Ten on Tuesday

This week's topic is 10 Things You Love To Do On An Extra Day Off. You know, those holidays, snow days, special occasions when you get one day with nothing specific scheduled?

1. Sleep late. (doesn't everyone? No? Okay, I'm weird)

2. If I really am unscheduled, then I'll do things like play in the snow.

3. Cold weather? Make a big pot of stew or soup.

4. Knit (no big surprise there, right?)

5. Read...anything really, but if I happen to have (or can access wireless to quickly buy) an Emily Richards novel, I'll read that!

6. If it's a snow day, sit with a cup of tea and watch the snow fall...

7. Watch The Tonk egging on the birds thru the window! Hysterical!

8. Watch an old movie.

9. Sew - usually a Nana Sadie Rose tote.

10. If bad weather isn't involved and it can be a day arranged with My Sweetheart, I'd just plain snuggle with him. :)

Enamoured...

Of a young designer, who I didn't think, when I first began seeing his work, I'd become quite so involved in wanting to knit his designs. Sometimes these things creep up on me. But I'm (like so many on his fan group on Ravelry) beginning to wonder if I need an intervention (and apparently I don't have nearly as many of his patterns in my queue as some do - I have 5!).

Who am I talking about? Stephen West, of course. My most recent addition of his work to my queue is Kenzie Shawl. I keep invisioning it in my trademark favorite colors. Yes, that would be the black thru gray, purple thru fushia, ranges...I'm totally drooling over this one.

And I have 4 others on line to create. I have simply got to get this "broken wing" fixed so I can knit again.

And no, I haven't bought the yarn for this yet...trying hard to be good...there are so many other things (smaller things) on my needles right now. And a holiday season to get thru. This might be a good first of the year project - New Year, New book challenge (just my own personal quietly private one), New shawl pattern in New colors? Yup. Sounds really good to me.

And for those of you not on Ravelry? What IS your problem...unless of course, you're reading this via Facebook. Then? Never mind. This is all moot.

Ten on Tuesday

The Ten on Tuesday topic is 10 Foods You Eat Regularly Now That Were Exotic (or unheard of) When You Were a Kid.

Oh, there are so many, this is hard to narrow it down, but I have a photo or two (tho' we'll see if blogger will accept them, so far? No...) that helps to elucidate my choices, so here goes:

1. Greek Yogurt - now a staple of my everyday breakfast, even yogurt was mostly non-existent when I was a child. The varieties that appear now in the dairy case are mind boggling!

2. Kiwis. My mother started buying and eating these when I was in high school, but prior to that, I'd never seen the hairy green fruit. Love it, because she did, and convinced me to try it. (but she also loved avocados and I absolutely DON'T)

3. Portabella Mushroom burgers (actually there are three things in that that I didn't eat as a child - the portabella mushroom, the feta cheese, and the Sandwich Thin!).

And they are especially good with something else I'd never had as a child: Sweet Potato Fries!

4. Patty pan squash. We had summer squash, zuccini, and acorn squash when I was growing up, but the cute little squashes of various colors? Nope. I guess butternut was around, but I'm betting we didn't eat it much because Mom had trouble cutting it and peeling it (as have I had till learning about microwaving it a couple of minutes then letting it cool before peeling - works like a charm.

5. Purple Cherokee Tomatoes - Mom liked red tomatoes and Daddy liked the yellow ones. That's what there was in our garden. And if it didn't grow there, we didn't eat it. The winter ones we found in the store tasted like cardboard anyway.

6. Grape Tomatoes - we had cherry tomatoes, but not the grape ones - they're just like candy...

7. Mushroom, cabbage, Cannellini beans, and barley soup. This is a recipe I found on the Fat Free Vegan's blog, and I made it one night as we were pounded by a snow storm. OH MY. What a satisfying concoction. My mother, who was a vegetarian, would not have even thought of putting these three ingredients together. YUM.

7. Almond Milk. I grew up with cow's milk. Loved it. Got to be an adult, and stopped drinking it because it "made me fat." And then when I realized that might not be true, I started again, and found that it no longer loved ME. I tried soy, but it doesn't love me either. Almond milk? Oh yes. Thank you.

8. Lentil Soup...I love trying different recipes for the same thing.

9. Indian food. If I could? This cuisine would be the mainstay of my diet. Perhaps I was a Hindu in a previous life?

10. Dark Chocolate. Of course, there were precious few brands available when I was growing up, but milk chocolate was my preference all those many days ago. Now? 70% Dark is my favorite....and if you add in a bit a candied ginger? (Oh! Another one!) I'm in heaven...

Ten on Tuesday

The topic this week is: Ten Things I Did This Weekend. Well. Since this weekend was the one My Sweetheart and I dubbed our "getaway and relax" weekend, we actually did a few fun things, tho' the "getaway" part was done mostly locally!

1. Friday night (we had the day off on Friday, to make it a long holiday weekend), we attended the Michael McDonald Pops concert with the RSO (Roanoke Symphony Orchestra). A rollicking good time was had by all. He's still got it.

 

2. We woke up bright and early on Saturday and headed to Radford University for the Highlander Festival. We'd heard about the parade of the clans (shown below), and the games. We were pretty blown away by the guys that tossed 52 pounds over 20 feet, and such!! We also planned to make it to the Sheepdog trials, but if they had them, it was after we left.

3. My Sweetheart bought a sports cap in a neat black & gray tweed at the Highlander Festival. He looks really good in it. Tho' I suggested it, he didn't purchase a kilt. :(

4. I drooled over Oberon Designs leather and silver at a booth in the vendor area.

5. We had a fancy dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in town, Coach & Four. We want to find a restaurant that is "ours" but this one isn't it. It IS one I love...so we went, and crossed it off our list as "ours."

