thankful for whatever this is

the other day, i had my blonde curls in the tub.   i was trying to keep him there for a while because he was sick.   so after he got tired of the boats and cups, i put the shower hose in the soap dish for him.   it keeps the water running but i can turn it down really low so it's not wasting water either.     it drains out the bottom so it's like a little waterfall.   he kept putting things under it to fill and dump.   it all lead to this-

a straw stuck in the bottom hole of the soap dish, a few straws stuck together, and we had this crazy thing where the water comes out different places different times and fills other cups and is totally useless except it's fun.   now, i'm sure there are hydraulics applications and all kinds of sciencey things that he's learning at the same time.   what happens when i stick two little straws inside this bigger straw?     how far up can i bring this straw before the water doesn't come out any more?   how much faster does this cup fill than that one?

after we did this one for a while, we found some other things to play with -

i cut the end off of a soap bottle and then cut a hole in the back so it would fit over the faucet.   he liked being able to plug it up and then letting the water go with the nozzle.  

i just took the whole end off of a large water bottle for him to play with.   i took the stopper out so the water just flowed but he like sticking straws in the end.   i used a hole punch to make holes and tied it onto the rail so it would sit under the soap dish and flow from there into it.   he, of course, wanted it to go faster and helped it along. 

yes, yes, it's all very useful and educative.    mostly, it was just fun to play with my blonde curly boy.   isn't that what is really important.   i am always grateful for time well spent, doing nothing with the people that are my everything.

gossip

is it useful, helpful?

is it kind?

is it necessary?

is it true?

there's my answer

crochet scrubby wash mitt

i'm tweaking things again!

i love the little crochet scrubbies that are being pinned recently.   i tried it  and totally failed the first one i made.   it works but is too small.  i only had some smaller yarn and didn't make enough of an allowance for that in my attempt.   whatever, it washes dishes.   but, i wanted something i could wear to give me a bit more freedom.   i figured all i would have to do, is just make it bigger and longer and then not close both ends.

i'm not going to explain the basics of this since it is much better explained in this blog and video.   i also believe in giving credit to the ones who taught me or inspired me.    you should watch the video before you go ahead with i did.

http://reneeseastofeden.blogspot.de/2011/08/do-you-tawashi.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J84jxmGMV5Y

i used a u.s. I 9 or 5.50 mm hook.

i did 30 stitches so that i could get my hand in it.   i did about 36 rows.   sorry, i didn't count.   i just went until it would fit.   the stitches wide are how deep it will be and the rows will go around your hand.

i just used up some scratchy scraps, thus the multi-color mitt.   i had some thicker stuff for the first blue and white, then i found both ends of the next stuff and crocheted with it doubled.   then i ran out of that too, so i used three strands of some other stuff i had. 

i always foul it up when i do the joining to make a tube.

yes, i did it the wrong way first.   totally finished crocheting it together.   if you are struggling to get the ends of your rows to match up, struggling to get the ridges to match. . . your doing it the wrong way.   i did it 3 times before it finally got it to all match up and realized that it was rings instead of spirals.   my excuse is that i am sick.   that's my story, and i'm sticking to it.

the right way is to stitch the first row to the last row.   this is way easier since you are stitching matching numbers of stitches up, one row of 30 with another row of thirty.

after that, i ran another row of stitches around the end and then pulled the long end through that extra row to pull it up tight.   

that's the end if your making a mitt.    to make a scrubby, you need to make it shorter.   it will fold over and be like a half ball if you make it according to this pattern.

i'm actually going to make another one with one end closed and a draw string in the other end so that i can put a bar of soap in it and then hang it up to dry in the shower.   it's the crochet version of soap on a rope but i don't have to worry about little soap splinters.

i did this basically the same as the scrubby but , of course, tweaked.

i did the body of it the same, i used a smaller cotton yarn instead of the bulky scratchy stuff.   i used a size E hook and did 35 stitches, i think.   i just kept going until it was the length i wanted.   remember that the rows are the size a round.   at the bottom of my ring, i crocheted around one time.   this gave me a base to work off of for the bottom.   i made the corners with five stitches into one.   do that once on opposing sides.   to make the bottom, i did a flap coming up from one side and then attached it to the other side.   i just went back and forth in the back loop like you do in the body to make ridges.   it doesn't need to be wide, it's just for soap.   

