A quick breather

Yesterday was the BIG day of Staff Appreciation, and by the end of it, I was beat. The luncheon prep started at about 7:30 am when the coolers and food started arriving. My helpers showed up by 8, and by 9 they were slicing vegetables, arranging trays of cheese and cold cuts, plating pickles and assembling fruit salad. I was in the library moving tables, arranging flowers, spreading tablecloths and searching for music that wasn't Raffi or High School Musical. First seating was 10:30, and the last teachers left at 12:45. Then the three of us left ate, then wrapped, tossed, folded, rearranged, washed, dried, returned. I flew through home at 2, was back at school at 3 for the afterschool enrichment program (little flower pots and thank you cards.) Tomorrow's the last day of National Teacher Appreciation Week. Take the opportunity to hug your favourite educator, huh?

Home again at 4:30, throw together a sandwich and headed off to t-ball. Shoulda taught those afterschool kids to do a rain dance, maybe I'd have got to stay home.

This afternoon I'm subbing in kindergarten, and this evening is my book club. I'm thinking of bagging that (though I'll miss the companionship) since I couldn't force myself to read the book. It was just too difficult. Animals is Translation by Temple Grandin. (click the book image to see her website) She's autistic, and a highly noted authority on animal behaviour. I can see why - the book, to me anyway, felt like it was written by a golden retriever, and was exhausting to read. But I bet she understands animals like no one else.

Tomorrow, Daniel has a half day of school, done at 11:00. I read with one of my little guys at 10:30 and intend to make the most (least, actually) of those precious unscheduled 2 1/2 hours. I'm going to 3 Squares, ordering a double latte and sourdough toast, and I'm going to start my next book. I can't wait.

Big Read

Has anyone else heard of this? The National Endowment for the Arts is promoting literacy by creating a nationwide book club. Who knew? There are apparently 280 registered groups, only one in Vermont :o( The Montpelier group has selected Fahrenheit 451 as their (our?) book of the year (month?) Am I the only one who knew nothing about this? The "year" is almost up, I think, June 30th. Will they select new books? Argh! Why don't I know about these things?

Read more here

And it's not even my birthday!

Yesterday was a STELLAR!! mail day! Look at all the stuff that came just for me!

The sweet little quilt is from John, from Another Little Quilt Swap II. Lucky me! I liked it when Kate posted a pic, I LOVE it in my hot little hands. John was generous with the goodies, too - I've never had peanut butter whoppers before, but Sour patch kids? Love them! And a couple of fat quarters, tissues, a note pad... Yowza! Thanks John!

The two mugs are a thank you gift from NPR. I'm an NPR listener? There's a big surprise, huh? ;o) Aren't they pretty? Almost too pretty to use. Almost. And the book is our club's next selection. I know nothing about it, yet, but once I finish (ahem) last month's book (The Friday Night Knitting Club) I'll jump right in. And (hopefully) finish it before our next meeting.

Weekend Update

Not so much to show for this week. I've got a sinus thing going, and threw a migraine on the heap on Friday, you know, just for kicks. I'm funny that way. But I did do a little.

Phillip's quilt-to-be is a pile of bits. It'll be Chinese Coins, and my original thought was that the alternate strips would be a dark teal or deep sea green. Maybe even black. But browsing online yesterday looking for something else, I wondered about a sand colour instead. I dunno, we'll see. In the meantime, those little pinned bundles will become 10 piece strip sets to join the rest. The coin piles will end up being more than 10 pieces long, but I'm not a great one for sewing bits together in rows like that and not veering off sideways. Once I've got them all sewn, then I'll figure out what needs to be joined, what needs to be separated, what goes where.

And I've been slowly working my way around the Boston Public Garden for the Make Way for Ducklings round of the spring quilt. I've got 2 and a half sides done, you can kinda sorta see it the quilting in this pic. I'm starting to wonder what the last round will look like; the inspiration book for that one is The Polar Express. Train tracks would be easy, but I'd like to include a sleighbell somehow too. Dunno, it'll come to me somehow, I'm sure.

I started some poppies (not up yet) and some iceberg lettuce (ew) for Tori. It's up, but just barely. I should have taken a picture of my salad garden. One of the cats got into it and thinned the plants a little. Beanie, I'm sure. He's a strange cat that eats all sorts of weird things (dryer lint, toilet paper, Baby's Breath out of flower arrangements) He can't stand the existence of plants in the house and will go to great lengths (and heights) to show his displeasure. Daniel's little jade plant has been moved to the high shelf in the powder room, one of the few spots FatCat can't reach. Besides, the toilet paper is much easier to get to, and chewing it right off the roll is so much nicer. Dumb cat.

Oh, I finally finished The Omnivore's Dilemma. And I still want a cow. Next up... Sufficient Grace by Darnell Arnoult.

