That was yesterday.
I met KS at the Bluefront Cafe in Sturgeon Bay where we each had a curried chicken salad sandwich and, may I say, it was to. die. for. I didn't take a picture, I was too busy eating and talking and laughing.
Then we adjourned to the local yarn shop, Spin, where we made small inroads in the bins of 40% off yarn. Small inroads, really, neither of us spent the rent, but we got good stuff. The best of the stuff remaining, IMHO. I found a couple skeins of some cotton yarn I have other colors of for making extra-fancy washcloths (these are too pretty to be called "warshrags"), three colors of marled Rowan Cotton Jeans yarn because I'm all about cotton and dishcloths right now, and two different skeins of superwash wool that's super soft and a lot for the money. One skein is more blue than I'm really a fan of but it was the last one and, well, I couldn't leave it there to be an orphan. (rationalize much?) I'm thinking I'll make it into a sock. The other skein is more my colors--orange and purple--that will make a pretty scarf, mitts or shawlette. (somebody on a blog I read calls those little shawls "neck napkins" and I think that's a pretty apt name)
Once we'd made our selections (but before paying for them) we sat at the table in the middle of the store and knitted while considering which skeins got to come home with us. I worked on reknitting back into the Black Bean shawl the yarn that I'd ripped out on Friday night and making sure that I did the right "slip"-ing and didn't forget a yarn over (yo)--with moderate success. We visited with the woman working in the shop and met another pair of knitters that we had a nice chat and knit with. It's amazing how sharing such a quiet hobby connects you with so many interesting and friendly people.
KS wanted to go to the quilt fabric store in downtown Sturgeon Bay before it closed so I followed her there, just to keep her company, you understand. We found parking places together a few stores down from the quilt store so we window shopped our way down to it. At the very first store next to where we parked there was a table with a few pairs of shoes on it outside in the entryway. I immediately gravitated to the pair of rainbow flats and picked one up. It was made out of elastic on a molded base, was marked down to $29 from $70, and was size 41. It was calling my name so I went inside to ask what a size 41 is in American only to be told that it's a size 10. I wear size 10. Isn't that lucky? I tried it on and loved the way it felt. I took my orthotic out of my tennis shoe; it didn't fit. I sat there for a minute, disappointed, but I rallied, realizing that I have an old, shorter pair of orthotics at home and that I didn't have to wear them all the time. So I bought the shoes. Besides they have a silver thread through the black elastics so they sparkle.
After supper, I wore my new shoes (without any orthotics *gasp* how daring), my black leggings, and a swing cardigan to Stone Harbor resort a few miles from here to listen to my diving friend, KC's band, Charisma, play. I only stayed for one set, about an hour, but it was fun to be out and about after dark and feeling like I looked slightly better than usual. (sorry the photo is blurry; I think the phone focused on the chair in front of me.)
I didn't write, didn't watch TV, just read a bit and hit the hay. This morning I'm lolling in the room but I think I'll find a shady spot along the bay or the ship canal to have a picnic lunch and then knit, read, nap, or all three. Bye.
--Barbara
(nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, as the Three Stooges used to say) First thing, I took my Black Bean shawl to knit on last night and kept having an extra stitch on the knit side but the correct number of stitches on the purl side. I was frustrated so KW grabbed my pattern and said, "I'll read, you knit." Immediately the problem was found. Where it said "slip, slip, slip, knit" (sssk) I was only doing "slip, slip, knit" (ssk). It took all of my self-control not to wham my forehead on the table. I still find myself forgetting the last yarn over on the knit side once in a while but I'll get the hang of this, don't you worry. One thing ironed out.
Next, the Weight Watchers cookbooks Durwood and I ordered came yesterday. I want to make everything in the one with recipes for one or two people. Every. Thing. Except for the yummy-looking desserts that "cost" 11 or 12 points per serving. I'm not willing to spend that quantity on something so fleeting. I'll cook up a quick cherry crisp in the microwave instead, that only costs 4 points--plus FRUIT. Aanyway, a couple of the most appealing main dishes ask you to cook the meat in a grill pan. We don't have a grill pan. Then I remembered that a couple weeks earlier Goodwill had a whole aisle of brand new cast iron cookware, so I hotfooted it over there to see if there was any left. Voila! There were a few skillets, a couple of griddles, and three grill pans, one of which now resides in our kitchen, and it was $17.99. Yes, a brand new cast iron pan for less than twenty bucks. I just googled some reviews and the brand isn't well-reviewed but I figure for a grill pan that we'll use every once in a while, this might just do the trick, and if it's crap I didn't spend a lot since I used my $5 Good Points credit so it was really $12.99. Second thing ironed out. Get it? "Ironed" out. (I crack myself up.)
