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!

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...

The knit-a-long sock

To further that sock compulsion, here's a cuff on my current sock:



A little funky-looking, hmm? I'm using Odyssey Rock Ranch 100% alpaca in dark blue, and my own handspun "Superfreak". I have a little skeinlet of about 30 yards, so I thought I might use it up on these socks. If I don't have enough in this skeinlet, I do have two other larger ones to dip in to to finish.

Book Order

The other day, I was contemplating my sock-making compulsion and ordered this:



Unfortunately along with the book came:

"Temporarily out of stock. Order now and we'll deliver when available. We'll e-mail you with an estimated delivery date as soon as we have more information. Your account will only be charged when we ship the item."

Hmmm. I'll leave it on order and maybe it'll arrive for Christmas.

And, yes...it's a momentary, short-term compulsion, not an addiction - I am not an addict...I am not an addict...I am not an addict...I am not...

It came in the mail...

Look what came in the mail this month! Fun stuff!

My new spindle from Butterfly Girl Designs, and "Riot", a bamboo/glitz/sari silk blend.
These batts are from The Knotty Sheep. Kary does great work!

This is "Butterfly Kissed", from none other than Butterfly Girl Designs, in all it's glorious glitzy splendor...merino, bamboo, and sparkly stuff. Yummy!

A Morning With Celeste

Come on, let's go outside. Come on, you can make it, Mom.


It looks so nice outside! I can already smell the people and the cars!


Come on! Get those feet moving! Move it! Move it!


Okay! That's a good mom!


Wait a minute! What's been going on here? Pidgeons?


Yeay! We're outside! Okay, take my picture...I know I'm beautiful.


Okay, that's enough with the camera. No more photos, please. That little red light on the camera kinda weirds me out.

Okay, okay, just a little smile for the camera...

The City Bus

Now that I'm working downtown, I take a bus to work. It's way too far to walk the distance, so I catch the #48 that takes me down Salaverry Avenue to Jiron Manuel Segura, then to Mexico Avenue, over the Expressway and across to Manco Capac. Eventually, Manco Capac crosses a bridge and becomes Abancay Avenue, which runs through the middle of Lima Central. I work just a half block from Abancay, on Cuzco Street.

To say that downtown Lima is crowded is an understatement. It is a SEA OF HUMANITY at any given moment. When I arrive at the institute, I feel like I have reached a safe haven. Working at this place gives me many opportunities to observe people. When I get on the bus, there are always many personalities that make themselves known. There is always someone in need who is allowed on the bus to do what he or she can to collect money. Today there were three on the bus that I rode home for lunch on: first a man with no arms and only one leg hopped aboard to ask for pocket change. He was clean and well-fed, clothing pressed and neat, but obviously unable to work. So he delivered a 30-second speech explaining that he needed to money to help contribute to his family in gratitude for them taking care of him. Pockets opened up. Change purses opened. Money clinked into his shirt pocket as he walked on what used to be a knee and knelt on the complete leg to make his way down the bus aisle. He was there and gone in 5 minutes, having completely torn out our hearts by not whining or begging.

The next person to jump on the bus was a young man selling candy. A bag of 100 pieces of candy costs about 2.50 soles. They sell each piece for 10 cents or 3 for 50 cents...by the time they sell the bag of candy, they've made their money back 4 times over. Not bad, but after the bus crowd has paid their own bus fare and donated to two or three people that are perceived to be needy, a candy salesman rates pretty low. Sympathy for an able-bodied man who's selling over-priced candy does not abound.

The third person to enter the bus to ask for money was an elderly man who was alo selling candy. He claimed to be 84 years old with no income. I was out of change by the time he arrived. Luckily, other people had recently gotten on the bus and there was a fresh crowd for this elderly man to work. I thought of my own father, who is not 84, but will be one day. It would hurt me to no end if he chose a lifestyle that led him to spend his last years going from one bus to another, selling penny candy to pay for his meals.

Sometimes I think about O's family. They have no home of their own, they have no savings, nothing between them and the street except what they earn for that day. I've talked with O about this many times. He has no savings of any kind, either. I cannot even consider him living like the old man on the bus, or working as a shoe shine man or panhandling on the street till his last day. I wonder why so many in this culture have not even a thought beyond tomorrow, or the next weekend, when they can go to a party. I know it is not just in Peru, but this is where it's been really evident to me. This morning I noticed an elderly lady, fairly well dressed, begging on the sidewalk. She looked about 100 years old, but in good health and again, clean and pressed. I wonder what her story was.

the pictures

Here are pictures of the first skein of the Superfreak (now known as Blueberries) yarn. I think it is fingering weight yarn - smaller than double knit, but more substantial than lace weight. What I will do with fingering weight yarn I have no idea. I hope there is enough to make a project with!


