Nored No More

What th- ?!?!?

How is it August already? I'm pretty sure my sister is asking the same thing, since she starts teaching again any second.

JULY absolutely FLEW by. I spent the first five days of July in Lake Gaston, NC with some fun new friends. I mostly floated in an innertube in the lake the entire time, but I also did some mudding with a suped-up golf cart, road the boat to film the surfing, jet-skied, played some cornhole, and made some awesome peach french toast.

On July 9th I competed with some colleagues in the area's first ever Metro Dash. It was nothing at all like what I had thought it would be (and I have tons of pictures that I wanted to blog about here... but perhaps on ANOTHER rainy day I'll get to that...) - but I'm hooked and totally loved it. In October I have not one but two obstacle races - the Warrior Dash in Richmond and the Run for Your Lives Zombie Race in Maryland. In November I have the Primal Mud Run, and in December I have the Hot Chocolate 15K. Of the four, it's the last one that I'm the most nervous about. Thankfully I'm still churning away at Crossfit.

I watched the entire Game of Thrones series on-demand before it expired in mid-July. That was AWESOME, and much like MadMen and United States of Tara, I'm not sure I can wait until next year for the next season. In other TV news, my DVR delete the last episode of U.S. of Tara, and I haven't put forth the effort to find it somewhere else. Don't tell me anything.

Last weekend (the last day of July), I went white-water tubing with some friends. Glad I didn't do the rafting, as the 6-in-a-boat-with-life-jackets-and-a-helmet trip didn't appear to be nearly as fun as the solo-in-an-innertube-with-the-life-jacket-used-as-a-tie-off-for-the-cooler trip.

I'm making decent progress on the embroidery for my Christmas quilt, but have done no sewing or knitting yet. I bought enough Prince Charming and a pattern I'm siked about to make a huge quilt for my bed. I need to start cutting and sewing before the fabric is out of production!

I'm reading (STILL! for a MONTH now!) The Social Animal. I got sidetracked for three days by The Shack, which was... interesting, but I'm loving The Social Animal. Now if I could just finish it...

Finally, I am pleased to report that Charlie has been seizure-free since May 16. I do hope this new diet is truly the key!

Someday you'll come by to read this blog, and you'll be STUNNED! STUNNED, I say!! to see pictures posted, too. May I recommend that you not hold your breath on that, though?

Quickly

I know it's been ages, and I have so much cool stuff to post... I have a few things to get out of the way (a trip to North Carolina for the 4th of July, and the D.C. Metro Dash on July 9th) before I go back to regular sewing/knitting/posting.

In the meantime, Charlie is love love loving his new food. Even-more-expensive-than-before kibble for breakfast, with a spash of unpasteurized goats milk; an afternoon snack of virgin coconut oil, and dinner is either kibble with canned ground turkey (it worries me that I like the smell; makes me think of Vienna Sausages... and it makes sense since the ingredient list is TURKEY, WATER, and CARRAGEENAN GUM) or two raw chicken burgers. 

I am love love loving my Crossfit workouts every day (well, not every day anymore, since the trainer gave me the word on inserting two days of rest somewhere in the week).  I am love love loving the story line in Game of Thrones. The gore and the nekkid folks are kinda much, but the acting is excellent and the storyline fascinating (says the girl who isn't SUPER fond of Sci-Fi or Fantasy...). I've been watching on-demand, so no need to wait for the next episode - just have 9 and 10 to watch.

Happy (and safe!) Fourth of July to everyone.

Block-a-palooza Block #9

Yay, block nine, Lemonade Stand, is done:

This was done with a slightly different type of no-waste-geese method, and I was pretty darn pleased with my geese. 

 

Here's what else I have to show: 

Have you heard of Quince and Co.? One day I was trolling around on Ravelry, and on an impulse I ended up with this:

So that I could make an Oatmeal Pullover... even though I'm still working on Aidez... and fifty other projects... Anyhow, here's what I liked about ordering some Puffin from them:

So classy! Check out their site - it's beautiful, and I'd definitely order more yarn from them.

