Hurray for Friday!

Oh, weekend - how I've missed you. My DH will be home for a few nights so we all look forward to spending time with him. It was a crazy weather day here yesterday - massive thunderstorms all day - I think we're in for the same today.

Because there is no sunshine and she is up in a dark corner - it is almost impossible to get a clear picture of the swallow through my window. This one was the best of the (bad) lot and you can just make out how tall she has built her nest. She is sitting on it now and her mate is never far away.

Today is Friday so it's time for a little work on LHN's Neighbourhood - my goal is to finish this mid- June. When I actually put the time into it, it is a very quick stitch compared to some of my other big projects.

Let me out mum!

Enjoy your weekend!

Swallows and knitting - random ramblings

So, there are swallows building a nest on our porch. Everyone thinks I'm crazy to allow them to stay - that they'll dive bomb us to protect their eggs, that the mess will be horrendous etc...... I am just getting so much pleasure from them being there though that I can't imagine destroying what they've worked so hard to build. What you see below took 2 days to build - now it's 5 days later and the nest is about 4 times higher and both birds seem to be involved in the process. I'll post another pic tomorrow. We'll just have to enter the house through the garage until they're done. I love to see them swoop in under the roof.

Next up is a photo of DH's 3 year sweater - what you see is a finished arm and the back that is 3 inches from completion.........

Cat. Am I crazy or do all stitchers love pets? I think we're wired that way. This is Oscar - king of the castle. He is the laziest cat ever - he's also about 25 pounds........ When he sits, he looks like a giant hershey kiss from behind.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Makhi mine a double......

Happy Sunday! I hope your weather has been as great as mine and that my American friends enjoyed their Memorial Day holiday. Makhi is ticking along - I've finished the red motive which is one of 4 identical motives and really have trouble putting it down..

This is my 13 month old son and this is how he sleeps every day. Every day I tuck him in, he snuggles down under the covers and sighs with contentment. I leave, and he rearranges himself every single time without fail. He is sound asleep here:

Be still my heart.

Friday!

So, tonight is SAL night with the blog "Let's Stitch". I'm working on a Landmark Design called "Makhi". I'll probably focus on the right hand side tonight.

I love Fridays, don't you? So many possibilities stretched out ahead to make the most of..... I'll be spending some time nibbling on these:

Granola

OK - small diversion. Back to stitching content tomorrow. Still a strumpet, struggling with project monogamy.

Yummmmmmmmmm.

So, every morning for the last two years, my husband has eaten granola with yogourt. I have a very fit, handsome husband......

(The sexiest part of this photo is that he's folding laundry. Uh huh.) So, I decided that since my handsome, laundry folding husband liked his granola so much I would go to the trouble of finding a recipe that I could make for him. I started with a recipe from Recipezaar which is a site that I really like. I used recipe #76560 by NHNichole and only tweaked it slightly. I added two tbs of softened butter and only 1/2 cup of brown sugar.

• 3 cups oatmeal 
• 1/3 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions

1. 1

   Pour oatmeal into a glass microwaveable dish and cook for two minutes; stirring once. [I think this is to help the mixture to come to be more manageable - you know, the heat will help the oats be coated more evenly?-C]

2. 2

   Combine all other ingredients into a bowl.

3. 3

   Add in oatmeal.

4. 4

   Stir until well blended.

5. 5

   To finish, use either the microwave or oven. Both methods are listed below --

6. 6

   Microwave method: Pour mixture into a glass dish and microwave on high for 4 minutes or until golden brown.

7. 7

   Stir every minute.

8. 8

   Cool on wax paper.
9. 1. Enjoy!

   2. 10

      OR --

   3. 11

      Oven method: Pour mixture into a large cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

   4. 12

      Stir every 5 minutes.

   5. 13

      Add 1/2 cup of raisins.

   6. 14

      Cool on wax paper.

   7. 15

      Enjoy!
   
   
   
   
   So - let me know if you try it! You can always omit the raisins and coconut, or add in different dried fruit - it would be a very forgiving recipe.

Weekend Warrior

Man, I'm going to have to get used to time going so quickly. I have small children - 8 and 1 and I feel like they are growing up way too fast. Canada had a long weekend just past - weather was VERY cold where we were, -3 degrees Celsius at night - I was glad we weren't camping. I worked on my DH's sweater that I've been knitting for 3 years........ 4 more inches and the back will be done. Then I need one more sleeve and a front. :( I'll try to post some pictures later today when I dig out my camera from the bag........

Hope you all had a wonderful week!

Is it Tuesday already?

We had a great weekend filled with a birthday party, friends and family. Mother's Day was very relaxing and my kids were great. I spent babe's nap yesterday mowing the lawn, so I'm pretty chuffed with the fact that it looks great, but know damn full well that it'll need to be done again in a few days....
Stitching was as usual all over the map - I just am simply unable to focus on one project at a time..... LHN's Neighbourhood did get the most attention however and the top third is almost complete. I think I'll post a list of WIP's tomorrow, including knitting projects. I feel like I need to get a bit more comfortable here - I'm never sure how much to share? Do I want this to be just a stitching blog? Or should I incorporate more of life in general - such as the never ending struggle to find balance with everything in my life? Kids, husband, weight issues etc... Would anyone even care?

What to work on?

I have way too many projects on the go - I made a decision that something needs to be finished before I start anything else new. I belong to the blog "Let's Stitch" and tonight is the Friday night SAL. I think I'll focus on LHN's Neighbourhood on Fridays until it's done. Many of my other projects are much denser stitch count so this should be a fairly quick finish. Famous last words.

This is an older picture - since this snap I've finished the house in the middle and some of the tree on the right.

The Strumpet is in the House

Strumpet

Strum"pet\, a. Of or pertaining to a strumpet; characteristic of a strumpet.

Out on thy more than strumpet impudence. --B. Jonson.