A knitting friend stopped over early this morning for some rhubarb and a sprig of bay leaves. I trimmed some herbs for her too and noticed this. It's one of the Health Kick, extra lycopene, tomatoes getting red so I turned it for Durwood to keep an eye on. Woohoo! While trimming herbs for KW I thought I should trim all of the stems so they bush out instead of being so leggy. I kept the trimmings separate and made an herb bouquet for my friend KS. We're meeting for lunch and knitting today. Speaking of that, I need to drive off in about 15 minutes so I'd better type faster--or think less.
July 30--Skip Brown, Ches Bay Canoe Racing. Life along the water was ever moving, ever changing. Anita couldn't imagine living where there were no sailboats, no fishing boats, no freighters out on the horizon. She tried to take photos of the gulls that wheeled and squawked after the fishermen but all she got were blurry specks in a too blue sky. The storms were epic. The sky would fill with clouds blown into piles by the wind. Waves would rise as if by magic to fling themselves against the rocky cove below her house. Her sister lived in a small suburban house with nothing but a birdbath view and not enough sky to make a good-size quilt.
And that, kids, is that. For today anyway. I've got my WW food packed and bags of baby carrots, grapes, and blueberries for snacks. I'm not going to pretend that I won't slip a time or two but I'm doing what I can to stay the course. Since it should be a lifelong course, it's about time I knuckled down and got busy eating better, eating more of the foods that I really love and that make me feel good. End of rant. I'm off.
--Barbara
Durwood and I agreed that we'd had enough of that lone red tomato taunting us with its rosy plumpness so I went out, picked it, let him hold it and sniff it, cored it, cut it in half--and then we ate it. No bacon, no mayo, no bread or lettuce, just pure unadulterated homegrown tomato. We agreed that it was a little under-ripe but a person can endure only so much. It had to be done.
We had a visitor this morning. A sharp-shinned hawk came to overlook the parking lot behind our house. I love this view of it looking over its shoulder.
I tried weaving in the tails of this crocheted hexagon as I finished each color yesterday and it was much less onerous than leaving them until the hex is finished. *pat, pat* Good thinking, Barbara.
And despite having quite a few projects "on the go" I cast on this Black Bean shawl last night. My excuse, uh, reason is that I'm going to be knitting in a yarn shop tomorrow and it's bad form to knit with yarn not obtained or obtainable in said store. See? It would be impolite to knit on Sudoku Strip #5 or the Advent Garland mittens (although I did buy most of that variegated yarn there)... okay, I confess, I wanted to knit this shawl. *hangs head*
The nylon drawer glide thingy on the silverware drawer broke the other day, which meant that you had to be extra careful opening that drawer because it'd tip and threaten to spill all the flatware, so this morning I emptied the phone book drawer next to it, unscrewed the (unbroken) part I needed to replace and took it to Home Depot. They don't have them. Our cupboards are so old that drawer sliding technology has advanced way beyond our ancient fitments. Ours has the slider on the bottom of the drawer with a narrow metal channel it goes into and slides on. The new ones have the sliders on the sides, half screwed on the drawers themselves and half screwed onto part of the cabinet body. We don't have cabinet parts that the side ones can screw into. Dammit. Our temporary solution (a very Hank Angermeier School of Home Repair solution) is trading the broken silverware drawer for the unbroken phone book drawer next to it and then loading 10# of lead shot pouches from the SCUBA bin into the back of the broken slider drawer to keep it from flinging the phone book and scissors on the floor until we can find a permanent fix. There used to be an old-fashioned hardware store in town where you could find just about anything but the owner went on an African safari a few years back, caught some deadly disease there, came home, kicked the bucket, and his kids sold out. So, anyone got a nylon doodad like this kicking around?
