Molly Bee's Attic

...or I'll be forced to do something constructive like clean my grubby nest in anticipation of a dozen or so guests Friday night! Celtic Knot Putting the Irish in O'Lantern We'll put this one on the patio to duel with the neighbor's garden gnome. Boo! Scary Pun'kin Ben!

I was up all night with a particularly pesky bout of insomnia so to say that I'm less than cheery today would be an understatement. Not grumpy so much as zombie-like. So when I took Bentley out at the butt crack of dawn this morning, I was less than attentive. I put him on his leash and then step out on my patio to let him wander down the lawn to take care of any fluid collection that may have occurred overnight. I stood, in the freezing cold, eyes closed, swaying in my slippers for quite some time before I realized that Ben wasn't moving. Closer observation showed him stone still, hackles raised, in ' pointer position', staring down the garden gnome that has been on our neighbor's patio all. summer. long . Apparently, vigilant watchdog that he is, he just noticed it. Nothing I could say would convince him that it was a game that he could not win. He was in full Garden Gnome Lock Down position. I finally had to physically get between him and the gnome, promise th...

So the other night the neighbor boys stop by to visit. They are both named Mike and are collectively know (by me) as Mike-Squared. Individually I call them Mike and Hef because I've never seen ' Hef ' in anything other than jammie pants, a robe and slippers. They knock on the door and I open it. There they stand, one with a plate of cookies and one with a bath towel. Right away I know this is not going to be the ho-hum Sunday night I originally envisioned. Mike has decided that their dishwasher doesn't work and wants to compare notes with mine since both are the same make and model. Hef is just along for the ride; in it for the cookies pretty much. Mike figures out a way to jerry -rig the dishwasher door so that the machine thinks it's closed, thus enabling him to turn the thing on and see where the water goes. As it turns out, predictably, the water goes all over Mike and the kitchen . One towel was hardly sufficient. Hef and I munched cookies and watched in a...

Wanna know what scares a Bentley? Well, besides swooping blue herons? And fluttering garden flags? And Bob the Maintenance Man? And the dark? This! We walked by this Halloween display yesterday and the wind was blowing the robes around. Ben did his usual duck and cover move, hackles raised and then just howled to the sky like a wolf. Never seen him do that before! And then he didn't want to walk past it even though it was on the other side of the street! Don't know if he's seen the movie 'Scream' too many times or has a problem with big plywood pumpkins, but this totally freaked him out. It was so funny, we walked the same route today. Same thing! Don't call the Humane Society! Starting tomorrow I will alter out route until after All Hallow's Eve! Know what scares me? This! Trailer hitch cover in the Walmart parking lot in Maine.

I took an enterlac class on Saturday. Oh. My. Gosh! So hopelessly addicted! Just one more rectangle!!!! I may need an intervention! Off to knit one more rectangle. Night all!

I have a head cold. My eyeballs are going to jettison from my head in a fantastical manner at any moment. But I'm not having half the bad day that Bentley is. I woke up this morning to this pathetic site. Both of his eyes were red and weepy and it looked like he had tucked a green seedless grape-jumbo size-up under his right eyelid. (Sorry about the horror and carnage of the pig ear consumption shot but it shows the eyelid lump to it best advantage.) Called the vet and got a 3PM appt . I dragged our pathetic selves down there. It's conjunctivitis again. Doggie Pink Eye. Drops twice a day and he'll be right as rain. It had been a month since his nails were clipped so the doc decided to do them while they had him back there. Ben decided HE was done about 15 seconds before his last pinky toe actually was and spazed out. They cut his nail pretty badly and it took some time to get the bleeding to stop, mostly because his blood pressure was so high from freaking out. I went ...

Mix two teaspoons of butter, a minced garlic clove, dried parsley and a little salt into a paste, set aside. On a sheet of tin foil, lay out 6-9 asparagus spears (like a raft). On top of that put a white fish fillet (I used catfish because I had it on hand) Spread the butter paste evenly on top of the fish Top with a couple of slices of lemon. Seal and bake 15 -17 minutes at 375°. While that is cooking, take a thin slice off the top of an apple and then core it. In the hole in the middle put a little brown sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon. Top with a little butter. Put it in a deep sided bowl (I used a corell cereal bowl. Once your dinner is cooked and you are sitting down to eat it, put the apple in the microwave for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. Just let it sit in the micro while you eat. When it's time for dessert top the apple with a dab of Reddiwhip. Easy and delicious. Heaven.

We got a little health newsletter in the mail today. The front page has some tips from the CDC to avoid getting the flu. I'm glad I work with scientists because I immediately had questions. I was waaaay confused... Avoid close contact with others who are sick. (Shun and ostracise your coworkers. Got it. Check.) Stay home when you are sick. (Shun your neighbors too. Pretty straightforward. Check.) Cover your mouth and nose. (Will make it difficult to work, not to mention breath, but o.k.) Clean your hands. (Difficult to do while they are over my mouth and nose but I'm pretty dexterous with my elbows. Probably doable. Check.) Avoid touching your nose or mouth. (This is where I got confused 'cause number three says....) My kids worked out that you only have to cover your mouth and nose until you die from lack of oxygen and then you don't have to worry about getting the flu....and just that easily we discovered the cure for H1N1! That's how science works! In other news...

