Girls' Night In and Blue Pancakes

There is an old lady living next door. She has a granddaughter, about the same age as my 3rd daughter Veronica. During the week, the granddaughter lives with her mom. On the weekends, her dad has custody of her. He works nights, and even though he has a live-in girlfriend who would be at the house at night with his daughter, he brings her to the grandmother's house to stay.

Only he's gotten in the habit of just dropping her at my house instead, on Friday evening, and picking her up here on Sunday evening... thereby not spending ONE single minute with his kid. And also giving me an extra kid and mouth to feed for the weekend. I must have not read the custody agreement properly.

Anyway at least my girls have someone to play with. Amy hangs out with them and wears their clothes and goes to church with us, where she helps out in a toddler class along with my own girls. She leaves odd bits of laundry, which I find while folding clothes after I've washed it for her, because I don't have enough people in my house to do laundry for.

Here are some pics of the three of them having a lot of fun, one rainy Friday night. Don't ask what's happening here, I don't know.


On Saturday morning, I got up before everyone and went out for my walk. When I got home, I found mysterious things cooking. Someone (no names here, mind you) is OBSESSED with putting food coloring in any food they make, including pancakes.

Sometimes my life is so weird.

We Came, We Saw, We Tackled

Today being Tackle-it Tuesday, I had plans. Big plans. But my oldest son, being the thoughtful kinda guy he is, decided the night before that he was WAY too tired to do the dishes. This is what I woke up to this morning.

Yes folks, that is ONE day's worth of dishes in the Ross household. Not even a day's worth, since the dishwasher from 1974 is 2/3 full. I might add that I also have deep-bowl sinks.

So the first thing I got to tackle this morning, was the kitchen. Forty-five minutes later, I had done all the big dishes by hand and put them away, all but the one cast-iron skillet. Filled the rest of the dishwasher and run it. Cleaned both sinks and the countertop. Filled a sink with soapy water to soak small bits that could wait for the next dishwasher load. Cleaned the burner supports and stove top. It looked like this.

(By the way, yes, my cabinet doors are missing, because I am whitewashing the oak. Ditto the lower cabinets, where I tested only one drawerfront. And the ugly B/W tile countertops are little by little being replaced by stylish travertine tile. Stay tuned.)

Beverly and I made homemade Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins (recipe at end of post). While I was putting the muffins in the oven, she picked up the stirring spatula, licked it, and said, "Mmmm! Dish-us!" Cute.

The next Tackle-it that greeted me was the sight of the rest of the unfolded laundry from yesterday. I might say, most of the laundry from yesterday, since I got a late start on my Monday Laundry Madness. After this pic I actually added 2 more loads to fold, which were out by the dryer.

At some point, I had to stop folding and run after car and motorcycle parts that were ordered last week and finally came in. We also went to a big-box warehouse for olive oil for Richard's soaps and ate a pizza while there. When we got home, Artemas spread a slice of Meat Lover's pizza with marshmallow and Raisinettes, for a snack. Disgusting! What a teenage boy won't eat is a short list, I'll tell ya.

So after dinner and a nice ride in the car, I finished folding the clothes. Once again, relief. Here is Beverly, "helping." Some lot of help too. I do have a load of stored baby clothes to wash for the big yard sale Des and I are going to have the Fri. and Sat. after July 4th weekend. But other than that, no more laundry for the week. Yee-haw!

I have a pic to show. I did a couple new yarns in the last couple days, for my My7kids Recycled Yarns. One of them sold in less than 24 hours, and I have recreated it and relisted it. Here is a B's Eye View of the other one, being reskeined to mix the colors.


One last Tackle-it! I am in a Mini Quilt Swap that is due in a couple weeks. The lady I am assigned to likes wild animal prints and Africana, also traditional quilt patterns and Kaleidoscope. The Kaleidoscope block is rather challenging because of the many pieces that meet in the center. I have cut the pattern down to a 4" finished block. On the left here are my fabric selections this morning.

On the right, are the fabrics tonight, cut into 300 little bitty pieces, which will make a 20" square "field" for the quilt top. The wavy-lined piece will be a little border around the quilt. I haven't decided yet what piece the backing will be, though I have two in the running.

Alright, muffins! These are SO good! And blueberries are in season in most of the USA right now, so take advantage of them!

Recipe makes 12 decent sized standard muffins, or 6-8 Jumbo muffins, or about 18 mini muffins. They freeze well, too, so if you are single or your family is small, make a batch anyway. Freeze them, get one out in the morning for a morning-commute breakfast that will make your fellow mass-transit travelers absolutely jealous! MUCH better than any overpriced thing out of the case at Starbucks... and a great way to economize, too!

