Knitting, Singing, the Universe and all....

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So, remember when we bought the Penguin to make sparkley water? The main impulse-to-buy was because I had come across the technique for making Tonic Syrup (the base for tonic water) and wanted to try concocting :-) I love tonic water - most often drinking it with nothing but a slice of citrus, all through the summer. Oh, I admit to splashing gin in there after 4:30 some days, but I really could drink tonic water everyday! I became a tonic water snob - disdaining cheap supermarket brands for interesting (and expensive!) boutique brands... finally ending up understanding that this obsession must mean it's time to make it myself... After reading several "cocktail" blogs (and there are at least as many of those as there are knitting blogs!!) it was clear that there were as many ways to create tonic water as there were cooks; the only constant was an infusion of powdered cinchona bark in water. Then, I realized that the most difficult step was going to be acquiring the Cinch...

If they can't recognize spelling errors, how can we expect that they can recognize other errors in thought?!

Margeret and Helen said it so well in their blog today: On September 12, 2001 everyone was an American. There were no Blue States and no Red States. There were no Black Americans and no White Americans. There were no Europeans, no Asians, no Hispanics, no Africans… The world was standing with America against the evil that is terrorism. The globe was united like never before. And what did our President do when given that moment? He told us all to go shopping while he and his buddies planned a war. And 8 years later the 9-12 project has been reduced to a movement of no Blacks, no Hispanics, no Asians… just 78,000 white people who can’t spell. And here's a bit of Anne Lammont's recent comment in the LA Times I am afraid there has been a misunderstanding since that election in 2008, during which 66,882,230 Americans cast their votes for you. Perhaps one of your trusted advisors has given you bum information. Maybe they told you that we voted for you -- walked, marched, p...

Just for fun!

What more could anyone say?

It was a lovely last weekend at the lake... Flathead Lake! At the Big Arm Campground, there were only a handful of tenters, and every spot got it's own lake edge "beach" - here's Pippin, dreaming of his Pirate Past-lives..... Later on, Zuzu took over squirrel patrol so he could catch a sunny nap. It was Jon's mom's birthday, so Cindy and Denny came down from Dayton for the evening for a taco dinner and a campfire - oh, AND the new Willie Nelson Album was a hit :-) Jon got another picture of me knitting this trip.... I loved looking straight up into this grandmother tree overhead... Isn't this just serene looking?! But earlier, Jon insisted that he could park the trailer on a special rock out cropping... look what happened: It teetered and tottered and I rather spittily insisted that he NOT move until we figured out how to fix it. He insisted that we photograph his accomplishment (below) before re-positioning it so that we could get in and out without ro...

Note for Mr. Joe Wilson - #37th in the world! I bet this just makes you soooo proud. Who's the real liar, Mr. Heckler?! I always say, if they won't shut-up, shove some cake in their mouths! And you know what, even though I would bake the cake for our President, he would willingly share the cake with everyone, because he's just that nice a guy :-) After watching PRESIDENT Obama's speech yesterday ( on 09-09-09!) inspiring us to actually do something radically constructive about the health (insurance) care delivery in the U.S. I wanted to bake him a cake! How about... the Best Chocolate Huckleberry Cake in the World? Start with 2 Buttermilk Dark Chocolate layers: Make the Fluffy Ganache (using a pound of dark dark chocolate!) sprinkle handfuls of fresh-picked Huckleberries in between the layers!!! finish frosting the cake- and Here it is! Chocolate-Huckleberry Cake adapted, with glee, from Cooks Magazine For the Cake: 1 1/2 sticks butter - softened, + extra for grea...

Food for Life.... Did you know that if you eat the RIGHT kind of chocolate you increase the odds of preventing skin cancer! - fortunately for us "foodies" Callebut is frequently in the cupboard! Lifelong learning..... About the furor over PRESIDENT (just reminding you, he IS the President - some people seem to have forgotten this already!) Obama's speech to School Kids this next week, I have a few things to say. Firstly, Just about every President in past 30 years has given a similar speech (Bush 43's speech might not be seen as so inspirational) Here's a little "helping people remember" news video: Secondly, I believe that much of the Neo-Conservative back-lash we are seeing right now, is because there is rampant, unacknowledged RACISM still operating in our country. Think about it - when people say (or yell, as is happening more frequently!) that they "want their country back" or "he's not my president, and I don't have to liste...

"I don''t have health insurance, can't afford it! If I get hurt, my friends and family all know what to do - shove me in the car, put it in neutral, and let it run downhill.If all goes well, I am covered by the car insurance and I can go to the hospital!" Overheard at tonight's Vigil for Health Care Reform in Missoula. Dear Senators Baucus and Tester, and Representative Rehberg - Please do what's RIGHT, what is MORAL, what is COMPASSIONATE, what helps every single person in this nation from the unborn to the elderly. If you have taken $$ from the opposition, smile brightly and tell them thank you- you'll use those resources to do WHAT IS RIGHT FOR OUR COUNTRY, and pass a Health Care Reform bill that includes a PUBLIC OPTION now. I would be happy to write those thank you notes for you if you are too busy PASSING REFORM that makes it possible for average people to feel PROUD of our country. Just do it. You know you want to.