WILDLIFE

It is interesting to live only 17 miles from downtown. And about three miles to the nearest mall. And in order to view wildlife, all I need do is look out my window or across the patio. the deer have moved to another area of the grounds, because they herd in winter. Oh, there weren't any deer and human contacts this year. The last two years previous, there were several. In fact, a buck attacked our postal person, right here in our cul-de-sac. He had to yell for help and three men came o his aide. All sustained injuries before the buck finally ran off. When the deer herd and leave, that is why we have the turkeys using the area for their browsing and feeding grounds. Must be a lot of food for them as they come by several times a day. They are so comfortable now, that if they are tired, they lay down and rest under the small shrubs just on the other side of the patio wall, by the guest parking lot. The flock consists of nine hens and the tom.
I went out and sat in my patio chair Monday. And watched the birds flocking and sreaming, because there is weather change going on. Birds do that. There were only the little birds; sparrows and finches I think. Two kinds of sparrows for sure. No blackbirds, we don't seem to have them here. There used to be Chick-a-dees. but, no more. I don't know why. No Robins either. Used to be. Maybe the Ravens scared them away. Ravens are sacred bird in many cultures. A gathering of ravens are called; an unkindness of Ravens'. Interesting.

PINK SKIRT

Well, the skirt is finally done. The only thing, there is no room for a waistband, because the doll's waist is so small. She is 4" around. Very tiny. I may have made the skirt a 1/4" too long. I don't know. But it doesn't hang right And I made the placket wrong for this style skirt too. It is the sort of thing that only shows up after the fact. No, I'm not redoing it! Too complicated. Eithne will just have to live with it.

CANDIED PEAR

This all the pieces I ended up with. I began with two full pears. But, Hb. cut most of the pieces too small to use for glazing. There were 12 pieces, but we each ate one. There were more last night, maybe two dozen pieces. We kept tasting, you know.The brown color is from the cinnamon. like I said, when I am experimenting, I work in small batches. That way, if I mess up, it's small mess.
I will make some more next week. the pieces will be larger too.

ADVENTURES IN COOKING--Candied Fruit

Well, I found a project for myself during November and maybe December.
I ran a across some recipes for making candied fruit. And I thought I would see what happened. I was tired of doodling with apples. Therefore, I decided to do pears. besides the pectin in pears seems easier on my stomach.
I am now now on my second pass. The first time I didn't take time to really memorize the recipe. So, I ended up with just some cooked sliced pears.This time I have a sort of candied pear slices, but the pears were the soft flesh kind, so came out a bit too soft. But---- they were candied. I had gotten the sirup to the correct heat.
Hb. is going to pick up another type of pear for me tomorrow.
A type that has much firmer flesh. And we will make larger slices. I am only doing one or two pears at a time. That way, I only make a small mess. And if it gets really botched, There is not a big waste. I hate to waste food.
I got to thinking this afternoon, and remembered that my family has not had a good track record for making candy. Remember my post about the 'Fudge Farce'? Ha, ha,!
But, then, hey, doing the sirup for glace', is very like the sirup to make 7 minute icing. And Mom and I had that down pat.
The 'ball' stage is the same. So, that's why I decided to give making candied fruit a college try.
Stay tuned, I will let you know how this next batch turns out.

VARIOUS-FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT

Amongst some things I had kept papers and souvenirs, I found some small essays from when I was in high school. Mrs. Corrigan was a botch, (oh typo, well maybe not really), of a teacher. She was a bitch too. I never could seem to do it right I guess I kept this because she had actually gave me a 'good' grade. She was miffed with me, because I had made a golden brown tweed coat in Home Ec. class and she wanted to buy it from me. I turned her down and said it was for my Mother. Really, though I just couldn't stand her. Guess I ought to have sold it after all.
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Here is one of my stories. From back then. My Junior year in high school. English-III
I have always liked to write short stories.
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THE FIRST WAFFLES