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease muffin pans or use paper cups. Make sure rack is in the top 1/3 of the oven.

Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins

1 Cup Sour Cream (we use Lowfat) (Yogurt would do too)
2 large chicken eggs or 1 duck egg
1/3 cup (5.6 T) butter
1 cup sugar
~~~~
2 Cups unbleached flour, divided (1 Cup + 1 Cup)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
~~~~
1 Pint fresh or frozen blueberries or 1/2 cup dried blueberries

Mix all the sloppy moist ingredients and sugar in a large bowl until they are homogenous and pale yellow. Add 1 Cup of the flour, the baking powder and soda, and salt and stir in. Toss the other 1 Cup of flour with the blueberries, add to the batter, and gently stir until barely mixed in. Spoon into prepared muffin cups (2/3 full) and bake 16 minutes for Jumbo, 12 minutes for standard, or 10 minutes for mini muffins. So easy and tasty! Enjoy!

Tackle-it! Dangit! Wheeee!! Hot!

Alright, I am all behind on the blog thing. A quick Synopsis:



We Yarn-tagged the cart corral at the local Big Box Home Improvement store with a nice, feminine, ruffled yarnbomb. Here is the pic, on the left. Helping Metrosexual Men Everywhere get in touch with their feminine sides. LOL.




The boys were coerced by their mom to do a Tackle-it Tuesday on their room. Artemas said he didn't sign up for this excursion... but my house isn't a democracy. Think it needed a little work? Nah!! On the left and right, "Before" pictures.

These are the "After" pics. Good job, boys!












So, let's see what MY Tackle-it Tuesday was! I have decided to go back to something I used to do when I lived in FL. I did ALL the laundry in the house, for all 8 of us, including linens and diapers, in ONE day. Every Monday I started at breakfast time and finished what was usually 12 loads of laundry, around midnight. Washed, dried (much of it hanging out on the fence), folded. What didn't get done on Monday got finished up and put away on Tuesday. Then, NO LAUNDRY for a whole week! No bits of socks and undies lying around the room, anywhere. No unfolded sheets or towels piled up. Nothing but peace as far as the eye could see.

After we moved up here, I had to go to work for a while (4 years) and we kind of got away from one-day laundry, because with all the kids, working, homeschooling, and all, I just had to fit it in whenever I could, and rely on the kids to help. So for more than 4 years, we have had clean laundry somewhere, all the time. I am fed up.


So this week I implemented Monday Laundry Madness. When I got up Tuesday morning, the pic above greeted me as what I had left to fold and distribute to put away.


By evening, the living room looked like this. I am happy to report that the stacks disappeared to respective bedrooms, and right now I am enjoying laundry-free living space. Ahhh!

Alright yesterday we went to Des' house for an evening of fun, dyeing yarn, some good food, and left a kid to help her pack to move. On the way home, my alternator went out on the van. I might add a this point, my Chevy Venture is down, waiting on a bolt that we lost in a repair, to come in on order, which was suppose to be Wed. and now they are saying Monday next. Also, both motorcycles are down and out, though the 450 should be road-worthy as soon as the headlight comes in, possibly tomorrow (more on that later). The Ramvan and the Tow'n'Country were the only vehicles left, and the latter needs a new ignition switch. So, Dangit!!

Anyway an officer stopped me to let me know I was losing all my lights (which I knew), and gave me an escort out of that county. I made it through west Knoxville by turning off my headlights any time I had to use my brakes. Got to HD to pick Richard up from work, got a mile toward home, had to stop for a light, and the car died. All the way. Triple-A to the rescue, another police acompanist til they got there, and a tow-truck ride to our house. On top of the tow truck, IN the van! It was like a slow-motion roller coaster! Wheeeeeee! My kids thought that was the greatest adventure EVER! and at midnight, too! Wow!

Today the girls and I went to run a couple errands and get groceries. When we got in the car at 3:30 PM, it was 101 degrees F (38 C). By about 5 PM when we were done letting the car cool down from overheating in the Taco Bell drive-thru, it was a mere 95 (35 C). Wonderful cool front.

Richard and Allen bought the belts today for the Ramvan but had to wait until after 8 PM to try to put them on, because it was that late before the temp fell below 95 in the shade. With the help of some lights (lost natural daylight), they got the belts on, the battery charged, and HERE is a rare pic of oldest DS Allen with his car-grease "Farmer's tan." LoL! Apparently the alternator wasn't dead, just sleeping from not being driven properly by the old belts, because the van starts and runs. Yee-haw!

