We Have Sock!

I plonked myself on the couch yesterday and knitted the last rounds of Autumn Cumulus sock cuff, then I wove in the (only) 2 tails and it was done.  Finished.  As in, I don't want to see that sock again for a while.  At least until it gets a lot colder around here.  I tried it on and it fits.  It's a little long in the foot but I suspect that'll even out when it gets its first bath.  This weekend I'll soak it, roll it in a towel to squeeze out the water, and pat it into shape to try.  Then I'll put it away (and out of my mind) until the weather turns frosty.

 All I did yesterday was take my car in for an oil change (and two new tires a couple months before I'd planned to replace them [goodbye, $300]) and then take me and the old guy to the doc for a quick med check and short discussion of our general health.  Which means I rejoined Weight Watchers online last night, downloaded their app to my phone, and will be clambering back onto the straight-and-narrow.  Let's face it, I've been eating anything I damn well pleased since April 1 and not being very active so I knew this day was coming (and I'll confess to cramming in all of the ice cream and chocolate I could stand for the last few weeks).  I made some broccoli slaw with light Marzetti's dressing, a little cheese, and some turkey lunchmeat to stuff into pitas for lunches along with a small dish of fresh fruit.  I don't know why I veer so far off; I love eating the WW way with lots of fruits and even more veggies.  I guess I don't like anyone (even myself) telling me what I can and can't eat.  Let's not forget "should" which is a big negative motivator in my world. 

Last night when I took out the trash I noticed a bright light tangled in the tree branches to the east.  As I crossed the street to put our paltry, half-full bag of garbage in the neighbors' bin (why roll ours out when they had room for another little bit? it's a too smelly time of year to ferment garbage for two weeks.) I saw the full Thunder Moon (or Buck Moon, if you're Native) peeking through a gap in the leaves.


I'm off to the chiro on my way to work so I'd better get a move on.  I didn't write last night, I was tired and just didn't feel like it.  Stay cool, the heat wave's on its way.  Lemonade, anyone?  Ooh, iced tea.  I should get a jar and make some sun tea today.  I could snip some mint leaves to put in too.  Great idea.  See ya.
--Barbara

Quiet Times

Yesterday was another day that slid by almost without me noticing.  I called to make a couple appointments in the morning, did my yoga, then... what?  Oh, I blogged and then went on a couple errands.  Stopped at Rabideau's to make an oil change appointment for today, at Krider's, the local, non-chain pharmacy, I ordered another ankle wrap like the one I found there last week, went to Kwik Trip for milk, bananas, (the most important) donuts, and what we hope is the winning Powerball ticket tonight, then to Copps for a bag o'prescriptions, and a few items.  They're redoing the grocery store so they've moved things from where they've been for the last, oh, ten years so even some of the staff isn't quite sure where stuff is now.  It takes twice as long to shop and is twice as frustrating as usual.


We watched this robin take a bath.  They're so much fun to watch because they're so intent on getting every molecule of themselves soaking wet and squeaky clean.  It's a wonder they can fly away, they're so wet.


I finished July Preemie Hat #3 but didn't work on anything else.  Maybe I'll take that %$#& sock along when I get my oil changed and finish it once and for all.  That's a good plan.  I have too many projects on the go and it keeps me from getting anything done.  It doesn't help that most of the things I make are not singles so they're never ending which can be daunting.

July 19--Daniel Forster, #7.  

Murky green water hides
fire-scorched decking,
jagged hull ribs
sunk more than a century ago.
On a dark and stormy night,
a confused captain
ran her aground
on the rocky beach.
Cargo was salvaged,
the ship burned.
Populated by bass, rusty crayfish, and gobies,
visited by scuba divers,
she lives on.

