Color Moods

Is it just me?

I seem to go through these periods of time where I just love one certain color or color combo and nothing else.  When I was really little I remember I decided I liked sky blue.  I remember getting made fun of in kindergarten because all the other girls like pink and purple and they said blue was a boy color.  I still remember talking to my mom because I was so upset.  I liked blue and only blue for a very long time.  When I was a teenager I started to like Royal blue and I remember I had this big royal blue velvet curtain that I had tacked up across the room to separate my room from the boy part of the room.  It became my little cave/sanctuary.  It wasn't until I was already into my 40's before I started to like different colors.  I went through a phase where I loved fuchsia.  I still do but my obsession petered out and I feel in love with lavender.  Then it became lavender and sage green.... and then this past year I added sky blue and cream to those colors. Slowly but surely, everything in my bedroom started to change to those colors.  My bedding is purple/lavender  and the other stuff in the room is a combo of lavender, blue, green and cream.  I even made a crochet throw in those colors.  I'm so glad I finally made something for myself.

Well, the last few months I've noticed I've been crazy about gray.  Mainly a light or medium toned gray.  I made a friend a baby blanket in gray and pink and I just loved it.  I bought some more of the gray yarn and some in sky blue and I'm going to alter the pattern to make a shawl for myself.  I have some pretty snowflakes someone made for me that I'm going to add to the two front corners.  The gray has a pretty pearl type thread in it and with the pale blue for the edging the snowflakes will be a perfect addition.  It will be like my "Frozen" shawl.  I do have to say that I've always liked snowflake themed things way before "Frozen".

Just last month I made a skull scarf for my sister in law in
gray and it turned out very cool also.  I just love that yarn I used for this.  It is Caron Simply Soft in Gray Heather and I had quite a stack of it.

It is happening already though...  I can feel it like I saw a full moon and can feel hair sprouting out of my face and hands.

I feel a green and white phase happening.  I am sitting here with a large tub full of all of my white/off white yarns and another full of all my greens.  Every time I see someone post something that is green/white I just fall in love with it.

I have a design I sketched out in my design journal where I was trying to remember a quilt I saw.  I loved the design but wasn't so thrilled with the colors they used.  It was all just small squares so I used graph paper to draw it out as close as I could remember.  Now I think I might use all this green and white/cream yarn and make a bazillion squares for it.  Hopefully it will come together looking just as amazing as it does in my imagination.

Stuck in motion

Once again I find myself stuck on the couch when I want to be up and doing things.  The fibromyalgia pain (or whatever else it may be) is too much when standing up right now.  I really want to use my new kitchenaid mixer to make chocolate chip cookies!  I made some of these Toll House cookies before and they were so freakin good.  There were 3 dozen because I made them bigger but they were gone in only one day!

Anyway, I've been jamming out and playing around online.  I decided to start making some digital trading cards for facebook.  I just made two for now but I'll add more later.  Feel free to share them!

Merry Christmas

I'm having a hard time as usual with all the aches and pains from the cold but there is also that additional pain from missing my mom at Christmas.  My mom died Feb 16, 2008 and I still miss her every single day.  It is just always more difficult when my birthday comes around and I know she would have called me.  My birthday was on thanksgiving this year.  Then just a little bit later is her birthday on December 8th and of course Christmas Day is hard too.  Well, all I can do is think of her and make some new wonderful memories with my family that are here.

Here is some nice Christmas music from the first, third, and sixth seasons of Bones to get the spirit of Christmas flowing strong.

Season 5, Episode 10

Long time no post

It's been awhile so I thought I should get on here and post something.  I had a great birthday which was Thanksgiving Day this year.  My husband surprised me by getting me 2 things I'd been wanting for a long time.  I had added them to my amazon wishlist and was planning on saving up for them. So far every time I'd saved up some money something would come up and I'd end up spending it on one of my boys.  Of course I could have asked my husband to give them some money but sometimes (and especially some things) I want to come from me.  The look on their face when I give them the money when they thought I didn't have any is priceless.  They know I don't have much money so it means more to them and they are always more than willing to help

me with things around the house to make up for it.  My oldest son had a job for a while and he was always buying me gifts.  He even bought me a Keurig for Christmas and I know that cost a lot.  So that shows that it comes back around and it isn't about the gift but the love.

Anyway, speaking of love, my husband told me there was this big box by the door and I should go check it out.  This was a few days early.  I was shocked that the box was so big.  It was HUGE.  I had been feeling really bad the past few weeks.  My hands hurt and I've very weak all over so both my boys helped me open the box.  They both had this grin on their faces and I could tell they already knew what it was.  They got me a Kitchenaid mixer in the prettiest shade of pistachio green.  I have been wanting one of those since forever.  There was also this small gift and it turned out to be Rocksmith 2014 for the xbox 360. It comes with a cable that has a usb plug on one end and a standard guitar hookup on the other end.  I've wanting to play the guitar for a long time and I have a very nice electric guitar that was another gift from my husband.  It is an Eddie Van Haylen Wolfgang special which they stopped making around 97 I think.

