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About the day yarn started falling out of my yarn basket, I decided it was time to use up a bit of what I have before I buy more. I haven't set a hard and fast rule, but...well...let's just say I need to lay off for awhile.
Not to worry though, I really do have enough yarn to keep myself in knitting for a long time. For example....
....a pair of wee tweed-y mittens.
....a pixie hat.
....and a second ribbety bibbety (which is still crazy fun to say out loud).
These past few weekends have been partially devoted to building Garden Fence 2.0. My little stick fence was fun, but not functional in one important respect--keeping the ducks from destroying the garden. So far this one seems to be keeping the little buggers out of the cucumbers.
I also pulled up about a third of our garlic this weekend--27 bulbs so far, hanging in the shed to dry. From the look of the rest, I think it should be ready in a few weeks, but the bulbs I dug up today were falling over already, so they had to come out.
Wedding photo gig number two. Date: Memorial Day weekend. Setting: A pretty little lake, tucked away in the country. Bride and Groom: The very first really, truly friends we made in Lawrence...our favorite double date for sushi...and just a pair that it's so easy to be happy for.
How long does peony season usually last? I'm not sure, but it seems like it's going on forever this year.
Cherries and grapes and apples and bananas and blueberries and pears and plums...woohoo for fruit!
Summer thunderstorms that knock out the power for a whole afternoon.
A very grown-up thank you note that arrived in the mail the other day.
Mulberries that are growing juuust on the other side of our fence. Thankfully, our neighbors are sweet!
Blueberry cake with yogurt. It's actually more like a bread, but it's addictive!
Because it's hot--and because I was eating dinner solo--I decided to whip up a big, crispy salad rather than anything that required turning on the oven. And since I was chopping up veggies and fruit anyway, I decided that the foul family members needed a cool dinner too.
When the chicks and ducks were little, they had very little interest in kitchen scrap food. They would play with it a bit, but they didn't care much about eating it. For awhile, I thought I had done something wrong in their upbringing--not exposed them to strawberries at the right time, etc.--but lately they've started to come around, particularly to anything that involves greens.
This little salad had lettuce, blueberries, cherries, plum, tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, and cucumbers. (Mine had pickled okra and salad dressing in addition, but I wasn't sure if those would agree with poultry digestive tracts.) The flock was duly impressed....
[Tori the Brave checks the salad over to make sure it's up to snuff and not dangerous.]
[Norah samples a cherry.]
[The ducks get in on the salad action.]
Have I mentioned that I can spend hours just watching these girls at their antics? From my lawn chair in the shade, of course!
A little knitting, a little popcorn, Cary Grant projected onto the side of a building--fun times, fun times!
I was crushed--crushed--when I found out the grand opening of "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" theme park wasn't going to be open until June 18th--a week after we were scheduled to be in Orlando. I had heard rumors of an early "soft opening", but only for people staying at a Universal Studios resort.
The first day we were in Orlando, I called and pleadingly asked, "Is there anyway we can get in? Pretty please, with butterbeer on top?" The lady I spoke to, while sympathetic, was obviously constrained from giving me the full skinny. She advised, "Well, if they were to open it up, it would be to people who got there early and stood in line." It felt like she was winking at me through the phone, but I couldn't be sure. And, as it was going to be expensive and time consuming to get to Universal Studios from Disney, I didn't feel I could gamble on such flimsy information.
But then, on our next-to-last day in Disneyworld, Nice Sister-In-Law ran into someone with a "Wizarding World" t-shirt. "Oh yeah, it's wide open--and the ride is awesome!" he told her. That was good enough for me--we bought tickets and arranged for transportation the next morning.
We got there early as suggested, and headed straight for Harry Potter. When we got close, a Universal employee was telling people that no one would be allowed into Harry Potter without a Universal Studios room key. I wanted to cry, but we decided to keep walking--just to see if we could peek inside, if nothing else. Just before the entrance, there was another employee advising people that they could wait in line for "if and when" the park opened. That sounded more promising, so we quickly jumped into the end of the line.
Less than fifteen minutes later, we were standing in Hogsmeade!
In addition to the ride--The Forbidden Journey, a fantastic, flying-through-Harry-Potter-on-a-broomstick experience that was so awesome we had to do it twice--there were two other roller coasters, the Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff.
But a lot of the fun was in just hanging out!
There were butterbeers and monster books. And bigger bits from the books were everywhere too--e.g. the flying Ford Anglia and Hagrid's Hut.
Zonko's joke shop--where there were fanged frisbees, sneak-o-scopes, remembralls, and pygmy puffs.
And Honeydukes! Truly a magical-seeming place, with chocolate frogs, licorice wands, and, of course, Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans!
We also stopped in at Olivander's, which was more like a show than a shop. Small groups were allowed in, and one child from each group was chosen to select a wand. Then at the end of the performance, everyone could buy wands if they wanted, which I did...'cause, yes, I am that big of a geek!