Fleetwing.
~~~~~

There, that's my favorite shore dive in Door County.  Sunk in about 25 feet of water at its deepest, it was our go-to dive site when the kids were young and we went up every weekend to dive.  Going diving kept our kids talking to us when they were teens.  It was an underwater miracle.  Time to brush, dress and go get the car lubed.  See ya.
--Barbara

Food, Farming & Critters

Mother Nature sort of cooperated with my plans yesterday.  She whisked away all the clouds before watering my new grass seed so I had to go out with the hose and water it myself but it did stay rain-free for grilling out.  Hallelujah.  See how beautifully my pork tenderloin turned out?  I almost devoured my plate of supper before taking a picture.  The zucchini (yellow squash, in this case) pie was excellent.  I think I might saute the onions next time I make it just to add another layer of flavor but it was deeeelicious just the way it was--and my homemade Bisquick worked just fine.  I think my days of "buying the smallest box and then throwing away most of it when the baking powder goes flat" are over.  I can make about 2 cups of the homemade mix, keep it in the fridge, and use it way before the death date of the ingredients.  Besides I love making things like that if I can, it makes me feel, I don't know, self-satisfied maybe?  Healthier, I suppose, since my homemade stuff's made with fewer preservatives (none if I can manage it) and less salt.



The tomatoes are getting bigger.  No reddening yet, but it's early.




The celery top kind of stalled out when I put it into a pot with soil but I expect it to start growing again soon.



We've got a little action on the avocado pit front.  The second one has split on the bottom and it looks like a root might be working its way out.  Nothing happening on the top yet, and no visible change on the bottom or top of the other one.  I keep changing the water and keeping them out of direct sunlight like the book says.  I put the pineapple tops out on the patio table this morning and opened the umbrella so they won't get blasted with the midday sun but I was thinking that they grow in Hawaii where it's hot and sunny and wet.  Right now it's hot and sunny and humid (which is like wet, right?) so I thought they'd enjoy some time out in nature.  Durwood's afraid that the squirrels and chipmunks will vandalize them.  I'll keep an eye on them.  The plants, I mean.

 


That oriole keeps coming to visit the jelly dish and the goldfinches are enjoying the seed.  










 

A little bunny comes in the evening to nibble on seed that the birds fling out of the feeder.  I have to say that we haven't seen the hawk lately and the chipmunk population's getting large.


July 18--Daniel Forster, #8.  That moment when the vast white canvas sail caught the wind was what Sue lived for.  It was as if sound got turned way down so that all she heard was the hull slicing through the water and the creak of the lines.  Before that moment, canvas flapped and the motor chugged, there were shouts from the helmsman to those manning the sails but as soon as their angle was right it felt like a giant hand smoothed the world into harmony.  She knew this was a slow way to travel but she thought it must be how it felt to be an arrow flying through the air.

I didn't do much but sit around reading yesterday (a Kindle book, I'm working up to the paper one) and ripping a couple books from CDs onto my iPod.  I did knit about an inch onto the latest preemie hat but it's too little to waste a picture on.  I'm running a few errands today but mostly I think I'll loll about again.  I kind of liked having a quiet day.
--Barbara

Rain is What Happens...

... when you make grilling out plans.  You know I have pork tenderloins marinating in the fridge and plans to make a zucchini and onion pie to accompany it for tonight's supper.  What did it look like when I got to the patio door this morning?  Rain--and they're talking about it storming off and on all day.  Gah!  Maybe we'll have the second half of the spaghetti and meatballs we cobbled together for last night's supper and hold the pork and pie until tomorrow night, but maybe I'll lose patience and just grill anyway, especially if it's just drizzling.  The meat only has to cook 20-30 minutes; I can probably keep the fire going that long.  That does it, I'm grilling out tonight unless it's raining pitchforks and... well, you get the idea.  I have been drooling over this meal for three days.  I'm making it.



I got a little cocky, ankle wise, yesterday and stood on the hill in the backyard filling in a chipmunk hole with the hose and a trowel, never thinking that my left foot was my downhill foot and I was in the wrong shoes for hill standing, so the muscles of my left foot and ankle weren't happy.  Yes, I iced it, more than once, but I also changed into better shoes, grabbed a cane, and carefully and consciously made my way up to the raspberries to pick the first tiny handful of ripe ones for Durwood.  His neuropathy has been kicking up, he deserved a special treat.


