dinner's ready!

saturday night dinner. thanks carolyn for the idea, now my family might actually get a home cooked meal.

one of our fall favorites - pork chops with apples and onions.

nice fat boneless pork chops from costieco.

trim off even the tiny bit of fat on the chops, and place in a lidded casserole.


dice one large sweet onion, peel and dice 2 tart apples.


spread over pork chops, and sprinkle with lawry's garlic salt and black pepper.


cover about 2/3 up with chicken broth. usually i use half broth and half apple juice, but i didn't have any juice in the fridge.

put the lid on, and bake in a 325 oven for 3 hours.

cook some nice wide noodles.



saute green beans with olive oil, lawry's garlic salt, pepper and italian seasonings.


yum, yum, yum, the pork is fork tender.



saturday sunset for sandy.

rhinebeck!!!!

need i say more?

we're on our way! hope in the driver's seat, anmiryam in the back.



i love leaf peeping :-)



hope loves the cappuchino at monkey joe's ;-) michelle's not sure about hope.


a group of us stayed at the courtyard, part of the beekman arms and delamater inn.



my room.



first stop, the bakery on garden. yummy cookies :-)

friday night dinner at the sante fe in tivoli, deliscious shrimp tacos. excellent service.

new york sheep and wool, here we come!

adrianne, steph, hope, regan, michelle, me and anmiryam.

the yarn.

what i've been waiting for since last october - the artichoke man!

fried pickles, normally seen in the deep south.

lamb sausage.


fried dough. hey, i must have been hungry.

the blogger meet-up was insane. i spy margene and kim.

met up with judy and her sister linda, chris and cindy (but only for a second, whah). adrian, i wore my squirrel mittens, and monica in her gorgeous shawl.

not much of a haul.

more glass buttons from moving mud. guess i'll add them to the buttons i bought last year ;-0

hairsticks from moving mud, one for dd and one for ddil for christmas presents.

3 pair of golding walnut dpns, great points.

my only fiber purchase, 500 yds of merino tencel from briar rose, just what i've been looking for to knit swallowtail.

the very best part of course, spending time with friends. getting to meet my wing of the moth buddies.

and laurie and cassie, two online friends i couldn't wait to meet in person. i hope next time we see each other, i get more hugs and more time to talk :-)

sorry this took so long, having trouble uploading photos...

mememe

1. FIRST NAME? vanessa
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? i am named for an instumental song from the 50s.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? five minutes ago.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? no, i print, and even i cannot read it.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? pastami.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? yes.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? this is it, oh wait, i do have a knitting notebook.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?yep.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? i would rather have my toenails pulled out one by one.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? post great grains.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? yes. and i am anal about the way they are laced and having them tied evenly.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? yes.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? b&j's black and tan, yum.
14. SHOE SIZE? 6 1/2 - 7.
5. RED OR PINK? both.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? i am always saying "i'm sorry". residual catholic guilt.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my father, every minute of every day.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? nope.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS, SHIRT AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? i'm in my pjs, does that count?
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? the above cereal.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? court tv.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? forest green.
23. FAVORITE SMELL? nantucket.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? tom.
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? sense of humor.
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON you stole THIS from? yes.
27. FAVORITE DRINK? aqua.
28. FAVORITE SPORT? is this a joke?
29. EYE COLOR? green.
30. HAT SIZE? have no idea.
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? i have some for getting dressed up, but mostly wear glasses.
32. FAVORITE FOOD? dark chocolate.
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings please.
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? living in florida, i miss the change of the seasons.
36. HUGS OR KISSES? depends on who's doing the kissing!
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? opera cake.
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? i copied.
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? 1776.
41. WHAT’S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? laptop, no mousepad.
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? lost, but blech.
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? bagpipes.
44. ROLLING STONE OR BEATLES? beatles forever.
45. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? england, or victoria, b.c.
46. WHAT’S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? good listener.
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? chicago.
48. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? nobody, i copied from christine.

i'm alive

just got back from rhinebeck last night. have to get my thoughts together, mind overload!

u is for

uncompahgre national forest.

in the mid 70s, when i was a wild and wooly girl, it was my great fortune to live for 2 years in silverton colorado. i wouldn't trade those 2 years for all the gold on earth. every day i'd look out my window and think, i cannot believe i live here.

just up the san juan skyway from silverton is the uncompahgre national forest.

takes your breath away.

the haul

not too big a haul, i was a good girl.

allegheny treenware makes the beautiful spoons, forks and cake servers. after i purchased these for our kitchen, i went back and bought more cake servers for christmas prezzies. mine are cherry, maple and fiddleback maple. they are all incredibly reasonably priced.

couldn't resist buying this spun pewter tankard for my son. the deer antler handle is very comfortable in the hand. thomas pierson is the metalsmith, no website, email mss3217@juno.com

sneaking away from terri for a minute, i picked these blue glass earrings for dd, and an adorable pair of handmade glass sheep earrings for a hostess present for terri. karen hill of riderwood maryland makes the glass jewelry.

alas, i discarded the tag from this wood basket, i know they didn't have a website on the tag.

i love it. luckily terri and i snagged them right away, as when we went back, there was only one left, hidden in the display. the sides are spalted maple, and the slats are walnut, maple and cherry.

the basket makes a handy sock caddy :-)

on the needles, another pair of eleanora stockings, they are really too elegant to be socks. the first time i started knitting a different pattern with this yarn, it cried out, no no! i am too rich a gold to be any other stockings than eleanora! so i obliged.

cloudy saturday sky for sandy, nice and cool.

T is for

take me to the fair!
wow, the waterford fair was fabulous!
last year my friend terri and i took a class from norman kennedy at the waterford school. terri invited me up to maryland so we could go to the fair this year.



friday and saturday were rainy and cold. not good for the vendors, but great for us, as there were no crowds.

sunday was sunny and very warm, way more crowded. luckily we had already done most our shopping and just enjoyed the house tours and the re-enactors.

we finally caught up with melissa weaver dunning on sunday when she was spinning outdoors.

waterford is like a little brigadoon, around a country curved road, all of a sudden this tiny jewel of a colonial town appears.

the fair is a combination of a juried art and craft show, where the vendors must demonstrate their craft,

and a house tour. each day different houses are open.

the food was yummy yummy yummy! lamb sausages with dill yogurt sauce, london broil wraps, sliced caramel apples, and the best pumpkin ice cream ever :-)

this tree was putting on it's own show.


thanks terri for a delightful weekend!