I had chemotherapy yesterday and am feeling kinda crummy today.  Eh, it’ll pass - which is what I keep telling Myria as she hovers concernedly :)  But I am using it as an excuse to indulge in what is probably one of my least healthful and therefore most enjoyed food choices…

There’s always a can on the shelves for emergencies and I can’t remember a time when I didn’t absolutely love the stuff.  I love lots of things - salads, fresh fruit, flaky croissants, soups (stews, chowders - that whole class of food served in liquid of some kind - can’t get enough of them!) - but when I’m feeling punk…

...only the Chef will do.  For one thing, he requires no preparation except for opening the can and heating :)  On a day like this, that’s a serious advantage - and I still needed help to open the damned can!  This was mostly because our can opener has been futzy for quite a while now and needs to be replaced.  Since we don’t have the shelf space for an electric model (I told you our kitchen was tiny!) - are there any recommendations for a good, sturdy hand-operated item?

I got the notion (Charlotte - this is your fault, I think!) to make cards for the friends I will be seeing on Friday.  I haven’t done this in many years and didn’t even know if I could hold the pencil (or the paintbrush) steadily enough to do the job…

Well, it’s not Hallmark, but it’s better than I’d hoped :)  This one, as you can probably guess, is for a knitter/cat person.  I have the concepts for the other two, but haven’t drawn them yet.  It’s been that kind of day.  It’s now (EST) 4:52 PM and I’ve been working on this post, incrementally, since about 8:30 this morning.  Some days are just like that :)

These (plus a third item that I have yet to make) will go into the cards.  I didn’t do the knitting actually on the toothpicks - they’re just too short to manipulate.  I knit the swatch and then transferred the stitches.  You may be interested to know that the toothpicks are the equivalent of size 0 US (2 mm) needles - in diameter, if not in length.  I hadn’t knit on size 0s before but it wasn’t too bad.

The cotton for the snowflake (Susan’s lovely Southern Snowflake) is Lily Sky-tone which I stumbled across in a thrift shop a couple of years ago.  I know it is old, possibly as old as I am - but oh, it was lovely stuff to work with, soft and not at all difficult on the fingers with a lovely sheen to it.  I’m going to be sad when it’s all gone because Lily hasn’t made this for a long time now.  On the bright side, there’s most of a ball of white (slightly age-tinged) left and a partial ball of the most lovely, soft shaded pinks.  I tend to use them sparingly :)

Jade has been loaded for bear all day.  I have no idea what’s gotten into her but she’s been prowling and meowing (and meowing and meowing…) since early this morning.  The pose in the above photo is her “Come play with me” invitation - but you have to careful.  Jade has no governors of any kind and while I don’t believe she means any real harm, she sometimes removes quite a bit of skin just from not knowing better.  Better to wait until she’s calmed down a little :)

The weather here is dismal; it has snowed all day (again!) and is currently dropping ice on top of everything, just to add insult to injury.  Tomorrow, whenever we can get out, we have to head over to dad’s and get him dug out too.

Just as well to get out I suppose.  I read a recipe this morning for savory oatmeal!  This was made with soy sauce and scallions and though it sounded truly odd at first (Myria made quite the face when I told her about it), I find I can’t quite put it out of my mind.

So I need to pick up scallions :)