Oh, I meant to show you.  When I went to the library to pick up the DVDs I'd reserved, I also borrowed an actual, paper book.  Really.  Audible or Amazon had recommended this series to me so I got the first book from Audible (since neither Overdrive nor OneClick Digital had it for borrowing through the library system), downloaded it, and started to listen to it at work on Thursday.  I barely made it through the first chapter before I had to turn it off and return the book.  The narrator was so horrible I couldn't bear listening.  He was even worse than Scott Brick who narrates the Clive Cussler books I like and can barely stand to listen to because he's got a note in his voice that tells you how absolutely fabulous he thinks he is.  ANYway, this narrator sounded like he's taken pains to make his voice as monotonous and dry as possible--and it wasn't a monotonous and dry story, even in the first chapter.  So to give the author another chance I checked the library's website to discover that the branch where my movies were waiting also had a hardcover copy of the book, so I borrowed it.  We'll see how I do reading a book old school.  The only problem I foresee is that I'll be unable to knit while reading it.  Hmm, Durwood got me a book holder a while back, maybe I'll unearth that and give it a try.  I wonder where I put it...

In the knitting department, while icing my foot a couple times, I added rounds to the July Seamen's Cowl and cast on July Preemie Hat #3.  I am very cleverly knitting the four sizes of preemie hats in this pattern from biggest to littlest so, as the month goes on and my enthusiasm wanes, each succeeding hat takes less time to make.  I am determined to keep up my resolution to make 4 preemie hats and one cowl a month this year.



July 17--Daniel Forster, #9.  Jane awoke to the sound of the tradewinds rattling the palm fronds outside her beach hut.  She tried to swing her legs out of bed but got tangled in the mosquito netting.  She stopped, took a breath, and found the edge of the netting to let herself out.  On her way to the bathroom she saw that her suitcase had been unpacked, a thin cotton robe lay over the vanity chair, and there was a carafe of coffee on the small table with a hibiscus flower nestled alongside.  Coffee.  Oh, it smelled like heaven.  She brushed her teeth and ran a quick brush through her hair before pouring a mug of the coffee, then going out to look at the island since it had been dark when she arrived the night before.

Well, it's getting dark again, darned windy too.  Maybe it'll rain enough to water in the bag of lawn patch grass seed I tossed around out there earlier.  The place where the plumbers filled in the hole they made last fall and then flung some seed and straw over has some grass on it, some weeds too, but it needed another seeding.  I had a bag with seed, mulch, and fertilizer mixed in the garage so I took out the garden rake, roughed up the area, and sprinkled the whole bag over it.  I'm counting on the rain to water it in so I don't have to drag the hose over there and do it myself.  Once it's done that it can stop raining so I can grill out.  I'll let you know how well Mother Nature cooperates with my plans for the day.
--Barbara

New Yarn is Very Addictive

I was going to put "like crack" up there in the post title but I thought I'd draw all kinds of less desirable readers to my blog.  Then I thought I'd put "vicodin" but that's really no better, speaking as one who has so recently gotten that monkey off my back.  So I stuck with the tame "very addictive" as an excuse for my behavior last night.  

Last night I meant to knit on the cuff of that eternal Autumn Cumulus sock (no, it's not done yet. don't you think I'd have told you if it was?) at Friday Night Knitting but I took the shiny yarn I bought to make a Christmas stocking to show off and ended up making the first of 16 hexagons.  (I knew I shouldn't have taken the hook along.)  Since I need to make two stockings it isn't the worst action I could have taken.  I figure if I make one hexagon a day I'll have stocking #1 done in a few weeks, what with the making up and all, and then I can tackle stocking #2 the same way and be done way before stocking-hanging-up time arrives.

But it was what I did when I got home that was really reprehensible.  I got my ice pack and settled on the couch to ice my ankle and knit a bit more.  First I finished weaving in the hexagon's tails, then I lost my mind and cast on an Indigo Doublethick Dishcloth.  I should have cast on the next Preemie hat or knitted a few rounds on the July Seamen's cowl but, no, I had to give in to temptation and cast on a cloth.  What'd I say yesterday?  I'm a weak, weak woman.  *sigh*





