Mis en Place

That's a fancy French cooking term for getting your sh*t together before you start.  It's a really good idea, especially if you don't always remember to put all the ingredients into things.  This way you chop, slice, brown (in the case of the Italian sausage pictured), open, and measure before beginning, therefore having all of your sh*t ready to sling into the pot or skillet as it's called for.  This morning I made Hearty Minestrone Soup from the Taste of Home website.  Well, that's where I started, anyway.  I found the recipe on Friday and knew I wanted to make it mostly out of things we already had so I started my hunt.  Miraculously, we had a pound of sweet Italian sausage in the freezer, we always have onions, celery, and bell peppers, we have a good stockpile of canned diced tomatoes too, and broth (just in case a couple commenters were right and it wasn't soupy enough; it wasn't; I put in 2 cups).  Another of the commenters said she cooked up and added a cup of tiny pasta, we even had that.  (little rings.  how cute are they?)  What we didn't have was 6 cups' worth of zucchini.  Hmm, evidently this was a recipe written in the desperation of zucchini harvest time, which is great if it's September and you can't turn off your zucchini plants, but it's January and zucchini ain't cheap these days.  What we did have was a bag and a half of frozen mixed veggies plus Durwood made some stew last night and had too much kohlrabi to put in (really? is there really such a thing as too much kohlrabi?) so he gave me the overage for my soup.  I measured 6 cups of that and, presto, we have soup.  It looks good.  It smells great.  I'll let you know how it tastes after lunch.

We had a peek-a-boo sunrise today.  I don't even want to think what the weather's going to be this week.  Right now it's just under 40 degrees and it's kinda drizzling.  Sometime in the next 48 hours they're predicting all hell breaking loose--snow and wind and ice and... and... and tornadoes down South.  Watch, we'll get all geared up for Armageddon and the storm will split to go around Green Bay (does it all the time, I think it has something to do with the big body of water just up the road).  I'd be just fine with that, but I've got the feeling that the storm's drawn a bead on us and we're doomed.

I got the sock foot knitted to 7" last night.  One more inch to knit and then the toe decreases begin.  I want to get it done before plunging into my BLKG Design-a-thon knitting.  (must remember to write it down as I make it up, have to hand in the pattern with the product...)

No hawks today, only a male Downy Woodpecker having suet for breakfast.

January 31--Russ Bishop, Parker Ranch, HI.  The grass looked like a thick green carpet over the lumpy field.  Century-old fenceposts straggled like rotten teeth in a line as far as Minnie could see.  "This is not the way I imagined Hawaii looks."  She sat in the front seat of the Jeep feeling displaced and confused.  "I suppose you were imagining white sand beaches and swaying palms," said Roger, laughing.  She scowled at him.  "Yes, exactly, a pineapple plantation instead of a cattle ranch."  She tipped her head back.  "Only the sky is right, blue with puffy, white clouds.  That's what I had in mind."  His warm laugh rolled out as he put the Jeep in gear and drove down the rutted lane to the low house visible in the valley below.

I know I say this at the end of every month, but I can't believe January's over already.  Time... zoom.  I'm going to strip the beds today.  Fresh sheets for everybody!  That means laundry too.  Oh well, I want to sew today so doing laundry's easy since I'll be down there anyway..  Aloha.
--Barbara

Hawks

I was jealous when Durwood called me at work the other day to say that first the Cooper's hawk came looking for lunch and as soon as it flew away the smaller, Sharp-shinned hawk arrived to survey the buffet.  Both went away disappointed, as did this Cooper's hawk yesterday.  I just love the sharp-eyed way they scan the feeders and the birdie tree.  Sometimes they even plunge right into the birdie tree after prey but they're rarely successful.





The sunset last night was gorgeous.  I am constantly disappointed when the deep, vivid colors I see in the sky look so pale on "film."



At Friday Night Knitting I finished the first sleeve of the Hello Hamish cardi and got the stitches of the second one onto DPNs, then I knitted rounds on the foot of the Jelli Beenz sock.  Sock feet are good, mindless, conversational knitting.

You know you live in "farm" country when the van next to you in the grocery store parking lot has this painted on the side...

It's a company that checks that cows are in heat and then artificially inseminates them if they are.  I wondered if the driver was buying beef...

January 30--Chipp Jamison, Aspen Grove.  The trees were so close together you could barely see through them.  It looked impossible to walk between them.  It had been a long hike to get to this point.  Jenn stood in the middle of the small meadow staring at the trees.  There were so many of them and they were so close together that they seemed like a single organism with lots of stems.  She shook her head and moved closer.  "I do not want to go around, there has to be a way through."  She eyed the trees, searching for a wider gap, one that would let her slip into the grove and slide on through.  Soon she was sorry that she hadn't gone around.  Branches snagged her clothes and hair, and roots seemed to rise up to make her stumble.  She had lost all sense of direction, for all she knew she had been walking in a circle all the time.

