Christmas Dinner

We went casual this year. We put out the fancy table setting for Thanksgiving so we just decided to go easy for this meal.
First up is my rib roast that was the most delicious thing I ever put in my mouth. I left it in the fridge just wrapped in cheese cloth like Guy says to do, for three days. I'd have left it longer but I didn't have it that long. It was black angus.
Then I took it out of the fridge to warm up to room temp before I cooked it.





Next is the made from scratch green bean casserole. We like our green beans more done that the cook books tell you, so these are done really nicely. Behind the gbc is the apple/pear and walnut salad. It was good yesterday but actually it's better today. It also has raisins in it. This one I got from Food TV too. Sunny Anderson.


Home made dinner rolls. Got the recipe off of all recipes. These are like the ones they used to make in school cafeterias. They don't look very brown, but they were cooked just right. I also made some french bread but for some reason it didn't rise enough.. funny too because I used from the same batch of yeast.

Fingerling potatoes and baby carrots. They were washed and then dried. After that I coated them with Hawaiian red sea salt, fresh black pepper, olive oil and a little butter. Now the purple potatoes are really pretty but they never seem to get as done as the white and red. Next time I'll cook the purple ones first and ten wait till they are are done before add all the oil. Maybe add some parsley and garlic.



Last is the giant Cooks ham. 18 pounds of ham. I cooked it from 12:30 am to around 8 am on between 175 to 275. My mom went in and turned it way down at one point.

So it gets cut up, sliced, chopped etc to put in the freezer for use later. That is the lid of my new stainless steel roaster.(two years old). We got it free after buying about 1000 dollars of groceries from Brookshires. But. I really like it.


I am going to post the recipes on my message board site Cooking Obsession Food Group

Christmas cookies and Proud Yardbirds.

The following are my chickens. The adult hens, the rooster and the new biddies. They are over a month old now, so I will probably be letting them out in a week or so.





Then the next one is the Back portion of Carrie's Sweater, and a portion of one of the side pieces. Yes it is a different color. Two front sections will be the green as well and the arms and sides are orange. The long neck section is the center of the hood.

And one kind of Christmas cookies. Almond/raspberry tarts. Under them are the gingerbread cookies, but I'll take another pic of them later after I've decorated them. I still have more of the same left to bake but I will do that tomorrow.

The drama continues. Alex is having to scrape all the grout out of the shower and re-apply it because the guy did not do it right. But of course he has not come over today and it is almost 3 pm. I want my SHOWER BACK.
I am so frustrated what with the bathroom and the ongoing crap (pun intended) in there. The toilet will not stop running no matter what we do.

So Sunday my mother called our good friend Fred over and we cooked him and Ed his son dinner in exchange for Fred looking at the toilet. Well he fixed it. For a few days..

It was good to see Fred and Ed as we had not seen them for about 6 months. The did so much work around here for such a long time. We feel as if they are family.
Monday morning I got a phone call from Ed at about 5 am. Fred had a heart attack and died. I am positively devastated about it. He gave me a big hug on Sunday and said HEY Sis.

I just can't believe that he was in this house walking around one day and then a few hours later.. will never be here again. Never.

We went to the viewing last night. There were not a lot of people there. But the one's that were there really loved that man. He was such a good guy. Helped everyone he could. Practically adopted a young woman, her husband and children as his own. Everyone who knew him knew that they could count on him. And now he's gone.

The night before Fred died, my daughter was mad at my son so she took it out on me because I was trying to soothe things over. I cried for hours, finally went to sleep to wake to the news about Fred. And then to have all this bathroom construction dragging on for MONTHS. I am not doing very well. I love Alex and his wife. They are also like family to us, but he is doing us wrong about this bathroom. Out of the over a month that they have been working on it. probably two weeks of that could have been avoided if he would have gotten here at 8 am to start work and/or just shown up. I am so upset I can't even articulate how upset I am.

Alex putting the knob in to adjust the water.

Proud of yourselves? Happy with your Christmas gifts?

MINEOLA, N.Y. — A worker trampled to death when customers stormed a Wal-Mart for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving had no experience in crowd control and waplaced at the entrance because of his hulking frame, police and a lawyer said Monday.

The details about the deadly stampede came out as police pored over video surveillance provided by the store while considering possible criminal charges. Lawyers were also preparing to sue over the episode. Nassau County Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey noted that the worker, Jdimytai Damour, was 6 feet 5 and 270 pounds, making the trampling all the more stunning. He was killed when a crowd estimated at 2,000 strong broke down the electronic doors infrantic pursuit of bargains on big-screen TVs, clothing and other items.
"Literally anyone, those hundreds of people who did make their way into the store, literally had to step over or around him or unfortunately on him to get into the Wal-Mart store," said Mulvey.

