Diary of a Christmas Dinner: Part 4

Christmas Eve Prep

Today is the day we do all the prep work for tomorrow’s big day. Yesterday, I made the cranberry sauce as per the advice I received from a fellow customer at Urban Fare. As we were both picking up bags of cranberries, she asked if I made the sauce as per the recipe on the bag; I told her I don’t make the sauce, my husband does. (I don’t eat cranberry sauce with my turkey; I just can not get used to having sweet sauce with savoury meat. I don’t like ham and pineapple on my pizza either.) She suggested I make it as per the recipe and, once it’s cool, add some Grand Marnier or Cointreau. I did just that. I like it, but I’d be more tempted to put it on toast rather than eat it with turkey. But that’s just me.

On today’s slate – the dressing and the basting liquid/gravy base.

Incidentally, John changed his mind and decided to brine the turkey anyway. It’s been outside (it’s hovering around the freezing mark, colder than the refrigerator, which is stuffed to the gills so the turkey wouldn’t fit even if it had to) all night.

When John got up, the first thing he did, even before coffee, was to dump out the brining liquid and set the turkey on a rack in the brining pot. Now it will dry until tomorrow morning.

The Stuffing

The stuffing is made up of three components: the fruit, the seasonings, and the filler. The recipe calls for each component to mixed up in its own bowl, then the three combined and mixed “until your wrists and forearms hurt”.

Here we go…

In Bowl #1 we have apple, orange, lemon, water chestnuts, ginger, and crushed pineapple.

In Bowl #2 – cloves, mustard, caraway, celery seeds, poppy seeds, oregano, bay leaf, black pepper, mace, parsley, garlic, turmeric, onions, celery, marjoram, savory, poultry seasoning, and some salt. I mixed the dry ingredients together, then the vegetables and then mixed them all up together. I foolishly thought the small bowl would be big enough. Hah!

In Bowl #3 are the bread crumbs and the melted fat rendered from the turkey fat, butter, bread crumbs, ground veal, and ground pork.

We thought that our largest mixing bowl would be large enough for everything but we had to resort to using one of the plastic tubs I use as a knitting basket. After a good washing, the knitting will go back into the bowl but for now, it’s just right!

The dressing is now all mixed up and in the refrigerator, ready for the turkey tomorrow. There’s just one thing left. The basting liquid/gravy base.

This mixture of the neck, the gizzards, and seasonings is now simmering on the stove and will continue to simmer until tonight, and then again tomorrow, until we’re ready to use it. It will be basted on to the turkey every 15 minutes during the cooking process.

Yes, it’s a lot of work but it’s been fun to get this part of the prep work done with both of us contributing. And, to be honest, it really hasn’t taken all that long to get to this point… perhaps an hour between the two of us. I think, in my opinion, the toughest part was chopping the onions. All four of them… large onions.

I know this is turning into a long post, but I have to tell you that, at this point, the simmering basting liquid smells amazing and even the dressing smelled pretty good while I was mixing it. Even having a small nibble to test for salt levels indicated that the dressing is going to be pretty tasty, too. This could be good!

Diary of a Christmas Dinner: Part 3

The Bird

8:00 a.m.

Today is the day we pick up the turkey. I think I’ve already mentioned, haven’t I, that this is a free range, fresh, organic turkey? John ordered it at a local market (Lakeview Market, for those interested).

This morning, I’ll be clearing off the kitchen table so we’ll have room to work with the bird. Yesterday, John proposed that, in addition to everything else we’ll be doing to this turkey, we brine it for 24 hours. I’m not sure it will need it considering the fact that it is a free range turkey but I will leave that up to him. The one thing that concerns me is whether or not we have a container large enough to hold a turkey in brine. I doubt that the usual stock pot we use for brining a 3-4 lb. chicken will hold a 16+ lb. turkey. There is the canning pot, though.

9:00 a.m.

It’s time to head over to the market to pick up the bird. When we got to the meat department, there was a bit of confusion; they couldn’t find John’s name in the order book. Eventually, they did find his phone number on the order sheet and discovered that whoever had taken the order had misheard John’s last name and spelled it as Fkae rather than Skae; our turkey was brought out from the cooler.

