...W.I.P. Wednesday (on Thursday)...back to Pieces of 8...

...now that my neighbor's baby blanket is finished...

...it was time to get back to the Pieces of 8...

...I'm finished with the figure 8 pattern...and ready to turn it inside out to reverse the pattern and start the sides...

...oh yeah...then I have all those loose ends to deal with again...I can totally see why most people use a self striping yarn for these...

...What are you working on?...

~Have a lovely day!

...Veterans Parade 2014..

...we had gorgeous weather for the parade...this is the very beginning...

...I'm such a sucker for bagpipes...one of our neighbors plays the bagpipes...whenever we hear him playing we go out on the deck and listen...do you like bagpipes?...

...it was a regular parade...with police cars and firetrucks and sirens...

...finally...here comes our band...

...and that's Scout on the far right with his mellophone...he'll start playing French Horn now that marching season is over...

...ah...those West Virginia Hills...

...I hope you had a lovely Veteran's Day...and a lovely day today too...

MARINADE SÈCHE

...we tried a new marinade recipe over the weekend...

...all of the particulars are over at The Vegan Version...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...Master Bath Update...

...the blush coloured tub is gone...

...whew...what an ordeal...that thing weighs about 400 lbs...I'm probably only exaggerating a little bit...it probably weighs 300 lbs...

...on the back of the truck...on it's way to Restore...we called ahead to make sure they wanted it and had people there to help unload...

~Have a lovely day!

...International Friends...

...if y'all have been reading the blog for very long...you'll feel like you know Maureen...as she often comments...and she and I have become email pen pals...

...we have a lot in common...we enjoy a lot of the same things...books...music...food...dogs...knitting...family...

...and it's fun to connect with someone so far away...

...when I was trying to choose a book for Bookclub...Maureen mentioned some books that she had read and liked...and she offered to send them to me...all the way across the pond...

...even so...I was surprised to find an international package in the mail...surprised in a very good way...

...and it was packed full of nice things...three books that I can't wait to read...and lovely little card...and best of all...one of Maureen's original linos...an adorable spotted dog...

...I'll be popping that baby into a frame...I love it so...

...and I think I'm going to read The Home Maker by Dorothy Canfield first...

...THANKS Maureen!

~Have a lovely day!

...roasting the seeds...

...these are the seeds from the Butternut Squash we roasted over the weekend...

...the first step is to separate the seeds from the 'brains'...

...the butternut seeds are smaller than pumpkin seeds...but still roast up perfectly deliciously...

...rinse one more time to make sure all the slime is gone...

...the boil in salted water for 10 minutes or so...

...drain and spread them out on a scrupulously clean towel...

...spread in one layer on a baking sheet and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil...

...really...just a little bit...I'd say less than a teaspoon...and stir them around...

...then bake at 400° F for about 10 minutes...

...pull them out and give them a stir...then back in the oven for another 10 minutes...then keep checking them every couple of minutes...because they'll go from perfectly crisp and delicious to overdone and burnt tasting pretty quickly...that's really the only tricky thing...

...and in the end you get two delicious treats from one squash...

...have you ever roasted your pumpkin seeds?...

~Have a lovely day!

...Thrifty Thursday...

...We were at the Thrift store to see if we could find any more backpacks for Scout's Eagle Scout Project...

...we didn't find any backpacks...but we did find this Turkey platter...for 50¢...just in time for Thanksgiving...

...it will make the perfect serving dish for our Turkey Seitan...

...it's handpainted by Weiss...

...I searched for some history on the plate but I couldn't find anything on the internet like this one...but I found this similar traditional platter by Weiss on ebay...but I like ours better...

...what have you thrifted lately...

~Have a lovely day!

...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...my neighbor's baby blanket is finished...

...I've not blocked it yet...so it looks a little bit wonky here...

...but all of the threads are woven in and I'm happy with it...

...a little baby hat is on the needles now...

~Have a lovely day!

...Eagle Scout Project...

...I meant to post this yesterday...but I didn't go through the gazillion photos I took in time...so here is the end of Scout's Eagle Scout Project...

...we met in the Troop room in the basement...where the lighting is no good...(that said...I still took a ton of photos)...

...the scout's got busy right away...

...going through each pack and checking all of the items off on the checklist...

...they stacked them neatly against one wall when they were done...

...and piled them on a table...there were 55 in all...

...then they loaded them all into the truck ready for delivery...

...and came in for lunch...

...then we headed over to the Mission to deliver the backpacks...

...and everyone grabbed as many packs as they could carry...

...and in just a few trips the scouts carried all of the packs in...

...and handed them over the counter...

...and so that was the end of Scout's Eagle Scout Project...

...we got two more packs on Sunday...so the grand total was 57 Backpacks for the Homeless...a few more than his goal of 50...

...now it's on to the final paperwork...and a Board of Review scheduled for December 18th...

~Have a lovely day!

...Butternut Squash...

...Butternut Squash is my favorite...I like acorn, and buttercup, and pumpkin too...but butternut is my favorite...(Hubbard's excepted...they're just really hard to find...)

...and...I was fondly remembering all of that butternut squash that I grew in North Dakota...

...when my local grocery store had butternuts on sale for 50¢ a pound...so I bought a bunch...

...cut them in half lengthwise and scooped out the seeds...

...we won't be wasting those either...I'll show you tomorrow the delicious crunchy roasted seeds we make with those...

...then I just lay them cut side down...

...and roast at 400° F for about an hour...

...roasting them this way makes them so sweet and good...

...my absolute favorite part is the caramel-y brown bits...delicious...

...and it's so easy to scoop the squash out of the peel...

...and fill up tubs for the freezer...

...what have you been preserving for winter?...

~Happy Halloween and have a lovely weekend...

...Halloween 2014...

...it was just a normal Halloween around here...

...little ones dressed up...

...and came and got candy...

~Wishing you a lovely weekend...