one of these things is not like the other

so we're having some work done outside the house. The guys that are doing it all look alike except one.... (there's a fourth who matches but isn't in the picture cuz he's driving the grapple bulldozer thing.)
anyway can you spot the 2 differences in the men?

so we're attaching the gas line to switch the heating from oil to gas. Getting a new furnace for the summer vacation. The hole they put in the street is large enough to bury me. and the two in the yard could bury small animals (like dogs or cats) of course my snapdrapgons are now gone for good... They've been there since 8 AM and it's almost 8 hours later.... lots of tools too.





The downside (may be an upside) is I have to empty the stash rooms and clean them out when the furnace people come to take out the oil tanks and furnace and water heater and install the new ones.... i guess a little revisit to the stash will be useful. Perhaps it will be a great time to destash on ravelry or elsewhere

what's for lunch?

Today I decided to raid the refrigerator after I went grocery shopping to try to use up some of the older food and make room for the new stuff.

We had Chinese take-out Friday night and didn't eat the white rice. So I started with that.
I added some green olives cut up in pieces
about 3 oz. crumbled feta cheese
cut up some grape tomatoes
cut some canned beets
and hearts of palm
and finally to about 3/4 cup of mayo added one diced chipotle pepper... mixed together and then added to the rice salad.

It was quite yummo.... with that we had some sliced tomatoes, mozzerella and basil sprayed with a bit of olive oil.


Dinner came late.... spinach empanadas, corn empanadas and blue cheese, nut and celery empanadas.....

For dessert..... Emeril's key lime pie YUM

DD went to Dorney Park with a friend and the boys stayed home. DH was at church ALL day. The in-laws and I hung out with the boys... not a bad day.

you can ring my bell rock?

Yesterday we took everyone to Ringing Rocks State Park Even though I've lived so close all my life, I've never been there. So with hammers in hand off we went... I had to convince DS1 that it would be fun. Once we were there he was springing over the rocks like a sure footed mountain goat. We found rocks that made harmony by themselves depending on where they were struck. Plenty of rocks that made just a thud. It's a strange and wonderful place. As DS 2 was trekking among the rocks, exploring he found this Eastern Milk Snake. I couldn't identify it on the spot, but looked it up as soon as we got home. That experience curtailed his jubilance at exploring a bit. He decided to sit with the apos and hit rocks nearby.
I walked down to the bottom of the field to where it expandes left and right... trying to make some historical sense of it all. I did see one blue jay right at the lower edge of the field but nothing besides the snake, some spiders, a few moths and butterflies and a dragonfly or two the entire 2+ hours we spent there.

If you're nearby, make a trip. It's worth it. If you forget a hammer pick up a small rock and use that. We were able to play a couple of tunes with some careful boulder choice.
And don't make our mistake... continue down the trail to check out the waterfall. That's for our next visit, I guess.

thrifty

actually went to the thrift store today to drop off a TON of kids clothes and toys. Picked up a few things for home.... 2 books and a CD for DD, a car holder that unfolds into a playmat for DS2, a cashmere sweater to frog and this Mikasa bud vase....

penny wise and pound foolish

they cut 12.5 teaching positions, plus secretary and custodial positions and this is supposed to be the easier year between this year and next. Class sizes will near 40. My department has suffered a 50% loss over the past 3 years. And the instrumental program has been obliterated. Sad time to be in education

happy teachers day!?!

our teachers' union found out today that the school board did not accept our offer for pay freeze. we asked for a few concessions that would not cost them any money but offered to 'give back' over $250K. I don't get it. So I can't help but wonder what that means will be the fate for our programs and teachers. Anxious would be a word to describe the state right now.

My performance in the Rachmaninov all night vigils was successful, albeit short. I sang in the 2nd movement with my best Russian alto voice. That was pretty much my weekend.

My boys had baseball, the dd had a concert and a GS project and we managed to go to a birthday party in there as well.

the countdown is on at school. 25 student days left. Of course it's my busiest rotation. and 6 days until the spring concert. I'll be glad when it's all over and i can sleep.

One month until the in-laws arrive.

i nit 2 little baskets and filled them with chocolates for my own children's teachers today. Of course I sent them off to school before i took any pictures... I've made the basket many times before. It's a quick knit and a great stash user. Each one takes about 45 yards of worsted weight so it's easy to do with scraps.

school work beckons......

spring?

The daffies are up and about spent, but the tulips haven't yet bloomed.
On Saturday, both sons had baseball scheduled. The youngest one's game started at 9. The real feel was 38°F. But early afternoon it was raining so hard and windy that the 5:45 game was called. It was a day for knitting and sleeping and reading.... all of which were done by the entire family (not all by everyone, but all by the 5 of us)

I finished MIL's bday gift.

