My Easter Weekend

It was pretty lazy.  I decided to treat my 4 days off like a mini (and much needed) vacation, so basically alternated between knitting, napping, reading, napping, playing with the cat, napping some more, etc.  I feel much rejuvenated today!

I accomplished one quick and simple little craft project after noticing this ...

... in my latest "Irish Quilting" magazine.  The Saint Brigid's Cross pictured is quilted fabrics, but I thought to myself:  "Self, why couldn't a Saint Brigid's cross be made with pretty paper?"  (Traditionally, these crosses are made with straw on February 1st, and are believed to protect one's home from fire and evil.)  Since I happened to have some pretty scrapbooking paper on hand ... no, I don't scrapbook, I just happened to come across some scrapbooking paper at 5 cents per sheet ...

... I got busy creating.  First, I tore some strips about 1 inch wide ...

... then folded the outer edges of each strip inward like you would bias strips of fabric ...

... and once I had a bunch of folded strips, started weaving my cross:

Do you remember the Mexican / Latin American "Ojo di Dios" made of colourful yarns wrapped around crossed sticks back in the 60s and 70s?  A Saint Brigid's cross is more or less the same kind of thing.  When I had at least 4 "straws" in every arm, I "tied" each arm together with another strip ...

... then trimmed the arms:

Finally, I glued a small strip of ribbon on the back for a hanger, and VOILA!

Yes, I do realize it is 2011 and not 2087!  Apparently, one is supposed to reset the date after the battery in one's digital camera dies.  Oops!

Saint Brigid's Cross took less than an hour from start to finish, and since I still had 3 more days of long weekend in which to entertain myself, I did a little knitting too.  One of my blogging friends is expecting baby number SIX ... and with 5 boys already, hoping for a daughter.  Since I love baby knitting more than any other kind of knitting (except maybe socks), this sounded like a perfect excuse to start a little girl sweater ...

... using my favourite neck-down method.  The coolest part of baby knitting is the speed ... here I am with the arms divided off already, and only a couple of hours into the project!  It's quite pretty yarn and makes its own pattern as you knit.  Want to see a close up?

Miss Boots was feeling left out ...

First you play with paper, then you play with yarn and you tell me "PAWS OFF!"
When is it Bootsy time already???

... so I had to call it quits for the day and spend some quality time playing "fetch the ping pong ball" with her.  (That would be with the cat swatting and the human fetching the ping ping ball, naturally!)  Despite multiple breaks for cats, naps and meals, this is how far I had knit by last night ...

Does this make you think of sunshine and peaches?

... body complete, one side of the button band sewn on, and with button placement marked.  I'll have to dig through "Stanley the Button Jar" for 6 pretty buttons!

So that was my Easter weekend.  What did y'all do???

Happy Easter!

Bridget's finally enjoying spring sunshine ... no more snow!  Actually, it's been trying to snow off and on all week, but I refuse to acknowledge it!

Someone asked WHO IS THE STATUE LADY?  Bridget was a well-known and well-loved social worker / rabble rouser / writer up here, and someone commemorated in statue form her and her generous habit of taking the time to really listen to people.  Her statue, which is a very good replica of Bridget, sits on a bench right in the area of downtown where she met many of her clients.  Bridget was special to me for encouraging my interest in writing at a particularly low point in my life, so I always take the time to stop by her bench and say hello when I'm in that part of downtown.

Another sure sign of spring ...

... election campaign signs are sprouting!  We are facing a federal election in 10 days or so, and probably a provincial election shortly after that.  I'm NOT a very political person.  I grew up in a household with a man who was extremely "modern" in many ways, but who believed women should not vote, and if they did vote, they should only be allowed to vote as instructed by the man of the household.  Then I lived with a "Union Man" with VERY specific political beliefs and who expected the woman in HIS household to share those beliefs (I didn't).  Consequently, it has been easier for me to be "non-political" over the years, and that turned into a comfy slide into political apathy.  

One of the things that I REALLY DETEST about current Canadian politics is the mud-slinging and bad-mouthing that goes on.  We had a local candidate come into our office this past week, and all that came out of his mouth was negative stuff ... everything that our current MP, his party, and all the other candidates have done wrong, continues to do wrong at present, and will undoubtedly do wrong in future.  That crap seriously makes my eyes glaze over!  Finally the dude complained about apathetic voters, and then I felt obligated to "share" with him why I'm an apathetic voter ... I want a little square on the ballot for "none of the above 'cuz they are ALL NEGATIVE MUD-SLINGING BAD-MOUTHING STUPID IDIOTS who should never be trusted to run my country in a positive and civilized manner!"  Okay, I MIGHT HAVE said a little more than that ... in a much less polite manner ... 'cuz he decided to terminate his visit here rather quickly!  I don't "talk politics" often, but when I do ...