Now that we have it home, John’s chosen not to brine the turkey. It now comes down to planning the timing. We’ll be aiming to have the bird in the oven by noon on Tuesday. I’ll keep you informed.

(I must add a thank you to Brad at Lakeview Market for allowing me to take the pictures, after a brief explanation that we would be blogging about the process of cooking our turkey in a manner that was somewhat out of the normal method. Most markets don’t allow customers to take pictures in their shops so, Brad, thank you!)

Diary of a Christmas Dinner: Part 2

Assembling the Ingredients

Throughout the past week and because his work season is now over, John’s been making sure we have, or acquire, all of the necessary ingredients for our Christmas dinner. As of today, we do.

Well, everything except the turkey. We’ll be picking it up tomorrow.

The recipe for the Morton Thompson turkey has 39 ingredients and at least four prep bowls (three bowls for the dressing alone!). You can see why we’re assembling the ingredients ahead of time. We do not want to get to cooking day and discover we’ve forgotten something or thought we had it but didn’t. That’s been known to happen around here.

Since this is our first time cooking a turkey this way, we’ve decided to cook it pretty much exactly as written. Then, if there’s something we’re not thrilled with, we can “revise” the recipe next time, if there is a next time.

The ingredients…

This is a tray of all the spices (minus the marjoram and turmeric we picked up today). On the tray are cloves, dry mustard, caraway seeds, celery seeds, poppy seeds, oregano, bay leaf, black pepper, mace, savory, poultry seasoning, paprika, coriander, cayenne, and pepper.

And a few more of the required ingredients: an apple, an orange, a lemon, fresh parsley, crushed pineapple, water chestnuts, and candied ginger. The recipe actually calls for preserved ginger but John decided to go with candied. It’s all preserved ginger as far as he’s concerned.

We’ve decided that Turkey Day will be Christmas Day; we had thought about doing it for Boxing Day but it has been decided. On Monday, I’ll be making the dinner rolls and whatever else I can prep ahead of time.

Along with the turkey, we will be having mashed potatoes (the potatoes are from our garden), roasted Brussels sprouts with grapes and walnuts (we had the same dish last Christmas and it was delicious!), carrots, sweet potato (John’s Christmas must-have), bread sauce (another one of John’s must-haves… definitely not one of mine!) and cranberry sauce. I think that’s it.

And there will be wine.

Diary of a Christmas Dinner

December 16, 2012 – We’ve been discussing what to have for our Christmas dinner. John thinks a ham with fresh bread or rolls and some fixings would be good. I’d like a sit down dinner. Of course, we’re not sure just how many people will be around our table.

Eventually, from the living room I hear, “Why don’t we do the Morton Thompson turkey?”  Discussion and agreement ensues… we’re going to do the Morton Thompson turkey for Christmas dinner. We’ve decided that John will cook, I will document and blog about it.

Look it up.

A little bit of history

The Morton Thompson turkey makes an appearance in a cookbook by Pierre Berton, “Pierre & Janet Berton’s Canadian Food Guide”, as well as “The Berton Family Cookbook”. Apparently, this turkey has been a tradition in the Berton family for many years. Pierre Berton was a Canadian journalist and author, well known for numerous historical books, as well as a Canadian children’s book, “The Secret World of Og”, a book I’m sure most Canadian students are familiar with.

John’s father was also a newspaper man in the same era as Pierre Berton and they often found themselves at conventions together. Over the years, John’s parents exchanged Christmas cards and letters; John still has most of the Christmas cards his family received from the Berton’s and we pull them out almost yearly. The Berton cookbooks are special to John and, interestingly, his boss gave him her copy of the book last summer. We now have two copies of their “Canadian Food Guide” and both hold a special place on our cookbook shelf.

And almost yearly, we toss around the temptation of cooking the Morton Thompson turkey, as presented in the Berton cookbooks. We never have. This year, we’ve decided it’s time.

