pretty macrame hanger and put it on the built-in shelves in our family room. This window gets the most light of any window at the back of the house and I'm hoping it will be enough for this poor plant. To be fair, it has grown, but I don't think it's going to do much more than this if it doesn't get more light. Our house just isn't great for plants, I've concluded. The front of the house faces south and the sun streams in nicely but there are only two windows on that side of the house, with only one of them appropriate for plants, but every plant I've tried there gets burned up by the intense sun in the window. The back of the house is much darker, with mostly north-facing windows, including in my bedroom, and plants can't get enough light. This window faces east, so I'm hopeful that I can make it work here. This may be a sunny climate, but I just can't get the indoor sun right for good plant life! Frustrating.

I've been baking a quick bread recipe for a few months and trying different things with it, to mostly great results. The recipe is called Healthy Banana Bread and it comes from a food blog that I love, called Cookie and Kate. It's a great, easy recipe that results in delicious, moist bread that is actually decently healthy, so it's a win for me. I've been experimenting with the recipe, substituting different fruit or veggie puree for the banana. So far, I've tried pumpkin bread (subbing one cup of canned pureed pumpkin for the banana) and applesauce bread (subbing one cup of unsweetened applesauce for the banana). Yesterday, I did the applesauce version with the addition of about 3/4 cup total of golden raisins and chopped walnuts. It's delicious! I think I'll cut the applesauce down slightly next time, since the bread is just slightly "puddingy" in the center; the raisins probably added a little moisture. I might also increase the baking time. It came out well overall, though, and I enjoyed a slice with my evening tea last night while waiting on the dryer and watching Forensic Files (yes, I'm still on that; there are hundreds of episodes to get through, and frankly, it's the perfect show for laundry night).

I hope you're having a good week! Life is busy but good here. I'm looking forward to our weekly episode of Midsomer Murders tonight, Private Friday is this week, and Super Bowl Sunday! Plus I have library books, crochet and cross-stitch, so I'm all set. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Ripple Repeat

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 17:29:00 +0000

Hello! I hope you've been having a good week. Here, the floor project is almost wrapped up, to my relief. The furniture is back in the room but it's every which way while we wait for the flooring man to come back one last time (he was here yesterday), to finish one little area of edging that was measured incorrectly and therefore just a little too short. I'm just a tiny bit annoyed, but I'm staying calm. It will be okay. Meanwhile, life goes on as normal and we've had a productive week. A big school project (almost all video, which is pretty cool) is finished, some serious cleaning has been undertaken, and the yard is looking good after a little tidying job. I like January - it agrees with me. The cold is welcome, the days are a really good length, and I feel motivated and energetic.

Today, I want to share my latest crocheted blanket creation. I know, I'm still making blankets over here. It's just about seven years since I started making my first ripple blanket, using Lucy's Neat Ripple pattern, which we used constantly until it literally fell apart, stripe by stripe, over the past year or so. I guess you could say we used it to death. It went out the door in a trash bag just a few months ago, having reached an irretrievable state of disrepair. I decided to crochet a new ripple to replace it, because I really like having a big ripple blanket around. The fabric made from this pattern is warm and substantial, a great weight for cold-weather enjoyment. This new blanket, like my last few, was a stash-buster. I had a lot of worsted-weight acrylic yarn to get through, just to use it up and make room for something new eventually (not even sure what yet, I just wanted to get.this.yarn.out.of.here.already). Notably, this blanket is the first one I've made without a single purchase of new yarn. I have often bought a ball or three to fill in gaps in my color collection, but I didn't do that here. I was deadly serious about finishing up.

And here we are. The blanket is quite large, so it wasn't easy to photograph in its entirety, but I think you can get the idea from this photo. I think it's about six feet long by five feet wide, plenty large enough for using while we read or watch TV. The Bear seems to think I made it just for him, and I haven't disabused him of the notion. He certainly deserves a good blanket. The colors are kind of a hodge-podge, but that's a stash-buster for you. I think they're mostly in the same family and work well enough together. I've come and gone with brightly-colored blankets over the past few years, and there are more deliberately-planned blankets in my future, but I'm glad to make something a bit motley too.

I tried something new with my color arrangement this time, inspired by this Neat Ripple project I came across on Ravelry. The maker of that blanket says in her project notes that she planned her colors by picking a color that looked good next to the previous one. Simple, right? I have always tried to plan stripes several at a time, which works okay for the most part but also tends to drive me a little nuts as I try to remember what I was going to put where. So I decided to try this approach instead, and you know what? It was so refreshing, a real pleasure. I didn't worry about whether a color would work with another one two or three rows back (or, you know, ten rows back in my most obsessive moments). I just went with the one I'd just completed. This was so much easier and I didn't agonize over colors much at all. It made crocheting this blanket a lot more fun.

If you've never crocheted a blanket from this lovely pattern, I think you should. It's a delight to work, just going up and down, valley to crest, side to side. I like it very much. It's easy to memorize, and you can do other things while you work, like watch TV, help kids with their schoolwork, listen to podcasts and talk radio or your favorite music. Really, as long as you can count to four, you're good.

I didn't add a border to this blanket, which is unusual for me. But to be honest, I don't actually like borders on ripple blankets. I think they look a little strange, and don't really enhance the beauty of the ripples themselves. I also felt that with so many colors, it might look a little too busy. The sides of a ripple are naturally neat and straight, and the ends have a pretty, scalloped shape. I just left it alone and I'm happy with that.

This new blanket has already gotten lots of use and that makes me very happy too. Our cold winter this year sends everyone scrambling for a blanket to use whenever they're on the couch. We're spending more time in the house and that means more snuggle time under a blanket, which is never a bad thing in my book.

Yes, another ripple was just the thing for me and the rest of the family. I was sad to see the demise of my first big blanket project - the ripple I labored over for weeks just to get the stitch pattern down, and then another few months to get it big enough to actually wear it - but making a new one gives me a great feeling of accomplishment and progress. I've come a long way as a crocheter and I've learned a lot about myself along the way. It's amazing how much crafting can change you, giving you skills and confidence in yourself, a belief that you can learn new things and make something everyone can enjoy. I didn't have those feelings very often before I learned to crochet but they're solid in me now. My new ripple reminds me of the important journey I've made - the things I've learned, the rewarding experiences I've had as a crafter and a blogger, and best of all, the wonderful friendships I've made along the way. Crochet has been a powerful force in my life, unexpectedly and blessedly.

Ripple Repeat
Pattern: Neat Ripple by Attic 24
Yarn: I Love This Yarn worsted acrylic in the following colors: Cranberry, Terra Cotta, Old Rose^, Rosy Cheeks, Sea Blue, Glacier, Arctic, Antique Teal, Stonewash, Navy, Graybeard, Graphite, Coffee, Sungold, Dark Olive, Mid Green, Ivory, Black (^discontinued); Vanna's Choice worsted acrylic in following colors: Rose, Dusty Blue, Dusty Purple, Dusty Green; Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek aran acrylic in Mauve and Plum.
Hook: Clover Amour I/9 (5.5mm)
Size: approximately 72 inches by 60 inches
Started: September 2018
Finished: January 2018

January-ing

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 20:59:00 +0000

Joining my friend Jo in sharing a list of things I'm doing in January...

Enjoying...my new flooring in the family room

Listening...to concert hall-quality guitar performances while the room was still empty

Baking...a slightly healthy apple crisp

Reading...nothing particularly good at the moment, to my great dismay

Making...some of our summer plans already - two camping weekends have been booked

Wondering...if we'll be able to have campfires this year...come on, monsoon

Sleeping...less well than I'd like to because the neighborhood cats have been back on the roof again

Sorting...DK yarn to try for another stashbuster, probably a blanket for the GB

Appreciating...normal vision after having my pupils dilated on Friday at my eye exam

Feeling...annoyed with children who can't keep track of their jackets and hats

Feeling also...a little cooped up with this colder, wetter winter, as much I like the change

Waiting...for the flooring man to come back and finish the edges

Celebrating...National Tulip Day (January 19) with a bunch of bright red tulips in the living room

By in a blur

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Mon, 14 Jan 2019 16:34:00 +0000

Hello from the land of unexpected wintry weather! We've been having a real winter this year, the first one in several years, I think. It's been almost back-to-back snow or rain or mixed precipitation storms since the end of December and I have to say that we've all been loving it! Those are my feet up there, in the Bear's snow boots. I don't own a pair myself - it's never wintry enough to justify the purchase in my book - but we do have his, so if we need to go out in the snow to collect eggs, say, we wear his. We are getting eggs again, by the way. I thought we'd have to wait until spring, but we're getting one egg a day already. Nobody knows what's going on around here.

We had a wonderful Christmas! So relaxing, especially with a few different storms mixed in. We hardly left the house, aside from trips out for groceries, the occasional walk, and an afternoon spent at the movie theater on the military base where the Bear works, for a showing of Home Alone on the big screen. I was really glad the kids had a chance to watch it that way; my first viewing of it was in the theater as a special treat for my twelfth birthday a week after it was first released. It's been one of my favorite movies ever since, Christmas-themed or otherwise. Our holiday was lovely and we had a very nice time just sitting around, trying out our new things and enjoying the break from school and work. One of our "family gifts" was an XBox One, which has been great. We're using it for games as well as for streaming programs. Netflix and Amazon Prime look completely different on the XBox. It's a lot like when we upgraded from using our Nintendo Wii to a BluRay player for streaming. I guess that's what happens when you jump 5-10 years in technology with every move. Go figure.

Life since Christmas has been busy in a somewhat annoying way. There have been multiple home issues to deal with; nothing major, just smallish, irritating things that we needed to address, like a damaged window frame, a minor roof leak, a broken sprinkler head, clogged canales, and other assorted small-but-niggling concerns. Today, we're having a much more major project completed, though we're having it done professionally. I have given up on the carpeting in our family room and we are having hard flooring installed. It's what they're calling "luxury vinyl plank flooring" these days; it's like a wood-laminate floor but it's made with vinyl in the top layer to be waterproof. Since the family room borders on the kitchen, with the dishwasher built into the peninsula that separates the family room and kitchen and where water has leaked previously, we decided that waterproof flooring was a must. We had never even heard of this type of flooring (the vinyl I knew was limited to peel-and-stick tiles), but apparently there have been innovations. I already have a new room-size Oriental-style area rug to put down (it will only cover a portion of the room, just for warmth and the look of it). I'm excited to be getting a new floor, but it's that mix of annoyed and excited because the carpet was only five years old but it wore horribly and the room looked awful.

