Sunday, November 12

I'm on Day Three of my four-day weekend and have been quite enjoying the ... nothingness of it. No plans, no obligations - well, other than finishing off that damn afghan. I am now on skein #18 of 18, so the end is in sight. I plan to finish it up this afternoon, then weave in the ends and have it ready to take to the recipient on Tuesday.

Speaking of work, a colleague of mine makes these great tasting energy bars. I've tried and tried without success to duplicate them, even though she's given me the sort-of recipe for them. Hers always come out more cake-like; mine end up like puff wheat bars - sticky and gooey. So I decided to make my own recipe for exactly the type of product I want. I was thinking more of a breakfast cookie type thing:

That turned out pretty good, but I had some dough left over and decided to bake it up as a bar cookie:

which ended up being exactly what I wanted. The texture, the taste - perfect. I love them! The recipe:

Breakfast Bars:

3/4 c margarine, softened

3/4 c natural peanut butter

1/2 c brown sugar, packed

1/4 c light corn syrup

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Cream margarine and peanut butter together; add sugar and syrup, blend well. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

1 c whole wheat flour

1 1/2 c Kashi puffed cereal

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients together; then add to wet. Mix well. Stir in:

1 3/4 c diced dried fruit (I used apricots, dates and craisins)

1/2 c sunflower seeds

1/4 c sesame seeds

1/2 c flaked coconut

1 c chopped nuts (I used macadamia nuts, cashews, almonds and peanuts, unsalted)

Drop by tablespoons onto cookie sheets; bake @ 350° F for 15 minutes. Let cool a few minutes then remove to wire racks to finish cooling. If making bar cookies, press dough into a square pan (9 x 13) about 1 to 1.5 inches thick. Bake at 350°F for 20 - 25 minutes, or until done. (the edges were starting to brown and crisp up, and the bars bounced back slightly when I pressed a finger into them). Let cool completely in pan, then slice into bars. These have a nice flavour to them - the cinnamon is just a hint, not overpowering, and the craisins and other dried fruit gives it a nice sweetness.

We had quite a bit of snow over the weekend, and it has been a bit of a battle to get Sabrina outside. She's not keen on going for big long walks; would rather dash out, do her business and come right back in. Yesterday I put her out in the back yard but she wasn't thrilled. "I'm not having any fun!"

I went back in and got a squeaky hedgehog to encourage her to run around and warm herself up. That worked well - after she zoomed around the yard several times and kicked up snow left and right, she was warm enough I had to take her jacket off. Last night after supper I put her coat on as well as her boots (quite securely, as they fell off, one by one, during our afternoon walk) and we had nice long stroll around the neighbourhood. Today the snow has stopped and the sun is blinding.

I figured an orange tennis ball would be easier to track in the snow than her stuffed toys.

"I don't know what to do with my ears - such a mess! I just can't do a thing with them.

Looking more like the princess she is.

The big fella called; he's on his way back from Edmonton and should be home before supper. We still have tomorrow off together, so that will be nice. In the meantime, I'm going to go and finish off that afghan!

~ ~ ~ edited to add ~ ~ ~

Someone asked in my comments about Sabby's winter gear. Her winter coat and head muff, rain slicker and red sweater are all from Chilly Dogs, a Canadian company that has a "long and lean" line for Greys. I'm very happy with their product; the coats fit perfectly and are exceedingly well made.

Here she is all geared up for our walk last night. I didn't put her head muff on, though. I also have a Mountain Equipment Co-op kids neck gaiter in that lime green that I'll slip on over her ears to keep them warm instead of using the head muff. I was careful about securing her boots and they stayed on for the duration of the walk, even though much of it was in deep snow. I got the boots from Petacular, although I've read on some of the grey forums that people complain about boots falling off and some use Muttluks which is also a Canadian company, I believe. I was thinking about switching to Muttluks, but then I paid a little more attention to fastening the Grey boots and they seem to be working fine. I was worried about fastening them too tightly - but they seem to be snug enough now.

posted by Terri at 11/12/2006 01:29:00 PM (3) comments

Thursday, November 9

 

it's my Friday!

because I've taken tomorrow off - and now I have a fabulous four day weekend, which I am soooo looking forward to!

