We are still in the grip of the Polar $%#^& Vortex. It's barely 20 degrees outside but at least it's sunny. Maybe the sun still has the power to warm things up a bit, melt a bit of frost off... everything. Today I am definitely going to swap the lawnmower for the snowblower and put the last of the patio furniture in the shed.
Maybe I'll run a couple loads of laundry and do a little cooking but that's it. I'm determined to waste these two days in aimless pursuits, or as close to it as I can get. When we were at the grocery yesterday Durwood was searching for some frozen breakfast burritos for some variety and something quick with protein. I said since I had a package of flour tortillas in the freezer, we have eggs (we even have Egg Beaters), some chopped onion and bell pepper, and cheese in the larder, I'd make him some. They even had Brown 'n Serve sausages on sale, so for a $1.27 investment and a little time I figure I can crank out some single-serving packages for the freezer. Homemade has to out-taste some frozen thing, right? I thought so too.
After I filled the birdfeeders yesterday I picked a couple pockets full of apples from the tree in back. I've been wanting apple pie and today I'm making one. I'll make a rustic one, you know, where you put down the pie crust, then pile the filling in the center and fold up the edges. I don't have enough for a pie plate pie, besides I like the rustic kind. You can whack off a little sliver and walk away with it for a snack. I might even have a pear or two in the crisper to throw in for variety.
In knitting news, I've been working on the Jelli Beanz sock a bit, in waiting rooms mostly. I ribbed the whole leg of the last worsted sock I made and I like it, so I'm doing this one that way too. It's a little slower than stockinette (all knitting all the time) but the sock feels nice and it stays up a bit better. I finished the body of the Peapod Alfalfa hat last night at Friday Night Knitting but I'm going to wait to weave in the tails and knit the ties until I'm sure it'll fit SomeBaby. I like this yarn too much to have it not fit. In the meantime I think I've found another hat that needs to be knitted, and I already have the yarn for it. Of course.
November 15--Pierre-Francois-Leonard Fontaine, Page from a Sketchbook of a Journey to Chateau d'Eu. The full moon was bright behind a thin scrim of clouds, illuminating the garden in soft silver light. Leah was glad fort the glow. She could see her way without turning on the small flashlight she carried. The trickling stream looked like quicksilver in the moonlight. It chuckled to itself as it tumbled over the small stones in its bed.
Seems like I got caught in images and vocabulary to the detriment of story but it was late and I was sleepy. (How would you like to have three hyphenated first names like that artists? I wonder what his middle name is. Names? Hard for form-filling-out.) I think it's time for me to see about doing very little and only what I want to do. Toodles.
--Barbara
Even though Friday usually kicks me in the arse with appointments and errands and chores, I still love it and I especially love this Friday because next Friday I have to work. I work next Saturday too because Mrs. & Mr. Boss are leaving for a diving equipment show on Sunday and will be gone all week, so guess who's left to work? Me! Woohoo, big paycheck coming my way. It looks like snow is coming my way too, look at the dark gray clouds in the western sky this morning, and look how far to the right (south) the sun is rising this morning. We're definitely on the downward slide to winter. *sigh* Might as well get it over with.
Last night at Knitting Guild a lady from the Green Yarn Company came to show us her goodies and tell us about their company. They started reclaiming yarn by un-knitting sweaters, washing and re-skeining the yarn, over-dyeing some, then selling it. Some of the sweaters they shred and turn into batts for spinners to make new yarn from. I bought a skein of yarn made from recycled blue jeans. Cool, huh? I also got a set of square Double-Pointed Needles. The square ones are supposed to be easier on your hands so I'm anxious to try them. They had Fair Trade items--baskets from Ghana, sari silk yarn and little felted purses from Nepal--that were hard to resist, but I resisted.
I'm making progress on the Peapod Alfalfa Hat for SomeBaby, but I'm afraid it'll be too small for her. I think I'm going to add some rounds so it's sure to cover her ears. I love the color.
November 14--Italy, Albarello. Kate hurled the vase at the opening door. It shattered on the solid wood and the pieces ricocheted off the tile floor. "Stay out," she shouted, "I don't want to see you." The door stopped opening and Mary's soft voice came through the gap. "Good, I never liked that Italian vase, the guy painted on there gave me the creeps." She paused and pushed the door open a bit more. "Can you toss that awful green and orange plate next? That is truly ugly." Kate wiped her eyes and said, "Do you think so? I've always liked it." She walked over and pulled the door wide. "Let me sweep up this mess before someone gets hurt." Her tantrums were like that, quickly over like a spring storm and then it was right back to sunny weather.