We’ve also decided to document the entire process, with pictures. This could be interesting!

December 18, 2012 – John’s ordered the turkey. The recipe specifies that the turkey be from 16-25 lbs. Apparently, the one we’ve ordered is about 18-19 lbs. Do you know how much turkey that is? There had better be someone else here, willing to eat turkey! Lots of it! We’ll be eating leftovers until the summer!

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

We’re finally getting winter weather! That means it’s knitting time again! Now, that is not to say I’m going crazy with starting new projects – I’m not. As a matter of fact, I haven’t started anything lately but I have been knitting… finally.

The 10 stitch blanket has finally been seeing some progress. I now have 10 rounds completed with, I think, another four or 5 to go. Once I’ve done another few rounds I’ll ask John how big he’d like to see it. I’ve been working on this in the evenings while listening to “The Hunger Games” on my iPod (which I’m enjoying, by the way).

Other than that, there’s been very little other knitting. To be honest, right now I’m finding the endless rows of garter stitch rather soothing. I’ll ride that wave as long as I can.

And, knowing me as you do, you know I’ve been baking up a storm again. Yesterday was no different. I even asked John this week if he had any requests. For once, he did. White bread! You don’t have to ask me twice; I love baking bread. And, I must admit, I especially love baking bread now that I have a KitchenAid stand mixer (I LOVE that thing!).

Generally speaking, I happy with how the loaves came out but I did let them rise just a little too much. I guess that’s what happens when you’re knitting and getting lost in an audio book. The scent of this bread is amazing, so fresh and yeasty! And it tastes great. John is happy!

I also made a couple of batches of cookies for the upcoming holiday. We will be having another quiet Christmas, but we’ll definitely be inviting a couple of friends to share Christmas dinner with us.

I don’t often make shortbread but I did attempt it this year. They look pretty but I don’t know if I’m thrilled with the recipe. Do any of you have a good, never fail, shortbread recipe? Would you care to share?

When I put the first tray of cookies in the oven I didn’t prick the tops and they came out looking almost like ravioli, with a bubble puffed up in the middle of the cookies. Subsequent batches were pricked with a fork and they stayed nice and flat.

Interestingly, just as the first batch came out of the oven, John came home from doing the grocery shopping (I love that he does the shopping!) and, in one of the bags was a box of… you guessed it, shortbread. He decided to to a taste comparison. That was a little unfair, though. How doe you compare basic homemade shortbread to store bought Glenfiddich shortbread? How did I fare? Well, let’s just put it this way: There are only four of the Glenfiddich shortbread cookies remaining (out of a package of 9) and he’s only eaten one of my shortbread cookies. I guess we know which cookies won, huh?

Oh well. In addition to the shortbread, I also made a batch of Mexican Wedding Cookies. These always turn out well.

Hmm… I think a cup of tea may be in order.

Call Me Crazy

You know I love to cook. You know I love to experiment. Well, last week I bought a mortar and pestle, a lovely, heavy granite piece of kitchen awesomeness.

After I’d gotten it home, I decided to do some “research” on how to use it correctly. I scoured You Tube, looking for instructional videos and information. I started with Jamie Oliver and moved on to a lot of other videos, discovering some interesting stuff along the way.

I’ve made guacamole using my new mortar and pestle (John declared it THE best guacamole he’s EVER had!). I’ve already made a batch of homemade Garam Masala, which smells heavenly! I’m now cooking up a curried chicken dish, using the Garam Masala and it smells heavenly! But it was this short video that got me excited. A kitchen rock… A rock! In the kitchen! How perfectly logical, and yet, how perfectly crazy!

Really, though, it does make a lot of sense, doesn’t it?

So, I went rock hunting. I didn’t have to go far. Last spring, in digging up the butterfly garden, we dug up quite a few rocks, some of which were the perfect size. We had used them to build up one corner of the garden, where it meets the driveway. I went out there this morning and picked up what I think will be the perfect rock.