By the way, does anyone remember when we got this carpet? I blogged about it in 2013! You can see my then-tiny children and also the basic look of the room before today. We had hardly changed a thing since the last time we fixed it up. I think mainly the GB's toys in the corner are different now. I sure hope this flooring lasts better than the carpet did. I do not want to do this every five years.

I've been enjoying my regular pursuits in the meantime. Highlights include baking focaccia to have with slow-cooker minestrone soup (the focaccia recipe is from my Betty Crocker cookbook and also found here, and the minestrone is my own recipe, found here). Yesterday, we made potato knishes from this recipe and they were fantastic - almost as good as the ones I remember from my New York upbringing. I will definitely make them again. I've been enjoying new recipes and healthier ways of doing things. I don't like to announce things like this because I am a strong if misguided believer in jinxing, but I have lost 30 pounds over the past year, largely because of a change in how we cook and eat, and feel really good. Otherwise, I've been reading a lot and also finished a cross-stitch piece and another crocheted blanket, the ripple I started in September to finish up some more yarn. I even did some machine-sewing, finishing a project that sat waiting for my attention for over a year. I've been watching Forensic Files, mainly, and of course, watched Victoria last night when it came back for a new season. But honestly, I enjoyed Lucy Worsley's show afterward on Victoria and Albert's wedding so much more. It was fascinating! I love her shows so much. I try to watch them whenever I see a new one.

Thanks to those who reached out wondering why I haven't blogged lately. I've just been busy with other stuff and not really feeling in the blog groove, you know what I mean? I miss it, though, and will be trying to get back to it now. I guess it just got away from me these past few weeks. I hope you're doing well and having a good return to normal programming after the holidays. This is one of the best times of year for me, and having it feel more wintry is only a bonus, so I'm very happy about January. No blahs here at all.

***Links in this post that are meant to go to other posts on my blog seem not to be working right now; they all go to this post. Sorry about that. I hope it's just a Blogger glitch!

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 19:04:00 +0000

Merry Christmas Eve! We're enjoying a quiet holiday at home together. Everyone is getting over bad colds which started at the tail end of last week (we pretty much dragged ourselves to the finish line to wrap up school and other activities before the break; it was sort of pitiful). But we're mostly on the mend now and looking forward to time off from school and work, some fun plans, good things to eat and drink, and much togetherness.

I just finished icing and decorating my Christmas cake; my first attempt at working with fondant went reasonably well. They probably won't ask me to appear on Nailed It!, anyway. I'll show it to you soon. We're going to slice into it tonight after dinner. I'm making chipotle/green chile/vegetable enchiladas tonight, and crab cakes for Christmas dinner, as well as a challah French toast casserole for Christmas breakfast. We also have snacks and appetizers; I'm particularly looking forward to shrimp, nuts, and all the cheese.

There is a possibility of snow later this week - two separate snowstorms may come through here and that's just the most exciting thing we've heard in a long time. Some of us are losing our minds with anticipation; others are merely looking forward to having a reason to stay close to home. Whatever happens, we're happy to be here together.

I wish you and your loved ones are very happy holiday!

Cookie caboodle

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 17:41:00 +0000

Hello! Thank you for your comments on my post about My Christmas Treasury! I'm so happy to know that you enjoyed seeing some of it, and that some of you even have your own memories of this book!

Well, I've spent the past four days in a veritable baking frenzy! I started on Friday afternoon when we came home from school and I finished mid-afternoon Monday. I used 12 cups of flour, 9 sticks of butter and so much sugar I stopped keeping track. I enjoyed every bit of my bakeapalooza, though. I always bake a massive amount of cookies on the last weekend before school ends for the holiday break; we have our annual art show at school on the last Wednesday every year (that's tomorrow), which also includes a bake sale. We're asked to donate cookies to the cause. I always give them a lot of cookies, usually most of what I bake. I also send a fair amount to work with the Bear, to share with his coworkers. He took some in today and I'll give him more on Thursday. This will leave us with plenty to eat at home, rest assured, but not so many that we're pigging out on cookies day and night.

This year's cookies are a mixture of some old favorite recipes and a few new twists, but nothing really exotic. I've tried that in the past, and while I love to experiment with baking, I find that when you need to make tons of cookies fairly quickly, it really pays to stick with simple, prolific recipes. With that in mind, I chose recipes that I've made before, mostly sticking to plan, but I made a couple of tweaks just for variety. Looking at my cookie plate above, going clockwise from the top, these are my recipes:

Nestle Tollhouse Mint Chocolate Delights
Land O' Lakes Mexican Wedding Cakes
Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookies (I substituted white chocolate chips and added dried cranberries for a more festive look)
Land O' Lakes Spritz Cookies (I divided my dough in half and dyed it red and green; 8 drops of liquid food color for each half, and decorated the trees with nonpareil sprinkles and the hearts with red sparkle sugar)
Betty Crocker Peanut Butter Blossoms

I'm happy with all of my cookies. I think the spritz cookies came out really cute and I'm just as in love with that cookie press as I was last year (I have this cookie press, by Kuhn Rikon). I used the heart disc for the first time and was a bit surprised to find that it took a bit more skill to get nice shapes than it does for some of the other shapes, but I got the hang of it. I think next time, I'll try smoothing down the extrusion ridges with a wet fingertip. I just love using my press, though. I should have gotten one a long time ago.

Guess what else we made this weekend? TAMALES! Yay. I guess 250-plus cookies just wasn't enough kitchen labor for us. Ha. We love to make corn tamales just before Christmas every year. We enjoyed our tamales for dinner on Sunday night with some homemade red chile sauce, a real New Mexican meal.

My Christmas Treasury

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 18:31:00 +0000

When I was three or four years old, I was given a copy of this book, My Christmas Treasury. It was one of my favorite books when I was little, and I read it all year long, not just at Christmas. I still remember it being around the house for my youngest sibling to read years later (I was eight and a half when he was born), but sometime after that it disappeared. I guess it may have been donated or given away, or possibly irreparably damaged after four children had enjoyed it over more than a decade.

I have a number of my other Little Golden Books from when I was very young, and always wished I could have a copy of this one for my collection because I had loved it so much. I decided to see if I could find a copy, and it took a bit of searching, but I finally found one on Etsy and ordered it for myself right away. I think I paid about four dollars for it (five or six if you include shipping), which is a lot more than the 49 cents marked on the cover (and it probably cost even less than that when my parents bought it, since my other Golden Books from the same era have 49 or 59 cents on the cover but also have price stickers from stores such as Kmart saying 39 cents; maybe I really am getting old). Honestly, the mark-up was worth it, even after accounting for inflation. Having a copy of this book again has been a delight, especially now that the holidays are here.

The book was published in 1976; I would have gotten my copy about 1981 or 1982. It's a collection of Christmas-related stories, poems, facts and riddles with cheerful, brightly-colored illustrations. I just love Golden Books. I have shared all of my old ones with my children and am glad to have this one to show them now, though they are getting a bit grown-up for Golden Books. The GB still likes them, though, especially when she's sick or in need of comforting. Actually, that's when I like them best myself.

In looking at this book as an adult, I see that it's fairly heavy on admonishment. I don't remember snooping around looking for presents in my house, and even now, I'm not really sure where they would have been hidden. I think maybe they would keep them in the attic. Anyway, I remember being a little mystified at the idea of presents being hidden somewhere. Not enough to go looking, however.

Several of the pieces in the book were written by an author named Kathryn Jackson, whom Google tells me was a prolific writer of Golden Books, including The Saggy, Baggy Elephant. I like the above story specifically for its description of a Christmas dinner that rabbits would enjoy: "A big roast carrot basted in sugar, mashed turnips with butter, and cranberries red and shining. And for dessert, a round pudding all lighted up, with holly on top."

And then in the middle of fanciful stories like that one, there are more sacred-themed pieces like the poem "What Can I Give Him?" by the Pre-Raphaelite poet Christina Rossetti. Later in life, when I sang in my college choir's Lessons and Carols programs, which included her beautiful carol "Love Came Down at Christmas," I had a sudden memory of her poems in this book. As a child, I had no idea how important she was to our celebration of Christmas and to literature in general, as I also learned as an English major.

What Christmas treasury would be complete without discussion of holiday traditions in other parts of the world? This is one of the best parts of the book. About 10 countries are discussed, but these are some of my favorites. I've always been intrigued by how people do things in other places and cultures, from a very young age. One thing I've always wondered about the Yule log, as discussed above; how do you save a piece from the year before? Is it a burnt piece? Where do you keep it until Christmas? These are serious questions. I could look it up, but if you do this, can you share?

Some Christmas riddles for you to ponder (click on the photo to enlarge it). The answers spell out a festive word!

This is a somewhat convoluted story wherein a polar bear cub is entrusted by Santa Claus to carry a rainbow around and drops it, whereupon it shatters into small pieces. Cub is sad, Santa cheers him up by helping him hang bits of broken rainbow on the Christmas tree. I liked this picture very much, even if the story seemed a bit weird even to preschool me.

This is the last page of the book, and looking at it now, I see that it may be one reason I love blogs so much as an adult, along with the international holiday section. The poem on this page is by Phillips Brooks, who also penned the lyrics to the carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem", clearly another literary figure with Christmas influence. I'll reproduce the poem for you here:

Christmas Everywhere
by Phillips Brooks

Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight!
Christmas in lands of the fir tree and pine,
Christmas in lands of the palm tree and vine,
Christmas where snow peaks stand solemn and white,
Christmas where cornfields lie sunny and bright!