That's all I've got. I'm determined to spend at least one weekend day doing not much of anything. Let's see if I can accomplish nothing. I'm determined, and marginally hopeful.
-Barbara
It's so cold that I wore my winter coat to work yesterday, put toe warmers in my shoes after lunch, and put on a beanie as soon as I got into the car to come home. It's still the first half of November. If it's this cold now, what's it going to be like in the middle of winter, huh? Can you tell me that? Will it be 50 below zero or 50 above? Are we going to have snow hub-deep to a Ferris wheel or barely enough to cover the ground? It's too cold too soon, is all I'm saying. You can quote me.
The only reason I went out this morning was to fill the birdbath and while I was out there I snapped this picture of the pink dawn. Everything is frosty out there--roofs, blades of grass, unraked leaves--and I'm telling you right now, those leaves are going to stay unraked. I might go out to uproot the tomato plants if it's sunny one day this weekend when I swap the lawnmower for the snowblower but I'm not raking. Nope, not raking.
I finished my Shelf Elf last night. All I had left to do was finish one of his giant shoes, sew it to his leg, knit his scarf, then embroider his face, oh, and sew the jingle bell onto the end of his hat. It'll grow on me.
November 13--Andrea Pfister, Boot. Maeve felt like Roger was twined around her like he was a choking vine. She wasn't sure when the balance of power in their relationship had tipped so far in her favor. She had always seen them as equals but once her career took off, when she had gotten used to being in charge that's when things had started to change.
That's when the tiny thread of that idea fizzled and faded into nothingness. Ah well, I don't like Maeve and Roger anyway. I get to go to work today and then tonight's the Bay Lakes Knitting Guild meeting. Yay! I always enjoy the meetings. Do you knit? You should come.
--Barbara
That's supposed to be today's high temperature. High. Tomorrow's is only supposed to be 21. It's November 12th, people, that's way too cold for November 12th. I'd like to speak to the person in charge. When I went out to take this picture I scared up a black cat hiding behind some flower pots. It's been hanging around our yard all year and I think it has taken care of the small rodent population in back. I've noticed when I spill birdseed it stays where I spill it until the birds find it, before it was gone in the blink of an eye when the chipmunks and voles and mice were plentiful. As long as it leaves the good birds alone it can stay. (It can eat as many sparrows as it likes, they're bullies and take over the feeders and fling all the seed on the ground.)
Sorry I didn't post yesterday, it was one of those days where I could have slept all day. I drove up to Sturgeon Bay to meet a friend for lunch and talk about planning a knitting retreat, I even stopped at Spin to adopt a couple skeins of 40% off yarn, then drove home, and took a nap. I never take naps. Durwood's the nap person around here but yesterday I needed a nap. I think all the short nights and doing too much and having a cold caught up with me. Today will be better.
Speaking of yarn, here's what I got; a skein of Ultra Alpaca in Dark Berry that'll make some warm and cozy mitts or mittens, and a skein of Indie Dyer sock yarn in Sweet Autumn, it looks a little pill-y so it'll definitely become a sock since pills are easy to hide in a shoe.
November 12--Etienne Bobillet, Mourners. The uncles stood like statues at the front of the church. The rest of the family slunk in. Rita whined, "Do I have to go in? Can't I just wave and then go for a drink? We could meet at The Stick in half an hour. Gram would understand." I couldn't figure out why she didn't shrivel up and die from all the dirty looks she got.
Well, that was cheerful. Guess you have to be awake to write, although some of the stuff I've read makes me think that not all writers have their brains engaged when they're writing. Ah well, time to shower, dress, etc., all that necessary workday stuff. Seeyabye.
--Barbara
Snowing, I mean. The weather guys said it would snow today but I didn't think they meant right away. Well, I supposed it's expected now that we're into the double digits of November but I'm really not psychically ready for it. Not.
At the Knitting Guild's Knit-Away Day on Nov. 1 we had a gift grab and I ended up with an IOU from MW who had been in a bit of a rush and left his at home. He also comes to Friday Night Knitting so I got my gift then. Look! It's a gorgeous soft scarf with a little sparkle in it, a shawl pin, and some Deborah Norville US8 needle tips with 2 lengths of cable that he got on clearance at JoAnn. Score! Thanks, MW.
I had hoped to loll around yesterday, only getting dressed to go get my nails done, but that didn't work out. I ended up with a string of errands, stopping in a couple places for gift cards, picking up groceries, and getting supplies for fixing up one of the dive guys' light. I did get my nails done but it was one of those "too much time to just wait but too short to really get something accomplished" things, so I basically just goofed off playing a computer game until time to go to the salon, and then I ended up waiting over half an hour. Oh well, it was Sunday and I didn't really have anything pressing. I thought about finishing up my Elf but I was so sleepy yesterday I knew I'd just screw it up and end up either having to take it apart again or making it look like plastic surgery gone wrong so I left it alone.