This is the yarn with some of the roving.

Back to spinning

I've been spending what's left of my weekend spinning up some superwash merino roviings, handpainted by Rochelle, colorway "". Well, as I've been pre-drafting and spinning, I noticed that my "Superfreak" had mutated. It's more like "Blueberry Cobbler". Just as "Squidge" changed into "Tea Roses", "Superfreak" has taken on a different personality. I'm not disappointed at all, just enjoying the way the colors are taking on a new look and formulating a new project for it in my mind. It's amazing how the most dramatic colorways change after pre-drafting and spinning. Then comes the plying and even more color changes. I love watching the process unfold. So far, I've got one 165-yards of it in DK weight, with more of the same fiber to spin yet. I'm hoping for another 100 yards of it so I can make some socks.

I've joined Butterfly Girl's subscription fiber and spindle club. It's a 3-month subscription and, every month for 3 months, Mary sends 3 ounces of fiber and a spindle for me to try. I have no idea what the spindle will be like, nor do I know what the fiber will be. It'll be a surprise every month! It starts this month, and I can't wait to see what she sends!

Camera, camera...where's my camera? Superfreak, aka Blueberry Cobbler has been soaked and squeezed and is hanging up to dry, and there's sun this afternoon! ...and I can't find my camera. Ratz. Well, there's always tomorrow.

A Letter From Daisy

I recently received a letter from my "Adopt-a-Goat" goat, Daisy:

Well hi!

This is Daisy, your perfectly perfect little goat! I'm starting to look curly again, thank goodness! I just hate the "shaved to the skin" look, don't you? All the big girls are out on the pasture, but I'm living in a little pen with Lilly, Phoebe and Charlie. They told us that we had to stay in the pen because we wouldn't stay in the pasture. It just doesn't seem fair, does it? All that perfectly gorgeous green stuff to eat--peach leaves, flowers, green alfalfa--and I'm shut up in this little pen. Darn! Well, I guess I'll have to just learn my lesson and stay in the fence. I've learned it. I really have. So would you please tell them to let me out now?

The people have started putting some white powdery stuff in my feed and they even dusted me all over with it. I like the way it feels on my nose. It tickles. They tell me that this stuff will make the itchy bugs go away. I'll be happy for that. The only thing is, it makes my grain look different. It's just not the same and I really like things to be the same.

The nice thing about my pen is that I have a very nice house to hide in when there's a storm. I haven't been wet once this summer and that suits me just fine.

That's all for now. My life just isn't very exciting, I guess, but if you'll tell the people to let me out of this little pen, things could get really exciting pretty fast!

Thanks for being my sponsor,
Daisy

I Imagine So...

What Animal Guide Would You Produce If You Could Cast A Patronus? (Harry Potter - Updated With Additional Results) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Tiger It is only likely you would produce a tiger as your protector. Like you it has a wild and fierce nature although this can be hidden. Passionate but sometimes harsh natured you tend to be alone as your own person. Tiger 100% Stag 81% Dog 81% Dolphin 75% Cat 63% Elephant 50% Owl 50% Peafowl 44%

Whew!

Teacher training is all done and I've been hired! I'm working in the ICPNA - Lima Cercado branch (downtown), just a block or so away from Chinatown and the central market. I have a class to observe on Saturday mornings and an accelerated adult class from 3:15 to 6:30 pm Saturday afternoons. During the week, I have 2 basic adult classes and a class to observe every day, starting at 5 pm and finishing up at 10 pm. Between the 5 branches of ICPNA, there are 50,000 students total. That's pretty big.

Celeste is happy! We are back on a regular schedule for July, anyway, with plenty of time for Celeste-time for playing and and getting outside in the mornings. I'm happy, too. I don't mind saying that those days when I was up at 5 am and didn't stop till I fell into bed at 11 pm were more than a little hard on me. Not to mention that there is a certain amount of stress involved in learning to do something someone else's way, fumbling around with busses and transit systems, going to new parts of town I've never been before, and at the same time, holding down the old job to maintain an income to pay the monthly bills.

Besides getting a new job where they pay better and have benefits and really have a contract, two other good things came out of this past month: I never once noticed that there was no sun to speak of and I've learned better ways of teaching. I found out that I wasn't that far off track with what I was doing on my own, just better ways of doing it. And I uncovered my worst weakness: I am dreadfully disorganized (mentally) until I discover my own rhythm in teaching. It's very hard for me to walk into a teaching situation on someone else's terms. However, I am really good at telling children's stories, especially if I can prepare some pictures to go along with it to illustrate what I say. I think that's because the pictures help me organize my thought process.

