Molly Bee's Attic

Here's how my twisted little mind works. I'm thinking about attempting a gansey (Fisherman) sweater. I've been thinking about it off and on since I saw Jerry's last beautifully completed one. But recently I've been obsessed! Yes, I have a gazillion projects 3/4 done. Yes, very soon it will be very warm; poor weather to be knitting a heavy sweater. But does my mind listen? Nope. The heart wants what the heart wants I guess. I will finish the blecky socks I'm working on and block my latest Branching Out Scarf, but then....the gansey ....I believe she will be mine! Since I don't have any new photos of the projects I'm working on, here is a gratuitous Bentley shot. I can't help it I just can't get enough of that Snuggle Pooch! It was warmish when I left for work this morning so I didn't wear a jacket. Tonight is is 40°s and raining. Didn't think that one through too well. I got soaked getting to the car and now I can't warm up. Think it...

Made a bang up supper tonight. Mr. Bee is still reeling and wondering what I did that I am trying to atone for. Chicken Paprishka , home-made spaetzel (which Ive never tried before and was messy but fun and tasty) and Apple Dumplings for dessert. It was like a Thanksgiving feast! I’m glad he liked it because from the amount of leftover chicken, we’re going to be eating it all week. The Apple Dumpling recipe was one my Mother-In-Law sent down last week. It sounded so good I just had to try it. It was easy to prepare, came out beautifully and was very yummy. I could have eaten half the pan but I was a good girl and just had a little and foisted the majority of it off on my next door neighbors! Here’s a picture of what's left. It’s a crappy picture-my speciality. Apple slices wrapped in crescent rolls sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and baked in 7UP. YUM! This weekend has been 60-70°’s and beautiful. We walked the dog about a million miles and threw the ball enough times that he f...

So Bentley and I went for our walk this morning. It was just getting light and there was no one else around…just us and the 10 bazillion worms that crawled up in last night’s thunderstorms. There were so many that it was kinda horror movie-ish! Bleck! Anyway, we’re doing our thing in the early morning quiet. We get to the crosswalk in front of the elementary school. I make Ben sit. He does. All of a sudden a booming voice bellows, “Need some help crossing the street?” Ben hits the deck like he’s been shot. Thanks, Fearless Protector! I instinctively strike a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragonesque pose; ready to Billy-Blanks-Tae-Bo the perpetrator’s ass at the merest provocation. Actually I’ve only done Tae Bo a couple of times and possess absolutely no other martial arts skills. I’m hoping that any attempts I make to defend myself in this way will make my potential attacker double over in laughter and then I'll just run away. It’s obvious at this point that the big, scary, dog angle is...

Maybe it’s spring fever or something but I don't know what has gotten into me! Yesterday I proposed marriage to poor Jerry over at When Knitting Was A Manly Art even though I know that polygamy is all kinds of wrong both legally and morally. I got weak in the knees when drooling over the picture perfect pastries he made and asked him to cook for me forever. (I say polygamy rather than leaving Mr. Bee because I’ ve gotta believe that if he got an eyeful of that chocolate extravaganza he would give me the go ahead!) Today it's The Dog Whisperer. I'd kiss him right on the lips if I could. I read his book and his psychology is working wonders with Bentley. I can't believe how I've done everything 'wrong' all these years with regards to greeting and training dogs. It's a totally different story once you see things from their point of view. It's amazing the transformation it makes in their behavior. I really like being the assertive alpha dog and Ben see...

Bentley one. Baby nothing. Apparently, Bentley is not a 'baby' kinda guy. We gave him this baby to play with in the back seat of the car. Although the screams from the squeaker were indeed horrifying,the struggle was brief. Approximately six minutes and the baby was halved and eviscerated. No more babies for Bentley. He is an amazing guy though-in every way except his babysitting abilities. We got him from a rescue. The person that had him before us got him as a pup and trained him really well and took good care of him. He is housebroken, crate trained, knows a lot of commands and is very calm and gentle. He leaves the cat and the rabbit alone. He loves people and other dogs. He is only one year old and is a lab/boxer mix and is as healthy as the small horse he is! His original owner had to give him up because he was moving away and couldn't take care of him. Lucky for us! The only thing we have to work on is leash training. He was never on a leash before. He was so well ...

While Wee Doggie can never be replaced, we decided that we had enough love to share with another puppy so I am proud to introduce our newest furbaby. This is Bentley. We're not sure what he is; some boxer, some lab and who knows what else. We have decided he is a breed unto himself-North American Caninus Gooficus. What a sweetie! 80# of love and snuggles!

