The Study Makeover and...Venice?

Still not through with that redecoration of my office. But a few snaps for my online diary.

Geraniums are snuggling in for their winter vacation indoors.

New bookcase, desk and side table ready for Scrabble and blogging and reading.

Now for Venice and George Clooney.

This is a picture of my darling daughter (right) when she still spoke to me.

Doesn't she look fairly happy and well adjusted? I thought so then. We were in Venice on a gondola waiting for a glimpse of the paparazzi. We would have had to wait a long while for a Clooney sighting; we departed Venice just a few years prior to the event.

yesterday, courtesy of Google

There is Clooney on a speedboat! Can you see him?  Still not sure what all the fuss is about the union.  What is your guess on the duration of that Hollywood marriage?

A Beanie for Alonzo & Zucchini Cake

Babies need hats.  Purl Bee has a cute pattern for a heirloom hat that made up in just a day or two.

Originally, the thought was to make a pair of booties, but after making the first one and realizing it looked too large, I checked the pattern and saw I had cast on too many stitches.  The second one looked lots better, meaning I have to rip out that first stay on bootie and start all over.  Can I get it done in time for Sunday when the hand off is to occur?

And, in the meantime, this is on the needles: Norwegian Shawl or Scarf.

For your culinary pleasure, I was directed toward a  recipe that is excellent; a fairly heavy zucchini cake with lots of cream cheese frosting with zested orange.  Have a look here.  My notes here.

Our neighbor keeps supplying us with his zucchini, and we keep trying new things with them.  Not a single zucchini has been harmed or wasted in the process of experimentation.  We took over a portion of this cake to them as a "thank you", and they upped us by bringing over zucchini brownies.  Not a bad deal.

Leaving you with this bumblebee on a cosmos.  They are busy little things.

Scottish Referendum and a Kate Copycat Shawl

Have you been following the Scottish independence referendum with their vote yesterday?  I was breathing a sigh of relief (sorry, Nana if that was not your political inclination) that the vote was to remain in the UK. After 307 years of being in union with the UK, the Scots will remain so.  More articulate and well written articles that are in line with this thinking can be found all over the www and you can look for them if you are so inclined.  P.J. O'Rourke said it well in his article "Up to a Point: A Free Scotland" when he says in one paragraph

The Brits won’t let the Scots keep the pound. The EU needs another Greece or Portugal dragging down the euro like the EU needs another bureaucrat in Brussels. Scotland will be reduced to using the 16th century, value soon equaling the Zimbabwe dollar—to the delight of bean-counters employing journalists who have expense accounts.

But then, he is Irish, so ...

Furthermore:

Many saw it as a "heads versus hearts" campaign, with cautious older Scots concluding that independence would be too risky financially, while younger ones were enamored with the idea of building their own country.

source

On to the arts and crafts and a Fiber Arts Friday, also linking with Natural Suburbia and  Yarn Along and others.  My finished HRH Kate's Copycat Shawl:

Numma numma yarn (doppio) in the wintermint color ran out after 1200 yards, three skeins, while I was on the bind off.  Yikes, what to do?  Well, I brought out my Scottish yarn from Jameson & Smith that I have referenced many times, and then dyed it with acid dyes to finish the bind off.  The greens and blues made for a perfect match to the original yarn (20 percent cashmere, merino and silk so you know how it feels).  Although the Jameson & Smith yarn is 100% wool, you cannot tell the difference since it was less than one row of self dyed fiber).  Did I tell you that I emailed the designer and she said there were over 2300 stitches in EACH ROW of the ruffle?  And how many rows in that ruffle?  I didn't count, but two inches worth.  Finished size, from tip to stern, 7 feet!  *details here*

Giving those fingers a rest, I am off to finish my adult play room/office, or as the husband had dubbed it, "The Official Quarters of the Queen of All Things Domestic."       (except for cooking)