One last pic - we had a delicious Shrimp Spinach Quiche, and made the homemade pastry with bacon drippings instead of shortening. It was YUM-MAY! Sorry you didn't get any, but at least I shared the beauty. LoL.

Wow, I can go to bed tonight, NOT having had the worst day ever. Thank you, Jesus!

Yarn and Soap and Cookies, oh YUM

I am not getting enough SOCK done.

But I did get several new items listed in Richard's Rossoaps Shop at Etsy, including his SHEteam May Challenge, Misty Mountain Rose.

Would you like to see a picture of our very sophisticated and well-engineered Soap Drying Facility? Here it is. These are shelves near the ceiling on the far-from-the-tub (which we don't use because I don't have the shower tiled yet), narrow end of the room. At least our bathroom always smells nice!

I also went walking. Despite dieting and exercising, I was only down 4 pounds in the last 5 weeks. That is all I ever lose, 4 pounds. But in the last 2 days, I am UP 6 pounds!! What the heck?? How does one gain 6 pounds in 2 days?

I got a recycled yarn done, finally. Mine is my SHEteam May challenge (theme is Flowers), Second-Hand Rose, an "Old Floozy Girl" yarn from a wool-blend sweater. Desiree says she thinks I might be a little much for SHEteam. ~~sigh~~ I wouldn't be surprised, story of my life. Seems I am a little much for a LOT of people.

I also got a little spinning done. This one I think will be Diantha's May challenge in her Fluff4ewe Shop. Now that I have got it started, I will probably have her spin it. I was just too curious what it was going to look like! And, for now it is a secret!

Beverly says that cookies are NOM NOM. Tonight we made cookies. We made Civil War cookies, which are simple sugar cookies with a little nutmeg in them. Very light and good. Then the girls frosted about half the batch with lemon frosting, and that was good too.

Then just to keep Richie happy, because he insists that ALL cookies should have chocolate in them, the girls made Chopped Chocolate Cookies. Basically Toll House cookies, but I was out of chocolate chips. So I took a brick of semi-sweet chocolate and chopped up about 6 to 8 oz. of it for them to use. Again, very light and good cookies.

I also got several loads of laundry folded, sorted, and cleared OUT of my bedroom so that we have more than just a little path to the bathroom.

Veronica decided (after 5 on Friday, when I couldn't call the place) that for her birthday, she would like for us all to go and tour the Mayfield Dairy Farm and Ice Creamery about 30 miles from here. Since my parents are in town for the Street Rod run in Knoxville, until tomorrow, I have to get up at the crack of dawn to call there to see if 16 of us can get in for a tour. And since it is 2 AM, I ought to go to bed.

Goodnight, everybody!

Geez, April Fools, and I am Late

Actually I wrote this last night, and only needed to add pics. But one of my sons decided to monopolize the computer the pics were in, and I couldn't get signed into messenger for him to send them, so I ended up waiting until 1:30 AM and going to bed with my blog not done. ~~ sigh ~~

A friend if mine (I won't say who but her initials are Marion) got me with this one. FeLon yarn.

Diantha got a T West this morning, called Don't Wear Patent Leather Shoes. TOOOooo Funny!

Today I couldn't find the digicam. I looked where I usually put it, and on the table (I should make not here that right now our table is a MOUNTAIN of pulled fabrics,
non-used fabrics, and scraps of fabric as 3 of us scurry to the W/U deadline), and on the kitchen island. On top of the computer stack. On the ironing board, just in case. Couldn't find my brain, er, the digicam anywhere. I remembered it being in the car with us last night and thought maybe it was still there... so I went out to look. And in the THIRTY SECONDS I was out of the house...

Beverly found a Sharpie marked behind the computer keyboard (where *I* did NOT leave it) and gave herself tattoos on both arms, her leg, and put "makeups" on. She was so proud, she had to come out on the porch and show me! Complete with PBJ sandwich on her face, too!

Today was the DAY for kids to mark up their faces I guess, Des sent me this pic of my grandson Jeremiah, with PBJ face and blue rubberstamp "makeup" also. ~~ SIGH ~~

I folded the five loads of laundry. No, really, I folded the FIVE loads of laundry. And while I did so, they bred two more loads. Same reason I *used* to have a rule about not leaving 2 items in the sink at night, which somehow my kids have drifted away from. Maybe why we *always* have dishes in the sink. That or the dishwasher is as old as Methuselah and doesn't work right. ~~ sigh ~~

We did Veronica's entire Weird and Ugly quilt today, and are working on Artemas' right now. Hers is so cute! She says she thinks she might sell it when the challenge is over! I would buy it! Oh wait...