I've been wanting to learn how to play my guitar for so long but something always got in my way. My health was my biggest obstacle and by the time I got the guitar out, hooked up and tuned up I would be exhausted. Rocksmith basically simplifies everything so I can start playing quicker and that helps a lot. I just plug the guitar in to the xbox and it acts like the amp.  You tune the guitar with the program which is very quick.  I'm usually tuned up in less than a minute.  The electric tuner I got is not just for guitar so it could be used for my son's violin as well.  My problem was that I would be trying to tune to the wrong octave (when I first started out) and I'd break strings.  Rocksmith's tuner has this line that moves up and down and you line it up with the string to get it in tune.  It also has numbers that are positive or negative so you can be sure you are turning the peg the right direction. After a week of using it I've already gotten to where I can hear when it is off and can tune it myself.  Mainly the big E string is what I start with and I tune it to what sounds good to me and then I check myself to be sure.  Then I've been tuning the other strings off of that one.  The first few times I checked it with the rocksmith tuner after that and it was in tune.  Now when I feel bad and have no energy I can just sit back on the couch and play without it plugged in.

I am still learning about the Rocksmith program and there are still things to learn but it was bothering me that most of the time it doesn't show the name of the notes or the strings (like the strings played open are E A D G B E in order).  They use a graphic of the neck of a guitar that lies horizontally across the bottom of the screen.  The strings are color coded and they indicate which note to play by color.  I was getting frustrated because I didn't want to learn red string, green string, yellow string.  I wanted to learn by the notes.  I used to play piano in high school and learned to read music so it is weird to not know which note I'm hearing.  I have some books and I've been looking online for more information.

My favorite website so far is www.justinguitar.com.  I have been going through his free beginner lessons and I have been learning a lot.  My fingers are very sore now but I can feel the tips starting to toughen up already.  I've learned two cords now and I really want to play a song!  Maybe I could learn a simple Christmas song before Christmas.

Music from Bones Season 4

I haven't been feeling well for a while so I've been spending a lot of days in bed and watching Bones season 4.  I really love this show and all the good music they use.  Many of the great songs they use don't get full play.  They sometimes just use it in the background or just play a few seconds of the music with no singing for effect.  Of course, I have learned that some of the music they use isn't good any other way.  I like to collect the songs I liked here and then come back and listen to them again. This isn't an all inclusive list.  If I don't like it (or if it isn't new to me) I don't include it.  The music that really captures me will get purchased and downloaded or in some cases I have to search for the actual CD and order it and then WAIT for the mail.  That seems so archaic these days.
I loved this song from Episode 1 although the OooooOooooo's get on my nerves .

With the graceful and grotesque the morning rings
Hear the garbage truck roll by
Hear the birds begin to sing
Their song of love and praise
And may their happy sound
Be strong enough to raise
Our spirits off the ground
Or love don't stand a ghost of a chance

I'm on the trail of a storm and everywhere I look
Appear the ones that life has torn
Like pages from a book
Left to soldier on
No shoulder for to lean I'd be lost without a song
But if your love wasn't there for me
I just wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance

From where I sit
There's too many eyes crying tears
Too many lives living in fear
Wondering where their sweet dreams have all gone
Too many hands stirring the pot In a land of haves and have-nots All wondering why it's all gone wrong

Now as the ballet and burlesque commence to play
Give to me the strength to act
And not look the other way
For there's a war outside
Can't take it lying down
Got to look it in the eye
We've got to stand our ground
Or love don't stand a ghost of a chance
Love don't stand a ghost of a chance

Lyrics from Songlyrics.com

This song really makes me think of myself living with Fibromyalgia.  It really does feel like "everything is slipping away" and I am always "just trying to stay on the ground."

From Episode 4

From Episode 5

I have never heard of Katie Gray before but I love her beautiful voice.  I will definitely be looking up more music by her.  I also love the Eastern Indian sound. The way they sing and the rhythms are so enticing to me.

From Episode 7

From Episode 8

From Episode 9

Maybe I'm just cranky but I really don't like the way she sings "what am I supposed to do-oooo-oo with you"  but other than that it isn't as bad song.  Too bad that is such a huge but.

From Episode 11

This is another artist that I'll be looking into.  I have already found more music by him that I like.  There is a song called Let it Rain that I really love.

From Episode 12

From Episode 14

From Episode 17

From Episode 18

From Episode 20

From Episode 24

From Episode 25

This song was interesting.  On the show Dr. Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley) and his band "Gormagon" performed this song and I was thinking how cool it was that he was actually singing.  In the credits it said the song was by the Dayplayers, a band from Los Angeles, California, but I was sure that was the voice of the actor.  It turns out that John aka Sweets sings and plays the piano and other things for the band Dayplayers.  It seems they are not well known so I didn't find much about them but here is their self-titled EP released in Feb 2012 and a song called See it All that was released in Oct 2012,  It is pretty good stuff.