Partook in a little retail therapy yesterday to ease my blue mood. The multicolored lovelies are going to be socks, as is the yummy, purple lusciousness in the middle. The pale pink silk is going to be another Branching Out Scarf. I am really hooked on that pattern. Here is another one in progress. (Unblocked) And here is a fuzzy shot of my Pembrokshire Pathways sock. How do you other bloggers get such crisp closeups??? You can't really appreciate the pattern unless it's stretched out a little though. There are rows of eyelets in between the big and little cables. I'm having a bit of difficulty understanding the heel pattern. Will take it to Knit Night tomorrow night and see if anyone can help me decipher it. Probably over thinking it, but the division of top and heel stitches aren't coming out right

It was a gorgeous weekend weather wise. Lots of sun and 50° temps. That was a good thing, because neither Mr. Bee nor myself could stand being in the house with the Wee Doggie gone. For such a little feller, he sure left a big space in the house and a big hole in our hearts. We toyed with the idea of getting another dog right away. We went to PetSMART where they have local humane societies come in on Saturdays with some of their adoptable pets. The first dog we met was ‘Amigo’ a HUGE bloodhound. She wasn’t what we were looking for at all, but I can’t resist a fuzzy face, so I got down on my knees and she came right over and tucked her face under my arm and just snuggled. We asked the ladies there about her and then I asked them if we could take her for a short walk. If you would like to experience flight by non-mechanical means, I highly advise taking an 80 pound bloodhound on a ‘short stroll’ down the dog food aisle at PetSMART. The minute I said, ‘Let’s go” she put her nose to the gr...

Wee Fergus ?-March 9, 2006 Sleep well our precious Sweetheart. All your pain is gone now, but ours has only just begun. Forever in our hearts. We will miss you so...

It's been so cold and snowy here for weeks that my patience was wearing mighty thin. I was just remarking to a friend at lunch yesterday that it was finally happening...despite global warming, we had somehow finally managed to plunge the planet into another ice age and it would never be spring again....at least in my lifetime. So it did my heart good when Mr. Bee and I looked out the window today and saw a little robin on the one tiny patch of lawn that the wind had blown the snow off! Oh he was all alone, confused, shivering, swearing and it looked like he had lost several toes to frostbite, but he was still there! The first robin of spring! I have hope! I still haven't received my first Socks that Rock kit. Have you? I've been so excited every day because Peaknit got hers last week. I rush out and meet the mailman at the mailbox and...nothing. I'm beginning to scare poor Travis-The-Mailman. If that kit doesn't show up tomorrow, he may be too frightened to show...

I made this for lunch today and we really liked it. It came from Taste Of Home Magazine. I've written it here with the changes I made to the original. Hash Brown Sausage Pie Mix and press into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate: 20 oz hash browns (either the refrigerated kind or frozen-thawed) 1/3 c melted margarine 1 tsp beef bullion Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350°. Brown 1# bulk sausage and one small onion-drain well Add to sausage: 1c small curd cottage cheese 1 c shredded cheese of your choice 3 large eggs-lightly beaten. Add salt and pepper to beaten eggs to taste. Mix together and pour into potato shell. Bake 40-45 more minutes until knife stuck in the middle comes out clean. We had it with a salad for a brunch type lunch this afternoon. This has lots of potential. You could add peppers and or mushrooms if you wanted and make it lower fat by using ff cheese and egg sub. Yummy!

I finished two projects this weekend. The dreaded Grammie sweater. It's knit out of Cascade Quatro . I have no confidence that it will fit her at all, but here it is. It really does have two arms, but one is in the sun as it blocks on the kitchen table. And we all know that 'Can't Take A Decent Picture To Save Her Soul' is my middle name! This is the Branching Out scarf from Knitty done in Silky Wool. I really liked the challenge of this scarf. It had a few new things for me in it but it was simple enough that I didn't have to ' tink' too much as a newbie lace knitter. Cool! Two down and one to go. I have to finish my thrummed mittens before I can start on the cool Pembrokeshire Pathways socks that Peaknit is working on over at her blog. She is a bad, bad influence that Peaknit ! I want to make everything I see on her blog! Better get to it!

Our company had an Employee Art Show that started in December and ran until yesterday. One employee makes beautiful enameled jewelry. I coveted a necklace for the whole three months that it was downstairs. I finally bought it for myself yesterday before it disappeared from my life forever. It is a silver medallion with green and purple enamel and three squiggly cuts leading up to tear shaped holes in the bottom that reminded me of water Lilly buds rising from the surface of the lake where my Aunt and Uncle have a camp in Maine. I put it on immediately. I spent a couple of minutes in the rest room admiring my beautiful Water Lilly necklace. I went up to my department and met Dr. S. He took one look at my necklace and said, “Why does your necklace have sperm on it?” Heavy sigh. What do I see when I look in the mirror now? What were once three delicate Water Lilly buds reaching from the depths of the green water toward the sun are now three wriggling spermatozoa swimming towards my chi...