July 29--Skip Brown, Sunset Skimboarder, Maui. The water looked like molten copper but it was soft and warm as we waded in from shore. We were doing a sunset dive because Will said he wanted "to watch the shift change on the reef." I wasn't all that enthusiastic. I liked diving during the day when sunlight speared through the clear water and all the colorful fish darted around the coral. Night diving wasn't my favorite. The fish that were active were drab colors and I was half-convinced that sea monsters lurked just beyond the edge of my light beam.
Okay, then. It's just about time to heat up the leftover pizza so we can eat and then I can go off to Friday Night Knitting. Then I'll pack up a few things when I get home because tomorrow morning I'm running away from home--for a couple nights. Just up to Sturgeon Bay to have lunch with a friend and spend the afternoon knitting with her tomorrow, then a dive buddy's band is playing at a resort in Sturgeon Bay so I'll go over for a drink and to listen for a bit, but Sunday I intend to veg, just loll around doing whatever strikes my fancy, then I'll get up on Monday and tootle back to town for my chiro appointment and to meet a friend for lunch. Sounds good, don't you think? I'm foolishly excited about it. You be good while I'm gone; I'll still blog because even though I'm absolutely certain that this motel could have an "Abe Lincoln slept here" sign on it, they have free wi-fi. Woohoo! Pizza time.
--Barbara
I waffled after supper last night. Had to try out the new waffle maker, didn't I? I whipped up a batch of waffle batter and got to waffling. It took a few tries (and a few messes) to get the quantity of batter in the maker so it spread to the edges and didn't ooze out making said messes. If I'd done better at filling the squares the last two waffles probably would have been full instead of partial, but I cooled them, wrapped them in the lovely green Reynolds Wrap, and froze them overnight. This morning I slid them into a couple freezer bags and then put half of the burritos, half of the waffles, and half of the fruit pops downstairs in the freezer.
Oh, I didn't show you the fruit pops? You know I'm a fruit-aholic, right? I love fresh fruit and fruit in almost any form, so I was trolling through the books on my Kindle and came upon a couple of ice pop recipe books I'd forgotten about. When I was in Walmart the other day I bought a store-brand bag of frozen sweet cherries (they're prepitted, it was a no-brainer) and a quart of fresh strawberries so I whipped up a batch of cherry pops (the dark red ones) and strawberry pops (the pink ones). Then, realizing that two pops molds take up lots of freezer room, I carefully extracted half of each and swapped them so there are 4 of each flavor in each mold. That meant I can stash half of them downstairs and make room upstairs. (brilliant, if I do say so myself)
This morning as I finished breakfast and reading the paper a few big raindrops fell making splorts and bubbles in the birdbath; I was lucky enough to catch one of each in a single shot. And even in the rain a Goldfinch came for some nyjer seed. I'm a big fan of the high contrast and sharp lines between the colors.
Durwood and I conferred, tomorrow the tomato gets it. We're going to pick it and share it tomorrow. I hope it tastes as good as it looks. None of the others are turning pink yet but a few are a pale yellow-green so soon.
July 28--Skip Brown, West Virginia Morning Biking. In the dawn blue light, Sarah and Skip pedaled up the road that carved a sinuous path through the hills. They crested a rise just as the sun peeked over the horizon. They stopped to catch their breath and watched the mist rise like wraiths into the warming day. West Virginia was a constant surprise. Neither one of them had anticipated its beauty or the gracious friendliness of the people. Sarah smiled to see the long downhill ahead. Her legs already ached and they had barely begun the day's ride.
I got a nice surprise when I got to work yesterday. Over the weekend Mrs. Boss sold all three of our high-pressure steel SCUBA tanks and for almost full asking price. That'll cover my weekend away and even help with any shortfall in my stash for my week at The Clearing at the end of September. We decided that it was foolish to store those tanks when, if I want to go diving (which I won't because I'm not going to risk my ankle on slippery rocks and uneven entries), I can use a tank from the dive shop. Thanks everso, Mrs. Boss. Time to head out. Later, dudes & dudettes.
