A Little Something For Me

I have a really annoying habit.

I like to make things, and sometimes, I even like to make things for myself. I'll start the project, and generally, at some point, I come to realize that it's not for me after all. As a result, I don't have a lot of my own work.

With that in mind, I've started knitting a hat FOR MYSELF. No, I really mean it this time! It's a beautiful slouchy beret, called Elleby, designed by Teresa Cole. It has an openwork design that looks a bit like cabling, but without the cables. I'm finished the brim and the first repeat, and it's looking fabulous! Now, I'm only two days of knitting into it, but the variegated thread is looking very nice, and if it continues like this, there's no way anyone will get it, lest they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

MINE!

New Year, New Leaf

Greetings, friends!

Here we are, at the beginning of a new year, and approaching the season of rebirth and renewal. It finds me wanting to press the re-set button on my life; re-establishing good habits, and establishing new ones.

I find that I really enjoy blogging, but I have allowed life to carry me away with it, and many things I enjoy have fallen by the wayside. So on this, my first day of building new routines, I am committing to work on my blog three times a week, and posting once every 7-10 days. If I break it down into 15 minutes at a time, I think that I'll find the process easier and more pleasant.

So, if you want to come along for the ride, read on!


Today is the first day back from Christmas Break, and despite our best efforts, we ended up getting out the door late. We began using some new routines (and continuing with some established routines) yesterday, including ensuring that the kids' lunches were made, backpacks ready and in a location convenient to the front door, clothes were laid out, keys were at the ready, etc. The goal is to prevent the bottlenecks at the top of the stairs and at the front door, and to get out of the house on time and without yelling or stress. But it went off the rails, and fast. And her name is Quarta.

Hubby wanted to be at work a little early to do some prep, so getting him out the door went seamlessly. Primus, who is 13, was left in charge while I drove Hubby, and all of the kids were awake, most of them dressed. The round trip took a total of 12 minutes, and when I returned, Quarta had not done a SINGLE THING since I had left. She wasn't listening to the instructions of her older siblings, despite being told by me that they were in charge while I was gone, and that she was to get dressed first.

I have never met a child who is equal parts intelligent and stubborn. Quarta is really testing my parenting abilities, and I am left scratching my head, wondering what to do to get compliance. But I think I may have hit on something.

We just recently were gifted with a first generation iPad (Thanks, BioDad!), and she and Tertius LOVE playing on it. So tonight, I will explain the new system to her: her access to the iPad after school hinges on her getting up and ready without complaint or delay. I imagine that a few days of no iPad will cure her of her intractability.

I'll keep you updated.

Teetering on the Precipice

Here it is, the Saturday evening before school begins anew, and I feel the muse pull at me, urging me to write down my thoughts.

This is my very favourite time of year, for many reasons. First and foremost, I love autumn. The crispness in the air, the smell of cold on the wind, the bright, sunny late summer days, the way the sun shines through the vividly coloured leaves as they gently drift to the ground. I love the crunch of dry leaves under my boots, the sweaters, the warm drinks, the rainy days that give me an excuse to curl up under a blanket on the couch, put on a much-loved movie, and create something with my hands. I love wrapping my hands around a warm drink, sitting down to a big bowl of stew with dumplings, or having the house cool enough to bake again. It's all about putting away the accoutrements of summer and pulling out the hand-knits and throw blankets; trading iced vanilla lattes for  steaming mugs of chai or apple cider; retiring shorts in favour of my fuzzy polar fleece pajama pants.

*sigh*

It also means that my beloved husband and children will return to the routine of school. I love this for a whole host of other reasons - the house becomes more calm during the day, I get more crafts done, and my home has a chance of staying clean for more than 30 minutes at a time.

This year is different for me, because my youngest, my baby, sweet little Quarta is starting her educational journey in earnest. She will start Kindergarten on Tuesday, and I find the feeling a little bittersweet; I am both eager to have the house to myself during the day, and unsure of how I will actually feel about it when it happens. Will I miss hearing her random, "Guess what Mummy? I love you!" throughout the day? Will I feel a twinge of sadness knowing I am alone in the house - well, alone as one can be when there are two cats living there? Will I be filled with pride for my littlest hobbit, watching her take those first real steps toward independence? I have a feeling that I'll be a mix of all of it, all jumbled together in a messy, tear-streamed, smiling package.

So bring it on, autumn - I'm ready for you.

