Sunday, June 24, 2007

Noise 'n the hood


Why does our neighborhood always have such doozies? We have lived here 13 years, and not one summer has gone by without some yo-yo blowing off fireworks all summer long. Every year it's a different household. My dogs were both freaking out last night because of the moron 1/2 block away blowing a firecracker off every 7 minutes for about 5 hours. It finally stopped at 11 PM, but the damage was done. Its not that I expect silence on weekends---usually there's not very much, as everyone's mower is going, or someone is using a circular saw, or gunning a motorcycle. But explosions are not my favorite noise in the hood. I wish people would get a clue. They purchase their July 4th explosives, and start playing with them in April, it continues through September so that we are ALWAYS subjected to that noise. *?%$@#~ pyros....

I may have another couple of crazy weeks ahead of me. DH having surgery this week (we just found this out) and I am supposed to visit my Grandpa at the lake in Michigan. The 4th of July is his 94th birthday. Can't go on the 4th, not enough time to drive up and back and still go to work the next day (I tried that 2 years ago, and nearly killed myself falling asleep on the tollway!) Can't go the following weekend b/c it is my niece's 7th birthday on 7/7/07, and I can't miss that party! I may not be able to get to my Grampa's after all.

Was thinking about taking a jewelry making class at our local community college in the fall, but since DS will be going there full time, I don't think I will be able to afford it. That's okay, I'm fairly burned out anyway. If I can just have my off-work time to knit, I'll be happy! It's his time for college classes now....

May post more here later today. Some kind of knitting content, ya know! And a recipe, yet to be determined. It's baking day....and I'm posting in installments!


Okay, I just found the coolest instructional video for "invisible cast on" a.k.a. provisional cast on. I will have to try this for my next 4-corners dishcloth...I didn't know what was meant by invisible cast on in the pattern, so I just cast on as usual and ended up trying to whip the edges together with a ladder stitch to imitate garter bumps....Must try to do it correctly next time! Even though my first cloth turned out pretty darn good, if you look closely you can see the whipstitch details. These dishcloths are perfect practice pieces for newbies like me to learn new techniques!


Look at this cute cute thing! I have been a big fan of Dog the Bounty Hunter for the past 1-1/2 years, and even though we have no TV at this time, I still love that show! So I had Kezzaroo make me one of these...should be arriving in the mail soon!

Now it is 10 pm. I have done NO BAKING today....sorry! It's one of those days where I hardly got anything done, except bills and naps :) Guess I'll have to defer the Sunday recipe til later in the week...we'll see if I can get motivated after work! Bye y'all!

3 comments:

Opal said...

Oh I hate it when idiot neighbors start busting out the firecrackers too early. Your poor dogs!

That little doll of Dog is too funny!

You'll love the provisional cast-on. Unzipping the crochet chain is a lot of fun. It's a lot like magic. :)

Cindy said...

Hi,

I am pretty much "self-taught", and have knitted for several years, but have never tried this method! (I consider myself an intermediate knitter). I have been crocheting much more lately than knitting, too. Just wanted to thank you for the link to get to try something new! That doll replica of "Dog" is hilarious!

Michelle said...

Thanks for the comment:)
Your blog is gorgeous!
The Dog doll is beyound funny!
The texmati rice recipe is so not exact but here it is...
about 2cups of texmati rice
about 2tbs butter
a little olive oil
nonstick pan and lid
strainer
towels paper, towels, rubber band
Rinse rice in pot a few times, then cover with water, cook until slighty cooked(not all the way soft in the center). Dump into strainer rinse again. Wipe pot out, put back on low heat with butter, oil and a little bit of water(you want about 1/4 inch on the bottom of the pan).
When it is melted carefully add rice, pat down and then with your spoon poke holes in the rice(all the way to the bottom of the pan..I do two or three). Pad the lid with the towels and paper towels holding it all together with a rubber band. Cook on low/med for about 45min. Turn up to med/high for about 4/5min. You will hear the rice browning. The trick is taking it off the stove when it is brown but not burned:) lol... Take your rice plate and put it over the pot and then flip it all over. Looks like a little rice cake. Serve with butter. I like to server it with cucumber salad(cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, cilantro, vinagar, olive oil and salt and pepper) and smashed meat(ground beef baked with grated onion, diced cilantro, salt and pepper and mashed in a glass baking dish).
Sorry for the novel. This is one of our favorite meals so hope you enjoy it:)