Mulvey said an autopsy found that Damour, 34, died of asphyxiation related to his trampling, and he conceded that it would be difficult to file criminal charges against any of the shoppers.
Related "It goes beyond identifying specific people to make a case," Mulvey said. "You have to establish recklessness or intent to harm, which led to his death."

Attorney Jordan Hecht, who represents Damour's three sisters, said the family declined to make any public statements about the man's death. Funeral arrangements were pending, he said.Hecht said Damour had been working at the Wal-Mart only for about a week and was hired through an employment agency that provides temporary staffing. Damour had not been trained for any security assignments and had no background in crowd control, he said.

A call seeking comment from the employment agency was not returned.Wal-Mart Stores Inc., in a statement Friday, called the incident a "tragic situation" and said it had
tried to prepare for the crowd by adding staffers and outside security workers, putting up barricades and consulting police.

"Despite all of our precautions, this unfortunate event occurred," senior Vice President Hank Mullany said. A company spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday on Mulvey's remarks.

Hecht said that he was considering a lawsuit but that no decision had been made. Two other injured shoppers filed a notice of claim Monday, the first step toward proceeding with a lawsuit.At least four other people were treated at hospitals and released, including a woman who was eight months pregnant.

Mulvey said while investigators are still piecing together details, it is apparent that the Wal-Mart store lacked adequate security to handle the crowds of shoppers that converged on Friday morning.

"In fact, security was inside the store and not outside organizing, arranging and planning for this anticipated opening," Mulvey said.

Police officers had been called to the scene at about 3 a.m. but left after about a half-hour, he said.

The crowd — then estimated at about 400 — was not unruly at that time.

The National Retail Federation, the industry's largest group, was unaware of any other store workers ever dying on the job in the post-Thanksgiving rush.

Shoppers around the country line up early outside stores on the day after Thanksgiving in the annual bargain-hunting ritual known as Black Friday. It got that name because it has historically

been the day stores broke into profitability for the full year.

Burt P. Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group, a retail-consulting firm, said retailers quickly learned they can attract massive crowds if they promise amazing savings and limit the inventory or availability of the sale items to a few hours.

A number of retailers have opted to distribute vouchers or organize the sales in other ways to "cut down on the tsunami of shoppers entering the store all at once," he said.

"There are so many retailers doing it the right way, it seems senseless there wasn't strategic and operational planning here," Flickinger said.

In addition to not knowing how much inventory may be available on a sale item, shoppers often don't know the exact location where the merchandise is kept, he said. "They get in early and run the retail racetrack," Flickinger said.
"It is a recipe for disaster," the police commissioner said. "And that's what happened here."
FOXNY.com


OK. this is an open letter to you people who killed for your own gain.

Shame shame on you. I hope that every single second of every single day of the rest of your lives, you feel that shame.
You should all be trampled.
And then to try and blame it on the guy.??

I am disgusted and horrified at this.

Turkey day over

And I'm glad. It was fun cooking but it will be nice to have the month break from the EXTREME cooking.
The blanket I made for the baby gift is not going to work. I have a problem with the edges being too loose. I am going to just rip it out and start over. Plus it is not sized right.

I have not worked on the kids items. I told them that it would take longer to get them made for them so Next Christmas.

I am going to have to get this house straightened up before I can comfortable do arts and crafts.

I was getting a handle on it but with the guys here working on the shower and Thanksgiving ....all the cooking and planning.... my poor confused mind could only concentrate on one thing at a time. And then there is my addiction.




Christmas shopping for my Granddaughter. The kids won't get anything this year.

Getting a new shower

Its hard to tell from the pictures, but the shower will be almost twice the size. I hope its enough larger to make a difference.
My house has been in a uproar with this process for two weeks. Meaning we have to bathe at my mom's house, use the downstairs toilet. Which is ok I need the exercise. But our guy is really slow. Too many jobs going on. But he is our neighbor and a nice guy.

The new expansion came out for World of Warcraft. Lots of really nice content. <---- link to screenshots.


Still working on the baby blanket for George and April's baby.
Actually getting more work done. But not as much as I'd like.
Daddy fell the other day. ...

November

Beginning to get somewhat chilly. I am knitting a blanket for a baby gift using big needles to make it go faster. But I did miss the shower yesterday. The baby is not due for about 3 more months however so I have some time. Using acrylic yarn, double strand and keeping white as a constant in all the colors. Pale green, pink/purple and green/pink blended yarns in a stockinette stitch.



