Rats!!!

Literally. I'd like to share with you now an e-mail I received from my friend Charlene.

"feel free to post the pictures on your blog. nothing cuter than a rat...
Meet our newest family members, Peanut and Trixie!!
Catherine had a wonderful birthday surprise! Peanut is the darker one, and Trixie is the lighter. (yes, she is named for Speed Racer's girlfriend!)
They are dumbo rats, so their ears are bigger and more on the side of their heads, giving them a bit of resemblance to Dumbo the Elephant! they are very sweet and we already love them!"

I got this e-mail last week. Today, I received the following message from her:

"PS can't believe you havent posted any pictures of my adorable pet rats yet!!!!"

That's right. I am being hounded to post pictures of......rats. Because her, um, rats, are apparently on par with The Cuteness.

Charlene may or may not be delusional.

We're looking into it.

Here now, are my friend Charlene's rats. Pebbles and Bam Bam. Or whatever their names are.

































Also, for the record, the Catherine she refers to in her e-mail is in fact her daughter. Not myself. I did have a lovely birthday surprise also, but I assure all of you that it had nothing to do with RATS.

Big Ups, Charlene. Big Ups.

We Be Jammin'

Last weekend (I'm a little behind on the picture uploading), The Cowboy and I were busy beavers. We made jam!!! We have a dewberry bush on the side of the house, and in addition the fruit we picked there, we used some dewberries from a local park. We collected many berries, 6 bags full I believe, and commenced the jamming. Here now for you, my bloggy friends, is a quick how to in jam making. Because I believe in teaching you something as well as entertaining you.

First, you take the frozen berries and rinse them off. Get rid of any little pieces of leaf or stem in there.

Then you smush the ever loving crap out of the berries.

This is my favorite part, and here The Cowboy has stolen my fun from me.

Then, you cook the berries with Sure Gel and a crap load of sugar.

I have no idea why this picture is showing up sideways. It's not this way on my computer, and I tried several different ways of uploading it, but to no avail. You get the picture, but it is really bothering me. Moving on....

While the berries are cooking (and you are stirring constantly) you can also clean out your jars. You have to make sure the jars are Very Clean and have No Bacteria in them. That would, afterall, pretty much ruin your jam.

If you don't have enough arms to stir the berries and clean the jars, it's always good to have a Jam Helper. We had several.

Her tongue is ready to catch any spare berries that may go flying.

Once the berries and sugar and stuff start boiling like crazy (a warning, that shiz WILL get all over everything....your clothes, your hands, your newly painted walls and newly laid floors....so it's best to keep some wet rags ready), you pour it EVER SO CAREFULLY into the clean jam jars.

Now here is where it gets tricky. Last year when we made jam, we just used regular pots and (I believe) a metal vegetable steamer. This year we kicked it up a notch and bought this......

THE SUPER DUPER EXTRA AWESOME JAM CONTRAPTION.

Ok, actually it's just a regular canning device. A canner? I don't know what it's called, ok. But it has a metal tray thingamabob inside and you put the jars in the tray and lower it into the piping hot water. The hot water seals the jars shut.

Well that's just great. Another sideways picture. Please don't send me the bill for your sore neck.

When you've boiled the jars for 10 minutes, you take them out of the SDEAJC and put them on the counter to cool. You will start to hear the lids "pop" as they seal. This scared the beejesus out of me the first time.

27 jars later.........

The finished product:

Jam, anyone?

Blankets & Flowers

I had a blog all planned for today, and a series of pictures to go with it, but I realized I'm missing one last crucial photo before I can proceed. Lucky for me, and more importantly, YOU, I have a back up plan. Fear not.

First, is anyone getting tired of pictures of The Cuteness? Because I'm not. Here is a new one I got from her daddy via email. She is enjoying the handknit blanket I made for her. I think I see a small hint of a smile. Or maybe it's baby gas, since I think technically she's too young for a smile.

I really don't have anything else important to say, and didn't make much headway on any of my knitting this weekend. There were parties to go to, and crock pots to cook with. But, I would like to show you some flowers that were picked from our garden. The gladiolas came from the front yard (there is a lone tiger lily in there, a mutant leftover from my birthday flowers that just. won't. die.).

Beautiful, no??? We also have tomatoes, cukes, banana peppers, jalapenos and baby bell peppers coming in!! The salmonella won't stop us from eating fresh produce!

Oh, The Cuteness

I'd like to introduce you to my new daughter, The Cuteness (her unofficial name).

No, of course I wasn't pregnant and didn't give birth. And for now, she lives with my friends Eric and Sara. But the wheels are in motion and I am hatching a plan on how I can steal her and bring her home to live with me. Look! She loves me.

Below: The Cuteness and her new mom (me).

Below: The Cuteness (Maddie) and her "real" mom.

I can't give the specifics of my Plan on my blog, for obvious reasons. The FBI, FDA, aliens and The Cuteness' actual parents might see this and catch wind. However, if my plan should fail, I do have a back up.

