Wrist Warmers

So, I have this weird fascination with fingerless gloves. Not sure why, except they just seem so freakin' COOL. :) Maybe it's my love of fantasy/sci-fi. I mean, of course the rougue mercenary archer's gonna' have a pair (made in leather, of course, and looking like they're about a hundred years old...still cool...), or the guys on the run from the mad robots, living underground like in Terminator. They have to have a pair. C'mon. BUT, as I'm not a mercenary archer, nor on the run from mad robots, mine are much more "cozy" in a nice thick, chunky rust-colored acrylic yarn. (Lion Brand Yarn Jiffy in Rust color) They are warm and cozy and soft and were super easy to make. I think they will go great with my orange wool coat, or just with a nice long sleeve t-shirt. And it will free up my fingers, which I love, since I HATE how you can never grip anything properly wearing REAL gloves or (shudder) mittens! (I HATE mittens for that very reason.) Anyway, I was quite pleased with how they turned out and will be making me another, longer (to the elbows) pair probably out of the same yarn in brown. My Little Bit has also requested a pair in brown to wear to school in the fall when it gets cooler. :) I was, of course, flattered. Maybe she'll have my taste in movies, too.

Craft Fair

Here's a couple pics from the craft fair I recently attended on base. It was a pretty good turn out, better than last year, though it's a relatively low-key, small event. Just fun and friends. Speaking of friends, that's my friend Julie in the picture there. She came to help out and keep me company. (And sell her Mary Kay.)
Of course, as soon as I came home, I dropped my camera and killed it, so I haven't had the chance to put any of my new items in my shop just yet. (naturally) But we just recently got our new camera (I think hubby was actually relieved I dropped it so he had an excuse to finally get the one he really wanted...) So, now, as soon as I figure out all the new buttons, I'll post it all. :)
Happy Wednesday!

Why you should wear shoes on an old deck...

Yes, this is why you should most DEFINATELY wear shoes. As a lover of barefoot-ness, I have always had trouble taking the time or incentive to put on my shoes, and as a result, I have often had to endure the occasional ant bite, but THIS time, it was much worse.
I had gone out to water my plants. Simple enough, right? I mean, I was only going to go on the deck, not actually go into the weeds...er, grass, so I didn't see why I would actually need my shoes, right? Yeah, this was the thinking BEFORE I tripped and RAMMED my foot into an old jagged portion that had separated from the rest of the board. I ripped a gash in the bottom of my foot and got a HUGE splinter through the bottom of my big toe. Once in the house (hobbling, of course), I managed to get the mangled wad of skin cut off of my foot (there was no way THAT was laying down again), and the big splinter out. I poured hydrogen peroxide over it all (WOW, did it bubble!), but I could tell I wasn't going to have the guts to dig out the rest of the wood still stuck in my foot (in little tiny pieces). So, off to the ER we go. First, to get a tetnus (it had been over ten years since mine. Oops.) Then to have it irrigated. This sounds so harmless, doesn't it? Yeah, I 'bout came up off the bed, when they "pressure washed" wood out of my cuts. Ow. To put it mildly. I have to admit, though. Even I was impressed with how many little slivers of wood floated around in the water. There was no way I would have EVER gotten that all out! But, alas, it wasn't over, yet. There was ONE piece still stuck in my toe that they just couldn't wash out, no matter how HARD they injected water into the hole in my foot. So, here comes the needle. My mother informed me that they would at least deaden it at the doctor before digging around in there, as opposed to having my husband try it. Wrong. They didn't. And again. Much Ow. He kept having to stop to wipe up the blood so he could see what he was doing again. (Ew) About fifteen minutes or so of this (it just WOULDN'T budge), and about the time I start to get really woozy and queasy, they do finally manage to get it out and me all bandaged up, sending me home with bright purple bandages and a prescription for antibiotics.

Ah, well, I'd been wondering what to do for a Friday night, huh? :)

Cheese Danish

I LOVE Cheese danishes. Almost to the point of wrong-ness. LOL There are few things more delightful to me than a fresh (still warm) cheese danish (or if you can't get right out of the oven, you can nuke one for a few seconds until it's nice and warm and soft again), drizzled in a glaze icing with a nice tall glass of milk. It's almost heavenly. But these were things you bought at the bakery or enjoyed at some luncheon that someone bought and brought from who know's where. This was not something you make at home. Was it? And then one day, I was watching the Barefoot Contessa as she made her own version of the EASY cheese danish, and something inside me clicked...and rejoiced! I COULD MAKE MY OWN????? So, I can guarantee you I went right out to get the ingredients (though I do cook often, I generally bake "normal" at home goodies (cookies, cakes, brownies, muffins, etc), and I had never before enjoyed the wonders of frozen puff pastry. Oh, yeah, it's probably better for all had I NOT found this out.) But I whipped them up and BAM, perfection. :)

Delicious, delectable, de-LIGHT-FUL! (Those of you who have watched the Upside Down show regularly might actually appreciate that little reference. Awesome kid show...even if you're not a kid...) I did make a couple minor changes. She only folds two corners, but I found it made an odd shape, and I could only fit half as many on my stone that way, so I made them square, and I added that little drizzle of icing, because, COME ON! You gotta' have icing! What was she thinking?! LOL No, really, they'd be very good without the icing, but I much prefer them WITH, I can promise you. And I don't put too much, as you can see, just enough to give it that extra little boost of sweetness to compliment my deliciously tall glass of extra cold milk (If you put it in the freeze for about ten minutes or so, you actually get a tiny sheet of ice on top. Ah...I'm actually shivering with anticipation... The only drawback...I wouldn't exactly call this a "cheaper" version of the dessert/breakfast/snack, though I guess it would depend on where you buy yours and so on. The puff pastry itself isn't exactly cheap, as a whole box will only make eight, though it probably comes out about the same as buying them at some decently priced bakery. But, I'm serious, just the JOY of being able to say, "hey, I made cheese danishes today." is enough satisfaction for me to say, "Oh, yes. It was worth every penny."

Twin Re-joining Syndrome

Okay, so my boys have this not so lovely little condition. It's called Twin Re-joining syndrome and it occurs when their now separate molecules attempt to occupy the same space at the same moment, or re-combine with one another. The symptoms are quite stressing as both boys will repeatedly run SMACK into one another on a depressingly frequent basis. And, friends, I'm not talking a little bump on the noggin. I'm talking, full body, head-to-toe impact that sends both of them sprawling flat on their backs, screaming in agony as the new knots start to form on their foreheads. This is, I have decided, their bodies trying to rejoin, as apparently they aren't content to be only near each other and will repeatedly try to occupy the same space at precisely the same moment. As I've said, this occurs sometimes more than once a day, with no warning, whatsoever. It can occur in any area of the house, completely randomly, completely sporadic. And as you can see, quite stressful! I'm not sure what you can do about it, only that hopefully as they grow older, their little twin molecules will become happy in their single little bodies and stop this very frustrating habit. Until then I can only stock up on ice packs. sigh.