The Evil Intergalactic Consortium of Angry Housewives Wants You!

Our goal is to accomplish any of the following (really just getting people to come bearing chocolate would make me happy):

Force husbands to clean through mind control
Make everyone behave in a civilized fashion at the dinner table
To garner respect for aprons in the kitchen
To insure that anyone stepping across the threshold of the kitchen bears chocolate (good chocolate) and understands that things may still get thrown at them
To make known that "What's for dinner?" is not an appropriate greeting
That "Don't put it down, put it away" is etched onto the brains of children (and people in general)
A place for everything and everything in it's place...as long as I don't have to put it away.

We offer exceptionally good homemade cookies as incentive for crossing over to the dark side.

I have been rather busy, with Halloween and Thanksgiving none to far off, but not so busy as to not come up with some very interesting distractions with friends! Join today! All genders welcome, angry girlfriends/boyfriends accepted as interns/sidekicks. ;-)

So very easily distracted

It's sad really. It's not like there aren't enough projects in progress around here, I had to start a dozen more. The handful of projects I had in progress are still slowly being accomplished. Six of the seven towels I've been embroidering are done, but I decided to embroider two half aprons as well due to the "oooh shiny!" factor at Sublime Stitches . The knitting would be under control if the need to design and re-design things hadn't suddenly and rather unexpectedly bit. Technicolor mesh thigh high stockings mysteriously appeared on the needles. A table runner pattern was really lovely, but not quite what I was looking for so I had to design a whole new one. The vintage stocking pattern was nice, but why not make them toe up with a different lace pattern up the front? Mild contemplation of yarn stash led to the mental designing of and immediate need to write down a pattern for slippers.
Top it off with an internal debate about whether to keep my hair decidedly red, go back to natural blonde, or split the difference and go for a strawberry blonde?
Did I mention we started painting as well?

Playing Dress-Up

It's still such a fun thing to do! Especially when it's not something you do very often, you can do it in something you made yourself, and you have a darling husband who likes to play dress up as much as you do. That is my goth Juney dress. I showed up at a friend's house just like that, only with a Tupperware container holding a homemade devil's food cake with real buttercream frosting, dusted with cocoa powder, decorated with fresh mint sprigs held in front of me. Yes. Really. Just like those '50's television shows. Of course it was done on purpose! Even better was the fact that my lovely friend Mara,(whose house we were actually going to for dinner) made me the adorably perfect flowered headband I have on in the picture. I was so tickled I may have squealed just a little. It's one of those things I think I may have to do more often, even if only to go to the grocery store.

Wow. Just wow.

So, we actually did the traditional family summer vacation this year; a road trip that covered a lot of miles in two and a half weeks. It certainly ran the gamut experience wise; an evening get together at a friend's house and family barbecues to braving Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. Is it any wonder I am rather happy to be home, doing boring, simple tasks like laundry and dishes again?
There will be pictures, though they need sorting through. I did get to wear my goth Juney dress, to rather good effect I think.
I'm already lamenting being so far away from everyone again. I started plans for my visitors at Thanksgiving on the way home. I may be looking forward to having people come see us just a little bit. I'll just have to keep myself occupied till then.

Littlest is no longer so little

My youngest is now twelve. There was exploding soda, comic books and green butter cream frosting on brownies. There were also thunderstorms, but those weren't by his request. All in all, he seemed to enjoy himself quite a bit, so that is what counts.

Isn't he adorable? I think he was worth the effort. He's really a lot of fun to carry around. I admit I haven't finished his drawstring yet, but it's a lot of i-cord when I'd much rather be knitting lace, cables and socks.
I am lamenting the wind today. It uprooted all three of my heirloom melon seedlings that were doing so beautifully. Re-planting is a part of gardening, doesn't mean I have to like it.

I shouldn't have made it

But I so wanted caramel! The little martini shot glass made a perfect serving vessel, elegant, no more than a few spoonfuls. Yes, I was eating it straight with a spoon. No apples or even crackers. Just a lovely little glass, filled with decadent golden goo, to be licked from whatever utensil was handy. It did make me feel better, especially when eaten curled up in bed watching movies I love. Definitely worth it.

Let the sewing begin!

Doesn't this scream Goth housewife? Such a happy print in such dark colors, I love the combination very much. It's the first on the rather long Must Sew list. I've been busy trying to knit up a laundry list of items before mid-June. I keep paring down the list hoping to make it more achievable, but it was really an extensive list to begin with. Sewing is a bit more instant gratification than knitting, so maybe this list of things to make will go just a bit faster. Fingers crossed!

Bad Knitter, No Cookie

I am trying to finish one of these, AlliGator Bag , even came up with a few modifications for it because I can't seem to leave well enough alone. And really, could I possibly leave something like this alone? Of course not, he must be a dragon, not a gator. A little felt for eyes and flame et voila, instant dragon conversion. This would have gone much better if I hadn't been in such a hurry to finish the bag itself. I knew I had the wrong number of stitches. Figured a stitch or two wouldn't be a big deal, the bag is felted a bit anyway, there was some leeway. And then, then I finished the bag. I looked at it laying there, ends not woven in and realized there was no avoiding it. I was going to have to rip out the bottom third of the thing and re-knit it. Blast and Damn. This bag has given me blisters (I knit rather tight sometimes). I've been knitting with band-aids on my fingers. Re-knitting parts of this are very last on my list of things I want to do, but I want this bag so very badly. It's perfect cartoon-like elegance calls to me.
I think this evening will require a few things; deep breathing, a glass of wine, some chocolate and someone else to fold the laundry.

It's Earth Day again

Do you grow anything you can use as food? Have you reduced your meat consumption at all? Can you honestly say you eat at home more often than not? If so, yay! Good for you! If not, why not? Yes, these are things are tend to take an investment of time, a little thought, but they also tend to be much cheaper financially than standard options.
Maybe it's me being a food junkie, but fresh raspberries, picked that morning, rinsed and eaten for breakfast, fantastic! Fresh herbs on just about anything works well, and tastes so lovely! Is there anything better than a homegrown, heirloom tomato still slightly warm from the afternoon sun? Absolutely delicious!
Growing anything is a labor of love. Patience and tending are required for plants to produce wonderful, tasty things for you to eat. For most of us, an entire bush of berries is worth the investment, instead of shelling out far too much money for a plastic container with a scant pint of berries in it that have been shipped in from another state.
If you really are unable to have even a tiny pot of mint or basil on a windowsill, please, find your local farmers' market. Encourage those who do grow these amazing things for you to eat. Try real food a few times. You don't have to go raw or even vegetarian, herb steak is yummy too. Just pick good meat, from a local butcher if you've got one.
Become a food snob! It's better for you and the planet!

Did I mention the yarn?

My biggest birthday present was yarn. Seven entire sweaters worth. One sweater for a cabled pattern that will fit my Darling Husband who is 6 foot 5 inches. That ends up being quite a bit of yarn! One of those sweaters just needs a touch of finishing. It only took me two days to knit up. I'm feeling much love for bulky yarn and huge needles. Only seventeen more knit projects to finish in the next two months. I might be over-estimating the time available to me.

Lately I've been trying to push myself physically. Actually exercising. Eating the way I know I'm supposed to as opposed to the way I would really like to. Custard eclairs and maple bars are not allowed to be standard fare! I want the clothes I am making to fit exactly right. I am so very much my own worst critic. ;-)