Mabon Madness

Well, fall is finally here and I'm going to make the best of it at home at least, even if things at work are still really tough.

The afternoon light in the house is much better; I don't feel quite as much like I live in a cave.  Can I keep the sun at this September angle forever?  The mornings are each a little darker than the last; leaving the house at 5:30 am is becoming more of an exercise in navigating in the dark. 

I bought a full size crock pot last week and am really looking forward to making more delicious meals - last week I made beef stew and it was quite a success.  It lasted Sunday and 4 days' worth of meals (snack & lunch) at work.  I think lasagna or meatloaf will be next... although trying roast chicken looks good too.

A new birdy joined the flock yesterday, a male pearl cockatiel.  His tag says he was called Dalmation, but I'm going to give him a new start as Robin.  My Mustardseed & Peaseblossom will be thrilled that Robin Goodfellow / Puck is joining the "Midsummer Night's Dream" cast.  His arrival triggered a bird room cleanout and everyone is much happier, myself included. Today I sat with them and read for a while - Hamlet claimed my shoulder and Robin eventually made his way to my knee for some head scratches.  The ladies (Sydney and Violet) stayed firmly in their cages.  The parakeets thought we'd lost our minds. 

Opal and Wavey

Robin

Robin from the other side

Knitting continues as well.  I am primarily working on my Order of the Phoenix mission for fall term - Pointelle socks. 

Pointelle (right)

In my off moments, I am slowly making progress on a shawl that has been in the works for a couple years - Catkin.

Dogkin

Yo Yo Yo Yo-Yo

Whew. For someone without a job I sure have been busy. I miss blogging daily and will redouble my efforts.


Thank you for the kind comments. I love comments. Cheryl asked how I find fibery events. Partially it is word of mouth, partially notices on some of my fibery Yahoo groups (Riverspinners, spin-list, spindlers, charkha, spin-events, knitlist, knitlist-ads, knitting-for-sale, here-be-tatters, weaving), partially it is ads in Spin-Off and Handwoven, and partially it is searching online for fiber events.


Life at the yoga studio is great. I am working on our Hunnyfly.com website (yoga clothes and gear) and doing my small part to keep everything shipshape in the office. I love my "coworkers" and most everybody I meet there. It is a pleasure to see them at work, outside work, and in class. I somehow ended up doing the same type of thing I just left, but the difference in my happiness level is astronomical (for the better).

The garden is growing by leaps and bounds (there are pictures, but I left the camera at home, charging). I have been harvesting lettuce, parsley, basil and oregano for the cavies and rabbits, for myself and for drying. I added some more strawberries and a hummingbird-friendly flowery plant, and put cages around the tomatoes. The roses, epiphyllium and geraniums are blooming like crazy, and my aphid problem seems to be under control. You can tell I am really enjoying taking care of the garden. The watering, the weeding, the pruning - it all fills a place in my life that I didn't know was empty.


I have been knitting a little bit - a few rows here and there on the purple sweater, on the swamp socks (I finally frogged #2 and am reknitting it at the correct gauge), on the Scottish Shawl. That last one is a quick knit, despite being shetland lace. I suppose it is because the rows are short, and there are no purling rows. I had a little "yarn accident" and ordered the "Don't Be Blue" sock kit from the Loopy Ewe - available only to those who didn't win the sock club lottery. It came in the mail Wednesday and had yarn, a pattern and some very good goodies. I sat down with my charkha and spun enough spindles of cotton to make at least one more dishtowel - maybe two. I am having fun planning the patterns and colors for this batch. I found TWO POUNDS of green/ white and brown/ white cotton in the closet and it spins like a dream. The weaving is moving right along as long as the spindlefulls of cotton last.


Not much to report in reading material (except that I haven't been and I think some things are overdue), but I did watch "Curse of the Golden Flower", "Le Samurai" and "Steamboy" in the last week or so. I watched "Steamboy" in English and it worked out well as it is set in London of 1866. Patrick Stewart *swoon* does the voiceover for the grandfather. I also received "Akira" but just could not get into it. "Golden Flower" is going on the 'must purchase' list.