And that's it. I took an "I don't know how long" practice nap on the couch and then staggered off to bed around 10:30. I know I looked at my notebook but just laid my glasses on top of it, turned out the light, rolled over and zzzzzzzz, I was gone.
Here it is Monday again. Can you believe it? But, paycheck. Always a good thing.
--Barbara
when I opened the curtains this morning. S. N. O. W. Ugh. It didn't hang around but it looks like it could make more any minute. It (oh, I hate to even say it) snowed a bit off and on in the morning but it's been just overcast most of the afternoon. Right now the sun's trying to peek out but I can just tell it's not going to have any luck. Do I have my foot warmers in my bag to take to work tomorrow? Why, yes I do. If it's going to be cold enough to snow it's going to be cold enough to freeze my tootsies and I want to be ready.
I slept a whole lot better last night than I did the night before. It never would have occurred to me that ibuprofen would be what you take for a throat tickle that makes you cough but it is. I can tell as soon as it's time to take the next pill because it rears up in the back of my throat and I start to cough. My sinuses are still full enough to make my teeth ache but I feel like I might eventually survive.
One of the dive guys asked if I could sew a buckle into the strap of a light he has so I had to go to JoAnn Fabrics to find a buckle the right width. Naturally I had to look around the store to see if there was anything else I needed but I didn't blow the budget or even dip into my "mad" money. *pat, pat* Good girl. I love it when they ask me if I can fix something or figure something out.
I got the email with the picture of me and FW and LB with Abraham the alpaca last weekend. I think we look darned good. Abraham was obviously the most dignified of the quartet, he had the best hair too.
November 9--Iran, Bowl. "No, you can't put the endive and goat cheese boats on that plate, they blend in, they'll disappear." Alicia stood in the breakfast nook with a clipboard in her hand. Her glasses were perched on the end of her nose and she had been giving her staff a workout since before first light. The guests had better appreciate all the trouble she was going through or there would be hall to pay. A funeral was serious, there were conventions to be observed and, by God, she was going to observe them.
I have an appointment to get my nails done in about 45 minutes. I love those appointments, the nail artists at this salon don't really talk to you much so you can kind of shut off and zone out for that little piece of the day. It's very relaxing.
--Barbara
Remember the other day when I burned the roasted veggies to make my soup? Well, I took another stab at it today and didn't burn them and made Roasted Carrot Soup. I even had a cup of it for lunch, it was warm and thick and felt good on my cough-sore throat and, even better, there are enough little bowls of it for work lunches for eight days plus a bit more for tomorrow's lunch.
Last weekend's cold has turned into this weekend's cough. I am not amused. Earlier I took myself to the pharmacy to get a recommendation for the best cough medicine and how to quell the tickle in my throat that starts the whole coughing, sweating, eyes tearing mess. Not restful, nope, not at all. But when I got home I took what he told me too and 2 hours later I haven't had a coughing fit and feel a tad better. Thanks, Mike the Pharmacist.
Yesterday afternoon I sat down on the couch intending to finish my Elf on the Shelf. I dug out some dark red Wool Ease to use to finish his hat because I was out of green and, of course, I don't have dark green in the stash, and I found some black to use for the hands and feet. They're also supposed to be green but see above. I had a walnut sized ball of the white with black strings left from knitting the head and ears to use to make the arms and legs so I started with the legs figuring if I had to use the plain creamy white I had on hand I could say that the Elf has hairy legs. That makes sense, right? But at Friday Night Knitting I managed to make all the arms and legs with about a foot of the hairy legged yarn left. Whew. Now all I need to do it make the shoes, embroider a face on him, and sew the jingle bell on the end of his green and red hat. Piece o'cake. I'll get him done later tonight when I'm piled up on the couch watching something mindless on TV or improving my mind with something I've DVR'd or maybe I'll wait until tomorrow to embroider his face since I'll use black floss and that'll be easier to see in daylight.
November 8--Iran, Bowl. Kae used a steady hand to scribe the spell into the greenware bowl. She planned to use bright, cheerful glazes to finish the piece so no one would suspect why food eaten from the bowl did them no good. Soup would be unsatisfying, meat would give no strength, pudding would curdle. No one got away with saying her art wasn't real art. Her hand flowed in the rhythm of the symbols as a smile bloomed on her lips.
I've got all the soup making pots and pans washed and I washed the bowl from Durwood's batch of chicken stock yesterday (I am a gem!) so I think I'm going to go pretend to knit but really doze on the couch.
--Barbara
