Aug 18, 2008
Aug 17, 2008
A fool for color
I have been thinking about my fiber habit, and have come to the conclusion that I'm a color addict. It all started back when I was a kid, and somehow we ended up with a couple of kaleidoscopes...
I spent hours looking at the colors and designs as I turned the barrel on my 'scope...
...each one unique...
...each one beautiful...
...and then the kaleidoscopes tumbled into the land of Idonknow, where all things go when they've left the hands of children. It's kind of like the place that lost socks go, but more distant, with less chance of returning to the land of Ohmygosh Hereitis!
So, it's any wonder that I have this in my fiber stash? And this?
Is it any wonder that I have one of these spindles now? (A note: this is not my spindle, but an example of the type I have. I'll post a photo of mine when I get the photo program figured out again)
Or this whorl on my spindle?
Color. It seems to be all about color.
Aug 10, 2008
The honeymoon's over
There are a lot of homeless people here (and also a lot of drunks) who sleep in the park or in the median between streets or on the sidewalk. Those places serve as beds and bathrooms to these people.
This morning O took Celeste to the park to run. They left happy! They returned angry, disgusted, and disenchanted with each other.
Apparently Celeste discovered that the trees in the park serve as commodes for the homeless. She went wild. One moment, she was O's darling gal, running free and beautiful...and the next she was this ghastly canine creature, eating a pile of YUCK at the base of a tree. The toilet paper had been left over the pile, but Celeste brushed that aside with a deft flick of the snout. O gagged, then screamed, Celeste took one more big gulp and ran off to fight over another pile with two or three other dogs. By the time O snapped the leash back on Celeste's collar, he was sick to his stomach and outraged that she would lower herself to such an act, and Celeste was outraged that he would have interrupted her at such a lavish meal. They returned to the apartment and without mincing words, O told me that he couldn't look at Celeste today, and why, and went back outside to wax the car - for hours.
Celeste waited for O at the front door, but he didn't come in very soon. When he did, he simply stepped over her and went into the bedroom to change his clothes. She followed him, but he shut her out of the room. Later, after we'd eaten at the table and Celeste had eaten in her crate, he lay down in for a nap and Celeste crept in to find out what his big problem was. Shortly thereafter, I heard Celeste barking at O, O yelling back at her, then he ran out of the bedroom with Celeste close on his heels. He snapped her leash on her again and out they went to the bike path.
Apparently they worked out their differences, because at the moment, they are both in the bedroom, both on the bed.
We had a short discussion about dog habits and those little disgusting things that endear the mutts to us and that completely turn our stomachs. Celeste is the first dog that O has shared his living space with. She has taught him a lot, and obviously opened his eyes to dog life, but I know this morning, she went too far. By the time they arrived back at the apartment, she knew it, too. I think he has forgiven her now, but there are no kisses being given there.
The honeymoon is over and reality has set in.
This morning O took Celeste to the park to run. They left happy! They returned angry, disgusted, and disenchanted with each other.
Apparently Celeste discovered that the trees in the park serve as commodes for the homeless. She went wild. One moment, she was O's darling gal, running free and beautiful...and the next she was this ghastly canine creature, eating a pile of YUCK at the base of a tree. The toilet paper had been left over the pile, but Celeste brushed that aside with a deft flick of the snout. O gagged, then screamed, Celeste took one more big gulp and ran off to fight over another pile with two or three other dogs. By the time O snapped the leash back on Celeste's collar, he was sick to his stomach and outraged that she would lower herself to such an act, and Celeste was outraged that he would have interrupted her at such a lavish meal. They returned to the apartment and without mincing words, O told me that he couldn't look at Celeste today, and why, and went back outside to wax the car - for hours.
Celeste waited for O at the front door, but he didn't come in very soon. When he did, he simply stepped over her and went into the bedroom to change his clothes. She followed him, but he shut her out of the room. Later, after we'd eaten at the table and Celeste had eaten in her crate, he lay down in for a nap and Celeste crept in to find out what his big problem was. Shortly thereafter, I heard Celeste barking at O, O yelling back at her, then he ran out of the bedroom with Celeste close on his heels. He snapped her leash on her again and out they went to the bike path.
Apparently they worked out their differences, because at the moment, they are both in the bedroom, both on the bed.
