Happy Birthday

to the one who reminds me that sometimes the other road is the better way to go

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Happy Birthday P, may the coming year bring all that you wish for and so much more.

it's a zoo

2 humans
3 dogs
2 cats
9 kittens

Any questions?

PS there is knitting content comingbut it involves pictures and for that I have to stop painting/gardening/making jam/dealing with 4 legged friends long enough to leave my house

fresh

I picked these this morning as they needed to be thinned out. Guess what we are having for dinner?

Raverly

I got my Raverly invite on Friday, not that I have had a chance to do anything with it yet. Because between partying on Saturday ( my birthday party) and reading Harry Potter it was a busy weekend but hopefully I will get to it soon. Now to cover the fact that I really don't have time to blog right now here are some cute pet photos... just because I can.


these 2 still need a home

you know you want one!

this one doesn't show it so well but he thought typing was a really good time

and that the kittens were interesting


but needed a bath.


Oh look at all that food,

I think I need some. Yes it will start bad habits but it was a good photo!

the very last potter...

Okay I finished it, every last page. I have avoided the internet for the last 72 hours because I was a afraid of a spoiler. It was good, I didn't want to put it down even though I had to a number of times as I had other things I had to get done. I'll have a proper post later, I am off to knit.

Old?

I spoke to my 3 year old niece last week on my sisters birthday.... little miss R had some interesting things to say

R - Hi annie teen ( she renamed me before words were her thing). Are you going to die?

J. No

R. Are you going to die?

J. I don't think think so R.

R ( still holding the phone) Mama you say annie you going to die, she says she's not

C. (my sister) I never said annie was going to die.

R. Yes you did, you said annie was going to be really, really old on her birthday.

J laughs hysterically and resumes the conversation with her sister while little miss R. puzzles over the fact that turning 30 does not mean you are going to die.

All this to say, that today on my 30th birthday I feel the same as I did yesterday, so I guess I am not about to keel over. It's the week of J here at the farm, last night we went out for dinner, today are going for a picnic and on Saturday we are having a party. All J, all the time.

P got me a few very cute treats, I will have to show you a picture of the t shirt later this week because describing it just won't do it justice. I am off to knit, play with the puppy and supervise the boy painting our dinning room ceiling.

Cheers

pictures anyone?

As if this one needs any sort of a description. The hat pattern is from Charmed Knits and the scarf pattern is my own. I have been knitting for a local bookstore who will be selling them at the release next Friday. Sadly they are knit with acyrlic but it was really the onely way to make the afforadble for the average kid.

And because you all need more pet pictures in your lives. Here is Chudder and Max, we wanted to show the current size difference because he won't be so much smaller for long.

Yes he is still adorable

Chudder is amazed by the kittens, she just stands there and stares at them for as long as we will let her. They are starting to be more alert and I caught this one in mid yawn.

Alright it's back to the garden and more Potter knitting for me.

Cooking for Karina

Indian Chick Peas (or Lentils)

1 19oz/540ml can of chick peas or lentils - rinse them well and then put them back in the can and fill it up with water.
1 large onion finely chopped
4 to 6 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger
1/2 tsp salt - if you cook with salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cayenne - the more you add the hotter it is.
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp tumeric
2 tsp cumin
1 to 2 cups of coconut milk ( lite or regular)

Heat a few tsps of olive oil in the bottom of a heavy frying pan ( I like cast iron as they hold the heat well)
Add the minced garlic and onion, saute for about 10 minutes over medium heat
Add the in all the spices, saute for another minute or so.
Add the can of chick peas/lentils and allow to boil rapidly for a few minutes to reduce the liquid. Turn to low and simmer for at least 5 minutes, longer if you have time. At the last minute add the coconut milk. The amount depends on your tastes, I usually add 2 cups. You just want to heat the coconut milk but not have it boil

Serve over rice or rice noodles. Serves 2 big eaters or 3 smaller eaters.

Notes - Sometimes I double the recipe and add both chick peas and lentils.
- I use canned but you could use dry ( that you have soaked and cooked ahead) and add about 1/4 cup of water in place of the water in the can.
- I rinse the can contents well due to the amount of salt that is in the liquid they are canned in.
- This is not a "hot" curry, I can't eat really hot things but it is tasty. P. makes his hotter with pickled mango added on to his plate.

well

It's my sister birthday today, so I can't start a blog post without a Happy Birthday to a fabulous older sister. Especially since I mailed her some treats but there is no way that they are going to get there for today. So Happy Birthday to a sister who has managed to put up with me for the last 30 years and remain one of my closest friends in the process - amazing I know.

I also have some pictures... puppy pictures.


This is Max, he is 7 weeks old and weighs in

at a whopping 10lbs. He's mostly Bull Mastiff and will be huge

but right now is little, cuddly and likes to wrestle with P

but not with Kieran. They are the same size and Kieran doesn't like him at all. I'll keep you posted with lots of pics through the summer because who doesn't love puppy and kitten pictures

FYI - the kittens eyes are open. Aren't they cute - you know you want one.

A pause

in my carefully scheduled day of carpet cleaning, cleaning in general and furniture moving to fill you in on the following very important pieces of information.

First a very good friend of mine decided that she needed to do something to give back for her 40th year. She is behind the current Afghans for Afghans collection in Ottawa, you can read about them here. There are collection points in Ottawa or Toronto that you can send them to and I know that they would be thrilled to hear and recieve stuff from other bloggers.

There is also a great project going on in Canberra, Australia. It is called Knit1 Blog1 and it is an interactive knitting show. They asked bloggers to send them a FO ( I sent a scarf that I also spun the wool for) and then they will exhibit the project with a link to the persons blog and some computer terminals set up for visitors to view the blogs. I have been meaning to tell you about it for ages and time has just gotten away from me. The show opens next week and they are great about posting updates, there will be pictures on their blog.

Alright, that's all you get for today. I am off to clean and maybe take a little break to work on some Harry Potter scarves ( long story).

cuteness and beauty

Cute - sleeping kittens, do you live Ottawa? Want one?

Beauty - the falling down chicken coop/milkhouse

is gone and I can see the full beauty of a very old barn

Cute - kittens who melt my heart

Cute - his eyes started to open yesterday

Beauty - this was in our field on Saturday

Cute - she loves her brothers

Beauty - old stuff we found in the ground while

digging holes for apple trees - a stove door, a gear and some other metal stuff.

It's been a busy week at the ol' homestead. I got lots to do and it seems that there are not enough hours in the day to get it all done. It seems that this is always the way though. The vegetable garden consumes many hours of my life as I am always weeding and watering but it will be worth it in the end.

Today I am making freezer jam with some local (amazing) strawberries and hopefully with some( not so local) cherries as well. Must be off, if you are interested there are some fun recipes up on my other blog

I live in my garden now, there is little else

to tell you but I thought I would wish everyone a happy Canada day and entertain you with a few pictures. ( that won't upload so you will have to wait for them)

* July 2 - blogger still hates me this morning and I guess I will have to wait until I can get to a high speed connection. I love life in the country but having dial up is a sad drawback