Christmas knitting in action

A pair of legwarmers being tried on Christmas morning. I'm halfway through the next pair already. Jill wants to have several so the girls can be warm in skirts or dresses this winter.

Cooking for Dogs on Thursday

Here's a recipe for dog cupcakes/muffins that has my pack hanging around the kitchen waiting for something to fall off the counter.

Ginger Banana Pupcakes

2/3 cup mashed bananas
1/3 cup oil
3 large eggs
3/4 cup water
2 cups Unbleached Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Beat together mashed banana and butter. Add eggs and water. Beat well. Stir in other ingredients. Beat until smooth. Spoon batter into oiled and floured muffin pan.(or into cupcake papers for party food) Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack 5 minutes, remove from pan, replace on rack and cool.

If icing is desired, mix softened cream cheese with a dab of milk to reach spreadable consistency.

My Wish for You

Enjoy the frog now. May he visit us less frequently in the coming year.

Give it up. It's just too late.

All the things that I planned to finished knitting by Christmas are abandoned. I don't want to spend the last couple of days in a rush. Here's a guilt-free solution: the Christmas Knitting group on Ravelry. So instead of tossing all my unfinished knitting in a Rubbermaid tote until next Halloween, I'll have an incredible start on 2008. The moderator, pinchette, posted this link http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/minutia/minutia.html for a great motivating project. The sweaters are so tiny that I'm sure I could finish one each month. And unless elves come to visit, no one will be wearing them so gauge won't matter. Any size yarn bits will do. Stashbuster-Deluxe!

By the way, I am unfinishedknits on Ravelry. Be my friend.

Snowy Dogs on Thursday

By this morning the snow was melted, but I just had to share how adorable we looked in our sweater & coat. I'm not sure if Trixie was eating it or trying to burrow down to the grass.

Snow Day!

Here's the proof. It rarely snows before Christmas in this part of Missouri. The really great thing is that it snowed on the weekend when I didn't have anywhere to go. I've got my Blockbuster online movies from the mail, hot cocoa, and cute coats on the dogs.

I also finished another pair of fingerless mittens. This pair is for me to knit & type in. We're keeping it cool in the house to spare gas, so we're bundling up.

Cookie Exchange Party = Big Fun

The cookie party well really well. I made lasagna, so nobody had to get take-out afterwards (Bethanie). We had a great assortment of cookies. Sara's sweet potato cookies were the most unusual. JonnieBelle & Reagan's sugar cookies and Teresa's chocolate chips were the first to disappear when I took my platter to work the next day.

After we ate and swapped, we played Mad Gab. The youngest players had a distinct advantage. Maybe because they weren't offered any rum punch. The point of the game is to read aloud a series of words and guess what real phrase they suggest. Here is an example which DID NOT come from the game...

(WARNING: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SAY THIS PHRASE IN FRONT OF CHILDREN OR ANY PERSON OF DELICATE SENSIBILITIES.) Say this aloud, preferrably to your boss. Repeatedly.

eye ham sofa king we Todd Ed.

Free Rice. NO, not for you.

Go play this vocabulary game. It's for a good cause. This link is over there on the right. And no, I don't know how to link from here. I'm not a techno-wizard. (although I am at level 43)

Christmas knitting

Simple sock hat for Grandma C. My grandmas are always cold. Grandma C. lives in an old farmhouse that her parents built. This hat is from recycled wool.

These are smallish sampler scarves for Jill's girls. The brown is mostly wool and the whites is mixed fibers. An adult could wear either as an under-the-coat-lapel-scarf, but they aren't long enough to wrap. My solution? I declare them to be children's scarves.

You're feeling sleepy... very sleepy...

Look, Ma...no hands!

Actually, we are very close to learning to give "high five." Trixie is down to one paw most of the time. She still wants to stand up, though.

Check out her bare tummy. At spay/neuter I was going to have Trixie & Gus micro-chipped. Our vet talked me out of it. He said our county doesn't have a reader at the pound or shelter, so they would have to run REALLY far for it to do any good. Instead he tattooed a phone number and initials on their belly.

Picture this:

Kid: "look at this pitiful stray puppy, Mom. Can we keep it?"

Mom: "Poor thing. It's awful how people dump unwanted puppies"

Kid: "Here, Scout, let me rub your tummy"

Mom: "maybe we should call that number."