What will I use it for? Well, I tried it for cracked pepper… Perfect! Yes, I can use the mortar and pestle for that, too, but for just a couple of peppercorns, a rock is perfect! I can see using it to split garlic heads, cracking the garlic cloves for peeling, cracking nuts, tenderizing meat… I suppose I’m only limited by my imagination, right?

I also figure that if you heat the rock in the oven, you could also use it to keep dinner rolls warm… or my hands.

Ok, call it crazy… or call it crazy smart!

Knitting? What knitting?

Ahh, Sandie! I wish there was some knitting I could show you. Believe it or not, I’ve been doing very little knitting in the last month or two. No progress in things already on the needles, no casting on for a new project or two, no Christmas gifts (I’m afraid I’m a bit of a Grinch when it comes to Christmas). Nothing.

Well, there is one very small project I’ve started on but it really is insignificant. Shall I share anyway, at the risk of disappointing you completely?

Some time back, I made myself a simple pair of wrist warmers in an alpaca blend. I wear them a lot, especially in the mornings while I’m at my computer. They’ve begun to wear out.

I’ve been meaning to make a new pair, but just simply haven’t gotten around to it. (Darn those round to-its!)

Well, a couple of weeks ago, I did dig out another ball of the same yarn (different colour) and cast on for a new pair of wrist warmers. I’ve managed to finish one. Just one. Two weeks. And I’m not thrilled with it, really.

I did say there’s been very little knitting around here. Just saying.

I Love Cookbooks!

We went to the library yesterday. Or rather, I should say I accompanied John to the library yesterday. Now that his season is over (he’s a gardener), he’ll be spending a lot of time there. Me? Well, these days I just don’t have the time or inclination to pick up a book. However, that said, I did come home with an armload of cookbooks. One of them is even a “sit down and read it” kind of book (Confections of a Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado).

When I was ready to sign out, John put two movies on the top of my stack of books and I went to stand in line. Ahead of me, a woman had, apparently, asked about getting into the library’s website on her smart phone and I had to wait while the librarian showed her how to do that. In the meantime, nerdy little me had her iPod up and running and her library card ready to scan.

Finally it was my turn. The woman ahead of me slid over a bit to organize herself while I handed my iPod over to the librarian. She looked at it and exclaimed (quite loudly!), “How cool is that??”. Then she proceeded to ask another librarian if she’d seen anything like it before. Apparently, the second librarian had heard that the library would be “going that way” but didn’t think they could do anything with it yet. I simply, quietly told her that yes, you can because I’d done it before. I explained that all they needed to do was scan the bar code visible on the iPod. They did.

I couldn’t believe the excitement that ensued. The librarian and the woman ahead of me were completely awestruck and wanted to know about the app (Card Star) and could it hold other cards, like… oh, maybe my SaveOn More card? I explained the app to them, picked up my books and movies and made my way out the door accompanied by a buzz of excited chatter.

The best part? Of the four women involved, the two librarians, the woman ahead of me, and myself, I’m the oldest by quite a few years!

It made my day!

I Don’t Do Oatmeal

This past week included a visit to the cardiology office for a follow-up visit to my short hospital stay six weeks ago. The results were not unexpected.

My blood pressure is now under control; I’ve gotten used to the medications and I’m taking them faithfully. Now, however, I need to work on getting my cholesterol numbers down. The cardiologist told me that if the numbers don’t come down within three months, he’d want me on medication to bring it down.

That said, he did admit that, though my LDL (bad cholesterol) levels were high, the HDL (good cholesterol) levels were, in his words, very high. That is the only reason he hasn’t yet prescribed medication. That, in itself, is a little frustrating. My cholesterol levels have been that way since I was first put on medication for high blood pressure.

However, I have decided I will do what I can to bring that LDL number down. One of those things has to do with diet. I’m going to incorporate oatmeal into my breakfast.

If you don’t know me well, you have no idea how amazing that statement is. I don’t do oatmeal!

Now, when I think of having oatmeal for breakfast, I have memories of oats boiled in water or milk, until it is a sticky mass of off white, gluey “glop”, sprinkled with a bit of sugar, a drizzle of milk. I used to make oatmeal for my kids every morning during the school year; generally speaking, it went down well most of the time. I made the quick cooking variety, cooked in milk, but never until it was a gloppy, gluey mass of sticky.