Now I'm going to snuggle back in bed and watch Season 5

Temperature Scarf and the end of Bones Season 3

I just finished watching the last couple episodes of Bones Season 3.  Somehow, I think I missed watching those two episodes before.  I vaguely remember something happening and I couldn't watch the show where Booth got shot by the crazy stalker lady.  I remember telling my husband not to tell me anything because I was going to watch it later and then somehow I forgot about it.  There were some good older songs used in that episode (Episode 14) but sang by different people as bad karaoke. The surprising thing was the guy that sang Far Away (Nickleback) was Ace Young from American Idol Season 5.  He was pretty good and I liked him singing that song much better than the songs he sang on American Idol.  Also, the black man singing show tunes was Brandon Rogers from American Idol season 6.  He is the one that got too into the groove and missed some lyrics.  I really love his voice. Here he is on Ellen Degeneres right after being eliminated.  He starts singing at 2:36

From Episode 15 - Bad Luck by Social Distortion

 

I certainly don't need any Bad Luck.  I haven't been feeling so hot but hopefully catching up on some rest will help.  I've been working on my temperature scarf and just finished the month of October.  I got the idea from a blog post I read a few years ago.  I was going to link to it but it is gone now. Anyway, the idea is you figure out the range of possible temperatures for your area and divide it between colors of yarn you choose.  You choose how many and the colors can be whatever you want. Each day you check the temperature and work one row in the color for that temperature.  Son #1 helped me pick out the colors.  There are 12 different colors including black which will just be used to divide each month. We arranged the balls of yarn in a line to make a rainbow that would go from coldest temperatures to warmest and then he made a chart for me.



I was going to start with Jan 1st and do the whole year but my OCD tendencies kicked in and some things were bugging me. First of all that would be starting in the middle of the winter and the second thing was that temperature can fluctuate a lot during the day and night and varies between sources too. Do I use the temperature from noon or night or use the days high, low or mien temp? Anyway, to keep this on the shorter side I decided to use the Almanac website which will allow you to put in your zip code and look at past temperatures for your area.  Since this is a project I started with my son I asked him about the other questions.  We decided to start Aug 1st, 2014 because that is pretty much considered to be the beginning of fall for this area.  We decided to use the low temps during the cold months (Aug - March) and then switch to the high temps for the warmer months (April - July) to show the extremes in temperatures we get here.  We are calling it "Alaskan Extremes"


I am just doing 22 stitches of single crochet using a size G hook (4mm). I started with two rows of black and I'll be adding two rows of black between each month.  After I'm finished I'll add an edge in black all the way around.  My son helped me figure out that my scarf should end up being about 7 feet long.  It is a good idea to think about that before you get started.  I was originally going to crochet two rows for each day and adding 4 rows of black between each month and it would have been way too long.  Dr. Who would have been envious.

Below you can see a bad picture of the whole thing to this point.  We will definitely choose better colors next time.  We were limited to the colors the store had in stock at the time so it was hard to pick good colors to go together.  We definitely have too much green for this part of the scarf.  It looks like a military scarf.  Oh well, ya live and learn.

Fishy Business and Bones

I finally started feeling better yesterday and then I promptly overdid it.  Since the shoes with the arch support seemed to keep my feet from hurting I decided to get some exercise on my stationary bike.  I did 15 minutes while I read.  15 minutes is a lot for me.  I also did a load of laundry, mopped the bathroom floor and cleaned a little in the bathtub.  Then I told my husband we should go on a little date tomorrow and go eat somewhere.  I should never do that because every time I do I can never get out of bed the next day.  I hurt all night and couldn't sleep for a long, long time.  After I finally fell asleep I was out all day.

I woke up to an asthma attack around 7 pm.  That was fun.  <-- sarcasm  I can only assume it was set off by the bleach I used.  I really need to quit using that stuff.  

My husband was super sweet and made dinner.  He made potato soup in the crock pot and has Rhodes (frozen) bread rising.  If he didn't make something one of my boys would have.  Son #2 likes to cook things like pizza and spaghetti.  Son #1 often makes stir fry/fried rice or chicken fettuccine. I'm very blessed.  

I've been sitting here staring at my 55 gallon fish tank for a few minutes and trying to count my fish. Not long ago I bought about 16 or so new fish, including 6 male guppies. The prettiest one with the royal blue body and aqua tail was dead by morning but that was the only guppy I've removed.  Now there are only 2 swimming around but no floaters or sinkers.  I think Sid, the Bala shark, is getting hungry or something.  They said they should be fine in with him but since I'm not finding any dead guppies....  or parts of guppies...  hmmm  I need to turn the castle over but I hate to freak out Waldo the upside-down catfish and Raymond the super-skittish plecostomus.  I checked the water and things look good there.  I don't think I'll be buying any more guppies.  They were not intended to be feeder fish.  

The reason I ended up with a Bala shark is because I went into Petco (only place in town to get fish now besides Walmart) and they had some small ones.  My tank was almost empty since the ones I had were very old.  I asked about the Bala sharks (which were only about an inch long) and told them the size of my tank etc.  Well, she sold me 6 of them but didn't think it was important to tell me they could each get 10"!  My tank is not big enough for that but next morning a few were dead and I went back in to talk to them.  Turns out their tank had ich and a bunch at the store had died too.  I started to notice some white spots on a few of them and I treated the tank.  I ended up with only this one surviving out of the 6 and Sid still acts a little weird at times like it affected his widdle-bitty fish brain.  Sometimes he looks like he is chasing his tail going in tight circles.  He could be a circus fish! They told me to wait a certain amount of time (weeks) to let things normalize in the tank before getting more but insisted that I get at least 4 more so he can school.  When I finally went back in there there was a different girl and she looked at me like I was crazy.  She said they are like tinfoil barbs and get the same size (10 - 12").   So now I just have the one and he seems to doing okay. Since the other girl was obviously clueless I don't know if the weird spinning in circles thing is normal for that type of fish or not.  I *think* he seems to get agitated and swim around fast while kind of flipping side to side when he is hungry.  That is a guess but usually I put food in there and then he seems to settle down.  He eats a lot and seems to like blood worms the most.  I really like him so I'll keep him as long as I can.  If he starts eating or picking on my larger fishes I'll have to take him back for adopting out.  I'd be sad though.