This is our Velcro. Takin a break in my desk drawer. It's usually Sox in drawers and such.






Sox sleeping on top of the little cave thing I got them at Pet Smart. He is covering his eyes to keep out the light.


Loaf of home made wheat bread I happen to be making a loaf as I speak.
I mix it up in the bread machine and let it rise, then take it out put it in loaf pans , let rise again and then bake.
This is a really good recipe. So good that I mixed up lots of batches, sans the yeast, molassas, oil and milk. So I can make it quicker.
I use part white and part whole wheat plus some xanthan gum and wheat gluten. The texture is wonderful and not crumbly at all like home made bread sometimes is.



Carrie's sweater back almost finished and Roy's bedspread blocks.
still have a long way to go on them both. I hope I have them done by NEXT Yule.

It's October

used to be my favorite time for decorating. I love to decorate for Halloween but lately I have not.

I love to decorate period but I don't anymore.

I got a summons for jury duty. I served once years ago. It was interesting. So I don't really mind doing it..I just hate getting up early. I have to be there at 9 am..for me that is the middle of the night. I shall have to train myself in the intervening weeks to go to bed earlier.

We got a new car.

in sandstone.

It's the first brand new car I have ever bought. Or Kevin that is. This is the first time in our married life (8 years) that anything has been on his dime. He is very very proud.

I've been knitting some though not too much.
this is the back portion of Carrie's sweater.

I have also been working on Roy's bedspread but don't have pictures of that.

I don't have any idea that it will be finished by Yule but ... maybe Next Yule..:P

Too HOT and now Ike is on the way!

East Central Texas will not get too much of the weather, rather not enough to make seriously effect us, however the coast line of Texas will take a beating. I have a good friend that lives on a bay off the coast, so I am sure that they have already left for higher ground. At least I hope so. I am sure my cousins that live a little farther down the road have also hopefully take off for San Antonio where they work or to relatives in West Texas.
My kids as well on the Mississippi Gulf Coast will undoubtedly get plenty of wind and rain though not as much as they did last week or when Katrina hit.

I've been knitting and getting a painting ready to start on. And gathering source material for another one that ... well I lost the reference stuff. *SIGH*. So I had to re print it.

Last weekend we helped out at the West Fest a local small town that throws one hellacious part every year. Most of the inhabitants are Czech decent so they go all out with the Polka music. I probably pulled several hundred pints of Coors light and Blue Moon. That's the station that Kevin and I served on. Of course they had Guinness and Heiniken, Bud Light and Bud, Michelobe and all the rest. I am a Sam Adams girl myself or Amber Boch (sp) Actually I'm an Absolut or Maker's Mark girl.
It was fun but nothing I would want to do full time.

Watched all the conventions and as you can see Made my choice.

My Chronic Fatigue has been keeping me at home a lot.

Visits, hot weather and dead gardens

The vegetable gardens are gone. This past two months has been so horribly hot that even watering once a day has not saved them. Everything was pretty much gone anyway.
We got tons of tomatoes, okra, eggplant and watermelons so I guess all in all that's ok.

My grown kids were here for a visit. We had a great time! My granddaughter didn't get to come however because of her school.

I've begun knitting on the kids Christmas presents.




this is the yarn that I got for the projects.










And these are the begun projects. :






I was going to do cables on Carrie's sweater but I was having a very difficult time. So I am just doing some repeating patterns in the section where the cables would have been.
Roy's bedspread will be a sort of zig zag design put together of knitted blocks.

Watching the Olympics. I have to say that they are some of the most beautiful games yet. I did not watch the Athens games for some reason. Probably apathy. Poe said "I became insane with long intervals of horrible sanity", I have to fall right in step there with Poe. And add long intervals of apathy. Another saying that I love is "what's to be done about ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care".
Between the allergies and the depression and the Epstein-Barr, I find even moving sometimes just too much trouble.


I wish they could give you a pill for that.

Speaking of Tomatoes!!!

This one I did get to eat and it was sooooooooo good!!

It's a Brandywine. One of the heirloom tomato plants I got at Greenlife Nursery in Waco.
I tried a lot of different kinds this year so next summer I will know better what I want to plant. Definitely the Brandywine, Caspian Pink and some type of yellow, Daddy likes the yellow ones.
I like the eggplants that I planted. Very small and thin. They were better to me than the round fat ones.. less bitter.
Rutabagas! I can't begin to tell you how good the home grown rutabagas are!. We got about 8 of them and I have that many more right now getting ready to go into the ground. Maybe more if I think I can stretch the season.
The Tabasco peppers are wonderful. I put them in pickled green cherry tomatoes and made some pickled just to use the pepper flavored vinegar on greens and fish.