When I say that oatmeal, or porridge, does not go down my throat, I am not exaggerating. I actually gag on the stuff. I do not do oatmeal!

So, when someone on a Ravelry thread suggested baked oatmeal, I was intrigued. No more glop? I went hunting. (Punchfork is an amazing resource!) I found recipes. I decided to try it.

I assembled the ingredients for this recipe (Baked Oatmeal with Blueberries and Bananas). I do have blueberries, but they’re buried somewhere deep down in the freezer and I wasn’t willing to face this…

… just to find a bag of blueberries. And the result?

Well, I think I can eat oatmeal this way. The smell while it was baking was amazing. Cinnamon and honey, mixed with the bananas and the pecans gave this baked oatmeal a lovely flavour and texture. I had a dish of this for breakfast this morning, warmed in the microwave, with a bit of milk to give it a bit of moisture.

Oh, let me add one more thing. Not only did I eat oatmeal, but I also ate banana. That’s an event, too, because I can’t eat raw bananas. They make my mouth burn and itch, as do a lot of other fresh fruits and vegetables.

I think I can do this.

I Love a Deal!

I do. Everyone loves a good deal. That said, a good deal is only a good deal if it’s a deal on something I’ll use. If it’s something I’ll never use, and I pay for it, it isn’t a good deal.

Here are a few of the good deals John and I have scored over the last few years.

(The TV tray that you see behind the shelf unit is part of a set of three that were also a good deal… $5.00 for the three TV tables. Yes, they’re not the prettiest or most fashionable, but when you want to eat dinner while watching a movie, they work!)

I found this Black & Decker coffee maker at the thrift store in the strip mall where I work. The marked price on it was $8.00 but it was half price day so… $4.00. That was about 4 years ago. Not bad!

And that’s just a sampling!

Well, this week I came home with another thrift store score. It wasn’t free; for a thrift store find, it was fairly expensive. I have to tell you, though, it was a pretty sweet deal.

This is a cast iron braising pan. Believe me, this sucker is heavy! It’s about 12” across and about 2” deep and I love it! For dinner last night, I made Pork Medallions in a Mushroom Marsala  Sauce, served with Buttermilk Mashed potatoes and Lemon Garlic Broccoli. I think I can honestly say I’ve never had a dish come together so beautifully, so quickly and have the pan clean so easily. What a treat! I think we’ll be using this pan a lot!

Oh yeah.. the cost? $25.00

Just Checking In

Ok, time’s going way too quickly. It’s already well into November and I haven’t been paying attention to the blog. Life just seems to be getting in the way of a lot of the things I enjoy. Weekends are the only time I have for the “fun” stuff and they seem to be getting shorter all the time. Thankfully, this is a long weekend.

Knitting has been next to non-existent lately, partly due to a lack of interest (my knitting mojo’s gone) and partly due to my wrist. That’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with taking a break. Other things have been going on.

Things like cooking and sewing. Yup, I do know how to do both. Recently, my mother sent me a small package with a really cute little bag in it. I’m not allowed to keep it as she sent it as a sample but she also included the instructions to make that bag myself.

As the caption says, it’s called a Snap Bag. The thing that makes it “snap” is two pieces of metal measuring tape sewn into casings at the top. It’s very clever and, really, quite simple to make. So simple in fact, that…

I haven’t gotten into quilting; I’ve been avoiding it on purpose. The last thing I need is another time-sucking hobby. Besides, we really don’t need any more quilts or blankets around here. These little bags, though, provide me with the opportunity to do a bit of machine quilting, which I’m finding enjoyable even though I have nothing more than a very basic sewing machine with no fancy stitches (just a couple of stretch stitches).

The unfortunate part of all this is that I now have an excuse to go out and buy fat quarters. Time and money sucker, but I’m having a lot of fun! Plus, these bags will make great little gifts, don’t you think?

