Mmmm...yummy!

I made ginger cookies yesterday...they are so good! They remind me of Old Salem...they taste like thicker Moravian spice cookies. I got the recipe off of here, but for some reason you can't print off of that page, so I'll type up the recipe here.

Cure All Ginger Snaps

1 3/4 c. flour
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. cloves
1/2 c. butter @ room temperature
2/3 c. brown sugar, packed
1 egg
2 T. molasses
sugar to roll the cookies in

Mix first six ingredients. Beat brown sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in molasses & egg. Beat in dry ingredients. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 325'. Form dough into small balls, roll balls in sugar, and flatten with glass dipped in sugar. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

This recipe makes about 3 dozen...next time I make it I'll probably make a double batch. They are best the first day though, so it might be best to keep the dough in the fridge or freezer and bake however many you want when you want them.
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In other news, I got my ceiling spackled around the edge and sanded. I took today off from painting, I woke up this morning all stiff. So I cooked dinner tonight instead of tomorrow which is my usual day.

So the plan is that I get up on time tomorrow, get two coats of primer painted, and hopefully get a coat of paint on the ceiling as well. Then I guess I'll put another coat up on Friday, then it has to sit for a while before I can put tape on it. And I'll have to tape before I do the walls, so I guess I won't get to the walls till, hmmm...Monday - Wednesday. Oh well, I never have time on the weekends for much extra anyway...at least not for painting!

Question:

Would a normal, sane person who had two schoolbooks halfway done, was trying to get them done before June, was planning on painting her bathroom, had plenty of other things to do, and a long list today in particular, decide to scrape the popcorn ceiling while she was at it? No, probably not, but I did. :) Plus the fact that I woke up with a sinus headache this morning!
What did you say? Yes, I am crazy. But if you're going to scrape a ceiling it only makes sense to do it before you get the walls all nicely painted.

All of the ceilings in our house have a textured finish, usually called "popcorn", though it's really more like cottage cheese...you know, the stuff that comes showering down if you bump the ceiling, or gets in your hair if it was your head that bumped the ceiling?...yeah, that's right, that stuff.
Well, it's removable...with one garden sprayer, one putty knife (or similar flat-bladed object), and a trashcan. And it would be a really good idea to cover all the surfaces with some sort of paper or plastic that you can just roll up and throw away...even, even, if it's a bathroom and you figure it will all come off the tile fine, so why bother when you can just scrape it all up with the help of a dustpan when you're done...wrong. It comes off, yes, but it's not so easy as you'd think. There were many points during the process that I wished we had a shop-vac. Thinking about it now though, it would probably work, but then it would all dry inside, leaving you with basically a drywalled shop-vac.
So if I ever do a ceiling again, I will put down something, even it's over tile. And of course I would cover carpet.

That's what it looked like during the scraping process, a layer about that thick or thicker over the whole bathroom. -->

And what it looked like after:












What you do is: you fill the sprayer with water, spray the ceiling, and start scraping...simple enough really...just a bit time-consuming when you start wiping up all the stuff.
It came off pretty well, best over the shower where it had gotten steamed plenty already, and worst over the light fixture where it had been baked.

So that's done. I'll need to do some spackling around the edge where the drywall tape's trying to come off. You can also see all these little spots where the drywall must have been gouged while putting it up... because it's filled in to make the ceiling smooth...hmph, incompetent drywallers... they did the seam neatly though, and I'm really happy about that. I can fix around the edges, but if there was going to be a big messy seam I'm not sure if we could fix it or not.
Now I just have to wait for it to dry all the way, prime and paint it, then I can get going on painting the walls...finally! I'm glad I did the ceiling though...it always collects dust and looks dirty, and I don't like that.

Surprisingly, I'm not tired after doing all that today! Maybe my arm will start hurting tomorrow, but it hasn't hurt so far, so maybe I'll be fine.

Not so happy birthday Gracie

Today is Gracie's birthday...approximately of course, but she's two. Unfortunately she's not had a very happy birthday so far.

Even a normally calm cat will be jumpy occasionally. Gracie is not calm (I don't think she can be calm, being a Tortie) and therefore when startled nearly hits the ceiling.

