In an effort to make this blog not seem so terribly abandoned--I am writing a post. Granted, it will not be a super long post, nor even a very interesting one, but that is not for me to decide. *Thinks it's funny that she begins posts this way*

First I'll tell some things which happened last month.

• On the 12th my Mom and I baked a chocolate cake by scratch at a friend's house. This is the first time we've ever done this (baked a chocolate cake I mean), and the result was simply scrumptious; on a level with, if not above, that of the packaged cake mixes. I think it was a Hershey recipe, and the frosting was buttercream, flavored with real vanilla extract.
• Also, it finally got cold enough to need a fire to warm the house. :D
• And then Thanksgiving came, and we all had a good, blessed day.
• Lastly, I got to write with a feather pen with a metal nib for the first time too! Very fun.

And here is the cake...

-YUM- 

And now for December.

• I have sewn another skirt, a dark blue one. And this time the pleats are much better, and the hem is higher, so now I am not cleaning the floor and dirtying the hem at the same time. *Yay*
• We got a hard freeze/frost!! On the 8th and 9th it went down to 24° F, and the ice was 1/4" to 3/8" thick.
• Then there came pie, distinguished from all other pies by being called apple-pie. And it was pretty good, but not as good as the other ones I've made, though, because the recipe for the filling is not set in stone, and I have not adhered to it as I ought. :D

Found enough frost to make golfball sized "snowballs".

Textured Ice

 The picture of my pie didn't turn out well, but it looked like this one- the pie I made the last time.

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So I believe that is it, you are now updated until next time...

May Blessing and Joy be yours,

-Hristë

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving today! Enjoy all that God has given you, and praise Him for it.

-Hristë

This is not a true 'real' post, and will most likely serve as a time consumer for a minute or so. I found a anagram generator on the web and this is what it came up with.

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Legolas Greenleaf
'Felon's large eagle.'

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Arwen Undomniel
'Undermine no law.'

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Aragorn Elessar
'A loser arranges.'

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Gimli son of Gloin
'Losing if in gloom.'

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Lord Elrond
'Droll drone.'

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Eowyn Dernhelm
'New, homely nerd.'

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Merry Brandybuck
'Murky, crabby nerd.'

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And the best of all:

Frodo Baggins
'Ring's bad goof.'

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Ok, some of those don't make much sence, but they're funny. That's enough for right now.

-Hristë

I was looking through some old papers a couple days ago and found one that I forgot about. I forget where we got it from.

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Death of the Doughboy

It is with the saddest heart that I pass on the following: Please join me in remembering a great icon. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

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Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch.

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The grave site was piled with flours. Longtime friend Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy. She described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very "smart" cookie; wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. But, despite being a little flaky at times, he served as a roll model for millions.

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Doughboy is survived by his wife, Play Dough; two children, John Dough and Jane Dough; plus, they had a bun in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

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The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 Minutes.

And you might also enjoy this sports-like comentary on Beethoven's 5th Symphony:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0vHpeUO5mw

Have a good and blessed day,

-Hristë

Meesa back! Well, I guess the questions are: 'where have I been?' and 'what have I been doing?'. It's so amazing how fast a whole month can slip through one's fingers. Here are the highlights that have happened in the last 30 days: I made three splendiferous, tasty apple pies; finished knitting a coat; went on vacation; and just a couple days ago, enjoyed a wonderful daylong rain, like there hasn't been in ages (years).

But right now I'm going to post pictures from the places we went on vacation. Not only because it makes a new post, but because I think most of you have never seen these places, and I just want to show them to you.

First we went to Yosemite; these two pictures are from Glacier Point.     7,214ft high

Looking down at the valley, 3,200ft below. These pictures do not do the sceen justice, you don't get the thrill of looking over the cliff edge as when you really do it. Ahhh, it was such a splendid day for being there, slightly cool, but still warm.