on the top, i went around one time for a base to work off of.   then, i just did triple stitch all the way around.   this forms a large holes to pull the cord through for your gathered top.   my daughter used a little crochet loom for the rope.  i crocheted the ends together and done.   ok, you might want to lace it through your top first, before you go joining the ends.   minor details. 

knotty tiara

i just can't seem to leave things alone.  i have to tweak.

i was going to do some hearts in my daughter's hair, and i got distracted on the way.   

maybe another day.   but today, i'm going to show you her knotty tiara, which i did first.    then the next day, i did this crazed set down her whole head.

first, the tiara.

this is just a front section, split in half and braided on both sides.   then i brought them together and looped around each other went back to the braid it came from and then and tucked the end through that braid.   like the woven braids i've done before.

 http://plaidipusmound.blogspot.de/2012/05/woven-braid.html 

then i went around back, crossed them and tucked them through the braid in the front, banded the ends together and tucked it under the bridge

 

the next day way similar but i brought the ends around down through the next one under it.   so, section off how ever many you want, i did three.   split in half and braid.   i tried to bring the ends of the braid together this time instead of being farther apart.   i ended farther apart on the plain tiara which made it wider.  up to you.

bring your braids around each other and loop back to it's own braid.   here is where i varied.   i did the next set and then tucked the ends of the braids above it through the loops of the braided knot under it.

a tent for the tomboy princess

last night my tomboy princess asked if she could camp out in her room.  i told her of course.   a lttle while later, my handsome hubby went to check on her as he always does and found her crying because she couldn't build a tent.   good grief.  i didn't know she wanted a tent.   it's somewhere around 10 at night at this point, not a school night obviously.   so my husband comes down and tells me he's building the princess a tent. . . . wait, what?   then he explained what was going on.   i see wood going up and hear pounding.  i  think, our poor towering teen is trying to sleep in the room next to her.  i went to check on the progress and see what i could do to help out.   this is what i found. 

 really basic because hello, it's after 10 at night.   immediately, mom sees a problem with this plan.   how are you going to get the blankets to stay up?   hubby grabbed some tacks, mom has a better idea.

fitted sheets!   they hang onto the top and bottom all by themselves!    we draped a flat sheet over the back of the tent to complete it.   this is why my husband and i make a good team.   one of us gets things rolling and the other comes in with the rest of the plan.

there are plans for a collapsing version that she can keep  in her room and put up for herself.   i'll update when we figure that one out.     should be interesting.

cleaning up my attitude with gratitude

today, i am not in the mood to be grateful.   i am in a rotten mood.  i'm in more of a throw things, scream and yell, temper tantrum, sic 'em, tear into everyone kind of mood.   i'm trying to maintain.   i'm trying to Abe realistic, and logical, and just what i'm supposed to be.   so gratitude is probably a good thing right now.   i mean, isn't when you least feel like doing something you know you should do the time that you need it most? 

so, here's my clean up.
 i am grateful for my family and our time we spend together.   i am grateful for the games we play and sitting around the table eating lunch and playing cards with my kids.  

i am grateful for our house that is not only warm, but warm with the wonderful heat from a wood stove.
 
i am grateful for my hubby that comes home and brings valentine's day cake and flowers even when i have forgotten about it.   i am grateful for 18 years of marriage and finally learning to communicate better.  

i am grateful for phones, internet, digital cameras, and all of the other ways i keep connected to my friends and family 8,408 km away (that's 5,224 miles).  

i am grateful for a sense of humor.   yes, it's twisted, wicked, warped, but it's mine.  

i'm grateful for cleaning, i don't like it, but i'm grateful for it.   you find amazing things.   i found the cat in my kid's room.   (but i find the cat in the middle of anything i'm doing)   and i found some joy in my heart cleaning out the junk that was trying to clutter it up.

have a great day.   and the next  time your having a day cluttered with garbage, clean it out with some gratitude.

why not?

when i tell myself i can't

when i want to say no

when i am discouraged

when it just isn't how things are done

i ask

why not?

life

is much simpler this way

leftovers hot chocolate

tis the season to have hot cocoa!

i haven't seen hot cocoa packages here, so we improvised.

i started with a liter of milk in a pan on the stove.   i just started adding anything chocolate.