You all know how much I enjoy cooking and baking, right? One thing I’ve always maintained is that if you’re going to do something, you should have good tools to work with so you can do the job right. Well, some of my tools are no longer the best tools for the job.

We have two stand mixers. One belonged to John’s mother, an old Sunbeam Mixmaster; it no longer has the power to do the job I want it to and doesn’t have bread hooks. I have a newer Sunbeam Mixmaster, bought about 12 years ago. It works but one of the beaters has had to be welded to repair it and, though it has bread hooks, one of the two beaters keeps falling out. It kind of puts a crimp in my baking adventures.

Well, it did until two weeks ago. That’s when I became the very proud owner of the best piece of kitchen equipment I’ve owned in a very long time.

I can’t wait for weekends just so I can use my new Kitchenaid Stand Mixer! (It’s the Professional 550 Plus.)

Though I haven’t had a lot of opportunity to use it yet, I have made a few things.

I could go on and on about how much I love this mixer but I think you get the picture.

Incidentally, at the same time, I also picked up a waffle iron. I used to have one years and years ago and hated it. Every time I made waffles, it didn’t matter how well I greased it, the waffles would stick. I’d open the iron after the steaming stopped and one half the waffle would be stuck to the top of the iron, the other half would be stuck to the bottom. Now, I’m not talking about 2 of the quarters on the top and 2 of the quarters on the bottom; I’m talking about the waffle splitting completely in half, as if it’s been cut open like a dinner roll.

This iron is great! I’ve already made two big batches of waffles and froze whatever we couldn’t eat. One recipe was just very basic waffles, and the second batch was Belgian waffles, made with yeast. Oh my! That recipe made a huge batch of waffles! We’re talking a grocery bag full of waffles! Now, if I want waffles for breakfast during the week, I just grab one out of the freezer, pop it into the toaster and enjoy. And they’re a lot better than the frozen waffles from the grocery store!

My only dilemma now is that both the fridge freezer and the deep freeze are completely full and I am in the mood to bake.

Sigh!

Could We Get Back To Normal Now, Please?

To say that life has been interesting for the past month is something of an understatement. I only wish it had been interesting in a good way. Now, don’t get me wrong; I’m not whining or complaining but I am shaking my head, wondering what the universe is trying to tell me.

Let me preface this post by saying that, as far as my heart and blood pressure goes, I’m doing well. I’m being very good about taking my meds every day and I’m feeling good. Now, let’s move on.

Work has been going pretty well; we’ve been fairly busy and I’ve been told numerous times I’m not to end up in the hospital again, thank you very much. Then this past week happened.

On Sunday evening I had casually mentioned to John that I just wasn’t ready for Monday; I still had far to much to do around the house; he suggested I call in sick. Um.. no. So, on Monday morning, I went to work at my usual time. At one point, I went to use the washroom and, while in there, noticed that the shelf above my head was coming away from the wall a little more than it had been the previous week.

That’s when I made what turned out to be a mistake. I pushed the shelf back to the wall, studying it for a moment, then letting it go. Well, the clatter of everything falling off that shelf had the ladies I work with running to the washroom with cries of “Are you okay?”. I wasn’t.

I unlocked the door and they were greeted by a scene of me trying to hold the shelf in place, Windex pooled around my feet, a can of Comet (bathroom cleanser) sprinkled over the Windex, a large Pyrex measuring cup in shards on the floor and blood streaming down my back.

One of the ladies drove me to the nearest walk-in clinic, where I was examined (no stitches required, thankfully), given a tetanus booster shot (those things hurt after a day or two!) and told to go home, have a warm shower, and rest. The doctor also let me know that by the next morning, I’d probably have a stiff/sore neck because an injury of that kind actually produces a mild whiplash. She was right. I ended up with two extra days off.

It all makes me wonder what’s going to happen next!

---

---

Ah well, life does go on. In other things, I HAVE been doing some knitting. There is a new addition to our family and my sister’s first grandchild, a little girl, will be receiving a gift once I’ve got it finished. Now that life has, hopefully, settled down a bit and our company is gone, perhaps I can concentrate on knitting again.