We had a short discussion about dog habits and those little disgusting things that endear the mutts to us and that completely turn our stomachs. Celeste is the first dog that O has shared his living space with. She has taught him a lot, and obviously opened his eyes to dog life, but I know this morning, she went too far. By the time they arrived back at the apartment, she knew it, too. I think he has forgiven her now, but there are no kisses being given there.
The honeymoon is over and reality has set in.
photoless Sunday...so far...
We had a virus attack on Friday, in the form of a McAfee 2009 update. It wiped out everything. We had to start from scratch with a newly formatted hard drive. We have no pictures, no files, WAH! Luckily, O has one of those little portable memory things with all his files for the classes he's taking, and luckily I have put photos on my blog here, and have saved things in my e-mail, but everything else is gone. At least we have a working computer, and didn't have to buy a new hard drive or something! And, since we're here in Peru, where it costs less than half of what it might cost in the US for repairs. O almost cried when he thought we'd lost Celeste's baby pictures, but - TA DA! They're here, on the blog, and some are on Flickr.
So, with a clean hard drive, I get to start to fill it up again, and I'm also going to get MYSELF one of those little portable memory thingies to save photos and patterns and whatever on.
My classes this month have doubled. Last month I had a leisurely 2 classes: one at 7 - 8:30am and one at 8:30 - 10:00 pm; a nice part-time job, working 4 hours daily, Monday through Saturday. Now I have 4 classes, still starting at 7 am, and ending at 10 pm, but my afternoon is full with the other two classes, and I have one class to observe in the morning, too. I'm tired. I have about 3 free hours to go home in, and in that time, I sleep. Not that working 8 hours is such a hardship for me - I've done it all my life! - but the schedule is hard to get used to.
My classes are delightful, though, for the most part. My students are creative and mostly motivated. I am having a blast with them, and I hope they are enjoying the classes, too. Yesterday, my Saturday class presented their projects. The theme was Peruvian folktales. They were to translate a folktale into English and illustrate it with at least one picture. I learned all about the Sun God's children, Manco Capac and Mama Occllo. I also learned about Tupac Amaru and how bats came to be. Very interesting! I think I'll have another class do this folk tale thing again sometime. I loved it and the students had a good time with it, too!
So, with a clean hard drive, I get to start to fill it up again, and I'm also going to get MYSELF one of those little portable memory thingies to save photos and patterns and whatever on.
My classes this month have doubled. Last month I had a leisurely 2 classes: one at 7 - 8:30am and one at 8:30 - 10:00 pm; a nice part-time job, working 4 hours daily, Monday through Saturday. Now I have 4 classes, still starting at 7 am, and ending at 10 pm, but my afternoon is full with the other two classes, and I have one class to observe in the morning, too. I'm tired. I have about 3 free hours to go home in, and in that time, I sleep. Not that working 8 hours is such a hardship for me - I've done it all my life! - but the schedule is hard to get used to.
My classes are delightful, though, for the most part. My students are creative and mostly motivated. I am having a blast with them, and I hope they are enjoying the classes, too. Yesterday, my Saturday class presented their projects. The theme was Peruvian folktales. They were to translate a folktale into English and illustrate it with at least one picture. I learned all about the Sun God's children, Manco Capac and Mama Occllo. I also learned about Tupac Amaru and how bats came to be. Very interesting! I think I'll have another class do this folk tale thing again sometime. I loved it and the students had a good time with it, too!
Aug 4, 2008
Avocado Annie and a knit-along
Remember last year, when I started a couple of avocado trees in jelly jars? And remember how Celeste loved one of them to death? Well, the OTHER one has survived - survived Celeste love, survived living nearly a year in a tiny clay pot, AND survived being transplanted into a nice-sized pot. Here she is, Avocado Annie:
I spent my weekend doing some experimenting. I plied a lace weight yarn with itself, and loved the results! So, I did some more, and these are going to be my next knit-along socks. The first skeins I plied (I believe this is known as "cabling") were grass green and "Pasture Berries" colorways. I really like this combination. It makes a little more substantial yarn for socks, which I need because my choice of dpns is limited to size 3 and size 8. Nothing smaller, nothing larger, and nothing in between.
And the second pair of skeins that I plied were in the "Pasture Berries" colorway.