El Capitan from the valley And the ever popular view from Yosemite

The next day we headed eastward through the Park on Tioga Pass, and made our way toward Mono Lake. After lunch, we drove south to the June Lake Loop. Most of the area around where we were was all barren, rocky, and brown; with hardly any trees. Then came sparse pines, and finally the lush green trees by the lakes. 

June Lake. There are three others in the area, but this is the only decent picture.

 Some of the trees we saw were turning yellow, but most were this pretty green.

Such beauty that God gives us.

We were nearly out of the Loop after that picture, and then we saw a tree to take a picture of, so we stopped. And across the road we saw a deer, a doe to be precise. She came out of the brush and crossed the road to our side, then came two more critters. They were then kind enough to turn and look at my camera.

And the very big tree:

INTERMISSION

Congratulations, you have made it to the half-way point in this entry. If you are enjoying yourself so far, and wish to keep on, simply keep sitting where you are, and scroll down.

. . .

We then drove back up to Mono Lake, and after visiting the visitors' center, we found a road going down to the Lake. The white 'beach' is encrusted in lots and lots of salt. From the shore, at about 2:00 (direction wise, not time) we could see the large salt pillars called tufas.Detail of the tall grassy plants The first picture doesn't show it clearly, but the water by the shore is covered in these horrible flies!

I had a head cold at this time and couldn't smell anything, a good thing too because my Mom and Dad both said that the smell/stentch near the water was very disgusting. But I didn't smell a thing, for which I am quite glad. :)

The Monarch of Mono

A look back at the mountains after we left Mono.

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Now we skip ahead a couple of days, and find ourselves in Lake Tahoe looking over Emerald Bay on a cold and windy day.

Upon that beach down there, set back in the pines, is a castle. I knew there was one there, yet I had thought it was on the island. It's called Vikingsholm, and there's a small tea room counterpart on top of the island. We didn't go down to it this time around as it was cold (about 45°) and had started to sprinkle.

On our final day in Tahoe we went down to the beach. It was in the lower 50's, the wind cold and strong, and the water was colder. But the sun was out and tried its best to warm things up.

And then we came home after having a very splendid time.

-Hristë

Last night I tried to post this but my computer apparently didn't want me to, so here it is now.

I found that if you type:  /friends  after a regular HSB blog address, you can read that person's friends' recent entries. How neat!

-Hristë

The other day (the 4th that is) I had some fun dyeing paper with tea. So I thought I'd show you all what neat patterns they made.

First try front and back:

Second try front and back:

And I liked the back of the first one so much, I now use it on this bloggy. So that's all for now.

-Hristë

In my last entry I said I hadn't done anything with the patterns, but the day after that I did. I'll write it in a timeline because it's easier to do. :)

11th- The thing that I hated most was having to pin the pattern to the fabric and cut it out. It was mostly because it took so much time to complete, and I had to cut a second waistband because I cut the first one too short. After getting a spool of partially matching thread, I threaded our sewing machine.

And it isn't just any machine, it's a real ol' 1904 Singer treadle sewing machine. We got it at a yard sale last month, and it still works very well, making a lovely clickety-clack sound while working.

After pinning a seam I would sew it, then pin the next and sew it, etc. Last of all came the waistband at about 9pm, and then I quit for I was both tired and hungry. 

12th- I sat down in front of the sewing machine and began folding pleats in the back. I wanted them to be as even as possible so I took my time at it. Then I pinned the waistband to the pleats and sewed them down on both sides.

Next came the dreaded placket! (It's dreaded because that's where many people have trouble). But it really wasn't as hard as the instructions made it seem. But I did have to cut a second placket because I didn't realize the instructions said to add the width of the waistband to the placket's length. Next time I make a skirt I will remember to cut things the correct length the first time. I finished my work that day with pressing the placket and the pleats, and finishing the waistband.

The coolest part of that day was seeing 11 shooting stars that night! They were neat, but I expected their tails to be longer.  I only heard of them the day before while Googling something. They're called the Perseids and come from around the Perseus constellation.

13-14th Sewed snaps and skirt hooks onto placket.

