Thursday, July 31, 2008

Off to Hollywood


photo courtesy of boston.com

It was time.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Rain Delay

I've reached the point in the summer when fall begins to loom (and may I say this seems much earlier than usual); I have not yet had an anxiety dream about school but I am certainly fretting about school-related tasks and all the organizational paperwork involved in sending my children to their respective institutions of learning. Why on earth is this happening in July, I'd like to know. Maybe it's because this past school year finished up in such a stomach-clenching way. In any case, I don't feel refreshed (I hope that's really 'I don't feel refreshed YET') and I am not (yet) feeling any sort of pleased anticipation about the school year to come... and I've been thinking more and more about what I might do with my life if I get to the point (which certainly felt near this spring) where the overall weight of Parents-and-their-issues cancels out what I love most about teaching. I've had other jobs, and I have even had another set of jobs that felt like a career at the time, but I'm not going back to any of those -- but that's all for another day, I think. I think. Listening in on the job hunts of those close to me always makes me wonder, and this summer I feel I have more reason to consider the possibilities.

Okay. On to the next thing.

I had a good Tour de Fleece; I think my spinning has really improved with all of this practice, and I have loved watching the transition from roving to yarn. Ahead: the challenge of plying (although the books I've inspected don't make it sound hard-what am I missing?). D#1 and I were at her swim meet when the actual Tour finished on the Champs Elysees this morning but we are home to watch the extended coverage/replay this evening. R and D#2 watched it live and, as a result, I have heard a great deal about how my youngest loves the Eiffel Tower. (Maybe we'll go to France for our sabbatical adventure in 2009-10? See, there's a reason to keep my job at least through 2010 ...)

The cherry tomatoes are now ripening in small handfuls but everything else remains resolutely green. The heirloom tomato plant does have some healthy-looking fruit on it, by the way. Since I pulled off all those nasty ones, I've only had to pick one more with the same discolorations.

Baseball news has been grim -- the Red Sox appear to be imploding in a catastrophe of incompetent middle relief, poor hitting, and the annual Manny-must-go mania. As I said to a very gracious and tactful Yankees fan this evening, the best I can hope for is that they'll be rained out this evening.

There has been knitting, but nothing significant to report at this point. I'm hoping to get at least one of the projects currently OTN done by Friday.

Time to go make some lists. And may I just say, I'm sick of all the rain? The tarp is coming off the field now, though. Play ball!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Tuesday Treats

Caution, Tour stage spoiler below!



Emboldened by my child's success at photo camp last week, I wasted some time this morning taking flower pictures. I like the pollen on this one, although D#2 looked at the photo, grimaced, and said, "even the picture makes me want to sneeze".

So before the mail came, I was going to blog about how I bobbled if not actually dropped the parenting ball this morning when a child asked D#2 and me how I could be her Mom, but I can save that self-browbeating for another day.

So, how about a fun prize? Remember Kristin? She sent me this yummy Great Adirondack Montana in the Chili Peppers colorway for contributing to Red Cross disaster relief:



and not only that, she included a pattern for a "princess poncho," shown on the card to the left of the yarn in the picture below. Do you think there might be someone in this house who would like a princess poncho? That reminds me, one of these days I need to show you what she chose at Ladybug Yarn in Dennis 2 weeks ago. In any case, this yarn is gorgeous, and how nice of Kristin to send it!

And speaking of nice, speaking of brilliant wonderful thoughtful friends, how about that amazing Knitting Linguist? Remember that she went to New Zealand, and, brave woman and mom-par-excellence, took her older daughter along to an academic conference? See this, and this , and this ... Yes. So look what came in the mail today, and please keep your drool off the screen:



This absolutely gorgeous silk/merino blend is from Ashford, and now I know what I'll be doing while the boys are charging up l'Alpe d'Huez! Between now and then, though, I'll just be here, petting it. It is so soft you wouldn't believe, and the colors are like a summer ocean. I adore it. Thank you, thank you, Jocelyn!