After I finish my first Odyssey Rock Ranch knit-along socks, and have figured out all the mistakes that I made along the way, then I'll use this one to make a "good" pair - hopefully no mistakes. Right now, after ripping and ripping out row after row, then re-knitting to rip again, my yarn is getting a little fuzzy-looking. My mantra these last couple of days has been, "I'm smarter than the string...I AM smarter than the string...", which brings me to a picture of my first sock in this knit-along (like my tanned leg? heh, just overlook the stocking...I'm just home for lunch and Had to see how my sock was coming along):
I'm not done with it, obviously, but am closing in on the foot! The clock pattern is messy, but my second try at this will be much better, I promise! I have been learning SO MUCH with this project, and having fun with it, too! So grab your needles and join me on the Great Wooly Works Knitalong!
I spent my weekend doing some experimenting. I plied a lace weight yarn with itself, and loved the results! So, I did some more, and these are going to be my next knit-along socks. The first skeins I plied (I believe this is known as "cabling") were grass green and "Pasture Berries" colorways. I really like this combination. It makes a little more substantial yarn for socks, which I need because my choice of dpns is limited to size 3 and size 8. Nothing smaller, nothing larger, and nothing in between.
And the second pair of skeins that I plied were in the "Pasture Berries" colorway.
After I finish my first Odyssey Rock Ranch knit-along socks, and have figured out all the mistakes that I made along the way, then I'll use this one to make a "good" pair - hopefully no mistakes. Right now, after ripping and ripping out row after row, then re-knitting to rip again, my yarn is getting a little fuzzy-looking. My mantra these last couple of days has been, "I'm smarter than the string...I AM smarter than the string...", which brings me to a picture of my first sock in this knit-along (like my tanned leg? heh, just overlook the stocking...I'm just home for lunch and Had to see how my sock was coming along):
I'm not done with it, obviously, but am closing in on the foot! The clock pattern is messy, but my second try at this will be much better, I promise! I have been learning SO MUCH with this project, and having fun with it, too! So grab your needles and join me on the Great Wooly Works Knitalong!
Jul 30, 2008
Meatball cravings
Today, I was in the mood for spagetti and meat balls. This caught me by surprize, because I swore off meatballs years ago. My Oldest Sister, along with her Italian husband, has the corner on the meatball market. Every time I've been to their house they've pushed "real Italian-style" meatballs on me.
So today, when I got the urge, I tried to stop myself. Then I surrendered and gave myself over to meatballs, my style. This is what I did:
Hamburger, a handful of dried oregano that's been rubbed between my hands so I can loose myself in the aroma, diced yellow chili pepper, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and ground comino, all mixed well in a bowl with a raw egg. Then I let that sit to develop it's flavors. While that was sitting, I prepared the sauce: in a saute pan, I heated olive oil with more rubbed oregano. After I recovered from the intoxicating aroma, I sauteed sliced mushrooms in the oil. I dumped tomato sauce in a pot to heat, with even more rubbed oregano and ground comino, added the mushrooms, and a half tablespoon of miso. I would have preferred to add dry red wine, but somebody (me) drank it. So miso helps to intensify the flavors. Then I put that on to simmer.
While the sauce was simmering, I fried the meatballs.
Then I ate one of the meatballs - definitely NOT "real Italian-style" meatballs, but just how I like them.
Then I commited a cardinal sin and cooked egg noodles instead of spagetti. YUM. Sorry, no pictures...I ate everything before I thought of photos...
So today, when I got the urge, I tried to stop myself. Then I surrendered and gave myself over to meatballs, my style. This is what I did:
Hamburger, a handful of dried oregano that's been rubbed between my hands so I can loose myself in the aroma, diced yellow chili pepper, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and ground comino, all mixed well in a bowl with a raw egg. Then I let that sit to develop it's flavors. While that was sitting, I prepared the sauce: in a saute pan, I heated olive oil with more rubbed oregano. After I recovered from the intoxicating aroma, I sauteed sliced mushrooms in the oil. I dumped tomato sauce in a pot to heat, with even more rubbed oregano and ground comino, added the mushrooms, and a half tablespoon of miso. I would have preferred to add dry red wine, but somebody (me) drank it. So miso helps to intensify the flavors. Then I put that on to simmer.
While the sauce was simmering, I fried the meatballs.
Then I ate one of the meatballs - definitely NOT "real Italian-style" meatballs, but just how I like them.
Then I commited a cardinal sin and cooked egg noodles instead of spagetti. YUM. Sorry, no pictures...I ate everything before I thought of photos...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
