It's not just a bad picture.

This really just doesn't look that appetizing. But, I'm filing it under "holidays" because in theory that's about the time it should be ready.  I've been wanting make this green walnut liquor for a few years but never got around to finding a source for the green walnuts.

It's called Nocino and it's either French or Italian and it's supposedly tasty and wonderful. There's a bunch of green walnuts, a bottle of vodka, sugar, lemon zest, and some spices.

Ideally, it would have been made with younger walnuts but this is what I happened to find on the street outside an amazing breakfast place in Portland last week.


My brother helped me gather the nuts then actually quartered them for me because he was completely convinced I was going to slice the hell out of my fingers. I protested that I could probably handle it but, didn't protest too hard because I'd seen multiple posts (I got the idea from a food blog) about wearing gloves because the nuts stained your hands.... better him than me.

Right now it just looks like dark mess. The directions say to let it sit for at least two months, then strain it, then let it sit some more. It's supposed to get really dark with all sorts of complicated flavors. I figure it's worth a shot.

It's Not a Sock!!! - Rubiy

Aren't you proud?  You know you are.  I crocheted this for my son, who, like all boys between the ages of 4 and 10, is obsessed with Angry Birds.  I'm hoping, in the end, to crochet him a red bird, a bomb bird, a yellow bird, and maybe a blue bird.  I have all the yarn, now it's just a matter of wanting to crochet around in a circle forever.

It's made out of dishcloth cotton from JoAnn's and filled with the cheapest stuffing they had, which turned out to be the awesomest stuffing they had.  The nose holes are two different sizes of safety eyes.  Safety eyes are now one of my new passions.   So fun.  

He loves his bad piggie.  Make a mama happy.    

We're going to call this one "Animal love."  Mostly because I'm not knitting any dog sweaters this summer.  

The Near Past, and the Very Near Past - Rubiy

Something I forgot to add to my last sock post was that I'm classifying it under "It needed buying."  I stayed up late to stalk the shop update to get that skein of yarn.  I have no idea why.  I like it quite a bit, but it's not really something I'd stalk an update for.  But something just drew me to it.  I was thinking about my neighbor's husband and picked up the skein, which had been wound and ready for months.  I just cast on without thinking much about it and started knitting a sock.  The entire pair almost knit themselves.   I have absolutely not a doubt in my mind that they were meant for him from the beginning.

Now these socks, I'm filing under "Worry," because I knit them for my mom while she was in the hospital.  E'erbody going to the hospital up in herre.  They need to cut it out.  I am not made of sock yarn!  (except I probably have enough sock yarn to send everyone I know to the hospital at least once...)  She had a handknit pair from last year that she wore when she went it, these were just to assuage my worry until she came home.

She was in quite a bit of pain the first few days, so the hospital staff gave her some morphine to help her relax and spend less time doubled over and whimpering.  Nice folks.  She called me after it kicked in (several times, heh) and kept trying to convince me that the hospital beds in the ER were REALLY REALLY comfortable!  I think they stopped the morphine by day 3 because she stopped mentioning the extreme comfort of her surroundings.  

The important part is that she's now at home, safe and sound and MUCH better.  See?  You go in to the hospital with hand knit socks, you come out better.  Socks work in mysterious ways.  They also keep your feet warm, which is apparently a necessity even with morphine.  

I promise that my next post will contain something other than socks.  I make no guarantees as to the post after that.  

xo,

Rubiy

Christmas Stocking

Growing up, my entire family had handmade stockings that my mom made for us.   Now, she has continued that tradition with the grandkids, but it meant that my husband didn't have one.   Rather than have my mom make him one, too, I decided to put one together.   I started this thing almost an entire year ago.    I got most of it done last winter, but I still hadn't finished all the little last tidbits.   (I tend to do be a craft-starter and not a finisher).  

Here is the finished product!   The picture doesn't reflect how sparkly it is, but it's the best I could do.

