Home again, home again

Three days post-surgery, and everything is finally getting back to normal, or at least what passes for normal around here. 

vintage image
It's Owl Right & thankfully, so am I

We got home Friday a bit after lunchtime, and it wasn't long before I was drowsing off, physically needing to lay down and sleep. I was (and am) in more pain than I expected, but I'm trying not to dwell on it, because it can only get better from this point on, right? 

The surgery went well. One thing I learned is that I probably don't hide fear as well as I'd like to think. The surgical nurse, Olga, could apparently tell that I was terrified, because at one point, just as I was about to be put under (I was watching the anesthesiologist putting the first drug in my IV line), she came up to me, grasped my hand, and told me that everything would be ok.

And it was ok. I came out of anesthesia quickly, and wasn't sick at all afterwards. I was a little disoriented, but it passed quickly. The procedure was an obvious immediate success, but they don't consider it a true success until 3 months post-surgery, when they'll better be able to tell if the procedure "took" long term or not.

So, it's a date. February 3rd, 2011, I'm looking at you.

used with permission, by clarita, at Morguefile^

I would have been able to come home sooner than I did, but they had trouble getting an acceptable blood oxygen reading. It wasn't until they tested my ear that they got the (normal) 97% measurement that they wanted.

used with permission, from Morguefile^

My fingers never show the proper levels of blood oxygen due to the fact that I have mild primary Reynaud's phenomenon^ (pops to a National Institutes of Health page). In other words, I have poor circulation in my fingers and toes, and always have. Secondary Reynaud's (which I totally do not have) is caused by other factors, often serious diseases - it's not a diagnosis anyone wants.

To be honest, I always thought that everyone had the same experience (cold extremities indoors, actual pain in the cold) and that it was entirely normal. At least  until I was pregnant in 2005 with Clementine. My doctor, who was trying to get a blood oxygen reading at the time, grabbed my hands, held them palm up, gestured toward the splotchy, pale skin, then said, "Has anyone ever told you why your hands are cold and blue? Because you have Reynaud's".She seemed quite pleased to be the one to tell me.

So, I have Reynaud's. Really, though, the only time it comes up is when I'm out playing in the snow or when I need to give a blood oxygen level, which is almost never. By the way: you can try to tell the nurses that they won't be able to get a blood oxygen reading from your fingers, but about half the time, they'll take it as a personal challenge. At least it isn't painful, though. Nothing like the nurses who are entirely sure that they'll be the one to tame my rolling, collapsing veins with half-a-dozen jabs in the arm rather than taking it out of the back of my hand as I request. In the past I've come close to fainting before they were willing to give up. Now I just insist on the back of my hand.

As mentioned above, I'm still in quite a bit of pain, but determined to get some work done this week. I've had it up to here with my own kvetching, and feel the need to be productive. I'm tired of being sick. I'm sick of being tired. So, I'm planning on working on Christmas gifts, putting up the Christmas tree with Dan and Clementine, and doing all of the other things one is supposed to do in December.

vintage image

Speaking of Clementine: She handled Mommy being in surgery both better and worse than I would have expected. 

Better in the sense that she's been all over me, giving me hugs and kisses, which is very sweet. She wanted to be reassured that everything was ok, and she spent a lot of the weekend right next to me, checking on me. She asked a lot of questions, all of which we answered, all of which seemed to satisfy her sense of curiosity. She knows that I'm ok and at this point, she's back to her sweet self.

But worse in the sense that Clementine decided on Saturday to give herself a haircut. She seems to like to change things up whenever she feels stress, and told me quite plainly that she wanted shorter hair, which is why she cut it. We didn't scold her - there was no point. I simply told her that we'd have to go to the salon and get it evened up, which we did, and she's now the proud owner of a darling pixie cut.  

Until later...

vintage image

Namaste

Recycling Crayons... a project straight from the Handbook (sshhhhhh)

When my oldest was quite little, she once asked me how I knew how to be a mommy. How did I know Santa's address? How did I let the Tooth Fairy know that she had lost a tooth? How did I know how to make play dough? How did I know where the gnomes and elves were in the yard?

The Tooth Fairy

I quietly explained that when babies are born, their mothers get a copy of the Mommy Handbook in the hospital, which had all of that information and a lot more. Of course, I couldn't show it to her, because she wasn't a Mommy yet, but when she got married and had her own kids, she'd get a copy and we could talk about it. Until then, it was all very hush-hush.

What the Mommy Handbook may look like

My copy of the Handbook is pretty dog-eared now, covered in unidentifiable stains. But its full of all sorts of great information, suggestions, recipes, and activities, and has lasted me through two-and-a-quarter childhoods (so far). The margins are full of notes, and late additions have been stapled to the back cover. Directions for kissing away the pain of ouchies, and the recipe for Making It All Better. The recipe for Monster-banning spray, Thanksgiving dinner, and the instructions for Hiding Birthday Presents So That They Cannot Be Found.

