The Scent of Apples

Aren't these fall days lovely???

We took a ride down through Adams County, our local orchard country, to view the leaves and pick some apples.  We don't actually go to the trees and pick.  Hollabaugh's Orchard staff has already done that.

But every year they have huge bins of apples from which you can fill a pre-purchased bag as full as you wish with apples of many varieties.  Of course by the time we get home we forget what their names are!

They have their fruit stand decorated with lovely mums in vibrant colors.

Gourds for sale in all shapes and sizes.

Indian corn in a rainbow of colors.

Pumpkins.  Lots of pumpkins!

And best of all, inside is a nice selection of honey, herbs, and yummy baked goods.  All kinds of gift items too.

Unfortunately, through the whole trip, Zip was having an allergy attack.  He had been outdoors helping Brad work on his front porch remodeling all morning.  We no sooner started down the highway to the fruit stand when he started coughing and sneezing.  Our stay at the fruit stand was severely shortened.  I took over the driving and got him in to Shippensburg by the fastest way possible.  We made it to the walk-in clinic just before it closed.  He is now using a once-a-day inhaler and hasn't had an attack since.  He goes for some breathing tests next week.

Here are about half of the apples we brought home.  We will be eating our apple-a-day for the next several weeks.

When we had the Animal Shelter  benefit hook-in at Joan's a while back, one of the ladies brought the most delicious home made caramel popcorn.  I asked her about the recipe and she replied that it was a oven baked recipe.  I have been hungering for more of this delightful treat so I looked up recipes on the net and found many, all basically the same.

So how hard can it be to make oven baked caramel corn???
I made two batches of air popped corn and cooked up the caramel syrup.  After pouring it over the popcorn, I decided it was way too much caramel for the amount of corn so I popped up another batch.  Now all of this is supposed to go on a pan and in the oven and bake for about an hour.  I now had such a huge batch that I didn't have a cookie tray big enough.  I had to dig out a large disposable foil turkey roasting pan and it was filled to the brim.

My stove is an antique gas stove from the early 1940's.  The oven temperature regulator no longer works.  If I want low temps, I have to vent the oven door with a wooden spoon.  Even with this venting system, it got too hot.  Instead of my corn becoming caramelized, I had burnalized corn instead!  But in the end, I discarded the burnalized stuff and the rest turned out delicious.

This bucket is about half of the huge batch.

Zip complained that it got stuck in his teeth.  I did the good deed and gave Brad and Kami a big bag.

Last week I noticed that Penny seemed to have an ear mite problem.  She and Isabel were due to go to the vet for vaccinations anyway, so we made the appointment.

They were such good girls!  No complaining in the carrier on the car ride.  No one seemed intimidated by the vet tech taking temperatures and weighing them.  She even dug in their ears to get samples of the possible mite infestation without a complaint.  They gave Isabel her injections first and left her down on the floor so she could go back in the carrier.  Penny was taken to another room to have her ears cleaned and medicated.



Zip and I heard scratching in the cage and I thought, 'oh no! she's going to the litter box in the carrier!'
Zip went over and looked in and this is what he saw.

Isabel was not going to the bathroom.  The towel had been folded neatly and was lying flat in the bottom of the carrier.  She had torn it all apart, fluffed it up, and constructed a barrier so that no one could get in and find her for more vet torture.  We both laughed and Zip folded the towel and laid it back in place.  Minutes later, more scratching and scraping, and she had re-erected her barrier.  Apparently her good humor and patience had reached it's limit!

This time we left it stand until Penny was ready to get back in and head home.
All done for another year, we hope!

Battle for the Box

This week I worked on and finished a uniform for Brad and Kami.  The bolt of wool fabric comes from Woolrich in a nice handy box that is great for keeping the fabric from getting messy during storage.

But the minute I open the box and start unrolling fabric to cut, I have COMPANY!

Hey, Mom!  I love this box!!!

Wool is nice to snuggle in.

I can hide under the flap.

 And act a little silly!

Oh no!  I think I see trouble coming!!!

She is not welcome here!

HA!!!  Look who's in the box now!

She's a feisty little thing!  Look at those angry eyes!

Best to casually back off.

