Thursday, December 31, 2009

Monday, August 31, 2009

Days 5-7: Alma AR

After visiting some family graves in Red Oak Cemetery, we drove north to Laurel Land Cemetery to visit the graves of The Husband’s mother and step-father. 
Laurel Land Cemetery
This is a huge cemetery and we haven’t been here since October 2001 but TH went straight to the right area.  He must have a fantastic sense of direction because he is able to do this all the time.  To me, every row looks pretty much the same.
It rained a bit last night and today is cloudy and promises to be humid.  But we are headed north to visit my brother in Arkansas.  I haven’t seen him for about 15 years and I’m really looking forward to seeing him again.
We stopped for lunch in Atoka, OK at a new restaurant called Adam’s Grill.  It isn’t actually open yet but the woman planting flowers by the front door says, “Come on in.  The cook needs the practice!”  We ordered hamburgers and fries; the fries were a little soggy but the burgers were really, really good.  I think they need to crank up the heat on the french fry oil. I think they’ll do okay, though, as they are on Highway 71 which is a pretty busy road.  The address is 807 S. Mississippi Street.  They also plan to have free wi-fi, which is always a draw.
Alma mural
Mural in downtown Alma, Arkansas
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The view from the patio.  So bucolic with the two horses in the green pasture and the pond in the background.  You just don’t get this in our part of California.
The GPS took us straight to my brother’s house even though it’s pretty far out in the country.  Brother and Sister-in-law made us feel so welcome, it was like we’ve been seeing them all the time.
On Saturday afternoon, my two nieces came over for dinner.  It was the first time I’ve seen them since they were quite small and we spent Christmas at my Dad’s house in Paradise, CA.  The younger sister is married with two little girls of her own.  The little one is five and just starting kindergarten as is my GS.  When she was asked how she likes school, she did a thumbs up.  The funny thing is that’s the same thing GS did when he was asked the same question. Must be some kind of 5-year old code.
My nieces seem quite interested in the family history, although they only know about the Arthur Harper line.  So I’ve decided to write something up for them about the Lamb and Trott lines as well.  I tried to tell them about Walter Harper and the Aunt Frances letters, but I got so emotional that I couldn’t talk.  Old age seems to have had that effect on me.  I get all choked up so easily. Of course this is such a sad story that it would probably reduce anyone to tears.
Brother had to leave on Sunday for a job in California, so S-i-L took us sightseeing in the Fort Smith area. 
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Downtown Alma, Arkansas. 
Spinach Capital of America/The World
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S-i-L is in the Master Gardener program and these herb beds at an historic house in Fort Smith are her project. 
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The labyrinth at St. Scholastica’s in Fort Smith.  I’ve always wanted to walk a labyrinth but this was my first opportunity.  It took a lot of concentration as the paths are pretty narrow.  And when we got to the center, we discovered that we would have to retrace our footsteps to get out again.  Since it took us a good 15 minutes, and it was a somewhat humid day, we decided to just walk straight out.  Is a half-labyrinth as good as a whole?

Friday, August 28, 2009

Road Trip 2009: Day 4 Vega TX to Red Oak TX

At Amarillo we left Interstate 40 and headed southeast on US 287. Shortly after that, we started seeing acres of cotton plants. All I could think of is yards of quilt fabric.

We stopped at a roadside rest near Medicine Mounds.

Medicine Mounds

Very clean and modern. This is near the town of Quanah which brought to mind the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped by Indians in 1836 when she was 9 years old. I am undecided as to whether her story is truly a sad one or not. Read it and let me know what you think.

We’re on our way to Montague County (pronounced Mon-tegg) to do some genealogical research. The Husband’s great-great grandfather Spencer Stout lived here for a while and is supposedly buried here. His mother Eveline Maurine Witt Stout, who lived to be 97, also died and is buried here.

Courthouse

The Montague County Courthouse was built in 1912.

Fire Escape Chute

This chute is apparently still used as a fire escape. TH has told me about a similar system that was used in Lincoln School where he attended kindergarten through fifth grades in Centerville, IA. That one, however, was totally enclosed and a couple of times a year all the kids had to bring waxed bread bags and sit on them to slide down. That helped keep the surface smooth in case it was needed, which it wasn’t during his time there.

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Spencer’s death certificate says he is buried in this county but we couldn’t find any mention of it at the library in Nocona. The book there did say that Eveline is buried in Montague Cemetery, but darned if we could find a stone. We did find an interesting Probate case regarding her at the courthouse.