The other night I was getting my cell phone charger cord from the drawer which houses those sorts of things. I think we need to rename Sabrina "Inspector Gadget" - go Gadget neck .... telescoping into the depths of the drawer!

Now that it's mostly winter here, instead of taking the princess out for a 10-15 minute meander at lunch time, she's content to dash out into the back yard, take care of business and hurry back in. I had the camera today to get a daylight shot of my yarn swatch (more below) and got a few of Sabrina running amok in the snow.

Well, almost got the shot:

Apparently you didn't understand: I want in now!!!!!

And yes, very often the squeaky toy of choice gets to go outside, too.

L@@K!! Actual knitting content:

This is the yarn I'd like to use for the big fella's sweater. The blue is Filatura di Crosa "501" (a superwash merino) that has been seasoning in the stash more than a few years. The green is Sandnes "Smart" superwash merino wool. I am going to use the green for the contrasting hems. I think the colours blend well together - these photos were taken outside at noon in overcast daylight and I find them to be a very accurate representation of the colours. LOVE them!

But for now it's back to the never-ending ripple afghan. I got four more skeins of Decor in the mail yesterday and am well into #15 of 18. I would really like to get the afghan finished this weekend. I think that's a do-able goal. I'm well into this skein after just a few minutes last night, a bit at lunch and a bit after work today.

posted by Terri at 11/09/2006 08:09:00 PM (0) comments

Monday, November 6

 

well ...

that was the shittiest day I've had in a good long while.

But I forget it all (mostly) when I walk up the step and see that little face in the window!

Sabrina on the brink of a spazz attack - you can tell how the head is slightly canted to one side, looking at me out of her peripheral vision - aauuuugghh!

I am happy to report I am now into Skein #14 of 14+4 on the crocheted afghan. Yarn Forward is still jerking me around with my order, however Wool Tyme mailed my order out today, so there's a good chance I will get it by Friday. Yay!

Going to snuggle with the big fella, Sabrina and do some crocheting! I just checked the weather and there's a "heavy snowfall" warning for our area, so maybe we'll get a big dump overnight.

posted by Terri at 11/06/2006 05:15:00 PM (6) comments

Sunday, November 5

 

where's my dog?!

If it weren't for her eye glowing in the flash, she's invisible ... or so she thinks! Lazy Sunday here.

We had some snow Friday night; the entire week had been fairly cold and the wind never stopped. Out on the end of the breakwater is a lightpost which is enclosed in a chain link cage. The waves crashing over the breakwater totally encased the cage in ice.

The entire surface of the breakwater is coated in a thick, cobblestoney layer of ice.

I had stuff to do around the house yesterday, then we had company for supper, so I had to make a dessert and get supper ready, so I didn't have a lot of time to spend on the crochet afghan. I am, however, on skein #12 now. I am having trouble with Yarn Forward again - really, how much trouble is it to send your customer an email if their order is not in stock and will be delayed a week, two weeks or more?! This is the second time in a row they've done this to me and it really pissed me off. I ordered the same from Wool Tyme and expect/hope the yarn arrives before the end of the week. If not, then I lose four prime crocheting days during which I could certainly get thing finished and move onto other things.

posted by Terri at 11/05/2006 12:58:00 PM (2) comments

Thursday, November 2

 

(another) crazy week

and TGIF tomorrow, for sure.

"Why haven't you done any crocheting?!"

Haven't done anything on the afghan since Monday night. I'm on skein #11 of 14+4. I soooo want to finish this so I can move onto other things - knitting things.

The Princess all geared up for her after-supper walk. The wind hasn't stopped for a minute and this night it was particularly brutal, but she was toasty warm!

Sabrina got three new toys yesterday - the big pink pig grunts and groans, but as of 4 p.m. today she killed the grunter part. She gathered them all so they'd be safe while she dozed.

Work has been crazy; I expect it to become more so as my project moves into a crucial stage. I'll just have to keep good notes and stay on top of things. And come home and knit - if I ever finish the damn crochet ripple afghan!

posted by Terri at 11/02/2006 05:41:00 PM (3) comments