The box is MINE!  (it takes a while to settle down, my tail is still whippy!)

I'll take a victory nap to calm my nerves.

And through it all, Isabel crouches on the back of a chair and watches with great interest.

Life settles quietly back to normal.

A Finish and a Start

Last Sunday I attended the annual hook-in at Joan's in support of her local Adams County Animal shelter.  The pictures of the rugs have already been posted twice on Joann's Snippets and Scraps of My Mind and Kathy's Rugs of Mine...in Time, so I won't post them again.

I just wanted to mention that I love going to this hook-in!  The setting is so lovely.  Joan lives along this beautiful little trout stream near the South Mountain and it is one of the most relaxing places a person could be.  This is the driveway going in.  It was a cloudy day to begin with, but it cleared in late afternoon.

Joan made us a scrumptious lunch (with donations from a few other people).  I wish I had gotten a picture of the buffet.  There was a lot of hooking, talking and eating.  Hookers seem to excel at all three!

Jill found a   day-old kitten abandoned by it's mother in her barn and brought the tiny one along so she could feed it regularly.  I have never seen a kitten so small.  I don't know if the little guy has survived the week or not.

There were games and prizes, a raffle, secret auction, and show and tell with two special guests who are working on a secret project that will soon be unveiled in Rughooking Magazine.  So keep an eye out for some amazing hooking of...hint!  It starts with an A and involves fur, feathers and scales.

I had a wonderful day!  Boy, was I exhausted when I got home!!!

In addition to the monetary donations, and proceeds from the raffle and auction,
Look!  we Filled the Truck!!!

It has been rainy and dreary here for days (weeks???).  Where was this water when we needed it so badly for our garden earlier this summer?

Zip and I have had a lot of 'indoor time' to work on our favorite hobbies.
As many of you know, Zip is a flyfisherman.  He Goes most evenings of the week when the weather is good. Right now he's trying to get in as much fishing as possible before the weather turns cold.

He ties his own flies.  He has help.  Just can't do it on his own!

Notice the little white paw on the flytying tool.  Also check the difference in Zip's hair in the two pictures.  Is he becoming frazzled???  Ha-ha!

With all the tempting feathers, fur, and threads, who could resist!  Penny is resting while Isabel takes over the harassment.

Check out the crossed tails!  Is that like a kitty high five?  Kinda a 'look what we did to Daddy now!!!' kind of thing?

And now!  Ta-daaaaah!!!
The sweater is finished!  I am so happy with this pattern from Deb Gemmel at Cabin Fever.
It is knit from the top down, all in one piece, with no seaming at all.  When you are done knitting, you're done!  It is done with A-line shaping for larger women and it fits beautifully.

I had trouble finding buttons.  Our Joann store has such a tiny selection and when I did find anything I thought would work, there was only one or two cards left.  And darn, I needed more!

So after reading about other knitters who had purchased really pretty handmade buttons on Etsy, I decided to make some from polymer clay.  Working with Fimo and Sculpey is not my favorite thing to do but I bought the clay and went home with three different colors to mix and create the perfect button (ha!)

This easy little project took HOURS!  I tried using all sorts of things to get texture on the darn things.  I even tried stamping them with a piece of burlap.  Finally I used the blade of my serrated tomato knife to make a woven look.  Then the baking had to be done twice because I thought they were still too pliable after the first round.  And still not the right color!!!  Yikes.  So back to Joann's for some acrylic paint and sealer.  Finally a finished product that is acceptable.

Here they are!  Half a day's work and two trips to Joann's worth of buttons!

Now you may ask (as I did) will they hold up in the wash???  They did!  And the dryer too!

I needed a project to take along to Joan's last weekend so when I got up I quickly drew up this little mat to take along.  As soon as it's finished there will be a give-away for my long overdue celebration for 100 Followers.  More about that in a future post.

Have a good week, everyone.
Happy Hooking!

It's Nice to be Kneaded

We had one wonderful week of delightful weather and then the rains came.
Anyone who lives on the east coast knows how bad it was.  I hope most of you have made it through without too much damage and inconvenience.

