I'm getting boring, huh?

Sheesh! I am getting so boring that reading my own posts puts ME to sleep! Sorry guys. I just haven't gotten back into the swing of things. I guess that happens to a lot of bloggers but I did like getting comments and now, barely any. Hmmmm. I know, I know the comments aren't the reason I blog. Truly they aren't. I know that you all are out there and that is comforting. I blog to feel a sense of self, to understand what's going on in my world, to record today and what my life is like and about. But. Still. It was nice to see all the different people and their blogs that were including themselves in my little world. . . .ok, no more of that. On to what blogging is really about.

Hey, lookee, there ARE pictures to be shared:

First up is a photo of my Hogwarts sock swap socks. Almost done! Whoopee! I am knitting them in tandem because I decided to add some increases at the calves. They are a simple 3X1 rib until above the ankle and then I slowly increased to a 3X2 rib. Question for you all out there. . . How would you finish these off? Just, bind off? The ribbing is already there so I guess so but, I wanted them to look, y'know, finished. Can I picot edge with ribbing? Should I just bind off and not worry about it? Your suggestions are respectfully requested (how's that for comment begging? ;-> ) I am making them from Lorna's Laces Sheperd Sock in the "bee stripe" colorway. That swirly yellow stripe thing going up the foot of the sock was purely the colorway. I noticed that that was the point where they switched from gold to black. Seems they had a bit of extra gold. I kind of like the effect though. Don't you?

Now onto a spoiling for me! Here's the totality of my package from my FABULOUS Knitter's Tea Swap 3 spoilee, Jessica:

Isn't that some wonderful stuff? I got 3 different loose teas from the English Tea Store, many, many tea bags of assorted Stash teas, some organic honey lemon sticks, 3 different typed of tea cookies/treats, some dark chocolate (heaven) covered pretzel bits AND. . . . .my very first, ever Claudia's handpainted sock yarn. Woo Hoo! Here it is closer up:

And again:
Thank you so much for your generosity Jessica, it was amazing to have you as my pal. Hopefully you will like my package as much as I enjoyed yours!

Last, but not least, I leave you with a gratuitous family picture of us during Memorial Day weekend while out geocaching. This is a picture of us after finding our 100th cache:



We had so much fun that weekend!

Cold and CHAI!

So, it got up to almost 70 here on Wednesday. It was NICE! Then last night and today the temps have plummeted and we are back down in the 30's at night and low 50's during the day. Now, I am not saying that it couldn't be worse (Cleveland is 24 degrees right NOW! - brrrrrr) but a 20+ change in temp in 24 - 28 hours is a bit much, no?

So, I woke up this morning really cold and decided I needed some Chai. Chai warms me to my bones better than anything else I can think of or drink. I think it's all in the spices. The combination gets everything warm from the inside out. AAAHH! ;-)

I was mixing up my chai mix when I realized that I don't think I have shared that here on the blog. So, here it is:

Instant Chai Mix

1 tsp ground Ginger
1 tsp ground Cardamom (you can get it at most grocery stores or World Market)
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground Cloves
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (I use the Fat-free kind)


Mix all the dry ingredients together. Place the sweetened cond. milk in a container and slowly add the dry ingredients mixing in well and thoroughly. Keep mixture refrigerated in an air-tight sealed container (I use gladware or tupperware).

OK, so now that you have this sugary concoction, how do you use it? Simple, simple.

1. Brew some strong tea (I like to use strong Black tea but any tea is good. I have even used your basic Lipton tea. I also think you probably want to stay away from 'flavored' teas as the flavors may compete with each other.

2. Add mixture to your tea to taste (I use about 1 1/2 tablespoon per a big mug of tea).

3. Mix thoroughly and ENJOY!


YUM-O!