I did drop my spindle today (and shrieked, I'll confess) when John-Lee Augustyn went over the edge -- but I managed to spin right up til the leading chase group hit the last kilometer. I've been working on the Leaf Peep roving but I was so excited by my presents that I forgot to take pictures of my work OR the spindle itself. I'm pleased with how it's going, though, and have been fascinated to see how this very multi-colored romney is spinning up (and how different it is to work with from other sheeply varieties). I know it'll look different all over again once plied, but I still need to learn how. What an exciting day, on both Tours.
Here is one of my sewing projects from this past weekend. Since I don't have a serger I could not make the lettuce edge on the tiers of this skirt but D#2 loves it nonetheless. (How about those kicks?)



And don't miss this contest if you'd like to win some Addis!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Easily Amused


While there is plenty of garden loveliness going on (see above), there is also this:

These fellows came off the heirloom tomato plant, which also boasts this:


To say that I am alarmed would be an understatement. Is this "heirloom tomato blight"? Did I not care for the baby tomatoes properly? Are all of them going to develop those nasty brown blotches? Should I try to move that container away from the others in my burgeoning tomato forest? ETA: it has been suggested to me that I am a moron and that this is how heirloom tomatoes ripen. I really don't think so, especially after fishing one out of the compost and prodding the brown place, though I will be the first to stand up and declare myself a gardening dunce if it turns out to be so.

On the other hand, there are blotches of color that are GOOD. To wit, the Spunky Eclectic roving in "Leaf Peep". Who would ever have believed it would spin up like this?




Have I said how happy I am with the new spindle? It is also shown, below, with the cobalt blue that came with it -- astonishingly spun up in a stage and a half of the actual Tour, as part of the challenge for the fibery Tour. If I haven't said, I found this spindle on eBay, and Annie May has been unbelievably great!




And for just a little more amusement, here we are again at the kitty tunnel.

In photo 1, protruding from one opening in the tunnel, Sirius's hind leg.


photo 2, via the other opening in the tunnel, Sirius washing a front paw.


photo 3. No, this is a different black cat. Dobby meandered by, saw Sirius inside, and went in headfirst through the top opening (where Sirius' head is/was).



Much thumping and wrestling ensued.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Fauna and Flood




The Ds and our sitter found this completely fearsome insect on a tree in front of our house this afternoon. We couldn't identify it but maybe one of you can? (I'm fairly sure an insect isn't fauna, really, but I don't know what to call it.)






I've been wanting to show off the bird paradise R has created on the back deck; this set-up of feeders and bird-friendly flora brings several sizes of woodpecker, ruby-throated hummingbirds, cardinals, goldfinches, titmice, nuthatches, and a host of sparrows and mourning doves (and chipmunks and squirrels) ... and I am 95% certain that we heard a bluebird two mornings ago.






Above, Miss Fleur, grooming. She's been unusually present, visible, and friendly the past few days, and even visited with my mother in quite a chummy way yesterday.

Medical report: R had his surgery this morning and all seems to have gone well. He was home before noon, complete with a nifty cryo-cast that can be filled with ice water to reduce swelling and discomfort. I did convince him to stay on the first floor today; he saw the cats curled up on the mattress/box spring combo I'd set up and decided that if they approved of the spot he could give in.

Early this morning I was online reading various blogs and in Lime & Violet's Daily Chum I learned about Kristin, who is spearheading the rescue of the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund for flood victims in the Midwest. Of course I sent my donation, and -- how crazy is this? -- got an e-mail from Kristin saying that my donation had put her over her "magic number" and that I had won a prize! Isn't that nice? It's an important cause -- and she has many great prizes for those who donate, so please, everyone, if you can, chip in ...

Spinning and knitting (2 projects simultaneously) continues apace. I expect this weekend to be very productive in that regard, as it is supposed to be more or less too hot to move, otherwise. R and I can hang out by the fans watching the British Open (yikes, Phil Mickelson -- a triple bogey??), the Tour, and baseball (yay, the All-Star break is over!). The girls, believe it or not, will be in Maine ALL WEEKEND at a family gathering (thanks, Mom and Dad!).

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Vegetables galore

In recent days we have had an embarrassment of riches in the produce department. D#2's garden has yielded many bowlsful of lettuce (red leaf, green leaf, and romaine), my cherry tomatoes have begun to ripen (one or two at a time, oddly enough), and neighbors have begun to bestow heads of bok choy and bunches of beets upon us. I think the rest of my tomato plants and D#2's pepper plant plan to wait until we go on vacation to yield their harvest.