Busy Little Weaver

As I've mentioned in past blog posts, I really love to do crafts. One of my favourites these days is doing tablet weaving. For our medieval group, that means that I can create period-appropriate decoration for the Norse garments we wear. Here are a few of the most recent ones I've been working on:

Royal blue and white crochet cotton in a bold argyle pattern

Deep red cotton chevrons nestled in cream and bright red cotton

Various warps of trim I created for sale at a recent event

So, what's been keeping you busy this summer?

The ABCs of Me - A is for Anxiety

A is for Anxiety, Part One

So, to start this blog series off, I'm just going to jump right into the deep end.

I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in 1999. Here's what happened...

Sometime in late 1993, I began working as a residential caregiver in group homes. For the first five years, I worked with two clients, both relatively high functioning, and it was mostly one-on-one care. We had a really great staff team, and I found that I really loved the work. When that company folded in 1998, I moved over to my boss' other, larger company. I began working with a variety of adults and minors, in a number of settings, both residential and occupational, and on a broad spectrum of disabilities. It was the most rewarding work I had ever done. I was making a positive difference in the lives of others. In addition to it being a great job, it paid well, had benefits, and I liked my co-workers.

I had seen my share of violent behaviour in the workplace; I had a client threaten to self-harm with a large kitchen knife (it was an empty threat, but I disarmed him and locked up all implements that could be used for harm as a safety measure), almost got hit with a kettle full of boiling water (a co-worker took it in the back), been scratched, etc. This was just part of the job in some cases. Our company was pro-active and gave us yearly classes on non-violent crisis intervention, teaching us how to deal with and de-escalate behaviour, and if that didn’t work, how to get out of choke holds, limb holds, hair grabs, bites, how to use a violent client’s own kinetic energy to avoid injury, and how to properly subdue a client to restore calm. I felt confident that I could avoid serious injury in the workplace as a result.

Experiencing Technical Difficulties

I love having a blog, I really do.

But maintaining it has been difficult of late due to the series of problems we've been having with our computers.

We are working on getting a functioning computer (one that doesn't run like molasses in January), so I hope I can get back to posting more regularly this week. To that end, I will be starting a new post theme: the ABCs of me. This will focus on one thing about me and my life, starting at the beginning of the alphabet and ending, well, at the end. I hope that you folks still hanging in there with me will enjoy learning more about me, and I'd love to learn more about you in the comments section.

Cheers!

Turning Petrified Mini-Doughnuts Into Perfect Dessert!

Hubby's favourite dessert is bread pudding.

In our almost 8 years together, I've made it for him exactly zero times.  Whenever we've eaten French Toast and had leftovers, Hubby has diligently saved them in so many Ziploc bags in the freezer, waiting for the day he would be rewarded for his thoughtfulness. And every 6 months or so, I go through the freezers and toss out those frozen relics of brunches past, sighing at the waste of perfectly good bread and egg, cinnamon and vanilla extract.

Sure, I've talked about making it innumerable times over the years, but since I've never made it before in my life, I found the task somewhat daunting.

Until today.

I was teaching Secunda and her friend how to use our Epicure Mini-Doughnut Mold to make yummy little treats (which will be served at my weekly social get-together tomorrow), giving them measuring, mixing, order of cooking operations and oven skills. For instance, they learned today to ensure that ALL the ingredients are ready before you start mixing stuff together all willy-nilly. I rescued the batter, and made three dozen of the little bites of heaven. But I managed to bugger up one batch of them. I had a bowl full of two dozen soft, chewy cake doughnuts, and a dozen hockey pucks. they smelled lovely - all sugar and vanilla and cinnamon. And totally inedible in their current state. It seemed such a shame.  That got me to thinking, and that thinking got me to an idea. Why not break them up and turn them into an improvised bread pudding?

These were the doughnuts that get to stay doughnuts

So, off I went to Allrecipes.ca, my go-to resource for all of the things I don't know how to cook.  And when I typed in the keywords, this recipe is what came out with both the highest rating, and the most reviews. Clearly, this was the place to start.

I used their conversion feature to alter it to feed two people (I don't know about you, but I can certainly eat 6 mini-doughnuts in one sitting!) and headed into the kitchen. In about five minutes, I was ready to put the baking dish into the oven.

Using our boiling pasta pot to melt the butter

Mixing the egg/milk/cinnamon mixture with the broken-up doughnuts

Ready for the oven

This was SOOO easy! Now I just have to wait for Hubby to get home from choir practice so we can enjoy it with a nice, hot cuppa!

All baked and waiting for the vanilla sauce!

Delectable caramelized vanilla sauce - delish!