I would DEERLY like this winter to end!

Frustrated daughter in Omaha today. She is supposed to fly out early tomorrow morning to--where else?!--Washington, D.C.! Why the astonishment, you ask? Because DC is supposed to get up to 2 feet (2 Friggin' FEET!) of snow today. This is the third time this winter that she has had to change air travel plans because of weather--after tickets are purchased. When will this winter madness end?!?!

Little voice:

Keep calm & carry on.

Breathe...breathe....

On a (thankfully) totally different subject....

We had dinner at a friend's house last night, driving back into town around 10 p.m. As usual, our snow-covered Main Street was dead--not a soul around...well, not of the bipedal variety, that is. Right in the middle of the snowy, blowy street was a mob of deer! Just standing there, loitering. They so reminded me of a gang of teenage boys with not much to do, perhaps with mischief on their minds, looking for trouble, à la Sharks & Jets. As our car crept toward them, they naturally decided to flee, running with some purpose up the street, veering off to the right, down an even lonelier side street. No doubt, wherever they went, trouble followed. I'm pretty sure those bad boys liked it that way!

Serendipity Strikes

January is over! Yay! (Least favorite month...and this one's been a doozy.) So February--are things looking up?! Not exactly....looks like we may be snowed in....again! Seemingly out of nowhere, white stuff is suddenly swirling around outside our windows--the snowglobe effect. A quick check of Weatherbug tells me that this is supposed to turn into freezing drizzle this afternoon. Lovely. The people in this household have places to go, doctors to see, interviews to be conquered.... our day is supposed to happen, without a hitch. Apparently, this winter, that's assuming too much! *Grrrr!* Daughter remains resolute....hard to convince someone to hire you if you couldn't even make it to the job interview because of weather! You go, girl!

So...in lieu of driving hither and yon in a snow/ice storm, here is Plan B:

I rediscovered this sweet, romantic embroidery piece done by my Mother-in-law, commemorating her wedding. It was in its original, broken frame, with an unevenly cut, green matboard, and broken glass. (Disclaimer: none of which I had anything to do with!)

(For privacy's sake, I blurred the surnames...sorry.)

**********

Then there's my version of the Noble Dog Sampler (a pattern from the mid 1800s) which I stitched several years ago (on linen, with silk thread), substituting the dog on top for my own beloved Punch. I also cut the frame myself, out of birdseye maple; however, I was never able to get it as dark as I would have preferred. So it always bugged me.

********

Punch!

Eureka! Why not switch frames? I could just re-size the maple one and it would look much better on the wedding embroidery piece. Then I'll make an entirely new frame for Noble Dog. Here's what it would look like (with a little photo-shopping, bear with me):

Not bad, eh? How serendipitous! I love when that happens! February might just be looking up afterall!

*#*#*#*#*#*

THE NOBLE DOG IN LIFE

THE FIRMEST FRIEND.

THE FIRST TO WELCOME

FOR MOST TO DEFEND.

WHOSE HONEST HEART

IS STILL

HIS MASTERS OWN.

WHO LABOURS FIGHTS

LIVES AND CLEAVETH

FOR HIM ALONE.

Easy as PIE!

Just in case I didn't get enough of my OCD Apricot Cranberry Bread (as in the previous post), I made 2 more loaves this morning. Best to err on the side of caution when it comes to baked goods! Just before that, I was meandering around the net, going through my bookmarked list of sites I like to look at on a regular basis, when I stumbled upon the ever-so-talented Kwilty Kim's easy-as-pie PIE. I am not one to bypass a good pie suggestion: when someone raves about a pie recipe, I take notice! So...I jotted down the ingredients and headed to the kitchen.

*!*!*!*!*

Having already planned to make more of the OCD-AC bread, I figured I could pretty much make both recipes since I would be down there anyway...and I could use my new, fancy-schmancy food processor which Mr. Pocketts gave me for my birthday. (I am a lucky, lucky girl!) It has nesting bowls built in; thus allowing me to make my pie crust in the medium one and then make the bread in the bigger one. While the bread was baking I rolled out the crust and made the chocolate filling. When the bread came out of the oven, the pie went in! Oh my, I practically swoon thinking about the efficiency of it all!

Here are the results:

Right out of the oven...hmm...

might have to call this San Andreas Pie...through no fault of my own!

Pieces were sliced and then decorated by my charming daughter....

Naturally, Lola had to have some whipped cream in the process...

Yummy!

No, she wasn't allowed to eat at the table...

we're not those kind of dog people!

(Note, charming daughter does not eat her crust...

charming dog probably would have!)

All in all, a pleasant & delicious morning. Now we're heading to the gym to work it off--I'm not kidding! (Really, if we have to spend one more day in this house-bound, godforsaken winter hermitage....I might just lose my mind!)