first picture

Here's my first attempt with posting a picture ... my tortoisehell Kalina Kay.   I adopted her from a lady in Lakewood who had rescued some feral cats.   My daughter and I went to Pet Supplies Plus the end of August 2011 to get litter and several cats were there hoping to find new homes.  My daughter's cat, Malachi, is behind the chair and in the box.   He was very hopeful she would engage in play with him, as she tends to be passive.   Now she's the instigator chasing him around the house, so now he doesn't have to get aggressive and pin her down.   My DH says it sounds like they have lead feet ... aren't cats supposed to be light on their feet???

Coming up with a name for my blog was a long and winding road.   Possibilities were Allusions of the Pewter Frog, The Rustic Needle, Rustic Needle's Renditions, The Tortoise and The Bear, Thimblepie, Thimblerock, Through the Glass Darkly, Through the Eye of the Needle, Me, Myself and I of the Needle, French Knot Dilemma ... OK I don't need to go on.   That should be one of my New Year's Resolutions ... try to stay away from tangents.   Oh, The Tangential Needle.   And I just said I wouldn't do that.   But I had to slip that one in.   Just when I thought I came up with a good one, on second thought it sounded to lofty, too dumb, too proud, too ordinary ... sounds like another tangent.   Well I do like to play around with writing, because I have always loved the written word ... poetry, especially when the meaning is fashioned sort of like a puzzle, so that the meaning is there, but not outright obvious ... so that as you think about what was written, layers sort of evolve from it creating a multi-dimensional effect.   So I finally decided the blog name should be something concise and creative, sort of a 'tip of the iceberg' about me, not revealing much at the outset.   The word needle is used so much I thought ... well, thimble isn't and I use that idea in an unfinished poem ... and the image I create there really jumpstarted this blog name.   Thimblepie is snapping a person on the top of the head and Thimblerock was the name of a geological formation (which fascinates me) ... but also wouldn't work ... so I thought of how important our heart is.   Not just the muscle, but where our thoughts and feelings come from.   So one word comes from the two and now I can proceed with unraveling ...
unraveling what?   Well it's time for bed, Malachi wants to snuggle with me, my feet are cold and tomorrow (no it's today already) is another day, another year.
So HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. 

Here's another recipe of my very own - Poverty Party Casserole.   Slice onions, fry until they are transparent;  slice bacon into small strips and fry that.   Set aside.  Boil potatoes and carrots (separately) until tender and put into a large pot with a some water, just enough so it won't stick to the bottom.   Add bacon and onion.   Boil frozen chopped spinach and add to the mix.   Also tastes good with sweet Italian sausage.   Let cook until the seasonings blend together.   Even a dash of cayenne pepper works great.

1 bag potatoes
2 bags baby carrots
1 lb bacon
1 large onion  (cut into long strips, not diced)
2 pkgs frozen chopped spinach
your choice of seasonings

My second post was entered as a comment to the first one.   And it's so dark you can barely read it.   Well mistakes are a way of learning, right?   At least I don't have to rip these out and redo them.  Sooner or later I will get to talk about the reason for starting this blog.   Ooh I love mysteries, don't you?   The suspense is the best ... bring it on!  Just make sure you have enough goodies for munching in the New Year.   Oh, one of my new favorites (that I found on Pinterest) ... my DH calls them meatballs ... but they are No Bake Energy Bites.   So I did finally make them yesterday only I use Zante Currants instead of coconut.  Now Judge Judy says 'If it's too good to be true then it probably isn't' - well these are that good.   And none of those ingredients you can't pronounce.   So they are perfect for anytime, anywhere for anyone, unless you have a peanut allergy.  And you could substitute another dried fruit for the currants.   You'd have to chop them so they would mix in right.   OK now I'll see how this looks.   And no more replying to my own posts!!!

Great ... I found this page again. I know practice may not make perfect but at least I won't be feeling so aimless and awkward. This background really helps though. But now that we do have some snow I need to find a winter scene. I want to say more but don't want to get ahead of myself.

This is new turf for me, a new beginning at the end of the year.   Still not sure how to get to my home page.