February Flu

On the very first day of this month, I got the flu, and no sooner did I return to work five days later, did the rest of the family start failing in health. Miserable we all were for two long weeks. D slept for three days. It was pretty strange not hearing him talk and carry on for long stretches of time. The over reactive hubby experienced extreme symptoms like night sweats and chills that I didn't get and eventually drove himself to the ER where he figured he'd feel better by waiting around with a roomful of sicker patients, including those with gunshot wounds. R was the only one who remained somewhat happy, despite catching a cough and a runny nose. But I can now safely say that we are back to our old selves and back to our regular routine. In fact, I've even started biking to work again, but you won't catch me in any downpours. I'll be avoiding the heavy wet weather riding for awhile. Why get drenched when you don't have to. Besides, look what I have to drive! The old Plymouth died, so the hubby went on a hunt for a new family vehicle last week. This is what he came up with....a '94 Toyota Previa van. I've been driving it for the past two days everywhere, and I think I quite like it.

























Here's what I've been experimenting with this past week......making pho soup from this site, which turned out fragrant and delicious (and so easy to make too)! Do you see the star anise and cloves floating around in the soup? I wanted to learn how to make it "from scratch", not only because I've been doing pho take-out too much, but because I've been told how much MSG is in a lot of the restaurant versions. Lucky me, I found a great, authentic recipe, and the boys like it, especially R.

On the fibery front, I continue to be enamoured with some Patons Shetland tweed yarn and a simple beret pattern. This tweed has a little too much acrylic for my taste, as you can see by the shine of the photo, but the yarn is soft and the color is super yummy! Does anyone know of a similar colored tweed yarn with more wool content? I'll post a finished pic of this soon....