Luckiest Auntie

You know those friends of your parents? The ones who were family, even though you weren't related? Well, our Noodle is our "niece" but her mom and I are not sisters, in the traditional sense.

Today, I got to share the day with Mari and Noodle at the Gore Sheep Festival in Waltham, Mass. No yarn, still on my diet, but I did get some new bling. Hope your weekend was full of fun, fiber and friends, too.

10 on Tuesday: vacation

Today's 10 on Tuesday is pretty appropriate for Carole...I'm guessing her #1 is "not visiting battle sites." Mine are pretty "specific"  as 99% of PC and my vacations are camping. Camping is great and  I love it,but  it's not a worry free or stuff-free vacation.

photos to show what we love about camping

So, top 10 things about coming HOME from vacation...

1. Showering inside. And without flip flops. Our favorite campground doesn't heat the bathrooms, so our May and October camping trips are plagued with eye-opening showers. 

not Dan.

2. Sleeping on a real mattress. Off the ground. Our double height air mattress is great, but after a week? i'm ready for my bed.

not quite, but i do have a rug. 

3. prep space for cooking.We have a camp stove, a camp grill and a camp kitchen that we take on weeklongs... I love them all,but I miss my island. 

mine is very close to this

4. the right tools for cooking--- i have most of what I need, but limited to 1 pan, 1 pot. 

yumm....beans

5. TV for rainy days. Yup, I love camping,but when it's dark and a rainy night, sometimes you miss the good old tv. I love to read, so my nook gets a hefty workout when we're camping.

6. Not having to hike to find the bathroom. Our favorite campground has 2 bath houses... neither of which is next to our favorite sites. 

our camp has these, but they aren't in use. But they have them!

7. The cat. Yup, I'm one of those... I miss Pumpkin when we're away. She doesn't miss us, though... she's at PC's parents house, living the high life.

Pumpkin as a baby

8. Having everything in one place. When you camp, you end up moving stuff. Alot. Like the coolers into and out of the cars (bears).

9. Air conditioning.... last year, we camped during the hottest week in N.H. history. With a 3 year old. Granted, we were by the lake all day, but still... barely a breeze and even the shade was hot. 

10. planning the next camping trip!!!

our first site at Cove Camping Area, Conway Lake... 7 years ago. 

great stash knitdown

The 2012 great stash knit down continues. To date, I haven't purchased a single skein or ball of yarn in 2012. Imagine that? Even when Kim at Woolen Rabbit announced her yarn club. (my heart sank) Or when Webs decided to inundate my house with reminders that the anniversary sale is NOW! (and Cascade 220, my go-to standard, is on sale for like $5). Or when I sat down at Iron Horse Farms in Natick with Dora and flipped through pattern books. And helped her buy yarn. I bought two pattern books, a set of needles and a knitting basket. But no yarn. :) And, as an aside to the lovely owner of Iron Horse-- she respected my wish to shop the stash first, my commitment to knitting with what i have... never pushed. I will be back. Not my favorite shop, but it will get my yarn dollars just for that. Oh, and the kitchen table to sit at and flip through pattern books.

What's on my needles? Finishing up a Molly scarf in Noro Silk, a sweater for a bambina (! a girl!) on the way, sweaters for next fall for her brothers... and some hats, mittens, fingerless mitts. Yup, i'm busy and I have two quilts that need to be 1) quilted and bound, 2) designed, pieced, layered, quilted and bound.

I'm a busy woman!

"Don't put me down until I'm dry. Ok?"

"If eyedrops and medicine mean 2 cookies, what does a bath mean? My own chicken?"

I leave you with adorable cat-washing photos... Pumpkin was very well behaved during her bath. Not a meow, a hiss or growl to be heard. She resisted, but she really liked being dried off in a warm fluffy towel. And she's cleaner now. And, hopefully, less dandruff-y.

on my game...

You ever have one of those days where you feel like you really have it all together? My house is clean (not the craft room, just the house), I made two of the recipe below (one for tonight, one for the freezer) before I left for work (put in the oven, take shower and dry hair, remove from oven, cool while eating breakfast), took out the trash/recycling, grabbed 3 bags of clothes to donate after work... it's a good day.

Today, I want to share with you a recipe that is one of my go-to meals when we're 1) saving money on groceries or 2) having one of "those" weeks where dinner just needs to be ready whenever someone is home. (for the record, we're experiencing both this week)

Crustless quiche

5 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup of milk
5-6 ounce ham, diced (leftover Easter ham would be good)
1 cup asparagus pieces (leftover roasted asparagus is divine in this)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Place the ham, asparagus and cheese in the bottom a pie dish, coated with cooking spray. Beat milk into eggs and add to pie dish. Using a fork, move the contents around so that the egg settles throughout the dish. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Eat hot or let cool.

We'll have ours tonight with a green salad and french bread. And probably a beer. I said it's been one of those weeks, didn't I?

I have knitting to show, but I've decided to write up the pattern (it's simple,but we all need beginner patterns at some point, right?) so you'll see photos tomorrow. And pattern by the end of the month. If you want to test-knit, leave a comment and your email address. or email me at kskaare (at) gmail (dot) com.

hello, 1991

I got this from Classic Elite today in my inbox:

I know the yarn is "Florida themed" but this is a little "Golden Girls?"

An ad for their new line of yarns, Sanibel. The yarn looks great, but the associated patterns? Hello, 1991...am I right? Now, I will admit, that with the new creative leadership at the helm, I've been staunchy shying away from CE designs, but I do still love their yarn. And, one of the patterns is cute, but the yarn takes away from the cuteness!  

cute, right? In a solid color, this would be adorable. 

Maybe it's just me, but I'm really hoping that we see something better for Fall 2012.