Happy New Year!

Well, I didn't do as much yesterday as I had planned, but I'm happy with what I did get done.

I had hoped to make and freeze 2 soups--I did make and freeze one, an Italian country bean soup. The recipe called for a can of tomatoes (pressed through a sieve) but I couldn't find one anywhere. I went with chicken broth, lots of onions, garlic, carrots and celery (the recipe called for 1 of each), and a small pile of Italian spices. Turned out yummy. I used regular chicken broth and it didn't need any more salt.

I had hoped to make my flannel pj's. I'd forgotten how much prep work is involved in sewing. It took plenty of my time to unfold and iron the flannel (preshrunk, so that's good), unfold and iron and then cut out the pattern pieces, find the layout for my size, and start laying out the pattern pieces on the cloth. I pinned out three pieces but didn't cut them out. Yes, that's all. Oh, I also measured my current pj's to get a better idea of which size to make (answer: L on the bottom and M on top). This is a pattern I've made before, for G, so I know once the pieces are cut out, they'll turn out great. I took G's pj's out at Christmas to show my stepmom--she and my dad got me the sewing machine a few years ago. G had picked out a bright Po.kemon fabric and I thought it would be awful, but once sewn into pj's, it was very cute.

I had hoped to do a hike--and we did! I told my mom (in town, staying with her brother) that we were going, and she expressed interest, so she went along. I asked my aunt if she wanted to come and she said, "No thanks," but her eyes said, "Are you out of your MIND?" I picked a pretty easy hike I've done with G a bunch of times. It was brisk, but with walking, we stayed warm. After the hike, G wanted to go to the playground that was near the parking lot. Mom was willing, so we went. As we were getting ready to leave, she started up a conversation with someone about weaving. I know she loves weaving, but this conversation ended up making all of us cold and G go back to the play structure I'd just worked to get him off of. Oy.

We went back to my uncle's house and G and I were invited to stay for a while. I lasted maybe 15 minutes before I realized all the things I'd wanted to do at home (see above) were not getting done and I was massively bored. I gathered up G, the 2 dogs, and the Chex Mix my aunt had bagged up for us and headed home.

I'd also wanted to get some knitting done, so G and I watched Shanghai Noon together while I ripped and reknit the heel of a sock I'm doing for my mom. And once again, I messed it up. sigh One of those learning experiences, I guess.

Well, I have a heel pattern picked out, pattern pieces to cut out, 4 servings of soup frozen, and a hike under our belts. It was a good New Year's Day. I hope yours was good, too!