Where is the Milk?

Good Morning!

I sit here on a cold and snowy morning with a cup of tea contemplating what to wrrite about in this latest blog entry.  Although I usually drink coffee in the morning ( we have this nifty coffee press/thermos thingy we bought at Ikea here), someone used most of the milk this morning for their cereal without considering that I might want more that 3 drops of milk in my coffee!  I could bundle up in the 15 layers in requires me to keep my thin Texas blood from freezing while I slip & slide down the hill to the Toker ( a produce store) and pick up some milk, but the view has convinced me that tea will be a fine substitute!

On a side note:  you can barely see that empty insane asylum ( as I like to think of it) toward the upper left  - even creepier now as it blends in with all the white....  There is plenty more snow in the forecast ... about 14 inches over the next 2 days - good sledding fun for the kiddos.

Back to milk.  We have found a farmer that sells his milk to the public.  You bring your spill proof containers ( ask me sometime about spilling 5 gallons of raw milk in my van....), drive up to the farm, and go into this little building where a large silver milk tank sits.  It is hooked up to a little dispensing machine.  You put the little fill-up hose into your container, take your 60 Euro Cent & throw it into the the machine and voila, it pumps out 1 liter of fresh milk from that morning.  At 7 p.m. the milk truck picks up the remaining milk, so you always get fresh milk.  It is a win/win for all - the farmer gets about double the money for his milk from his customers than what he gets from the milk cooperative, and we get fresh, raw milk for 2/3 of the price we pay at the store.  I know that some a creeped out by raw milk, but we have been drinking it for years and love it.

So, what have I been doing creatively?  Well, I am taking some sewing classes at the army base - they have an outstanding fabric/craft store there.  The first thing we made was a pillowcase - tadaaaa

Ok, the seam is actutally not crooked in the second picture - it must have just been the way I took the photo.  I still need to wash it before I use it.  These were super simple to make, and all the seams are hidden.  Of course I want to make one now for everybody I know....

My socks are done, but are in the laundry & I am too lazy to climb down two stories to retrieve them out of the cellar. They will have to wait for another post.  I also finished up the little baby gift - here it is in all its glory.

The reason it looks a bit bumpy in the photo ( it always amazes me how every flaw is picked up by the camera..)  is that I filled it with French Lavender.  Instead of the planned ribbon I used beads for the hanger & the bottom fringe.  Little Grace made her appearance last week a bit early, so my gift will be a tad late.

I also started stitching on my secret stitcher project  - sorry for the slight blur.  It is time to consult the instruction manual for better close-up photos.

I was making good progress, but managed to miscount and had to frog two days worth of stitching - which is what you get when you are watching one of the best series ever made:  Firefly!  I usually end this particular enjoyment with the movie Serenity and then go into deep mourning that there aren't and won't be anymore.  I do this once a year, and enjoy it thoroughly!  I have also watched some good movies such as the HBO version of Elizabeth the First with Helen Mirrin, Jeremy Irons & tasty Hugh Dancy.  Speaking of that particular eye candy I watched him in Daniel Deronda - also very enjoyable and his character was much more to my liking.  My DH are now watching Coldnitz which is an excellent WWII movie.  We have watched Part 1 and are trying to find some time for Part 2.

I started two new projects:

It is that Baktus scarf everybody is knitting.  Those round little balls are called Mozart Kugeln and are a delightful concoction of Marzipan, Pistachio Creme and Nougat surrounded by a delicate layer of dark chocolate.  Yumm.

I also started a pair of socks for my younger DS.  I decided I would try the toe up method, and although the start was a bit of a pain I persevered and got it going.  Lets see how the heel will work on this one.

That wraps it up for today - I am definitely staying in, although tomorrow or Saturday I will have gather up my layers and venture to the store.  I wonder if the dogs will insist on their walk today....