Lady Margot was in her home. She was baking and she was making some nice wheat cakes. She had just taken some fresh ones out of the . The table being cluttered, Lady Margot set them on a chair to cool.
Just then, her husband, Sir Dave the Dragonslayer came in. He had on his chain mail armour. After he had greeted her, he sat down--right on the fresh cakes! His wife scolded him, but he ate them anyway.
His wife liked the effect of the chain mail marks on the cakes and Sir Dave liked the way the dents kept the butter from running off.
So, every week after. She made him put on his armour and sit on the cakes.
Well, the rage spread. But, after awhile the men got tired of sitting on the cakes, so they had irons made for their wives to use.
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And that's the story about the First Waffles.
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This is a cooking legend I found in Mom's Betty Crocker Cookbook. I found several ideas for class assignments in that book. Received very good marks too.-------- I received a B+ on this one.
I was docked a little on neatness. For these assignments, we were only graded on content and style.

TURKEY---5,000 WAYS

How many ways can you prepare a turkey?
The Food Channel has really been going gung ho on the Thanksgiving Dinner thing. Sunday night was the battle of the chefs. Then everyone else is having their own take on the food. You know, I just no longer care. I am satiated and I've not even eaten anything. In fact I can't . IBS prevents me. I just might be able to have a small piece of white meat. And otherwise, mashed potatoes. This is the first year we have had Comcast cable and Food TV. Although we may have had it where we were before we moved here. Although five years ago, I know I didn't watch it that much. At the time I found it hokey and boring. It has been seriously revamped since. The line up has already been redone and we have only had this for a year. Everybody is nuts to attract the 'young' demographics. They completely forget the mature audience with a more sophisticated and discerning taste.
I rather enjoyed watching Food TV because it is the only really creative show on TV. I used to watch Carol Duvall on HGTV. I liked the crafts. TLC and Discover channel had crafts too. But, they have been canceled. And replaced with stupid reality stuff. DUMBB. Yuck.
You may wonder how, with my IBS and can't eat much, that I can watch all that food cooking going on? Well, I used to have this really great diet tape. Subliminal suggestion. Worked great, I no longer have to listen to it. Still works. That's why I can watch all that cooking and not get hungry. In fact, I become quite turned off.
Hb. has learned a lot of things for his use. Nice. He cooks quite well. And enjoys it too. He has a high metabolism and can eat almost anything.

OUTING

Awhile back on, October-29th. I finally got cabin fever and had Hb. take me for a ride. So, he surprised me and we ended up at Fabric Warehouse. Well, I as was dressed for daytime and I went in. I haven't been to a fabric store in two years. Quilting had pretty much replaced personal sewing and the cottons are quilt fabrics. I had a momentary memory lapse and went looking for a small print in pink. Most of the fabrics were in warm and jewel colors. Maybe only three bolts in pink. And not in any pattern I would use. Hb. turns to me and remarks, "are you sure you want to stand in a line that long tonight?"
I looked and said," oh, no". The line was half way down the aisle from the check out. The line for the cutting table was as long.
I observed," perhaps it was people after work coming shopping".
There was a young woman shopping in the same aisle, who turned to me and said, "no. it's because it is three days before Halloween. It's also like this before Christmas too. Or any holiday".
I laughed and said, "Oh my goodness, that's right. It has been so long since I have been out. I had forgotten that it's always a zoo trying to shop during any holiday".
So, Hb. asked, "so, you aren't going to try to buy something tonight?"
"Nope, no way, I replied, Besides, I just considered, I was looking for 'pink' fabric. This is Winter. Pink is a Spring color. I wasn't really thinking."
I looked around some more, at fabric, and some decorative items and Christmas ornaments. Then my back began to hurt very bad. I told Hb. that it was time to take me home.
I didn't buy anything. But that is alright, at least I had gotten out and away from home for awhile. I will go look for pink print fabric after Christmas and when the Valentine fabrics are put out.