I also got a T West today, called Baaa, I'm Feelin' a Little Sheepish. It has SHE team and Etsyknitters in it, including one of Diantha's yarns.

And I have one more pic to share for the day, I call it, "Sharpie Marker is Not Quite Enough Decoration."
Dinner was supposed to be roast chicken with stuffing. But due to some fluke, there is a short in the circuit to the kids' bedrooms and because the guy who wired this house was a total nah-nah, that circuit also includes the refrigerator and the plug-in for the gas stove's electric oven ignition. No glow bar, no gas. No gas, no oven. So the Roast Chicken became Barbecue Chicken on the Grill and the stuffing became cheesy noodles with broccoli. And Betsy became a mess. The end.

Catching Up

Des put one of my yarns in a Treasury West at Etsy!

I had things to write about Friday night but was too tired. I had things to write about yesterday but didn't want to detract from Des. So maybe tonight I can do a little catching up.

Friday we decided to do an impromptu birthday party for Des. Tony had gotten off work early Fri. morning, had some time to sleep, and didn't have to go in to work. My dh was working late, but he had to work today too. And we couldn't do the birthday yesterday because Richie and I had class all day.

So I rubbed down, marinated and oven-braised 10 pounds (yes, 10 POUNDS) of pork ribs. Baked some Funfetti cupcakes and a dark chocolate sheet cake from scratch, and made a vat of scalloped potatoes. Took the whole shebang 30 miles to Des' house and made cole slaw there. Tony had bought 5 pounds of steak which he also marinated, cut into squares about 3" on each side and about 2" thick and grilled. He took several of the slabs of ribs and threw them on the grill for just a few minutes too. Being the carnivores that we are, steak, ribs, and cake were just enough for a party. LoL.

We gave each kid a little goodie bag with valentine candy in it. Des got her windows tinted on the car and a yarn swift (from Tony), a couple handmade bracelets from a local art shop (from Jeremiah), a ball winder (from us) and a red leather handbag from Tony's mom, Cheryl. Quite a nice birthday. My sister's dh and my niece came, sister came late, and Cheryl showed up... we had ONE slab of ribs left and 3 pieces of steak. We all didn't get home until midnight, and that was all the fun we could have without going right to bed.

I gave Richie a mug for Valentine's day. It was one of the ones I painted at the Liza Moz'. I will post pics of all the stuff tomorrow, didn't have my act together to photograph them today. I painted the bottom half of the mug to look like a brown/gold plaid flannel with a little green and red stripe 'cause he wears flannel for like 6 months of the year. The top of the mug looked like a Chocolate Chip Cookie. I filled it with some cookies. It has a lid, for travel. He loved it!

Also for Valentine's Day, we took a CCW (Carried or Concealed Weapons) self-defense course at Coal Creek Armory. It was fun. The instructor had a good sense of humor. He said all gun accidents are Ignorance or Carelessness. I said, "If a person can't get the hammer to go back down on his gun, and hits it with the palm of his hand, and shoots a hole in his brand new bed, is that Ignorance, or Carelessness?" He looked over at Richard (saw him turning pink) and said, "There is Something Wrong with the GUN." ROFLOL! Later when he was talking about stance, he said, "How many of you shoot low?" Richard said, "I shoot low because I am short!" Everybody laughed.

We both did well... 100% on our written exams and 100% on the range test. The range test involved shooting 12 rounds at 9 feet, 12 at 15 feet, 12 at 45 feet, and then another 12 quick-fire at 9 feet. The number of rounds landing outside the 7 ring (which is basically the whole body) counted off. I got 47 out of 48 inside the 9 ring (a 4" wide by 6" tall area) and ONE in the 7 ring (from 45 feet). Richard got only 2 outside the 9 ring, but he got more in dead center than I did. Pretty good shooting.

The instructor said that when we were done, most of us would have 2 Barney bullets left over, and if we felt compelled to have to shoot our target somewhere outside the rings (the head, the groin, you get the picture) we could use those 2 bullets. Richard didn't use his, because he is a party pooper. So when I was done, I had 4 bullets leftover. I asked the instructor if I could take out the guy's right ear, and then I put all 4 bullets in the right side of the target face in an area the size of the end of your thumb. When I walked out into the armory with the target, several men from the class said, "Whoa!". And one said, "There is a woman you don't want mad at you." LoL.