There was also an Owl Post where I got my post cards stamped with a "Hogsmeade" postmark. And Filch's Emporium, which had Maurader's Maps, along with t-shirts and the like. We also caught a performance of the Hogwarts choir (complete with chirping toads).
Basically, it was awesome! If you're in that neck of the woods and you're a fan, you simply must go!
Hey there mouseketeers! I apologize for my absence. I actually took a computer and camera and everything to Disneyworld, intending to blog a bit about the trip, but ended up being so plum worn out at the end of each day that I couldn't even think of it.
It was a magical and slightly overwhelming place! We spent a whole day in each of the four parks (the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, the Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios) and I still felt like there was a lot that we missed. And also, if you were not aware, Florida is sunny and hot! But it was good to spend some time with the family and, of course, hobnob with Mickey and the gang. (We also scaled the walls of Hogwarts, but the details of that will be revealed tomorrow!)
Some highlights....
Most of the gang in front of Cinderella's Castle.
Cheesy, yes? But I never ceased to be delighted at the Mickey shaped food! There were waffles and ice cream pops and pasta...anything you could imagine, all with mouse ears!
The fireworks over Cinderella's castle--as you can imagine, Disney is big on fireworks. I think some nights there are up to three shows going on at once.
The Electric Light Parade--I remember seeing this in Disneyland as a little girl with Nice Dad, so it tickled me to no end that it still goes on every night.
Sweet Husband and Sweet Sister in front of "Spaceship Earth". It was so weird to see the big dome in person.
Sweet Sister and I in front of "Buckingham Palace" in Epcot's World Showcase. I have to confess, I was a little disappointed in the showcase. All the buildings were neat, but, on the whole, it was mostly just a lot of places to shop. (Although, they did have Pocky in the Japanese showcase, so that makes up for a lot.)
The greenhouse tour at Epcot. (Yes, I had to go see the gardens!) While it was certainly more of what I call "garden porn" than anything (i.e. really cool stuff that you really can't do at home), it was still pretty darned cool. And, yes, those are Brussels sprouts dangling from the ceiling.
Sweet Sister with Jasmine and Aladdin--between Sweet Sister and Cutie Niece we did a lot of princess hunting!
Eating with Sweet Sister and Nice In-Laws at the Sci-Fi Diner. Yes, we ate in a car--with a carhop and funny old movies and everything.
Sweet Sister being flirted with by Donald at Chef Mickey's. How could he help himself? She's gorgeous!
The ducks were the proud recipients of a new kiddie pool pond this weekend for their swimming pleasure.
The funny part was that it took them over a day to start swimming in it. We got the pool Sunday afternoon. By Monday afternoon it was still untouched, and Sweet Husband was beginning to take it personally.
So personally, in fact, that he felt the need to collect the ducks and toss them in. Not used to being so forcefully encouraged to swim, the ducks jumped right back out again and waddled away, insulted.
Undeterred, Sweet Husband next tried to lure them in with treaties. He followed them around the yard tossing bits of cantaloupe, Pied-Piper-style. This made the chickens happy, but got no love from the ducks.
Frustrated and hot, he came inside where I had been watching the activity amusedly. An hour or so later, as we were making dinner, all three ducks were happily paddling around the pool.
And speaking of the ducks more charming qualities, they seem to have developed a fondness for kale and chard. My kale and chard.
I probably need to do something about it, of course, but to tell you the truth the ducks give me enough joy that I don't really begrudge them a square of the garden. So long as they don't develop a taste for tomatoes....
What has been breaking my heart just a bit is little Mr. Norah, who scared us all with her his first strangled practice crow this weekend. It wouldn't be so bad, but he's such a friendly guy. He and Tori (whom he seems to be developing amorous feelings for) are always the first to greet me when I come home at night--always curious as to whether or not I might have a little something nibbly for them.
I wish I could tape his wee beak shut.
I'm a bit late, but this month's Kitchen Reader book was Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table
This is why I love reading groups. Because this is a book I never, ever would have picked up on my own-some, but because someone else told me to read it (thank you Jill) I have discovered a new author that I love!
For those who don't know (I didn't) Ms. Reichl was a Berkley-dwelling food writer who went on to be the food critic for both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times. She then became the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine. Sort of an impressive way of saying she's a world-class foodie, yes?
And from the early pages of Tender, it's easy to see why. From her description of her mother's horrible, botulism-inducing cooking, to her discussion of her Aunt Birdie's Potato Salad, to her wild high school and college exploits cooking for friends late at night, you feel like you're there adventuring and eating with her.
Additionally, although the food is obviously the show piece of the book, she mixes in the perfect amount of "life" to give the food context. The devil's food cake she makes the first time she makes out with a boy, for example, is perfectly wicked.
I not only gobbled down this book (which chronicles Reichl's childhood up to her first marriage )but ate up Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table
Four star reading, all the way!
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