For the Christ Child who comes is the Master of all;
No palace too great and no cottage too small.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at one of my childhood books which I am only too happy to have in my life again. Have a lovely weekend, from your friend in the high desert, where the land is brown and the sky is blue, and the mountain's peak is faintly dusted in white.

December-ing

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 17:47:00 +0000

During this cold and sunny (just right!) month of December, here are some of the things I'm doing...

Awaiting...the first slice of my Christmas cake, which I made from a different recipe this year, with my own customization. I've been feeding it every two weeks but I'll stop now so it can dry out before I ice it.

Anticipating...my first attempt at decorating with fondant. I bought a small package of green fondant to use on my Christmas cake. I'm going to ice it very simply with white sugar icing, then cut out some holly leave from the green fondant and put some glace cherry halves with them to look like holly berries. I'm a little nervous...stay tuned.

Sleeping...much better since I put the heavier comforter on the bed a couple of weeks ago. We'd been using our lightweight quilted cover, with the addition of my big hexagon afghan since October, but we were not staying warm enough. I'm so glad to have our warmest blanket back on the bed again.

Appreciating...my new little alarm clock. I bought this clock about a week ago to replace a big, clunky old clock radio that I couldn't stand anymore. There were too many knobs and controls and it was all I could do to remember how to set the alarm. The radio reception was very poor. I just wanted a simple, basic clock, nothing fancy. I found this one at Target for seven bucks. You can hit the top for a snooze or to turn on the light for 10 seconds. That's it for features. Perfect.

Loving...my new kitchen tablecloth. It's just an inexpensive vinyl one, which I bought from an Amazon store called Deb's Buried Treasure. I'd wanted a durable, easily-cleaned Christmas tablecloth for the kitchen for a long time, ever since my old one finally gave up the ghost a few years ago. I just kept regular cloths on through the holidays, but I missed having something more festive in the kitchen. I'm enjoying it very much.

Assembling...a jigsaw puzzle under the Christmas tree, a longtime family tradition. Everyone wants to be near the Christmas tree, and this is definitely the warmest, sunniest room in the house in winter, so we all flock here to play games, work on crafts and, lately, put together puzzles.

Reading...my December magazines. I've cycled through some of my subscriptions lately, and right now I'm getting Real Simple, Family Circle and Sunset. I love to sit with my tea and flip through them a few pages at a time, trying to savor them over a few days.

Reverting...to an old childhood thrill with the Christmas ornaments. I loved to put glass or other see-through ornaments in front of the lights to make them glow, and I still do it every year. Does anyone else do this? Most of our ornaments are opaque painted glass, but there are a few, like this blown-glass angel playing the flute, that I always try to light up. It's kind of a weird obsession.

How is your holiday planning coming along? Are you having a calm time, or a crazy one? It's surprisingly calm here, more than usual. I'm planning to bake lots of cookies this weekend, starting Friday afternoon. I'll give most of them away, as I always do, but we'll keep some too. I can't wait to get started! I think we'll make tamales this weekend too. I still want to make marmalade, especially since I currently have more oranges than I know what to do with, but that may have to wait until next week. Meanwhile, I still have all the gifts to wrap, but I like to do that in the evenings while I watch TV. I find gift-wrapping quite relaxing, as long as I don't leave it so long that I have to wrap them all on one night...a lesson it only took me once to learn. Hope you're having a good week, friends!

Sno-el

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Tue, 04 Dec 2018 17:41:00 +0000

December came in with a storm! A few flurries had begun to fall before we went to bed on Saturday night, and we woke up to about an inch of snow outside. It was just wonderful. We were especially excited because we'd already planned to put up our Christmas tree on Sunday, and now it was a day with snow outside. How festive is that?

It wasn't very much snow, and it was already starting to melt on the paved patios when we woke up at 7 am, but it was still very pretty and we were all very happy to have some snow outside. We had just filled out bird feeders the day before, so there were many interesting birds in the yard, including goldfinches on our thistle feeder.

After lunch, we hauled out the Christmas tree and all of the indoor decorations. The kids put on the lights mostly by themselves, a first this year. I mean, the LB is taller than I am now. Everyone pitched in to hang ornaments and then I vacuumed up the loose fake pine needles on the carpet and put the skirt on the floor under the tree. Our decorating is pretty simple; we like having the tree and a few other items up for a month or so, but I'm sure we'd like it less if we had more stuff out.

I bought a new tree-topper this year. It's from the Hearth and Hand Magnolia line at Target (by the ubiquitous Chip and Joanna). I was looking for something to replace an old country-style angel made from burlap and paper with grapevine wings, which I liked very much when I was first married and that was more of the style at the time. But it was looking very old and tired, and not really my taste anymore, so I decided to find something new. I saw this one and really liked the spareness and simplicity of it; it's all metal and has a simple plastic clip to hold it on the tree. I like this because I can move it lower on the tree to avoid touching the ceiling.

After the tree was up, I planted some paperwhite bulbs and put the pot on my little plant table next to the tree. I bought the paperwhite kit on Saturday when I went grocery shopping. I plant amaryllis most years, but I felt like having paperwhites for a change. I was lucky to get them; the store had about twenty amaryllis kits and only one paperwhite kit. I grabbed it!

I'm so glad to have the tree up. I love being at home with it during the day, just knowing it's sitting in the living room, glowing away. I go in and out all day, sitting in a chair to read, crochet or just look at the tree. I wish I could invite you in for a cup of tea and a little chat.

Forty

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 20:58:00 +0000

Hello! Thank you for the get-well and holiday wishes on my last post. We had a nice Thanksgiving, in spite of the fact that the Bear had fallen to the illness by then too. I stayed well through it all, though, and a good thing too, since I had a lot of cooking to do. It was a lot for one person to do all by herself, I will admit, and as usual, the "man" version of the illness seemed ever so much more dire than the child version, but that's neither here nor there; everyone appears to be back to normal, more or less, and the holiday was a good one. Over the weekend, I also celebrated my fortieth birthday, with a dinner out (this wasn't looking like it would happen, but we made it in the end), a lovely cake and presents. Coming at the end of a very hard week, my birthday pictures feature a fairly haggard crone-like figure, so I'll keep them to myself. I assure you, I was very happy on the inside.

My birthday last year was shared with Thanksgiving, as sometimes happens (I was born on the day as well), so I was happy to have the days separate again this year. It's a lot for one day and my naturally guilty conscience won't let me enjoy my birthday fully when I suspect that people are trying too hard to juggle my day and the holiday. They'll never say so (well, some of them will, and have, but I don't invite them to my birthdays anymore), but it's a feeling I have within myself and I don't like it, so it's good to have the holiday and the birthday fall on different days like they did this year.

Last year, we went out for a mediocre Thanksgiving meal in a restaurant; this year, I could cook the big meal and have the birthday dinner out too, which is so much nicer. I also went back to my old tradition of having a store-bought cake (the same one I've had many times, the Berry Chantilly cake from Whole Foods Market), instead of making my own; last year, I made a delicious dulce de leche cheesecake from Pati Jinich's first cookbook, which I enjoyed very much, but I really, really love that berry cake and I liked having it all ready and waiting in the fridge.

I had perfect (for me) birthday weather this year too - sunny and chilly, with crystal-clear blue skies. Last year, my birthday was a weirdly warm and hazy day, sunny and something like 75 degrees. On Thanksgiving! People were outside barbecuing and drinking beer on their front lawns. Sorry, that's just not right for late November. I liked our normal November weather much more, especially our cold, cloudy Thanksgiving Day. I'm complaining, I know, and I don't mean to. It's just funny how differently birthdays can feel from one year to the next.

My gifts were really lovely. This is my favorite gift, a group of three cakes of gradient yarn. I mentioned this yarn before, as well as the project its intended for (the Trio crocheted blanket by Susan Carlson of The Felted Button); I didn't expect to ever have any of this yarn because it's out of my normal crafting budget, but I was asked to provide gift suggestions and because it was a BIG BIRTHDAY, I decided to ask for this yarn for a present. The Bear was only too happy to provide. I was so excited! The yarn, Scheepjes Whirl, is a light cotton/acrylic blend and comes in so many beautiful colors (click the link in the yarn's name to see them). My colors are (clockwise from the top): Black Currant Squeeze Me, Lavenderlicious and Green Tea Tipple. Fun names, right? I love these colorways so much. Honestly, I'm just in love with gradient yarns lately; I really can't get enough.

As much as I love these colorways, I had a little trouble deciding on them, but then I usually do. I needed three cakes for the project and I loved looking through examples of the blanket made by other people, many of whom are a lot more adventurous with color than I am. In the end, I decided to go with my favorite tones. I guess I played it a little safe. My favorite colors include purples, blue-greens and grays, and I loved all three of these colorways, so I took a chance on them and I think they look fantastic together. The blanket design will have the colors pooling and blending from one end to the other, so I have to decide whether to use these yarns from the inside of the cakes or the outside. I'm not sure yet, it's kind of complicated to think about it, actually! I haven't started working with the yarn yet, since I'm still plugging away with my stash-buster ripple, but I'm looking forward to it. I've decided the Trio blanket will be for me. I've never actually made a blanket just for myself, and I'm not exactly sure how to go about having a blanket be just for me, but it's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I'm sure I'll be willing to share sometimes, but only with nice, careful people.

I also received a wonderful gift that I've wanted for a long time, a new ice cream maker. We have an old one that doesn't work as well as I'd like it to, needs to be used outdoors because it's noisy, and requires copious amounts of ice. It works, but it doesn't, you know? I love to make ice cream, and would really enjoy branching out into sorbets and sherbets, and I'd really appreciate the convenience of a countertop appliance, so this is something I've had on my wishlist for a couple of years. I'm really glad to have it. Sorry for the box photo, as if this is a low-quality catalog; I just haven't unboxed it yet but it's coming soon.

Miss GB made me a very pretty bracelet. The beads sort of click together to open and close, which is nice for putting it on myself. The colored parts are plastic, but they look like sea glass. She has a bag of them that came with a DIY jewelry craft kit and she kind of hoards them, so I feel very lucky to receive something like this from her. I also received Ghirardelli chocolates and a small baking dish, as well as lovely cards and a DVD of one of my favorite movies, Peggy Sue Got Married. We had dinner in an Italian restaurant and came home for delicious cake. It was a really lovely day.

