Bungee fitness?  Is that a real thing?  Turns out, it is!  I saw some YouTube videos and it looked like such fun that I put some classes on my Christmas list.  And my family got me three classes at the local studio.

I know I’ve written about Jenny Schwartz before (okay, more than once), but her work is just so good!  In my last blog post about her work, I mentioned a new series she was working on (The Caldryn Parliament) but that I was waiting until the third book came out, so that I could read them all together and not be left in suspense.  The third book has in fact come out, so I’m ready to review the series.  However, I note that the author plans three more books in the series, so I might be premature.  Nevertheless, I shall forge onward.

It occurred to me the other day that I’m in danger of becoming like one of those doll ladies.  You know the ones…they keep an entire room to house their collection of creepy dolls.  And any guest who spends a night in their house has to worry about the dolls coming to life in the night and stabbing someone in their sleep.  No?  Just me?  Okay, whatever. 

How often should you wash your hair?  If you ask the interwebs this question, you’ll get lots of different answers (mostly based on “hair type”) which all boil down to “as often as you need to.”  The different answers mostly agree that washing too often strips the hair of protective oil and makes it more dry and brittle, but washing too seldom allows for buildup on the scalp that can also be damaging to the hair.

I’d like to say that I became a fan of author Robert Galbraith before it became public knowledge that the author’s real name was J.K. Rowling, but that would be a lie.  Shortly after that knowledge hit the interwebs, I gave her first detective story a try.  It’s not my normal fiction fare, but I figured I couldn’t go wrong with J.K. Rowling.

A collection of random stuff. Merry Christmas!

When I began this post of my favorite knitting patterns, I started with a HUGE list, and had to narrow it down quite a lot.  I have opted not to include any patterns that I’ve already written about, no matter how much I adore them.  (“Oh, magic hat, I love you so…”)  So below you will find my curated list of a few favorites.

I was so delighted with my Thanksgiving Menus article that I thought I’d do the same for Christmas, and publish it early enough in December that it might actually be useful.  So with no further ado and in no particular order…

I have a confession:  I don’t really decorate for Christmas.  I don’t really have a good excuse for this…I have a number of Christmas trees growing on my property, and I have an old steamer trunk full of Christmas decorations, among them the ceramic nativity scene my grandmother hand-painted fifty years ago.  And I have a hand-knitted Christmas tree.  That one, I did myself.

As with many surnames derived from traditional occupations (Smith, Cooper, Baker, Taylor), Chandler originated with those who made candles.  Therefore, chandlery would be either the making of candles or a store which sold candles and other general goods.  Chandelier also derives from this base, as the original fixtures held a multitude of candles above an open space.  See?  You learn so much on this blog.  You’re welcome.

Thanksgiving meals are pretty much a set menu in my family.  There might be a few variations here and there, but largely, it’s turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, biscuits, salad, and pumpkin pie.  But Christmas dinner is a whole different ballgame. We’ve had turkey again.  We’ve had ham.  A couple years, my mother floated the idea of a traditional Christmas goose, but even she had to admit that just because something was traditional didn’t mean it tasted good.  And we’ve had prime rib.

A number of years ago, I decided to knit a double-layer hat for a friend who was going on what I considered to be an ill-advised hike at altitude late in fall. The Pacific Crest Trail, to be specific.  My friend encountered such heavy snow as to approach white-out conditions, and narrowly managed to avoid losing a few digits to frostbite.  But the hat was a winner.  It’s a double layer of stockinette stitch; not really double-knitting as such, since the two layers are knit separately.  But, like double-knitting, the end result is two layers of knitting.

My mother recently pointed out to me how convenient it would be if all my Thanksgiving recipes on the blog were in one place.   A compilation frankly hadn’t occurred to me, so I thanked her for the idea.  She then added that it would also be quite nice if I didn’t wait until the week before Thanksgiving to publish such a compilation; doing it earlier and giving people time to plan for the big holiday feast would be much more useful.  So here we are.  Happy Halloween, and here’s a collection of my Thanksgiving dinner recipes.

When I was a kid, my parents celebrated birthdays with a cake and a special dinner.  The dinner was chosen by the person celebrating the birthday.  I was quite boring…I chose the exact same meal every year.  My mom’s baked Mac ‘n’ cheese, buttermilk biscuits (yes, carb overload; don’t judge me), and green beans from the pantry which we had canned ourselves.  And for the cake…cherry chip cake with cherry chip frosting.

Fourth quarter of the year, and per my booknook budget, I’ve built my fourth booknook of the year.  And it’s a doozy!  It’s this one from Tonecheer, the same company that created my Leonardo da Vinci booknook. They really do a very nice job and any flaws in the build are of my own making, not due to a problem with the kit.

When I was a kid, my mother was determined that her children should not be picky eaters, and so she served us a wide variety of food.  And lots of vegetables.  Like my brothers, I was not overly fond of vegetables, much preferring starchy delights like biscuits and man ‘n’ cheese. My mother’s rule was that we had to eat what she put on our plates, no matter how long it took, which is how I often ended up at the dinner table an hour after everyone else was done.  Sometimes, I still hadn’t finished dinner by the time the breakfast meal rolled around, so I got to continue enjoying last night’s dinner for breakfast.

Recently, I did something I’ve never done before.  I stopped by Goodwill and just browsed.  I was vaguely looking for something I could use for an art project, but since I did not have any project in mind, this was a just a methodical trip up one aisle and down the next, looking at everything.

I’m going to make a bold statement:  dates are an under-appreciated food.  There.  I said it.  And I’m going to stand by that statement.

I’ve just finished the latest Great Courses offering from my favorite online professor, Stephen Ressler.  The course is entitled Understanding The Marvels Of Medieval Technology and was intended as a sort of sequel to Ressler’s course Understanding Greek And Roman Technology.

When I was a teen just starting to learn to cook, I bought one of those recipe compilations books that show up regionally at craft fairs and bake sales. The only thing I remember about the book is that it was spiral bound and had the word “pioneer” somewhere in the title.  I wish I still had the book, but alas, I lost it in the “moving void.”  You know…when you pack everything you own into boxes, move all the boxes to your new house, and unpack the boxes, only to discover that somehow, things are missing.  The missing things?  They vanished into the “moving void.”  It’s probably also where stray sock end up when they vanish between the washer and the dryer.