I discovered a *fantastic* cookie recipe and have made cookies left and right this week. The whole batch disappeared at the yoga meeting last night, so they must be alright in the eyes (mouths?) of others too.


Oh, and I washed, claybar-ed and waxed the car this week. Shiny.

Keeping Busy... Not

Well, I never thought that this would happen, but not only have I been caught up at work for over a week, I am wandering around looking for things to do. Not obviously, of course, or I might get assigned something I don't like :) Even the fishtank is clean.

Same old same old in crafting land - making progress on the sweater. Tonight my sock class is cancelled so I am going to take a little time to weave before checking in the yoga class tonight. I tweaked my neck at some point this week, so I don't think I will stay. I think I will take a bubble bath and / or put the heating pad on my shoulder.

I made ziti again last night. Here is my quick and easy, no fuss ziti recipe. I stole it off a cooking show and modified a bit. If it is easy enough for me to make, anybody can make it!

1 bag ziti (16 oz)
1 jar spaghetti sauce (25 oz)
1 hunk mozzarella cheese (8-16 oz)
ground beef (1/2 lb)

Make the meatballs - put the ground beef into a bowl and add salt, garlic, onion powder, pepper, oregano, or anything you prefer. Mash together well. Pinch off little bits of meat and roll into balls. I like them to be about the size of a marble. In a skillet, heat some oil and fry the little meatballs. Drain on paper towels.

Make the ziti - in a large pan heat water and add ziti when it starts to boil. Reduce to a simmer, stirring often to prevent sticking, and drain when the zitis are al dente (or really soft, if you prefer)

Cut the cheese into slices and set aside. The first time I made it, I used 8oz and it was not quite enough. Last night I used 16 oz and couldn't use it all. I think 12 oz is the magic number. I cut it in hunks the other time and did not get total cheese coverage. Slices was better.

In an oven safe casserole, layer the ingredients (sauce, ziti, meatballs, cheese) until they are all in the dish or you run out of room. Put in the oven at 350 ish for 30 minutes or so until the top is nice and brown.

Pour a nice glass of merlot and enjoy!

Hidden Talents

I decided to cook this weekend. I spent $20 on groceries and no money at all on eating out. There was T-day cooking: roasted acorn squash, cheesey mashed neeps (turnips), pumpkin bread and cranberry sauce. There was regular eating cooking: scrambled eggs with swiss chard and mushrooms, teriyaki beef, rice, swiss chard and beets one night and salad with seasoned chicken the next. I tried to make potato pancakes out of the mashed turnips, but only got a mess, so I added an egg and called it Turnip Scramble. It could use some sausage, though. It is really fun to cook - I like the domestic feeling. I really like the fact that I get dishes done while things are simmering / baking / sizzling. I have no one to cook for, and that brings me down, but I smash the feeling back into my internal Box of Denial and move on.

I got some knitting done! I disciplined myself and cast on for the body of Mandy's birthday sweater (very overdue). I am translating the pattern for knitting in the round, and have my fingers crossed that the design will come out even. Body, sewing up, neckline. I can do this. Easy Peasy.

I also let myself work on Petal - finishing the body and casting on for the first sleeve. I would work the sleeves at the same time, except that I did not wind the yarn into balls. I am working from the skein, which is draped over a couple of S hooks on the bookcase. It is a fine arrangement for one skein, but I shudder to think what would happen if I were switching from one sleeve to the other and the ends got all twisted up. Bleh. While I finally invested in a ball winder, I was hoping to get a swift from Mr. Fixit for Christmas, and therefore did not get one myself. I guess it is back on the list of things to reward myself with.