Now if I can fumble my way through this first month, I think I'll fine.

Almost finished

I'm coming to the end of the training seminar and work starts tomorrow. Today we're supposed to find out if we are hired (for 1 month) and where we are to go. There are 5 branches of this institute and I have my fingers crossed that they don't send me either way north or way south of where I am now. After our 1 month contract, then we could be contracted for 2 months, after that, then 3 months, and finally a one year contract. If and when we complete the 1 year contract, then we are considered to be permanent employees of the institute. Whuuuuf...it's been a rigorous month and I imagine the next few months will be just as rigorous.

Now I'm encountering a few problems with CIVIME...I put on my resume that I'm working there, and what I've been teaching. ICPNA asked for a verification of that, and now CIVIME is dragging its feet about it. I'm not sure what the reason for that is. O says that many times an ex-employee will use that to try to extract some kind of benefits from the past employer, even though there were none offered. Hmmm. I just want a verification that I worked there, not a weapon to use against them. This is something I've never encountered before. However, I have my pay records, so I could use that to prove that I was at least paid for something there at CIVIME, although I have no proof of what I received the money for. Why do things have to be so complicated here?

Anyway, with things as complicated and irritating as they are, today is one of those days when I feel like chukking the whole works and going back to bed. I've been tired and stressed out all month and the last thing I want to deal with is an uncooperative employer.

This morning I received an e-mail from someone I thought was a friend, who told me that I've turned completely unfriendly to her. That caught me off-guard. Just last evening, we were having a very nice conversation and I thought we were on good terms. She's borrowed several books from me and currently has The Shell Seekers. She borrowed a book on cd from me yesterday and just returned a different one to me this week. I wonder if she doesn't want to return the books, and so is attempting to sever the relationship before she has to give the books back. Another hmmm for me. I'd probably just give her the books if she asked me to. There's no reason for e-mail hostilities.

taking just a breather

Whew! For the last couple of months, I've been in "teacher training" in two places. I wrote earlier than I was called by ICPNA (Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano, which is the Peruvian Cultural Institute of North America, or something similar). I got through the screening tests and am now in the training seminars for prospective teachers. My schedule is crammed full and my days are hectic. I'm not having much fun right now, but I'm hoping that it will calm down by the end of the month, when we are informed as to whether we have the job or not.

So I'm up at 5 am to let Celeste run her guts out before she has to be shut up in the house for 5 or 6 hours, till O comes home at lunch time to let her out again. Then he's usually home again at 2 or 3 pm till 4:30, when he goes to class. I leave for teacher training at ICPNA at 7:15 am. I take the bus across town to Miraflores. This bus goes up Angamos Avenue and drops me practically at the door of ICPNA, which is really convenient, but cripes, the ride there is like mashing myself into a sardine can. By the time the bus arrives at the stop on my block, it is already filled pretty much to capacity. A couple of people get off at my stop, so I can get on. I push myself through the mass of people to a spot where I can kind of breathe, and off we go, stopping every few minutes to let people off or on. It takes about 40 minutes to arrive at ICPNA.

I have a class to observe at 8:45 am, so I am there a little early. I have time to eat something in the cafeteria and read over the lesson for the day. Then I go to my class to either observe or teach the class. In order to complete the training successfully, I have to give demonstration classes in whatever topic the instructors choose, whenever they choose, and teach three regular classes, observed of course by the teacher who normally has the classes. There are also seminars that we have to go to, there are dress code, attendance, participation, and attitude requirements to fulfill. I hope I'm doing okay so far with the whole course. At 3 pm, we are finished for the day with the teacher training, so I catch another bus that takes me 30 minutes down Arequipa Avenue to my usual job. I arrive at about 3:30, get some lunch, prepare my 4:15 class and start working there. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I work until 10:15 pm and take another bus home. On Tuesdays, I get home about 6:30 pm. On Thursdays I work until 8 pm and get home about 8:30.

Then it's all about Celeste for about an hour. We go outside to play and do whatever business she may have, brush her coat, then walk and run for a little while. By the end of the day, my feet are KILLING me, so I'm happy to change into tennis shoes and walk some, but I don't feel like wrestling or playing rough. After Celeste gets her time, I prepare whatever I need for the following day and then fall into bed and am unconscious till the alarm goes off at 5 am the next day.

