What little I've been up to lately

The other morning I noticed one of our neighbor's horses was out of its fenced-in area behind their house and enjoying a good munch on their front lawn.

I started to go out to Ken's workshop to tell him we'd better try to get the horse back into its pen, since its owners were away at work.

Then I noticed little Oreo was on duty, so I knew all would be well. Oreo is the neighbor's tiny dog who packs a wallop. He puts up with absolutely no funny business from the three horses on the property. Need someone to round up a stray horse and get it back into its corral? Oreo's the man dog for the job. You can just make out Oreo's four legs beneath the horse's head. He's telling the horse to get back where it belongs, which it did, promptly.

I made another loaf of Crusty Bread last week. This time I let it proof for about twenty hours, which worked out fine. I decided at the last minute to add grated cheddar cheese and minced garlic. Delish, but I could have added a whole lot more of each for even better flavor.

I decided to make some Thermis cowls for Christmas gifts. I stumbled upon this pattern on Ravelry and loved it. So the cowls are done, blocked, and waiting to be gift wrapped.

I was watching an outdoor concert on the Today Show a few days ago and was surprised to see just how  popular cowls are right now.

 On Saturday I drove to a nearby church to drop off 14 Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes packed with gifts. Only one of the shoe boxes was packed by me; the others were packed by the other members of our Alpha Delta Kappa chapter. I won't be surprised if this year's Operation Christmas Child boxes go to some extremely deserving youngsters along the New York-New Jersey coast.

This little hat is being modeled by "Douglas" but is actually for   two friends' first child, due December 31. I made the newborn size, thinking it might be just the ticket for a tiny head in January and February.

The pattern is the Aviatrix hat, also found on Ravelry, and it's a free pattern.

(If you haven't discovered the gold mine known by knitters as "Ravelry," you really must check it out.)

Douglas was rather blasé about modeling the hat, as you probably noticed.

Another baby bunny, the one on the far left, has joined the menagerie. This one, with his "nappy" and blanket, will be another gift for the soon-to-be-born baby mentioned above.

And finally, a friend in Kentucky mentioned a couple of days ago that she had just bought an American Girl doll for her grand daughter for Christmas. (She also mentioned that the doll cost more than her wedding gown back in 1972!)

That got me to thinking that there might be knitting patterns available for AG dolls. Soon I was scouring Ravelry and found several. This is a vest which I'll send to my friend to include with the doll. It's actually a much brighter blue than it appears here. Also, I've blocked it since taking the photo of it, so it looks much less lumpy and distorted. (My actual goal was to knit a sweater for the doll, but I ran out of yarn, so a vest it is. I think I'll also make a cardigan, though. It's a fun, quick knit which a little girl will no doubt appreciate.)

So that's what I've been up to. Now I'm busily worrying about Thanksgiving dinner. It's my year to be the hostess. The turkey is purchased, the yeast rolls are made, and so is one olive-cheese ball appetizer. It's being able to orchestrate everything in its proper order on Thanksgiving Day that causes my worry. I find Thanksgiving dinner much more nervewracking than Christmas dinner, for some reason. The guests are pitching in and bringing various dishes, though, so I'm sure the meal will be a success.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!