And the all time summer treat Watermelons. The vines are working on their second offerings. So far I picked about 12, but had to throw away 4 that got eaten or rotted. Small and very sweet. There are still around 4 out there that haven't ripened yet.


Lots of sunflowers and I'm going to harvest what seeds I can for eating or planting.
I also have some Brussels sprouts that I didn't think were going to make but finally they are. The pumpkin and squash are still hanging on but no punkinz yet.




Disappointments were the cucumbers that never made it, the various bell, jalapeno and Serrano peppers that petered out. I couldn't get the butternut squash or the gourds to live or the poppies. My nasturtium only had one bloom. And of course the thyme died quickly.

On the crafting and art front:

a sweater like throw that is an experiment. I was going to make three panels with two of the short row and one of the basket weave. It's very comfortable and I am going to enjoy it this winter. KnitPicks was calling me so in order to get my fix I had to cut the throw short (lol) and finish it off. I just have to do the crochet trim.

Last is my latest flock. I've lost two of the older ones to the heat and one baby one to a raccoon break in. In the fall I shall get a couple more.

Garden, Knitting and Kevin

I kept this tomato around so long I didn't even get to eat it.


Kevin is home. Sick of course. Every time he goes away for the Seabee's he comes home sick or is sick while he's away. But we had a good day in town on Monday. We went to the movies, Incredible Hulk, which was actually pretty good. I wanted to see The Happening or Ironman, but we usually do the movie he wants. Then we went to Petsmart and got the "boys" some food and treats. After that to Best Buffet. I got the Mongolian grilled beef and veggies and sushi. We were going to go see another movie but we decided to go on home.
My Big Budder is coming in today for about a week. And I need to finish the straightening.

My poor garden has just about done all it is going to do. These two images are from several weeks back.


I wanted to take photos of all my veggies, the tomatoes were just beautiful and the eggplants are shiny. But I didn't get around to it.

I made tomato jelly (that didn't jell >( but tastes great and tomato pickles that are real good. I also canned some plain tomatoes for cooking or just eating.
I got about a dozen small watermelons.. MMMMMMMM
also rutabagas earlier in the season. Made a believer out of me. The home grown "bagas" are so much better than the store bought. I got enough peppers to use with my tomato pickles and a small jar of (tobasco) pepper sauce.
No squash yet or artichokes. Pumpkins are flowering.
It has been so hot here that keeping my babies alive has been mondo difficult.
I water daily and even then they look horrible by day's end.
OH I took a pic of my enormous sunflower, an old timey film pic so I have to get them developed but will post asap.

I am working on an afghan or throw. Almost finished with my first knitted top for myself. Although I think it might be too small for me.

I read alot while Kevin was in CA, but I'm out of new stuff right now. I read books by Robert Walker and Stephen King lately.

people who suck the joy out of everything

In my case it's the same person who ... never listens to anything you try and tell her.
The reason for that is because she is trying to formulate an answer or tell you her "story" and doesn't really care what you have to say. Then why ask you in the first place?

This is compounded by the fact that she isn't very .... how shall I put this.... cognitively with it... can we say that. She is great at keeping books.. She did it for years. But it takes her a while to figure out other things and even when she's wrong, she swears she's right. That she knew that all along.

At every meal. I guess she thinks no one can see for them selves what is on the table, because she has to ask if you've gotten your peas yet.. Or ask me if I've gotten them for Kevin. Like he can't help himself.

I am so tired of being second guessed, questioned, made fun of because I like gadgets or don't spend my money the way she would. I have turned to drink.

Yep.. you read me right. I have to have something potent daily. Or start screaming.
Gods!!



She used to run a very efficient house and still does. She's a hard worker.
Gotta give her ...her props, but christ on a Popsicle stick. I need a vacation.

Gratitude

What ever your politics are- The men and women of the armed forces of any country, deserve our gratitude.

