Emptyknitster

It has come to my attention that there are several family members making requests for knitting on Facebook. Although I am honoring this request for mittens, you need to know that I don't follow facebook and all future requests must come through this blog account in the form of a comment!! Jamestown North Dakota, where the mittens are knit big and the buffalo are gigantic! Pattern: Felted (Fulled) Mittens by Nancy Lindberg Yarn: Nature Spun Charcoal Amount: less than 2 skeins

We had a great few days visiting daughter number one and her little family in North Dakota. I promised her a great recipe for the leftover ham we brought. Here it is darlin': Famous Buckhorn Exchange Bean Soup: 1 lb Great Northern beans 1 oz chicken soup base 1 tsp. granulated garlic 1/2 cup diced onion 1/2 tsp. Season Salt 1 tsp white pepper 3 oz diced ham 1 tsp Liquid Smoke 1/2 gallon water ___________________ 1 0z. corn starch 1/2 cup water Place first grouping of ingredients in a large pot, cover and place in 200 degree oven for 8 hours. When beans are tender, remove from oven, place on stovetop and bring to boil. Add starch and water to thicken and let simmer for 15 minutes. The Buckhorn, Denver Colorado.

It was a very quiet Thanksgiving for me this year. Hubby was working and we won't see family until tomorrow. Can't wait to see them but I was thankful for a quiet day, only a few dirty dishes and lots of knitting time. (With Hubby's career one learns that when given lemons you make lemonade!) I was thinking about a particular Thanksgiving not so many years ago. All the family was in attendance including nephew John and Gramma Maida. We had just finished a great meal and were relaxing around the dining room table when I looked up over Gramma's shoulder, into the kitchen. There was Baby Kitty on the kitchen counter with her entire head in the tail end of the turkey carcass! I was shocked and a gasp escaped my lips. Gramma was in her 90's but her hearing was as good as the day she was born and she immediately wanted to know what was going on. She never did quite catch on. The rest of the family was quick enough to look at me and follow my gaze into the kitchen. Our ey...

Last Friday there was a friendly wager made between two friends. Tim and I agreed that the losing fan would wear a tattoo of the winning team. Thankfully, I didn't have to wear the bobcat tattoo! By the end of the day Tim and Monte were becoming fast friends. Monte even gave Tim a pointer or two about betting on the game of football - NEVER bet against the Griz!

ANYONE that has lived in Montana for very long, knows that the Bobcat/Griz game can go either way. No matter how successful or poorly a team has done over the season, either team can win on sure grit and spectator enthusiasm. Griz have won all their football games this season and Bobcats have done very well. It was anybody's game. But in the end, GRIZ triumphed! Score: 33 to 19 . Griz are on their way home tonight with the trophy!

Okay, I'm realizing that perhaps I 'm one of the old hippies hiding out. I just can't get enough of this Tye Dye yarn! I started another pair of socks yesterday with the idea that I would just knit them during lunch at work but I just keep knitting. I love to see how the colors take shape. I'm using one of my favorite sock patterns, Grumperina's jaywalkers.(Ty-Dy Socks in a color combination called Grapes).

We enjoyed the last home game of regular season, Griz won! It was another great season, Bobcat/Griz game next weekend...... On the way home I was able to finish my Missoula tie dyed socks! (Ty-Dy Socks yarn in Tropicale) I thought that they were SO appropriate, if you haven't see a hippie for awhile - they're all in Missoula and very happy!

I just can't believe that another year has gone by and our Chloe is having a birthday today! We love you sweetie. Your smile (sparkly now with the braces) makes us happy!

“’If I should die,” said I to myself, ‘I have left no immortal work behind me – nothing to make my friends proud of my memory – but I have lov’d the principle of beauty in all things, and if I had had time I would have made myself remember’d’” – John Keats Every morning I wake up and look over at a favorite painting that my mother did years ago, before arthritis took control of her hands. I love this painting with its calming powers over me but also because my mother painted it. I think she had a real talent and Mom had wished that she had started painting earlier in her life – I do too. I will remember her always for many reasons, not for just how much she loved and accepted us, or for the fact that she saw beauty and goodness in everyone and everything around her. I don’t paint, nor do I pretend to have any artistic talent. But the Yarn Harlot recently wrote in her daily calendar that: “Nonknitters can think what they will about the value of knitting on the earth, but know this: No k...

Twenty years ago today, November 9, 1989, The Berlin Wall came down. At the time I was teaching in Shepard with my first class of students. The grandmother of one of my students was visiting Germany and in Berlin on this historic occasion. I mentioned that I hoped her grandmother would bring home a piece for her. A few weeks later, at parent teacher conferences, I received a piece of The Wall! Not only had the grandmother brought bits of The Berlin Wall home for her grandchildren but she had brought a piece of The Wall for me! The black and white photo is one that she took to remember exactly where she picked up the pieces. I treasure this piece of history.

I found this recipe for Blondies recently on Ravelry and fell in love with them! The regular recipe is delicious but the Whiskey Blondies are outstanding!!! Blondies - Adapted from How to Cook Everything 8 tablespoons butter, melted 1 cup brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract Pinch salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 1. Butter an 8x8 pan 2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar , beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. 3. Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below). 4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. I always err on the side of caution with baking times , nobody ever complained about a gooey-middled cookie. Cool on rack before cutting them. Further additions, use one or a combination of: * 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor * 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips * 1/2 teaspoon mint extract...

Yesterday, my third graders had a group of student nurses come into the classroom and talk to them about the benefits of proper tooth brushing. GREAT timing, as it was the week after Halloween. The students did an outstanding job and the kiddos were very well behaved. As the nursing students were preparing to leave one of the young ladies came over and said. " I was in your second grade class in Shepard." WOW, a blast from the past! Emily Barnes was a student in the first class that I ever taught! I was so tickled that I introduced her to my class and explained exactly who she was - then another little nursing student, Aimee Percell, came over and said that she had been in one of my sixth grade math classes. Now this makes teaching rewarding!

I was heading down the driveway and into the garage when I looked over and saw the "Big Boys" in the yard. This is why hubby and I live in the country! These Boys are a four point and four by five. The Boys are not to happy with each other, they were both looking for favors from the ladies!

Isn't it strange...I had exactly the same number of ghosts and goblins as last year AND the year before - well, for that matter I had the same amount as I've had ALL the years we've lived in this house!! But just had to share these spooky little goblins. I'd give them all my candy ANY DAY OF THE WEEK!!

I went to elementary school in Seattle and attended Gatewood in West Seattle. I can remember the teachers: 1st grade Mrs. Mayors, 2nd Mrs. Gallerson, 3rd Mrs. Lee, 4th Mrs. Rich, 5th Mrs. Mitchell, 6th Mr Nuchwander. Gatewood School is a three story brick school that is now listed as a historical building in Seattle and educates around 250 students a year. The basement held the kindergarten, and first grade classrooms. The main floor held the second and fourth grades, the third grade was in the "portables" and fifth and sixth grades as well as the library were on the third floor. I couldn't wait to get into third grade, I didn't care who taught me that year, I just wanted to get into the portables and have one of the old fashioned desks! This is the first time that I can remember admiring an antique! I now use a set of these desks as end tables in my TV room. Mrs. Lee had a daughter in college that had traveled to Mexico and so we studied about the country and made li...