Backwoods Babble

I LOVE Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday - mostly because I also LOVE food. I have decided to do the cooking this year at my house. My mom normally does most of it. Here's what the menu looks like: It was a challenge as one of the members of the household (cough ... cough... my dad) is a staunch supporter of everything always being the SAME... ugh. However, should you ASK him what he wants, bizarre things (mostly that sound unappetizing) come out of his mouth. So, I tried to balance the familiar with a little twist. **Fingers crossed this goes over well, because he's also a HUGE whiner.** APPETIZER: Squash Soup , courtesy of Alton Brown's recipe at the Foodnetwork Spinach Salad, (spinach, tomatoes, cucumber and whatever dressing) MAIN: Turkey, of course. We don't usually do anything fancy with ours and I'm not likely to try and change this year, though I'd LOVE to at least stuff it with some aromatics or something.. SIDES: Cranberry Sauce, courte...

For the massive amount of posts yesterday... I was combing a couple of blogs and didn't realize that I didn't HAVE to publish them once they were imported. If anyone knows a way to edit your tags without re-publishing the entire post, please let me know. I'd love to streamline what I've done and didn't really think it through during my original set-up.

I am struggling in my watercolor class, really struggling. I can get most of the way through a painting and then BAM - big blob appears and it's ruined. Ever tried to back track out of a watercolor? It doesn't work well... sigh We had a free day in class last week, since there were so many sickies around the week before. I finished the painting below, notice all the blobby spots, grrr... This was supposed to be rocks, but instead looks more like some high plateau grassy area. I guess I didn't like the rocks. This was from a photo of the Salt Lake from the top of Antelope Island. And this is from an early assignments on color. After the latest blobby disaster in class, we had a lot of time left and I was feeling a little demoralized so I decided to work on a sketch for my next attempt. I like the pencil and ink look so much better. Definitely going to spend more time playing with this. I am plugging along with my Christmas presents again this year. I acquired a bu...

I had been struggling a bit trying to learn the "continental style" of knitting. It is similar, in part, to how you hold the yarn when you crochet. This is something I am very familiar with. Last night - bam! I finally got it down. My stitches look so much better. It's easier to control my tension. Love it! Love it! Love it! And best of all - I can go faster! I think I may actually be able to finish my Christmas presents now. My mom and sister both want scarves and have decided on the same pattern as my first finished project, a simple k2, p2 (knit 2, purl 2) design in varying widths for each. The yarn thief is delighted as well. She love, love, loves, the alpaca blend that I selected for my sister. And is especially fascinated with my bamboo needles. I cannot leave the room or one or the other disappears down the hall in her mouth... sigh... There is a fabulous site found HERE , with great videos to help with learning to knit. It's fabulous - really! Here...