New Reading Challenge for 2011

I realize that I haven't finished all of this year's challenges yet--I still have 10 books to go for the 100 books challenge, I'm on my last medieval book, and I have finished but haven't posted about the chunksters--but it's time to sign up for new ones for 2011.

So, the first one I'm signing up for is the Vintage Mystery Challenge. I've read a few of the authors listed but am interested in reading more. My particular challenge will be twofold--to read 16+ (Take 'Em to Trial level) and to find them all at the library! My list so far is:

1. Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham
2. something by Dorothy Sayers
3. The Chinese Parrot by Earl Derr Biggers
4. Detection Unlimited by Georgette Heyer
5. The Case of the Gilded Fly by Edmund Crispin
6. something by Ellery Queen
7. Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler
8. Singing in the Shrouds by Ngaio Marsh
9. Black Orchids by Rex Stout
10. The Silent Speaker by Rex Stout
11. The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor
12. The Big Clock by Kenneth Fearing
13. The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Orczy
14.
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16.

Thanksgiving

This year I'm thankful for a new apartment (with all of its challenges) and silly songs. The silly singer is thankful for trains. Almost every night after I pray for her, she says, "Thank you God trains. Thank you God big train. Thank you God L train," and so forth.

Summer Project Roundup

The following two rugs have been worn-in for a while now but I finally got around to taking some pictures. I worked on them both this summer, doing the bathmat first. Since they are knit rag rugs, I also got to enjoy the cathartic exercise of ripping up old sheets!

This could have had some fringe but I ran out of sheet.
The cable on this was done with a chopstick for a cable needle. Pretty ridiculous but fun.
This one was made from two twin flannel sheets, so it's very soft for flopping on. E. has done a lot of lying on her stomach to look at things on this rug.
Close up view.

Last CSA Goodies: A Fall Still Life

Can it be over a week ago now that we collected our last bunch of vegetables? It was such a weekly ritual--going to the pickup site, seeing a three-year old friend, visiting the yarn store, and coming home with a heavy bag. This last time was probably the best because it was our turn to "babysit" the veggies and we brought home lots of extras. We still have almost as many sweet potatoes but we're down to only one pumpkin! My first project was to make the puree that was enjoyed below:
Notice how she's looking longingly at the bowl. My design had been to bake together and to have her do the dumping and some of the mixing. However, when I handed her the full cup of pumpkin, her gut instinct was to taste it so I did the dumping and she got her own bowl. Of course, had it been dinner time, the pumpkin would have been ignored. She did help mix after eating plenty of pumpkin and flour, though I had to keep removing little fingers from the bowl.

Those two little orange pumpkins in the first photo yielded this yogurt container's worth of puree which has become pumpkin muffins and pumpkin waffles and I still have two more cups in the fridge.

To continue the orange theme, I also made sweet potato gnocchi and a pumpkin and lentil salad with goat cheese and some of the CSA spinach which is not pictured. These items were rejected by my little baker at dinner, though she loves the pumpkin muffins.