1.28.2009

Ice, ice and more ice

Today is a snowday (well, ice day) in the bluegrass. The ice started yesterday with freezing rains that just kept coming. By this morning, all the bushes and trees were so weighed down with the ice that limbs were snapping off left and right. I took Astrid out for a walk around 8am and a giant limb fell 3ft behind us and several others fell up the street within the short time we were outside. After that I decided that Astrid will have to just use the side yard today where there aren't any trees to attack us.

Since the University is closed today I decided we should also close the shop. This is the first time that we have closed a full day due to weather, but my guess is that the building is almost inaccessible due to the ice.

Above are the trees in front of our house. The branches and limbs are slowly bending downward toward the earth. Unfortunately, if we get too much more snow, many of these are going to snap under the weight.

This is a close up of the bush in front of our porch. I understand that ice is extremely destructive, but I can't help loving the way it forms around tiny twigs and blades of grass. It kinda stops time or at least slows it down.

The plus side to the bad weather is that it makes me stir crazy which makes me super productive around the house. This morning I finished two writing projects, dissected and snaked our bathroom drain which has been slow for several weeks, cleaned the kitchen, read a bit, and cooked up some vegan shumai for lunch.

The shumai is a recipe that I found on the Everyday Dish site and I was meaning to make it for Chinese New Year. I had all of the ingredients ready to go on Monday, but that was the day that Your Vegan Mom published the recipe for vegan macaroni and cheese bites which Philip and I just had to have that night so we nixed the Chinese New Year plans. I didn't take a picture, but the mac n' cheese bites looked just like the ones on her site so you can go there and check them out. Now back to the shumai. They were really easy to prepare, but very time consuming. One recipe probably makes around 80 shumai, but I just bought one thing of dumpling wrappers so 50 is what we got. I only cooked up the ones we could eat and I froze the rest of them (dumplings don't do well in the refrigerator) for use at a later date. Since I didn't photograph them last night I decided to cook up some of the frozen ones for lunch today. I was a little worried about how they would do after being frozen, but they were actually easier to cook in the frozen state and tasted as good as they did last night. My favorite thing about the recipe was the bulger wheat and the great flavor and texture it brings to the filling. I have never cooked bulger before and I never realized how versitile it is. I will definitely be stocking up on my next trip to the co-op.

1.27.2009

Update blah blah blah

The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind, but things are finally slowing down again. Last Monday was my birthday so to celebrate we went to the karaoke bar with a few friends. It was fun, but very strange and a little creepy. I will say this, that bar certainly has some interesting regulars.

The next day Philip and I were both off work so that was the day we actually celebrated my birthday. We went out for coffee at Third Street where we got to see (well, mostly hear) Obama's inauguration address. I know all of the experts are saying that his speech wasn't memorable, but we both felt that it was incredibly inspirational. Our only hope was that people really hear his message about banding together and working hard to get though these rough times. I liked his example of workers taking pay cuts and fewer hours in order to assure that others won't have to be laid off. Philip's work place has implemented this practice which I found very impressive, unfortunately he says that many of his co-workers are complaining about not getting overtime anymore. It really makes me wonder if our society is capable of working together for a greater good that requires personal sacrifice.

Anyway, after coffee we headed out to do my birthday shopping. I decided to spend most of my birthday money and gift cards on stuff for the kitchen. I have been cooking more and more lately and there are a few items that I don't have that will make my life easier. When it comes to kitchen accessories, I am a bit of a minimalist. I don't like a lot of gadgets sitting around that I won't use. I made a list of what I wanted to get and I was successful in coming home with sweatshop-free versions of all but one item which I will just have to find at Goodwill instead. I also bought a few clothing items (as did Philip) and then we finished the day out at PF Changs which was pretty empty due to the snow. We tried to go see Quantum of Solice, but we missed the show and decided to go home instead of waiting around for the next showtime. We grabbed a couple of movies on the way home, the Happening and Eastern Promises. The Happening was okay, but I really liked Eastern Promises (even though I did a lot of yelling at the main character.) After the movies we watched as much of the inauguration balls as we could before we finally went to sleep.

I had lunch with my mom on Wednesday and then the rest of the week was a bit of a blur of work and classes. The shop has been fairly busy and Sarah and I are getting everything ready for our annual Superbowl sale this Saturday and Sunday. This year's sale will be the biggest one yet so we are really excited. I have also been spinning a bit at the shop. I got my Sit and Spin dvd in the mail right before my birthday and I have been practicing various techniques. I mastered the thick and thin, but I seem to be struggling with the coils. I have lots of practice fiber so I will just keep going until I get it.

