Not gonna lie.

I kinda hate July a little so far. It's the weather. Ugh.

Too hot and WAY too humid to do anything fun outside. Or anything outside really. (You could swim.......but I don't have a pool.) I've been reading a lot lately. Which is good for working through the stacks of books (both paper and digital) that I have. But man, I hate humid. It turns me into a whiny princess. :(

Way back a couple weeks ago, before the dew point parked it's ass in the 70-75 degree range and refused to budge, I did manage to finish a couple projects.

Cookie A - Jubilee pattern

Yay! Socks! Only my second pair this year. NUTS. I am seriously lacking in sockitude this year because of my tendonitis issues. They are..........a little weird? They look massively big but fit pretty okay. Probably too thick to wear with lace up shoes but, as luck would have it, I tend to wear clogs more often than not in the winter around the house. (I contemplated doing the smaller pattern size but the gauge was telling me they would have been too small then so I didn't even bother to try it.) Cheetos-colored socks aren't for everyone though, obviously, so these I'm definitely keeping for myself. :)

That's it for me with knitting though until the weather changes. I started a scarf but it's too too too sticky draping over your legs, etc. to work on it right now.

Also finished, little L*K strawberry sampler that's......also a little weird? I had almost none of the hand-dyed threads it called for and the DMC conversions provided were........less than stellar. I'm not 100% on some of the colors, as far as them all working together, but, you know - it is just a little sampler. No sense in driving yourself mad over it either.

Do you know how hard it is to find collectables that have LIGHT-colored Himalayans in them? IMPOSSIBLE. Everything is done up with the darker Seal and Chocolate point Himalayans.  *pout* 

So I was SUPER stoked to find this original watercolor on Etsy with a Blue point kitty, just like my Mooshie. OH HELLO, I MUST HAVE YOU.  (The seller is Amble and Sing. SUPER cute stuff!) It's just about the most perfect thing EVERrrrRRrrrrr. *ahem* I put one of his favorite 'glitter' balls he loved to fetch with  it and I just love it. Makes me smile every time I pass it in the hall. :)

I'm really over how quiet the house is too. I had tuna fish for lunch yesterday - alone.
By myself. Do you know how sad that is? No one cared. No one came to sit with me. No one begged for a treat. It tasted like salty tears and disappointment. 

To remedy that, expect a can of whoop ass to be unleashed around these parts around mid-August. Hopefully. *fingers crossed*

Everybody warm enough yet? :)

What's up with that, right? 

It's down to a positively 'chilly' 85 degrees here today. *snort* (I'll take that over the 100+ of yesterday!)

Thankfully, I have lots of 'indoor' hobbies to keep me busy (and in the blessedly cool a/c). I feel bad for everyone who has to work outside though - my husband included. :(

Anyhoozle doozle. Being indoors so much, I caught up on a couple projects this week. I think I mentioned my mad love for Franken Frames about a month or so ago? Carol posted that link for them and I was all over it like white on rice. Three custom made/cut frames for less than $30...........total? OH YES PLEASE I WILL. 

I dug waaaaaaaaaaaaay deep into my box of finished pieces and pulled out a few to see how the whole thingamabob thing would work. (I've never ordered custom frames online before and, well, to say I'm not good with the 'rithmetic' and fraction-figuring would be an understatement. I measured not twice, but thrice but I hit the order button, ya dig?) But it all worked out well and everything fit like a dream. (WHEW.) 

 This one, A Drawn Thread pattern I believe, was stitched in 1999 and it's much too nice to be languishing in a deep, dark Rubbermaid drawer forever and ever, don't you think?  I can't wait to hang it up!

This one is older still.........I think? And I have no idea of the designer. A quick Google search of that term came up with nothing and it was so long ago that I can't possibly remember who it is. I don't like this frame choice quite as much as the first one for some reason. I think maybe the color wasn't quite what I thought it would be? (But I don't think it looks BAD either.)

 

Ewe and Friends (I think?) from a few years ago, though the pattern itself goes back a looooooong time. (I have many, many things in my stash going back a long, long time. lol) Simple black frame, not much to say about it. I picked this one because it was small and will fit in very easily on my sampler wall.

Considering I was just 'experimenting' with older pieces, it went rather well. No money was wasted but now, of course, this has set a dangerous precedent. You can see that, right? Custom frames. Any time I want. For cheap. OH BOY HOWDY. Very very dangerous indeed!! :)

And now I have a date with a sock. Or a pair of socks to be more accurate. I just realized I only have a week left if I'm to keep up with my 'pair of socks a month' plan for this year. Eep. I've done so well so far with this plan I CAN'T GIVE IT UP NOW!!!!!!! Must_get_knitting!!

NOM NOM NOM

We don't really watch the Super Bowl in this house (we're more of a NASCAR family and nothing else, though I'm tired of that too now) but I do love the lead-up to it as people post all the yummy-nummy foodie things they are planning to make or want to make, etc. 

One thing I saw last week was these Buffalo Chicken meatballs on the Martha Stewart show. DING! DING! DING! I loves me some Buffalo Wings and Frank's Red Hot sauce so I *had* to make these. 

Oh. My. God. are they good! 

NOM. NOM. NOM.

I followed the recipe as is EXCEPT instead of using the ONE STICK of butter it calls for - I used 4 tablespoons. You won't miss the extra butter - I swear. (Though if you are on good speaking terms with your cardiologist, maybe go for the full stick?) Oh and I ditched the 2 TB olive oil for the sheet pan. Uhh, spray oil anyone? lol
Doing it that way they came out to be 51 calories each with 44 total meatballs**. I figure I can shave that down even more next time (AND THERE WILL BE A NEXT TIME) if I use Egg Beaters instead of 2 whole eggs and maybe trim the breadcrumbs a little.(Anyone have any experience using Egg Beaters in meatloaves and the like instead of whole eggs? I've been meaning to try that out to cut down on calories/cholesterol but *keep forgetting*. Grrr!)

They were great with baked potatoes, celery sticks and more Frank's dribbled over them.
ENJOY YOUR GAME DAY WEEKEND, Y'ALL, no matter what you are doing!! :)

**This is based on grinding my own chicken breast. I can't find pre-ground chicken in the supermarkets around here but once in a blue moon so we ran skinless chicken breasts through the grinder attachment for my KA mixer instead. (Which is INDESCRIBABLY GROSS BY THE WAY. I don't even like the *sound* of meat grinding. *hurl* ) I have no idea what parts they use for store-bought ground chicken so the calories when using that might be higher?