Anyway, here are a few songs from Bones Season 3.

From Episode 5 - Young Men Dead by Black Angels 

I like the 70's psychedelic feel this group has.  If you like it and have some time you can keep listening.  This is a playlist with a TON of their music.

From Episode 7 - Bandstand in the Sky by Pete Yorn

 

It turns out that this song was written after the death of Jeff Buckley who drowned.  Very sad.

From Episode 8 - Sail Away by Madrugada

I just want to sail away

From it all

Freedom is impossible

This I know

From Episode 10 - a very fitting video called Bones by the Killers

My favorite part is at 3:10 - 3:12

From Episode 13- Fountain by Sara Lov

I hate to say it but I really find this song annoying.

 

Sleeping Beauty

I slept all day long after sleeping all night long.  I feel so cold and tired.  I'm going to take some vitamins and see if that helps.  I really hope I will feel better tomorrow.

This song is from Bones Season 3 Episode 5.   I like the song but I really don't like the guys voice.  I would love to hear it sung by someone else.  Sorry Adam Merrin.

Happy Post Halloween

I'm so glad that Halloween is finally over.  I used to enjoy handing out candy to the cute little monsters that come to my house but since I've been feeling bad most of the time I have come to dread it.  We mostly get the really young kiddos here, especially since I never put up really scary things, and by 9 pm everyone is usually heading home.  I had a migraine today and ended up staying in bed all day.  I didn't even look to see if I recognized any cute little kids.  We usually get a few that come to say hi to me.  Son #2 stayed out in the living room and tried to get to the door before anyone knocked or rang the doorbell because our beagle Blue goes ballistic and barks like mad.  She is old and barks at the slightest sound now and it really scares the little kiddos so Son #1 keeps her shut up in his room until after 9 pm.

Speaking of Blue the crazy mad beagle monster, I think it is pretty ironic that I'm just randomly started Bones from the beginning again and just happened to get to episode 5 of Season 3 on Halloween Night, and it is a Halloween episode.  This song was on that episode and I actually recognize it.  I think it was on a Halloween CD I bought for the boys when they were young and still cute.

Anyway, after a while I decided to get my butt up and make something for everyone to eat but I couldn't stand to walk on my feet.  I decided to try what the doctor suggested sort of...  she isn't very clear really and makes me feel like a kindergartner again back in school getting snarked at by the teachers who didn't want to bother paying attention.  This doctor is very snarky and I don't like her much.  I have to go in at regular intervals to get my meds refilled and I tell her how I've been doing (which is always bad) and she just blows it off as nothing.  She looks in all the holes in my head and listens to me breathe and writes down that I am stable or improving.  Anyway, I've been complaining about this pain in my feet for a long time.  She always just told me to walk more even though I told her it hurt to much to walk. Finally, the last time I saw her she said to get some tennis shoes with arch support.  My husband was there that time and told her I rarely go outside so I never really wear shoes. She had no reply so that was it. Well today I decided to pull out a pair of tennis shoes I used to wear and clean them up to wear inside only.  I put gel insoles with arch supports in them (which I robbed from my boots) and I've been wearing them for a few hours.  I made another quiche and it seems they do help.  I was able to make the whole thing and clean up without having to ask for help.  I am pretty excited that this is helping because I'm really tired of being stuck sitting down. Being able to be on my feet more will also allow me to get more exercise.  I'll start on that tomorrow.  For now, my dog is very happy to see me so I need to go spend some time with her.

Here is a song from Episode 1 of Bones Season 3

I like this song.  Now that I have these shoes that help my feet I want to get up and do things. I may not be able to "see the world" but being able to do anything makes me feel better.

Mops, Mice, and Bones

My computer mouse broke and it is driving me insane.  Trying to do things with the track pad on my laptop is so irritating.  I do have a touch screen so that helps some but I'm still out of my element.  I ordered a nifty new mouse but I have to wait for it to get here and I am not good at waiting.  Sometimes the darned thing will work for a little while.  If I get angry and throw it down on the floor I think it gets lonely after a while and feels bad for being so stupid.  It isn't working now though.  I think it is on a permanent strike but it will really feel bad when its replacement gets here ha! Until then I'll just have to deal with this darned trackpad, which is so irritating!  Whenever I try to use the trackpad to open my bookmark menus I allllllllmost get to the one I want and then it all just disappears for no good reason.  AAAARRRGGGHH!!!!!!!!!!