5 things I learned while making this guy.
1.   Muffin tins make really good holders for all different types of sequins.
2.   When your 21 month old daughter blows on sequins, they will go EVERYWHERE.  Everywhere.   Including in your clothes.
3.   Sequins in your clothes are very uncomfortable.
4.  I suck at embroidering letters in cursive.  I originally tried to do it free-hand and it really didn't work.
5.  Washable crayola markers worked great for temporary marking the fabric to embroider the letters. 

Posted by Nikki

Socks of Hope and Healing - Rubiy

I'm persisting with the name-in-the-post-title business because it makes me happy, and I feel like it.   This blog is all about doing things that make us happy, yes?  Well, there ya go.  

These are some of the socks that I took to my conference last week.  The green yarn is "Spatula Ant" and the blue is "Blue Orchard Bee."  Both are spectacularly luxurious, being 20% cashmere.  They are modeled by my mom, but sized for man, hence the appearance of floppy toes.  

I knit these socks for the husband of a good friend.  He is facing surgery in the next week or so, to hopefully correct an AVM (Arterial Venous Malformation) near his colon.  If the surgery goes well, he's all better.  If not, he's facing a possible colostomy at age 38.  No one should have to deal with that ever, much less at age 38.  Needless to say, he and his family have a great deal of apprehension surrounding this surgery.  

I don't tend to knit prayer shawls, for whatever reason, but I am big on prayer socks.  When my daughter had her tonsils out, I sent her into surgery wearing a pair of hand knit socks, made by Mommy.  When my mother was in the hospital with Awful Evil Colitis, I send her with a pair of hand knit socks.  They both came home healthier than ever.  There's something powerful about a handmade, tangible representation of prayer and positive energy given to someone facing difficulty in their life.  

I was given a prayer shawl, knitted by a dear family friend, when I was pregnant with my son.  We'd lost a baby between our daughter and the pregnancy with our son.  I spent most of his pregnancy terrified that I would never get to hold him, that he would slip away from me without warning, just like his sibling.  During particularly bad bouts of worry, I would sit in the rocking chair we used to rock our children, wrap myself in that prayer shawl, and rock the baby inside of me with my arms held tightly around my belly.  There was a palpable love and support that emanated from that shawl.  I still use it when I'm particularly upset, and my son seems to take a great deal of comfort from it also.  

Another friend of mine once told me that she believes energy can be sent out into the Universe, or to someone specific, and that positive energy absolutely has an effect.  I think she's right.  This is my way of sending that energy.  I know in my head that there's nothing protective about a pair of socks, but I believe with my whole heart that they will help.  If there's more in Heaven and Earth than is dreamt of in our philosophy, then I will choose to continue in my belief that even the smallest act may have a much bigger impact than we could ever appreciate.  The knitter of my prayer shawl had no idea that we'd lost a baby, much less that I spent a great deal of my pregnancy in a near constant state of anxiety. She simply knit me a shawl praying that we would have a healthy baby.  

I hope my friend's husband's surgery goes well, and that he comes home to his family healthy and healed.  And, even if they're nothing more than a pair of socks, I hope they show him that we're thinking of him and his family, and sending him our very best.   

Projects one and two completed!!

Well, I have been procrastinaitng again but my giddy up kicked in and I finished two (of the million I have to do) projects.  Not quite sure which category they fit in but am gald to have them done.  The first was finishing my re-framing of the pictures on my wall.  I switched to all black frames and finally, after 5 years of marriage, managed to hang our wedding photo as well.  Must say I like the look!  The second project was to create coasters using my stamps and chalk.  They turned out really cute and hope they hold up when exposed to liquid.  Look out ladies they may show up in your birthday gift bags....  Waiting for Linda to come over to begin my next project of cards.

Domestic Goddess? (Why yes, Sara is!)