--Barbara
A few days ago Durwood ate the last homemade frozen waffle and a few days before that the last breakfast burrito went. That meant he had to think about what to eat when he got up. Horrors. Well, I got a dozen eggs for 38 cents, had some breakfast sausage in the freezer, bought a 20 pack of flour tortillas (because the last batch was made with mistakenly-bought white corn tortillas--tasty but they broke apart when eaten), and Durwood had gotten a bunch of cheese on a "twofer" deal. We had all the ingredients in-house, plus that appetizing green Reynolds Wrap, so last night after supper I made 16 breakfast burritos. Durwood tried to dissuade me from doing it in the evening but I timed myself and with frozen diced bell peppers and having him dice the onion, it only took an hour from start to finish. Piece of cake. Tonight I plan to try out the new, non-Belgian waffle iron I got at Walmart last weekend so he'll have a bag of frozen waffles too. I know it sounds like a lot of work for something we can buy but I'm convinced that the things I make for the freezer are much healthier (and I know they have less salt), less expensive per serving, and tastier than the stuff that comes out of a box. Plus it makes me feel like I'm taking real good care of him.
(Okay, got my week's lunches put together so I don't forget them.)
Lots is going on outside these days. The sun's coming up a little later (boo!) but that means it's still behind the big tree in back so I can take pretty early morning pictures like this (yay!).
We saw what we think is an Orchard Oriole at the jelly yesterday. I didn't have time to look in a bird book yet but I think that's what it is.
Durwood's first tomato is reddening fast. It won't surprise me if he gets to eat it before the weekend's over.
The Stargazer Lily's still blooming, not gazing at the stars because the three big blossoms are too heavy for the spindly stalk but I still think they're gorgeous and, boy, do they smell great.
There's a dark and shiny bead-thing on the Lantana. I don't know what it is. Any gardeners out there have a clue?
We saw a hummingbird visit a couple times yesterday so Durwood made some fresh birdie juice, a double batch, so the feeder's nice and full for any future visits. And there's an adolescent bunny frequenting the weeds growing between the patio stones. Plus the marauding squirrels and the veritable horde of chipmunks that dine on everything no matter how high it's hung.
No knitting. Maybe tomorrow.
July 27 (already)--Michael Kevin Daly, Kayaker. Gail watched the foamy white water get closer to the bow of her kayak. She knew that the water wasn't moving toward her, she was moving toward it but the roar of it echoing off the riverside rocks drowned out coherent thought. What had the instructor said? For a moment she couldn't remember if she was supposed to aim at the rocks or at the place between them. She shook her head and let her body take the lead. She cinched her PFD tighter and paddled like a madwoman for the narrow gap between the boulders that forced the fast-moving water aside. In the space of one long breath she was through, spit out and down into the quiet water below the rapids. All of a sudden she realized that she was grinning and hoping there would be more white water before the take out point.
I would love to learn to kayak, it looks like such a peaceful way to spend an afternoon on the water. I'm feeling a lot happier and a lot more energetic. That Monday talking-to must have done the trick. Oh, probably making plans to be away on Saturday and Sunday nights ALL BY MYSELF helped too. Since April 1 I haven't really been anywhere except home and work and I need the break. I found a cheap room in a 1950s era motel in Sturgeon Bay and plan to just knit and chill for a couple days. Ahhh, I can't wait.
--Barbara
... to drag myself into a better mood. Because I got on the scale (Monday is Weigh-In Day chez moi) to discover that I've lost 9# in the last week. Even if I subtract 2# for the clothes I was wearing when I got weighed in the doc's office last week, 7# is still a terrific number. Even if I didn't stick to the plan perfectly, this is a triumph. So I should feel better, right? (sit up straight, open your eyes wide, pull yourself up by your bra straps, Barbara, you did good and ate well; eating like this is not a punishment, you even had ice cream and chocolate, just less of it, so grow up and get over yourself)
In other good news, a tomato is pinking up. It's the first one that appeared on the bush tomato plant. I noticed that it was just barely orange-y-pink last night when I was grilling out and this morning it's obvious that reddening is happening. Durwood is ecstatic.
I think I killed the celery. It was going great guns so I potted it and watered it (maybe too much) and it's puckering up and dying. *sigh* And things were going so well. Guess I potted it too soon and most likely overwatered it. We'll try again.
But avocado pit #2 has totally split and sent out a root (sorry about the picture looking like it belongs in Gray's Anatomy or Ripley's Believe it or Not), and avocado pit #1 has cracked. Those are very good things, right? *nods firmly* Right.