   

a couple of heaping tablespoons of kaba, or chocolate milk mix

several chocolate Christmas balls.  this is the part that took the longest.   unwrapping the foil.   and you might want to taste the chocolate first, because some of the chocolate balls in the states are nasty.

the rest of what was in the nutella jar.   turned out to be about 2 tablespoons.

several large, hard marshmallows.   my towering teen used a halloween peep in his cup too. 

   

blonde curls and i added a teaspoon of peanut butter to ours

and my tomboy princess dipped a banana in hers.

heat it on a low setting.   you could use a higher setting, just keep it stirring so the chocolate doesn't burn to the bottom.   stir it before you serve it so you get the melted chocolate from the bottom.   

 





there ya go.    it was delicious!
you could throw in some broken candy canes or peppermints, some strawberry drink mix or candy, i bet my princess would like some andies mints in hers.   just whatever you have left over from the last big candy spree.   hot chocolate can't be as fattening as just eating the candy itself can it?

"i'm stuffed" peppers

my grandmother always made these when i was growing up.   i was never fond of her peppers because they were softer than i liked.   they didn't have as much flavor either.   she explained to me that my grandfather didn't like the sharp taste of the peppers so she would boil them for a few minutes first to get a milder flavor.

stuffed peppers are not hard.  
like with anything i do, i get the kids involved.   they like squishing the meat up to mix it and stuffing the peppers.  

for the filling, i used
2 pounds of meat +/-
1 hard roll - put through the fine shredder
1 large carrot - chopped
1 medium onion - chopped
1 egg

worcestershire sauce, probably about a tablespoon or so.  maybe more.  i like this stuff.   you could use soy sauce, i think.   i use worcestershire for all of the recipes that call for soy, since i don't like soy sauce.   it stands to reason that the opposite would be true as well.
ketchup, probably about 1/4 cup or so
salt, pepper


4 medium peppers of various colors

cut the tops off of the peppers.   i put all the seeds into the meat.   i also trimmed the remaining pepper off of the stem and threw that in the meat as well.     throw in the rest of the ingredients and let the kids mix it up.   the bread is not only to extend it a bit but gives it a better texture and binds with the egg to help it hold together better.

put them in a covered baking dish and bake for around 45 minutes at 350*.   i made some brown gravy to pour over it which i really liked.  

love my family

some days we all feel like this. . .  

but they are worth it.   i do love my crazy family

c.a.d.h.d

i don't suffer from it.  i enjoy every moment of it!

honey, i love you!

today, i am thankful for honey.   i love it on my bread, mixed with peanut butter.   i mean, it really has so many uses in cooking.   but i am grateful for it for a different reason!

a few weeks ago, i went to the doc for some wart treatment for my little blonde curly boy.    it seemed like a lot of stuff for what i needed for the munchkin so i took the opportunity to get rid of a little skin wart that was making me crazy just above the bend on the inside of my thumb.   i prefer my easy over the counter stuff from the states but here we are.   this stuff i got from the doctor was evidently a bit stronger than my otc.   i was being really careful with my curly boy but evidently not careful enough with me.   isn't that how we are though?  

i was doing ok with it.    now, this thing drives me nuts, and i scratched it one day and a little piece of it came off.  i was thinking, "cool, it's working"   then the next time i put stuff on it, it stung a little but no big deal.   i think maybe my pain tolerance is a bit too high sometimes.   after another round of acid on this thing i scratched it again and the whole top came off.   great!   huge hole under it where the acid had gone under it and eaten healthy skin and muscle.   not great!   

this was not a big hole compared to a bed sore or a bullet hole or even a pencil hole, but it was a big hole compared to what was supposed to be there.   it was larger than the big glass head pin heads.   it was about 1/8 inch wide and deep.   i could feel it when i moved my thumb.   well, crap!   ok, i heal pretty quick and i am a serious klutz so first aid and even some medical is no problem.   i figured i would just put some bag balm on it and bandage it.    no problems, right?   wrong!   2 days and nothing is changing.   it doesn't look wet and soft after i do the dishes (by hand).   that's weird.   really weird.   no change, just dry and open, like looking down into my muscle open.   

then, a light came on.   hallelujah for divine inspiration!  

a few years ago, my grandfather had a stroke from years of smoking.   his left side was paralyzed and was in bed for months.   he passed away due to the development of cancer in his throat from the smoking.    during this time, he developed bed sores.   pretty large ones.   he was being really well taken care of but they developed and his body was not fighting things.   i decided to do some research.   i found that many sources recommended honey or sugar in the wounds to help them heal.   really!   ok, then.   i tried to convince the powers that be to try this with him, but to no avail.   he passed away soon after that.