WILD TURKEYS

These are not tame turkeys. Nor are they my turkeys. They are wild turkeys that freely roam the grounds of the gated community where I live. And, thank goodness, we are not allowed to feed the wildlife. The only feeders allowed are the ones for the Hummingbirds. Because when an animal eats, what goes in, does come out, you know. If someone is caught feeding, they are heavily fined as it is against the rules and the law. The wildlife is quite comfortable here and no fear of people. This summer past, right here by our dwelling there was a young Cougar crying for it's mother. Scared the ho-hay out of me. The Game Warden was called the next day to hunt it down. I don't know the outcome. If an animal is caught, they transport it to somewhere far away.

TURKEYS!

Wild Turkeys. Yeah, we have turkeys here. They have come down from the foothills to get away from hunters and other predators.

NEW DRESS FOR EITHNE

Even though this year I have been plagued something awful with my IBS. Some days it is of short duration. After a nap of an hour or two, I can recoup my energy somewhat. I did finish one dress for this little doll.
You know, in normal circumstances, I could finish a dress a week. Really, they are about a four hour project. Because I am only doing little cotton frocks. They are patterns I work out first in cotton. Then I cut them from silk.
I have started another dress, I began it maybe a couple of months ago. See, that is how debilitating IBS is. I can't work when I ache. And my stomach hurts. And my hands flutter when I hurt.
It seems though, that reading the Elm Creek Quilt series has helped my out of a blue time, I am able to focus better. So, here is a skirt for another outfit. I have made good progress with it. The most time consuming part is the ruffle for the bottom trim.
These are all hand stitched. I usually do not hand stitching for this size doll. Only the bodice perhaps. But, the skirt pieces are large enough for the sewing machine. My sewing machines are still in their cases. I haven't felt up to pulling them out.
Anyway, I am feeling quite pleased that I have made some real headway on this outfit. That first dress took a year or so. I'm hoping to be able to cut out the top this week, although, I not sure which style I am going to use yet.
Stay tuned.

FAIRY DOLL

A couple of weeks ago, I received a copy of the flyer from Beverly Fabrics. They send a new flyer every month. But this one is for November, but, was their Christmas sale. I browsed thru it to see what was up. All I found that I was slightly interested in, were some winter deer figures, of white plastic covered in heavy snow glitter. Well, I thought maybe a couple of those. So, I circled the picture. I really don't collect anymore. At least I keep telling myself that. But, I 'NEEDED' some new toys. The rainy season has started so, that's why I was looking at the flyer.
Next, I saw the ad for some fairy dolls to decorate with. There wasn't any size or price shown. But, they were to be marked 30% off. I thought, um, those are kind of cute. Although, I don't collect fairies anymore either. Besides, the fairies I did have, were sold on eBay this summer past. I decided to think about them anyway. So, I circled the picture. As the sale didn't start until November 1st. Gave me time to think things over, and prevents me from being too impulsive.
As it happened, come November first. It rained, hard, all day. I don't go out in the rain. I always get chilled and end up sick for days later. So, Hb. went out for me to Beverly Fabrics. I had given him some pricing and size perimeters.
He did well. and chose this lovely Woodland Fairy and brought her home for me. She's 10 inches tall. A little taller than I was expecting, but I do like her. A new doll always cheers me up.
Oh, I decided against the reindeer. Too flimsy.

NOVEMBER

Well, November is here again. For me, the end of the year always comes too fast. I no longer look forward to it as I used to. When I was still designing flowers. I always worked all of the holidays. And the longer the hours the better. There were some people we used to know, who would invite us for dinner. But, oh, sorry. I'm working. They weren't really sincere you see.

So, now, November is just another 'Fall' month. I collected some small things and put together this fall arrangement-scene. I put it out in September and exchange it for Christmas after Thanksgiving. I really like the elfens. They are called 'Acorn' children. I put it under our Christmas trees in our patio window. Those are real rose hips from two of my bushes.