When I set up the new sprinkler yesterday afternoon (which works great) I noticed a flower up by the retaining wall. I thought it was a Morning Glory but after I lit the charcoal I went up there (the safe way so I didn't hurt my ankle) to discover a Petunia. I wonder where it came from? Well, I'm sure a Petunia seed got pooped there by a bird but I didn't think they'd grow from seed that quickly. It's very pretty--white with a lilac splotch on it--I should probably move it so the lawn mowers don't mow it, although they're not mowing in that area because of the grass seed. I'll leave it, I guess, until the seeds sprout and need mowing.
Yesterday I felt guilty that I hadn't knit since Friday Night so I cast on Sudoku Strip #5, mostly because Aunt B hinted that I should get the damned thing done so I can move on, kick that project off the top of the guilt-making list. She's very smart. Thanks for the boot to the behind--and needles, Aunt B. (I don't know why this picture is sideways; I've tried to fix it but had no luck.)
July 25--Michael Kevin Daly, Skier.
White powder,
blue sky,
dry snow,
crisp air
cold enough to freeze your nose
seems far away
from today's muggy heat.
I say I won't complain
when the pendulum's swung
the other way
but I always do.
~~~~~
Yep, every mid-winter I swear I won't complain when it's hot and every mid-summer I swear I won't complain when it's cold but I always do. Always. I'm predictable that way. The weather-guesser lady said last night that it'll be cooler and less muggy by midweek. I hope she's right for once. Toodle-oo.
--Barbara
Remember I said that I've been crabby lately? Well, yesterday wasn't any better and I didn't do any knitting or sewing or anything else worth taking a picture of or talking about. I did a single load of laundry and cut out a pattern for a swimsuit bottom for LC but you don't want to see laundry, especially since it's still in the dryer, and I didn't cut out the lining for the bottoms and don't know her waist and leg measurements for the elastic so that didn't go anywhere either. I'm blaming the absolutely dreadful hot and HUMID weather we've had lately for my malaise.
Supper was the only thing that made the day bearable. We had a quarter of that marinated grilled pork tenderloin left so we sliced it and a handful of baby carrots, quartered another handful of sugar snap peas, and sliced up the smallest of the yellow squash, along with a bit of onion to make a stir fry. Served over rice and sprinkled with a few toasted sesame seeds it was a tour de force of fridge raiding--and Weight Watcher-y as all get out. (Which reminds me I need to put the sauce I made into a "recipe" so I don't have to keep doing it ingredient by ingredient every time.)
This morning a Downy Woodpecker came for a late breakfast. I love their black and white coloring. They look so neat and tidy, and ready for a formal party.
July 24--Michael Kevin Daly, Runner. The young woman ran up Pecan Street, earbuds in her ears, a faraway look on her face. Myra watched from the deep shade of her porch. "Look at her running in the heat of the day," she said. Her sister-in-law Lydia set her iced tea glass on a coaster on the rattan table between their rockers. "Mm-hm. You'd think her brain would be boiling in this heat. At least she has the sense to stay on the shady side of the street." Myra nodded. "And neither Joe MacFarlane nor Fido can pester her over here. I swear that man feels he can have an opinion about everyone and every thing and that dog has ruined my rose bushes more than once." "You mean peed on them, don't you?" Lydia looked across the street at the MacFarlane place. "What's that lying in Joe's yard? It looks like a bundle of laundry there next to the mailbox." Myra glanced over and stood up so fast her chair fell over. "It's Joe. Lydia, call 9-1-1. I'm going over to see what I can do." Her voice trailed after her as she ran down the steps and started across the lawn.
And that's it. I haven't knit a stitch since Friday night. (I know, *gasp*) I went to Walmart earlier for a new sprinkler. I got the most expensive cheap one so if it doesn't work next year I won't feel like I'm throwing money away when I buy a new one, and I got the second-cheapest waffle maker so I can make some non-Belgian waffles to freeze for Durwood's breakfast. He likes toasting them and then spreading jam on them for breakfast or a snack. Maybe I'll brave the heat and go hook up the new sprinkler...
--Barbara
Two of the three stargazer lily buds have opened. They're so pretty, aren't they? It's still beastly hot and muggy. I tried to fix the lawn sprinkler so I could easily water the grass seed I spread around last weekend but had no luck. Oh, it came apart all right, it's the putting back together part I'm having trouble with. I didn't reach the fling-it-at-the-wall level of frustration but I did reach the buy-another-one-for-now stage. I'll be doing that tomorrow.