And now I'm forty years old. I'm still getting used to that. On the other hand, I've always felt much older than I actually am, and for some reason, always had the idea that when I was forty, I would finally feel like my age matched my sense of myself. I think it's accurate, actually. There's something about being able to say that I am forty that feels correct and fitting. I think I felt forty at fourteen, honestly. I probably looked it too (I've never gotten enough sleep). I'm happy about it. I feel settled in my life and I like where I am at forty. I don't have big ambitions and never have; I like being a wife and a mother, a homemaker, a general helper-outer in my kids' school, a good-enough daughter, sister and friend. It's enough. I think I like myself more the older I get, which is what they always said would happen, so I'm right on track there too.

I will say that my birthday feels like a finish line, of sorts, after a difficult year. A few very challenging things went on behind the scenes here, but I don't want to dwell on them. They've kept me away from blogging, commenting, emailing, socializing, creating, and a lot of other things I wanted to do, and they don't deserve the space anymore. It's just good to be getting back to the healthy mindset that I've worked hard to develop in myself - one of gratitude and appreciation for the life we've chosen, the relationships we know we can count on, the loving home we've created for ourselves, our happy marriage and utter joy in parenthood, my meaningful and healing hobbies - and when I think about all of that, I know that's what matters. So, while I'm never one for resolutions or hard promises, I do feel like I've reached a turning point and that I have the strength and sureness to move forward and leave a very bad time behind, looking instead to the good and positive things once again, but not to pressure myself. A birthday is not a deadline or a magical new beginning, it's just a day (and this one happens to be a big cultural milestone, and it also happens to fall at the end of the calendar year), just a jumping-off point for better things and I'm more than ready to embrace them.

Bright berries

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 19:13:00 +0000

This morning, I baked a carrot cake in a bundt pan. I'd always baked them in rectangular pans, all the better for covering with foil after icing, but I felt like a change this time. I'm going to make thin, drizzly icing instead, and I felt like trying the cake in a bundt pan, which worked surprisingly well. I thought maybe the carrots would make the batter too heavy, but nope - a beautifully risen bundt cake. It's our Thanksgiving dessert and I baked it today because I have too many things to cook tomorrow. I also made my cranberry sauce already - yesterday morning - because it can just sit in the fridge and firm up for a couple of days. I'm also making a turkey breast, candied yams, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing and steamed asparagus. The Bear will bake bread outdoors in a cast-iron Dutch oven with hot coals (he loves this kind of cooking, or any kind of fire work, really - he's had the rocket stove out lately firing his own clay pottery in it; Dutch oven bread is really just another flavor of that), and we'll have our usual assortment of olives and nuts for appetizers. We've almost always had Thanksgiving at home, just the two - then three, then four - of us, and we really like it calm and quiet this way. Thanksgiving is a great holiday for food and hanging out. It's some work, yes, but it doesn't have the pressure of presents and decorations and high expectations, so I like it best of all the holidays, I think.

All week, I've had sick kids lounging on the couch. There's something really crummy going around at school, with fevers and sore throats and aches and pains. I've done very little all week as a result. I feel fine myself, though. We're watching TV shows and movies, reading books and listening to the radio. I've been crocheting a lot. My stash-buster ripple is getting huge and I'm nearly at the bottom of my yarn basket. None too soon, since the ripple I'm replacing literally tore right down the middle while a sick person was attempting to spread it over himself. We put it out with the trash on Monday.

I was a little sad; that blanket was my first real, big crochet project, made a year or two after I found crochet-based blogs and started thinking that it looked like a good craft for me to take up. I was a less mature, less settled person then, mother of a preschooler and a baby, feeling overwhelmed a lot, wishing I had a way to unwind and calm what was already a very anxious and high-strung personality before babies and young children ever entered the scene. Making that blanket showed me that I was capable of finishing a project, and of making something really useful for my household. We used it to death, apparently. I loved it, though, and it gave me the confidence to try more and more new things in crochet. I've said it before, but I do think crochet changed my life for the infinitely better. I'm always surprised by how empowering it has been to learn a craft and stick with it.

So it's been a weird week, and not just because I'm semi-mourning an admittedly ugly old blanket. You know how it is when they're the real kind of sick, not the kind where they want to talk to you and they argue about what they're allowed to eat and drink. This is the kind where they lie there listlessly and then take themselves off to bed at 6:30. It makes for strange days for me, where I don't go out and all the activities and lessons are off the table. At least it was a short school week, so they didn't miss much. I'm hopeful that they'll be well for tomorrow. For now, it's just another quiet day. We're watching Frasier on Netflix, which I really should have given more of a chance back when it was on TV. I should go and see if the patients feel like having lunch. Even if they don't, I could use some.

I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday if you are celebrating! Take care, enjoy and have a lovely time.

Cake for later

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Tue, 13 Nov 2018 18:03:00 +0000

Hi! So much for blogging more often, huh? Life lately is kicking my butt. But we're doing fine and everyone is looking forward to the holidays. It's good and cold outside now - way colder than it even should be for this time of year! - which makes me very happy. We even had a dusting of snow yesterday. So exciting! It melted by noon, but it was pretty while it lasted. Right now, I'm planning my Thanksgiving menu for next week. We may decorate for Christmas over the holiday weekend, or we may wait until the following week. We haven't decided yet, but I do have a new Christmas tree topper, a simple update that was a long time coming. Goodbye, tired old paper angel.

In the spirit of just beginning to prepare for Christmas, I baked a traditional Christmas cake with fruit and nuts a couple of weeks ago. This seems like an antiquated thing to a lot of people, but it's something I really wanted to get right. When I was a kid, we often ate store-bought fruitcakes with one set of grandparents, who would have them with coffee. I liked them well enough, my favorite part being the green- and red-dyed candied cherries that I would pick out and eat first, before consuming the rest of my slice of cake. I know there are lots of jokes about fruitcake and how much everyone hates it, but I like the idea of making your own in the weeks before Christmas and feeding it with liquor periodically. I like routines and schedules, they're my thing. And I like making a food that needs to develop over time as opposed to being eaten right away. It feels like a real creation then.

This was not my first Christmas cake. I'd made them in the past, but it had been about five years since my last attempt. They never turned out well. They were overbaked - almost burnt - and they usually tasted far too rich and boozy to us. I didn't want to make those mistakes again, so I spent some time browsing recipes that were new to me, finally coming across one that gave me a few things I was looking for: lower alcohol amounts, more real fruit (though I did want to keep just a little of the candied fruit, because it's pretty and festive, so I'd just make them part of the total fruit amount), better instructions for baking, and slightly healthier ingredients overall. I found all of this in a vegan recipe, of all places. I'm not vegan, and neither is anyone else in my house, but the recipe gave me what I was looking for, so why not. Vegan (almost) Christmas cake for us.

The recipe comes from BBC Goodfood, with modifications. For example, I didn't use coconut oil, I used canola oil. I did this because we're not crazy about the flavor of coconut oil in baking. I didn't use chia seeds (to make a "chia egg") either; I used two egg whites instead. I've also added conversions to US measurements, because I'm a little challenged that way and I thought someone else might find it helpful. My measurements are in parentheses.

BBC Goodfood Vegan (Almost) Christmas Cake
adapted from the original recipe

Ingredients

1 kg (about 2lb, 3oz) dried fruit (raisins, sultanas (golden raisins), currants, cherries, cranberries, prunes or figs; I used currants, regular and gold raisins, cherries, cranberries and a few ounces of rinsed, chopped candied cherries, adding the candied cherries after step one below)
zest and juice of one orange
zest and juice of one lemon
150ml (5oz) rum, plus extra for feeding
250g (8oz) coconut (canola) oil
200g (7oz) light brown sugar
4 tbsp chia seeds (I replaced with two egg whites)
175g (6oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
100g (3.5oz) ground almonds
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice (pumpkin pie spice is a good substitute)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
100g (3.5oz) flaked (slivered) almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Put the dried fruit, zests and juice, rum, oil and sugar into a large pan set over medium heat. Give it a good mix, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved. Tip the mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for 30 minutes.

2. Heat oven to 150C/130C/fan/gas 2 (I heated my oven to 300F). Line a deep 20cm cake tin (I used my basic springform pan, the deepest round pan I own) with a double layer of baking parchment (I did this by cutting three strips of parchment about five inches wide each, spreading and layering them over each other to cover the whole inner area of the pan), then wrap a double layer of newspaper around the outside, tying it with a string to secure. Mix the chia seeds with 150ml water. Leave to sit for 5 minutes until gel-like and thick (I didn't do this; I just added two egg whites to the mixture in the next step).

3. Add the remaining ingredients to the fruit mixture, along with the chia-seed mix (or egg), and stir well, making sure there are no pockets of flour. Tip into prepared tin, leveling the top with a spoon, and bake in the center of the oven for 2 hours.

4. Remove the cake from the oven, poke holes all over with a skewer and pour over 2 tbsp of rum. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.

5. To store, peel off the baking parchment, then wrap well in cling film. Feed the cake with 1-2 tbsp (I'm going with 1 tbsp) of alcohol every fortnight (two weeks), until it's time to ice it. Don't feed the cake for the final week to give the cake a chance to dry out before icing.

I'm so happy with how this has gone so far. It's dark but not burnt. The smell while it baked was just intoxicating - family members came in from outside to see what I was up to! My cake is now sitting on the buffet in the dining room, inside a plastic pie-taker container. I just gave it its first repeat feeding on Sunday, one tablespoon of light rum. It's the cheapest rum in the world, but we have a lot of it so it's perfect for this job. I haven't decided yet how I will decorate my cake, but I'm considering trying my hand at fondant. That may be an optimistic plan, so I might stick with basic icing, but we'll see how ambitious I'm feeling when the time comes. I think it will be a festive holiday treat either way. Soon, I'll turn my attention to cookie-baking! Tis the season, very nearly.

Boo!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 14:40:00 +0000

The jack o'lanterns are carved and the costumes are ready. I have three and a half pounds of candy. Halloween is here!