What else? I needed thread, so I went to the quilt shop over the weekend. Ended up buying a bit more than what I went in for:

 

Top left: Alexander Hamilton's Larkspur, in the Indigo colorway:

Top right, Kitty Yoshida's Prospect Park in the Grey Pistachio colorway:

I l-o-o-o-v-e this stuff.

Bottom middle: Bella Solids - no idea the names:

But all my favorite colors. Something cool will come of them...

And also? I've been coveting these cathedral window pillows I keep seeing all over the internets. So after trolling around for a tutorial I could understand (and there's a TON out there - but this one made the most sense to me), I started on a few panes today. I didn't get too far - my dog seized, and I put away the sewing after that. But, here's what I did get done:

Yeah - not too far. Two folded up squares and the perfect insert fabric. Can't WAIT to try some more. 

And finally (because I know Sven in Norway is dying to know!): I finished reading Catching Fire so now I'm halfway through Mockingjay, and Bob's Burgers is my new favorite show. The characters are just so...wrong and bizarre. Makes me laugh out loud every episode. 

 

What's Cookin'?

Oh. Hello.

What's that? Oh, nothing. I'm just lounging in my new favorite spot that seems to always be set up just perfect for me. I think my momma's in the kitchen. Her sister sent her a recipe, and she's been in there making the kitchen smell good.

She spent a bunch of time chopping and measuring.

Potatoes, carrots, and parsnips. I don't think parsnips have been part of her repertoire before. 

 

Onions and garlic. Made the house smell yummy.

 

Kielbasa and shrimp. I tried to sniff out the remaining kielbasa, but that's when I got "invited" to the couch.

Then it was dinner time, and I got kicked off the couch.

She made the biscuits again - some of the ones she froze after making that batch this weekend:

 

Add a glass of merlot, and voila! It's dinner:

 

Okay. I'm tired from all this socializing. Crazy Lady is getting her knitting out and getting ready to watch The Closer - I'm going to try and look cute so I don't have to move.

  

Friday Night

Greetings, greetings and Happy Labor Day weekend. I just realized this is the first Labor Day weekend in five years that I'm at home rather than in the middle of the woods somewhere with limited access to anything resembling electricity, let alone a couch, a computer, a knitting stash, and a television. It's also the first time in five years that the weather is gorgeous, rather than pouring down rain. Figures, doesn't it? Can't camp in the sunshine, now can I?

Anywhoodle - seen any garden pictures lately? Everything has exploded -

In baking news, I've been a cupcake-baking fool. First I made plain old white with fudge frosting, and they seemed to be a hit. Then I made Pimm's Cup cupcakes with butter cream frosting, and people liked them, but I didn't like the frosting - much like I didn't like the fudge frosting the week before, because it was too fudge-like. So then Wednesday night I made some banana cupcakes, and another round of fudge frosting that came out PERFECT (amazing what happens when you add a tablespoon of Bermuda rum). This batch of cupcakes, I was finally pleased with. I should note that I didn't actually try any of these cupcakes as finished products - batter was tested, frosting tasted at icing time...I like to bake, but I don't like the calories that come with baking, so I tend to bake and then take it to work and put it all in the kitchen. Yesterday morning, I was leaving the house and taking the finally-perfect-banana-fudge cupcakes - and here's what happened as I locked the door to my house:

Whoopsie...thanks to the super powers of Glad wrap, they were served up in the kitchen to rave reviews anyhow.  And I actually ate one myself - and man! I'll make these again!

For the evening's festivities tonight, I'll be celebrating the fact that I have television, a couch, and lights rather than a campfire and a tent by working on Evie and watching the tube. Lookit what was on sale at Target:

So I'll be watching that and working on making another one of these:

in order to finish up Evie stat. I have to go to Washington State on Tuesday afternoon for the week, so I'm not 100% sure when the next post will come - but I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing Labor Day weekend. Enjoy!