So, I just got back from a trip to the Lone Star state. Where there was swimming and drinking and rock star run ins and lots and lots of tacos. Soooo many tacos. It was glorious. There was also my wonderful host...one of my very favorite people in the world and together with much wine and retail therapy we solved many of the world's problems. (Erin, post a picture of the towel rack for proof!)

While on the plane I also managed to finish a baby blanket for a friend who is, at any minute, going to be having baby number two. Now, here's my confession. I began this blanket for baby #1, more than two years ago. Crafty-gift fail! But, there is redemption in the works (hopefully to be posted this summer) and this turned out pretty cute.

The border was an easy nice finish to the light weight blanket. Incidentally, this was not the yarn I started out with. Somehow I didn't have enough to finish the entire border with the much darker variegated yarn I started with. So, there was a trip to the Yarn Barn (a San Antonio crafting institution, that is CLOSING because the store's proprietress is moving to a cooler local, imagine, not liking the South Texas summers). But, this yarn this was a close second to what I had in mind.


(I am currently dog-sitting my mother's 4 dogs. This brings the grand total of canines in the house to 6. My mother's retriever mix, Brautigan, is not as impressed with my creation as I'm sure you all will be.

Oh, and this morning I am totally feeling like a domestic goddess because I made granola! It is cooling on the oven, looking all golden and nutty. I'm very excited to eat it for breakfast. It was just as easy as Linda assured me it would be.

This post is counting in the babies and little people category. (Oh, and it lists the author in tiny letters at the bottom of every post.)

Sara

Last One for Today as Said Natives are Moving From Restless to Destructive - Rubiy

Mom's washing machine, Harriet (the dryer is Ozzie - we name stuff,) finally bit the dust after 34 long years of perfect service.  She was an old school Maytag and has been around a tiny bit longer than my parent's marriage.  Awwww.

Mom and I trundled off to get a new one and, since I'm the only one home during the day, I was privileged to take delivery of the new machine.  Dad says, offhand, as he's leaving for work "have the delivery guys wipe out behind the old machine before they install the new one."  Um, have YOU ever met a delivery guy who cleans?  Me neither.

Delivery guy arrives, puts Harriet on the Truck Bound for the Farm Where Old Machines Live Out Their Days in Scratch-and-Dent Free Luxury (he promised!!) and THIS is what was left behind!!!

Some information this photograph does not impart: The number of dead crickets present, the godawful smell, and the pure, untamed dis-gus-ting of the entire ordeal.  The delivery guy graciously told me to "take my time."  Ugh.  

30 minutes, much vacuuming, scrubbing, dead cricket removal, removal of TWO live cockroaches discovered after the fact, and a high-pressure spraying of the plastic pan (in the foreground) later, and we have dramatic and material proof of just how much I love my parents.  

Apparently I love them a LOT.  I even sprayed diluted tea tree oil all over to prevent mold.  Do we have an "I'm the best Daughter ever (I have pretty low standards)" category?  No?  Okay, I'll stick this one in "It's Nature!" as there was certainly quite a bit of nature to contend with in the cleaning process.  

See?  I can justify anything. This is an AWESOME summer thing.  

Wishing you conscientious cleaning ladies or a high tolerance for gross, I mean Nature,

Rubiy

Posts in Rapid Succession, Unti the Natives Get Good and Restless and Demand Lunch - Rubiy

Patriotic Mani-Pedis for my daughter, who's six-and-a-half, and myself, who is not six-and-a-half, on the 4th of July!  Yes, I'm late in posting this.  And yes, that is truly the relative size of our feet.  I get mine from my father (men's 6.5 - really) and she gets hers from my Mother in Law (ladies 10.)  She doesn't look anything like me either, but she's pretty cute, so I'll keep her.  

We'll put this is the very obvious category of "Summer."  The nail polish pen for the teeny-weenie little dots was discovered at Target.  I'm a sucker for nail stuff from Target, which totally sucks because we can't take any nail products with us when we move.  Stupid fire hazards.  Sara, there may be some illicit muling in your future.  You've been warned.  

