she's just saying...

By the light of the ammo candle...

This is definitely a Friday Frylet. Note the evocative color choices.

 

And have a Happy New Year!

The vacation that would never end

Due to the beautiful and magical Christmas Day snowstorm here in the North Carolina mountains, we've been stuck delayed here three days longer than planned, logging in our ninth day in residence today. We are confirmed to fly out tomorrow at 6 am God willing and the creek don't rise as they say here in the colorful Smokies. Or they should, if they don't.

After the requisite five hours on the phone on hold with various travel entities, we gave up and settled in. Me to knitting, eating and drinking, Henry to cartoons and endless video game devices. We ventured out to shop for shoes a few times as consolation. We miss our cats and home, but we're certainly getting visiting time in which is nice. MyBigBro was with us until yesterday which added good diversion and also a lot of noise. I come from a family of loud talkers, I should add. With six extremely verbal family members around the table growing up, you had to talk loud or keep quiet. I was the keep-quiet one.

This trip, we talked a lot about throwing up. BigBro fondly reminisced about how I got carsick all the time as a child; the times we had to pull over to let me get out on the way home from church; or not pulling over soon enough, etc. Henry was fascinated of course. For some unknown reason, Henry and I both had "intestinal upsets" this visit. Mine occurred all Christmas Eve night - thanks, Santa! Kept me from eating all the Christmas cookies at least.

Christmas card

Disclosure: this pic is from last Christmas, but since I'm not home to take another, this will have to do.

Merry Christmas, all! Hope yours was wonderful, or at least you weren't throwing up.

Ours was wonderful anyway, and I'm feeling much better, thanks.

the cookie list

Sorry for the delay in posting. Some holiday or something intervened. As well as the intestinal flu.

But before I ended up prone and moaning for the last 24 hours on my parents' couch, I was busy knitting presents (mostly done - more on that at another time), shopping, cleaning up, making dinners, wrapping and most importantly, baking cookies.

Due to not being home for the holidays, I didn't get to the usual 5+varieties. Here's the final tally:

• Russian Teacakes
• Cocoa Rum Balls
• Peppermint and bitter chocolate frosted brownies
• Lemon Coconut Squares, not technically a Christmas cookie but by demand from MyBigBro

 Aunt Hattie's Squash Rolls made an appearance, plus your usual oyster stew, seafook paella, roast beef, chicken pot pie, apple crisp and go-withs.

Today we're snowed in, which is pretty cool actually in North Carolina, so we are canceling the one chance we had to go out to eat and are cooking at home again tonight. We're throwing in the towel and having waffles with chicken gravy.

Photo of something interesting here when I feel better.

 

 

Final plane

We made it! Sleep deprived & cranky.

Plane #2: the view from the very back

It's an adventure!

 

Yes, we are traveling on the worst day of winter yet in Central Oregon. Snow all day, foggy and icy drive to the airport, delayed flights. I'll post a shot of the long-term parking lot. (Our car in front.) It was a little eery-looking, actually - like the parking lot of the lost.

Henry and I have pretty good traveling karma, actually (unlike most of my family members). And tonight we encountered something we've never seen before. Our flight out was delayed so we would miss the connecting flight and the two flights after that (the schedule from hell: 4 planes all through the night.) When we arrived to wearily wait for the inevitable nightmare of rerouting our trip, the counter gal said; "Oh, the Hochschilds. We were just working on your trip a little while ago. We've re-routed you and you're set to go. Here are your new boarding passes." Seriously. Proactive customer service. I was speechless. And we ended up with a better connections and one less plane change. So here's to Horizon Air in Redmond Oregon. They rock.

 

 

Ghost lot

-

The Knitmas tally to date

In the tradition of knitters everywhere, I cling to very optimistic views of what I can produce on deadline. I've been on the Knitmas train since early October, and here's the tally of finished objects so far (identifying details have been removed to protect the surprise):

• 2 hats (plus 2 more orphan hats that I rejected as gifts)
• 2 sets of fingerless mitts
• 1 pair of footwear
• 1 sock
• 1 cowl
• 1 scarf
• 1 bag
• 1 chapstick cozy
• 3 mini Santa hat ornaments (my version of procrastinating)

 I still have to finish: 1 scarf (halfway done), 3 hats (2 started so far), 1 sock and 1 set of mitts. There are six knitting days left until Christmas. Piece of cake, right?

I've already informed several recipients that they're not getting their gifts til after Christmas, so that buys me a little more time. Meanwhile, I won't be blogging, or doing much of anything but knitting with grim determination and focus. Other than taking four planes to North Carolina, setting up my parents' tree, baking cookies, making meals, doing errands and shopping and trying to keep Henry entertained. Should be a fun week! Really.

Note: this is not happening again next Christmas. Target gift certificates for all!

How are you all doing on your Christmas lists?

Revealed! The origins of this blog title

OK, moving on. More on Bindy Sue or Cindy Lou or Windy Poo later.

I'm guessing some of you heard Scott Simon's diatribe on NPR's Weekend Edition this morning about the phrase "I'm just saying." I didn't take it personally. In fact, the reason this blog is similarly named (aside from the fact that someone else owned "I'm just saying") stems from my own comments about the phrase some years ago.

