After trying out just about every free blog-hosting site I came across in the past few months, I've decided to just move my blog to my own domain. I have been using Xanga for several years, and have dabbled around with others, but none of the freebie-sites offer the design flexibility I want. I already pay for my own domain and I have plenty of space there, so it occurred to me to just build my own blog page. The thing is, I don't know enough html to build such a thing from scratch, but I came across this lovely layout at This Side of Heaven Graphics! It was just the thing I was looking for. (Thank you, Pam!)
I've been piddling around with it for 2 or 3 days. I know I'll be adding more to it soon, but I think it's far enough along to go ahead and post it. Besides, the weekend is about over, and I need to get back to my "real" work! Enough "play time" for this week!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Mug and Muffin
Our church family had a "Mug and Muffin" social last night. We all were to take our favorite mugs and a batch of our favorite muffins. The hostess provided a selection of hot beverages and we had a variety of muffins to choose from. I thought that was a neat idea. My daughter made the muffins! She chose to make Cappuccino Muffins... which she had made for my birthday in November... and Fruit Surprise Muffins... a recipe from her latest American Girl magazine. Both were delicious!
Cappuccino Muffins
(from the 2000 Taste of Home Annual Recipes cookbook)
Espresso Spread:
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. instant coffee granules
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Muffins:
2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk
2 T. instant coffee granules
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips
In a food processor or blender, combine spread ingredients; cover and process until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until serving. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir milk and coffee granules until the coffee is dissolved. Add butter, egg and vanill; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375 for 17-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Serve with espresso spread. Yield: about 14 muffins (1 c. spread).
Fruit Surprise Muffins
(slightly modified from American Girl magazine, March/April 2007)
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar, plus a little extra
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 egg
1/2 c. raspberries
1/2 c. blueberries (we used huckleberries)
Preheat oven to 400. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix together butter, lemon juice, and egg. Add dry ingredients into butter mix and stir. Fill muffin cups about a third of the way up. Put a few berries in the muffin cups. Cover the berries with the rest of the muffin batter. Sprinkle muffins with sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly brown. Makes one dozen.
Cappuccino Muffins
(from the 2000 Taste of Home Annual Recipes cookbook)
Espresso Spread:
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. instant coffee granules
1/2 t. vanilla
1/4 c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Muffins:
2 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1 c. milk
2 T. instant coffee granules
1/2 c. butter, melted
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips
In a food processor or blender, combine spread ingredients; cover and process until well blended. Cover and refrigerate until serving. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir milk and coffee granules until the coffee is dissolved. Add butter, egg and vanill; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375 for 17-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Serve with espresso spread. Yield: about 14 muffins (1 c. spread).
Fruit Surprise Muffins
(slightly modified from American Girl magazine, March/April 2007)
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar, plus a little extra
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. lemon juice
1 egg
1/2 c. raspberries
1/2 c. blueberries (we used huckleberries)
Preheat oven to 400. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix together butter, lemon juice, and egg. Add dry ingredients into butter mix and stir. Fill muffin cups about a third of the way up. Put a few berries in the muffin cups. Cover the berries with the rest of the muffin batter. Sprinkle muffins with sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly brown. Makes one dozen.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Shawl
My "most recently started" knitting project is a "Light and Lovely Boucle Wrap" using a free pattern from Joann's. One of my friends was knitting this shawl last week using a different yarn than the pattern called for, but I was curious to see what the "Rainbow Boucle" yarn was like. I stopped by Joann's to take a look. It was lovely! And a HUGE 11 ounce skein (enough to make the whole shawl!) for $8. So I decided to try it. Then when I got up to check out, the cashier rang it up using a 40% off coupon which made it only $5! At that price, I can make shawls for everybody I know! (Okay, not really... but still... that's a great price for that much yarn!)
I bought the dark blue. I guess they call it "tonal". It's kinda like variegated but much more subtle. It starts of dark blue and then stays dark blue for yards and yards, gradually beginning to lighten just barely until it is eventually light blue, and then back again. (I assume. I haven't gotten that far along on the project yet.)
Other projects in the works include a sweater for my daughter (finished except for the the front band), and 2 different cotton throws. Yes, I will finish everything. I'm not one to start a bunch of projects and then never finish them. I just get bored working on the same thing all the time, so I switch back and forth between them! I read books the same way!
I bought the dark blue. I guess they call it "tonal". It's kinda like variegated but much more subtle. It starts of dark blue and then stays dark blue for yards and yards, gradually beginning to lighten just barely until it is eventually light blue, and then back again. (I assume. I haven't gotten that far along on the project yet.)
Other projects in the works include a sweater for my daughter (finished except for the the front band), and 2 different cotton throws. Yes, I will finish everything. I'm not one to start a bunch of projects and then never finish them. I just get bored working on the same thing all the time, so I switch back and forth between them! I read books the same way!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
10 Hours in an Airport
I was in Denver last week for a training conference, along with about 30 others. Everyone was to leave after 1:00 p.m. on Saturday so we were dropped off at the airport about noon. My flight was not scheduled to leave until 9:40 p.m. I knew I'd have a long wait just hanging out until my flight started boarding. What I hadn't realized was that I wouldn't be able to check my suitcase at the ticket counter more than 4 hours before my flight. So I had to hang out in the terminal outside of security until 5:40 p.m.!
