one thing i am very good at is wrecking a kitchen. see what i mean? there are certain fringe benefits of house sitting, two of which are ... a big kitchen with lots of counter space and gizmos, and a big fat basil bush in the back yard.

i think that combination spells pesto. and it's soooo yummy! of course, i added more garlic than the recipe calls for, so it has a delicious bite.

tomorrow, i think i'm going to make pizza with it. ideally, i would make my own crust. i've not done that (yet) ... but i know i can get a pizza skin from a local pizza maker here in town.

meet nicki

this is nicki. she's a corgi. she's feisty. part of house sitting is also pet sitting. nicki's dog bowl says dog from hell on the side. i didn't believe it at first, but she has managed to show her true colors.

she's still a very sweet and playful doggie, and she sometimes has the devil in her!

hello froggies! or, maybe one is a toad? but i didn't think toads had sticky little fingers and toes to climb the walls.

besides housesitting pippa and the dog from hell (nicki), i'm also taking care of these two fellows. they're pretty cute!

adios !

happy travel wishes to the happy family !

these lucky three on on their way to a vacation destination. i am happily housesitting.

how happy am i? how does being in a house with insulation sound to you? and 15x the kitchen counter space?

and i have a choice of 3 sofas to sit & knit on!

the other day, i made a couple of potholders. i hadn't tested them yet, so i decided ... at 9 o'clock at night, to bake cookies.




... and? cookies were yummy, and potholders were warm, but i didn't get burned. i think they're keepers.

i'm feeling kinda reclusive today, so i decided it was a good time to catch up on some videos ... syrania and matchpoint. i've also wrecked the top of my bed with all kinds of yarn and making.

so, no pictures today of my wrecked kitchen, as i really haven't been cooking. i'm amazed that my sink is actually empty! and my kitchen table is virtually empty too!

yesterday was a day for getting things done. i was afraid that the laundromat would be closed today, and i really couldn't wait until sunday to get around to it. see my egg-yellow sock tumbling around the first washer?

the nice thing about the laundromat is that i can wash all my loads at once. though it's hot and crowded, i can usually be in and out of there in under 2 hours. sometimes i take a book with me, other times ... knitting. i started this shawl about a week ago, and took it with me to do laundry. any progress made on it is good progress. every other row i am increasing my stitches by 4. so, the larger the shawl gets, the more time it takes to complete a row. time is not really the issue though. knitting mistake free is more important.



i also made it to the fabric store, as i've been wanting to do some sewing ... some skirts, maybe a dress, and ovenmitts.



i also got some groceries and came home to make this bean salad. the recipe is from the whole food's website. their site had tons of free recipes. i hope it tastes better today than yesterday ... i cut the olive oil in 1/2, and probably should had cut the sugar in 1/2 too. hmmm .....



my downstair neighbor spent her day making jam! i heard a little knock at the door late in the afternoon, and she presented me with her first batch ever of blackberry jam. i think i'm going to have some of this with my breakfast this morning.



that's my bed, all made up. i was good when i came home with the laundry and immediately dressed my bed, and put away all the clean things.

i still didn't get to everything on my list yesterday. which, is leaving me a bit stressed today.

i took this picture a couple of days ago, and the bunch is looking much redder these days than then ... i haven't picked a tomato yet, only because i don't know when is the best time to pick it. should it just sort of release w/o much of a fight? i'm afraid that if i wait too long, some critter will come and eat it. these are on my little cherry tomato plant on my back steps. i wish i had a garden full of tomatoes, but ... i don't. that has not kept me from making gazpacho though. i live near the state's farmer's market, so garden fresh tomatoes are only a couple miles away.

i have enjoyed my backporch garden this season. i did not get too much use from the parsley because when i need it for a recipe, i needed more than i was growing ... same with the cilantro. but, the rosemary is still growing strong, and will be around for a long time. i have used lots of mint lately ... for a certain cocktail ....



that's mojito, enjoying the spirits of his namesake. how to make a yummy mojito? well, crush up some mint leaves in the bottom of a glass. crush them good, with the back of a wooden spoon if that's all you have. add 2 tbs. of granulated sugar. pour some hot water ontop to melt the sugar and stir until dissolved. squeeze a lime, then add 2 oz of a light rum, then finish off with soda water and ice cubes. a flexi-straw is an excellent choice, as a straw keeps you from having a smile full of mint leaves after every sip. these cocktails are labor intensive, but definitely yummy.



that's the pile of books next to my bed. after about 4 months, i have finally finished _the cider house rules_. i did enjoy it, but for some reason, it took me forever to read. i started a new book in the stack, _bel canto_, but i'm only getting a few pages read each night.

i am a firm believer in sleep hygiene. in college, i could sleep anywhere, anytime, on any surface. nowadays, not so. i'm lucky to just sleep. i wake with every toss & turn. it's been this way for years. it's been a bit worse lately with waking up in the wee hours ... waking up and staring at the time glowing on the ceiling (i have a clock that projects the time on the ceiling). sometimes i give up fighting it, and just get up. the earliest i've let myself get up is around 4am. a couple nights ago when i was awake in the 3 o'clock hour, i made myself stay in bed, and i fell asleep again by 5am. it sucks. i wake up with all kinds of things on my mind. some good, some bad. if i wake up with crafty thoughts, i just get up and go and look at my craft books or knit.