I did order a new mop as well.  I read this blog post about using natural cleaners to clean your home and she talked about how she mixes up a little vinegar mixed in water for moping her floor.  I love my Swiffer Wet Jet mop but I hate that I have to buy their refills for it.  One time I actually punched a hole in one of the bottles and had a rubber thing I used as a stopper but if it got knocked over it would leak and the hole wasn't really large enough to dump out what I didn't use.  I'm allergic to everything so I am always trying to avoid strong chemicals to clean with.  I like that the newer swiffer pads have the magic eraser stuff on the pads and it cleans better with less soap but I hate that they are disposable.  I try to avoid contributing to the landfills as much as possible.  Well, on that blog post she adds her vinegar mixture to this mop from O-Cedar.  It is just like the Swiffer Wet Jet mop only you can fill the bottle up with your own cleaner AND it has a reusable microfiber cover that you can wash.  I am sure I will be able to find someone else to take my Swiffer.

So last night I finished watching the end of the second season of Bones (again).  This song by Poco was on Episode 18.  I hate it when there are blaring mistakes in a show I love.  I remember this one episode from season 1 where they dug up this soldier who I believe was also a well known basket ball player.  When it showed them examining the body it didn't look like a body that had been buried for a year..... or a soldier/basket ball player.  It was a tubby white guy.  I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be so "white" if he had been buried for a year already.  Anyway, on episode 18 (season 2) Bones had secretly speed-dialed Booth when her felon father showed up with cookies for her.  So he was listening in when her father talked about "the trying song" and sang her a little bit (which was pretty sweet).  Then at the end of the show when Bones is telling Booth about the song it is like he was clueless about it or why she brought it up. I guess they forgot he was on the line.

 

Here are a few more songs I liked.

From Episode 19

 

From Episode 20

You

The natural state of motherhood is unselfishness. When you become a mother, you are no longer the center of your own universe. You relinquish that position to your children. -Jessica Lange 

This is a beautiful song.  It was on Bones Season 2 episode 16.  I know I have at least one other song by this singer but I can't believe I've never heard this one before now.  It is about a baby and it is so touching.  I remember feeling like this when my boys were little and still do now that they are young men.... only know they know.  I used to take care of them but now my boys take care of me.  When I am in pain and can't get out of bed they make sure I have eaten or drink enough water.  They check on me like I used to check on them.  They are my life and will always be.

This song from Episode 17 is very sad.  It makes me think back to those times when I held my babies and the times I listened to them giggle, the times I cleaned up skinned knees or read bedtime stories.  Later, as they grew I admired them for their thinking and ability to do things for themselves.  Now that they are pretty much grown I know that eventually they will leave home and I'll be alone again.  Of course, I do have my husband but my heart will always long for my boys.  Right now I have a special bond with my youngest son, Son #2 who is 17.  He is a night owl like I am and sometimes when he can't sleep he will come out here and talk to me for hours.  He tells me about things that happened in school, things he learned, things he saw online and found funny, sad or interesting.  I love that boy so much.  He is very much like his dad and also looks like him. He is also like my younger brother though and he always makes me laugh.  

I just hope that when my boys leave home that they will always come back.  

 

Stuck on the Couch

Since the temperature has dropped and the landscape has become whiter I've been having a lot more pain, especially in my feet and my shoulders.  The meds do help somewhat  except for my feet.  I just want to sit on the couch and never stand up unless absolutely necessary.  This could be my new diet plan.  Anyway, I'm pretty set here.  I've got my husband's wool socks on, my laptop and I've been watching episodes of Bones season 2 and looking up the music from the shows and crocheting like a mad woman.

I can't really think straight so I just made up a pattern for these little wash cloths.  I like them to be about the size of my hand and to have some texture but still look nice.  They come out to about 5" square before washing so just a little bigger than a sponge.  I am making them color coded so I know which ones are for which purpose.  I'm using this green and white cotton yarn to make cloths for cleaning in the kitchen and I'll choose a different color for cleaning in the bathrooms.  I made some with some peach and natural colors for my face cloths.  I'll make some in blues for the boys face cloths etc.

I'm addicted to this show.  I read this story in the news about a man that was killing women and leaving them in abandoned buildings and right away I was thinking about Bones and wished I could watch that episode.

Anyway, these songs are from Episode 9 - Aliens in a Spaceship.  

Next to You by Tim Easton

This song which says it is by Bob Gentry was apparently produced by him but not sang by him.... unless Bob has a very high pitched voice.  This youtube video says "Amie" so maybe that is who the singer is.  It is called Never Know.  This song was playing on the radio when Brennan and Hodgins woke up to find themselves buried alive in a car (at the start of the show).  It is such a pretty song but they somehow made it sound eerie with it getting fuzzy and breaking up.  Of course, it then goes back to explain how they got there and what happened after.

 

From Episode 14

Tears and Laughter by Jonathan Czerwik

It was very interesting listening to son #2's opinion on what this song is about.  I'm very literal and he is very philosophical.  He tells me I have to think deeper to get to the true meaning.  

 

From Episode 15

The Secret Sun by Jesse Harris

Fault Line by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Bones Season 2 Episode 8

The woman in the sand

I love this show and especially this episode.  I loved it when they dressed up to blend in but Booth looked more like a guy from the 20's.  It seems more like he dressed to blend in to the wrong era.  Of course their fake names were Tony & Roxy lol

So the music for the episode on Vegas of course involved Elvis  

Nice outfits huh? 