I was out at the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts today and once again I could barely tear my eyes away from the Chihuly chandelier.  I want to touch it, to examine it from every angle, take it apart to see every oddball, twisted component.  It's breathtaking, and I've probably seen in twenty-five times since it was installed in 2004.  The man is a genius.  That is all.
--Barbara

I Am Now In Charge

First, see the pretty pale orange vapor trails in the blue blue blue sky this morning?  Ahh.  Even though it was so cold most of the birdbath water was ice I still was happy to see clear sky.

I met with Linda B this morning over coffee at Panera and she handed over the reins of all the internet knitting parts of the Bay Lakes Knitting Guild pantheon.  Thankfully she volunteered to be my backup.  So now I have to carefully plan my way so as to remain a benevolent dictator, uh, blogger and Facebook-er.  And I get to learn new tech-y things.  Yay!  (I may have to rent a teenager for a while...)

I went to Payless Shoes in the mall on my way home from work anticipating that they'd have the boots from the Appleton store for me to try.  They didn't.  And, yes, I did ask one of the clerks who went into the back and found the note with my name on it so I was reassured that I wasn't forgotten.  About fifteen minutes after I got home the phone rang, it was Payless calling to tell me that the boots were there and I could come in at my convenience.  You have got to be kidding me, I thought, but said, "Really?  I was just there and a girl with brightly dyed hair couldn't find them."  I tried to be nice but I think she heard the frustration.  Today after my meeting I went back, tried the boots on, and brought home one pair.  Now I'm done buying shoes for another five or ten years.  (What?  I don't wear them out and don't follow fashion.  I'm good.)

It was busy at work, customers and new stock, so I didn't get to knit there yesterday (which I sort of prefer since then my paycheck feels less like a cheat) but I did start the first sleeve on the Hello Hamish cardi after supper.  I'm going to make it a little longer than the pattern says since the body's bigger and I made that a bit longer, more symmetrical.

January 29--James Robinson, Tunnel of Trees.  It was at least ten degrees cooler under the trees.  Marcia sighed with relief as the shade washed away the feeling that the sun was pounding on her head.  She stood still, absorbing the sudden quiet, listening to the soft chirps of birds drown out the city sounds.  She looked down the alley of trees to see that she wasn't the only one taking refuge there.  People strolled along, stopping to examine a leaf or the symmetry of branches, a few even broke the unwritten rule of city life and spoke to one another.

It's sunny and I feel like having cheese toast for lunch.  What one of those things has to do with the other I do not know but nevertheless I'm off to slap some cheddar on a sandwich thin and slip it under the broiler.  Later.
--Barbara

The End, Instead of The Beginning, of the Day

Last night I caught the barest bit of sunset out the back door of the dive shop.  There are lots of wires crisscrossing my view but I think I dodged them pretty well.  I don't know why I'm so entranced with the sky, I didn't used to be, but now I look at it all the time.  It's often very pretty up there.  You should look up more, it's worth the glance.

I wore one of my new cardigans to work yesterday and felt quite stylish, if I do say so myself.  Today I get a haircut on my way to the shop so I'll wear something that hair schnipples won't show on or dig into.  Today I'm all about expedience instead of style, and also today I should probably go to the mall on my way home to see if the brown version of the black boots I bought fit.  One of the clerks volunteered to pick them up at the Appleton store last night to save me the trip, wasn't that nice?

Yesterday I finished knitting the body of the Hello Hamish sweater, next I pick up the sleeve stitches and knit those.  It's bigger than it should be (check gauge next time, Barbara) but babies rarely shrink so I think it'll be okay.  I'm still debating what color to knit the I-cord edging with but am leaning toward rainbow since I want to make a matching hat too.  That way it'll be unisex.


After supper I finished decreasing the gusset and plunged into the foot of the Jelli Beenz sock.  I think the whole heel area looks too big until I remind myself that I made the whole leg in ribbing which really pulls that part in.  It'll be okay (she says with her fingers mentally crossed).

Oh, I got a call yesterday at 9:20 AM to say that my tire wasn't in yet, so sorry, but they had a loaner car I could use to go to work.  Thank. God.  So the guy came and picked me up (it's less than a mile), I dropped him off on my way past, and I got to work on time, early even.  Then on my way home, I traded the loaner for my real car, so it's all fixed and I have four non-punctured tires.  For the time being.  I'm not making any sweeping statements.