Our research here was finished by mid-afternoon, so we decided to head south through Dallas and find a motel in the Red Oak area. TH wants to visit some family graves there and then visit his Mother’s grave at Laurel Land Cemetery nearer Dallas.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Road Trip 2009: Day 3 Gallup NM to Vega TX

Ever since Flagstaff, the weather has been fair and much cooler.  I don’t know if it’s the altitude or what.  New Mexico seems to be working on all their roads.  Probably those stimulus funds.

Tram in Air

Our extra for today was the Sandia Peak Tram in Albuquerque.  The distance is 2.7 miles and it rises to over 10,000 feet.  I’m usually leery of heights but this didn’t bother me a bit

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We took our jackets because 56 degrees is pretty cool.  But when we reached the top either the temperature had  gone up or the altitude made a difference because we didn’t need the jackets at all.  It was mild and not at all windy.  The Albuquerque area was very hazy, so our view wasn’t as spectacular as it could have been.  But amazing even with the haze.

 Top of Peak

  The base station as seen from our tram.  The ride was smooth and not at all scary.  Might have been a different story if there had been any wind.

base station

We had lunch at the High Finance Restaurant on the peak.  Despite the name, the prices were reasonable.  And the food was quite good. 

At Exit 47 on Interstate 40 in New Mexico we cross the Continental Divide.  From now on all rivers we cross will ultimately flow into the Atlantic Ocean instead of the Pacific. Now I really feel as if I’m away from home.

We had planned to stay the night in Amarillo TX but were a bit behind schedule, so decided to stay in Vega, TX -  just a bit short of Amarillo.

boothill vega tx

Dinner at Boot Hill in Vega TX.  Old West theme with the servers dressed as dance hall girls.  Our server however was dressed as a gunslinger.   But she was good.  Since we are now in Texas, I have to order Chicken Fried Steak. 

Days 1, 2, 3 043  Yummy, but the portion was so large I could only eat about half of it.  Notice the lack of veggies, other than parsley.  To be fair, they did serve me a salad before this.

There was a table with several Texans who were talking football and going on about how good  the Cowboys are and how badly the 49ers are going to get beaten in their pre-season game this coming Saturday night.  As we were leaving, the Husband walked by their table and said, “I don’t want to spoil your fun, but………………. Go Niners!”  You should have heard them scream as we got out of there fast.

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For the last couple of days we have been seeing signs advertizing Dairy Queen’s Blizzard.  The husband has been salivating but I convinced him that this treat would be best saved for when he actually was in Texas.  Wouldn’t you know that this tiny little town would have a DQ!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Road Trip 2009: Day 2 Las Vegas to Gallup NM

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We did manage to get to Hoover Dam on the second day. Didn’t want to take the time for a tour, so we just goggled at the immensity of it and then headed out. They are building a new bridge that is set to open in 2010 and, even now, is a thing of beauty.

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Just to prove we were really there!

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Lunch at Kingman AZ at the Roadrunner Cafe. Actually we ordered breakfast at lunchtime, something we do frequently when we’re travelling. Love those eggs and hash browns!

At Kingman we joined I-40 which would take us through the next three states. Somewhere south of Flagstaff we ran into a major hailstorm. The hail was small but there was so much of it that the road was covered at times.

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The traffic slowed down to a crawl and we exited at the next rest stop.

Summer Hailstorm

That’s when we discovered that we hadn’t brought any umbrellas. So we sat in the car hoping for the rain to stop; instead it just got stronger. When I finally decided to brave it and run for the bathroom, I was stopped by a lake-sized puddle that I couldn’t get around. So back to the car and north to Flagstaff.

Last year we stopped here at a little coffee shop (can’t remember the name but it was at the Little America exit) and it was really good. This year we managed to find the same exit but the shop was closed for some reason. However, we did find the Mojo Cafe in Winslow AZ – super coffee and free Wi-fi.

We had planned to stay the night at the Best Western in Gallup NM. We stayed there last year and really liked it. This year they were full up, as were several other motels that we tried. Finally found a small, less luxurious motel and were happy with that.

Dinner at the Ranch Kitchen where I had tamales. These New Mexico tamales were quite different from the California tamales I’m used to. The masa wrap was very thin and the filling was definitely spicier. Thank goodness for sour cream.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Road Trip 2009: Day 1 from Home to Las Vegas

We got an early start today and headed south on I-5 towards Las Vegas.  We stopped for lunch in Mojave.  The restaurant was decorated with a collection of children’s cars, so The Husband was happy.Days 1, 2, 3 002

The last time we went to Las Vegas was in 1994 on Day 1 of our first big road trip to the Midwest.  We arrived on a Saturday at about 5pm and found that there were no rooms available in the entire city.   Apparently the Grateful Dead were performing in Vegas, there was a major prize-fight scheduled and the economy was booming – so everything was booked well in advance.  Also, there were a lot fewer hotels fifteen years ago. 