One of the things about a heavy schedule is that I'm so tired all the time. I'm terrified that I'll fall asleep on the bus, if I manage to get a seat, and that I'll sleep past the point that I was supposed to get off the bus, or that someone will rob me while I'm dozing. It was explained to me that here in Peru, many people are taught to steal whenever possible...not violently, but in an underhanded, pick-pockety way. One of the people I work with, Hilda, told me that people are considered stupid if they don't take advantage of a situation or person whenever possible. When I asked her if that was how she behaved, she responded with, "Of course! All the teachers do it here," smiling broadly. As usual, I spoke before I thought...it flew out of my mouth - I told her that was very low-class behavior and attitude, and that I didn't associate with people with whom I constantly had to be on my guard. If your friends are so willing to rob you and take advantage of you, what on earth are your enemies willing to do? So Grandma's best friend may help her cross the street just for the opportunity to rob her blind. Sheesh.

So. I've been learning several lessons recently. I suppose that's just life in the big city, but it's one more thing that I have found that disappoints me.

Handspun sock yarn

Last week I finished spinning a skein of sock yarn. The details:
Fiber: Blue-faced Leicester roving from Maggie's farm
Colorway: Purple Tweed
Yardage: 110

Soft and lustrous! Only one skein so far, but there's more roving, so I should get at least one more skein's worth of yarn from it.

just kidding

66 As a 1930s wife, I am Superior Take the test!

I'm so out of date...I think I've exceeded my expiration date here!

glass spinning wheel

Opportunities

Lately, I have been dissatisfied with my work place. Not the work - I love it - but the work place. With a new director came a lot of changes that haven't resulted in much good. Yes, they gave us all new erasers and markers, and name tags with terrible misspellings. But also came the change in criteria for classes, and the requirement for bigger classes. Now there must be at least 10 students in a class, and preferably more, for the class to exist. Bigger classes means less individualized time for each student, and in some cases, no attention at all, and believe me, many of them desperately need the individualized attention. Because of this, there are fewer classes altogether. But the simgle worst thing that has happened is that they are messing with our pay. We no longer know when we will get paid. Maybe next week. Maybe after the first of next month. Maybe Saturday. Hmm. So we are waiting there, day after day, for our end of the month pay.

So, when this began to happen, I applied at a couple of other institutes. Yesterday I was called by ICPNA - Instituto Cultural Peruano Northeamericano - one of the leading language institutes in the country. I've already taken their two exams that weed out those who don't have a command of the language. So next month I take the next step and attend a month-long series of seminars designed to teach the methods they want instructors to use there at the institute. I'm looking forward to it. If I don't end up gettng hired there, I will at least come away with some training and that is more than I've received at the place I work now. And, hopefully, an international language instructor's certificate. That would be nice.

Sometimes the age thing comes into play. Age discrimination is everywhere. Even McDonald's discriminates against older people here. They only hire young people between 18 and 24. Many schools turn away teachers over 30, until they get in a pinch and need teachers, then they open their doors to anyone they can get. Heh, that has happened recently. One institute lost all its teachers when they changed management practices. A private high school lost all its teachers, too, when pay was cut. Things like this leave me wondering about management practices and personnel offices. I've never heard of a teachers' strike that lasted 2 years or every single teacher quitting - not striking, but QUITTING. Wow. Makes you wonder.

another sock, women's size 6/7

The latest socks: white 100% alaca yarn from Woolyworks and toes and heels done in handspun, handpainted tussah silk. One more sock to go and I'll be done!

Princess status removed

Poor Celeste. Yesterday, she decided to see how far I could be pushed. She hasn't pushed for a long time...maybe 5 months. Anyway, she started by deciding to make a mess in her bed, which I let her deal with for a while after she made her decision. Five forty-five a.m. is too early for me to have the stomach for cleaning up dog poop. In the afternoon, without warning of any kind, she decided to gift with a similar work of art in the living room. She found out what MY decision was very quickly, and after being given a very close examination of her masterpiece and an equally vigorous spanking, she spent some thinking time in her crate while I cleaned up her aromatic artwork.

Today, she's feeling sad, repentent, and punished because the living room rug has been rolled up and there's only a hardwood floor to snooze on (she only just missed the rug while on her...er, shooting spree). Neither have there been any invitations to nap on The Bed (that would be my bed). Nor has she been trusted to spend any time roaming at will through the apartment or sleeping where she pleases. The trust has been broken for now, priviledges suspended, and Princess of the House status removed. We are back to the basic owner-dog relationship till she earns them back, which means she's got to be on her best behavior for the time being, and promise never never never again to make such a decision again, without first consulting me.

The cardinal sin in this home is pooping inside. Celeste commited this sin twice in the same day and now she's doing her penance. There are limits to how far even the Princess of the House can push.