Our Lady Star of the Sea chaplet and day 3 with no AC

I got the center and the crucifix for the Our Lady Star of the Sea chaplet I wanted to make today. It did indeed turn out to be a chaplet, and not a rosary, though it was sort of up in the air for a while, but given how long it would have been, judging off ten of the pearls strung together, it would have been highly impractical as a rosary.

The crucifix and center are both bronze, the chain and pins are iron that's been treated to look like bronze. It's not an exact match, but it's close enough. The 12 beads of the main section are fresh-water pearls, and the three beads connecting the center and the crucifix are mother-of-pearl. It's all nice and appropriately nautical, so I'm happy with it, even if I do think the mother-of-pearl beads might be a bit big. Besides, I kind of like the way it looks. Now I have to figure out who it's for.

Sometimes, I make things, just to make them, and I don't know who it's for or if it's for any one at all! Sometimes, the item becomes mine, sometimes, I figure out who the owner is, and sometimes I'm left with a funny feeling that it isn't mine.....but I don't know who it's for. Very frustrating. 

I'm still knitting away at my hat. I've got about 15 rows or so left, so I should be able to finish it before I leave tonight. Then tomorrow it's back to booties and mittens. *sigh*

In the spirit of today's episode of Mother Angelica Classics (yes, I have been watching Mother Angelica, and I LOVE her!) I have decided to treat my current frustration (i.e. knitting the same three baby patterns over and over) as a gift towards sanctification. This is not nearly as spiritual as it sounds, and is based primarily off the fact that if I don't think of it in those terms, I'll be tempted to strangle Shawna with the yarn!

Hey, I never said I was a good Christian, just that I'm trying my best.

It's really cool though, because I didn't even know we got EWTN at the house! I mean, I listen to the radio all the time on my computer, but we actually get the tv channel and it's kind of nice! I sat and worked on my hat for an hour earlier while watching Mother Angelica. Very enjoyable.

Friday promises to be busy. I plan on making Vietnamese egg rolls, going to mid-day mass, and making boxty and ginger-bread. Oh! and soda bread. I might do the soda bread and ginger bread tomorrow, along with the mashed potatoes for the boxty. Oh! And onion marmalade! I have a fantastic cook book of Irish recipes.

Buy it! I promise it's good!

 

I have no idea who David Bowers is, but I will forever adore him for writing this cookbook. It has the best recipe for shepherd's pie ever! And that's coming from me! I love shepherd's pie! It's like the ultimate comfort food (tied with Granma's spaghetti) and I could literally eat it every day of the week with no guilt. The first time I made the recipe from this book, I was sick with a small cold. First bite was pure heaven!

 

I pretty much just want to make every recipe in this cook book.

 

Except the oysters. I'm not very fond of oysters.

 

Anyway! Wow, that was off-subject. Sorry. I just really love to cook. I'll try to post pictures of my dishes, but I make no promises as to the quality of those photos. I'm not a photographer.

 

It's day three with no AC at work, but today I've got a fan, so it's not quiet as miserable. It'll probably be November before they get it fixed, and then the heater will go out! Ah well, such is life.

 

I might be back on again later this evening, but I don't know yet. Until later!

 

Yours always,

Tara



Tiny Saints, Bad Catholics, and Cabbage patch dolls

My Shining Light Dolls came today. I left St. Nicholas at home, but I brought St. Patrick with me. It's nice to have him sitting on the computer smiling at me while I work. It's silly, but it makes me smile every time I look at him.

I've also been reading more of my Bad Catholic's Guide series. I haven't finished Wine, Whiskey, and Song yet, but I'm also reading a little bit of Good Living. I adore the writing. The humor alone is worth the price, and you don't have to be Catholic, or even considering Catholicism to really enjoy them.

In other news, I've also started on a hat for Little Bird that looks like a Cabbage Patch Dolls hair. Pigtails and yarn loop bangs. Yarn loops! Do you have any idea how hard it was to get that awful loop stitch? Ugh! I was so thankful that St. Patrick is the patron of Ireland and has heard far worse than my grumbling as I tried to make this stupid stitch work. I finally got it right, and I apologized for my less than charitable thoughts toward the inventor of the Loop stitch, the writer of the pattern, and my yarn, but still.

While my tiny Saint keeps smiling, I'm sure St. Patrick himself is continually rolling his eyes at me.

I'm hoping to finish this hat before I drop my truck off to get the alignment fixed, that way I can give it to my mom along with the blanket I bought for Little Bird. It's purple and green and has two little birds at the bottom. It's so cute! And not pink!

Why is EVERYTHING for little girls pink? You have to wait until they hit 1yr. before you get other color options! (Unless you're buying green or yellow, green and yellow are, apparently, gender neutral.) It's a color! Why? Have I mentioned how much I hate assigning genders to colors?

Do you realize that pink was considered a boy color up until the 1950s? and that the only reason it changes is because the Nazis had homosexuals in the concentration camps wear pink triangles? Blue was a girl color, because it was considered calming and delicate.

They are colors! It doesn't matter pink or blue! It's a color! How ridiculous!