So we kept going, stopping at every motel along I-15, to no avail.  We ended up in St. George UT where we rented the next to last room in that town.  That caused us to visit the Grand Canyon on the North Rim instead of the more popular South Rim.  No problem there because the Grand Canyon is magic from wherever you see it.

This time we didn’t think we would have a problem – we arrived on a Monday, the GD are no more and the economy is also not so good.  In fact, we got a very good price at the Best Western Mardi Gras.

Monorail

The Monorail was over the street next to our motel, although the station was a few blocks away.  That’s the new moon in the center of the photo.

The weather was fairly cool for Las Vegas – upper nineties instead of over 100 degrees.  I had wanted to see the Strip with all the big glamorous hotels, but it didn’t happen.  By the time we got settled in and had dinner, we were too tired.  The Husband didn’t even do any gambling.  The next morning we were going to drive down the Strip but we took a wrong turn and were past it before we could figure out what to do.  We never backtrack, so that’s it for Vegas.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Lace Shawl Finished! except for blocking…

The 2009 Goddess Anniversary Shawllace shawl cropped

This is the farthest I’ve ever gotten on a lace shawl. Everyone says that it will look totally different after blocking. I think I’m also going to add a little crocheted edging at the neckline as it looks a bit fragile. But, all in all, I am really pleased with this shawl. Even before blocking it’s large enough for me.

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This is the 2008 Ravelry Block of the Month CAL afghan. I wanted it a little bigger so I crocheted three extra blocks to make it 5x3. I am currently working on a six-row border to finish it off. I was hoping to be able to just use stash yarn but I’ve already had to buy another skein of lavender and just may have to buy one more.

I’ve started a pair of socks for The Husband and am also working on charity hats. I plan to pull out one of the hibernating lace shawls, probably the 2008 Goddess Anniversary Shawl. I am on the final clue but have quite a lot of 500+ stitch rows to do. This is a circular shawl and has a border all around. I haven’t done a border yet but I think I can do it.

I’m also thinking about starting the Half-Square in Trinity Stitch shawl from Victorian Lace Today if I can figure out the directions. Just looking at it, the numbers don’t add up; but there is no errata for this pattern, so I’m probably wrong. I’m going to do a swatch using Paton’s Grace so that I don’t mess up the silk yarn that I really want to use. More about this later.

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The yarn I would like to use is the one on the bottom. It is 100% silk and was bought in Arkansas last summer while we were on vacation. It should give this shawl a nice drape. Of course, I will do a swatch before casting on.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Midweek Break

Mom went home to SF Monday and we decided to take a break for a few days. The Cambria area in San Luis Obispo county is one of our favorite places and only a couple of hours’ drive from home. This time we found a hotel in San Simeon, about 4 miles north of Cambria. It is the Best Western Cavalier Resort and is on the west side of Highway One. That means no crossing the road to get to the beach. This is also a dog-friendly hotel. No extra charge for the dog and the only rule is that he mustn’t be left unattended. This is the view from our deck, looking north.

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After our morning walk, we had a good soak in the spa, Coast break 1 032

then went to breakfast in the on-site restaurant. The weather was great, blue skies and no fog, until about 11am; then the fog started rolling in and stayed pretty much all day. But, surprisingly, it rolled back out around 6pm and we had a really gorgeous sunset.

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The hotel has three fire pits along the bluff above the beach, each with chairs for the guests to sit and watch the sunset. Tonight it was really windy which blew the smoke every which way, so we moved to a bench closer to the beach and I must have taken 50 photos. It was one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen.

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Cambria has a dog park at the north end of town. Master found out about it last time we were here, so this time we stopped yesterday on our way in and again today to take a break from checking out all the neat shops in Cambria. Unfortunately, the yarn shop that I visited in February is closed, hopefully temporarily. I did manage to find a quilt shop and bought some Insulbright for making potholders.

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Then we drove up Santa Rosa Creek Road to Linn’s Farm Store to see what they had. We had driven by in February but they weren’t open then. We bought a few tasty items to take home and plan to stop at their town shop tomorrow morning to buy an olallieberry pie to take home.

