Random posting

Happy New Year everyone - - in about 7.5. hours! Haven't posted much this week even though there has been much to post about - - lots of fun holiday things. I am also fighting, and maybe losing the battle with, a cold. I just spent a bit of time straightening out the checkbook so as to NOT start the new year having to do THAT, and now need to make some vegetarian chili for dinner and for some friends who will also be here around that time.

Two random pictures:

I made this black and white because it was SO sunny, and it was taken with my cellphone. I think we were at Loon Mountain in NH but I'm not sure. Anyways, this is the glamorous ski look - lot of layers of polar fleece and a hair-killing helmet!
And THIS is how windy it is here today:

The plastic, obviously, was stapled down until the 50 mph winds hit it. Let's hope the power holds out long enough for me to make dinner!

What was that?

An earthquake!!

Last night just a little after midnight, I was watching television with DD when we heard what sounded like a train coming, if only we lived near a train station. The windows started rattling and we both jumped up and went to the front door, actually thinking "tornado" more than anything else. The boys in the basement heard it, DH heard it up in bed, but they all thought it was the other group making some kind of noise. Nope. A 3.4 about 40 miles away. We have felt a few earthquakes before, but it wasn't until DD's boyfriend called to say that they also had rattled windows where he lives (more than an hour west) that I got online to check it.
By the way, did you folks in New Castle know that the strongest earthquake in Pennsylvania was the "Pymatuning Earthquake," a 5.2 magnitude, on September 25, 1998? It apparently affected the water table in the area and people are still researching and recording its impact. Some people have had to drill new wells because of it.

The USGS report says Pymatuning one was felt "throughout northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and New York, and much of southern Ontario, Canada. It was also felt as far west as Illinois and Wisconsin, as far east as New Jersey, Connecticut, and the District of Columbia, and as far south as Kentucky and Virginia."

There you have it, news and education all in one post!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Move over Martha

DD has been wanting to try using fondant to decorate a cake, so we bought a box of ready-made Wilton last week for whenever she was ready to try it. Late last night she made a spice cake, and I went to bed. When I woke up this morning, I found this lovely cake on the counter! She found a recipe for buttercream frosting and made it (that's the green stuff) and then colored the fondant pink and rolled it out to make the bow. (She also woke up this morning and ate leftover frosting for breakfast.)

Rusty and the Stuffed Shar Pei

Too funny - - look at his right leg hugging that toy.

Christmas, Christmas, CHRISTMAS!!!

Rainy Day

Good morning and hello rain!

Rusty went to the groomer's and had the gum cut out from his paws. It was a bit unpleasant for him and I hope he does not ever again get into gum! Here is a picture I took over the weekend when I noticed that he was on sentry duty at the dining room window. He was keeping watch on something, most likely a squirrel or a person walking down the lane. Had it been a deer or fox he would certainly have made a report!

Guilty Dog

This is a dog who has put himself in timeout, even though nobody is looking at him, or knows what he's done. It's kind of a clue that something has happened:That is how DS2 found him, not making eye contact, not moving, not breathing, just pretending he is green and able to blend right in with the rug and not be seen. Chameleodog. DS investigated and found the chewing gum, stretched along the rug, stuck to his front paws. Chewing gum, Rusty's downfall. He knows he can't have it, probably knew it should not be stuck to his paws or that he was about to experience the pain of having it pulled it out. Either way it was comical, he did not move or look at me as I cleaned it off the rug and then pulled bits of it off his feet.

After he sat up, this was the face of apology. If only the camera could have captured the rapid blinking. "blink blink you still love me right? blink blink I didn't mean for you to see it blink blink I'm really sorry please stop looking at me like that blink blink


Joke's on him, I can't get the gum out from his pads; he's going to have to go to the groomer today.

What are you doing today?

Good morning. Cold and windy as you can see, and going to get windier. A good day to get some things done, so I'm making a list.

1. Yoga
2. The hand-sewing portion of a few gifts I am working on
3. Clean the hall and laundry room closets
4. Sew a new racquetball shirt for DH
5. Spend about an hour working on something for school
   
6. Potato soup for dinner? I think I need leeks.
7. More handmade Christmas presents to begin
   

Beyond that it's just to clean, which always needs done.

We went out to eat last night in two cars, because I had planned to go to a friend's afterward. I didn't go because the roads were icy with snow and she lives even further out on back roads than we do. I had DS2 drive my car so he could have some experience with driving in the snow/dark/ice, and it turned out to be a good night for it! In that round trip he:

• Avoided hitting DH in the other car, who did a donut right in front of us to avoid hitting the car in front of him.
• Got the hell out of the way of the spinning car behind us who nearly hit DH and wound up taking out a support cable to a telephone/power pole.
• Learned to keep a good long following distance when it's icy.
• Had to detour on some long dark back roads because of an accident that closed 322.
• Had to pass a horse and buggy in the dark, in the snow, on a slippery narrow road. ("Honey, please don't slide into the horse, please don't slide into the horse.")
• Learned that high beams are not a good choice in the snow, that if you are going slow enough around a bend a little fish-tailing can be kind of fun, and it's wise to choose to cut through a neighborhood to avoid a big downhill.

All in all, a valuable driving night for someone who is scheduled for a driving test this Friday for his license!

My morning coffee time is over, I'm going to do some yoga while the house is still quiet.

Gratuitous Son PIcture

Good book, handknitted socks, comfy sofa.

How do you water your Christmas Tree?

Because we have to use a funnel and some tubes! It's a really thick-trunked tree and we can't get water into the stand without spilling it, so this is a brilliant solution. The tube is hidden in the branches and you can just find it, stick the funnel in, and pour one of those water bottles into it.












Then there's this garland. Last year DD and I saw it in a store and realized we could make more of it, and make it even prettier, for less money than it would take to buy it. So we bought some small ornaments, wooden spools, assorted styrofoam balls, and a whole lot of glitter. We made a tremendously shiny mess in the kitchen coating everything with glue and then rolling it all in different cups of glitter. Oh, and we had to poke holes through too. We had "invited" DS2 to join us, and just now when I pulled it out and said, "Look, remember all this garland we made last year?" he visibly shuddered. We will have to invite him to do another craft with us this year.