Pattern: Echo Reversible Drop-Stitch Mobius by Kristin Omdahl in Interweave Knits Spring 2011
Yarn: recycled Abercrombie & Fitch 80 wool/20 nylon
Color: brown
Needle: US13
Buttons: Coconut shell purchased at A.C.Moore
Recipient: MIL

The only thing I needed to do was to ply the yarn double to make it bulky enough. I'm afraid it could be a little too long but I'll let her figure out how to deal with that. She loves brown and loves cables... hope she likes this.

Have to put this cute picture of the little man on opening day of baseball. Don't tell the older one that I forgot to take the camera to his game. I'll get some good shots of him soon. I had other stuff in the front of my mind. We had a concert that night that DH was conducting and I was soloing at. Left the baseball game early to go to the concert. This spring is going to be running around for sure.
DD found this nature anomaly today and insisted I take a picture of it. I call it the siamese twin dandelion.... kind of interesting.

pentatonic wonders

I've seen this video several times before, but it is SO worth sharing. Particulary in our current mindset of budget cuts which directly affect the arts in most cases.

perigee moon

picture from nasa of the moon rising above the Lincoln Memorial I use this because my own picture isn't that good and it was later and not nearly as large.

Tonight our great friends came for dinner... Manicotti (or canneloni) with homemade crepe shells some with vodka sauce, others with puttanesca sauce and some with cheese and spinach filling with alfredo sauce. For dessert just see the pics below. To say I'm stuffed is an understatement.

alfajores











ricotta pie






tiramisu

After it was all said and done and everyone (well almost everyone) had gone to bed, the middle child and I spent some time writing notes to each other. Then we spent another hour talking. I wonder how long he'll put up with doing that with his old fart mother.

This is my pathetic shot of the moon last night...



A local photographer Hub Willson has a WONDERFUL photo that he took last night with a 900mm lens... breathtaking

why i do what i do...

let's do the twist

I started a pair of socks for me... then realized I hadn't read the pattern completely so ripped them out last night.. I'll start them again. Knitty's Twisted but I'm wondering if I do 3k and the twisted purl if I can then turn them inside out to make them. they are reversible after all. I asked the designer and she said no one had tried it that she knew of.. and that the toe and heel shaping is very specific. although twisting the purl stitch can be a pain because you hvae to grab it from behind to twist it.. so it might not be worth it.

Anyway state testing begins tmrw and I have to proctor for close to 4 hours a day. The rest of the day I sit with my homeroom... doing who knows what so I'll be taking knitting along!

a walk about

town on Monday with the hub....
My school was cancelled due to 'inclement weather' but at home it was cold windy but sunny and beautiful so our kids had school. After dropping them and returning home for breakfast with the hub we decided to take the time to go for a walk since he is on spring break from the college. We walked about 3 miles or so and then stopped for coffee at one of my favorite places in town that isn't my house!

Along the way I took these photos. I could live in any one of these houses I think ;-)



I love how the sun crosses in front of these gorgeous wooden garage doors. The garage that owns these doors belongs to this house. This is the side view of the house.. there is a gorgeous enclosed sunroom on the north side of the house and an open covered porch on the south side.

Down the street near the library is this cute brick house and the single brethren house of the Moravian Church. Both of these are historical buildings.






But my favorite picture is this which met me on Sunday afternoon. It says Mom and Dad I love you bye Pablo. He was so angry with my hub cuz he asked him how to spell by and hub thought he meant as in goodbye which he didn't.... but it's still too cute!

fastnacht socks?

here they are... a long overdue Christmas gift for the love of my life.

Pattern: Manly Socks by Hannah Six
Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock
Colorway: 149
Needle: US2 (my new sox stix by lantern moon :-) )
Recipient: the hubby!


He requested them to be longer than the last 2 pairs. I had very little yarn left. I think it's going to be kept in a safe place for the inevitable darning. I was calling them fasnacht socks because all day they only had the end of the toe left to do... I teased him that I was going to leave them that way like a donut!

I'm not really crazy about this yarn. I didn't rewind the skein and maybe that would have helped but it was really sticky in pulling it out and I spend LOTS of time undoing little knots.

Now I need to cast on something for next week at school when I'll be proctoring exams and watching my homeroom for hours.... Something mindless because Lord knows I'll be interrupted enough!

american girl knitting

long overdue

Pattern: Julie's Jeans by Cathy Bird
Yarn: ? 2 different yarns
Color: medium blue and light blue
Needle: US7
Recipient DD

I found this pattern on ravelry. I won't link it but you can do a search to find it there as well

Pattern: Ernestine Doll Hat by Wendy Poush
Yarn: Berroco Cotton Twist Solids
Colorway: 8359 Inchworm
Needle: US 8
Ribbon: From stash bought at Joanns
Recipient: DD



Pattern: Shoes from 18" doll summer fun ensemble by Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer
Yarn: Scraps
Colorway: Dark Teal
Needle: US8
Recipient: DD

There is still a skirt and sweater to post but that will be a while yet I'm afraid. DD loves her AG clothing... I'll make her more after I finish the man's socks... working on the foot of the 2nd. I get about 7 minutes a day to knit if I'm lucky!


just to mention that I couldn't post in firefox today. Had to open the safari to get this in... a little frustrating

best.day.ever.

according to my 6 YO son.