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Then we decided to drive down to Morro Bay for a fish dinner. Needing to work up an appetite, we stopped at the Cloisters Park which seemed to have a lot of walking paths. At one wildlife viewing point, thirteen ducks appeared as soon as we arrived. We didn’t have anything to feed them, so they eventually started wandering back into the reeds. Some of them had blue beaks which I’ve never seen before.

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There were lots of folks walking dogs, big and small. This Irish Wolfhound was one of the former. The owner was not a small man despite what it looks like in the photo.

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We had a very good dinner at Dorn’s Restaurant in Morro Bay, overlooking Morro Rock which we couldn’t see because of the fog. But by the time we finished the fog was starting to lift.

All in all, a very good day. Tomorrow it's up early for a walk on the beach, a soak in the spa and another yummy breakfast that I don't have to cook. Then it's home through Big Sur on Highway One. I much prefer driving north on this road - it's that much farther from the cliffs along the ocean.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Nightgowns Completed

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Ready for the girls to try on next time they come down.









I’ve changed my mind about my next project. I have 5 yards of a crinkly polyester in a splashy “vacation” print – has sort of a Mediterranean look. I bought it back in the late eighties when we were all wearing those windbreakers and pants made out of crinkly nylon. I think my plans were to make a jacket. Not interested in that now but the fabric is so light that I think it might be good for a backpack from Butterick 4147. The pattern calls for interfacing so it should be sturdy enough. That would use up a little over a yard and I could use the rest to make supermarket bags from Butterick 5338.

Early Girl July

Suddenly our tomatoes are ripening like crazy. Looks like gazpacho this weekend!



Monday, July 27, 2009

Back to Garment Sewing

for a little while anyway. Yesterday and today I worked on the summer nightgowns for the girls. They are all finished except for a bit of topstitching. I busted 4.5 yards of garment fabric making these. That makes a total of 6.25 yards out of the almost 400 yards in my stash. I think my next project will be a shell-type blouse for myself. I have lots of printed rayon for practicing until I get the fit just right. That should take care of several yards right there.

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This is the pattern I used, view 2 for both. The copyright date is 1983 but the style is still a good one. It was originally purchased at Beverly Fabrics in San Jose, but not by me. In 1983 my daughters were well past sizes 7-10 and I don’t think I ever visited that particular fabric store anyway. I must have bought it at a yard sale or a thrift shop sometime after my granddaughters were born. Don’t we wish patterns still were priced like this one?


end of Clue 4 I’m still knitting on the 2009 Anniversary Shawl. I’m on the Clue 5 which is the final clue and have only about 12 rows to go. Of course each row has over 500 stitches which means I can only do a couple of rows in an evening. That’s if what we are watching on TV isn’t overly exciting, causing me to make a mistake which involves counting, ripping back, or, worst of all, frogging to the lifeline. That’s the white line several rows from the bottom – actually it’s unwaxed dental floss. The little green things are 1/4” lengths of drinking straws being used as stitch markers. We really believe in recycling/reusing around here. I use different colors for marking different sections of the pattern.

There is no border on this shawl, and no grafting to be done. So when the final stitch is in, I can block it and it’s finished! Not to count my chickens before the eggs hatch, but this will be the first lace shawl I’ve ever completed. Then I can start finishing up the other three lace wips.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Where Has the Time Gone?

Summer is almost half over and I don’t feel as if I’ve accomplished even a tenth of what I had planned. I don’t know where the hours go.

Apricot Jam and Knits 007

This sunflower is one of at least a dozen that popped up as volunteers this spring. I don’t remember ever planting sunflowers in the backyard, so they must have come from birdseed. I hate to pull up volunteers if I know what they are, but next year I’m going to have to get ruthless and yank them out as soon as I see them. Most of the plants are single but this one just keeps putting out the blossoms.

The tomatoes are finally starting to produce. Not enough to make Gazpacho yet but I haven’t had to buy tomatoes for over two weeks now. I’m thinking about Panzanella for dinner tomorrow. We have some leftover Pugliese bread from Costco that should be perfect for it. The amazing zucchini plant has now given us at least 5 dozen fruits, ranging from 4-5 inches to “too big for stuffing even.” I haven’t let many get big because this is the absolutely best zucchini I’ve ever grown. The plant came from a nursery in San Carlos and was part of the batch of plants our son gave me for Mother’s Day. The label said it was an heirloom variety called “Romanesco” but it doesn’t look much like the photos I’ve found online.

