high on life -- parte due

She's a knitter, seamstress, long distance runner, coffee-loving, kind, listening friend. We meet for coffee and breakfast (me, scones and her, yogurt extraordinaire) nearly every Wednesday morning. We raid the sample plate at the Scandinavian bakery where we talk non-stop for one hour over bottomless cups of Joe before she heads off to work.

That would be Caroline, a former next door neighbor who immediately went from acquaintance to friend. That also means I have been the recipient of numerous of her talents. Last week she brought me this gorgeous knitted blankie she calls my 'blue blanket' she'd made me for the long Minnesota winters. In the pic above you'll see pink and brown stripey things on top of a white container on the left --felted mittens! On the top right of the tall shelf is a round pink fabric pin cushion she sewed from scraps left over from her many sewing projects. Did I mention she is only a wee bit over 30, so, I have someone to call my daughter while my own are far away?

Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. --Voltaire

That was the week that was. . .Monday

Do you get my drift here? Red and green? Feeling the holiday spirit a bit early, I am because we've been having cold, crisp days with snow flurries. And I've been picking up the olives, et al., for Turkey Day and priding myself on my advance planning. . .well, its n.e.x.t. week! Audrey will be joining us but alas, Erica can't get away as she only has Thanksgiving off. Besides, she hates the day: 'All we do is sit around smelling the turkey cooking all day. Then when we finally eat, you know I don't like the meal, and will only eat my usual black olives, mashes potatoes, gravy, deviled eggs and rolls.' So speaks Starch-Face on every Thanksgiving Day since about 1985. Sigh.

Saturday I spent the afternoon at a couple of holiday bazaars. Besides the usual church basement delicacies, I bought the last lemon poppy seed cake because it was an adorable heart!
Speaking of yum, this is a Cupcake Hat I made for Maria, a little girl in Romania. I love this pattern recommended by my dear pal, [the other] Marianne. A quick knit. In fact, it probably took me longer to repair a purl stitch bitten through by 'Bad Cat' when I turned my back to get the tape to wrap the package, than it did to make the hat!! Bad Cat having a self-imposed time-out after flossing her teeth with the above hat.

And a recipe. . .since I now have to revamp sweets to suit my blood sugar, I gave this a try and found it to be quite yummy and not so very 'diet' like:

Orange Mocha

1 sm. pkg. sugar-free orange gelatin

1 c. hot coffee

1 c. cold coffee

2 T unsweetened cocoa powder

4 T Splenda (I used one packet & it was sweet enough)

3/4 c. Cool Whip (recipe calls for Free but I use extra-creamy)

Combine gelatin, cocoa and Splenda in a bowl. Add hot coffee, stirring until dissolved. Add cold coffee. Refrigerate until thick-- it will look like a shiny chocolate pudding.

Stir in Cool Whip Free until blended. Refrigerate until set.

note: may use decaf coffee, or increase/decrease coffee strength as desired.

True Blue

A faithful friend is a strong defense; And he that hath found him hath found a treasure.

Louisa May Alcott

While I was in la-la-land the last weeks, my pal, the other Marianne, a generous, wonderful soul, sent me a care package to end all care packages. Even though she herself was down with the crud all the way in Oklahoma, she found time to knit me this wonderful "Thorpe Hat" in the most beautiful shade of robin's egg, blue green blue, my very favorite color. It is soft, warm mohair & wool and fits my head perfectly (that in itself is a feat). In the package were things that I especially enjoy: more sock yarn for me to knit, chocolate, a vintage Pyrex 'hot dish' for my collection, blackberry-sage tea, and a antique postcard of these guys having way too much fun in their straw hats! Did I mention the chocolate?

So, a friend in need is a friend indeed and virtual friends can be some of the nicest in the world. I'm lucky to have found mine.

I get by

with a little help from my friends.
My new agenda I follow to ward off the long winter syndrome most days, after the usual duties, includes a couple more simple and very satisfying endeavors: a little baking, a little knitting and some movie watching.

First the baking: this is Inland Empire Girl's yummy recipe for spicey Pumpkin-Chip Bread. Hers includes chocolate chips and walnuts, is moist and keeps well. Seemed to make the holiday season stick around awhile longer. I loved grating the whole nutmeg for this too.

I'm embarrassed to admit how long it has taken me to finish this dear little 'Cupcake' hat I first heard about from my friend, the other Marianne, who's just Knotminding. She got it from her friend Norma at Now Norma Knits. Let's just say it has been a challenge that involved not reading the instructions carefully or completely. Does the word 'chopsticks' make you think of anything besides Chinese food? In the spirit of all things snowman I must say that the cupcake was delicious!

The indie film Once is one I can't quit recommending to everyone, even if they don't like movies involving music, because it is somehow unforgettable. A Sundance winner it has a simple plot about two musicians in Ireland--he plays on the street and works in his dad's vacuum cleaner repair shop. She is a Czech immigrant who drops a dime in his open guitar case on the ground while he plays one evening. The soundtrack is amazingly original and haunting. My advice: run out and rent it, stay with it until the end and remember the piano.

Here's what Steven Spielberg said about it:
'A little movie called Once gave me enough inspiration to last the rest of the year.'
I agree with Schpiel, as I like to call him, and I say, "Raise your hopeful voice."