I don't know but someone said you had to have 70%, which means one could shoot 14 rounds completely outside the body outline and still pass. There were 2 old ladies in the class, in their late 60s, who had never either one shot their guns before. They both passed, though their targets were shot to hell. Bullets everywhere, and that was with the instructor "helping" them aim. And, turns out TN is a "shall issue" state. Some states are "may" issue - if you pass the course and your background check, they still "may or may not" issue a carry permit. But in TN if you pass the course, meet your background check, and apply for the license, they "shall" issue it. Really kinda scary in light of what we saw yesterday, LoL.

A few statistics: The class had 25 people in it originally. One guy came in late, making 26. But for percentages sake, I will go with 25. There were 2 black men (8%). There were 5 ladies (20%), 4 out of 5 of them were in their 60s (80% of the women). I felt like a duck out of water, until I got to take the range test. Then I felt right at home. LOL.

Today we did NOTHING. Well we went to Joann Fabrics and spent a little (too much) money, and I had a nap. This evening I finally conquered the Week-long Living-room Laundry Battle. But, I have a load in the dryer even as we speak. ~~ sigh ~~ Oh and I finished and felted my OTHER purple handspun slipper. Not anything to brag about.

Birthdays, Who Needs 'Em

Yesterday was dh's birthday. He is now 66, with an 18-month-old baby girl still running around the house. It doesn't phase him.

I took him to work... the plan was that I would come back to get him and we (just he and I, for a change) would go to the new Chinese buffet right up the street for a nice quiet celebratory dinner.

I felt better yesterday. And, when I got back from taking him to work and came in the house, it didn't stink. A welcome change, I'll tell you. But as is my usual habit, the minute I start feeling any better at all, I immediately do too much. So, I

unraveled, skeined and dyed part of a sweater

reskeined 3 other skeins of yarn to mix the colors

took pics of all the yarn and listed 2 of them on Etsy

made a triple chocolate cake from scratch

folded the last 3 loads of laundry

cleaned the living room

Meanwhile my eldest daughter called, and said, "Tony and Jeremiah stayed up until 1 AM making dad cookies for his birthday, so when the kids get up from their nap, we are going to come over so we are there when dad gets home to give them to him." And my sister called, and said, "We remembered that Richard likes blueberries, so Russ and I made him a cobbler and thought we might come by later to give it to him." Ok...

So when I picked him up from work, I said... Change of Plans... and in his typical form he said OK... so I said, the Chinese place is probably terrible anyway.

When we went to bed, he said it was a nice birthday. Really fun for everyone to be together (in our tiny little house) and talk and goof off and laugh. He was right. Sister reminded me that Thurs. my parents are supposed to be here and we are all going to a local BBQ place for dinner. So I guess that can be our little delayed birthday dinner out.

Oh by the way, yesterday I also got accepted to the Etsy Knitters Street Team. And, by selling one of the new yarns I put up (within about 5 hours), I achieved 100 sales in my shop.

So, a good day.

A Moving Blob

So what does a person do, who can barely breathe and therefore has no energy? Well I am not spindling today, and not unwinding yarn, both of which call for a more upright posture.

I am taking it easy by sitting on the couch like a blob, with my trusty Dell beside me, and folding the 5 loads of laundry that were in the living room awaiting me this morning, and the 3 more I did during the course of the day.

And, I am "letting" (let's just leave it at that) my 13yod, 10yod, 16yos, and almost-8 yos "change" their rooms. My eldest dd gave the girls a queen-size bed. They had a twin-over-full bunk but the 10yo said she thought she was allergic to the mattress. So in comes the queen size, which turns into a 3-day room-cleaning. The bunk bed parts come into the living room.

Then 16 yos says, hey, Josiah and I could put the bunk bed in our room... so out come 2 antique metal twin frames and their mattresses, into the living room. Fill laundry baskets with shoes, stuffed animals, shoes, toys, clothes (wasn't I using those baskets?). Fill 3 trash cans with broken toys, junk, more junk. Move dresser. Find a home for the dumbbell weights. Trip to Megamart for underbed storage. Put the hulking bed together, cover mattresses with bed bags.

All the while stirring up every air pollutant known to man. my keyboard in the setting sun looks like it snowed today, in the house. Maybe I should add antihistamine to the shopping list. Hopefully pretty soon my living room will look like a place one could live, too.

Let everything be done decently, and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:40