Christmas Tree

Over the weekend we got a tree. They were selling them just a couple of blocks from our place so we were able pick it out and then carry it back, me holding the trunk, Duck holding the tip. We pretended we had just cut it down ourselves.

We don't have a tree every year, and so we don't have a lot of ornaments. The ones we do have we bought during after-Christmas sales at Michaels, and even then I don't like spending my money that way. So I'm always trying to find other ways to decorate the tree without breaking the bank.

I came across these beautiful letterpress gift tags at Black Ink the other day. They come in a package of 5, complete with little holes punched at top and a small packet of pretty string. The paper is thick, the design is simple, but all in all way too nice to be used as gift tags.

So I repurposed them into ornaments.

Yay.

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And over here...

Here is the continuation of the Domesticat House Tour.

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Welcome to the kitchen

I is ready to share.

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Show and Tell

I just have nothing to talk about these days. But before I forget, I have a public service announcement to make on behalf of my cousin who lives in Denver. She has a new copy of Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from IK that she'd like to swap for purple or purplish sock yarn; no preference as to brand. Surely these must be one or two knitters out there who do not yet own this book. Surely. And I'm sure if you wanted to swap something else she'd be open to that as well.

So if you're interested, just zap me a comment.

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Now I'm going to show photos that I took today of random stuff around the house, because really I cannot think of a single thing to talk about. Not that there hasn't been much to talk about, but the manner in which those things would be talked about would be very low-quality, considering how my brain has lost all of its writing/blogging mojo. These days I've been sitting around alternately between Why Do I Blog? and Do You Really Care? so much that my CPU crashes and it takes a lot of coaxing to restart. So annoying, all this teen-angst stuff. So let's not talk about it anymore.

Let's talk about what's on the needles. Lots of random stuff.

There are thick socks, one plain, one ribbed, in Silk Garden Lite, hopefully to be finished in time for xmas. There is a brown lump which is the start of Forecast. I think I might be allergic to the wool I'm using, and if it is an allergy it's a weird one. Everytime I put down the knitting, random parts of my body start to itch like crazy. The hairline, behind the ear, soles of the feet, back of the knees, shoulder blades, that meaty area of the thumb. The yarn is Peruvian wool that I got years ago from elann.com. I'm still performing tests to see if this really is an allergy or if it's all in my head.

It's 11 am and I'm still in my Yummy Sushi Pajamas. In case you're wondering, it is1:45 pm now and I've switched out of the top, put on some eye shadow and lip gloss, but am still wearing the pj pants. And they're called Yummy Sushi Pajamas because that's what Buffy called them in a season 5 episode of Buffy the VampireSlayer several years back. She wore these exact pj's which I loved so much that Duck secretly tracked them down and I received them for Christmas. It was the best gift EVER.

This is Underdog. He's about 30 years old, and belonged to Duck. He's a superhero, piggy bank and bouncer all rolled into one. Fun AND functional! These days he's mostly a bouncer, or a doorstop for the bathroom where the litterbox is. We had an incident several months back when we were out of the house all day, the heavy door closed by itself and Veebs waited as long as he could before he made a huge, steaming pile of an accident in the corner of the kitchen. It is still unclear who was unhappier about the situation, me or the cat. So now we use Underdog to make sure that doesn't happen again.

My first orchids. My mom used to keep dozens of them and even though she has the greenest of all thumbs, she never had much luck with orchids. How she would try. So I approach them with a little trepidation. But now with a warmer place (unlike our old house) that also gets a decent amount of light (unlike our old house), I'm hoping I will kill these later rather than sooner.

And now, my MANTLE!

The mantle is an original detail in the house (over a hundred years old!) and is made of marble. We will probably not use the fireplace because if the entire street were to burn the guilt would never leave me, but how I love the mantle! How I love to put stuff on it! In front of it! Next to it! This weekend we went to the garden center and I went a little crazy, and so did Duck because he so did not want to be there. I got a pretty garland of fake little berries, paperwhite bulbs to force, amaryllis bulbs to force, poinsettas and those orchids. The ferns I bought in May when we were selling the house. I'm surprised they're still alive. It could be because for once our condo is always at a nice and toasty 72 F, which is nearly a whole 20 degrees more than what we kept our thermostat at our old house. I love having the heat included in our condo fee. I love having heat.

THE END.

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Don't forget to let me know if you'd like to swap for the Favorite Socks book! Til next time...

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Things in the kitchen

This post courtesy of my brain being currently unable to string words into interesting or useful sentences. The heat finally got to it.

Cookbooks.

Part of wedding registry. One person bought out the whole thing.

Fan.

Came with the new place. The previous owner had some eclectic tastes...

Cats.

He's always trying to sit on the keyboard.

Ducks.

Make way!

(They're measuring cups!!)

Cats and Ducks.

THE END

PS The side-to-side sweater is nearly completed, just had to get through the weather and a couple more inches of ribbing. Stay tuned! (GEEZ LOUISE was it hot. We spent the evenings grilling and over the dying coals we roasted marshmellows. Guess what though, I hate marshmellows! And yet I ate an entire bag! So gross! The heat made me do it. Also, the leaves are turning colors from being scorched. That's the last time I ask for an extended summer.)

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Filed Under: House |  Cat in the Kitchen | Life

Small adjustments

The living room, in the new place.

Furnishings that used to spread out over 3 rooms - so luxurious! - are now stuffed into one. Notice that eyesore of a basement couch and TV stand? Some of them will have to go eventually.

But this chubby little guy is going to stick around to enjoy the view.

All in all, we're adjusting to city livin' pretty well. Even though there's like, no storage space. (One bike leaning against the piano, one against the kitchen wall). Ah so you win some, you lose some. I think I'd take a overstuffed room with a view over closets any day.

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Revisiting Santa Fe

This here blob is a chicken enchilada.

It's kind of light on the chicken part.

I followed the chicken enchilada recipe from EverydayFood, except instead of using the 2 jars of green salsa, I used 2 cups of diced New Mexican green chile.

It tastes like cheese-flavored fire.

I miss New Mexico.

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Surrounding myself with June

I planted a couple of peony bushes in the front yard 4 years ago. My thumb is really more brown than it is green, so it's always a happy surprise when they come up and bloom each spring.

I've gathered a bunch of blossoms (so hard to muster the courage to cut flowers from their source, I don't know why) and put them all around the house. This weekend we had a lovely al fresco dinner - grilled steak, scallops, lots of wine, lots of candles - and the peonies served as the centerpiece.

I moved from the Extremely Orange Office upstairs to the hardly-used sunroom downstairs. It gets really cold here in the winter that we usually keep this room closed off from the rest of the house. During the summers it is furnished simply with just the red couch and a couple of chairs, and I'll occassionally knit here. But mostly, the room serves as the access point to the backyard deck, and that's it.

When we first moved here I had these grand plans of turning this room into a greenhouse, an English teahouse, with plants in every corner, covering the walls from top to bottom. There would be indoor butterflies and a finch in a cage, and we'd sit down for tea everyday at 4...

Only when we decided to sell this place did we spruce the sunroom up. No live butterflies or birds, but an empty birdcage and some simple but lush ferns placed at each corner of the room, a few knick-knacks and stray candles placed here and there. It made a huge difference. I want to be in here all the time now, especially with the old rhododendron and rose bushes blooming just outside.

I keep the windows open to let the perfume waft in.

Hee hee there are rose petals on his little cat head.

I didn't think I would but I am going to miss this house.

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