"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." ~Goethe~

21 September 2009

A most wonderful weekend...

This weekend turned out to be quite wonderful. Not too busy and not too "loud". It started on Friday afternoon for us because it was Glenn's long weekend. After lessons we all headed to the bowling alley to play a couple of games with Dad. It's been awhile since Glenn has joined us. The first game was pretty good. Em got 97 on her first game and convinced Glenn to play one more so she could redeem herself and try to get over 100. Well, it didn't turn out that way with Glenn getting 135, whooping the pants off of the rest of us. We aren't pros as one could tell. Then off to the store to buy canning supplies and a few tid bits.

Saturday you would have found me in the kitchen for a spell, canning for the first time ever! I had to do something with all those tomatoes that I had left. I gave some away but still had alot left. Canning wasn't that bad I tell you. Now I'm looking around to see what else I can put up and save. Salsa is definitely on the list! I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for a pressure canner so that I can attempt to put other veggies away also. This could turn into another little "illness". Who knows around here with me. :)

Afterwards there was some knitting done on the sleeves of the sweater. Let me stop right here and just speak out about patterns that just aren't clear in EVERY little detail. It is a pet peeve of mine being that was my job in the AF, training, and when we wrote training manuals or even taught classes it was very detailed! One left out little tid-bit could be disastrous.

So back to the knitting pattern; I eventually ended up ripping out 30 something rows of work after realizing that things just aren't looking right and that Em had better find some shorter arms. So after going over the pattern again and visualizing things in my head, I realized that things could have been written better and some info was left out. How would you take "increase every 4th row"? I might be slow but I took that as every 4th row! No. The instructions should read "increase every 4th KNIT row" in order for the sleeve to be shaped for a normal child. So some extra words were written in for my well being and then I went to bed. I was quite disgusted looking at all that had been ripped out.

So, up bright and early I was Sunday morning, with a better attitude than when I went to bed. After doing all the necessary things to get the day going, I went out on the deck and stayed there the majority of the day. The day was wonderful with just getting to 72 and the morning was absolutely gorgeous with the cool breezes that were blowing. Absolutely dreamy! I know, it doesn't take much. I had to eventually change out of the jeans due to the fact it got to be too much sitting out in the sun all day. I'm not complaining! Listening to the wind all day in the trees was so absolutely FAB! I wish all the days could be like that. I would be the calmest person you would ever meet. I think the rest of the gang would love that too.

Things went much better with the new and improved pattern and by nights end I had made it to row 103! I was really happy o go to bed in a better mood. A sense of accomplishment! YEA!!
As the day wore down, some checking of the jars was done. The lids didn't have any give to them! I was doing a little jig for my little accomplishment towards "self sustainment". Cross your fingers that no one gets ill now from botulism or something . LOL!!!!! Glenn said the headlines will read "Family in Idaho dead from botulism. Their own tomatoes killed them".

Well, off to get a few chores done and then to cut a slice of bread off of the loaf I made yesterday. Did I mention how I LOVE my bread machine? Well, I do. I'm going to make an effort at making our own bread for now on. Especially since I found unbleached flour at the store. It's a dollar more a bag, but worth it I think. There is no sense in having a machine sitting in your cabinet and not ever using it, after "someone" made a stink about really needing one a few years ago. :)
I so love weekends that pass without a hitch. It just makes things alot brighter when Monday mornings come around. Hope yours was FAB also. Crossing my fingers for a FAB week also!
Put a smile on!

Toodles!

5 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about your bread machine. My mother gave me one for Christmas YEARS ago. I told her not to because when I made bread I always did it by hand. Anyhoooo, she gave me one. I left it under the Christmas tree and didn't even open it -- after all, I knew what it was. A few days later my son called me at work and asked if he could try it out. I told him "Sure, go for it." It made the BEST bread. He made homemade bread every day they were out on school vacation and quite often even after that. I still have that little bread machine and it makes the best bread ever but a very small loaf. So, I bought a new Cuisinart a while back and really love the fact that I can even make JAM in it. (Won't can tomatoes though -- bummer.) Glad your weekend was so FAB.

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  2. KAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR-FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! How's my girl doing? I have missed my visits so much, but I am feeling 100% again and getting back in stride. My eyes hurt so much from my sinus infection that it hurt to even look at the computer screen!

    Read the last post about the continental divide. How cool is that! You sure had some breathtaking views there! Love the pic of the girls in different states!! Too cute! In Texas, you can have one foot in Texarkana Texas and the other foot in Texarkana Arkansas! My kids thought that was neat, too. Your trip sounds DIVINE!!!!

    The hunting camp was fun this weekend, and very scenic too. Love the drive and the people are so nice!

    Way to go girl with the canning! I've been wanting to try that, too! My first canned item will be pear conserve. Florida headlines might read "Lady and Friends Die From Botulism", since mine will be gifts, too! HA!!! Beer bread is the only bread I've made beside banana bread etc... and you don't need a machine for that!! (and I don't have one)

    Hope your week is just amazing!!
    Sure appreciate you, my friend!
    Love n hugs,
    Becky

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  3. the canned tomatoes look fantastic, and its so funny what Glenn said, it really made me laugh.
    glad to hear that your weekend was nic, I hope you have a nice weel as well.

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  4. I'm glad that you figured out the missing link on the pattern write up. Had it been me, that would have been one sleeveless sweater!

    And, I know about that bread machine. I have one in my cabinet right now that my mom and I both invested in years ago, but neither one of us has done anything with it. I even have bread cookbooks. What's wrong with me! This is why I can't watch QVC or those informercials.

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  5. your canned tomatoes look delicious! good for you. my grandma canned tons of fruits and veggies every summer, so we had delicious goodies all year. sadly, i did not inherit her deluxe home cooking gene.

    someday you'll have to share how you "unknit" to fix mistakes... if i try to unravel rows, i always end up losing some stitches or picking them up backwards.

    love the banner photo of your girls, gorgeous!

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