And there is this, How to Recycle Crayons. I'm pretty sure every mom does this with or for their kids at least once. It's cheap, and simple. The results are fun and a lot more interesting than "regular" crayons. They make great gifts at Christmas and for birthdays. There are probably as many ways to do this as there are moms. This is how we did it.

from here, used with permission(^)

Step 1. Sort through your child's crayons periodically, removing all of the broken pieces. When you have enough to make new crayons, spend an evening reading or watching a movie and peeling off all those fiddly label bits. I've read that soaking them off works well, but it didn't work for me at all. This is a mind-numbingly tedious task, but I found that I settled into a grove while watching a movie and before long, it was all done with a satisfying pile of naked crayon bits in one bowl, and a pile of paper in the other.

Some of our recycled crayons

If you haven't the patience or the time to wait until you have hundreds of broken bits, you can usually find crayons in bags at the thrift store for nearly nothing. You could also ask your local restaurant to save them for you if they do that sort of thing. My one thought on these methods of acquisition is this: we buy crayons which are made in the United States because we're not sure about the dyes and coloring used in those made overseas. They may be safe, but there have been so many recalls that we choose not to risk it. Starting next month (late July) crayons will be incredibly cheap due to the back-to-school sales, so if you want to make enough for gifts or don't have the patience to wait for all of yours to break, that will be a great time to find them for practically nothing.

We did a combination of the first suggestion (save out broken crayons) and the last (bought new) when we realized that our daughter doesn't break them fast enough. I bought new during the back-to-school supply sale last August. Boxes of 48 crayons were 11 cents each. My guess is that we used about 150 crayons, 50-ish broken an old, 96 (2 boxes worth) new. The cost, since we always stock up every summer for the following year, was maybe 35 cents, not counting the energy from the oven. 

Step 2. With all of the crayons peeled, we rinsed the broken bits to get rid of any errant cat fur, since kitty is shedding right now. They drained over night on a piece of toweling in the kitchen. You can discard the paper, or do what I did, which is to save it for making new paper. The pieces will add colorful flecks to new sheets. Making paper is another project for another day, of course.

Step 3. The next day, we sorted the crayons into greased muffin tins. We talked about what the colors combinations reminded us of as we sorted. We made sure that all of the crayons were broken up into small bits, and broke any that looked big. Large pieces leave a lot of space in container, and will result is smaller crayons. We wanted big, strong shapes which would hold up to lots of coloring.

 from here, used with permission (^)

We combined yellows, reds and oranges to make an Autumn crayon. Pale blues and white for a Winter crayon.  Pastels for a Spring crayon. Greens and yellows for a Summer crayon.

We mixed mixed greens and blues to make an ocean crayon.  Black, purples, and blues to make a stormy night crayon. Pinks, purples and reds made a lovely Valentines crayon. Blues, greens, and purples for a crayon that reminded us of deep space. Browns, reds and oranges for an earth colored crayon. We ended up with a total of 14, all different.

Step 4.  The soon-to-be-new-crayons can be microwaved in a safe container and poured into silicone molds. They can be melted over a double boiler and poured into molds. They can be placed in their mold in a slow-cooker and melted that way. And they can be placed in the oven in greased (and possibly papered) muffin tins with the oven on. I chose this method.

Even though we have a couple of silicone molds, I read that some molds have a bad habit of melting from the heat of the wax. I don't know which will and which won't, but didn't want to take the chance just now, because we want to try to mold chalk with later this month (page 486 in the Mommy Handbook). 

Step 5. We greased our muffin tins. We should have used foil or paper liners. Please use foil or paper liners. Take my word for it. They should also be greased well. Don't use your vintage cast iron muffin tin (like I did), because when crayon gets on them, it'll take forever to get it out and you'll end up kicking yourself (like I did). Use "tin" muffin tins - the aluminum kind. If the worst happens, they'll be much easier to clean.

Step 6. After the muffin tins are lined and the crayons are sorted (we sorted the broken pieces all the way to the top of the rim of the tin) place the tins in an oven which has been heated to 275F. Due to our daughter's age, this was something that I did by myself. I started checking progress at around 10 minutes, and removed the molten pools of liquid wax at around the 14 minute point. You know your stove best, so start checking on the low end of when they may be done. "Done" means that the crayons are melted. The wax will be pooled in the tin, but won't be particularly well-mixed. This was the effect we were looking for - crayons which could color in more than one shade at once. If you'd like a more uniform effect, a light stir with a wooden skewer as soon as they come out of the oven would accomplish this, but might muddy the colors.