I was doing my schoolwork in my bedroom and Gracie was quite peacefully snoozing on my bed. All of the sudden she was awake and obviously alarmed by some sound. Not having the hearing capabilities of a cat, it is a little while before I realize what's alarming her so. What impressed its sound on my ears was a street-cleaning, vacuum truck...what Gracie heard, I don't know. Perhaps a tornado, or a giant cat-sucking machine. At any rate she leaped off the bed, fur prickling, whiskers quivering, and made for the bedroom door...which was closed.
Seeing there was no route of escape that way, she spun around and leaped back on the bed, craning her neck to stare with horror out the window.

In the meantime, the truck had been slowly making its way down the street to our house. At about the time it was passing our house, Gracie bravely bounded over to the window to see the horrid monster that was going to eat her. When she saw the truck she seemed to be less alarmed though still tense. As it went down the street, then started back up the other side her fear returned. She dove from her place at the window, cast one longing glance at the still-closed bedroom door, and vanished into my closet that I'd left partially open. She reappeared almost instantly though, as if she'd realized she'd only be trapped in there.

Her next move was to hide beneath the shelf that was under my window. Seeing me watching her though, she quickly scooted back out, embarrassed. Finally, with one last despairing look at the window, she huddled on the floor to await her doom.




But by then the truck was heading out of sight and hearing, not having stopped to eat her.

She's lying on my bed now, acting as if nothing ever happened... I guess she didn't catch me taking pictures...evidence.


If you think I'm making this up...I have two things to say: no, I'm not, and you must not have cats. :) And yes, my bedroom floor's messy....so make that three things to say!

Now that I'm looking at that picture of Gracie on the bed....I think I need to feed her little less...

Why I haven't posted for a while

School! Lots of it...I've been really busy trying to get some books finished before summer. We're finishing up the end of May... I'll finish my literature book next week, and I would like to finish the history and biology, but I don't know if I can.
I'm going to camp May 14-18, so there's a week there that I don't do any school.

I have been doing other stuff too, but I've mostly been so busy that I either haven't had time to post, or I wasn't able to get my thoughts into any cohesive form!

So I have a lot of stuff to blog about, but I'll have to do it later! Maybe some time this week, or next...hopefully...

Supper

+Plus+








And mustard, ham, cheese, and pickles...



Equals:

Or: last night's supper...Cuban sandwichs...mmmmm.....those were good!
I'm really glad they turned out well... it took a little time, but for as good as they were it wasn't much time at all. And we have enough for lunch on Sunday! Yum! :)

Ripples in fluff

This is what I've been working on most recently:

It's a crocheted ripple afghan made from the yarn leftover from the sweater I made for Christmas.

It looks rather like a scarf in this picture, but that's the width, and the skinnier part is just all that I've gotten done on it yet. It's not the best yarn for showing the ripple pattern, but I mainly wanted to use up the yarn, and it will look nice and be fuzzy, even if you can't see the pattern!

It's certainly not as impressive as the one here, or the ones that everyone else * is doing, but I don't have a stash of yarn with enough colors of the same weight to be able to use them all in a striped afghan...even if it does look really neat! (It wouldn't really go with my bedroom either...) But ripple afghans are really "in" right now...in all colors...and so are granny square afghans, even the awful ones with un-coordinating shades of horrible acrylic... those are the ones you can find on ebay: vintage...ugh, vintage is cool and all that, but you can keep your acrylic '60s, '70s monstrosities if that's okay...

Oh, and the title I put on this reminded me of a word I came up with yesterday... "fluffing": the fluffy stuffing inside a stuffed animal... there was some of it in with the laundry and I was trying to say what it was, and my tongue decided to combine "fluff" and "stuffing"...I liked the result though.

Oh don't roll your eyes, what do you expect: it was a Monday... Mondays are full of fluffing... :)

*I can't guarantee the language used on that blog...it's lots of different people posting about their ripple afghans

Afghan...sniff...

I've got a bit of a cold, ugh...anyway...

Here's the baby afghan I made for the baby our pastor's wife is expecting:

The baby shower was two weeks ago, and I forgot to get a picture of this before I gave it to her. But big sister Hannah shot a picture for me, thanks Hannah! :)

Oh dear, now I'm sneezing... I'm mainly tired today, with a slightly sore throat. I get along okay though if I keep up on the cups of hot tea, and the occasional chewable Tylenol. It seems like the chewable gets to my throat that way, and helps faster. I have no clue if Tylenol really works that way or not...I'm waiting for someone to tell me that "no of course it doesn't have any topical effect at all, you're just imagining it!" Which I may very well be, though I do know my headaches respond very fast to regular swallowed Tylenol.

