Mersydotes

It's nearly 1 am as I write this, and I can't sleep.  Mr. Mersy's been away on a business trip for 10 days, and I've barely slept since he left.  He's coming home tomorrow, and I couldn't be happier.  I've gone a bit feral over the past week or so, and I'm not sure if I can continue to survive on microwavable tamales for much longer.  It's probably best that I not be left on my own too much- before too long I can't find my shoes but there's dog food in my purse and coffee cups in the shower, and I've run out of things to glitter.  Please come home baby! At least tonight my insomnia was fruitful.  It turns out that heating up almond milk while whisking in a heaping spoonful of Nutella is realllllly good.  Go nuts my friends! Lots of love, ~Mersydotes

Spending Winter Storm Jonas with our friends M & Z in Connecticut was a blessing, a relief, and a pleasure.  The wind howled and the snow continued for over 24 hours as the 6 of us (canines and felines included) huddled near the space heater reading and talking.   The windows frosted over, and the streets were quiet.  We laughed and knitted and made sense of the world and cooked tofu with peas (recipe here ).  While New York City shut down and began arresting anyone in a car, we watched the bait shop across the street slowly disappear in the snow drifts.   The kitty pawed the window panes to see if she could wipe away the frost, and the doggies huddled together as sweet as can be.  They way they interact when they are together makes me think of Tich Nhat Hanh, "When you look at your loved one, you see that he is also made of stars and carries eternity inside.  Looking in this way, we naturally feel reverence."  Their puppy love is beautiful: Returnin

It's a story as old as time- discovering the intoxication of great power only to be brutally reminded that with it comes equally great responsibility.  So it was for Mr. Mersy and I when we found this recipe for making soft caramels at home ; )  We now know we have the power to make the most delicious food on the planet, but if we want to make it to our 40s, we're going to have to exercise an amazing amount of self restraint! I know!  Caramels!  Is there anything more intoxicatingly delicious?!  Forget about chocolate- caramels are where it's at, and it turns out that it's so easy to make them at home.  This past Christmas, I had been planning to make a flan, so I had gone out and bought some cream.  Turns out, flan doesn't call for cream- who knew?!  So we had a lovely carton of cream in the fridge, and I wasn't sure what to do with it.  Caramels were the perfect answer : ) I'm ashamed to admit it, but I didn't even use a candy thermo

Two years ago this January, I was freshly arrived in NYC, young, naive, with stars in my eyes.  I hadn't yet found a job and decided to spend my day poking around the legendary Vogue Knitting Live.  Back then I didn't even know how to knit- I was just an enthusiastic crocheter with big, big dreams. Two years and six jobs later, I'm staring down the barrel of 30 years old and I can not only drive around Queens without a map, but I can also knit the heck out of just about anything.  So, needless to say, it was a very different Miss Mersy that wandered into this year's Vogue Knitting Live festival in Times Square.  Plus, this year I had a friend to go with me!  That's an improvement if ever I heard one!  We reveled in the colors and the textures!  How fantastic to hear the folks tending the booths say, "Please, touch the yarns- give them a good squish"! We cuddled merino wools, angora threads, silk yarns blended with milk fiber, even

Hooray!  It finally snowed today!  Just little specs of snow flying through the air and melting on the ground, but snow nonetheless after such a dry, warm winter.  Hooray!  It's been a grey day, though, and I though it might be nice to enjoy a bit of colorful crochet here on the blog and also in the Mersy nest.   Over the past year, I've come to appreciate the colorfulness, decorativeness, artistry, and mindfulness of mandalas.  They really do feel like an exercise in "completeness" as you stitch them.  I was very sad to hear about Wink's passing this past autumn, and as I had been meaning to make more mandalas, I thought it would be nice to try her patterns and tutorials.  The result was several weeks of happy stitching and lots of brightness added to our apartment. I had so enjoyed reading Wink's blog, and I really appreciated her take on the therapeutic nature of crocheting and knitting.  When I began this project a few weeks ago, I set o

Little Penny needed some walkies last weekend, especially after her holiday puppy friends had left and she hasn't been playing and tussling all day.  We could see her smile as soon as we arrived at Flushing Meadows- a little sparkle in her beetle-black puppy eyes!   And watching her gallop about!  Pure balm for the soul.  My creaky bones don't move so quickly, but I feel vicariously spunky watching her gallivant about over the grass, leash-free and delighted! And, just for the doggies, there's a fire hydrant right in the middle of the lawn- wasn't that thoughtful of FDNY?  Just to make the puppies happy! ; ) It was one of those clear skied, blue winter days where the blanket had been ripped off of the world, and the air was almost antiseptically clear and clean.  We walked, and walked, and walked and laughed watching our puppy play. I hope you get to enjoy a clear, blue walk soon! Lots of love, ~Mersydotes