An oriole has been visiting the jelly off and on and I managed to get a couple pictures today.  The first time I saw it, it fluttered up into the apple tree by the time I got my camera up and ready, so I zoomed in and got an okay picture of it.  I hurried out to splash out the jelly water (rain makes jelly soup) from the dish on the feeder and replace it with some fresh jelly.  The next time I saw it, it was balancing to dip its beak down into the jelly.  I'm very happy to see it.







Durwood is happy to see it too.  He's still convinced that we've "lost" the hummingbirds since he hasn't seen one lately.  I told him that they're coming to the bee balm over in the garden out of his sight but when I went to the grocery this morning I stopped in at Walmart's Garden Center and spent ten bucks on some closeout red flowers that I planted in pots on the patio.  Since the honeysuckle's not blooming much this year maybe a couple pots of red flowers will draw them in so he can see them.  Now I am officially out of potting soil, but not out of pots.  I don't think there's any more space for pots on the patio though.  Not if I want to have room to walk around out there.

July 16--Brian Hill, Canoe C-2 Slalom.  Rita could see the shore, saw the trees bend and sway in the wind that blew spray from the wave tops into her eyes and mouth.  She had battled her way through the thunderstorm when the rain tried to fill her canoe but had lost the battle when the wind kicked the waves to a height that capsized her boat and floated her PFD away before she could snatch it up and put it on.  Stupid, stupid not to have it on.  She lost her paddle when a wave tumbled her to the bottom and rolled her along for a heart-stopping length of time. She wasn't a strong swimmer so she kicked her boots off, but refused to take off her jeans.  She wasn't going to be staggering bare ass up the beach for help.  Shoe-less was okay, pants-less was not.  Now that she had those things decided all she had to do was make it to shore.  She could see it, almost reach out and touch it, but the waves kept pulling it just out of her grasp.

And now I'm going to go marinate a pair of pork tenderloins we plan to cook on the grill for tomorrow's supper when we'll also make a zucchini and onion pie.  Remember those "impossible" Bisquick pies that were all the rage in the 1980s?  You assembled your ingredients in a pie dish and then made a batter that you poured over it and when it baked it made its own crust.  Well, this is the same sort of thing but I found a recipe for homemade baking mix online and made it this morning so we're going to give that a whirl with our grilled pork.  I suspect you're going to wish you were eating at our house tomorrow.  Toodle-oo!
--Barbara

His & Hers

Durwood called me at work yesterday afternoon to complain that we'd swatted so many flies over the weekend when we had "the big hatch" that the swatter was tearing and wouldn't kill a fly so I volunteered to swing into Dollar Tree on my way home to pick up a new one.  I found two.  His and hers.  His is a leopard print with a metal handle (remember all the metal flyswatter handles we untwisted for your wedding, DD?) and mine is yellow plastic with a big fake flower on one side of the swatter.  Hey, they were a buck each, we can afford to each have our own weapons in the fight against the invasion of the flies.

As I pulled into a parking place in front of the store I saw a cluster of colorful tents in the middle of the parking lot and remembered that the Military Ave. Business Association had started a Thursday night farmer's market.  It's small, only about a dozen stalls but I made out like a bandit.  I spent a total of $8.75 and got a lot of yellow squash (to make a zucchini and onion pie recipe I found), some sugar snap peas (because... SUGAR SNAP PEAS!), and 2 Georgia peaches.  The part of my purchases you don't see was an eggroll for Durwood and 2 crab rangoons for me, with duck sauce for dipping, for $2.25 which served as excellent appetizers before we threw together a big omelet with fresh veggies, fresh eggs, and lots of cheese for supper.  I want to be sure to email my thanks to the business association for the farmer's market.  They had a corner with hula hoops and sidewalk chalk for kids to play with while their grownups shopped and there was a porta potty.  Now if they only had a musician...