6. We went to see "Enough Said," at the Grandin Theatre (this is a reclaimed old theater that's been revamped to have 4 theaters inside. I was surprised to see the original ladies room still intact. And the stalls are still microscopic! The movie was delightful, so if you get the chance - go!

7. We stopped at my LYS, and picked up black Berroco Ultra Alpaca to make a cowl for him. I picked out Knitspot's pattern Creel which has instructions for a hat, mitts, and cowl. He likes them! (That photo there is before I caught my error in the pattern. I've since ripped 2.5 rows back. Sigh)

 

8. We came home to leftovers from the prior evening's dinner, and then I cast on for Creel and actually counted out the 140 stitches correctly the first time! (that NEVER happens...)

9. Monday we ran The Meezer to the vet. She was in need of her physical, and we discovered that now she must have a dental. This isn't something I like to hear...she's 12, and getting older, so the risks are higher. But she really does need to have 4 teeth removed, so we'll get the bloodwork and see. Hopefully that will indicate that she's healthy enough for the tooth removal.

10. And then the last thing we did, was to shop for a recliner for me for the upcoming shoulder replacement surgery. We found one. And a certain someone bought it for me and now I get to make room in the bedroom for it so I can get used to sleeping on it. Yes. It's a La-z-Boy! My Sweetie is pretty special, if you ask me.

It was a good weekend...and there was even knitting! :)

Ten on Tuesday

This week's topic for Ten on Tuesday is "Ten Ways You're Embracing Fall!"

er...well. Since last weekend's temperatures were in the 90s here, and the front just moved thru yesterday, I've barely had a minute (ok, less than 24 hours) to think about embracing fall! But I have got a few thoughts on how I have been and will be embracing it as it enters our region this week:

1. For a couple of weeks at least now, I've been enjoying the photos from the Burlington Free Press in Vermont. I liked this page on Facebook when epic flooding in the wake of hurricane Irene devastated the state. My family is from Vermont, I spent summers there growing up, I still have family there. I adore, and miss, the state, so every year at this time, I get to enjoy photos like these:

2. And I love the color in my area, but since the temps have been up so high, there hasn't been much change yet...a bit, but nothing to write home about. This year has been interesting weather-wise (as it has most everywhere), so I'm not sure what we'll get.

3. So because I'm beginning to think of fall, the very first thing I will relish is turning off the AC and hopefully not turning ON the heat for a bit. It was nice, after the front went thru yesterday to open the windows for a few hours.

4. Normally I'd be delighted about cold weather clothing, but I'm looking forward to more shoulder surgery in November, and that means not being able to wear my collection of pullover sweaters for quite awhile. At present, pulling anything OFF over my head is a challenge that borders on the comical. I won't take photos (tho' My Sweetheart has threatened to...*wink*)

5. But one item I'm looking forward to wearing, is the ruana I bought made of black and gray fleece to drape over the shoulders for warmth while using the sling. It won't be as warm as my fall/winter coats, but it's snuggle-worthy, and that's what counts.

6. Knitting is still a challenge, and I don't get near what I'd like to get done when I manage to sit and knit. But I'm hopeful I'll be able to make the mitts and hat to go with the cowl I made to go with the new ruana. I miss my knitting probably the most of everything that's been taken away with this shoulder thing. Oh, that and yoga.

7. My favorite types of foods are in the farmer's markets now, and My Sweetheart has assured me that this weekend we can shop, he'll chop, and then freeze for later use. They include: all the squashes, October beans (or as my Mother referred to them "Shellies"), greens galore.

8. With My Sweetie's help, I hope to have enough of these chopped and ready to pull out for slow-cooker soups and stews, and all the wonderful vegetarian dishes I love to make in the fall.

9. I've been pulling out the socks to wear just when I visit My Sweetie (because like most men, he keeps the AC lower than I'd like). But last night, after the front went thru, yup, you guessed it, the socks appeared. I LOVE my handknit socks!

10. More outdoor activities. While I'm still going to be restricted, I'm glad we can comfortably get outside and worry a lot less about the heat. I don't handle it well, and it's one of the things My Sweetie worries about when we plan something outside. We've got day trips planned as the fun of our 4 day recovery from wedding planning and wedding for his son, this coming weekend. We'll be out and about in my area, doing some fun things. And it's only going to be in the 70s. It's time to take the roof off the Del Sol again! Whoohoo!

Mindblowing.

I rarely post anything political on this page. But this blew my mind. THIS is staggering. Watch. Learn. We need change. REAL change. Not just political change. We need whole systems change - because no one should be off the chart in any direction.

Ten on Tuesday

Okay, this one is pretty easy. I could simply answer it with one phrase, "All of them!" but I'll be more precise. Ten on Tuesday's directive this week is to list the 10 chores I hate most. Heh. Here, for your reading pleasure, is my list:

1. Cleaning the cat box (but I love the cats, so...)

2. Vacuuming

3. Dusting

4. Cleaning the toilet (but I hate how gross it can get so...)

5. Cleaning the tub (which is directly related to how hard it is to use my shoulders, so...)

6. Washing the car (see #5)

7. Closet cleaning (just what IS in there, anyway?)

8. Rearranging cupboards in the kitchen

9. Washing windows (I just don't *do* windows)

10. the 1/2 year cleaning round (primarily pulling off/down slipcovers/curtains and washing walls, etc)

That does it. And yes, my place is "challenged" in this respect. So sue me. I'd rather knit.