We carved our pumpkins on Sunday afternoon and photographed them after it got dark (sorry for the blurry children!). This year we have a dragon (by the Bear), a skull and crossbones (the LB), and a chicken (by the GB, in what I presume is a tribute to the late Caramel Hen). I don't normally carve my own pumpkin; I help out but mainly observe and clean up. We tried them with candles in the backyard just to see how they looked on Sunday evening, and we'll put them out front with candles tonight when it gets dark outside.

What is Halloween like where you are? Here, we go out trick-or-treating in costumes from about six to eight in the evening, collecting candy or little trinkets (pencils, glow sticks, etc.) at neighborhood houses. Most neighbors participate, but a few will leave the lights off or even hang a sign on the front of their house letting people know that they do not take part in Halloween. We used to have a neighbor who would serve hot dogs in his driveway for kids and parents alike; he moved to Seattle a couple of years ago. Many neighbors go all out with decorations. We have our spider lights on the front gate and we'll put our jack o'lanterns on the front walk for a spooky welcome.

I think Halloween has become a much nicer event than it was when I was a kid. People don't even do the same things anymore. I don't know if it's the times, or the place (I didn't grow up here), but it's different now. We had a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, but there was much more mayhem and a fair amount of destructive behavior - pumpkins smashed in the street, eggs thrown at houses and cars, toilet paper in the trees, all kinds of nasty stuff in mailboxes. In my neighborhood, there were police patrolling all night long, breaking up large groups of kids, questioning everyone and searching bags. The night before Halloween was much worse, actually, and we always knew it as Mischief Night. You don't see that kind of stuff now, though, which is really for the best. Halloween seems more wholesome now, at least where we are.

Tonight is supposed to be very cold. We had another storm come through last night, bringing rain to us and snow on the mountain. I'm just getting glimpses of it as the clouds begin to break up this morning. It's the first real snow of the season in the foothills. Tonight, we should have our first freeze. I'm a little nervous about the cold while trick-or-treating; this morning, the weather forecast said it will be the coldest Halloween night since 1991! Scaaaary. We'll just have to bundle up and move quick.

I hope you have a wonderful Halloween!

Ripples and raindrops

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Thu, 25 Oct 2018 20:33:00 +0000

Hello! How are you doing? I'm well, but what a week we've been having here. We had a big storm over Tuesday and Wednesday - related to Hurricane Willa, I think - which brought us an incredible amount of rain. We had something like two and half inches at our house, which is pretty major for a fall storm, and it was the best kind of storm we could hope for in our drought-stricken area. It rained lightly, sometimes moderately, for about 36 hours, which means that the rain really got a chance to soak in. I'm hopeful that the rest of this fall and winter will bring more good storms. Miss GB had a school field trip to a nature center in the mountains during the rain and came home soaked through and covered in mud, giving me lots of cleaning and laundry, but she had a wonderful time.

We also had an unfortunate hen loss this week; one of our younger three hens, Caramel, died on Wednesday. Poor Caramel. We don't know what happened, but we'll miss her. Now we're down to three hens and would you believe old Betty is still alive? Yes, our black and white hen, the Barred Rock from the original three we started with almost five years ago. She has slowed down a bit - and hasn't laid an egg in years - but she's still trucking along. She's one tough Betty.

I've been working on a new blanket, just trying to get this silly stash whittled down. I had so.much worsted acrylic yarn, collected over the past seven or eight years since I started crocheting seriously. I like to use this kind of yarn for most of my blankets because it's durable and washable, and I can get lots of colors. Once it's all gone (someday?) I will turn to my stash of DK acrylic yarns and probably make some blankets with that too. I can't believe all of this yarn. I don't even think it's a particularly large stash as these things go, but it's a lot for me, you know? I can usually be found trying desperately to get things OUT of my house (it's sort of a passion, especially lately), but the yarn supplies crept up on me. No worries, though, I can always find something to make. This time, it's an old standby, the Neat Ripple pattern from Attic 24, which I used around 2012 to make my first big blanket - we go way back. I've also make a smaller DK baby blanket; it's such a great, simple design. My friend Jo is making one too! Hers is so pretty; the colors remind me of Neapolitan ice cream.

Mine is more of a hodge-podge, but I'm having fun with it. The colors are all in family for my general tastes, and are leftovers from various blankets of the past. I have a lot of cream, dark brown, gray and black to use up, so those are getting more repeats than any other colors. I like the look of the cream here, since many of the colors are rather deep - I think it lifts this blanket out of looking somewhat gloomy and boring. I have never really used black in a blanket before, though, so that's been a new experience. I'm not even sure why I have black yarn, actually - but that's the joy of stashbusting, isn't it? You just never know what you'll find!

I love the easy, rhythmic pattern. I started with 216 (213+3) chains for my foundation row, using a J/10 hook (one size up from the I/9 hook I continued with, to help keep the foundation loose). It's about five feet wide and I'll crochet as long as the yarn holds out. It's meant to be a general-purpose couch blanket, good for TV, reading, lounging, napping (if only...). I've been crocheting over my yarn ends, a decision I may live to regret. It's easier, and I'm enjoying not having to do all that darning right now. Ask me again in a few months...or maybe don't.

I'm really enjoying this blanket. It's relaxing, and I'm not in any hurry to finish, so I'm just picking it up when I have a little time. I try to make a stripe every day. I'm not always successful, but some days I make two stripes, so it all works out. It's really nice to have a simple, soothing project on the go again.

Dwindle days

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Sat, 20 Oct 2018 19:36:00 +0000

October is my favorite month, I think. Where I live, it's the month when the weather begins to turn most noticeably from warm to cool, with often stunning changes in the weather as well as the landscape. We've just come off a prolonged period of stormy weather that brought days of cool, wet and windy conditions, our first really cold nights and the first need for the furnace (mainly in early morning and in the evening). Some years, it takes a long time to finally cool off and feel like fall, but this October has felt more normal - clouds on the mountain, brisk winds, cold mornings and crisp days.

Around here, we've been busy with school projects and activities. We've done lots of yard work to prepare for winter and we're getting ready to have some flooring replaced inside the house. Wardrobe purging continues (we've both lost some weight recently), and this morning I cleaned the freezer and got rid of some old frozen foods we were never going to get around to eating. In my spare time, I'm crocheting, mostly. I started another blanket, a stashbuster to finally get me through to the bottom of my worsted acrylic hoard. I'm using Lucy's Neat Ripple pattern, a tried-and-true design that uses lots of yarn and makes a warm and visually-interesting blanket. I've been crocheting so much that I've barely had any time for reading lately, but I would like to change that. I think there's plenty of time for both, so I've put about fifteen books on my holds list at the library. That should keep me busy for a few months at least. I can read and ripple interchangeably.

My cooking has reverted to my favorite type of foods - soups, stews, baked goods and one-pan casseroles. I went looking recently for a healthy slow-cooker version of butternut squash soup and came across this one from Gimme Some Oven, which I can't recommend highly enough. It was fantastic, sweet and savory and a little spicy. I loved the addition of carrot and apple. Seriously, go make it. I also recently made Jamie Oliver's leek and potato soup, which we all loved; we ate every last drop of it. I'v been baking things like quick breads and apple crisp. I'm still enjoying my new Mark Bittman cookbooks and looking forward to borrowing Ina Garten's new one from the library.

Yesterday, I bought what I need to try again at making a traditional Christmas cake with dried fruit and nuts. I want so badly to get this one right. But I should probably stop talking so much about Christmas. First things first - Halloween is just around the corner. Pumpkins to buy, costumes to finish, jack o'lanterns to carve!

Balloon season

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 20:29:00 +0000

Hello! I've been so absent from my blog lately and I'm really glad to be back. It's just been a busy time with school, kids' activities and events, and some household projects going on in the middle of it all. Busy and happy, which is really good. And I am so incredibly, unbelievably glad that autumn is here! It feels like a gift, I'm just so happy.

I have lots more to say about my favorite season, but I wanted to share a little local flavor today. Our city just finished hosting its annual Balloon Fiesta, which is always a fun time. Though, to be fair, we don't actually go to the Fiesta proper. Instead, we go up to a city park on high ground to watch the balloons ascend in the morning, particularly during the event known as Shape Derby, which is when the "special shapes" balloons are highlighted. Unfortunately, this year's stormy weather prevented many of the shape balloons from flying on the designated day, so we didn't get to see very many, but I thought I'd show you a little bit of what we did that morning. We go up there every year for this event, which is held on the second-to-last day - the second Saturday - of the Fiesta period, and I've shown them to you before. Some years, it's an incredible experience, like the year we got to play balloon crew on the spur of the moment when a balloon landed right there in the park. Other times, like this year, it's more watching from afar as a selection of balloons goes aloft, but it's always interesting.

There's always a fair-sized crowd up there with us. We stand, or sit, on the hill and watch the balloons rise out of the valley, just a few miles away. There weren't many people around when we first arrived, as in this photo, but it filled in quickly. People were friendly and there were lots of people visiting from out of town, which is nice to see.

The weather wasn't great. The multi-day storm was in its early stages that morning, and the clouds were just starting to spread over the mountain. It made for great views, though! Look at the sun highlighting that strip of clouds as it rolled over the peak. I think this was the last day we actually saw any mountain; it's still mostly obscured three days later, at least in the view from my house.

Meanwhile, to the west, it was looking a little bit like nighttime after the sun came out over the mountain.

I goofed up and forgot to bring a zoom lens, but I've tried cropping to give you an idea. Just above the tree, toward the left, you can see the popular Darth Vader balloon. Over toward the right, there's what we think may have been a cow-shaped balloon, but we aren't sure. There weren't many other shapes up that day, but we did see the Bimbo Bread bear, Mr. Z the giant zebra's head, and the Kissing Bees. I'm sorry not to have better photos for you. Mr. Z is a particular favorite of ours; he belongs to a family we know from school.

There were all sorts of things going on up there. We watched this man on his apparently all-terrain unicycle. He was amazingly good! I've never tried a unicycle myself but it looks very hard. This guy was just rolling around, doing his own thing. I really loved watching him.