The spell-check says that Tylenol is supposed to be capitalized, which I suppose it is...I should have said acetaminophen... it's not Tylenol brand anyhow.

Oh well, as long as I'm just sneezing, not coughing. If I get coughing, I don't stop for weeks...

Cupcakes

Valentine's Day cupcakes to be exact:










They aren't as neatly decorated as I would have liked, but I was in a hurry... I don't really have time for decorating cupcakes during the week on a regular basis!

I also can't seem to get the hang of photographing food, it always looks...flat, sort of. And if I try to shoot things at an angle, you can't see all of it and it looks just as scary, even if it is more artistic! :) Then there's the whole decision about whether to use flash or not...also affecting the scariness of the food item being shot. I think food is generally hard to photograph though.

School, life, etc.

Well, I thought I’d do a post about what I’m doing in the way of school and stuff. Technically this is my last year of high-school, but since I’m not planning on going to college, I’m not going to completely finish this year. Right now I’m working on literature, history, and science. The books I’m using are about as comprehensive as college books. I know Mom read some where that someone’s kid had used a BJU history textbook in 8th or 9th grade, and said it was way more detailed and in-depth than their college book!
So anyway, we’re looking at these books as pretty much college level. The literature and history are Bob Jones University press, and when I get done with these ones, Mom has another one of each for me to do…so I’ll be at them for a while at least.

I’m not terribly fond of the literature book…although I’m starting to like it better. Since I love to read, I don’t really like reading little tiny bits out of a book and not knowing the context or anything. And some of the selections are from books I wouldn’t have any interest in anyway…although I’ll read just about anything! It is very well-presented and from a Christian view-point and has explanation and background for the selections. The book is divided into unit or chapters, with a subject for each one, like the one I just finished was on “allusion”. Also, every unit/chapter there is at least one, usually more, writing assignments that have to do with the subject, i.e.: writing something with allusions.

History is going okay, I never have really liked history, and it’s not much better with this book…it’s not so much the history I mind (I can read right through a history book fine), but the having to read it and comprehend all the stuff I need for the test. Because, while I am comprehending it in my own way, that is, it’s sort of stored in the back of my head and if I really have some need for it, I’ll probably be able to remember it. But I have to know everything exactly for the test…

Science, on the other hand, I enjoy. The book I’m working on now, Biology, is a little bit more difficult than the last one which was Physical Science. I think I have a liking for things that can’t really be proved/are tangible other than if you know the formula, and know it’s there. In other words, the centripetal force post I wrote last year! :) Which would also be why I like (at least in concept) Algebra…or did…I like the organization of taking an equation and solving it….if it’s difficult and I can’t solve it, that’s when I get frustrated. I suppose all that could be looked at by a psychologist(or would it be a psychiatrist? I always get confused) as a possible unwillingness to face reality… Ha-ha! :) Which I certainly don’t think I have, being very German and practical and all…

Anyway, after that irrelevant side-thought, coming back to the main point, I like my science book best of all. It’s Apologia, written by Jay Wile, and is (like my last two books) the best science book ever. Well-explained without being stuffy, casual without being ignorantly chummy! Hmm…do I sound like I’ve been reading British mystery novels or what? Or clothing descriptions…

I’m not doing anything for math right now, since I finished my Consumer Math book. I’m not sure yet whether I’m doing geometry or more algebra next, Mom and Dad haven’t decided. I would rather not do either of course, but since I have to, I’d rather do geometry rather than try to struggle through another algebra book…ugh. :)

So that’s pretty much what I’m up to in school. In general, I’ve been working on various craft projects and thinking about what I’m going to do in the upcoming years.
Ideally, I like to have a business, but that rather needs capital and a market for what you’re selling. So, for right now, it’s mainly saving money for something, and working on my skills (skills, ha-ha! Anyone know what I’m thinking of?).
I’d like to have a shop either selling crafts/hand-made stuff, or picture framing, specializing in framing cross-stitch. I really have no idea what sort of market and competition there would be for either of those where we live. If you live in the right part of the US, and probably certain parts of the state, you could have a pretty good market for the hand-crafted stuff, and likewise the framing, though I have a feeling those would not have the same market.
And the frustration that I have now even, is that I have more hobbies/things to do/things I could do, than I have time or money for! Oh well…I guess that I at least can’t say I’m bored! :)