 The second song is Wolf like Me by TV On The Radio

It's a catchy tune and I kinda like it.  The video is funny too.

This song was used as background music with a lot of other sound over it.  I'm glad I looked it up so I could hear the whole thing.

A Red sweater for a dog named Blue

“Dogs are our link to paradise. 

They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. 

To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be 

back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace.” 

― Milan Kundera

I am happy to say Blue seems to be doing a lot better.  She has her spunk back.  The antibiotics and the anti-inflammatory meds are helping a lot.  She is not peeing blood now and she has been eating and drinking again. When my husband comes home she does her little dance for him to give her a treat like she used to.  Everyone is so happy to see her happy again.

I have been playing phone tag with the vet. I've been having some bad pain days.  It has been snowing so I usually have flare ups when the weather changes.  Anyway, since I haven't been getting out of bed until after 3 or 4 pm I've been missing her calls.  I call her back and then miss her return call.  She finally said on the message the the pathologist isn't convinced that the tumor is a Transitional Cell Carcinoma (TCC).  It could be a connective tissue tumor or just a large mass of inflammation.  Whatever it is, she definitely feels a lot better.  She has arthritis in her back legs and usually has trouble going up the two steps to the back door or hopping up on the furniture (which is not allowed unless I'm not looking).  She had a different med she was taking but they had me switch to a stronger one to help bring down the inflammation in her bladder and now she is skipping around like she's a puppy again.  She's my 13 year old puppy.

Anyway, I have been working on a sweater for her since I know the temperature could drop any time. We have some snow but it hasn't been too cold for her yet.  I had to alter the pattern because she has Cushing's Disease so her belly is big like a pot bellied pig.   Most dogs are bigger in the chest and then get smaller around the belly but she is one inch large in the belly than her chest measurement and she also has some swelling that the vet said should get better over the next little while.

I found a pattern on Craftsy.com by Copper Llama Studio that looks like it would be easier to alter. I'm pretty new at trying to alter a pattern.  I took a lot of measurements and with some tips from a friend I was able to make this sweater to fit Blue.  I made it in bright red just in case she had a job interview to go to.

I added some extra stitches onto one side of the belly section to make a flap with button holes so it can wrap around her tender belly and fasten with buttons to the back.  That makes is so much easier to get it on her without hurting her.  It is a little snug on her around the middle but the vet said her belly will start to be smaller as she get her meds.  I also made the neck piece a little too big so I'll probably fix that later. It looks like a stylish cowl neckline lol  It is more important that she be warm than stylish.  Now I need to get busy and sew her some new booties so she wont get frost bite on her feet.  

Distraction Tactic

I'm trying not to worry about my dog Blue so I'm went back to watching Season 2 of Bones and listening for more good music.  This series has a lot of music that I love and have never heard of before.

This song was on Episode 3 and it really tied in well with the story line. Well, at least some of the phrases did.  It is about a young girl who is a foster child, her boyfriend from a well-off family is found dead and people are quick to blame her because she is in the foster system.  Of course one common phase used when talking about foster children is "fell through the cracks" and this song uses the line "I fell through the cracks at the end of our street."  I especially like how Temperance connects with foster kids.  It may not be as cut and dry as they make it seem but it still gives me more perspective than I had before.

I've heard this song before by Sarah McLachlan and she is actually featured on this track.  Listen closely and you can hear her singing harmony.  I really like this version better.  It is so tender.

Bring On The Wonder by Susan Enan 

 

Episode 4 used a very small portion of this song at the very end.  I'm glad I looked it up so I could hear the whole thing.  Brennan shot and killed a serial killer that was attacking Booth and even though she knows she did the right thing it still bothers her that she took a life.  She killed someone and that matters.  That is one thing I really like about this show.  It may be all about death but it is about justice and finding the truth, even if that isn't the easiest thing.  It isn't about revenge and senseless killing.

It don't matter to the sun by Rosie Thomas

This song is from Episode 7 and another one that they just used a small part at the end
 -
Mona Lisa by Grant-Lee Phillips

 

Sad day

My beagle, Blue, is doing a little better.  The antibiotics are helping fast and she has been getting a lot of rest.  Yesterday it was like the back door was a revolving door.  She was constantly going out.  We both slept all night and most of the day without her going out much at all.  She hasn't been drinking much either.  She did want food today though and I was glad to see her eat.  I gave her the anti-inflammatory medicine this morning and I noticed she wasn't passing as much blood when she peed. I'm just so worried about her though.  I've been watching her and snuggling with her all day.  I just can't imagine her not being around here with me...... at my feet all the time.  

I'm still waiting to hear from the doctor if they were able to figure out what type of tumor it is.  They sent her scant urine sample off to a pathologist to see if they can find some tumor cells mixed in with all the bacteria and white cells.  The vet thinks it is transitional cell carcinoma.  The tumor is not blocking her urine output so that is good.  

I wish I could just make it all go away.