I did NOT start any brand new projects, which is good. I also did NOT buy (or inherit) any yarn at the yarn store when I visited on Friday. I did find the yarn for the theoretical rug in the cabinet at home, so that is one hurdle down on that project. Next comes figuring out how much yardage I have and how much warp I need. I worked a little bit on the strap that has been on my inkle loom for... well, I am not exactly sure. Several years, I think. I like beating the weaving into place - it is a good stress release :)

The blue scarf is on hold until I can dig out the other ball of blue yarn, as I have finished ball #1. Hooray for the halfway point! I need to put it back at the top of the priority list and try to get it done before I leave for vacation on Saturday.

I did not work on my quilting homework, although I thought of it often, but I did watch several quilting shows on PBS this weekend. I also managed to watch a disc of "House, MD", one of "Love, Hina", watched some movies on the telly, and re-read all of "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown (of "Da Vinci Code" fame). I even found my missing (and severely overdue) library book, so maybe I can power through that this week too. Maybe when I am knitting on the blue scarf!

A Whole Chicken is a Scary Thing.

I had a nice little Wednesday, actually. Made it through work (the less said, the better), raced home and to the library to return books, had a spinning student at spinning class, and had a lovely time at yoga. My back popped back into place at long last! This is good news for me, and better news for my friends, who are sick of hearing about it. I am moving cautiously today.

But back to the bird. I have been jonesing for chicken & dumplings for a while now. I went to the store, I acquired the ingredients, I spruced up the stock pot, and last night was the night. With "The Joy of Cooking" at my side, I did the appropriate whole-chicken-cleaning dance. There are things that need removing, none of which are labelled "for my convenience", there is the theme to "Sledgehammer" running through my head, the 2 dogs suddenly turn into 20 dogs, all wanting to "help". I need the chicken for people who took drafting instead of home ec. Somehow I managed and wrassled it into the pot, browned the bird, chopped veggies, discovered all my garlic has sprouted, and simmered late into the night.

While that was happening in the kitchen, I watched "Lost" and did a little knitting on my new sock. "Lost" has really perked up over the last two episodes. I far prefer the adventuring to the relationship crap. I really, really hope it makes it to season 4. The sock does too (although it is taking a nap right now. We were watching the movie until after 1am, and I already woke it up to knit at lunchtime today)

I checked on my chicken, returned to my sock, and started a new movie about 11pm... The choices were "Alexander" (2 hr 47 min), or "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead" (102min). I chose the short one. Now, you and I know I have been looking forward to this movie for many, many days now. I have discussed the dishyness of the two leads, I have declared that I would not be accessible by phone, email, or act of god when I was watching it, and I fed the dogs in their kennel to keep them quiet(er). My sock and I settled in... and were unimpressed. Poor Johnathyn Rhys-Meyers (while dishy) dies in the first 15 minutes or so, disturbingly. The entire rest of the movie is his brother's (Clive Owen) quest to avenge his death, which means you are not allowed to forget the cause, although both the sock and I were shocked and saddened. Watching Clive Owen for the next 92 minutes should make up for this, yes? NO. Poor Mr. C looked like the Wild Man of Borneo - all long scraggy hair and uber-beard. I thought it was Desmond from Lost and dropped my knitting when he spoke and Mr C's voice came out. There is a long stretch in the middle where nothing happens in a very dark and wet England (will the sun ever shine again? Could they only afford streetlights?), and then the last 10 minutes or so makes up for the rest of the film. Far too short a time to truly enjoy the return to dishyness and extremely nice suit. All in all, Billy the Budgie was my favorite character.

You want more knitting content? I think I love the new sock. I am not sure. It is more white and sparkly in person. The yarn is nice and soft, not very splitty, and the fabric feels good. I worry that it (the fabric) is a little loose, but I am getting 8st/in on # 1 needles, which is just about right. Going down to #0 would be overkill. That, and my only set of #0 are already in the peppermint socks, planning the overthrow of the new project that pushed them back down the queue. It is Regia Bamboo, color 1064.