Just a catch-up post...

I figured I'd better get a new post up here before I forget I have a blog!  I keep taking pictures thinking "oh, I'll do a post" and then I don't.  But I'll post them now - it's the best way to remind me of things to "record in my journal".

First off, I've made my egg strata with some regularity since my first report cause I really do like it.  Finally remembered to take a picture of one before I put it in the oven and need to remember to take one after I take it out of the oven cause it's prettier then.  Here it's all soupy but will puff up and brown nicely as it bakes.  Makes me glad I have a red casserole to bake it in.  Very cheery.

And while we're in the kitchen, this is a pretty poor picture of the tile that ... wait for it... ... ...
Chris and I are going to install when he comes over for Thanksgiving weekend!!  Yes, I'm excited. :)  In the picture, the sheet of tile is still in it's plastic wrap so it's mostly glare.  They're glass tiles and the shades are just right for my red, black and ivory kitchen, I think.  I hope we don't have too much trouble and I hope it turns out well.  Pictures will definitely follow (unless it doesn't turn out well).

This is a little cross stitch I finished up for my Etsy shop.  It's prettier "in the real" - the colors are subdued but not as subdued as they are in the photo.  I've actually sold three things in my little shop in the last week or two (third one today!) and that's always a nice feeling - I figure a person wouldn't buy it if they didn't think it was nice. :) 

This little "joy" banner is what I sold today.  The woman who bought it had already bought a Christmas tree quilt the week before last so it was nice she came back again. :)

Once I finished the cornucopia, I decided that I would stitch away at my Chinese petitpoint rug until November 10 (when the Yahoo Petitpointers post their progress pictures (wow - alliteration!)  Seems like so often when I post a progress picture you have to really search when comparing it to the previous picture in order to see where there's been any progress.  So I promised myself that this time, the difference would be noticeable.  I posted my October progress picture on the blog at this LINK if you'd like to compare.  Just scroll on down and you'll find it along with a picture of the finished rug that came with the chart.  Now that I've posted the picture, I've started stitching on a couple of Christmas pieces for my shop so who knows how long it will be before I get back to this rug.  I have to say, so far, it's a pretty boring pattern!  It's certainly not as intricate as a lot of the miniature rug charts that are being created nowadays.  (Wow! being the weird person I am, I just counted and by my count, there are twenty words in this paragraph that start with "p"! - well, now make that 22: ) )

Had a nice outing with Peggy during the brief "minute" she was in Huntington recently.  She's been a travelin' lady lately!  And the other night a neighbor called to see if I'd like to join her and her husband for a visit to SIP, the new wine bar I've mentioned before.  She didn't have to ask twice! :)  I really do like that place and think Chris and I will go there one evening.

Oh, and lest I forget!! Cindy had two free tickets and so called me to see if I'd like to go to the Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. (how's that for a mouthful?!) concert.  He was a winner last year maybe? of the "America's Got Talent" TV show and he's a West Virginian and so he's a big deal here in West Virginia.  I kind of thought I might not enjoy it that much but Cindy told me he's a crooner-type singer - old Frank Sinatra songs, etc., so I went and it was such a fun evening.  I was glad I decided to go.  He's quite a powerful singer and quite entertaining too.

And, let's see...the annual miniature art show had their opening reception last week or the week before and Shelly (I call her my Starbucks friend cause that's where we met each other) called to see if I wanted to go do that.  I'm so lucky to have friends that keep track of what's going on.  I love that exhibit so, of course, went along.  And then she had to pick something up from the museum gift shop so we went up there and they were getting all their Christmas goodies set out in the gift shop so I think Chris and I will probably go up there too.

There were probably a few other things that I thought "I'll post that when I post" but they're lost in the mists of the past now. :)  I'll end with what I did Sunday, Monday and today - washed windows!  Sunday I just scrubbed all the outside sills which get unbelievably dirty for some reason (I mean - I'm on the 9th floor for pity's sake!).  Then yesterday it was very balmy and overcast so I did the two bedroom windows first.  Washing windows here involves moving furniture, climbing up and down, and basically hard physical labor.  My windows are double hung and I confess to only washing the bottom halves of them.  I'm pretty sure I would accidentally kill myself if I attempted the upper halves.  Each half measures 47-1/2" wide by 37" high and they're double-paned and heavy!  You have to try and be very careful when you're tilting them in and down or they get away from you and then you're in trouble.  But oh, how I love them once they're done.  I did the two bedroom ones yesterday and then woke up to insanely bright sun today and was dismayed to see smear marks on both of them.  Went through all the work of moving stuff, getting them tilted in and down, cleaning them again, only to find the smears were on the inside (dumb me!)  So got that cleaned and they were beautiful, as was the view when sitting in my bedroom chair, to wit:

Seeing that end result gave me the gumption to do all four of the remaining windows (two living room, two dining room).  These weren't as dirty because usually if I decide to wash windows, I start with them and by the time I'm done figure "oh, what the heck - who's going to be looking out the bedroom windows?"  Awful, right?  But again, the end result makes the hard labor all worthwhile.  In the picture below, I sat where I sit when I eat my lunch and dinner and took the picture from there.  So this is that view.  And, yes, even though I know it's hard to believe, there is glass in the windows! (tee hee)

So, there you have it - not a trip to Florence or anything, but for me, a nice few weeks. :)

My bad, my bad ... (that's such a strange expression!)

