My favourite things

Yesterday was a beautiful day, too much so to sit and type. It was unusually warm, twenty degrees. I had heard the forecast on Sunday, so I planned to hang out a couple of loads of laundry first thing in the morning. Thanks to the high temperature, the wind and a bit of sun, everything was dry by sunset (at FOUR thirty, yikes!). I think hanging laundry is probably the only chore I really enjoy. I'd love to be able to keep it going this winter, albeit indoors. Maybe we'll even save money; apparently, whatever we saved by foregoing the dryer in the summer was spent on air conditioning (although it didn't feel like we used it that much).



My sister Hannah had the day off, so she came over to do some baking from my Smitten Kitchen cookbook, which arrived on Friday! I do love that blog. Hubby was kind enough to pre-order the book for my birthday, and let me pre-open it when it arrived. I'm glad I didn't wait for my birthday. It was very tough to decide what to make first. Hannah and I settled on leek fritters with lemon-garlic yogurt, and buttered popcorn cookies. We went for a nice walk to the drugstore and the grocery store to get cold medicine for the girls, and leeks, eggs, and butter for the recipes.

Hubby was home sick for the day, and he spent most of it in bed. By late afternoon, he was up and about, and volunteered to take the girls out to get us a pizza for dinner. I never turn down pizza. So we had a nice dinner, after which I helped get the girls ready for bed, and then headed out to knit night at my friend Jasmine's. I'm always so pleased to be able to go! (Nursing M precluded me from attending much this past year, but as of last week, she's fully weaned and I have my body to myself again. Or as much as is possible when you have two small children clinging to you.) Last night's attendees were the always delightful Diana, Darcie, Leigh, Shauna and, of course, our hostess, Jasmine. I can't post about any of the knitting I'm doing these days, unfortunately, but I will after Christmas. Suffice it to say that many of the things are pairs, and it's always a challenge once you finish the first item, having to knit an exact replica. In my case, I have misplaced the original one, and can't continue its mate until I find it.

Still figuring out her preferred method of bottle-holding

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for Friends Thanksgiving this weekend. Hubby and I decided that the basement bedroom needs to be properly finished, so last week we moved everything out, sanded the drywall mud, applied the final coat, primed and painted. We may or may not have time to do the trim before our friends arrive, but at least the room looks nearly done. On the cooking front, I've got two pie crusts and a batch of honey-oat rolls in the freezer, and the turkey out of the freezer, defrosting in the fridge. Dinner isn't til Saturday, but I've learned from experience that it takes ages to for a frozen bird to thaw in a cold environment. Which sounds obvious now that I've typed it, but there you are.