January 28--Keith Lanpher.  Sheila ran. She not only ran on the unified school district Cross-Country team, she ran every day, all day.  She ran to school, she ran home.  She ran errands, she ran to think, she ran away, she ran toward.  Everyone in the neighborhood was used to seeing her running.  People asked each other why she ran.  A few thought that her home life must be bad for her to run so much.  Others thought she had watched Forrest Gump too many times.  When anyone asked her why, she smiled, shrugged, and ran away.

I get to go get a haircut soon so I'd better jack some pictures on here and head out.  Have a... day.  (It's Thursday, what can you really say about Thursday?)
--Barbara

Aren't Icicles Pretty?

I know that they're generally not a good sign, roof-wise, but I sure do like seeing their little selves sparkling in the early morning light.  I think our roof is okay though, we've got those Gutter Helmet things (I highly recommend them; since we had them installed I haven't been out clearing downspouts in thunderstorms once) so the icicles aren't on the roof, per se, they're on the gutters.  Totally different.  Totally.

It's hard to see in my picture but there's a little blue sky peeking through out there.  Makes me feel quite human for a few minutes.  It isn't supposed to last long, more light snow this afternoon, probably around drive time, but for now there's a little sun poking out.  I'll take it.

I didn't do any sewing or knitting yesterday, too busy, but I was thinking about how to make a play sink for LC's play kitchen collection and I think I've got it.  (She's one smart cookie.  I was talking to her about features she might like and told her Meemaw would sew it up.  She turned and pointed to the basement door and said, "In there."  I don't think she's ever seen me sew so how did she know where that happened?  What'd I tell you, a very smart cookie.)  I dug out two patterns, one is a fabric box and the other is the foldable travel tray.  I'll use the brown/gray cotton for the outside, it matches her placemat stove and microwave, and the natural canvas for the inside.  There's stiffener there so it'll hold its shape but I'm most excited about partially lining the inside with the graded blue so it looks like there's water in the sink and I'll sew the lace ruffle around the top of the blue so there's "suds" on the water.  Next up is cobbling the two patterns together to try to match the image in my head.  I'll keep you posted.

In the "You Have GOT To Be Kidding" Department--when I got into my car to leave yesterday morning the "check tire pressure" light was on so I zoomed over to the BP station and pumped it up.  Sometimes cold can make tires lose air; I figured that's what happened.  Until I got into it again in the late afternoon to discover it was low again.  I stopped at Joe's and he found a big nail in my other rear tire.  I almost cried.  I was on a time crunch so he overinflated it so I could get to where I was going and back, then Joe gave me a ride home.  It should be ready this morning so I can go to work but... REALLY?????  At least I'll have two new rear tires.  The last one was at Christmas so I said I got a new tire from Santa.  So now Happy Valentine's Day?  Gah.

January 27--Jamie Bloomquist/Outside Images, #CLMB0-02102.  Jack and Gary leaned into the wind.  Blowing snow pellets stung their faces and made small popping sounds as they hit their arctic suits.  The men were roped together, they wore crampons for traction, and used their ice axes to steady themselves.  Even in the midst of the storm neither man wore his hat, the exertion heated them up and at this altitude sweating could be deadly.  Jack was in the lead and he had slowed his pace so that the line between them hung slack.  A few times Gary had nearly stepped in a loop of the rope.  Getting tangled in it would be the first mistake that could end their trip badly.  Gary talked to himself as he plodded along.  "I wanted to go diving in Palau.  It's warm and sunny there and the water isn't solid.  I'll bet they have drinks with little umbrellas too.  No, we had to come to some god-forsaken mountain range in Too Remote to Name, Canada to freeze our balls off and go snow blind.  I need my head examined."  He nearly bumped into Jack who said, "Did you say something?"  "No, not really."  "Well, it's your turn to lead."  As Gary turned to walk he felt the ground beneath his feet shake.  He was behind a house-size boulder when an avalanche swept around him.  He felt a slight tug on the safety line.  When the slide had gone he was struck by the silence.  "Man, Jack, that was something, wasn't it?"  No response.  He pulled on the line and soon had the torn end in his hand.

And that's when I ran out of pages in the notebook.  I start a new one tonight.  I get about 6 months' worth of nightly prompts in one book.  I use those old-fashioned composition notebooks, not college ruled so I have lots of room on the lines to write.  By the time I'm writing my handwriting's all over the place.  Gotta get done getting ready so when they bring my car I can run out and zoom off.  Toodles.
--Barbara

We Got Snowed On

But nothing like the East Coast got last week, only 3 or 4 inches overnight.  That meant this is what my neighborhood looked like when I finished blowing the snow out of the driveway around 7 AM.  Isn't it pretty?  The birdfeeders all had pretty snow caps on them too.  I confess that I went out later and cleared them all off when I filled the feeders but for a few minutes they looked like a Christmas card.