I planted a six-pack each of lemon cucumbers and Armenian cucumbers. However, the Armenian must have been mislabeled because we now have twelve lemon cucumber plants, each producing what seems like several fruits a day. I swear, you lift up a branch and the cucumbers are growing in clusters, like grapes only a lot bigger. Thank goodness they are so good – we are eating two or three a day and have been able to find takers for the rest.

I didn’t get any beans planted this year although we do have some volunteers that sprouted from last year’s crop. I think I might try to get a small batch in next week if I can find the space. The moon is waxing which means it’s a good time to plant beans. I’ve never tried planting by the phases of the moon but I’ve always wanted to experiment with it.

The Husband picked our first apple this evening – no photo because he ate it too quickly. It was an Early Summer Red according to the label. There are several more that look ready, so I’ll probably try one tomorrow.

The Blenheim apricots were very small this year. I think we should have thinned them. Also probably should have pruned them last winter. I checked a book on pruning fruit trees out of the library this week. It appears to have a lot of information on the kinds of trees we are growing, so maybe we can improve our harvests.

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Our friends brought us a box of their wonderful Blenheim apricots a couple of weeks ago, so I tried making jam for the first time in many years. This is the first batch. A few days later I found a recipe for Apricot Riesling Jam and decided to try it. I didn’t have any Riesling but I did have 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier so I used that. I got 2 small jars and a bit extra from that batch. We had a little of the extra over some vanilla ice cream the other night and it was pure heaven.

I’ve rearranged my sewing room again and now have room for a cutting table. It’s so nice not to have to use the dining room table when I want to cut something. All this is so that I can make GD1 and GD2 summer nightgowns. I’ve been planning this for weeks and was just about to put it off until next year. But when I asked one of them if that was okay, she said she would really like to have it this year and it didn’t matter that summer is half over, she could wear summer pjs all year, no problem. After that, I couldn’t not make them.

Some quilting has been going on this summer. Big Busted and the twin-size POM are ready to baste. I pieced the back of the POM quilt, so that took longer. I’m going to try the Sharon Schamber method of basting. I’ve read some good reviews on my Yahoo quilting groups. I’ll probably try it on a catnapper first.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Going, Going, Gone

This weekend was the quarterly Bulky Item Recycling event at the local landfill and I gritted my teeth and donated this chair and the sewing table.  We had them in our yard sale last month but they didn’t sell.  Go figure. 

   Sell or Give Away 008

I bought the chair in about 1975 at a Salvation Army store in San Jose.  The upholstery was fully intact at that time. I think it cost $15 and they delivered because I didn’t have any way to get it home.  I loved the shape and the carved wood arms and feet.  I did not like the color but, in those days, I was quite capable of doing the reupholstering  myself.  We put it upstairs in the master bedroom and I spent many an afternoon happily reading, knitting, doing needlepoint and, later, counted cross stitch.  Somehow the reupholstery job didn’t happen.

When we moved back east, the chair went with us.  I don’t remember where it lived when we were in New Jersey, but when we moved to Florida I covered it with a couple of flowered sheets to match the bedding in the guest room and it looked pretty good.  When we moved back to California, the sheets survived the move without any disturbance and, in our current house, it has spent time in the guest room and, for the past several years, in our living room.  It has been a good friend for almost 35 years now but, once I made the decision to sell get rid of it, it wasn’t too hard to say goodbye.  The husband didn’t even ask me to help load it into the truck.  He probably thought I might change my mind.  My new knitting chair is the wooden rocker that my co-workers at the Court gave me when I retired.  It’s a little hard on the rear, but I have plans to make some cushions for it.

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The sewing table doesn’t really have any sentimental memories.  I bought it with a Singer Slant machine at a rural yard sale, maybe 10 years ago.  I thought it was very clever, the way the front of the cabinet pulled out to reveal the chair.  In real life though, it was difficult to pull out and the seat was uncomfortably hard.  The sewing machine has some mechanical problems and is sitting in the back of my closet waiting for repairs.  It has a lot of cams with it and could possibly be a good machine if I ever get it to work.  Not that I really need another machine….

So that’s two large items out the door on our way to getting organized.  My family will be happy to hear this.

Until a few days ago, June had been rather gloomy.  But yesterday it was 100 and the prediction for today was 101.  However, the good old fog started through the Castroville Gap and we topped out at 92 in the late morning. 

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Farmer’s Market Week 3

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Apricot Pie bought at the Casa de Fruta stand at today’s Farmers Market.