 Our ocean crayon in an old enamel pan

Step 7. Turn off the oven, and wait 30 minutes or until the wax is entirely set. If you absolutely need them as quickly as possible, you could put the muffin tins in the fridge for a while. I didn't want to risk it since I didn't like the picture that hot, heavy cast iron and cold, glass fridge shelves conjured up.  Besides, at out house, it was bed time by this point in the process, so we decided to leave our creations until the following morning. 

Step 8. Remove crayons from their mold. The next morning, because I hadn't used liners, I had a heck of a time thinking of how to get the crayons out of the tins. I tried popping them in the freezer, which didn't work. I didn't want to pry them out, and finally figured out that if I poured very hot water from the sink onto the backs of the tins, the crayons would loosen up and pop out. The cast iron tin ended up with a thin later of crayon on the inside To get it off, I eventually resorted to having my husband burn it out upside down on the gas grill after dinner. It worked and the tin is fine, but it would have been sooooo much easier to line the tins.

several of our finished crayons

Step 9. Enjoy! As soon as my husband got home, he joined us on the back deck with paper and our new crayons. We colored and drew and had a lovely time.

 Breaking in our new crayons

A very happy bunny

 

details from a picture of the ocean. 

the pattern is caused by the wrought iron table we were working on, 

not by the crayons.

 

Probably a famous art critic in disguise

Namaste.  

=^..^=

Buggy with Joy

I was reading my RSS feed before turning in for the night a few minutes ago, and there, in Craft Gossip's Polymer Clay (^) feed, by Julie Leir-Van Sickle was a photo that included two of my bugs (^)!

How spiffy is that? I'm grinning from ear to ear here.

My bugs were included in a photo along with wonderful bugs by many talented craftspeople, in an article about clay artist Connie Pelkey's (^) Bug Swap, which I am thrilled to have been able to have taken part in.

Click through the photo in the column at Craft Gossip (^) to see the rest of the bugs, and to appreciate so many accomplished and imaginative individuals.

Connie Pelkey's website, which features her own gorgeous creations is here (^), and her Etsy shop can be found here (^).

Namaste

=^..^=

It's a wrap!

This as been a ridiculously busy week so far.

Busy, but for the most part, it was a nice sort of busy, in between Dan being sick (sinus infection), the SuperCat being sick (she's much better now), and coming down with a sinus infection myself (I'm getting there slowly myself).

Last Sunday I joined my knitting group at a local tea shop for tea and knitting. I actually belong to two different groups. Both are full of wonderfully talented, funny, smart women.

After tea and knitting, one of my friends (she's the one who organizes the group) and I went to Jo-Anns to look at yarn.

Quilters, seamstresses and needle workers tend to collect the tools of their crafts - fabric and yarn, mainly. I do all three, and have a ridiculous amount of both.

There is probably enough yarn in my stash to knit for at least a year and never buy a single new skein. I probably have enough fabric to make quilts for all of the beds, too. Still, it's so much fun to go look at yarn and fabric, and chat with a friend.

I brought the fuzzy wrap I've been working on for the last couple of months, knitting and talking, drinking tea. and. It's made with a super bulky yarn in seemingly strange colors, which I found at Hobby Lobby. When I first saw it, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not at first, but I knew who would; silky wisps of riotous orange and turquoise, with shades of green twine around a fat butter yellow core. It was normally almost $10.00 a skein, but was on clearance for a few dollars.

Yarn Bee Soft Illusion Serenade

The wrap didn't have a pattern, really. I cast on 30 stitches with size 15 needles, knit through three skeins of yarn, then bound off using the knit method. And with that, it was done, completed.

Normally, I bind off using the crochet method. Someone at tea asked about binding off, and I said that I use a crochet needle. This is how I've always done it: Knit Tutorial - Crochet Hook Bind Off (^)

Crochet bind off has always seemed easiest to me; it's how I was taught. When I got close to finishing the wrap, I decided to use the knit method, and it was equally simple. I'm not sure which I like better now or why I I was so attached to the way I was taught or why it even matters. Such a small thing, yet interesting - why do we get so attached to the familiar, even the smallest things?

As I mentioned, I finally finished the wrap, and am happy with how it turned out.

The end result is around 18 inches wide and five and a half feet long or so. By the time I was done with it, I had really come to like the colors and textures a lot. So soft and cuddly, the colors vivid and bright. It reminds me of walking home from school as a child in the fall before the grass turns brown, with leaves swirling around. Warm and brisk at the same time. It reminded me of other things, too...

It's going to my oldest daughter. The yarn reminded me of her the first time I saw it & I hope she likes it.