This lady was getting bored standing around to watch the balloons, so I took her down to the playground after a while. She needed to move. There were a lot of other kids down there and she had a good time. Eventually all the balloons had ascended and there wasn't much to see from the hill anymore, so the Bear and LB joined us. Then we drove home via the bagel store for a late breakfast. Not the best sights of Balloon Fiesta, but it's a nice family tradition and we were glad to keep it going for another year. Maybe next year, the weather will cooperate more.

I did have another interesting balloon-watching experience earlier in the week. I was at home by myself one morning when I heard a whoosh-whoosh-whoooooosh from outdoors, behind the house. I ran to the window and saw a balloon descending toward the mountain. It looked like it was following roughly along the arroyo behind our house; maybe the pilot was using it as a guide, I'm not really sure. By the time I had grabbed my camera and gone out to the backyard, the balloon had moved a bit north but was still descending. I'm assuming it landed in a large park up the arroyo. There's a big open field there where balloons have occasionally landed.

These brightly-colored balloons are my favorite kind. I know it's a grainy cropped photo, but I was so happy to be able to catch it before it disappeared behind my garden wall. I could just make out the pilot, his passenger and the flame with my naked eye as the balloon passed. It was fun to have a balloon go right by the house like this. I waved, but I don't think they saw me! I'm sure they landed safely just beyond my neighborhood. Another Balloon Fiesta in the books, and now it feels like autumn is officially here (the ongoing stormy weather certainly helps; umm...it currently sounds like my roof might be the next item going in the arroyo).

Paintbox Yarns Giveaway Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Fri, 12 Oct 2018 16:48:00 +0000

Hello! I hope you're having a good week. We've been busy, busy, busy here with the kids on Fall Break from school and some home repair work going on, but I plan to be back here on my blog very soon. If the weather holds out, we'll be going up to look at the hot-air balloons tomorrow (we're in the midst of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta as we speak). In my spare time lately, I've been working on a stashbuster ripple; I'll show you my progress soon. I'm very excited because there's a possibility of snow for us later in the weekend, which is just stunning - last winter was so warm and dry it felt like we'd never have wintry weather again, and here we are this year, in mid-October, waiting on a storm that should bring very cold temperatures and maybe even a little snow. You just never know! I'm happy to be having a more normal autumn, though - it just feels right to me. We have the furnace all ready to go if we need it and I'm kind of looking forward to having it kick on some early morning in the near future. Today, we're working around the house and later, picking up the Bear's car from the dealership where he he took it for an oil change. Life has been busy and kind of boring too, but the good kind of both.

I'm announcing the winner of my Paintbox Yarns Simply DK yarn giveaway today! Thank you to all who entered the giveaway. There weren't very many entries, so your odds were really good! Thank you also for the kind words about my cushion cover that I made with this yarn; I enjoyed making it and having the chance to bring you an opportunity to try the yarn for yourself.

The winner of my giveaway is Lorraine of Mama's Mercantile! I've sent you an email, Lorraine, so please look for it in your inbox. A representative from Lovecrochet will contact you via email soon and you can arrange your prize with her. Congratulations!

Paintbox Yarns cushion + a giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Fri, 28 Sep 2018 19:03:00 +0000

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am a serious fan of acrylic yarns. I use them for almost everything, but especially for items I crochet to use around the house. This includes blankets and decorative items. I find that the durability of acrylic yarns works really well for my household, allowing things to really get used in everyday life. I also like acrylic yarns for their affordability; my crafting budget is rather limited, but I love to crochet, so acrylic gives me the chance to make as many things as I want without spending a fortune. I love other fibers too, don't get me wrong, but I come back to acrylic yarns - particularly in worsted and double-knit weights - again and again for the kinds of projects I like to make.

I was delighted recently to be offered the opportunity to try out Paintbox Yarns Simply DK, sold on the LoveCrochet site. Are you familiar with LoveCrochet? You should be! LoveCrochet is a global hub for crocheters: a dedicated site where makers can find inspiration from our thousands of patterns, share projects and shop from the world's biggest stash of yarns. LoveCrochet's aim is to inspire everyone's inner maker, spread the joy of making and to make making a magical experience. Through their site, crocheters can connect with one another in forums, share their creations, download patterns and purchase yarns like those in the Paintbox line, along with brands like Debbie Bliss and MillaMia. They offer lots of free patterns and they regularly post tutorials and how to guides. When you shop with LoveCrochet, you'll get free delivery on all orders over $60 and 20% off orders over $100 with free returns on everything! For knitters, they have a sister website called LoveKnitting and an app for all your knitting needs. Knitters and crocheters alike will find lots of great resources and supplies on their sites.

Paintbox Yarns Simply DK comes in 60 beautiful and vibrant shades. LoveCrochet asked me to choose a pattern from their library to use with my yarns. I decided on the Daisy Cushion, a pretty granny-flower pattern designed to be made with Paintbox Simply DK. I opted to use Misty Grey for the main color, along with Blush Pink, Slate Green and Mustard Yellow for the flowers (I provided my own cushion insert and buttons to complete the project). My yarn arrived in a lovely organza drawstring bag. I got started as soon as possible and found that this yarn is very nice to work with - really soft and light, with very little splitting.

The front of the cushion calls for 25 flower squares. I made 13 pink and 12 green, all with yellow centers. I enjoyed making these little squares! The technique was new to me, and I thought the flowers looked very pretty with their pointy little petals. I did find the pattern just slightly confusing at times, however. It's written in both UK and US terms, which is good, but it took me a little getting used to. I always find myself getting confused between doubles and trebles! Some of the other language in the pattern took a bit of getting used to as well, but I think this may be a difference between UK English and US; nothing major, just slight wording differences, I guess you could say.

Once I'd made all 25 squares, I crocheted them together in strips of five squares with the colors alternated (the pattern suggests sewing the squares together, but I much prefer to crochet squares, so I did that instead). Then I crocheted the strips together to create a solid piece and got started on the cushion's back, which is just a big granny square, all in gray, with rounds joined in the corners (I was so glad to see they used this technique in the pattern, as it's my new favorite way to make a big square and it worked great here too).

I also liked the construction aspect of the cushion, as in putting front and back together and adding closure. The cushion front and back are joined on three sides by a round of single crochet, leaving the fourth side open. Then the fourth side is worked almost in the round, by adding a button strip along the front and a solid edge on the back. The button strip is really simple but effective, made with four chain loops evenly spaced along the top edge. The buttons (I used simple varnished wooden ones) are sewn onto the back top edge and they're easily fastened into the button loops. Simple.

My finished cushion! I'm really happy with it. I think the colors work well together and look nice in my living room. The cushion cover turned out just slightly large for my 18x18 pillow insert, which isn't ideal, but it's close enough and I don't think the size difference is very noticeable. I can only assume this happened because my crochet tension was a little loose. I don't mind, though. I think it's lovely just like this.

I love the back as well. It's just a simple granny square, basic and effective. You really can't go wrong with a simple cushion backing. I like it so much I would display it this way sometimes as well.

And I like the way my Daisy Cushion looks with the other pillows on the couch. It looks right at home! I'm really glad I chose this project and I absolutely loved working with Paintbox Yarns Simply DK. Thanks, LoveCrochet, for the opportunity to try it out and make something pretty for my home.

Daisy Cushion
Yarn: Paintbox Yarns Simply DK in Misty Grey, Slate Green, Blush Pink and Mustard Yellow
Hook: Clover Amour E/4 (3.50mm)
Pattern: Daisy Cushion by Paintbox Yarns, Lovecrochet.com
Size: just over 18 by 18 inches square
Other materials: 18 by 18 cushion insert, four buttons (1 1/4 inch), thread
Made: August-September 2018

****************

Would you like to try some of this yarn too? Scroll down for an exciting surprise!

LoveCrochet has generously offered to send one lucky reader TEN balls of Paintbox Yarns Simply DK in the colors of their choice! Aren't you so excited!? I know I am. I loved working with this yarn and I can't wait for you to try it for yourself. Then you could make this cushion cover too (twice!) and we can be cushion twins! Or make something else of your choice. No matter what you make, it will be gorgeous with all those colors to choose from.

Here's how the giveaway works...please read the following carefully.

To win my giveaway, you must leave a comment on this post (one entry per person). Your comment must include your intention to be entered in the giveaway (just say you wish to be entered). You also need to go to the Paintbox Yarns Simply DK product page, have a look around, and tell me at least one color that you really love from the product line in the SAME COMMENT. You can list as many as you want, of course!

I will draw the giveaway winner from the comments in two weeks, on October 12. I will then contact the winner via email (and subsequently announce the winner on my blog). The winner's email address will be forwarded to a LoveCrochet/LoveKnitting representative who will work with you to choose and send your ten balls of yarn. Your prize choice may depend on available stock.

To enter (and win) my giveaway, you MUST provide a way to reach you via email. You will need to make sure I can email you through your Blogger profile, or provide your email address in your entry comment, or send me an email by clicking this link. If you send me an email, you still have to leave a comment to enter the giveaway, okay? I just want to make it fair and fun for everybody. :)

This giveaway is open to readers in the US, UK and AUS/NZ.

Okay, go! Get that lovely Paintbox Yarns Simply DK for yourself!

Turn, turn, turn

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 16:42:00 +0000

Hello! I hope you're having a good week so far. Thank you so much for the comments and feedback on my last post, about our combined schooling situation. We're mostly very happy with our choices, but it's always good to stop and reflect on things periodically. I hadn't written about school at any length in quite some time, and with a few questions lately about how we do it, it seemed like a good time to revisit the topic. I also enjoyed reading about your approaches to education and why you chose them. I think it's a really interesting topic and I appreciate that you shared your thoughts, feelings and decisions with me.

Well, around here, fall is definitely setting in and I couldn't be happier about that. I realized lately just how bone-tired I've been. I've started going to sleep earlier and I'm feeling great with the extra sleep. It helps to have earlier darkness and later sunrises, both of which make it more difficult to get enough sleep in the summertime. I've realized that I get really overtired in the summer, actually; it creeps up on me and soon I'm totally exhausted. It's much cooler now too, even a little bit cold outside at night, which helps too. Last night, I slept eight full hours with all the covers on, which is really saying something.