We had this for dessert, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I’m somewhat of a purist when it comes to pie – rarely satisfied with a commercial crust.  But this one is a winner!  The apricots were perfect, not too sweet, and the crust was tender and flaky.  No hint of store-bought with this one.  Still warm from the oven and only $10.  They also had apple, cherry and peach but, in this family, apricot wins every time.

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This was my haul last week.  The strawberries really were bigger than the apricots; the purple veggie on the right is kohlrabi.  It looks a bit like a space ship when it’s standing up but is really quite good.  We had one of them raw with ranch dip on Memorial Day.  I will probably cook the other 2 tomorrow for dinner, maybe steamed with a little butter.  The sugar snap peas were delicious and the asparagus, which is grown here in our county, was much fresher than we get in the supermarket.  The raisins are from the Central Valley and are yummy.  We first bought these year before last but they didn’t bring any to last year’s markets.  Being used to packaged supermarket raisins, these were a real eye-opener for us.

The bottle in front is lotion made from goat’s milk.  I haven’t tried it yet (except for the tester at the market). I was surprised to find out that the owner of this business is a well-known local quilter. 

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One of the vendors sells orchids.  He has a really wonderful selection at very reasonable prices.  This one was only $8.

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I have a checkered history with orchids.  The Husband often would buy me one for Mother’s Day/my birthday from one of the sellers who appear in local parking lots around holidays.  And every year, it would last about two weeks and it was all over.  Finally one year I managed to keep it going all through the bloom and into the next bloom, until the grandchildren, horsing around near the plant, knocked it over.  I tried repotting it but no luck.  Another orchid bit the dust.  But the man is very persistent and, the following year, here comes another orchid.  Actually, 4 orchids in a basket.  That was in 2007 and one of them is blooming for the third time, with smaller flowers and healthy-looking leaves.  One died (I’m not sure why) and the other two bloomed the second year but now are just hanging on.  Their leaves look pretty good but no blooms.  I think I will try repotting them and giving them some fertilizer. 

Today we bought more asparagus (the season will probably only last another week or two), more sugar snap peas, a basket of strawberries, some stone fruit (peaches and apricots) and a cauliflower.  Also a bottle of olive oil made from olives grown in the grove in front of San Juan Oaks golf course.  We’ll have to do a taste test to see if it’s better than what I buy at Costco.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Catching Up, Part 2

KNITTING

Despite having three unfinished lace shawls, I have started another one, the 2009 Goddess Anniversary Shawl. I had hoped to finish the 2008 shawl before starting this one but I broke a needle and had to wait for the replacement.

This pattern is different from other styles I have attempted. There are six triangular sections with a straight center section. The first clue was uploaded last Saturday morning and I started that evening. There are only 33 stitches to start with but you increase 12 stitches every four rows, so the piece gets bigger pretty fast. I finished Row 64 last night, just in time for Clue 2 which was released this morning. This one only has 40 rows, but again, the increases will add a total of 120 stitches by the time the clue is finished.

End of Clue 1 on 2009 shawl. The circular needle isn't long enough to stretch the entire piece out.

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This is a pair of socks I made using Cat Bordhi’s Simple Sock pattern from “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles.” I can’t remember what the yarn was and it’s not in my Ravelry stash and I can’t find the remaining yarn, so that will have to be a mystery for a while. I mostly knit toe-up patterns and this one is a top down, but it fits pretty well so I am using it for the Jojoland Melody that I bought at KnitWicks in Rogers, Arkansas when we were on vacation last year.

Road Trip Yarn Purchases 006 It is really soft and such a gorgeous teal color. I’m about 3/4 finished with the second sock; may be able to complete it later this week if I finish Clue 2 of the shawl quickly.

This photo shows both colors of the Melody, although the pink one is really more of a dark peach.

The 2008 CAL afghan blocks are ready to be sewn together. To make the job easier, I crocheted the same two-row edging around each of the 15 blocks. This was supposed to be a stash project but I ran out of the lavender I was using for the edging with about 5 blocks to go and had to buy another skein. It’s labeled as no dye lot but it does not match exactly. Once they are sewn together, I will start edging the entire piece. Not sure yet what pattern I will use but I will definitely use only stash. If I run out before a row is completed, I’ll switch to another color. I did the squares in a variegated, so I have a lot of leeway. I’m using pure acrylic for this one. Nobody can call me a yarn snob.

Dreamcatcher

I have only done one 2009 CAL afghan block so far. Actually two – a 12” and a 6”. So that means I’m four months behind, soon to be five. However, these blocks can usually be crocheted in about two hours, so I’m not worried.

Coming Soon: Quilting and Sewing