Hope y'all had a great Fourth!!

-Rubiy

Several Things - Rubiy

First - I'm noticing that I can't tell who had made which post unless they are signed at the end.  Is there something magical or technologically obvious (much more likely) that I'm missing?  Until I figure this out, I'll sign my posts and put my name in the title.  S'alright?  S'alright.

Last Thursday and Friday, I attended a professional seminar, at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Special Education and Research, on the ADOS-2 (Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, second edition.)  I'm a School Psychologist by trade, but I'm not currently practicing due to my health, and a host of other factors - mainly children and my husband's military career - which we shall refer to as "life."  I am certified by NASP (the National Organization of School Psychologists) as an NCSP (Nationally Certified School Psychologist) and am coming up against my certification renewal.  I attended this training for my own personal edification, as a test to see if my health has improved enough to try and go back to work (not even close - blarg,) and to accrue continuing education credits needed to renew my certification in December.

The training was great.  The instructor was very professional, engaging, organized and interesting.  The group provided wonderful questions and informative discussion.  I'm glad I went.  I can't discuss the ADOS in much detail other than to say that I have my personal and professional reservations about its efficacy with minority populations, and/or test subjects from diverse cultural backgrounds.  The test is in its second incarnation, which usually indicates better research into its previous areas of weakness.  While I feel that some of theses areas were indeed addressed, I (who can usually tell my ass from a hole in the ground - but not always, so take this for what it's worth) still saw some gaping areas where reliability, specificity, and cultural relevance could be greatly improved.  Your milage may vary.  As long as it's not used as a stand alone diagnostic measure - and no single test should ever be - it can certainly provide some very valuable and descriptive information about individuals with autism, and shouldn't be discounted out of hand.

The above blurb is going to count as validation for this activity to be thrust into one of our categories.  I think I'll go with...Every Day and In Every Way, I'm Getting Better and Better.  Even six months ago, I would not have had the processing skills or reading comprehension to get much at all out of this training.  And, I will admit that, by the end of the second day, my brain was ditching me and I had to take some of the material home to read later.  The physical aspects of sitting in a chair for 8 hours a day just about did me in, and having to ask for even a small accommodation (getting up to pace and stretch in the back of the room during the presentation) was beyond frustrating.  I don't want to need accommodation, dammit.  But, on the whole, I feel like I'm finally making progress toward someday soon being able to return to work, or go back to school.

Also!  I brought socks-in-progress both days!   I do NOT knit during presentations or during seminars as I find it unbelievably rude.  But, I had to get there pretty early so that I wouldn't get caught in traffic, and I wanted something to do besides fill my gob with pastries and bad coffee as I waited for the seminar to begin.


Sock #1 - This didn't go as well as hoped as I was talking a mile a minute with the other early arrivals and messed up part of the pattern.  The conversation was completely worth it.

Hence, Sock #2 - This went MUCH better as the pattern is easier and requires very little attention.  I got more talking AND more knitting done this way.  It was so nice to be surrounded by other professionals, and feeding the psych(o) part of my brain.  Boy, have I been starving it!!  Sorry for the glare, I really am a crap photographer.  

I'll come back with finished pictures of both pairs of socks and then add them to their own categories later.  For now, Cheers!  And continue with your Summers of Creativity!

- Rubiy

First Birthday present

   Front

 Inside

  Back

 Upright

And here is my second project - a lined flannel vest for the 1st birthday of the daughter of a high school friend of Joey's (my husband). I made the same vest about 1 1/2 years ago for the daughter of a friend of mine and had enough fabric left to make another. It isn't very practical for summer, but I think it will fit her come winter. I'm going to list this under the "Firsts" category in honor of Kassidy's first trip around the sun.

Coming up next: maybe a knitted bathrobe for Sophie's doll or possibly another sewing project (this time for me!)