Welcome Home Stanley!

Can I still say that even if I don't live in the Detroit area any more? Because "home" to me isn't "home" to Stanley. But in a way, Michigan will always be my home. I don't really feel like waxing philosophical today, so I will shut up while I'm ahead and just say for now, WOO HOO!!!

And also, I'd like to say that people in Texas (and perhaps it's just The South in general, but I live in Texas and will only speak for my fellow statespeople) do not understand or get hockey at all. It's a crying shame. That is one of the reasons I love Canada so darn much. That and the beer. The Canadian beer. And the fact that Canadians are just so nice. And the country is clean. Wait, this blog wasn't supposed to be about Canada, but I have to tell you I could go on and on about why I love Canada.

And what I wouldn't give for a frosty LBL right now.

But I digress. Congrats to the Red Wings and Detroit. It would have been extra super awesome had the Pistons not crapped out too. But hey, what are you gonna do. We can always hope for the Tigers and the Lions to make it big this year. (insert hysterical laughter here)

In other news, I'm very lazy and started making Baby Blanket Numero Dos for my friend Christy's baby who is baking away but will be here shortly. I think sooner rather than later, but apparently her doctor has told her that that kid isn't coming any time soon. Which is a mild relief, since I haven't done any work on that blanket in a few days. I have been knitting up a little scarf action though.

This picture was taken with my camera phone, while at work. Yeah, I knit at work. You gotta love a job that lets you knit at work. In fact, since I get paid to sit here and knit, I believe that technically, TECHNICALLY, this makes me a professional knitter. I will have business cards printed up soon.

Anyway, this yarn that I'm using is yummy. It's an alpaca/silk blend and I've had it for awhile now and really wanted to knit something with it, but couldn't figure out anything super fabulous and then the yarn spoke to me. It went something like this:

Yarn: Knit me knit me!

Me: You hold your horses there, yarn. I am knitting a baby blanket.

Yarn: But I want to be knit. Please!!!!

Me: Sigh....but I just don't have any good patterns for you yet. I shall save you and use you up when I can find something worthwhile.

Yarn: Rubbish!! I want to be a scarf. Make me a scarf!!!

Me: Aw hell.

To Christy and unborn child: if your blanket is not finished in time, perhaps I can interest you in a lovely alpaca scarf?? No???

Book Endorsement

Hey, I'm here to please and help. When I find something that I like, that I am a big fan of, I like to pass along my knowledge so that others may benefit from it. Like when I discovered Goober, you may recall, I posted so that everyone could share in the joy of laziness that I so love. Turns out I was the last person on the face of the earth to have heard of this product. But that is beside the point.

The point, my friends, is that I have a book recommendation. My closest friends know to come to me for book recommendations. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I kind of read a lot and am always able to give good advice to those seeking a literary thrill. It's one of my gifts. I have many.

So listen up. I had heard about this particular book from several different sources, and when I investigated it further I found out the following:

1. It's Young Adult Fiction

2. It's about Vampires

Both of those things turned me off to it. I've been known to read some YA fiction in the past (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants....great book), but Vampires? Yeah, I'm not really into vampires. Not at all. Not even to read about them. Although I used to love The Lost Boys as a child, I think that had more to do with Corey Haim being in it than anything else. Ahh Corey Haim. He got fat. Shame.

Anyhoo, I broke down and read the book. And you should too. It's a good book. I'm just sayin'.

30 ain't so bad afterall

Not that I was dreading my 30th birthday to begin with, but I certainly wasn't looking as forward to it as I have in years past. People who've known me for awhile know how seriously I take my birthdays. This year I was just like, "eh".

But, it turns out, my birthday this year was fabulous. Blain was totally sneaky and cahooting with various people to pull off a (near) surprise party for me! But the biggest surprise of all was:














Yep. That's m'lady there, that is. She drove in from Alabama to surprise me and boy did she surprise me!!

There was a party, with many drinks and vomit free cupcakes and a big Strawberry Shortcake pinata, filled with liquors and candies.














Friends old and new co-mingled.














And I got to wear a crown. What could be better than that?

A visit from my lady was just what the doctor had ordered, and definitely eased my pain about turning 30 (mostly because my lady is already 30, so at least I'm not as old as she is).














My actual birthday was spent in the ridiculous heat and humidity of San Antonio, but it was all good and totally worth it, as I got to hang out with my awesome cousin Sean and his equally if not slightly more awesome girlfriend, Katie.















Yeah. It's hot as balls in Texas.















But I did receive a serenade for my birthday. Mind you, a serenade that I paid for myself. But whatever. When that little Mexican man said "Happy Birthday Susie" it made it all worthwhile.














And a Happy Birthday indeed it was.

Let us not forget about the Nuggle. She made an appearance also.














And last but most certainly not least.....I passed along my one true love of yarn and needles and taught Wonder how to knit. Oh joyous day! Someone else who can share my obsession.














Oh, and in case you're wondering? Those socks on Wonder's feet? Yeah, I totally made those. Hollerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.