In reading news, I finished 3 books this month! Two more Laura Lippman Books (Another Thing to Fall and In Big Trouble) and Barbara Kingsolver's Pigs in Heaven. The only reason I picked up Kingsolver's book is because I loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle so much. Pigs in Heaven was the story of a little Cherokee girl who was abandoned and adopted by a white woman. A lawyer from the Cherokee Nation believes the little girl belongs with her tribe, even if the birth parents are not around. The conflict between a mother/daughter bond and community/culture tie challenged at my intellect and pulled at my heartstrings.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
CSA Extended Harvest 2: October 29, 2008
In reading news, I finished 3 books this month! Two more Laura Lippman Books (Another Thing to Fall and In Big Trouble) and Barbara Kingsolver's Pigs in Heaven. The only reason I picked up Kingsolver's book is because I loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle so much. Pigs in Heaven was the story of a little Cherokee girl who was abandoned and adopted by a white woman. A lawyer from the Cherokee Nation believes the little girl belongs with her tribe, even if the birth parents are not around. The conflict between a mother/daughter bond and community/culture tie challenged at my intellect and pulled at my heartstrings.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
CSA Harvest 18: October 8, 2008 (and what a day!)
1. Traffic wasn't too bad this morning. I started a new Laura Lippman audio book called Another Thing to Fall on the way to work this morning. I'm excited because this one seems to take place in Baltimore. The book I finished over the weekend (In Big Trouble) was set primarily in Austin. Good book, but one of the big appeals of Lippman's books is the Baltimore setting, so I was a little disappointed.
2. Work was relatively quite. And I found out my promotion paperwork is being processed.
3. Today was the first day I practiced yoga at work since a run in with my appendix on June 16. The only reason I remember the exact date is because it was Father's Day and instead of me visiting my dad for a backyard cookout on Sunday afternoon, he was visiting me in the hospital on Monday morning. But I digress. With a 4 week recovery, followed by a 2.5 week vacation, followed by late Wednesday morning meetings, I have not been to yoga in almost 4 months. It's a shame, really. The classes are lead by a co-worker who is just a fabulous teacher. And the classes are only $9 a pop. And the classes are held 50 feet away from my office. Anyway, I've continued with my practice at home for the last 2 months, but it felt great to be back with the class today. I felt great after our practice: my muscles felt longer, my posture was improved, my mood was lifted!
4. I left work right after yoga practice to get some blocking pins for the hemlock ring blanket and some milk from my favorite grocery store. I sampled some delicious fair trade coffee and headed up to Red Wiggler for our last CSA harvest pick-up.
5. Wow! Look at the amazing harvest this week! This alone would have been exciting enough to make my day fabulous! This week's full share was HUGE, including green tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, pumpkins, butternut squash, kale, turnips, radishes, beets, salad greens, arugula, apples, peppers, eggplant, gourds and garlic. The apples and pumpkins made me giddy with delight! My fall favorites!
Check out the spikey gourd. How pretty!
6. I went for a run after I got home from Red Wiggler. My leg muscles were still feeling nice and long from my earlier yoga practice, so I had a great run! Sub-nine-minute miles for the first time since before the appendectomy! Rocky was a little winded from the pace, but happy to be out and about.
7. To top it off, today was my "ideal" weather day. Overcast and crisp. A high of about 68 degrees. Have I mentioned that I love October?
8. I finished knitting the hemlock ring blanket today! Blocking and pictures to come!
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Oh, also, a blog I meant to post on Sunday:
This weekend was busy busy! By Sunday evening, I didn't feel much like blogging. But I did capture of a few of things I whipped up in the kitchen.
First up, a mild curry with peppers, okra, and bok choy. A dash of garam masala at the end for a little kick of flavor. I've been eating this for lunches this week with with a wild rice/brown rice mixture. Delicious! I even had a co-worker ask for the recipe as I was heating this up in the kitchen on Tuesday.
And then, beer bread! This mix was a gift from last Christmas. So easy (open mix, add beer, bake) and delicious! I expected a lot of unpronounceable ingredients in the bread mix, but I was pleasantly surprised to find just a few items (flour, baking soda, salt, etc.) on the label. We ate the last of the bread this evening with eggs, breakfast sausage, greens, tomatoes, bananas, and cheese. Breakfast for dinner is a favorite in this house!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
I need a ball winder and swift
So, here it is in all its glory: a huge ball of wool. I'm holding it in up against my torso as a point of reference. This thing is ENORMOUS!!
I think the yarn is a great deal: I got 2 skeins for $15.99 each at a LYS. Not bad for 478 yards of worsted weight wool. I could have probably found it cheaper online, but calculating in shipping costs, I'm sure the prices would be comparable. Even if I got "free" shipping, I would have felt guilty over increase my carbon footprint to save a few cents when what I needed was right here in town, conveniently on the way back from a knitting meet-up.
I cast on this afternoon for the Hemlock Ring Blanket, which I aim to finish by October 25 as a 50th wedding anniversary gift for my grandparents. The color of the ball in the picture above is more true to the actual color of this yarn -- more tan/brown undertones then the grey color that appears below.
I finished "reading" (audio book!) By a Spider's Thread by Laura Lipppman this afternoon as I worked on the blanket. The book takes place in Baltimore, and I loved hearing about all the familiar, local landmarks. The story of a man looking for his estranged wife and children was suspenseful, but not scary (i.e., I won't have nightmares!). I have 2 other Laura Lippman books checked out of the library right now and I'm looking forward to starting the next one tomorrow!