The other night I made a couple Christmas stocking hexagons. I haven't woven in the tails yet and I will do that before I make another one. Even though there are only 16 of them to make, 16 is too many to sit and weave in the tails if I leave it until the end.
Last night I finished the July Seamen's Cowl. I really like the rust solid yarn with the green and rust variegated, and I still have plenty of the green variegated left to make a mitten and stocking for the Advent Garland. Yay!
I've rejoined Weight Watchers and they have, once again, completely re-engineered their program which means that all of the recipes that I'd laboriously typed in last time have gone down the WW drain with the old PointsPlus program. Grrr. The most frustrating part was that their hotline person led me to believe if I reactivated my old account instead of opening a new one I'd have access to all of the stuff I'd put in before. NOT. They did give me 2 weeks free for my frustration, which is nice, but I'm back at square one nevertheless. The other annoying thing is there isn't a printed program, it's all online. Evidently everyone has a Smartphone so they can just put in foods and get the points right on there, no pesky paper book for Durwood to thumb through when he's planning supper. We did order a couple cookbooks and a points calculator so help is on the way. I hate being old and crabby about this, but I still like to hold a manual in my hand when I want to look stuff up. We'll see if I'm happier on Monday (weigh in day) since I've been kind of hitting the program most of the week with a few random tangents. The cool thing is that things like points for the Hardee's chicken strips I had on the way to Knitting Guild on Thursday are online as is the pizza we get every Tuesday and finish on Friday so that'll make it a lot easier to have a normal eating life. (I'd like to say that I'm crabby, I've been crabby for about a week, so do not construe this rant as a slam on the WW program, it's me. I'll adjust.)
July 23--Michael Kevin Daly, Golfer. The ball disappeared as it rose, the dimpled white cloud behind it hiding it in plain sight like a magic trick. Jean squinted into the distance watching for her ball to reappear. She hoped it was somewhere on the fairway, in the middle would be good. Just not in the rough or the sand trap, she prayed, or the water. She heard a sound behind her and turned to find her ball rolling to a stop six feet behind where she had teed off.
This is exactly how I imagine things would go if I ever tried to play golf. I think I'll go fling the laundry around. Oh, I almost forgot, I got a phone call this morning and the young man on the other end said, "Hi, Grandma, I was in a car accident." "Really?" I said, "that's funny because our grandson is 3 months old and can't talk much less drive or make phone calls. You have the wrong number." Now I'm sorry I didn't play along a bit before I told him to go pound sand. Missed opportunity.
--Barbara
Did I mention that it's muggy? And hot? Also steamy and broiling. According to my dashboard thermometer this afternoon it was 100 degrees. I don't think it really was, probably in the mid-90s but seeing that "100" there in green numbers made me think "hey, I got 100% today" like a doofus. Must have been the heat... or the humidity.
I finished the July Preemie Hat #4 at work yesterday. It's so tiny, it looks like a Christmas ornament, in fact that's what a couple of the knitters at Guild thought it was. (it was sprinkling rain so we met in the church basement instead of in the park, thank heavens.) Today I bagged up all four July hats and dropped them off at the Information Desk at the local hospital with a NICU where one of the Guild members works.
Speaking of Guild, the clouds looked amazing when I drove home last night so I pulled into the parking lot behind our house where I've got a more unobstructed view. It looked even cooler than this but I hope you get the idea.
The one surviving nasturtium is thriving, I even remember to water it when I water the tomatoes just about every day. Fingers crossed that these three lily buds open up soon before any rampaging chipmunk takes it into its head to scale the stalk and nibble the buds.
July 22--Skip Gandy, Fisherman. Lena sat in the shadow of the sea grape watching the fisherman. He gathered the net, coiled his body, and then cast the net into the sea. The weighted edge spread and dropped into the shallow water to trap bait fish. The sun set while he fished, his bronze body silhouetted against the flaming sky. Golden droplets flew from his hands as they worked. Lena wanted to fish, she knew she could throw the net and learn to take fish back to the village.
Lame. Lame, lame, lame. I blame the heat. The humidity too. You'd think that it wouldn't matter since I'm closed in an air conditioned house but it does. I think I'll go rifle the downstairs freezer to see what meat I can thaw out to put on the grill tomorrow. Our favorite parking lot produce grower, Sunny Hill Farms started selling sweet corn the other day and I might have bought a few ears for us to eat tomorrow. We'll need grilled meat to go with it, don't you think? Nighty-night.
