Monday 6 December 2010

Cleaning Cupboards and other Domestic Tasks

Once in awhile, you just gotta get in there and clean them cupboards.  The deciding factor was the jar of honey that lived on the counter beside my kitchen sink for two weeks because there was no room in the cupboard for it.  There was no room in the cupboard for it because the last two empty or almost empty jars of honey were still in the cupboard.  Sometimes it takes a while ... like two weeks ... for the annoyance factor to kick in and motivate me.

Yikes!

I found this ...

... FOUR bags of cornmeal!  Okay, in my own defense, the bag in the front is only used for the bottom of pizza crusts and artisan breads that I bake on my oven stone slab, so really it's only THREE bags of cornmeal.  I am NOT turning into Gramma!

Miss Boots proclaimed her boredom all the while I was cleaning.
Enough of the scrubby-cleany stuff already.
We play now kaythx!
She finally gave up on me and created her own entertainment.
It's a cloth grocery bag ... with a tail!
No, it's a BORED kitty playing hidden monster!
I also tackled the front entrance closet and the hall linen / "everything else that doesn't have an official home" closet. 

No, I did NOT find my Christmas ornament!  Not that I'm admitting in any way that the missing Christmas ornament had anything at all to do with the weekend cupboard/closet cleaning spree!

At the end of it all, I was left with this burning question ...

CAN THESE TWO EMPTY JUICE BOTTLES BE MADE INTO DECORATIVE SNOWMEN???
Your creative suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  Cheers!

Friday 3 December 2010

Knit Knit Knit

Like many crafters (I suspect), I go in spells ... for awhile I'm a dedicated quilter, then maybe a couple of weeks of nothing but cross-stitch.  Last weekend and this past week, it's been all about the knitting.  I did several of these ...

 ... hand-knit kid mohair / silk scarves ... light as a sigh and luscious against the skin ... in several different colours (ice blue and raspberry shown above) along with these ...
... felted flower pins to match the scarves.  This yarn felts beautifully by hand ... just massage gently with a little dish soap under running water ... and dries to a delicate soft felted finish.  I have also knitted several pairs of these ...

... thrummed mitts, or "30 below mitts" as I like to call them because all that unspun sheeps wool knitted inside ...
... will keep your pinkies perky when it's forty below!  (I know because I wear mitts like this myself, and it gets that cold here at times.)  All this knitting has been very satisfying ... seeing all these finished projects stacking up ... but not very pleasing to the feline.
My hu-mom keeps playing with sticks and string, and it all looks REAL interesting ...
but she keeps telling me "NO!  BAD!" 
Hmmpppffff!!!!!!!!
Maybe that's why I've found this ...

... in my bed several mornings this past week!  (It used to dangle from a door knob for Her Pussness's batting pleasure.)  It squeaks very realistically and feels quite convincing when rolled upon unexpectedly.  Boots will be happy to know that I'm about "knitted out" now, and looking forward to starting a big new quilting project soon.  She loves it when "we" quilt (together).

Winter definately seems to be here to stay in my part of the world.  According to the local "old timers" and the Farmers' Almanac, this is going to be a colder snowier winter than usual.  Something to do with "La Nina".  I've probably said this before, but I truly don't mind the cold of winter, which often surprises me with special sights like this ...

... a frozen spider web in the corner of the bus shelter!  (Apparently another bus rider didn't appreciate its beauty because it was gone when I got back from work that day.)  I carry my cheap little digital camera around with me and try to record neat things like the above, or this ...
... lovely but lonely snowy little tree that lives across the street from my apartment building.

Speaking of trees, I have developed a tradition of hanging my one and only Christmas ornament on my little Norfolk Pine tree so that no one can accuse me of being a total un-festive Scrooge.  Well!  Houston, we have a problem!  I can't find my little beaded snowflake ornament this year!  I remember taking it off the pine tree last January ... no, Miss Boots was not involved as she didn't come to live with me until March 2010 ... but have no clue where it went after that.  I might have to go hang out with the above lonely snowy little tree ...

Signed,

Undecorated in Northern BC