10 hours in the airport was just a little ridiculous, but not something that happens very often, so I just enjoyed the experience! Actually I felt a little like that the main character in The Terminal! I kept moving around just for a change of scenery. I walked around the edge of upper level just to see what shops there were. There was a series of glass cases down on one end with a museum type exhibit about a pioneer aviator. I don't remember his name but his statue is just outside the security area on the middle level. Walking around dragging a heavy suitcase soon got old, so I found a place to camp out on the middle level across from the fountain to read, knit, and people-watch. I had bought a copy of Jane Eyre the day before. I don't think I've read it since I was a teenager. Jane got through school and had just met Mr. Rochester when I put "her" aside, and found a phone booth to sit in to visit with my mother on my cell phone for awhile. (It's quieter in a phone booth.) Finally the time arrived when I could check my suitcase. In my explorations of the main terminal earlier I discovered a sky bridge to Concourse A that you could walk across rather than take the shuttle train. (If you've never been to the Denver airport, there is a main terminal, then 3 concourses, which are each connected by an underground shuttle train.) I decided to walk across to my concourse for something different. There's a security checkpoint about half way across, so I didn't have to go through security in the main terminal. There was no one ahead of me in line at the ticket counter or at security either one, so flying late does have its advantages I guess. I visited the shops on Concourse A, bought some supper, sat down at a vacant gate to eat, listened to some radio dramas on MP3, knitted, and people-watched some more. Finally, I decided to hike to my gate in outer Siberia! It was one of Frontier's commuter gates on the ground level way out beyond the furthest gate on the main level. At the end of the concourse there's a down escalator and then a lengthy hike to the very end to gate A62! We boarded by going outside and walking across the tarmac over to the plane and up the stairs. Very interesting experience! The gate area reminded me of that little airport in the sit-com Wings. There were several gates for Horizons, but I also noticed 2 or 3 for "Great Lakes Airlines" which flew to obscure places like Gillette, Wyoming. There was one other Horizons flight going to a nearby city about the same time at the gate next to mine, but other than that it was quiet down there.
I sure wouldn't want to do it every week, but for once I think it was kinda fun! I have to say, I was more than glad to tumble into bed shortly after midnight Pacific time.
10 hours in the airport was just a little ridiculous, but not something that happens very often, so I just enjoyed the experience! Actually I felt a little like that the main character in The Terminal! I kept moving around just for a change of scenery. I walked around the edge of upper level just to see what shops there were. There was a series of glass cases down on one end with a museum type exhibit about a pioneer aviator. I don't remember his name but his statue is just outside the security area on the middle level. Walking around dragging a heavy suitcase soon got old, so I found a place to camp out on the middle level across from the fountain to read, knit, and people-watch. I had bought a copy of Jane Eyre the day before. I don't think I've read it since I was a teenager. Jane got through school and had just met Mr. Rochester when I put "her" aside, and found a phone booth to sit in to visit with my mother on my cell phone for awhile. (It's quieter in a phone booth.) Finally the time arrived when I could check my suitcase. In my explorations of the main terminal earlier I discovered a sky bridge to Concourse A that you could walk across rather than take the shuttle train. (If you've never been to the Denver airport, there is a main terminal, then 3 concourses, which are each connected by an underground shuttle train.) I decided to walk across to my concourse for something different. There's a security checkpoint about half way across, so I didn't have to go through security in the main terminal. There was no one ahead of me in line at the ticket counter or at security either one, so flying late does have its advantages I guess. I visited the shops on Concourse A, bought some supper, sat down at a vacant gate to eat, listened to some radio dramas on MP3, knitted, and people-watched some more. Finally, I decided to hike to my gate in outer Siberia! It was one of Frontier's commuter gates on the ground level way out beyond the furthest gate on the main level. At the end of the concourse there's a down escalator and then a lengthy hike to the very end to gate A62! We boarded by going outside and walking across the tarmac over to the plane and up the stairs. Very interesting experience! The gate area reminded me of that little airport in the sit-com Wings. There were several gates for Horizons, but I also noticed 2 or 3 for "Great Lakes Airlines" which flew to obscure places like Gillette, Wyoming. There was one other Horizons flight going to a nearby city about the same time at the gate next to mine, but other than that it was quiet down there.
I sure wouldn't want to do it every week, but for once I think it was kinda fun! I have to say, I was more than glad to tumble into bed shortly after midnight Pacific time.
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Ain't technology grand?
My cell phone plan includes "new every 2" so my husband just got me that new "Chocolate" phone that plays MP3s. Do I need it? Not really. I have a perfectly good cell phone... and a tiny 2gig portable MP3 player (not an IPod, but similar), so what do I need with a phone that combines the two? I'm just spoiled, I guess. It's "free" and it's cool. Isn't that the American way?
But I'm weird. I don't listen to music much, nor even talk radio. My listening preference is for old time radio (drama/comedy/mystery) or audio books. I love stories!!! Old time radio is readily available in MP3 format, so that's mostly what's on my player at any given time.
Speaking of technology, about a year ago I unearthed some 40-year-old home-recorded reel-to-reel tapes in my mother's attic (formerly my grandmother's attic). I brought them home with me with the hopes of converting them to digital format and restoring the sound quality. I bought a player for them cheap on eBay and now I'm trying to figure out how to proceed from here. Getting them to the computer is not the problem, but oh, the sound quality! Lots of static, hiss, poorly recorded to start with, etc. However, in a family heritage sense, these are priceless recordings so I have high hopes that the sound can be restored.
We also recently discovered some old slides that hadn't seen the light of day in 30 years or more, and were able to scan them onto the computer. I do know enough about photo-editing to clean those up a bit, so that was very exciting to have some "new" old pictures that hadn't been thumbed past in the family albums hundreds of times over the years. Christmas 1971. I was 6! I showed the group picture to my husband and asked if he could pick me out of the crowd. He said, "Of course! You were the cutest one!" I laughed at him, but he did pick the right kid out of about 15!
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