Are the seasons changing where you are? We're just starting to get some color on the trees and in the plants around the yard. The apple harvest was incredible this year; I'm running out of ideas for using them up, honestly. I've also been eating two apples per day straight off the tree. They're smallish apples but have a really good flavor and crispness. We've made lots of applesauce, dried apple leather, dried apple rings, apple crisp and apple cake. I think I want to try making apple butter with the last of the apples I can reach on the tree. I've said that in past years, and I do want to get to it eventually, but I'm enjoying eating the reachable apples so much that I may have to climb the tree to get enough apples to do anything else with - or have someone young and limber do it for me.

Speaking of which, the LB had a birthday over the weekend. We now officially have a teenager in the house! Whoa. I fully expect more teenagery behavior to kick in at some point, but for now, he's still the same sweet, agreeable and pleasant boy he's always been (if anything, I'd like to see some more opinionated behavior from him eventually; he might be a little too laid-back!). His voice is changing and he's taller than I am. He moves and talks just like his father. Our little boy is big.

We had a nice little birthday celebration, with dinner our at Jason's Deli (always his choice every year because he loves the salad bar), and cake, ice cream and presents back at home. I made a Funfetti-style cake like I did last year for the GB's birthday. I've been buying sprinkles in bulk lately, to use in a) the GB's birthday ice cream sundaes; b) the GB's birthday treats for school (Sugar Cookie Bars from Sally's Baking Addiction, which were so delicious); c) the LB's birthday treats for school (basic Rice Krispie Treats that he asked me to "make cool-looking," so I put sprinkles on top while they were still warm so they would stick on really well); and d) the Funfetti cake for the LB. I made a couple of changes for this latest Funfetti cake: I didn't use anyone's Funfetti recipe this time, just a basic yellow cake recipe with sprinkles added, scaled for only a single layer in a square pan, to reduce the sheer quantity of cake. As much as I love cake, this worked a lot better for us - we could enjoy the whole cake while it was still delicious.

In between keeping the sprinkle industry alive, I've been crocheting again. I finished a home decor project that I'll share soon. I've also started a new blanket. Yes, I know, I make so many blankets. But this one will be useful and it will finally guzzle up some of this worsted acrylic yarn that I'm still trying to plow through. I had no idea I had so much yarn. It's not even that I have a huge stash - it's actually really small by most serious yarn-crafters' standards. Still, it's plenty and I'm tired of storing it. So I've decided to replace my very first real big blanket, which I made around 2011. It's a Neat Ripple from Attic 24, and it was my first foray into doing something more complicated than row after row of straight double-crochet (which does eventually become a blanket, and I'd made several, starting when I was a teenager). I made it before I started my blog, but I did share some photos soon after I began blogging (like, literally, I think it was my second post to this blog; you can read it here).

I was really proud of this blanket and it was used to death, first on our bed and later in the family room. It's funny to look at it now. My color sense has improved a lot, as have my crochet skills; there are a lot of mistakes. I think the mistakes have a lot to do with the fact that this blanket is now falling apart! Stripes are actually separating from each other. It's full of holes. I've decided to crochet another Neat Ripple to replace it! I know, really going back to basics. But I have my reasons: I love the look, it's a timeless classic; I have plenty of yarn and I'm better at colors now, so I think I can make a nice-looking ripple; and it's almost mindless, which is the kind of project I like to have in the cooler months, to pick up and put down as I want. I've made lots of square-based projects lately and this is something a little different. I'm excited! It's giving me a peaceful feeling and just look at that yarn disappear.

What's new with you? I hope the rest of your week is good! Take care, my friends.

School days, now

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 22:20:00 +0000

As we settle into the school year, and my children - now in fourth and seventh grade - become more independent and self-directed, I've been thinking about our school life. I've had some questions asked lately about our educational situation and I thought it would be nice to devote a post to discussing it as it stands today. I've written about our fairly unusual schooling approach before, when my children were younger. Most things about it are still the same - we attend an alternative school within our city's public school system that is designed to give students a combination of traditional classroom learning along with homeschooling. Our school has gone through some changes in the past few years that have taken it from a primarily 50/50 (classroom/homeschool) split to a primarily 80% classroom-based program. I think this has altered the basic concept of the school. We have persisted with the 50/50 program, shrunken though it now is, because we believe in it.

Why did we choose this program? There were several reasons (all of which apply only to our little family; I have no judgment of others' choices; I'm only saying what we've chosen). The Bear and I like the idea of homeschooling, but we do not feel that full homeschooling is right for us, mainly because we don't think we'd be able to provide the kind of social experiences kids need in addition to academic ones. We are both fairly introverted, as are our kids. Having them in school part-time lets us give them the outside connections they need, which are not always easy for us to provide. We like having them work with an adult who isn't one of their parents.

But we also like having some level of control over what they learn, which is to say that with our program we can direct much of it ourselves, supplement where we feel it is necessary, and dispel misinformation or myth if we have to (which does happen from time to time). We're both quite liberal in our attitudes about what kids should know and learn, and we don't limit them aside from what is age- or developmentally-appropriate for them. It's not that we wish to shield them from learning anything (we discuss it all around here, sometimes to my own squeamishness), it's more that we aren't always happy with what they're picking up outside our home, from kids and adults alike. I am always loathe to get into controversial topics on my blog, and won't be doing it now either, but it's an unpredictable world out there, as you well know.

The small Bears attend school Tuesday through Friday, for several hours each morning (Fridays are the long day, at about four and a half hours, the other days are about three and a half. We don't have school bus service to our school, since it is an alternative school, so we are required to drive them to and from school every day. This is a pain, though a fairly small one. I pick them up and bring them home to eat lunch and start on our homeschool, which usually takes us through most of the afternoon. They bring home assignments from the teachers, but they also have work that we devise for them. We make our own lesson plans and give them assignments in addition to whatever the teachers assign. We do our own homeschool plan year-round; both children have assignments every day through the summer break. This may sound draconian to some, but the summer break is so relentlessly long here. Having daily work helps fill the time and also aids skill retention. This is not a requirement of the school, and to my knowledge few others do it, but it's important to us.

We feel very fortunate and proud to have bright kids, though this comes with its own challenges, of course. The math curriculum at school is solid (the Bear has had a hand in some of the development of it, actually, another source of pride for me), but some kids reach a point where it isn't enough for them, which is now the case for the LB. He has completed the curriculum at school, so while he continues to receive review work in the courses he has completed, we have moved on at home. This requires us to buy textbooks for teaching him. If you're looking for a great math curriculum for students in middle school and up, I can strongly recommend the series known as The Art of Problem Solving by Richard Rusczyk. The LB has completed the Prealgebra book and is much of the way through Introduction to Algebra; the GB is now learning from the Prealgebra book.

The LB is also learning from the textbook Conceptual Physical Science (Hewitt, Suchoki and Hewitt, authors), to supplement the science curriculum he receives from school. We choose to supplement in science for a few reasons, namely that he is very interested in the topic, and also to build a strong science foundation for high school, which is coming in two short years. It's just around the corner, really, and the high school both kids will attend is very competitive and it will pay to be well-prepared. Miss GB is included in his science learning as well.

When they were younger, we spent almost all of our homeschool time together in the kitchen and family room, which are really one large, open room. I'd float back and forth between them; he was usually on the couch, while she liked to sit on the floor near the coffee table. Nowadays, she prefers to sit at the kitchen counter on a stool, while I stand nearby or sit on the other stool to work with her. As a fourth-grader, her independence is increasing, but she still needs a fair amount of guidance. I really like this age group, by the way. I enjoy working with her right now because she has a lot of confidence in her own skills but is still very welcoming of my involvement. She is practically my opposite as a student; she's willing to try again and again, and she doesn't demand perfection from herself. She wants to do well, and strives to, but she understands it better than I did: she knows that it's about what you learn, not the number in red ink at the top of the paper. She's an excellent student and I think it's because she lets herself make mistakes and then learns as much as she can from them.

The LB has opted lately to work alone in the living room. Our home is small and only one level, so it's simple to walk in and out and see what he's up to. He doesn't need very much hands-on help anymore, once we've finished a lesson in a textbook and its accompanying exercises. When doing schoolwork (or anything, really), he likes to spread out all over the room, including the coffee table, the floor, the couch and the nearby end tables and chairs. As long as he picks up after himself when he's finished, this is fine with me. We continue to work on organization and legible handwriting. As a student, he is less focused than his sister, and almost entirely unconcerned with grades or confining rules, but it's just his nature; he's one of those people who seems to float unruffled through life. Must be nice! We're working on some of this, but overall, he's a great student. He also possesses an incredible curiosity, which I think will take him far. It's interesting to see the differences between my son and daughter as students and learners. Having been a teacher (of high school English) before I had them, with many different kinds of learners among my students, I do see some of it as gender-based, but there is so much that is related to personality too.

I hope this helps answer some readers' questions; it was good for me to revisit my own thoughts and feelings on our school life too. I'm still happy with our choice, in spite of the changes that have occurred recently (which haven't always been positive ones, but in general they haven't affected us directly). I'm thankful for the opportunity to teach my kids at home, and to be very involved with what and how they're learning. It's good to look at what we're doing now that one of them is at the tail-end of his combined schooling experience; we do plan to send both children to our neighborhood public high school. This is not a decision we've taken lightly, but in the end, we feel it's the best way to meet their social and academic needs. Some of us are really looking forward to the school bus service, but I'm not naming names or anything...

A crocheted poncho

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 22:57:00 +0000

Miss GB turned ten last week and I had been thinking about making her a wearable gift for a while. She has a plethora of crocheted hats; I've made cardigans, dresses and skirts over the years. At ten, I don't think she's too interested in most of my amateur creations anymore (I'm not hurt or bitter, either; my skills are adequate for clothing the younger child, less so for older ones). I do know that she likes to snuggle up in an old woven wool poncho belonging to the Bear, so a poncho just for her seemed like a fun idea. I had a great time making one for her over a few mornings in mid-August, right after school started - when I finally had some time to crochet in solitude (and daylight - not an easy combination to achieve).