And now for a little gardening

Before I forget, here's where I am with the Merino Lace sock and with the Hedera sock (haven't touched either since returning from FL almost two weeks ago. Whoops.):
Hedera -

Merino Lace -

Rather than knitting, what pray tell could I possibly be working on? Well, unfortunately it hasn't been the dissertation. Work is getting extremely intense as our fiscal year comes to an end, and time out to write hasn't been possible. Funny though, because I've managed to see Shrek the Third and Knocked Up (both funny, although only the former is even remotely family-fun; the latter was a bit - um, apparently I'm demonstrating my age here - crude) and I've managed to read The Glass Castle and A Thousand Splendid Suns. Meanwhile, I've been tending to the green thumb, which has done wonders for my patience and stress in a mere week.

Those are the cherry-vanilla zinnias, blooming up a storm.

Tequila Sunrise mini-petunias and lavender and white Supertunias.

Morning Glory without any flowers yet. However, since this picture was taken the plant has started to vine its way up the bars, which is totally cool. Flowers can't be far from there.

Gerbera Daisies - and you know since this picture was taken, that second orange flower has fully blossomed and three other pink ones have opened up.

I can't believe I haven't killed anything yet! There are a few interesting experiments going on with soil, plastic bottles, and Spanish moss. The herb garden is going so well that today I had to cut back the basil and the parsley. I need to look in to drying them, which apparently isn't difficult.

While I'm blogging, I'm painting the toe nails (as pictures load) and watching the Sopranos. Whoops. Someone just seriously screwed up killing those random Ukraines. I'm still going with my prediction. No changes there. Off to knit while I wait for the toes to dry and the finale to  - oh man, they just killed Bobby in the toy store. Sheesh.

Whew!

What a week! It's been a long time, eh? Last week at this time I was driving from Orlando to Melbourne Beach. Tonight I'm watching CSI with Dad (freaky episode - twins who didn't know one another die on the same night) while trying to sort a gazillion pictures from the last week. It took ages, and in the end guess what I realized? Not ONE picture of yarn! None! So, here I'll recap the week of Family Fun for you, sans yarn.

That arrow? That's pointing to my Favorite Niece (girls in white, boys in green) as she gets her diploma. She looked lovely in her graduation dress which, like her prom dress, she made. It was gorgeous. Favorite Niece's mom ( Best Big Sister) laid out a fantastic feast for us after graduation. There's Greek salad, potato salad, grilled chicken fajitas, grilled lemon-beef kabobs, and fantastically present pickled shrimp salad (she made edible Parmesan cheese baskets that held the salad!). Voila:

Again, no knitting coverage (although, I finished a Hedera sock, made massive progress on the Merino Lace Sock, started an Eiffel sleeve, and traded my sister for a new color of Tofutsies sock yarn), but I do have more family fun and food. Here's the table set for Sunday dinner:

(Shhhh.... the reader in the background looks pleasant...leave her be....)

And here's Sunday dinner in the big boiling pot:

And here's the table with all the scrumptious food ready for the hungry peeps:

This was one of those one-pot clam boils. In went the mini potatoes, followed by the corn on the cob, followed by the keilbasa, and finally the clams and shrimp were added. Bread, butter, and dipping sauce on the side - DELICIOUS, and perfect for Sunday night dinner on the patio.

So that's all the traveling and food fun. I got back in to town on Tuesday night and had time to do the laundry and watch the season finale of NCIS - anyone watch that? Wow - the ending was fantastic - FANTASTIC! Lots of theories there - can't wait. Yesterday Mom and Dad arrived on the AutoTrain, and last night we went to the Merrifield Nursery. Lookit dis:

Moving from left to right, we have parsley, spearmint, chives, rosemary, oregano, and basil (hiding the off-kilter inserted tree from the median strip...my photography skills are always amazing, aren't they?). Stay tuned for photos of their eventual and historically unavoidable demise growth progress. Also for giggles I have this:

Three zinnias - a scarlet one, a yellow one, and a 'cherry vanilla' (red & white) one. Again, stay tuned for photos of their progress. Look! One's budding!

Fingers crossed!