18-20th  Finally got around to hemming the skirt, and here it is all finished:

So that's all for now, have a good day,

-Hristë 

First off, last week on the 3rd we got the patterns we ordered from Sense and Sensibility Patterns. Haven't done anything with them yet, but hopefully will soon.

Then upon the 7th I finally made the bread I had been wanting to do all that week, it's French bread:

And it was soooooooo good.  *yum*

And then today, because we had many peaches from a friend's trees, my Mom and I made cobbler, and it also was good. That should be 'is' because there are still three more servings left. But they won't be there long tomorrow. :)

Before...

After...

No, those two pieces in the corner (if calling the side of a round thing can be construed and a 'corner'), are not burnt: it's cinnamon and sugar.

Well, not a whole lot of news, but at least it catches me and you up through today.

Have a blessed day in Christ,

-Hristë

It has been one whole month since my last post; a failure indeed, but I can not laugh at it. And this post is only to tell you that I got a playlist. It's at the bottom of this blog.

And that is it and that is all, so thank you for the use of the hall.

-Hristë

As a sequel to my previous post, I now give a different link to the pictures of our trip: Here 'tis

Zat's all for now,

-Hristë

And I'm sorry that I've been away and not posted, which isn't at all nice of me. I'm sorry. But I'm also here to say that I put some pictures of our flight over to SC on my Flickr page. I will continue to add pictures there until I have all of them up.

-Hristë

Ok, I really ought to make myself post more often than once a month.

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We left for Charleston, SC on the 3rd of April and flew back here on the 11th. We had a very good time, and did a lot of things, and took lots of pictures. And once I resize the pictures, then I'll be able to show them to ye. :)

So until then, fare ye well where e'er ye fare,

-Hristë

[this is to partly make up my extraordinary lack of posts] :)

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Yep, that's right, two fridges in four days. You see, our old side-by-side fridge was well nigh 20 years old, and we decided it was time to get a new one. Something that wouldn't use as much energy. So we ordered a fridge with the regular fridge part above, and the freezer below in a drawer. So on the 17th of February (yes, this story is that old) we took all the food out of the fridge, moved it to another spot out of the way where we wouldn't walk, then put the food back.

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Now, the fridge hadn't been moved for about 15 years, and a natural result of that is that it hadn't been cleaned either. We discovered a couple of magnets when mom and I moved it, and a picture. The floor had a nice coat of dirt and grime, and even a rust colored part of the linoleum where the fridge had apparently scorched it. Thank God that it didn't catch on fire! Once we swept away the dust, and scrubbed it, it looked much better.

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The next morning I helped mom to move the fridge outside, it just made it through the door. A couple of hours later the two delivery men showed up took the old fridge and put it in the truck, and brought out the new one. They had to take off the two upper doors to actually get it though our front door. So then they set it up, put the doors back on, and then left.

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It was rather strange; having a big black fridge where the old almond colored one had sat for so long. But that was nothing compared to the worst news of all! When I was putting the food into the fridge and freezer, I discovered it was too small!
Yes, that's right! even though it had more sq footage, it didn't have good placement of it.
So we went back to Lowe's (where we got it), and picked out a nice side-by-side; same brand and color as the other fridge.

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On the 21st of Feb, the delivery guys took out the old, new fridge, and brought in the new, new fridge. Now all is well in the universe since we have one that we really wanted. It fits nearly everything that we kept in our old freezer too, and it would have held it all if it didn't have the ice maker and dispenser.

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So there we have it; a finished, new post. Huzzah!
-Hristë

After a long search I have found out what this picture is called: Stiching the Standard, painted by Edmund Blair Leighton. So in case anyone was wondering, now we know.

I found this link whilst looking in the archives of TheOneRing website (click here), and I just had to pass it on. I'm sure you'll like it. This is it.

-Hristë

Happy New Year to everyone!