There has even been a finished object. I came across a neat little project through one of the groups I’m in on Ravelry and just could not resist casting on.

This is Frankie Brown’s Zippy Strip, a cute little coin purse. It takes a small amount of scrap yarn, fingering weight, and a couple hours of knitting time. Cute, right?

And this is the Zippy Strip, unzipped. It is a 22” strip of knitting hand stitched to a zipper, then lined with bias tape. It is simple and genius!

Best of all? When I show it to people and tell them to zip it, I absolutely love the looks on their faces when they realize just what’s happening! More of these will be coming; I think they’ll make great little gifts.

And now? Back to normal, whatever normal is. Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

The Week That Was

It has been quite the week around here. Last week, we had company; John’s boss and our friend, Z, stayed here for the week. It was kind of nice having another woman to chat with. She was wonderful company and I know I enjoyed her stay.

She left on Tuesday morning and I took the morning off to go to the doctor as my prescriptions were about to run out.

I have high blood pressure, have had for a number of years. Even with medication, it’s still on the high side and it’s been bothering me. I want it within normal range and that just hasn’t been happening, so I asked my doctor about taking my meds at a different time of day. I’d read a couple of articles about that; basically, it seems that for some people, taking the meds at a different time of day can make a difference in the efficacy of their drugs. His response was that, yes, it might make a difference but he would want to do a 24-hour bp monitoring to see when it would be best for me to take my meds. In order for that to happen, I would have to rent a bp monitor; after 24 hours, the information would be downloaded and transferred to my doctor’s office. I decided to go for it. After all, my health is important.

All went well with the monitor. It would take my blood pressure every half hour during the day and every hour during the night. By noon the next day, I’d be returning the monitor back to the pharmacy and getting my deposit back. That is how it was supposed to go. However…

Just before 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, a co-worker and I were chatting and I had a sudden dizzy spell so strong that it nearly knocked me off my feet. Then my heart started to race… and I do mean race (another co-worker clocked my pulse at over 200 bpm!). I sat down and rested a bit; then I called John to come pick me up so I could return the bp monitor because I did not trust myself to drive. After returning the monitor, John took me home as my heart was still beating way faster than it should have been. While at home, Z called and John explained to her what was happening; she apparently told John to get me to the hospital right away.

       

Well, the upshot of all of this was that I spent the night in the hospital, going through a battery of tests that included half the blood sucked out of my body (not really, but that’s what it felt like), numerous EKG’s, a CT scan, an ultrasound of my heart, a treadmill stress test, an IV, and who knows what else. Twenty-four hours after being admitted, I was released from the hospital with my meds adjusted and two more added. I did not suffer a heart attack as they thought at first that I might have, thankfully, but had what the cardiologist called a “hypertensive arrhythmia”. Basically, my heart was telling me it wasn’t happy with my blood pressure.

Where do I go from here? We already have a pretty healthy diet; John and I both cook and we both enjoy good, healthy food… fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden or our own freezer, very little in the way of processed or pre-packaged foods, lean meats (well, except for the fat cap on a good roast), hearty breads and the like. I do know I need to get this body moving more than it does. Really, it kind of all comes down to a quote I read a few days ago:

“Your life is the result of the choices you make…If you don’t like your life, it’s time to start making better choices.”

Oh, I’m fine now and intend to stay that way!

Oh, There You Are!

And here I am. I’m not gone; I haven’t given up on the blog. I’ve just been a little busy. August was a very busy month for us, or for me, really.
My birthday was in August and I was expecting my youngest daughter and her two kids to come visit us for almost a week. That fell through, unfortunately, when the kids developed a case of head lice and they weren’t allowed to travel with their dad, who was going to drive them part of the way here. Instead, I surprised her and drove down to the coast to spend five days with all my kids and grandkids. It turned out to be a wonderful week!
I was able to spend time with all three of my kids and all but one of my grandkids. It was a lot of fun watching my two oldest grandsons with their bikes.

And yes, Adrian’s bike has no brakes (first pic) If I could have, I would have had his bike repaired or tried to find him a replacement, but I didn’t have the time or the funds while I was there.