Sad songs and my dog Blue

Blue at the vet with Son #2

I'm so sad right now.  My sweetest companion, my beagle Blue, is not doing well.  I was up all night with her (Monday night) letting her out every hour and sometimes every 5 minutes.  She threw up her dinner and I just wasn't sure what was wrong or what to do.  In the morning I was so exhausted I would let her out, hooking her up on her chain, and then I'd lay back down and drift off for a few minutes until she scratched to come back in.  Sometimes she would just look at me and then turn around and go back to pee again.  I knew it was strange that she hadn't wanted to eat or drink anything and I was very worried.  A little later when I woke up I noticed by the back door there was blood with some dark, pea sized clots on the kitchen floor where she had peed.  I went outside and looked around and since there is a little snow I could see a few spots where she had peed and it was tinted with blood and one spot I could see dribbled blood.  I called the vet right away and took her in.  She has a nasty bladder infection but also a large tumor in her bladder. They caught a small sample of urine and they are going to try to find some tumor cells and hopefully can determine what type it is.  They gave us some antibiotics for her and an anti inflammatory so that should make her feel better at least.   I am so worried for her.  She is pretty old for a beagle too.  She'll be 14 in February.

On another note,

I watched the pilot episode for season 2 of Bones (again, yes, again) and this song, Be here now by Ray LaMontagne,  caught my attention.  Here is a video tribute to my favorite Spartan warrior that just happens to feature that song. You really have to pay attention and listen to the lyrics because it is so quiet.

It is so sad that he passed away.  So many talented people die much too soon.
There are too many angels and some have four legs.

Here is another song from that episode called The Greatest by Cat Power. I love her voice.

My quick and easy baking trick

So as I mentioned in my last post I came up with a quick trick for saving the crust of my quiche from getting too burned.

I remember when I was younger watching my mom make a pumpkin pie for a church potluck.  I watched as she painstakingly took a long strip of aluminum foil and tacked it around the pie with toothpicks.  Of course, whenever I have tried this it always fell off.  As I watched the crust of my quiche getting too toasty I was debating on whether I should try it again when I got this idea.  It worked perfectly and only took me about a minute.  Really.

I pulled off a sheet of aluminum foil and put one of my dinner plates on it upside-down.  My plates are 11 inches in diameter and I'm sure that is a pretty standard size.  My pie plates are 9 inches.  You can go around it with an ink pen to make things easier but you don't have to.  The ink doesn't matter: it is the impression it makes. Then you hold the plate down while you pull the foil up and tear it off around the plate edge.

The first time I did this I didn't use a pen and it still worked fine but when I took these pictures I used the pen and it was faster and the foil tore more evenly.

Then you fold it in half and just guestimate and cut a half circle from the center like this.  I drew a dashed line with a sharpie just to show you were I cut.  You don't really need to draw a line.  If your pie is 9" figure about 2.5 inches in from the edge (if your plates are 11 inch).  Just eyeball it and cut. You can do it!

Then I just used my fingers to bend the edge down about half an inch from the edge.

It should sit right over your pie easy as you know what lol

My pie plates are all clear Pyrex.  I swear that foil isn't just sitting there on the counter.  This ring easily sits on so you can drop it on when you need to.  I'll use this one soon I'm sure since my husband is really liking the quiche.

Quiche Capisce?

A friend of mine posted on her blog about a quiche recipe she was trying.  This month she is trying something new every day so it is pretty interesting.  You should go check it out.  When I read about the quiche I realized I had never tried it either.  I think maybe I ate a tiny little baby party quiche one time but I'm not really sure now.  I have never even thought about making one before.  So I printed up the recipe and told my husband about it.  After I listed off the different ingredients and the changes I was thinking of he was all for trying it.  He does the grocery shopping since it is pretty taxing for me but he got the stuff for it within a few days.

I made the first one last night (meaning Sunday) and I kept messing up and having to cleverly fix a bunch of things.  I don't do a lot of cooking these days because I get so wiped out so fast.  My boys help a LOT with the cooking.  Son #2, who is 17, does the most.  I think he enjoys it like his dad.  Son #1, who is 20, likes to cook also but he is a little OCD and doesn't like to cook or handle certain things because of the consistency or whatever.  He still helps a lot when needed.  I'm very blessed with those two.

Anyway, Sunday when I decided I was going to make this thing they were not available and I had been feeling bad already.  I couldn't get it off my mind though and my husband was hoping I would make it.  So I decided that I could handle it if I planned things and used my on-feet time wisely.  I was so proud of myself when I finally pushed the dish in the oven and then I turned around and saw a measuring cup with milk in it still sitting on the counter.  Oh shoot!  I quickly but not too quickly pulled it back out, dumped the milk in it and used a fork to mix it in.  Then I put it back in the oven even more carefully because it was pretty full.  I set the timer for 19 minutes (which means I have a minute to get up and over to the stove).  The recipe said to reduce the temperature but when I went to do that is was already that temperature.  Ugh.  So I turned it up to where it should have been for 10 minutes and then cooked it for 10 minutes at the lower temperature.  It was obviously done and no way there was any liquid left in that thing.  The crust around the edge was a nice shade of burnt brown and not very tasty but the rest of it, including the quiche itself, was pretty darned good.  I was pretty happy with myself when my husband wanted more and then after a little bit came back and finished it off.  Of course neither one of my boys would even try it.  They wont eat eggs.

Today (Monday) my husband called from work and wanted to know what we needed to have it again. Well, well, well... I think someone likes quiche.  He grabbed some more sausage and two more of the roll out pie crusts from Safeway on the way home.