Even though it snowed yesterday morning and was only 39 today, this was one bea-u-ti-ful weekend in Wisconsin. Spent yesterday in the Black Earth, Spring Green area. Saw Taliesin, farmer's markets, flea markets and House on the Rock. What a gorgeous day! Bought a pie pumpkin at the pumpkin patch. Will try my hand at Pumpkin Salad. If it turns out, I'll post the recipe. Hope your weekend was as spectacular as mine!

Get your mind out of the gutter...unless it's the bowling alley gutter because that's what I'm talking about. A bunch of us went bowling last night and when we finished, my hands were filthy. I went to the loo to wash them and when I was finished my hands felt funny... tingly . Within a couple of minutes I had a hot red rash all them. I'm guessing I was allergic to something in the soap, but it's never happened before. I bowled a 164 at one point so, as a bowler who does the Snoopy dance when she breaks 100, it was totally worth it. Still a little itchy today but getting better. I guess the moral of the story is to play with your own balls and not the one at the lanes. At least you know where they've been and can wait til you get home to wash your hands!

If we are supposed to stop calling it the 'Swine Flu' and call it 'N1H1', why does the Channel 3 news lady keep calling it the 'H1N1 Swine Flu'. Defeat the purpose much?! You know what the difference between the Swine Flu and Avian Flu is? Wait for it.... With Avian Flu you get 'tweetment' . With Swine Flu you get 'oinkment' . Hey, I said I'd write every day this month. I didn't say it would all be 'good'. Happy Friday!

My friend has four kitties-two older females and two newish boy-kittens. For those of you keeping score at home, they are the two males from the litter that we found in her barn this spring; Bear and Romeow Catulet . I stopped by the other night to get instructions for their care and feeding while their mommy and daddy are on an upcoming vacation. The feeding part is easy. The important part is favorite toys, tickle spots, treats and where Mommy hides the home grown catnip! I brought some little kitty toys with me, cause that’s what good Aunties do. One of them was a largish mouse that makes a loud electronic mousey squeak when batted…or gently touched…or breathed on…or looked at sideways… [ Yup! That’s what good Auntie’s do alright! Bring toys that the kids love but are so loud and annoying that the parents curse the day the good Auntie was born! ] and the other was a packet of three much smaller mice with a feather on the end of their tails. Oh. My. Gosh! You should have seen the l...

I have bundle service from a local cable company...first letter starts with 'C' as in 'Crappy Customer Service ' and rhymes with 'starter'. In the year I've been with them they have done nothing but screw up. The Phone Center people are very nice to speak with, but when it comes to doing what they say they'll do, they do something else entirely. Like give me a wrong phone number. And hook my phone up to another empty apartment in my building. The latest fiasco occurred this week when I got their ad in the mail. I could add HDTV, all of the premium movie channels AND a DVR player for $40 LESS than I'm paying now. I KNOW! It sounded like magic beans to me too, but I checked it all out and it was forrealz! As usual, the customer service rep, Elizabeth, handled everything beautifully. She was kind, courteous and efficient. I arranged to have The Cable Guy come to my house to hook up the DVR because I am notoriously bad at all things electronic. She tried...

I was driving along the other day when I passed something that looked like a wallet in the road. I do this often because one of my biggest fantasies is to find a fully loaded wallet in the street. Normally this would guarantee that one would NOT find a wallet and I know this so I usually keep driving. But today I had that niggling little voice in my head...'That REALLY looked like a wallet.' So I turned around, went back, parked on the shoulder and sho nuff ! Not only was it a smooshed wallet but there was cash blowing EVERYWHERE! I chased the bills in the breeze, dodging traffic, over the guardrail and down into the pucker brush. I believe I may have even uttered a Yahoo or two! Finally I had gathered all I could find-$340. I threw everything in my car and drove to work. The wallet contained a license but I couldn't find the guy on the net or in the phone book. There was a business card for someone else in there, the only piece in the wallet with a phone number on it so ...

I apologize for being remiss in my blog-keeping lately. I've been so busy I don't know if I found my rope or lost my horse. I've set a goal to write at least a little something every day for the rest of the month and see if I can get back in the swing. Today's little something is about the Mt. Horeb Harvest Festival. I was sick and it was raining, but I went anyway and I'm glad. I wanted to be there because friends Mo and Rebecca opened their new yarn shop The Cat And The Crow. It's a lovely space! Lots of beautiful things and room for knitters and spinners. Here are a couple of fine examples of 'Yarn On The Hoof' from Mo's farm, Four Crows Farm. She has some lovely fiber in her shop from them. There were also carriage rides. And men making lefse . I found the process less fascinating than the fact that MEN were doing the cooking! :-) Buggy rides. Pulled by a rare headless horse. I'm guessing he was originally in The Godfather. I took severa...