now, i'm just going to just be the guinea pig myself then.  

like i said, i had put new bandages on twice a day, letting air between fora while.   no change, no signs of healing.   none of that goo stuff that the body produces when it's healing.   nothing.   the yellow is from the acid on the skin, no idea why it did that to me.  but you can see how big the hole was.   the yellow outline is the original size of the hole.

i should have taken a picture before i started but i was so excited to try it i just went ahead with it.

 first picture is after the first time treating it.   i put one drop of honey in the gaping cave in my thumb and put bandage tape around it over night.   this is the next day after i let it air a bit.   it was actually larger than this the day before and you can see how it's healing.   when i opened it up it had healing goo, eww but a good sign.  i didn't take a picture of that, your welcome.   after it aired and i did the dishes, i put another drop of honey in it and wrapped it like i had been doing the whole time.

 next day, same thing.   twice applying honey and bandages and letting it dry in between    i have to say, after doing the dishes, it also looked like a wound should after doing dishes.

     this is the next day.   a lot smaller, still deep but not as deep as it was.   i think it's amazing how much progress it's made in just 3 days.   

i'll keep you updated.   still loading pictures of every day.   

ok, my new neosporin is honey!

update.   i totally spaced the next day.  no honey, no pictures no bandage.   the day after that, i bandaged it, but it looked like the hole under wasn't healing as fast as the skin.   you can see that the yellowed skin came off finally though.

i just stopped putting honey or anything on it.   the next day, i put some anti-biotic on it to make sure it was clean and kept it bandaged.   i didn't so the dishes to soak it because i started them and promptly broke a glass while trying to clean it . . .again.   you would think i would stop putting my hand inside glasses.   i spent the rest of the day and the next day with my thumb, finger and palm bandaged.   good grief!   i also burned my other hand on two different things on the same day.   i am seriously talented.

 anyway, thumb is still healing.   the hole underneath it is almost filled although i expect it might take a while longer until it's totally healed.   i mean, it was a giant hole in the muscle.   such is life.   do your own research on it.  go forth and learn of wonderful natural healing things.   

peace becomes my soul

http://www.zazzle.com/peace_becomes_my_soul-239684625899736050

braided shifu ears

it's that time of year here in germany!   FASCHINGS!    love it!

faschings is mardi gras or karneval without the flashing and beads.   on dirty thrusday all the bad stuff from the last year are let loose for a couple of weeks and then it's all swept out to begin the year clean, metaphorically speaking.   those little kitchen witches that i think are kind of ugly, they are the sweepers and actually good little witches.   what does that have to do with shifu? . . .nothing unless your daughter is dressing as a panda for faschings.

everyone dresses up for faschings.   i have two versions because she wore her costume to school yesterday and to gymnastics to day.   

yesterday's version is this 

 i did a small braid across the front to hold the whispies in check.  divide in two, braid up the back.   then i just wrapped the end into the front of the braid again and again around itself to make it stand up.   like princess leah but on top and high.   i wrapped the tail of the braid across the front into the braid behind the ear, just for some non-symmetry.

 today's version is from the front.   i braided from the front around the sides and then guided the braid up a bit so i could cross and bring the tail of the braid forward to make ears.   this time instead of wrapping to make the horn like ears, i tucked it in once, then brought it up and made a loop and tucked into the braid again..   then i wrapped the rest of the tail around the bottom of the loop to hold it up and tucked in back into the braid until the ends were hidden.

wasn't that fun?   i think i need to wrap her hair around a pair of light up horns just for fun.  how much fun would that be?!   

more or less

i actually have lived in a travel trailer with a tent for a living room, kitchen, dining room . . . 

i was grateful to have a front door.   now, i am grateful for a front door that doesn't zip.

i heart crochet

this was just fooling around.   no purpose, no holiday, well, valentine's, but no gifts this time.   just a bracelet for my tomboy princess.

 it's the basic heart pattern from here - http://saltforthespirit.blogspot.de/2009/02/itty-bitty-crochet-heart-tutorial.html

but i use really small hooks and split string to hook with.   anyway, just make a heart, then chain 8 and make another one.   just keep going until it's the length you want and chain long enough to make your loop for the hearts to go through and hold.  

patient cat