Weekend Update

Sunday again, that was fast! First things first.. 47, 48, 49, 50! I've got all the Lady of Lake Namagiri blocks done. Not, of course, without more math drama. I had all the HSTs sewn, I *know* I had the right number, and I got to the end and was ONE short. I can't be ONE short, I make them in pairs. clean up, re-sort, still one short. dammit! Clean up again, go start dinner, and VOILA! It was on the floor, under a case of water. How? Don't know, don't much care.

This week, when the house is mine, I'll clear space and lay them all out to decide if the setting triangles should be red, white, or a combination thereof. When I look for images online, most of them are of quilts with the blocks straight set. I am NOT making the 13 blocks more I'd need to bring this up to size. Or maybe I am. We'll see. I suspect I can get some great backing later in the month when all the Valentine's stuff goes on clearance.

And, excitement! Look! Salad!! Well, salad-to-be, anyway. Next week it should look like more than a pot full of tiny antennae.

Still no more progress on Tori's sweater, I keep thinking about working on it, but then pick up something else instead.

I threaded 5 needles and marked the brick pattern on the Nesting Robin quilt, but that's as far as that project got. The Valentine's Day quilt is now hanging in the mudroom - this one *should* go up next which means I've got until the end of the month to finish it. Hrmmm...

I've almost finished The Omnivore's Dilemma, and not a second too soon for my family. I REALLY want to get a couple of cows and some chickens. ;o)

Alton Brown is an evil, evil man

That's why.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
Show: Good Eats
Episode: Three Chips for Sister Marsha

2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
Pour the melted butter in the mixer's work bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

That's his recipe, copied from the Food network website. The only misprint I found was the last line. Should say ...store in an airtight container IF THEY LAST THAT LONG (and they won't.)

I'm reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, our reading group's selection and let me tell you, the first part, the whole "Corn Walking" section, made me ill. And angry. REALLY angry. Like "I wanna get my own cows and chickens and a pig and screw agri-business, I'll live off the grid, and learn to whittle and I'll shave my legs when *I* feel like it and NEVER speak the words High Fructose Corn Syrup ever again." So there. Well, some of that anyway. (And the leg shaving thing's already a given.) I was reading it before dinner the other night and opted for a grapefruit over the beef stew I had simmering in the crockpot.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food

So I'm starting to try, even more than I did before, to eat FOOD, real food. Food that comes out of an assemblage of other real food stuffs, rather than a zip top resealable freezer safe plastic bag. Food with ingredients I put there, rather than a lesson in culinary chemistry. So today's dinner was soup made from the remains of last night's dinner, home baked bread, and local cheddar. Delish. I've been jonesing for cookies lately, but I just can't do the Nabisco thing so I decided to bake. The oven was on anyway for the bread, and I had a new bag of King Arthur Flour and the remains of a package of Ghirardelli 60% Cacao chocolate chips. Real butter, cane sugar, local eggs. Oh man. Like I said, Alton Brown is an evil man. And I love him. ;o)

Book Review: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Water for Elephants: A Novel

I began this book with NO idea what to expect. Water for Elephants was the December "assignment" for my small book group - it's about circuses and aside from the Big Top and the presence of elephants, I know nothing of circuses. I've only been to one in my life. This book was fantastic. I found myself picking it up whenever I had a spare minute - cooking dinner, supervising bedtime, waiting to pick up a kid. If I'd been able to find 3 or 4 uninterrupted hours I think I'd have read this book all the way through in one shot. Imagine my incredible good luck to discover that Sara Gruen was born in Northern Ontario, so this read counts toward my Canadian Book Challenge count too! I'd have enjoyed it anyway, but multi-tasking? Over Christmas?! Awesome!

Jacob Jankowski is ready to graduate from Cornell and take up the reigns of the veterinary practice his father has built. Or so he believes. 80 years later, he recollects a life completely beyond his youthful imaginings - his sudden derailment puts him squarely on the tracks his life was meant to follow.

Well, it is December

Here we go. Today it got *up* to 17º and all that up there is due tomorrow night. Heavy snow, followed by ice. By this time Tuesday we'll all be singing "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." I'm going to guess we'll have a snow day Monday. Perfect timing - I'm dropping off the truck Sunday afternoon to get the snow tires put on Monday. Who knows when I'll get it back.

I finished 1000 Splendid Suns - less than a week. For me, lately, that's a superfast read. I loved it, right up to the last 100 or so pages. The end was just too sunshiney, given how grim the rest of the book was. I suspect, though, that I'll read Mr. Hosseini's next book, whenever and whatever that might be. His characters captivate me. Next up, Kanada by Eva Wiseman another selection for the Canadian Book Challenge over -> there.

Hrmm

(I can't think of a better title, sorry.)