Two nights ago we roasted a pan of peeled and halved beets in a little olive oil and sea salt, while at the same time (but not in the same room) grilling quartered cabbage in foil (with BUTTER) on the little Weber grill alongside the chicken sausages. This was delicious --and it may have been the butter, but my cabbage-hating spouse said that this is now the way he will consume cabbage (the ONLY way, he said, but who needs to split hairs?). The only hazard of beets is --well.

As a couple, R and I are not very adept with the big technological accoutrements of suburbia and hence have been slow to enter the grilling age. We finally decided that a little charcoal grill wouldn't actually get us drummed out of the neighborhood, and it has been a lot of fun to use. Of course, we are experiencing gender reversal here; I am the one using it, so it has not actually made less cooking for me. On the other hand, it is small enough to be manageable, useful for our little family, and easy to clean, and I am fooling myself that the little lighter cubes I found at Whole Foods are less poisonous than the lighter fluid I remember sloshing recklessly onto coals in the past.

In addition, I looked around online for bok choy recipes and chose to make moo goo gai pan -- another unexpected hit with my spouse and elder daughter-- and am still looking around for new-ish ways to use the summer squash and zucchini we got at the same time. Like many teachers, we do consciously try to change the way we eat in the summer, given all the rushing around and frenzy (and frozen/cafeteria/convenience foods) of the school year, but it's unusual to find my family actually asking to eat vegetables. Usually they'll endure the veggies I foist on them and I'll know they're just waiting patiently for the fruit to appear (D#1, in particular, is a huge fan of stone fruits), but this year has been different.

Today is a rest day for the Tour, so I am going to take a break from spinning and work on a couple of actual knitting projects instead. I do have to leave the house to go to a meeting up at school, and D#2 gets to change her earrings for the first time today (which means a trip to Claire's, that den of all things pink and sparkly), and we'll go into town to meet up with some of D#1's friends for a pool playdate ... I don't know why I persist in thinking of summer as relaxing.

Oh yes, D#1 has put purple streaks in her hair.

Monday, July 14, 2008

At the All-Star Break

Happy Bastille Day! To celebrate that holiday and the fact that the Red Sox are back in first place in the AL East at the All-Star break (those Tampa Bay Rays surely tempted fate with their newspaper coverage full of hubris) , here's a hoodie sleeve ....













and some fleurs in progress:














an attempt to take a picture of D#2's soap bubbles floating up into the sky














My cherry tomato plant (ate the first fruit from this plant yesterday! yum)

my heirloom tomato plant



















and some photos taken by D#1 this past Saturday on the Cape ... hey, how did that other tomato picture sneak in there? Sometimes I don't understand Blogger at all.

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Today's Tour stage was very exciting -- and as a result I have nearly finished off one of the giant balls of roving that came with my spindle, so that's a great indication of progress. I wish I could see more consistency in the 'finished' product. It goes from thinner than laceweight to thicker than worsted weight in a matter of a few feet of spun fiber, and I know that's not good. When Minds Eye reopens after vacation maybe I'll be able to get in there for a tune up lesson before I start on the fancy roving waiting in the wings. I am enjoying learning, even if I am slow to progress.

R has taken D#1 off to have yet another tooth pulled (I know she is genetically pre-determined to be slow about losing her teeth, but boy is she squeamish about getting them out on her own) and I'm home with D#2 for the nonce. That young lady came home from summer school in a very happy mood, ate her lunch, and then bounced up from her seat declaring, "now it's bubble time!"

Recent reading:

Donna Leon, The Girl of His Dreams
Ken Follett, World Without End
Richard Russo, Bridge of Sighs

next up -- Vanity Fair (although now I'm thinking I should have sprung for a large print version! Ah, the indignity), and the still vexing question of whether I should pre-order Breaking Dawn or wait & try to buy it at an independent bookstore in VT later in August...

R's surgery is set for this Thursday. He's very nonchalant about the whole thing. I do hope it will be as easy as he anticipates. Fortunately my parents will take the girls up to Maine for the long-anticipated visit to my aunt & uncle's (flee, lobsters, flee!), so we don't have to disappoint them by keeping them home.

And yes, I have been looking at Petfinder. Why do you ask?

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Welcome!

Welcome to my new spot on the web. Let's see how this goes.