Crazy Woman

Some of you may remember the crazy woman that gave me such grief a couple of years ago.
She has since moved on. Followed her mother to south of Houston. Also has gotten decent care by a decent doctor ( not a pusher like the one she was seeing here who should not be practicing medicine at all) *shaking head* Anyway. When she left she put most of everything she owned into two storage units here. She called my mom and told her that she didn't want anything from the units. So Fred and Ed are cleaning it out. I got all the tile back that we'd given her ... lots of my dad's stuff. paint sprayers. some shelves. All the tile is on the shelves. I am going to re tile the fish pond when I get the leaks plugged up. And put me in a shower up here that is big enough for two.. >:)


My garden is doing really good. I still need to plant some stuff, but I can't get the ground ready by myself. Both sets of our handy men that help us around here are busy doing other stuff. Kevin is out of town. Besides he works really hard. File Clerking is hard work at the VA. Lots of lifting running from one end of the building to the other.
He is pretty tired when he gets home and lets not even talk about his knees.
He is at a war game .. well he's on the way home now. But he had a good time. This is the first one since turning E6. So he gets to be boss sometimes.

Well gotta go.. love and peace out.

Sick

Kevin left to go on a project for the Seabee's Sunday the 24th of Feb. Saturday night one of his best friend's son died. He was a very young man, very. Monday I found out I had diabetes. Had terrible headaches from either the Metformin that I am taking now or because I was coming down with a cold/flu -- I'm still coughing and hacking, with headaches.

Thursday I have a sleep study.. then next Thursday also. I have to get a new Cpap machine but I have to have a new sleep study first.The old machine and sleep study is over five years old, so they make you have a new one.

So yea. Diabetes-- I am cutting down on my sugar and carbs.. Trying really hard, but it is not easy. At the moment I really don't know what I can eat like for snacks. My blood sugar has come down about 40 points already but I still have 100 to go.

Kevin is home now. Yesterday on my birthday. I went to go get him in Waco and went to some nurseries to get tomato plants. I got some of the ones I want, but no eggplant.
We went by the bbq place and got stuff for the family.
yea so Im done

Tell me what I think

I just heard someone say, the majority of Americans do not believe in the war on CNN.

I threw up on my keyboard. Talking heads, Air head.. see the similarity?
Ya know I took statistics. I know how polls are skewed to fit whatever purpose you want. We only see what the media wants us to see. NONE Of them tell the truth. NONE of them has honor or respect for anyone.
I am not talking about whether or not we should be engaged in an action to bring liberty to another country OR if we are there strictly for our own interests. This is not up for debate and I won't respond to any posts about that. I am talking about truth and representing the truth. Journalism should be about reporting the facts-- NOT an agenda, faction or reporters ideals.


They do not speak for the majority of Americans.
One of the truly sad things is that other countries believe the crap that the media spews. The Ugly - Loud - Brash and Stupid American. Jesus! We are NOT as stupid as the media thinks we are. At least I hope that there are enough of us out there who can think for themselves. I remember now why I quit watching the news. So much drivel to get to an inkling of truth or REAL news.
CNN Called the Ohio republican candidate about an hour ago right after the polls closed. WTF So those people in line can just freaking go home and forgedaboudit.
SCREW them. I hate fucking reporters.


Sorry about syntax and grammar but I'm pissed.

New photos of my stuff

One set of Runes in a dark brown clay and only glazed in the engraving. I usually sell Runes and bag for $25 USD.
Another bag of Runes, this time made with speckled buff which is now the only type clay that I use. These are glazed, which is a first for me.
This is one of my carvings. A grotto with little pools.I have more photos if anyone is interested.

Knitting with plastic grocery bags and mason line. This is actually a small purse I made for my granddaughter, but I think that this type of knitting would be good for door mats.


Socks. I ripped out the other one I was making and re knitted them. Problem right now I am trying to figure out the heel.
Lastly an apple pie I made at Christmas. It was very tasty. I added a little orange juice to it.. mmmmmm

I am spreading myself too thin

So I've decided to just have one blog. Maybe it'll force me to post my artwork and crafts more often.

I'm doing gardening right now.
In the garden I've got rutabagas and Brussel sprouts, onions, garlic, and potatoes. OH and sugar snap peas and blackberry vines.

In the house in seed pots are tomatoes.. lots of different kinds. Mostly heirloom tomatoes. I have eggplant, artichoke plus several kinds of peppers.

I'm hoping to raise enough stuff that I can put a sign out by the highway to sell some of my stuff. Thinking about getting some more chickens too to sell the eggs. Gonna make salsa or pepper sauce out of the surplus and possibly make some fresh motzerella (sp) cheese if I can find someone to provide me with the milk. It is very difficult for me, but then I've only done it three or four times. It doesn't keep too long, but I'm willing to try.

Been knitting and trying to draw. I have this idea for a painting..had it for years.. but it's very involved so I'm procrastinating.

The kids have started to nursing school. They say they are doing fine. It is going to be a really long road for them. But it's a good way to make a living and there is always a need for nurses.