Today was a very long day at work, so while last night there was ham, cheese potatoes, broccoli, salad, and peaches ("I'm not hungry!" followed by "pass the potatoes again, please"), tonight Mom & Dad and I had take out from Bertucci's (and to Deb: there are no leftovers - not hungry my fanny!). It was followed by an epic Scrabble game, in which the acceptable spelling of 'pooh' was discussed at length - per Merriam Webster, there is no such thing as 'poo' but there is such a thing as 'pooh.' Cue the music: And Now You Know. And ten bucks to the first person who correctly guesses the player of the word 'poo...'

I probably won't be posting again until early next week, so have a safe and fun Memorial Day Weekend, everyone! I promise to add knitting progress with my next post.

Here I am

Good GRIEF it's been hectic around here. I had all of these notes jotted down about things I wanted to remember to write here - things like the fact that my flight to Kansas City consisted of one screaming baby and one broken (non-reclining) seat, or that two of my coworkers were on my flight but we didn't know that until we were at dinner that night discussing the screaming baby on our flights (didn't see them checking in at Dulles, didn't see them board the plane, didn't see them at baggage claim, didn't see them at the car rental, didn't see them checking in to the hotel.....dude, it is NOT that big of a city!). Instead, let's talk about the lovely things.

For example (hold a moment - I downloaded photos last night but didn't post, and now my photos are MIA. There were a LOT of photos):

Purty, ain't it? I bought that at the Yarn Barn in Lawrence, KS while I was there last Thursday. It's Sockatta - cotton, superwash wool, and nylon. I also bought some size 2 DPNs, and cast on for a plain old pair of socks when I sat down on the airplane, leaving KS and heading for Boise, ID. But you know what happened? My fifth needle slipped in to the grody crack between the seat and the side of the airplane. So I frogged 2 hours worth of knitting. It was fun. Really.

While in Boise, I dragged some coworkers here, to Drop a Stitch. VERY excited to report that I was able to get myself some Addi Lace needles to replace the MIA DPN. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these needles. Look at what they can do:

Well. THAT's a crappy photo. I'll have to try again later.

What else did I buy? OOOOh. This:

Another stellar photo - this is Koigu Painter's Palette. Drop a Stitch had a gorgeous lace sock on display that they had made, and I'm waiting for them to email me the pattern. Wondering, now that I think about that, if they will. It's been since Saturday. Hmmph.

Any how - I'll leave you with a few shots of Boise. Prepare yourself, as it is gorgeous!

Over it

"it" being Lost...so not interested any more. Already forgot what the big "must see" is for next week. And I'm annoyed because The Office is going to be a new one, as is Grey's Anatomy, and I'm probably going to be at dinner with KS folks instead of camped out in the hotel with my knitting (or the eight thousand hours of work I have, or the ten thousand hours of school work I have...).

I've been knitting away on Evie, and tonight I ordered two more balls of Stella because 11 inches of body (per the pattern) just isn't enough to cover all of this body. Criminy, even the ballet top I made earlier this month was 13 inches of fabric before you got to the armhole, and that's really pushing it. Unfortunately while at Webs, I had to buy a little more yarn - just not quite sure what it's for yet. Once I know (and more importantly, once it's here) I'll post about it.

Cold & Flu Season

Thanks to the wonderful weather, the flu has had me knocked out for three days now. Sparing you the details of that (other than I'm one of four people from the office with it, and now my friends from New York have it too - Happy Spring Break, Michelle!), we'll move on to the knitting.

Ta-DA!!!!!!!!!!!  My first-ever pair of socks. I've worn them everyday since I finished them (that'd be Monday night). I love them. That's the Tofutsies sock yarn there. I need to take a picture of how much yarn I have left over. It's a lot. I could easily get two more pairs out of what's left.

Here are my two skeins of hand-dyed cotton, and my size 15 Denise needles.  Add 2 days of being home with the flu, and here's what you get:

The Ballet T-shirt from Loop-d-loop. Here's how much yarn was left over:

In other news, I've watched Children of Men (eh - it was one of those "that's it???" endings, which annoy me), The Departed (twice), and You, Me & Dupree (sheesh - it was horrible) plus I read Long Way Gone, which was a birthday present from Jen.

Off to nap and then attack a new stack of movies and some Clessidra.