Is our hobby making the big time?

Ellen Page, the Oscar nominated actress from Juno, has signed with HBO to write & produce a comedy called “Stitch ‘N Bitch”. See story here and here and here. Seems kind of vague at the moment.

Hmmm. I’m sorry, but haven’t WE been using that concept for our weekly group stitches for years? Could it be a copyright infringement???  Except for the “painfully cool hipsters” part. I don’t think too many of us fit that category.

By the Way...

Paulette at Plum Street Samplers is having a give-away for a gift certificate to CSN Stores. Head over to her blog to enter!

I want Winter back!!!!!

There’s not enough fan-age in my house to keep things cool. I have 2 going in the living room- one on a stand that rotates back & forth, and a box fan sitting on the floor that I point entirely in my direction. That makes things almost tolerable. My downstairs windows face the wrong direction to catch any breezes. I can get my upstairs cooler than my down, just because my windows are situated such that I can get some cross ventilation.

We had some delicious cupcakes at stitching last night, courtesy of our fearless leader, Deborah. Check out her pictures on her new blog, Cranberry Samplings. I must confess that I was the ONLY one who ate my 2 selections. (Hangs head in sheepish embarrassment). What can I say, I had my tiny ham sandwich way back at 11:30, and I was HUNGRY! I also did not have any supper once I was home. So there!

So Chicken was diagnosed with an acute allergic reaction to flea bites- it only takes one nibble and it sets off this huge chain reaction of itching, biting, irritation. So while I’ve never seen the evidence of fleas, nor did my previous vet, during this episode that has lasted since last August, the new vet’s opinion is that “This is SO.” He gave her a steroid injection, which I’m to follow up with 3 week’s worth of tablets, plus an oil to squirt on her food, plus a flea control spray for my house. I’m not sure about this vet, he didn’t really allow me any questions- he kept talking over me like a parent talking over a protesting child (even though I wasn’t protesting anything- EEERRRGGG!) I will defer my opinion of him when I see poor Chicken’s skin clear up and the itching subsides ENTIRELY. I was pleasantly surprised when the bill only came to $92, especially since I was provided with 3 take-home products, and she had an injection. This was a LOT less than the previous vet. I had to run home, drop Chickie off, and then run back up town to attend a Planning Board meeting, so I didn’t really even look at my bill until the following morning, which is when I realized they hadn’t charged me for the oil or the fogger. So maybe I’m too honest, but I respect vets, and all they do, and I wanted to maintain a good relationship with this one, in case he actually cures my dog’s problem, so I called & informed the secretary of her mistake, and offered her my credit card over the phone or I could stop in after work. “You can stop in this afternoon- no problem. Bye now”, she more or less says, but no thank you. ???? You’d think she’d be a little appreciative that I’d ‘fess up that she’d undercharged me by what ends up being $31 worth of products. Even after I go in, and pay, and she even explains to a co-worker that she “forgot to add this to her bill yesterday”, she still NEVER says thank you. Call me crazy, but I’d be so grateful that someone had the decency to correct my error in the customer’s favor, if I was in her shoes. Oh well. It must be that guilty catholic upbringing that I had, that she apparently didn’t.

Maybe I’ll post pix of Quaker Halloween later- I’m smoking along this week. My boss has instituted a “Fridays off” policy for the months of July & August. This is actually kind of tough for me- work-a-holic that I am. Plus it’s air conditioned there!

Happier days!

Wilted Wednesday Wrecipes…

Too hot to cook this week, although I DID make that pasta salad I showed you last week. Here are my pictures: (feel free to LOL):

I used this store-brand pesto. Maybe another brand, or certainly, homemade would be tastier. I’ve never “used” pesto before, so is it supposed to be thick – spread-ably thick?

Toss the drained pasta with a splash of EVOO. God I hate that acronym! Olive oil!

Pretty colors!

I mixed the “sauce” ingredients together first, then stirred this into veggies & pasta.

And here’s my messy result. Maybe I should have photo’d the final product in a nice bowl, or at least scraped down the little green bits.

The salad was quite yummy; it was delish warm. I had to re-salt the next day- it had lost flavor, and gotten dryer. The shallot was also more pronounced, and that flavor seemed to dominate when cold. Also- MOST IMPORTANT- I halved the recipe!!! It makes a bucket load. I would make this again, but I think it needs some tweaking. Definitely halve the recipe until you try it.

I never mentioned that I made a batch of The Pioneer Woman’s Restaurant Salsa a few weeks ago. It was excellent! The best salsa I’ve ever had! But it makes a wheelbarrow load! Definitely halve that recipe unless you’re making it for a party.

Stay cool!

Hotter ‘N Hell..

How about a little Halloween in July?

I have to bring Chickie to the vet for her itchy skin. Lucky we’re about 3 minutes (literally) down the road by car, so hopefully she won’t be too heat-stroked. (No A/C in the car…)(I knew that would come back to bite me in the ass…)

Cripes it’s HOT!

Happy Independence Day!

A finish:

Prairie Schooler HedgeHog pin cushion, DMC flosses, 32 ct. “Lambswool”

Birthday Girl….

Someone requested my “(in)famous” cupcakes for her birthday. So what’s a mother to do?

Why, make personalized cupcakes, of course:

I’m a sap.