1.18.2009

99 things meme

Things you’ve already done: bold
Things you want to do: italicize
Things you haven’t done and don’t want to - leave in plain font

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child. Maybe
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person. I don't really care about the falls, but the kitch would be fab
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted. by some lady in the mall, from a picture...
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood. Only once, my blood is no good.
65. Gone sky diving. Lately I have had the urge to jump out of a plane so maybe.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible. I was a religious studies major so I have read several religious texts start to finish.
86. Visited the White House. If protesting out front counts.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. :(
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee. My dad used to raise bees so I have been stung a lot.

1.16.2009

New goals

I want to knit 12 sweaters (one per month) and read 52 books in 2009. Can I do it? I guess we will see soon enough.

1.08.2009

Smokin'

I don't have a lot to share since I have been fairly lazy since the year turned. My house is a mess, laundry is dirty, no resolutions have been attempted, but I have been knitting on Philip's sweater. I am making him the Smokin' Jacket by Jared Flood from the Son of Stitch 'n Bitch
book. This sweater is an attempt to keep him from borrowing one of my sweaters when he goes outside to smoke.
As you can see, I have made quite a bit of progress for such a short time, but don't be deceived. I am knitting the sweater using two strands of worsted held together on size 10.5 needles so it's really hard not to make quick progress on this sweater. There is still quite a bit of knitting to be done including the saddle shoulders, the button bands and cowl neck, and the pockets. My goal is to finish by the end of January so I will be ready to start the wrap cardi KAL at the shop.

1.01.2009

Happy New Years!!

Well it's time again for the annual New Year's resolutions post. After looking at my resolutions from last year to see how I did I feel pretty motivated to do as well this year. I achieved all of my goals from last year (well, number 6 is a little sketchy, but I was definitely more social than the previous year so I am going to count it.)

1. Consume Less- I bet this one is a big surprise after looking at my 2006, 2007, and 2008 resolutions, but I think that this is an important one for me. This year I am going to focus on yarn and craft supplies. My biggest problem, like most crafters, is stashing materials for later. I pledge this year to only buy what I need when I need it and to actually get use out of it. I love the experience of buying yarn and I have no intention of giving that up. What I do intend to do is to only buy yarn when I am ready to start a project. I hate the idea that a beautiful yarn is oohed and aahhed over when it is being bought and taken home and then it goes to live in a closet or a storage bin until the purchaser is ready to either purge it or in a best case scenario, knit with it. Let's face it, knitting with stash yarn is nowhere near as fun as knitting with new yarn so here are a few ideas that I am going to implement to avoid the stash. First, I am only going to buy yarn when I am ready to use it. No more buying sweater quantities of yarn for sweaters that I might not make until the year 2015. Second, I am going to keep a list of top projects that use a variety of yarn weights in my wallet with the specifics on the gauge and yarn amounts so if I am visiting an LYS away from home and I find a yarn that I want to use for something I will have project ideas and details with me so that I am sure to get the right amount. Finally, I am going to look for ways to combine my stash yarns with new yarns in projects to make them new and exciting.

2. Keep up with cleaning and household chores- Moving into a smaller place has made it easier to keep the house fairly clean, but I would really like to continue and improve on this into the new year.

3. Keep up with my etsy store- I have a bunch of new stuff to put up on etsy, but I really need to rework my shop and take pictures of everything. That is my big goal for January. I really want to go to Yarn School again in the fall and I am planning on using my etsy money to go which means my shop needs to be up and running asap. My goal is to post 5-10 new items a week.

4. Mission kitchen organization- This is a two-part goal. The first part is organizing my spices which I started doing a few months ago. I am transferring all of my spices into uniform spice jars and creating custom labels for all of them. Since I only buy the jars 1-2 at a time it is probably going to take me all year to accomplish this. The second part of my kitchen goal is to create a recipe box to organize and hold all of my loose recipes. Right now I have a binder and it is a mess. I would prefer something smaller that can sit on the shelf over the stove and cards that can clip onto the cabinet over the kitchen counter.

5. Eat better- This is the resolution that Philip set for both of us for the new year. Over the past year we started eating certain foods that we really shouldn't have. Even worse, as my schedule got busier we started eating more and more fast foods. The problem with bad foods is that they creep in one by one until you notice that they have taken over your life. We are putting a stop to it and going completely cold turkey for the new year.