Here I've been back home in Huntington for almost three weeks and have not done one new post!  Several excuses for that - I was really dragging when I got home and couldn't seem to get past being dead tired and getting rid of my cold.  It wasn't until probably about a week and a half later that I started to feel somewhat back to normal although still coughing and blowing a fair amount.  And, of course, coming back to Huntington from a trip like that where there's so much to report, one feels that the reports just won't be quite as exciting. :)

I decided when I got home that maybe one reason I felt so bad was because I hadn't been eating real well and maybe needed more protein - I was meat-hungry.  I tend to diagnose and treat myself usually so I went grocery shopping and loaded up with pork tenderloin, chicken, ground chuck for meatballs, etc., and for the next nine nights made myself a nice dinner every night.  And, of course, I also reverted to my normal healthy breakfast and my normal relatively healthy lunches, although I did have lunch with friends several times.  Anyway, by the end of all that I was on my way to recovery and had really enjoyed being back in the kitchen.

There are two new things in Huntington to report on and I've sampled them both. :)  When I left I had been anxiously awaiting the opening of a new wine bar that had originally been scheduled to open in April.  And, before I left, a new "bistro" had opened for business but I hadn't yet tried it.  So, once I was feeling more human, a neighbor and I decided to try the wine bar and what a delight it is.  Just a tiny little place in Heritage Station called "Sip".  They have wine "flights" already planned for you or you can make up your own flight of wines by the 2 ounce glass or just get a glass of wine.  My neighbor and I each made our own flight of 3 individual wines and I certainly enjoyed all of mine.  They also have "small plates" and I had a plate with a small sliced baguette (from our local River and Rail bakery) with a delicious herbed goat cheese and two little dollops of black olive tapenade.  Yummy!  My neighbor ordered the cheese plate which came with nice crackers, three different cheeses, including a fantastic aged Gouda, and two little piles of what looked like maybe pine nuts or something similar with I think some small dried fruits mixed in.  We were both enjoying ourselves so much I forgot to ask her about that.  Anyway, very nice and I'll be going back.  And I just got back from trekking in 100 degree heat to get pictures of these new places - how's that for dedication?!  So, come on in...

and make your selection from an extensive wine list.

The second part of that evening, we went on to the new bistro - Chef Jason's -  (my neighbor had been there twice before) and had dessert only.  I ordered a Grand Marnier chocolate martini - called that because it's served in a small martini glass.  And oh my...I told the waitress that it was a little bit of heaven in a martini glass cause it was.  Absolutely scrumptious!!  I could have eaten another one. :)  My friend ordered a limoncello cake which, presentation-wise, was fairly fantastic - it was a white cake with white icing (they lost me right there...) but sitting on top of it was a puff of pink cotton candy!  But for me, there was no comparison and she agreed that mine was better.  I didn't taste hers cause I'm just not crazy about big, fancy cakes - just give me a Duncan Hines chocolate fudge with chocolate frosting and I'm happy.

The bistro is in with the Third Ninth Deli.  The deli was closed for a couple of months or so while they revamped the interior to make it suitable for both a lunch deli and an evening dining place and they've done a very nice job on it.  I had wondered how it could possibly work for dinner because the times I visited the deli, it was quite noisy - nothing to absorb the noise, I think.  But they've taken care of that and it's really a lovely dining area now.  The menu is very upscale and pricey enough that I won't eat there frequently, but I am eager to try a few of the entrees.  Another friend of mine and I went there after we had been to see "The Most Exotic Marigold Hotel" (a very good movie, by the way) and since we had munched on some popcorn, we ordered just salads and dessert.  My salad was a baked brie that instead of being baked inside the flaky phyllo crust was served on top of a sort of "tray" made with the flaky crust which means the crust stayed very flaky and it was all quite wonderful.  And, of course, for dessert I got the chocolate martini again.  I'm pretty sure that will always be my dessert of choice!  The bistro has a website at http://www.chefjasonsbistro.com/ .

One other place I want to mention is WilliKaye's new-ish shop.  I had visited it back before my trip and didn't think to mention it and then Peggy and I went in when she came down to go to the movie.  It is such a neat place.  The woman who owns it refurbishes some of the pieces of furniture (or maybe all of it?) and does a beautiful job.  And then there are just all sorts of vintage home decor things and other bits and pieces.  So it's really fun to poke around in it.  It's located at 313 Ninth Street and since I normally walk down to Pullman Square on Tenth Street, I tend to forget it's there.   But I very much think it's worth a visit.  She has a website, by the way which I've not visited - www.willikaye.com.

And lest you think all I've done is eat (and such a thought would be justified), I also, at some point, pulled out my cardtable and all the stuff for working on January's roombox and started making little fake books to help fill the bookcases and was happy to be back at it.  I still don't have quite as much as I want for in the bookcases, but am pleased with how it's coming along.  In fact, I decided I would get out all the furnishings I have for it, arrange them in the roombox and see how it was all coming together.  And I was so pleased when I was done with that that I took a picture.  Just in case January doesn't want to see the picture, I've posted it on my miniatures page (see tabs above) along with a little more about it and if you're into miniatures at all, I hope you'll take a minute to go see. 

We're apparently now headed into 7 to 10 days of 100+ degree weather which is kind of daunting to contemplate but thank heavens our condo got the new cooling tower installed!  My granddaughter Sophia is coming for a week-long visit on Monday so she and I are both getting pretty excited about that.  It will be her first trip here by herself and I'm pretty sure it will go well, but am keeping my fingers crossed too.  Would hate to have her decide she just had to go back home...I'll try and post a bit about our visit and a few pictures as the week goes by.