Not that I'm against pink. I mean, it's not my favorite color or anything, but I don't mind it. It's just that I find it ridiculous how all that you can find, for the most part, is a wall of pastel pink!

It's a bit much, by my way of thinking.

I did make an appointment with the doctor. It's not until September, but I'll be able to make it until then. I'm hoping that, if I watch what I'm eating, I might be able to avoid a repeat performance of this morning.

Truthfully, it was easier to make the appointment than I had thought it would be. The lady on the other line was very helpful, and it made it easier. I'm still not happy about it, but such is life.

I would appreciate your prayers, especially since I have to get up early tomorrow morning. I'm praying for a good day tomorrow. If I make it to morning mass, I usually have a good day after wards.

I'm going to call it a night, and get to work on that Cabbage patch hat.
Yours always,
Tara

Ouch!

Last night, or really, this morning, was not fun. I woke up at 2am to fairly bad pain in my abdomen, just below the rib cage. The pain persisted until about 5:20, making it impossible to get back to sleep. I'm planning, much to my displeasure, to make an appointment with a doctor and see about getting it checked out. This isn't the first time that this has happened, so I figure it's something that has to be looked at.

I have no real desire to do so, mind you. I hate doctors, hospitals, and pretty much anything related to the medical profession as it applies to living, breathing human beings. Medical examiners are cool, and the anatomy of the human body is fascinating, but hospitals make me anxious. Also, the last time I was at a hospital, it was because Mom was there because of a scare with Little Bird and the chapel was closed! Who closes a chapel in a hospital? I mean, ok, so maybe the good priest can't be there all the time, need to get a little sleep himself, but seriously?

I ended up leaning against a wall in a hallway, praying for my family, and that I'd remain undisturbed while falling apart. I don't do well when family members are in danger. I actually scared the living daylights out of the poor fellow I asked about the hours for the chapel. He thought someone had died! I mean, I'm sure someone had, but not any of my someones.

I digress. Point is, I'm not a fan of hospitals. At. ALL.

I fixed my poor teddy bear before bed last night. After 20 yrs of dedicated service, my beloved Teddy (yes, his name is Teddy) has begun to show his age. I'd send him to a stuffed animal doctor, but I don't trust people. And this is a highly important member of the Ursa Fluffus family! He's been there through illness, through injuries, through moves, through new family members, through funerals, he's even talked me out of running away! (I was and continue to be a weird kid.) And yes, I do still snuggle with my teddy bear at night!

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to morning mass for the Feast of the Assumption, and then taking my truck in to get the front end alignment fixed. After that, I'm cleaning the house. I'm hoping I'll get the chance to make a short trip down to St. Augustine Saturday. There's a mission there I'd like to see for Nuestra Señora de La Leche y Buen Parto (Our Lady of Milk and Happy Delivery). Maybe she'll accept prayers from a concerned older sister.

It'd also be a good chance to get some great photos. Last time I went, I didn't take any pictures. Well, okay, I took a few, but since I was there to see a friend, they weren't really pictures of St. Augustine.

My mother tends to be the shutter happy one, a fact which induced misery as a child (and I count that all the way up to the present day and beyond, truthfully. As long as I'm her child) but I enjoy taking pictures as well. I'm usually content with a simple digital camera, while my mom like the bulky professional models. Of course, I've never stopped loving the old Polaroids that spit the picture out and develop it in 10 seconds. Those cameras, and their film, should always be available to the public.

I think my writing highlights a problem I have with life very well. I'll be 22 at the end of this month....and I still feel like a kid. I have a job, responsibilities, bills...and I still feel like a kid. Nobody tells you that being a 20-something is terrifying because you're expected to "be an adult" and you barely even feel like a teenager most of the time, let alone an adult. But then I wonder if that's just what adulthood is? A bunch of people who still feel like kids, but they have a little more experience in life, and so humanity fumbles along.

Except for that weirdo who literally never smiles. Like, they are the human personification of dour, imposing old buildings, that call to mind horror stories of Nuns with rulers and pinched faces, who you can literally never imagine as children because they are made out of stone!

I don't mean the Eeyore people. The gloomy people who are really good, and sweet, and want to help, but just can't help but be a Marshwiggle and sigh. You know, those people are actually really nice, because they're love little things. Eeyore was thrilled (in his own way) to receive a popped balloon and an empty jar from his friends, even if it wasn't what they'd meant to give him, because they'd tried really hard, and they did it because they loved him.

Nor do I mean the people like Rabbit, who grouse about boisterous people, who like the quiet, who like their work, and would rather not be interrupted when they're working because it's important. They can be very generous, and really do love their friends, even if they don't always want to be around them. They're a bit fussy, and a bit stuck-up some times, but they don't mean any harm.

I mean the people who are just the human personification of stoic, and that's their entire personality. Stoic, mature, reserved. These aren't bad traits, but in this sort of person, they're stifling!

Meanwhile, I'm over here as something of a cross between all the Hundred Acre Woods' beloved inhabitants. But Piglet and Eeyore are still my favorites. I'm sure that says something about my personality (paging: Dr. Freud?) but I'm not going to look to deeply into it.

Anyway, that's all for now! I'm going to get something to eat.
Yours always,
Tara