Monthly Archives: December 2012

Sugar High

Yesterday we hosted our annual Cookie Exchange – today we all have food hangovers.  Which we are treating by eating mostly cookies.

I didn’t manage to take many pictures – too busy having fun with friends, you know – but Paul got some with his phone.

CX20

CX21

Oona had to be held back from eating the cookies I made for the party.

CX19

CX18

I think I was telling them about the mole Orzo had dug up during the party.  I had run out there after people were telling me they saw him playing with something (I was afraid that despite the colder temps it might be a snake) and found him grabbing at a very fat mole.  My first instinct was to grab it and chuck it outside the field, but then Orzo grabbed it in his mouth and flung it – right into my face.  It shrieked and I was caught off guard.  So I held Orzo back while it burrowed away.

CX15

CX14

CX13

Emily took advantage of our internet – it has not been working properly at Juniper Moon Farm.

CX12

CX11

CX10

I love this picture of Keith and daughter Katie.

CX9

CX8

Everyone wore their poinsettia pins we made for them!

CX7

Even blurry, Jessie looks great.  I tell ya.

CX6

CX5

You can focus on it being a terribly unflattering picture, or you can focus on the fact that I finished my dress in time to wear it for the party.

CX3

12.17.12a

Good lord my friend Theresa makes cute babies.  I just wanted to grab little Teddy here and snuggle him all day.

CX2

A rare picture of Emily in the wild.  She has decided the only pictures of her that she will allow are during JMF photoshoots.  You know, when you’ve had a personal stylist and professional photographer working with you, I guess it would be hard to go back to “normal” pictures.  Or she is just pulling the “surly teenager” card.

CX1

Maddie and Gully spent plenty of quality relaxing time after the party.

We were worn out from all that fun! And food! (And just maybe the wine and the delicious  hard cider that Theresa brought).

 


Tagged: food, Pets, Sewing

Christmas Barn …

image_1


Regroup

I didn't intend to take a blogging break, but it happened. I just don't have anything new right now, and I worry about being too inane/repetitive all the time, so here I am. Or here I am not, I guess.

I have, as always, far too many projects in the works, but many of them are just not blog material.

There's been some knitting,

bff cowl progress

"Saroyan"

(In fact, there is a big knitting project in the works, but that will be a long time coming...)

There's been a whole lot of the non-garden variety growing,

two cool guys

seven months old!

And I kept forgetting to come share pictures of my neighbor's awesome vintage embroidery score, so here's a link to the whole set on Flickr.

Maybe the new year will bring some fresh new things (attic and basement projects, I'm looking at you!), but until then, perhaps I will lay low until that little blogging spark reignites. Thanks to all of you who have been with me for whatever amount of time. It's been a nice run.

Above all, enjoy your holidays!

t(h)rees

Marshmallow mountain

IMG_9501 IMG_9492

Marshmallows

  • 4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups light Karo syrup
  • pinch teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar with 1/4 cup cornstarch mixed in

Coat a 9 x 13 jelly roll pan with a thin layer of canola oil. In a large heavy bottom pan, bring sugar, syrup, salt and 3/4 cup water to a boil and cook until mixture reaches  238 F on a candy thermometer. When the temperature begins to approach 238, combine 3/4 cup water and the gelatin in the bowl of a mixer and beat at low speed to soften the gelatin. When the sugar syrup reaches 238 F, increase the mixer speed to medium and stream in the sugar syrup. Drape mixer with a towel and gradually increase mixer speed to high. Add vanilla and beat mixture for 12 minutes or until it holds it’s shape. Spread mixture into prepared pan and cool at least 3 hours.

Dust marshmallow with confectioner’s sugar/cornstarch blend and cut strips, one at a time,  with a pizza cutter. Cross cut each strip into squares and coat generously with confectioner’s sugar /cornstarch. Store in an airtight container.

I’ve got no words today

I thought SNL’s tribute to the tragedy in Newton was terribly moving, so I wanted to share it.

I’ve got no words today

I thought SNL’s tribute to the tragedy in Newton was terribly moving, so I wanted to share it.

Review: Boyfriend Sweaters

boyfriend_016

First, the facts:

Title: Boyfriend Sweaters: 19 Designs for Him That You’ll Want to Wear (Plus 19 Techniques That Help You Knit Almost Anything)

Author: Bruce Weinstein

Published by: Potter Craft, 2012

Pages: 159

Type: Patterns

Chapters:

1. Line and Drape
2. Texture
3. Reversibility
4. Color

KS: Boyfriend Sweaters

The In-Depth Look:

You know how, sometimes when you’re flipping through a catalog or a magazine, you just want to climb into some of the photos because it all looks so cozy and inviting?

This book is just like that.

This book has nineteen designs for your “boyfriend.” Except … a good half the photos show women wearing these so-called “boyfriend” sweaters. Because they’re that comfy, that inviting–it’s all about sharing.

The author begins, “In the thirties, Marlene Dietrich showed the world it was just plain sexy. In the fifties it was a sign of going steady. In the seventies it was just hard to tell men’s clothes from women. If you were too young to have lived through it, ask your mother who David Cassidy was. But the underlying reason women like men’s fashion has always been, and continues to be, comfort. … So, what is a boyfriend sweater exactly? It’s a garment designed with the lines and colors men like, but with an unmistakable appeal to women, too.”

Well, he certainly got that right. These sweaters are appealing. I’m really not kidding when I say I’d like to crawl right into some of these pictures just so I can cuddle with some of these. (The sweaters, that is.)

Most of the patterns have notes to “Make it more feminine,” and they all have sizes for men and for women, with tips as to which options you might want to change depending on who you’re really knitting them for.

Seriously, these are comfy-looking patterns. I think I’m in love.

The photos by Jared Flood (of Brooklyn Knitting) certainly don’t hurt either. They show the sweaters without hiding them behind books and slouches, and they’re quietly atmospheric, often with both men and women in the shots … making it quite clear that while this book may be called “Boyfriend Sweaters,” nobody is under any illusions about the fact that any or all of these could be knitted by or for a woman to wear.

All in all, definitely a winner, and I think it’s one of my favorite books this year.

You can get yours from Amazon.com.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by Potter Craft. Thank you!

My Gush: Cozy, and do I really need to find a boyfriend before I can make some of these for myself?

Other posts for this author:

My Girls Christmas Pictures …

Patty and Debbie 1964 ~ 1975

My creation

Patty and Debbie 2012

100_1636100_0734


Singing bowl

IMG_9487 IMG_9488

Yesterday, on the way home from some shopping in Boston, we stopped off in Cambridge at a little shop that sells singing bowls. I came home with this wee one that has a surprisingly deep sound.

Ornament Four …

100_4989