Yesterday at work I knitted on the Jelli Beenz sock.  I decided to keep the flap and turn the way it was and pick up the gusset stitches and just keep on  knitting.  After supper I knitted a few rows on the Hello Hamish sweater.  I didn't take its picture but, trust me, it's a little longer than the last time you saw it.

January 26--Pictorial, #S031.6.7.  The day's last light stretched rad and gold across the sky, turning the lake to a molten sheet.  Jan and Tom stood watching the sun set, their arms around each other.  "Remember the first time we stood here?" Tom asked.  Jan snuggled against him.  "Mm-hm.  You were a counselor at Camp Win-a-mac and I was a carhop at Chalkie's Drive-in in town.  I thought you were out of my league, just a summer fling for a college man."  Tom tightened his hold.  "Not a summer fling.  The moment I laid eyes on you I knew it was forever."

Trite but awwww.  The sun's out and I think I'll grab the snow shovel and clear the driveway a bit better.  Or not.
--Barbara

Not Talking About Style Today

So you're saved a repeat of yesterday's whine, although I will say that the brown boots are going back to DSW.  I meant to wear them to work today but walking around the house I noticed that the top digs into my lower shin when I walk.  I'm not a fan so back they go.

I made those baked apples I talked about yesterday.  Durwood found a Weight Watchers recipe for baked apple apple pies, we had the apples and some aging pie crust dough so off I went.  The recipe said to cut the core out of the whole apple, then scoop out the flesh with a melonballer, leaving a 1/4" shell.  To me that sounded like a recipe for frustration and disaster.  Plus each serving was meant to be an entire large Granny Smith apple.  That seemed like a lot, so I cut the apples in half, stem to blossom end, cut out the core with a paring knife, and then used a grapefruit knife to cut out the flesh--and I still pierced the skin in a couple places.  Then you chop up the apple, toss it with brown sugar and cinnamon, mound it back into the apple shells, put on a little lattice crust, and drizzle it with a mixture of apple juice and maple syrup, then bake for 30 minutes or so.  They were good, not sweet enough for Durwood, but good.  We'll make them again, next time using Honeycrisp apples.

A couple weeks ago Kay on Mason Dixon Knitting talked about a new journal she's keeping and put on the link to the method.  I clicked and was intrigued.  It's called the Bullet Journal, subtitled an analog journal for the digital age.  So far I'm really just using mine as a calendar and to-do list but I can see how it will soon become a repository for creative ideas, menus, Investment Cooking plans, etc.  A couple years ago DD gave me a gridded notebook that I used a few pages of to organize novel ideas but that didn't pan out so I razored out the first couple pages, unearthed my Waterman pen (a real fountain pen with real ink cartridges and everything), watched the video, checked out a few journals on Pinterest, and plunged in.  I love writing with a real pen again.  It seems so... civilized.

Focusing on sock knitting for the last month motivated me to unearth the Jelli Beenz sock and work on it again.  Last night I finished the leg, knitted the heel flap, and turned the heel.  I'm not sure I'm a fan of the flap, I may rip it out and have another go at it but, look, sock!  I finished joining Sudoku block #6 and weaved in the tails this weekend too.  Six down, three to go.

January 25--Rae Russel, Delaware Elder.  The last time I saw my grandmother Irene Pounding Waves was the summer after my freshman year of college.  Mom forced me to go along, all four of us kids crammed in the minivan with the luggage.  My nearest brother, Tim, two years and eight days younger than me, sprawled across the way-back seat with his headphones clamped on his ears like he was on life support.  The littles, Gina, seven, and Dougie, four and a half took up the second row of seats with their booster car seats.  That left me riding shotgun next to Mom.  Dad stayed home.  He had to work.  I wanted to work too.  Mrs. Sampson needed help at her grocery store parking lot plant business and she said I could work as many hours as I wanted.  It was easy work and I liked plants so I was all set to start but Mom said first I had to go see Grandma Irene, that she was old and sick and wouldn't be around much longer.  I thought if I had to hear Grandma's rambling stories about how it was in the old days I would scream.

It is so dim and so dreary today that my instinct is to burrow under the covers and just let it pass but I have to go to work because Mrs. Boss is off diving in Dominica this week and somebody has to work.  That'd be me.  I'm off.
--Barbara