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12/29/08
Having read some of the reviews on HSB, I was prepared for the changes the movie made from the book, and even ready not to like it because of them. But I've watched it twice now, and can say that I do like it.
So here are my thoughts on it:

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Whenever I read the books before, I always thought that when the children are sent back to their own world that they just pickup where they left off. The part with Peter in the fight showed me what a silly and stupid idea that was; of course you can't just be who you were before! Kings and Queens, all grown up,  honored and respected by all, then turning into a schoolkid again.
So when they come to Narnia, Peter is still resentful towards Aslan for not coming sooner, and not showing himself like he did to Lucy. Then he goes off on his own, relying on himself, and gets into a horrible mess. So even though it's not in the book, the Raid was good for teaching Peter a lesson.
And by the way, I think those centaurs who were stuck behind the gate could have lifted it if they tried, at least enough to let the other creatures get away.

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Edmund was good, though he didn't have much to do other than signaling with his torch, fighting, bringing the challenge to Miraz, and fighting again.
Lucy and Edmund were nearly as they were in the book. I haven't much to say about Lucy except she got to try to fight Nikabcik. Hopefully when they make The Horse and his Boy, they will put 'Queen Lucy among the archers.' like Corin said in that book.

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And then there's Susan the Warrioress. And though I'd rather they didn't have her fight, I didn't absolutely hate it either. Maybe she will be Susan the Gentle in The Horse and his Boy. Her flirting and kissing Caspian is just ridiculous. But since I read about it before, I wasn't very surprised about it.

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Reepicheep, my dear mouse, wasn't as good as he could have been. His voice should have been squeaky like it is in the Radio Theatre shows. And he should have been more courteous toward the Telmarine soldiers he slew. He should have killed them without having to have the last words like "Yes, I'm a mouse, get over it."

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My favorite part of the movie is the Duel, which is done very well. But then again I like to see sword fights that are good.

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Plus some other things:
Aslan barely appeared in the movie except as a minor character. It would have been great if they had shown more with him and Lucy waking the trees.
Trumpkin was a bit meaner and surly than he ought to have been I thought; but Nikabrik was perfect in his evil meanness.
Queen Prunaprismia didn't have red hair, or hate Caspian as much as she ought as in the book.
And then there's Caspian's brown hair (which isn't really a big deal), then his spanish accent, and his being around twenty years old, instead of 13-15 or so.

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So to sum it all up, I'll say that overall I liked the movie (it was ok), and await the next one.

Just a quick note to all of you saying:

Merry Christmas!

May God bless you and your families today, tomorrow, and always.

And remember why we celebrate Christmas: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16

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May ye have a blessed day, blessed by Christ. Merry Christmas.

I got a new camera this last Sunday, it takes such wonderful pictures!

On the 10th this month we had our first frost, it got down to 29°! It was cold and foggy, but I got bundled up and stepped out to take some pictures. Here is one of them:

And here is what it looked like earlier today, but now it is overcast:

I have been tagged by Kantare:

1. If you were to describe yourself as a color, what would it be?: Hmm, blue I guess

2. What is your favorite animal?: Cats, or hawks

3. What is your favorite musical instrument?: Piano and violin

4. Do you have a favorite number?: 8; it's a really neat number

5. Roller coasters or boat rides?: boat rides

6. If you were an animal, what would you be?: I suppose I'm most like an owl, quiet and observing

7. What coin best describes you?: I have never thought of myself as a coin, but the coin that I like is the nickle because it's smooth sided

8. Do you like tags?: yes

9. Do you wish this tag would end?: there are only six more questions, I'll be done soon anyway

10. Morning or evening?: definitely evening!

11. Mugs or just plain cups?: mugs for hot chocolate and tea, cups for water

12. Describe yourself as a...: Reader of Books, Writer of Stories, and a quiet sort of girl

13. fiction or non-fiction?: fiction of course!

14. Do you wish you were somewhere else?: nope

15. Do you like candy or do you not like candy?: yes, I like candy! But I like chocolate better, I even like dark chocolate!

People to tag:  Storyteller, PoeticMaiden, luvdogs07, horses4ever23.