The original recipe is here if you are interested but I'm going to tell you how I made it BAD (meaning the opposite of healthy)  I was really hoping to get my picky family to like something new.  I can always healthy it up later but if they know it has skim milk and fat free cheese they wouldn't even try it.  It has sausage in it anyway.

Ingredients:

• 1 – 9 inch pie shell  (I used the refrigerated roll out ones from Safeway and they are pretty good)
• 3/4 pounds hot or sweet sausage (I used Jimmie Dean half maple pork and half HOT pork)
• Half white onion chopped
• 1 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (I mixed in a little mozzarella)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup 2% milk
• Weber Roasted Garlic & Herb seasoning (from walmart)
• A little Garlic Salt in the egg mixture
• Lots of fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Bake shell in for 7 min or until it just golden.
3. While shell is baking, cook sausage with the onion and Weber garlic seasoning.  Drain and mix sausage and cheese in a bowl.  Add pepper to taste.
4. Spread the mixture in the bottom of the pie shell.
5. Whisk together eggs, half and half and milk in bowl.  (Make sure nothing gets left sitting on the counter in a measuring up!)  Add a little garlic salt and pepper.  Pour egg mixture over sausage mixture and bake on baking sheet for 20 minutes.

**At this point I added mozzarella and bacon on top and added foil to the already-starting-to-burn crust

1. Reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until center of quiche is no longer runny.  

AND WAH LA!  Quiche ala FATTENING

This one was at least as good as the first one.  The first one used apple wood smoked sausage and that was darned good too.  The toppings cleverly hid the top and Son #2 actually ate a slice not realizing he was eating eggs.  YAYAYAYAYAY!  <-- This is where I would have done a flip if it wouldn't have killed me.

I figured out a clever little trick while making this and next time I'll do it a little earlier.  I'll make another little demo post for that later since I've been sitting for way too long and not feeling so hot.  

Click here to see my quick picture tutorial.

Bones and some of the music I loved from the first season

I don't watch very much TV and usually when I do it has something to do with music.  I like to watch American Idol & The Voice.  I also like mysteries and Crime/law type shows but I usually do more reading in that genre than watching TV.  My husband is a HUGE TV watcher and I think he will watch anything.  I just can't do it.  There has been a few times when I found something I really liked and stayed up all night watching a whole season or 3 but for the most part I never even turn it on.  I listen to music and crochet.

Sometimes though, when I'm laying on my side trying to go to sleep while someone is being shot or maimed on Netflix, I'll end up hearing a song I like from the show he is watching.  I always try my hardest to remember so I can look it up later.  Every once and a while he watches something good like Bones.  He is way ahead of me and I couldn't remember all the shows I watched so I started back at the beginning.  Anyway, I noticed I was hearing a lot of music I really liked and sometimes I actually had to get up and write it down because I didn't want to risk totally forgetting about it.  Here are some of them.

From the Pilot Episode
Of course I already had this song.

I can't leave out this one even though I already posted about it last time.
I bought this whole album.

This is a good song that I already had - from Episode 2.  

From Episode 5

There was a lot of music in Episode 6 but mostly rap which I can't stand. This was the only decent one.  I mostly like the music and the soothing voice.

Episode 9 had Christmas songs and it is just a little early for that. I think I already have them in my itunes or own the CD too so they were not bad. I'm still in denial about the snow that is on the ground outside so I'll wait on those Christmas songs. 

 Goldfrapp from episode 10: I've always liked this song for some reason.  I actually think my friend Rebekah has that same outfit.  

This sad song is from Episode 12.  I'm glad to know that I'm not on my own.

This song from episode 13 makes me which I knew Spanish.

Episode 14 had some great songs that I already loved.

And this song I'd never heard before.

Episode 16: This was the best song from the season and the one I had to get out of bed to go download. 

 

Episode 17: This is a song that really touched my heart. This is how I feel every day dealing with Fibromyalgia and all the other problems that go along with it.  It is sad without being hopeless.  I am not hopeless.  As long as I have God I have hope.

  "Strange how hard it rains now, rows and rows of big dark clouds.  But I'm holding on underneath this shroud.  Rain, rain, rain"
"I'm still alive underneath this shroud"

 

Here is another one that I liked from Episode 18  

Whistles the wind, blowing my way 

Sweeping me back, back here to stay 

Can winners be losers running on the same track? 

Some head for glory, others refresh 

 Well it breaks my heart to see you this way 

The beauty in life, where's it gone? 

And somebody told me, you were doing okay 

Somehow I guess they were wrong 

 My isolation, now there's a sobering thought 

A minute alone, a lifetime too long 

See the face in this mirror, so pale it could crack 

Desperately wanting the color it lacks

 So you drank with the lost souls for too many years 

Time to be right cause they'll cripple with fear 

Never been righteous, though seldom we're wrong 

Life's only life with you in this song 

 Now there's an ocean between us 

Where I am and where I want to be 

So you prayers in doubt, doubt not for me 

 Oh you'll find your way out, but there's no going now 

Every woman and child drags you down for the dive 

It's not safe being free, can't give back what you feel 

You said you'll always be in heaven with me

From Episode 20