We are lucky to live in an area where flooding seldom occurs.  We did have a nice trout stream (Zip wishes!!!) running through our front yard.

With the cooler weather, the cats have been VERY active.  The earlier hot weather had them laying low under the fans.  Now they are in high gear, running wild through the house and jumping on the furniture.  Though once in a while they do take time for some "Mommy Moments'.

Penny loves to knead on my arms while I'm sitting at the computer.  But an arm covered by clothing will NOT DO!  She will knead on my hand if it the only part uncovered.  Those little feet can do some pressing!  I've been left with bruises several times.

Look at those lovely copper eyes.  Perfect for a girl named Penny

Hiding in the trash can after we put in a clean bag.  Those eyes are looking a bit wild and excited.

Isabel had loved Deiter from the moment she came to live with us.
He wasn't sure he wanted to be friends with a pesky little female, but finally he had surrendered to her charms.  She is charming, isn't she?

 They like to lay in the sewing table and keep me company while I work.

In the evening there is the excitement of watching for moths on the window screen.  Reggie and Isabel are having a little stand-off to see who gets control of the window sill.

There are times when living with cats boggles my sanity.

I used to have a little sage green wallet.  It was small and thin and didn't hold much because it didn't need to.This was back in the days when the only cards I had to carry were my driver's license and social security number.  Way before credit cards, bonus cards and three forms of picture ID were necessary.  I hadn't seen this wallet in probably thirty years and had no idea what had become of it.  If asked, I probably would have said that I threw it out long ago.

This was laying in the middle of the living room floor yesterday morning when I came downstairs!

Where they found it, I have no idea!!!  They can't open dresser drawers.  They hadn't been to the attic.  I can not imagine where they were digging around!  It just blows my mind!

And more crazy-making, only not so mysterious.  Our faucets on the bathroom sink recently went bad beyond repair so last weekend we decided to go to Lowe's and check out the options.  We came home with a nice attractive brass set.  While Zip was taking off the old faucets, I kept hearing grumbling about how darn heavy the old sink (an antique) was.  So I finally asked if he would rather get a new pedestal sink and install it along with the new fixtures.  Another trip to Lowe's.

We got home and unpacked our purchases.  Zip sat the basin on the treadmill until he was ready to install it.  Guess what!  It fits!!!

Doesn't it look great??? 

The strip of wood along the back is to hold it tightly in place so when the 20-lb. monster jumps up he will not cause it to wobble.  It's also fastened to the wall with a sturdy bracket.  We keep a stool beside the sink to discourage him from jumping directly on the edge of the sink.  We will be painting the strip to match the wainscoting.

We also installed a Biffy Bidet on the toilet.  I've been wanting some kind of bidet device for years and have finally found this fairly inexpensive one.

And yes, after a week of using it, I love my Biffy!

In my spare time, I've been working on the sweater.  I'm below the underarm on the body and I have one sleeve finished.  It's kind of fun to work from the top down so it can be tried on for length as I go along.

No rug hooking right now, but am going to start on a project for a friend which I can't show yet and I want to do something for fall.

I'm getting tired of typing!  I think it's time for a break.
Have a good weekend everyone!

Salad Days

Even though the tail end of the hurricane is still circling over south central Pa, we have only mild rain and moderate thrashing of the trees.

The weather for the past two weeks has been heavenly!  Daytime temps have been in the low 80's with lovely cool nights that make sleeping a pleasure.  The curse has been lifted and we are getting some much-needed rains.  The garden, what's left of it, is recovering from the drought of the last month and a half.  We've been getting enough fresh veggies to make some tasty salads.

This is the way summer is supposed to be!  It makes getting up and viewing the sunrise a joyous occasion.

The only unhappy note is that my dear friend, Willa, is moving back to Missouri.  She and Chuck have been planning this for about a year, and now the time has arrived all too soon.  On Thursday evening, her last night here, we went out to eat together at Biscotti in Shippensburg.  I will eventually be updating my restaurant review page with the pictures, but for now I just have to show you the dessert.