When I knew that Oceanna and Teagen were coming to visit, I had planned to give them each a “treasure box” to decorate and use for any little “treasures” they may have accumulated while they were visiting. I took those boxes with me and allowed the kids to decorate the boxes and use them for whatever they wanted. Later that day, we went out for lunch, and then to the local water park.
I also spent time with my older daughter and her kids but, I’m ashamed to say, I didn’t get any pictures of them. We spent some time in the pool with the kids and Ethan was a source of uninterrupted time of hilarity. He is definitely a character!
Once I got back home, I very quickly got back into the routine of work, home, and garden. Already, both our fridge and freezer are filled (and I do mean filled!). Anything else that needs processing will have to be canned or dried because there is no more room in either the fridge freezer or the deep freeze. This is a good problem to have!
Knitting time has been scarce, as you can well imagine. Now, though, that the weather is cooling off a little, I’m hoping I’ll be inspired to pick up the needles again.
For now, enough. I’ll update you about the knitting this weekend, hopefully. Although… John’s birthday is this Friday so this may be another busy weekend. *Sigh*

The time, she does a-fly!

I have no idea where it goes, but suddenly we’re into August and it’s hot out and I’ve not been writing again. How does that happen??

I do know that since my job has changed (I’m moving into customer service and slowly trying to get out of bindery… and loving it!), I don’t have as much evening time (instead of 7:30 – 4, I’m now working 8:30 – 5) and the days just seem to fly past. That shouldn’t, however, keep me from blogging, should it?

It certainly doesn’t keep me from knitting, although the temperatures around here are doing a pretty fair job of that. It’s small projects only right now. The 10-stitch blanket is on hold, waiting for cooler weather. Other projects just don’t seem to cut it right now. So…

I found, started, and finished a fun little project over the last couple of weeks. Because it was fairly small, I could work on it even on the hottest of days (except when my hands got all sweaty and the wool got sticky… ew!). The operative word in this paragraph is FUN! Check this out…

Does it get any cuter than this? Really?

This little bear, who doesn’t have a name yet, stands about 12” tall. He (or is it a she?) is made with Fleece Artist Blue Face Leicester DK on 3.5 mm double-pointed needles. The pattern is Vera by Annita Wilschut. I’ve done a couple other patterns by Annita and they’re always so much fun to knit. They’re all done in one piece so there’s no sewing up, just sewing a couple of seams closed (in this case, the crotch seam). Every line of the pattern is written out so there’s no guesswork involved at all and everything is well illustrated, with plenty of pictures. The pattern for this bear was 10 pages long. It isn’t a free pattern but I will say, it’s well worth the $6.00 I paid.

Now comes a rant. On Monday (which was a holiday here), I decided to head over to Michael’s to pick up some two-part safety eyes, some plastic pellets for the feet and another bag of fibrefill. Michael’s is a craft store; you would think doll-making supplies fall under the category of crafts, right? Well, apparently they do not! I could find the fibrefill but when I asked for doll’s eyes, I was shown a section filled with eyes… googly eyes of all shapes and colours, the glue on kind. When I explained that I wanted safety eyes, I got this blank look from the woman helping me. I had to explain what they were and was told, “Oh, no, we don’t carry those.” Alrighty then.

I moved on to the next item on my list. What about plastic pellets for putting into teddy bear legs and bottoms for added weight? Again, I got a blank look and, “If we have those, they’re probably with the quilting stuff.” Quilting stuff??? I walked back to the quilting section, where I’d gotten the fibrefill, returned the fibrefill to it’s rightful place on the shelf (yes, I put it away) and left the store.

I did finally find the safety eyes at Fabricland, and bought some fibrefill there, but even they didn’t have the plastic pellets. I ended up going to Princess Auto and purchasing a couple of large metal washers to put into the bears feet. They give a bit of weight to the feet; I was also hoping they’d help the bear stand on its own, but that didn’t happen. Oh well, I’m VERY happy with how this fun little project turned out and you can almost be guaranteed I’ll make another one or two… some day.