An acquaintance made some homophobic comments to me about my boyfriend at the time (seriously?) and ended his speculation with "I'm just saying... ." I was relating the story to said boyfriend and went off on a rant about the phrase and its use, somehow ending up referring to Nazi sympathizers in wartime Germany  (there might have been some wine involved). It turned into a running joke between us and seemed like the right kind of ironic, tongue-in-cheek title for the new blog I was starting.

Still, I think Mr. Simon might have gone off a bit himself when he called the phrase "snide, snarky and insincere." Sheesh. He had just been tasting a bunch of port in the previous segment, so maybe he was under the influence himself. Whatever*.

 

*Another snide, snarky and insincere expression IMO. And I'll bet you thought I was going to end this post with I'm just saying...

A completely-sincere Scott Simon, revealed.

Name that dog?

A guest post by a very creative friend who clearly has too much time on his hands:

"A free sampling of potential names for Bindy Sue will now follow:

• Indie Goof (For her love of alt rock)
• In She Flew (to help you urgently)
• Then She Drew (her inner artist)
• Windy Poo (here solely for Henry’s amusement)
• Bendy Too (a yoga partner for you)
• Tasty Brew (Bend appropriate)
• Miss Construe (doggie drag queen)
• Go Away Shoo (security pooch)
• If Only We Knew (she looks curious)
• Kalamazoo (got nothing for that) and finally,
• Depardieu (but you can call her Gerry for short).

I have me all crazy kinds of time to come up with more if you don’t cotton to any of these here labels. This well runs deep.

*BTW, there is another Bindi Sue. She’s an Aussie Expat who has moved her business of tattoo artistry to Mumbai and specializes in forehead dots (bindis). Just being helpful."

Our next dog

This is Bindy Sue. We met her at the local pet store this weekend at an adoption event. She was a stray, malnourished and scared, brought into the Lakeview Humane Society. She's been living with a foster family and is crate-trained and learning her manners. They think she's a couple of years old.  She's very eager to please, seems sweet and lovey. Aside from the unfortunate name*, she's perfect!

She appears to be a Catahoula Leopard Cur, and yes, that's really a breed. It's the state dog of Louisiana, known for rounding up wild boars, which should come in handy when there are six boys in the house. Also 'coon hunting, not actually all that useful.

We've been talking to the foster mom, who appears to be the Humane Society in Lakeview (small town). No one's committed anything yet, but it looks good. We'd get her on New Year's, a good way to start our new life together.

So what sounds enough like Bindy Sue to not confuse her if we change her name? Given her Louisiana heritage, a two-word name seems fitting. Lindy Lou? Cindy Lou Who? Suggestions?

*Bindi Sue is the name of Steve Irwin's slightly-too-adorable daughter.

The dog jones

I want another dog. I miss that doggy presence in the house, and the cats are getting way too spoiled. But. I have to admit it's simpler without one these days. Henry doesn't seem to miss having one and he can't really be counted on to care for a dog, so it's all on me. So I'm vacillating.

Reasons not to get a dog:

• Yet another mouth demanding to be fed at 7 am
• No picking up dog poop
• One less guilt-inducing thing waiting at home
• No barking

Reasons to get a dog:

This is Teddy, waiting for adoption right now in Bend

I've already started to stalk Petfinder.com, so it's probably just a matter of time...

Breaking news: honeysuckle

Reddish-pink color is predicted as 2011's hot hue

NEW YORK – It may be gray outside when the calendar flips to 2011, but a bright red-pink hue will be in fashion.

"Honeysuckle" is the color of 2011 chosen by Pantone Color Institute, the research arm of Pantone Inc., the company that largely sets color standards for the fashion and home industries.

The reddish pink shade lights a fire to your senses and revs you up, says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.

via news.yahoo.com

screwing the poultry

That's got to be my most provocative post title yet.

Here is my poultry trussing screw:

I have to admit I threw that implement in the kitchen tool list just to skew it in my favor. (Note: I said "skew" there.) I actually use twine and or skewers most of the time, as the skewer screw is a little tricky to get right.

So, what weird implements do you have in the back of your drawer?

Top Ten Tues: Kitchen Implement Challenge

Great-Aunt Hattie's Squash Rolls, and a pie

First, a Thanksgiving story:

I was invited to a friend's home for the meal, and we planned a relaxed, mellow evening with kids and food. I offered to bake a pie and yeast rolls, and was asked to make the cranberry sauce as well. I provided a good bottle of wine, and we agreed we needed a vegetable, so I suggested I make this fantastic brussels sprouts and shallots thing. Turns out I was making quite a bit of the meal. On Tuesday the host family's new stove was delivered but unfortunately did not fit, so my oven was pressed into service for the turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes that my friend made. Thursday morning, they dropped off the turkey, still in its plastic, two pans and went skiing. I spent the day mixing, baking, trussing, cooking and basting, and made the gravy too. I piled it all up in the car with Henry and we drove a few blocks for dinner. Once there, I whipped up the brussels sprouts dish and ended up carving the turkey as well.

At least I didn't have to do the dishes.

Luckily for all, I love cooking, though maybe not all day. The meal was fantastic of course, and we did bring home leftovers.

So, the challenge: here are some of the unusual tools I used on Thursday. How many of these do you have in your kitchen?  [Once again, #1Sister can't play as I know she has them all.]

1. Pie weights
2. Crust guards
3. Trussing screw
4. Turkey baster
5. Stock/oil separator
6. Dough-kneading board
7. Citrus zester
8. Meat thermometers
9. Flat whisk
10. Nut grinder