We've spent the last two days running back and forth the the University Vet hospital with Wee Doggie . $900 worth of tests have revealed that his lack of ability to breathe is being caused by lymph fluid in his chest cavity but there is no known cause. The good news is it isn't cancer and it isn't masses or tumors of any kinds. They just don't know. So they drew a bit of it off to ease his breathing and sent him home. We have to watch him and when his breathing becomes labored again, they will drain more and reevaluate. There really is no 'cure' but surgery and even that is iffy. He's deaf, mostly blind, very lame, fecal incontinent , high strung and has dementia. There really is no need to do surgery just to prolong that. We will keep him as comfortable as we can and hope for the best for now. Ah the hard times of Furbaby ownership. The years of joy out weight the pain and you know this part is coming, but it's still difficult. I will be so glad...

The blueberries were on the table and the moose, loons, potatoes, lighthouse and Mt. Katahdin were on the buffet; all ready for the Aroostook County Maine Satahdee Night Baked Bean Suppah! I cooked all day with the fear that no one would be able to come because of the BLIZZARD. That's right! 15" of blowing snow! This 'March comes in like a lion' stuff started a little early this year! But we have the best friends in the world. They all made it! The mailman didn't even show up yesterday and it signed that 'neither rain nor sleet' contract, but they bundled up and made it all the way to our house! It was so much fun. All of the food turned out edible and we all had a great time visiting. I made baked beans, potato salad (the Maine way where the potatoes are mashed), coleslaw, red Maine hot dogs, biscuits, Maine-shaped sugar cookies and blueberry/raspberry cobblah! We wrapped up a little early because of the snow and bedtimes for little ones, but it cou...

Don't know if my Aroostook County Maine Satahdee Night Suppah will happen tomorrow night or not. I've cleaned, planned and cooked. The potato salad is done, the beans are soaking, the Maine cookies are ready: lobstahs, loons, lighthouses and moose don'tcha know! (Picture is at a wierd angle, but you get the idea. The loons aren't burnt. They have a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar) I even ordered Jordan's Red Hotdogs all the way from Falmouth, Maine. anything for authenticity. And now, we are supposed to get the biggest storm of the season. Up to 13 " most of which is supposed to fall tomorrow night. Figures. It's been that kind of a week actually. I spent all day yesterday in the ER hooked to various wires and tubing. I thought I might have a little bronchitis or something. Had some pressure in my chest so I called my doctor who told me to either get a ride to the ER or call an ambulance. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. My hero, Mr. Bee, drove me down ...

Went to our friends D&T's house for supper. T worked some culinary wizardry and made a Swiss steak dish that was to die for but everyone knows that the key to Molly Bee's heart can be found on the dessert cart. They found a place on State Street that sells gelato so they bought four different kinds for us to try. I tried a little bit of all four (of course); there was deep, dark chocolate, vanilla-chocolate chip, wedding cake (which tasted like white cake batter-YUM) and my new favorite thing on the planet VIOLET! Not only was it my favorite color (lilac purple0 but it was sooooo good. T said he thought it tasted like frozen perfume but I LOVED it. Very crisp and refreshing. The world is a little better place now that I know violet gelato exists. D said that they got that one especially because it was purple and they knew that was my favorite color. Wasn't that thoughtful? It was a great dinner, delightful conversation, amazing gelato and best of all-spending time ...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Wanna know what it looks like when you grind up 90 Oreos in the food processor, mix it with 16 oz. of cream cheese and then spend over an hour rolling it all up into little one teaspoon-sized balls? (Besides fresh deer droppings? I know. That thought always makes it easy not to taste test at this stage.) It looks like this.... So now you know. They'll get popped in the fridge overnight and dunked in milk chocolate, dark chocolate, or pink-tinted, white chocolate tomorrow night. Then they'll recieve a light dusting of pink or red colored sugar crystals, get nestled into little pink foil cups, and placed on a a heart-shaped plate complete with doily . Then they'll be all dressed up and ready for their debut on Valentine's Day! Who luvs ya, Baby!

You may know it by one of its other names; blankie, afghan, quilt, ba-ba or binkie. My people call it a woobie (sorta rhymes with cookie). Woobies are very important to my tribe. Mr. Bee, Wee Doggie, Sebastian-the-cat, Sneakers-the-bunny, and I…we’re all nesters. There is nothing like curling up and snuggling in with a good book or the t.v. remote and a nice, soft, warm, woobie. So it is a wonder that it took Mr. Bee sixteen years to mention the fact that the woobies in our various nests were insufficient for a man who is 6’6” tall. He’s a patient man, Mr. Bee is. Lord knows it’s an attribute he’s needed and nurtured living with me, but SIXTEEN years?!?? Good Lord man! Speak Up! I am, after all, the woobie Queen! So we went to Joanne’s to pick out some supplies to make him a custom-length, man-woobie all of his very own. Now nothing makes me want to crawl up in the turret with an automatic rifle like going to Joanne’s. I love my fellow humans on an individual, case by case basis and de...