She turned 21 this week; she's an adult now, done with her childhood. I was happy and sad in turns, every time I thought of her this week. In my mind, part of her will always be that darling toddler, wearing black patent shoes, taking her first steps on a sunny late autumn porch in South Carolina, on the sort of day that reminds me of the yarn in her wrap - warm and cool, sunny and crisp.

Part of her will always be that fiercely independent little girl, a blur one moment, soft and calm the next.

And part of her will always be the stunningly beautiful, talented, intelligent, well-reasoned, accomplished adult she is today. I could not be prouder of her. I love her for all that she is, all that she's been, and all that she'll become.

the completed wrap

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

Namaste
=^..^=

Yikes!

Yikes!

I have been so busy the last few weeks. My darling husband's birthday. My first gluten-free Thanksgiving. A dental appointment, followed by another dental appointment (which was the last one, thankfully - at least till next time). A bunch of family birthdays. All of the things that make life good (minus the dentist).

So, let's see: Thanksgiving was wonderful. One of the nicest things about Thanksgiving, in fact one of the nicest things, period, ever, was that we went to dinner at the home of some dear friends and almost everything was GF. How awesome is that? The gravy was made with corn starch, the meats were GF, the salad was GF, the green pistachio fluffy stuff was GF (how I love that stuff), and they even purchased crackers that were gluten free! And, added bonus: I'd never had or even seen the brand before, but they were so good I went out the weekend after Thanksgiving and purchased two huge boxes.

Crunchmaster Multi-Grain Crackers(^). Smoky, crunchy, really rich whole-grain taste. OMG-they-were-awesome.

But back to dinner: I was deeply touched that our friends went to so much trouble on my account, and I will never forget their kindness.

I wish I had photos to share, but we had such a good time talking and eating and having fun that my camera stayed in my handbag.

I brought my own stuffing, which my husband made, using home-baked GF bread. It was (at best) only meh; he followed the recipe I'd found, but it was too... something. The spices were wrong, I found it too sage-y. He did an excellent job, so no complaints there. I chose the wrong recipe, which I won't mention here because it came from another blogger's site. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it - I am just not a sage person, and haven't been since I participated in sausage making when I was a kid. Yuck. Phooey. We will try again, of course. We both love stuffing, and it was really, really close.

I happily ate it anyway, of course, because the gravy was soooo perfect. Even a sage overdose couldn't subtract from the joy of eating such wonderful holiday food with friends and loved ones. The ham and turkey were incredible. The candied sweet potatoes were sublime, baked in brown sugar syrup and then topped with marshmallows in the last few minutes to give them a soft/crunchy/toasted top.

I didn't have pie, because I forgot to bring any. I said I would bring some. I planned on it, but promptly forgot it in the do-you-have-the-diaper-bag-have-you-walked-the-dog-where-are-my-shoes frenzy to get out the door and to their house on time. I actually baked a really nice pumpkin pie, and left it at home.

When I baked my first post-gluten pumpkin pie, I experimented with a cookie crumb crust using Mi-Del gluten-free ginger snaps(^). Substituting the ginger snaps for the graham cracker-based recipe really wasn't right, though and the crust turned out ok, but a bit too buttery. I'll do it again, but with less butter.

The pie was awesome, though, because the filling was incredible. Here is my recipe:

Pumpkin Pie

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat-free)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt (half the time I forget the salt, and it's fine).

1). Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2). Mix everything together
3). Pour it into the crust
4). Bake for 15 minutes.
5). Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F
6). Bake 35 to 40 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
7) Cool.
8). Serve with whipped cream.
9). Refrigerate leftovers.

So basically your back-of-the-can/box/jar pumpkin pie recipe, right?

Not really. That's the recipe I start with, but it is never the one I end up making. I added 1/4 cup of finely chopped candied ginger (shades of James Beard's famous recipe). And I double all of the spices (at least) and add ground cloves (about 1/2 teaspoon).

It was delicious. It was spicy. It was forgotten. But I happily "made-do" with Watergate Salad.

Watergate Salad reminds me of family reunions and potlucks. Easter at my grandmother's house. According to Wikipedia(^), it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the famous Watergate complex of Nixon fame, so that's a puzzler. Here's a pretty standard recipe. If it's important to you, it's easy to find pudding mix, marshmallows and whipped topping that are gluten-free.

Watergate Salad

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

1). Mix everything except the whipped topping together in a bowl. The pudding mix will make everything else a creepy green color. Ignore this.
2). Once everything is well-mixed, gently fold in the whipped topping.
3). Refrigerate.
4). Use sugar-free pudding mix and reduced-sugar whipped topping if you'd like.
5). Serve and hear everyone happily exclaim, "Oooooh! The green stuff!"

So, that's what I've been up to. That and making tutus, sewing dolls, working on various other craft projects, making an advent calendar, getting my Christmas tree up, and so on.

Until later.

Namaste.