Wake up... Donuts with Dad at his school
come home
Batting Cage with Dad and his older brother
grab pizza
come home
Train meet in Allentown with mom
happy meal at McD
come home
dinner (did I mention he likes to eat?)
Family movie - Free Willy 4 (he's got this thing for whales right now)

As for me....I want to get out of my slump.

the jellicle moon was shining bright

and jellicles came to the jellicle ball.
We all went to see CATS last night at the State Theatre in Easton. All 5 of us... not an inexpensive adventure, but worth it. The boys were entranced. Although DS2 said that there were moments he didn't like, but his favorite was McCavity. And admittedly, the whole meaning was well over the kids heads, but I'm determined more than ever to take them to as many live performances of quality as possible.

Last week DD and I went to see ASOs condensed version of Carmen. DH directed the chorus so the only cost for us was the babysitter for the boys. She loved it.

After looking at the page for the company that put on the show I noticed that they were at the Flynn theatre on Valentine's Day. I had a friend from HS that used to do stage managing at the Flynn (among other art venues in CT and VT) who just passed away last month. As I was at the show last night I imagined him running it, without knowing that were he still alive he WOULD have run it just a week before. I believe he's running some bigger shows right now. I also felt this presence of a former colleague of mine giving me props for taking the kids to the theater. She was quite a classy lady whose son is a dancer on Broadway. So Mike and Rho... thanks for the visits last night. I know you were smiling at me.

Day off today and we had a little bit of snow... and I have a headache for the I can't tell you how many day in a row... I remember mom having headaches a lot... now I'm feeling your pain....

sticky

so I wanted to make a breakfast food for DD and her friends that were staying over.
There is a local philly pretzel company that has this cinnamon butter. (YUM x 3000) and i was thinking it would be great in a cinnamon bun......

So I had thought on going to buy some of the dip but didn't get to it before the store closed. I forgot about it... DD didn't

This morning I asked what they wanted for breakfast and she said those buns you were going to make...I hadn't made the dough.... ugh

What to do??? (cue light bulb going off)


1. Preheat oven to 350° F

2. Make cinnamon butter... found a recipe on the web... doubled it... next time I tweak it it will be a little less butter...like this maybe

3/8 pound of room temp butter
1/2 c brown sugar packed
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Cream all ingredients together whipping until light and fluffy

3. Mix topping
3/4 c brown sugar
4 T melted butter
1 Tbsp maple syrup
3 Tbsp honey (I used buckwheat)

Mix together until well blended and pour into a 9" square baking pan.

4. With two packages of refrigerated crescent rolls. (you can buy it without the perforations...I didn't have this on hand tho) I split the dough in half (if you buy the crescent roll for the rolls it comes out in 2 pieces kind of)

push all the perforations together to make a larger piece (i did half the package at a time)

spread cinnamon butter on the dough and roll the dough short end to short end. CUt the 'log' into four equal pieces. Lay pieces on side in the pan containing the topping mix. Repeat with other half of dough and other package.

5. Bake in 350 oven for about 28 minutes.

6. Let cool some before turning out of pan!


7. Eat and enjoy......

the parade of doll clothes

DD's AG Elizabeth will be busy modelling over the next few days. Now that I've found the card reader for the camera, I can take some shots other than with my phone.
This one is from the phone though.


Summer Fun Ensemble by Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer
Yarn: Top and pants Paton's Grace shoes-some remnant
Color: Sky teal
Needle: US3 US8
Recipient: Daughter
I didn't do the ribbon on the pants and I put my own belt from yarn in until I could go out and find ribbon to fit through the loops. I'll replace it though I'm sure.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the slippers... handfulled them in the kitchen sink... but they are so darn cute!

There are more clothes to come!

We went to Mama Nina's for her birthday dinner yesterday... I was stuffed and brought enough home for 2 more meals...

I can't believe she's 11. I really like the young woman she is becoming. So proud of her!! I love you sweetie

swinging to the right

ok so he can't pronounce da Vinci... but if this guy believes it... I may be in for a change



I have stuff to show you... but maybe tmrw or later...

do i need any more reason

to teach the national anthem at school?


So this doesn't happen from any of MY students! COme on... at least learn the words. It's a 2 minute song and you're on national TV.... how pathetic!