This is their mango mousse cake.  In my sixty-plus years I have tasted many cakes.  Some good and some left a lot to be desired.  May I say that I have found the PERFECT cake?  Oh my goodness, is this cake DELICIOUS!!!  The mango flavor is sublime!  I checked for recipes on Google and found several.  I can't wait to try reproducing this wonderful treat.  It was the perfect ending for the farewell dinner.

My legs have recovered but the trips to the hospital for wraps continue twice a week. These doctor visits are seriously cutting into my free time.   On Tuesday I will be measured for the compression stockings that I will be wearing from then on.  Then back to the fun stuff like day trips to interesting places instead of sitting in a waiting room for 45 minutes.

But I have not been idle.  While sitting around with my feet propped up (NOT!!!)  I started a knitting project.  This is a knit-along group that is beginning on Ravelry on Sept. 10 with Julie from Knitting at Large.  Last weekend I found myself without a current project.  The yarn began talking to me to get my needles and start playing with this sweater.

 
It's a Cabin Fever pattern by Deb Gimmell and is knit from the top down.  There is no seaming necessary to finish the sweater, which means the pieces don't have to be BLOCKED before it can be put together.  Sounds ideal for me because I HATE blocking!

I've been knitting like a madwoman!  The obsession is to get an area done so I can see how the next part works.  Will it fit???  I just couldn't wait to get to the underarm part to very carefully try it on.  I am using an acrylic yarn in a worsted weight that is knitting up into a very sturdy fabric.  I'm thinking of making it into a jacket by adding a matching plaid wool lining.

This is the progress so far.  I started on one of the sleeves to check how the decreases would work.

I love the pattern of the collar and the front bands.

Since I haven't quite decided how the lining idea is going to work, I haven't put in any button holes.  I think the buttons will be sewn on the outside on top of large snaps for closing on the inside.

Isabell has been a close companion.  She loves when I knit.  Do you think she has a rather devious look???  She's waiting her chance to run off with the yarn ball.

Hope all of you have survived the hurricane with a minimum of stress and damage.
Until next time, happy hooking, or whatever creative endeavors you enjoying.

Trying to Beat the Heat

As everyone who lives in the northeast and lots of other places across the country, we are in the grip of a major heat wave.  The temperatures here for the last few days have been hovering around the triple digits.  We don't usually need air conditioning because our house is surrounded by large shady trees.  Yesterday and today A/C was a necessity if we wanted to be able to catch a breath.  Our air conditioner is a small one and only is effective in two rooms.  Right now those rooms are the kitchen and Zip's flytying and guitar playing area.

I moved one of my sewing machines to the kitchen table so I could at least do some work.  I haven't been very productive because even with the A/C it's not exactly COOL!  Just barely bearable!

I do not like the having to close all the windows and doors.  It makes me feel closed in.  In summer I LIKE all the windows open with the breeze blowing.  I remember as a child, Mom and Dad did the 'closing of the house' thing with all the windows closed at a certain early time in the morning to conserve the little bit of coolness from the night.  All the curtains and window blinds were pulled shut to keep out the sun.  We sat around in stifling darkness every summer afternoon.  Then late in the evening, the house could be opened up again.  It used to drive me bonkers!

I was so thankful this afternoon when a small front of cooler air went through and we could turn off the A/C and open up the house.  The kitties loved it too.  One of their favorite places is on the windowsills.

They did attempt to find their own cooler spots during the hottest part of the day.

Some cornhusks right out of the fridge are a cooling treat for Deiter and Izzy.

Reggie likes to lay on the cool metal of the woodstove.

Mom and Tippy have the fan and a book on CD to enjoy while hooking.  In fact, hooking is all I've wanted to do while sitting and sweating.  My sheep is now done except for finishing the edge.  Picture next time.

Deiter finds the porcelain bathroom basin to be a nice cool bed.

I never thought I would hear this from Zip who HATES the cold.  But today he said at least with cold you can put on a sweatshirt, wrap up in a blanket or throw another log on the fire.  With the heat, you just can't get away from it.

I want to show you a picture of one of my young willow trees.  Two years ago this tree was a little stick in a bucket of dirt, given to my by my friend Dottie.  In just two years it's taller than Zip.They are so beautiful!  And grow so fast.  A all it takes to start one is a small branch from another willow tree.

Hope you are keeping cool!