The scarfing is done, in more ways than one. The Thanksgiving leftovers are reduced to memories and a pot of soup. And the fat pink wool and the 8 mm (US size 11) needles have finished the last of the nieces' Christmas scarves. I've got 3 nephews in need of gifts, too, but I think a trip to the UVM store will take care of them nicely. What does a 15 year old boy want with a hand-knit scarf anyway, right?

Today was drizzly and cool. It was also quiet, and tidy and television-free, at least until 3:00 when the noise and mess got home. I enjoyed my lunch with NPR and Khaled Hossieni, oh it was nice. Who was it that recommended 1000 Splendid Suns, was it Fitzy? I LOVE it, and I've only just started.

Tomorrow promises more of the same weather, but a little noisier and less productive with Cute Boyfriend home. Maybe we'll bake some gingerbread. I have to wash the kitchen floor anyway. This morning I was reading with my little second grader mentor-ee, Jordan. She chose a Clifford book, I chose Jan Brett's Gingerbread Baby. Jordan claims she has never had a gingerbread man. Ever. How is it even conceivable that a kid can get to 8 years old and never had a gingerbread man? I do believe I need to fix that.

Next?

I've vacated the Next 4 list, with the exception of the current #1. I really ought to include Alana's and Katherine's scarves, but they've become my "it's too dark to count threads anymore so I'm putting Joy away" project and they'll be done in time. Next Christmas brings the threat blessing of two 16 year old giftees, my sister's oldest, Phillip, and my second brother's youngest (finally!), Alana. For Phillip I have no idea yet, so I'll let that percolate a bit. For Alana, whose favourite colour according to my mom is (yeah!!!) red, I think I'll go with a traditional two colour red and white, or red and *something* Lady of the Lake.

I've been enamoured of the block since I read Alias Grace a long time ago, and now its time has come. It won't look quite so traditional, though. You'll see. :o) Hey, I could re-read Grace for my Canadian Book Challenge. Yeah! Bet I don't have it anymore though. I'll give the library a peek later in the week when the kids are all home and making me nuts.

So, huh. Look at that, I guess I've got my next four pondered out. #1 is the Nesting Robin, then scarves, then Alana, then Phillip. Well, that was easy!

And while I was at it, I added a cool little Amazon widget of all the books I've read recently. Easy peasy, too!

Weekend Update

First, in answer to Eagle-eyed Irene, the gold Christmas ball in the tree is a pear. Our woods has wild pears all through it, and I hate them with a passion. They are ugly, messy trees. Their only, and I do mean ONLY redeeming grace is the one week in spring when they bloom. Then they throw petals everywhere, and I hate them again. They drop thorny branches and inedible, nasty fruit (that attracts yellow jackets), their leaves don't turn pretty colours, and the wood stinks when you burn it. I guess they do provide squirrel fun (more fun for the audience than the squirrel I suspect) so I put up with them until Scott gets around to cutting them down.

The pear is still there today, here's another shot.

And progress, boy howdy! There's progress.

Quilting: The third round of my nesting robin is quilted. Its a little fan of apple leaves to represent The Giving Tree. I contemplated stems and veins, but after some feedback from my other Robin friends, I think I'll go with the simplified look. It fits with what I've done before.

The next book is Make Way for Ducklings, and I think I'll see if I can come up with some stylized continuous line duck print to go around that lavender border.

Knitting: I realized this week that I'd forgotten a niece with my scarf making. Then I realized I'd forgotten TWO! So I quick like a bunny scurried down to Knits and Bolts, picked up two skeins of yummy Frog Tree fingering weight alpaca, and cast on for a Feather and Fan scarf for Alana. She's 15. I think that the two variegated scarves will go to my oldest brother's girls Julie and Hannah, and I'll whip up something else for Katherine. Does anyone remember the 60s era scarves, simply knit with a little pompom hanging off each end? Have you ever come across a pattern? I'm sure I could wing it, but I'm much better with instructions when time's an issue. And ooh, boy, time's an issue.

Joy: Joy continues. I'm back to cross stitching, so far so good with this. I've realized even with the tiara, that this is daytime work. The quilting and knitting I can do half blind, but this requires the full get up - granny glasses, a seat near a window, and fresh batteries in the headlamp. I'm just too cute for words, I tell ya!

Other: I think I might have joined a book club. There's a group of ladies that meet the first Thursday of the month at the women's health center up the street. Neighbour Nancy invited other neighbour Laura and I to join them, and mentioned the book they were reading. Well darned if I didn't find myself at Barnes and Noble this week, and look what I'm reading - Lamb, by Christopher Moore. What a funny, blasphemous, funny, funny book! I can't put it down (and yeah, I have SOOOO much free time to read.) Ah, life is short, and tv is stupid. I'd much rather be doing all of this.