--Barbara
At the end of yesterday's post I thought about making sun tea so I nipped downstairs, grabbed a couple wide-mouth quart jars and lids, the decaf tea, and came up to assemble it. I snapped off some chocolate mint to put into one jar and some apple mint for the other, then I dangled three tea bags in each one, filled it with cool water, screwed on the lids, and put them out on the patio table. Fifteen minutes later when I came back into the kitchen after dressing this is what I saw. When I got home after work the tea was mahogany colored and pretty darned good. I think next time I'll put in another tea bag because it's a little weak when poured over ice but, all in all, I'm happy with the results. I filled a water bottle halfway with tea before bed last night, laid it on an angle in the freezer, and will top it up with liquid tea before I leave for work. That way I'll have cold, undiluted tea to drink at Knitting Guild this evening. (don't worry, I'll figure out a way to keep it semi-frozen through the day)
I was busy enough at work yesterday that this little piddly bit is all I got done of July Preemie Hat #4--and it's the smallest size of all. After supper I crocheted another stocking hexagon. I confess that I haven't made one a day since last Friday but I hope to keep making them more frequently from now on.
I am happy to report that not all of the stargazer lilies died or got eaten after all. One is just opening and has a bud. The other lily has three buds on it. Yay and Hooray also Hallelujah.
A few baby milkweeds have sprouted where I sprinkled the seeds from the Wildlife Sanctuary, and one has a pretty copper beetle on it. Not a Japanese beetle. Whew.
July 21--Skip Gandy, Regatta.
like drowned rockets
sailboats chase each other
on the wind
up to the buoy
around
and back
they lean away
to catch the slightest edge
of speed
for bragging rights
and a tarnished
loving cup
~~~~~
We're having a thunderstorm. It got so dark it looked like night and we just had one whale of a boomer. Unfortunately the storm is not blowing in cooler weather, it's just pumping up the humidity. This is why I'm wearing shorts and a tank top to work today. I'm taking a denim shirt to wear in the well-air-conditioned store but it's just too hot and muggy for denim capris even indoors. Stay cool. Drink lots of water, Gatorade, or tea.
--Barbara
Then we adjourned to the local yarn shop, Spin, where we made small inroads in the bins of 40% off yarn. Small inroads, really, neither of us spent the rent, but we got good stuff. The best of the stuff remaining, IMHO. I found a couple skeins of some cotton yarn I have other colors of for making extra-fancy washcloths (these are too pretty to be called "warshrags"), three colors of marled Rowan Cotton Jeans yarn because I'm all about cotton and dishcloths right now, and two different skeins of superwash wool that's super soft and a lot for the money. One skein is more blue than I'm really a fan of but it was the last one and, well, I couldn't leave it there to be an orphan. (rationalize much?) I'm thinking I'll make it into a sock. The other skein is more my colors--orange and purple--that will make a pretty scarf, mitts or shawlette. (somebody on a blog I read calls those little shawls "neck napkins" and I think that's a pretty apt name)
KS wanted to go to the quilt fabric store in downtown Sturgeon Bay before it closed so I followed her there, just to keep her company, you understand. We found parking places together a few stores down from the quilt store so we window shopped our way down to it. At the very first store next to where we parked there was a table with a few pairs of shoes on it outside in the entryway. I immediately gravitated to the pair of rainbow flats and picked one up. It was made out of elastic on a molded base, was marked down to $29 from $70, and was size 41. It was calling my name so I went inside to ask what a size 41 is in American only to be told that it's a size 10. I wear size 10. Isn't that lucky? I tried it on and loved the way it felt. I took my orthotic out of my tennis shoe; it didn't fit. I sat there for a minute, disappointed, but I rallied, realizing that I have an old, shorter pair of orthotics at home and that I didn't have to wear them all the time. So I bought the shoes. Besides they have a silver thread through the black elastics so they sparkle.
After supper, I wore my new shoes (without any orthotics *gasp* how daring), my black leggings, and a swing cardigan to Stone Harbor resort a few miles from here to listen to my diving friend, KC's band, Charisma, play. I only stayed for one set, about an hour, but it was fun to be out and about after dark and feeling like I looked slightly better than usual. (sorry the photo is blurry; I think the phone focused on the chair in front of me.)