Ooh, and another thing about the current federal election campaign that's really annoying me?  One of the federal party leaders has started shouting "Rise up!  Rise up, Canada!  Rise up!"  He sounds like a Southern Baptist Minister (sorry, y'all down South ... no offense intended!) instead of a potential Prime Minister, and that's just wrong.  I always rush to turn off the radio when I hear that line starting up.  ICK!

Enough with the politics already.

Last summer, I adopted a badly neglected Christmas cactus.  The poor thing was so thirsty that it was shrivelled.  Took several months to get it looking happy, and this past week, it rewarded me with flowers.  The interesting thing is, there are red, pink and white flowers all at the same time on it!  Must be three different cacti in one pot.  It's sitting on the castle of my floor loom and gets morning sun throught the balcony door.

Last month, I did some "emergency" curtain sewing for some friends, and was recently rewarded for my efforts with ...

... a Moroccan recipe book, and ...

... a set of Moroccan tea glasses (they are really big on green tea with fresh mint leaves and sugar)!  I haven't figured out how to drink hot tea OUT OF GLASSES without burning the heck out of my fingers, but have tried several yummy recipes.  I'll try to record and blog about creating something from this new recipe book over the long weekend. 

Mm mmm!  Four days off!  I can hardly wait!  I have no major plans other than coming downtown to see Strauss's "Capriccio" LIVE AT THE MET at our local movie theatre on Saturday morning.  Have a great weekend, y'all ... may you be up to your jelly button in belly beans!

Easter Weekend 2010

Hello ... I WROTE this post last Monday, but Blogger was being difficult about including photos at the time and I didn't have the patience to fight with it. So here it is, Monday's post on Friday:

Well, it is presently 6:56 pm Easter Monday, so I suppose the long weekend is about finished. Did y'all do anything particularly special???? I didn't ... just enjoyed being at home, and that was really nice.

Miss Boots assumed my presence indicated "play time", and she made quite a pest of herself insisting that I drop whatever I was doing to play. If I tried to ignore her, she started doing naughty things like jumping into the bookcase and knocking photos and books onto the floor, or climbing up the back of my legs! Besides hair elastics and scrunchies and dirty socks out of the laundry basket, Bootsy's favourite toy at the moment is this gadget ... a fake fur "tail" with a bunch of feathers and a bell at one end and a stick at the other end. The stick is brilliant! Keeps the hu-mom's hands safely out of the way of kitty claws. The game goes like this: Boots PRETENDS she's NOT really watching the "tail" go by ...

... then at the LAST possible second, she ATTACKS and KILLS IT! Repeat until kitty is too tired to continue. In between rounds of this game, I finished the "bubblegum and licorice" sock I (we) started last weekend. I managed to get it all done during the week while travelling to and from work on the city bus, but for the "bubblegum" pink toe . I got the ribbing and first row of the pattern of sock #2 started ...... with Miss Boots' assistance of course ... ready for this week's knitting on the bus project. In addition, I spent some time in the kitchen preparing a variety of things for the freezer. I like to have soup / stew type things that I can heat up quick if I'm tired at the end of a long day. I also bake my own bread, and try to keep some "baked goodies" on hand.

PS: Missing you L ... cookies are lasting so long these days that they're going stale in the cookie jars! ;-P

I had a couple of extra zucchinis in the fridge, so I made ORANGE ZUCCHINI BREAD. Here's how:

First, grease a loaf pan and set it to one side. Then, grate about a cup of un-peeled zucchini ...

... along with the zest of one orange. In one bowl, mix together your dry ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Yes, I used whole wheat bread machine flour. It's what I found in the cupboard! In a second bowl, mix together your grated zucchini and orange zest with 1 egg, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup veg oil, and the juice of 1 orange.

Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture and keep mixing until the two are incorporated together but don't overdo it. Spoon batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake at ...

... 325 degrees F for 55 minutes. A toothpick should "test clean" at the end of the 55 minutes. If not, bake another 5 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing or storing.

I like to bake. And I like to eat. If I ate all the things I baked in one or two sittings, I'd be much "fluffier" than I already am. Baking is a real challenge for single people, did y'all know that? I have discovered a solution! Ziplock bags! I store one or two slices of home-made bread, Orange Zucchini Bread, cake, etc in the freezer in individual Ziplock bags ... then I can take out and eat a reasonable amount when I feel like it. For example, yesterday I had an urge for something chocolate and decadent after dinner, so I dug into the frozen chocolate cupcakes ...

... and served myself up one cupcake with a handful of frozen raspberries, a shot of raspberry liqueur, and a splash of cream ...... all in a fancy Margarita glass. Dessert for one! If I don't treat myself when I have the urge, I end up eating too much of the good thing after denying myself for any extended period of time. How do y'all keep your eating/dessert habits under control?