So here is my first summer project - freezer jam!! On the left - raspberry and on the right - strawberry. I suppose this fits best into the "Summer" category.

Actual content!!

I rescued my camera cord!  Everyone is pleased.  Heh.  I've also - finally, after many machinations and not a little cursing - reinstated my flickr account.  Enter the Monty Python celebration group with the little pennants.  (hooray.  hooray.)

As some of you may know, I have a slight tendency towards the verbose.  Please understand that, during the course of this challenge, you will likely be subjected to varying measures of this predisposition.  I'm sure I could reign it in some, but I have small children that have used up all my patience, resolve, self control, and time to wash my hair.  Y'all (it's a word, ask Texas) are going to be subject to the fallout in blog form.

In addition to verbosity (also a word,) I'm addicted to parentheses (even unnecessary ones - I love Faulkner so much!) and knitting socks.  I'm pretty sure that I can justify a handknit pair of socks as an entry in every proposed category.  Rationalization is a form of creativity, right?  As a clinician, I'm going to say that yes, yes it is, but I'll ask my licensing board next time it comes up.

Now, without further ado, pictures of things!

These are socks I knit for my Mother In Law's birthday.  I realized, as she admired yet another pair I was knitting, that I'd never knit her a pair, and resolved to fix the matter in time for her birthday.  She loves them.  I guess we'll file this one under "Surprise!" which is not actually a stretch, but we don't have to stretch everything.

They are being modeled by a lovely 22 year old friend of the family that has just moved to Nashville.  She's lithe and effortlessly beautiful and everything one should be when one is 22.  She's also a fabulous sock model. I shall be making use of her services in the future.  

This next pair is for my four year old son.  He has dubbed them his Fire Socks!! (exclamations points very necessary)  I bought the yarn from one of my favorite companies that names all their colorways (I gather this is what colors are called when applied to yarn or fiber, I'm not sure it makes any sense to me but I'm going to go with it) after bugs.  This particular yarn is called Bog Fritillary.  Oh, and the purple in the socks above is called Northern Purple Gold Beetle.  I love cleverly named things.   These socks are going in the "yellow" category.  There is yellow in Orange.  And I don't have any yellow yarn.  And my bank account will not currently support any "need" to purchase yellow yarn.  What does it know?

Photographer's Notes: getting a four year old to do the demure, foot-crossing pose requires serious bribery, and possibly a threat or two.  In the end, I believe the issue was resolved with a popsicle.  Fortunately for the youth of America, I'm a better psychologist than a photographer.  

Hooray for creativity in the summer!

Submitted for your approval.

Hi!  This doesn't really count as a post because I don't know how to link photos from the interwebz, my flickr hates me, and my camera cord is being held for ransom in Montgomery, AL (true story - my husband says he'll bring it to me...for a price :)  

BUT!  I do have category submissions.  Feel free to accept or reject as needed.  They are as follows:

- It needed buying

- Worry

- Peace and quiet

- I'll bet you can't guess what it is! (but it's completely a thing!) <--ask about the toilet paper cozy.  heh. 

- Sara made me participate
- Every Day, and In Every Way, I'm Getting Better and Better (this is way funnier if you've watched all the old Pink Panther movies.  No, really, they're hysterical.  Go watch and thank me later.)

- Craftbombing (you have to accept this one, it's my new [and previous] favorite thing)

- Parentheses  :)

Hopefully I should have either ransomed my camera cord (oh the things we do for crafting!) or been gifted a new camera very soon, and will commence with the posts that involve things people actually want to see.   Until then, Happy Summer, Happy Creativity, Happy Validation, and I'm taking a nap.

xo

Rubiy (I'm going by Rubiy on the internet.  Stalkers, you know.  Or not.  Whatever)


ETA:  I'm totally using this as a submission.  I'm "help"ing.  Ta Da!!  Aren't you proud?