I searched online for patterns and came across a simple one on the Yarnspirations website (you can download it for free here or order a kit with yarn from that same page). The suggested yarn is Bernat Pop! gradient cake yarn, which is a worsted-weight acrylic yarn. I bought my yarn from Jo-Ann in a sale and found that two of my three balls had the pattern printed on the ball band. For some reason, that gave me a little thrill. It's like this poncho was just dying to be made. I chose the yarn colorway called Blue Blaze - a combination of minty green, teal, periwinkle, purple and dark blue. Miss GB's current favorite color is "seafoam green," she tells me, so this seemed like a good way to work in that approximate shade, with some other complementary ones for interest.

The pattern is so simple and it works up fast. I really enjoyed it. After the initial round of single-crochet worked into a ring of chains, it's all granny clusters, with increases at the center to create the pointed front and back. The pattern is designed to fit a girl of eight to ten years old. I knew this would work well for Miss GB, even though she's at the top of the age range, because she is very small for her age. If anything, I was concerned that it might be too large for her, but I wouldn't feel confident trying to alter the pattern, so I crocheted it just as written.

The Bernat Pop! yarn was really nice and a lot of fun to work with! It's soft and light, especially for a worsted-weight acrylic. I loved watching the colors pool as I crocheted. At first, the colors changed after every three rows, but as the poncho grew, the pooling became a little random, which I found to be really fun, just trying to anticipate how long a color might last before changing to the next one. The pattern called for three cakes, but I only used about two and a half cakes. Two of my cakes were wound exactly the same way, with the colors going in the same exact order, while one started with a different color in the center and worked outward through the color pattern ending on a different shade. I thought this was really cool, actually, and it gave a bit more interest to the rounds.

You just keep crocheting until the work reaches 16 inches from the neckline to the bottom edge, with no additional edging. I wasn't sure how this would look, but it turned out fine; granny clusters are a sturdy pattern and the work develops a nice weight. For the neckline, you crochet a long chain and thread it through the granny clusters to make a drawstring that can be tied in a bow. I ended up making my chain much longer than the pattern said to make it, simply because I could see that my poncho was going to be a little large for my girl; at least we could tighten it down if we needed a closer fit.

She loves her poncho! I was so glad when she opened her gift, then put it on right away. That's such a good feeling, isn't it? She was happy to model her new poncho for me a few days later on our back porch (pardon the unsightly chain-link gate; I needed to have her in a shaded place for decent photos). The poncho is a bit too large for her; I would have liked to see it come down to upper-thigh length, not the knees, but she's a bitty one and I look at it this way - she'll be able to wear her poncho forever. She might even get married in it.

I tightened the drawstring down as much as I could to make it snug enough to stay on her shoulders. I tightened it further at first and it just looked wrinkly and weird, so we'll keep it like this for now. Again, all the better to grow into.

I'm really happy with the drape. It's light and fluid, but should still be plenty warm and snuggly for chilly weather; she can wear it around the house or as a warm outer layer when she's outdoors. I think this yarn would make a fantastic blanket, especially a striped pattern. I've had my eye on a blanket pattern for a little while that I think would work great with this yarn, the Trio Blanket by Susan Carlson (Ravelry link), which uses Scheepjes Whirl cotton/acrylic gradient cake yarns. I loooove the blanket design, but the yarn is slightly pricey; this Pop! yarn could be a good substitute, but it's a much heavier weight so I'd have to account for that. I like working with this yarn, and it's rugged enough for the kind of heavy use my blankets invariably get, so I'll be keeping it in mind.

A successful project and an appreciated gift. Work it, girl!

Girl Bear's Poncho
Yarn: Bernat Pop! worsted-weight acrylic cake yarn in Blue Blaze
Hook: Clover Amour, size H/8 (5.00mm)
Size: made to pattern, girls 8-10 years old
Made: August 2018

Slide into fall

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Mon, 10 Sep 2018 16:09:00 +0000

Hello! It's good to be back here after a hectic few weeks. The beginning of this school year has taken it out of me, I have to tell you. There are some changes at school - most of them really good! - which have been a bit of an adjustment, and all the extracurricular activities started up in the past two weeks as well, so I've been getting back into the routines and adding some new things to them as well. This year, both kids are involved in math clubs, including MathCounts National Math Club for the LB, in addition to guitar lessons for both, ballet for the GB and computer coding club for the LB. Also, I was again locked in battle with the LB's medical providers, insurance and pharmacy regarding his medication, but that's nothing new - just a time-consuming frazzle. I just needed a little break, but I'm glad to be making time for my blog again.

So what's new here...Miss GB turned ten last week! I can hardly believe it. This sweet, brilliant and talented girl. She wanted to have ice cream sundaes instead of cake, and she picked all the fixings herself. We celebrated on her actual birthday here at home, with presents and ice cream, and the next night we went out for dinner at Red Robin (her choice; she picks it every year) and she got more ice cream from the waiters, who also sang to her. I made one of her presents myself, a crocheted poncho made with gradient cake yarn, which was fun to work with. I really like the way the poncho came out and I'll share it soon.

I've also been working on a small crochet home-decor project. It's been a real blast, I've enjoyed it so much and I'm looking forward to showing you that soon too. I'm also starting to think about another stash-buster project, probably a blanket for the family room (because there will never, ever be enough blankets in this house, apparently), but I haven't settled on anything for sure yet. I do know that I want to have a cold-weather project on the go and I'd like to start soon, to enhance the nascent fall feelings I've begun to enjoy.

Speaking of the season, it does feel like fall is beginning to creep in around here. The days still get very warm but the mornings have begun to feel crisp and it's pitch-dark outside before 8 pm, so we'll definitely well on our way. I'm so glad. Fall is my favorite season and I welcome the change every year. We're starting to do some fall things now, which has been delightful. We made a Dutch oven bread in the backyard last week, with hot coals under the Dutch oven and on top of the lid, and we roasted some green chiles on hot coals alongside the Dutch oven. I'm baking again; yesterday, I made an apple crisp and we all collaborated on apple fruit leather and dried apple rings, all of which utilized apples from our own backyard tree, which was prolific this year. I don't have many concrete plans for the fall, but I do plan to spend more time outdoors now that it's not so hot, and I want to get back into making soups, stews and baked things. I miss them so much in the summer.

How are you doing? Do you have plans for the new season? I hope all is well with you. Back soon. 💛

TTC Kit winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Thu, 30 Aug 2018 14:32:00 +0000

Hello friends! I'm having a crazy-busy week and haven't had time to sit down and blog, but I hope to be back soon. It's our third week back at school and all the extracurricular activities are back in session now too, so it's just run-run-run all the time. It's all good stuff, though. I like to be busy and I'll soon get used to it, but in the meantime, life is a little hectic. I hope you're having a good week, and that if you're back to school, or soon to return, that everything goes smoothly.

I'm announcing the winner of my Conceiveeasy TTC Kit giveaway today. Using a random number generator Mari has been selected as the winner! Mari, please look for an email from me.

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway!

Loving the journey + a giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Jennifer Hays) — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 12:43:00 +0000

I don't think I've ever shared this photo on my blog, but it's always been one of my favorite photos of my two small Bears, taken when they were about five and two years old. We had taken them up to the foothills for a little hike, and they were running back down the trailhead toward the car. I don't think we put green shirts on both of them intentionally, it just worked out that way, though I've always liked the way they match. They're a lot alike anyway. When I was expecting my daughter, people kept telling me that I would now have a "pigeon pair," - a boy and a girl, a matched set - which I thought was cute, but we'd have been happy no matter who joined the family.

These two squabble like any siblings, but they're also very close and loving. I'm glad they get along so well. It makes me so happy, I can't even tell you. Kind of bewildered too, but I always feel a little bewildered about my little family - it's everything I'd hoped for. I feel so fortunate to have the three of them, and this time of year really brings it home for me as I celebrate all three of their birthdays in the span of just over a month. This time of year reminds me of the last stages of my pregnancies and my babies' births, and the early weeks at home with new babies, which were filled with joys and challenges, new experiences and beginnings.

I always knew that what I wanted to be a mom. Early on, we had reason to think that we might have a difficult journey to parenthood, and we were lucky to learn about fertility charting, which helped us greatly (I'll always be a proponent of it - even now that my family is complete!). I've been very fortunate to be a stay-at-home mother, which has been a true blessing in my life. Some days are better than others, of course, and there are some days when I feel a little bit batty with it all, but that's any life. No matter what, I'm really glad this one is mine.

************

I'm partnering today with Conceiveeasy.com for a special trying-to-conceive (TTC) giveaway! If you're hoping to start or expand your family, I hope you will read on to see the special TTC Kit that Conceiveeasy would like to send to one of my readers. Conceiveeasy's TTC Kit includes helpful tests, supplements, equipment and materials to assist you. You can win the kit to keep for yourself, or to give to a friend or family member.

The TTC Kit - The product is for the exclusive new TTC Kit ™ (a $152 value). The TTC Kit is an all-in-one, natural, proven solution for helping mommies-to-be conceive sooner & easier than ever before. You will receive Conceive Easy's Months 1&2 Starter Pack, a BBT thermometer and Getting Started Guide to Charting, and can also choose to customize your new TTC Kit with one of the following exclusive bonus gifts:

Bonus gift #1: 20 Early Result Pregnancy Tests

Bonus gift #2: 20 One-Step Ovulation Tests

Bonus gift #3: 10 Pregnancy & 10 Ovulation Tests

For more information, please see the product website at www.conceiveeasy.com

The giveaway is now CLOSED.

~~This giveaway is open to US residents only, 18 years of age or older.~~

To win this giveaway, please leave a comment on this post, stating that you wish to be entered in the giveaway drawing. Please also consider becoming a follower of my blog, through the method of your choice (Bloglovin', Feedburner, and email subscription options are in my sidebar). The winner will be chosen at random from the comments. The giveaway will close on August 29.