TA-DA-- Little Moira -Jacquie's daughter and her family

I am happy yet sad to be home from Nebraska. I miss holding my youngest grandchild and first granddaughter. As you can see from the above picture the baby is into smiling even when she is asleep. My experiences began in June when my husband and I drove to Columbus to meet Alex, Jaime's step-son, at the Columbus Airport. Alex and I then flew to Bellevue, Nebraska, which is just below Omaha. Jaime and Joe picked us up and and during the drive home Rose, Jaime's girlfriend from Ohio, called and wanted to secretly find out what we were doing that evening. I managed to recall Rose while making it seem as if I were calling my daughter-in-law Susan. Once Rose caught on she was able to arrange her plans for a surprise visit that night. About an hour later when we heard the door bell ring we told Jaime that it was probably the UPS man with another shower gift. We became very busy at that moment so Jaime mumbled that we were causing the pregnant lady to walk all the way up the steps and didn't we feel bad? Jaime's father-in-law opened the door even though I had asked him not to. So when Jaime cleared the kitchen she was met by her friends Rose and Jeff. Talk about a surprise. She was shaking, crying, smiling, laughing, and turning white all at the same time. That turned out to be the surprise of the century for Jaime. The next day I had arranged to give a shower for Jaime which was a huge success then later that evening we had tornado warnings all over Omaha, Bellevue, and the surrounding area. Everyone in the house stayed down in the basement for hours. Later it was broadcast that several people had been hurt and one killed during this tornado. Eight days later June 19, 2008, Moira Nicole was born at 1:25 PM about 15 foot away from where I sat. The rest of my time in Nebraska continued to be taken up with laundry, food preparation, chasing Alex, and holding Moira. But eventually my husband John arrived to drive me home. The night before we left there was another tornado in our same area which left a lot of torn limbs, trees down, and general ground messiness. But since we didn't leave until after 2 PM most of the debris had been cleaned up. Late that evening we arrived in Decatur, IL, where our son Jason and his family live. Upon arriving home in Ohio I visited my mother then 12 hours had to take her to the hospital where she stayed for a week. I now believe that the doctors have her blood pressure, and other problems solved until the next time. I am so excited about Moira. As you can imagine I have, of course, knitted a blanket, booties, sweaters, a hat, and can only say that this is the beginning of a long line of knitting that I will be doing. I have been collecting little girl patterns for years. And I have a large stash of little girl colors. Now I need T_I_M_E. Anyone have some to lend me? Jacq

Kim's Recipes YUM! YUM!

CAULIFLOWER AU GRATIN

Boil Cauliflower head about 15 min or until al dente. Cut up and place in casserole.

In sauce pan warm:

1 C. half & half
½ C. mayo
1 egg
1 ½ C. shredded cheddar
½ C feta cheese

Pour over cauliflower, salt and pepper. Crush sleeve of Ritz crackers over top. Bake @ 350, 35 – 40 minutes.
I used fat free or low fat items for sauce and topped w/ crushed pretzels

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HOT OLIVE MIXTURE

Place in foil pouch:

Any kind of olive mixture (from olive bar at grocery if you have one)
Red pepper flakes
Fennel seeds
Peel from 1 orange
Peel from 1 lemon
Drizzle olive oil over ( might not need much as olived from bar have oil already)

Fold and seal pouch

Bake in pouch @ 350 until warm.
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Potatoes, Zucchini, Eggplant, Onion and Tomato Gratin

5 tsp. Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled
1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces)
1 medium eggplant
1 large onion
2 vine-ripened or other ripe tomatoes (about ¾ lb), sliced into 1/4 –inch rounds
¼ tsp. Coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 tsp. Finely chopped fresh thyme
2 ounces finely grated white cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 with rack in upper third. Coat a 9 x 13 inch gratin dish with 1 tsp. Oil, and sprinkle with garlic. Using a mandoline or very sharp knife, slice potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, onion, and tomato as thinly as possible into rounds. Arrange potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, onion and tomatoes in overlapping layers around prepared dish, and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Drizzle with remaining 4 tsp. Oil, and sprinkle with thyme and cheese.

LAVENDER SWEATER

Thanks for the info Marilyn. I ended up basting the side seams, sewing it twice with a stabilizer underneath. Then cut off the excess 5" on both sides and then zig-zagging the raw edges. Fits much better now !!

Thursday Night

Anyone who missed this Thursday night's knitting missed a feast! Marlene made some awesome chicken and baked beans. Amy had an awesome macaroni salad, probably the best one I've ever had. Kim made some to die for potatoes, with fresh green beans and garlic. We had a couple of cakes, no one went home hungry. I finally started knitting after I ate for a solid hour.

Ravelry

I am knitone69.

sweater is too big-- solution

i have a friend who sews and knits. she told me to use solvy to take in the seams of a sweater that is too big. you double the solvy for stability. you make a sandwich using the solvy on the outside and the sweater on the inside. then sew up the seams, cut the excess, then place in water and the solvy will dissolve. good luck! marilyn