I finished Preemie Hat #2 yesterday at work.  Isn't it darling?  Some little dumpling's going to look like a flower fairy in it, I think.  Then I started the July version of the Seamen's Cowl.  I can't decide if I'm going to make a stripe of the rust solid on the other end or just knit with the green variegated until it's tall enough.  Since I'd like to knit an Advent Garland mitten from the green yarn I'll probably dig out the other skein of the rust and finish with that.  That must be why I'm counting the rounds of rust.  Seems like the decision's made.  And speaking of the Advent Garland, I unearthed the three training socks I made last winter to use teaching sock knitting at Guild and I found the very first sock I made with DD's help (lo, these many years ago) so all I need to do is crochet a loop for each one and I've got four more stockings for the garland.  Score!

You know how I keep saying that I have enough yarn for the rest of my life?  Well, I went to Joann's looking for a pattern to make a swimsuit bottom to go with LC's swim shirt, had one hell of a time finding a pattern and finally ended up with an infant size sundress and bloomers pattern I can work with, and while I was there I bought some yarn.  Yes, I did.  I know I keep saying that I don't need any more yarn but I've been wanting a skein of indigo cotton to make another doublethick dishcloth with and then there was this shiny stuff I saw that I think will be perfect for a Christmas stocking for someone I know.  Besides I had a "20% off your entire purchase" coupon and a "40% off any one regular priced item" coupon, PLUS a "40% off one item" Michaels coupon that Joann's accepted.  If those aren't reasons to buy yarn I don't know what is.  I'm a weak, weak woman.  *hangs head*







July 15--Harold Lee Miller, DS5-6-1-3.  It had been a long time since Henry had been in a locker room, much less in a gym.  He sat on the wooden bench, that had been polished by years of male behinds, with his elbows on his knees and wondered if he had the balls to leave the safety of the locker room and go out to face his fears.  Gym class had been a nightmare in high school.  He wasn't particularly athletic then and he was confident his abilities hadn't improved with age.  So how come he'd agree to join the Wednesday night basketball league?  "Hey, Hank," Eric's voice blasted through the half-open door, "you coming or not?"  Henry jumped, gripped his towel, and stood up to go out there and still suck at basketball.



This morning I sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee when a gorgeous goldfinch landed on the finch feeder.  I picked up my camera and by the time I had it turned on he'd fluttered to the top of a crook.  By the time I depressed the shutter button he was on the wing so this is what I got.  I kind of like it.
--Barbara

First Harvest

Look!  Blueberries!  Not very many but this is a bountiful harvest considering my inability to do much this year and my complete lack of doing anything to them last year.





The tomatoes are coming along too.  The first one to ripen will be on the bush tomato, then the cherry tomatoes, and the celebrity tomatoes, I think.  I'm trying to be diligent about watering them since they are in pots on a patio so they're out there baking in the heat and humidity we've had lately and there's been a bit of rain to help.  (plants seem to like rain better than hose water, don't they?)  It's a bit cooler today and I hope the humidity goes too but I see in the paper that it's supposed to cool off for the weekend, just a bit, and then heat back up during the week.  I guess it is summer so I shouldn't complain, besides next winter I'll be craving weather like this.



Speaking of baking, it was a good idea to put the blueberry pie back into the oven the other night.  I probably could have left it in another 5 minutes or so but it sure tastes good.



I got July Preemie Hat #2 started and almost finished yesterday.  I ran out of the turquoise just as I got to the crown decreases so this hat will have a green top.  It'll look like a little flower.  (Those purple things are cheap hair ties I use to keep the stitches on the needles and the needles together when it's in the bag.)



The daisies and bee balm are still going strong, and there's one purple coneflower poking up at the far end.

July 14--Brian Hill, Row Single.  Glor sat on a flat boulder in the edge of the river, her knees drawn up to her chest.  The morning was cool and fog hung just a few feet above the surface of the water and clung in shreds to the weeping willows that lined the bank behind her.  Out of the featureless white downriver came the barest sound of oars and exertion.  Rowing sculls slid between the fog and the river, the oarsmen clad in bright striped jerseys moving as if a single unit.  From the coxswain the cadence carried like a whisper across the still water.

That's better.  A few more words and a nice little description, no action, but it's something.  I've got a way-back full of tanks that need to be dropped off on my way to work so I'd better finish this and get a move on.
 --Barbara