Purling Oaks

Today's theme is challenge

Reporting in on the new developments in the office:

• New desk from Ikea, the result of research and no little frustration with the lack of connection between ergonomics, women's bodies, and the furniture industry.  Ikea came through with a nice adjustable desk that suits my frame whether I am typing, writing longhand, or standing.  It adjusts from 22" on up.  Not too expensive, in light of maintaining a healthy body.
• I've added new weird keyboard that is supposed to help prevent RSI injuries. The keyboard is manufactured by Kinesis and is called the Advantage2.  My speed is improving and thanks to my high school typing class teacher, my fingers and brain already knew how to touch type.  I've yet to achieve my old speed.  All in good time, my girl.  The best thing is that my hand pain is diminished using this keyboard.  Win.
• My hand and arm are also happier using a vertical mouse.  Another win.

Now just to keep working at making this work for me.  That will be a challenge.  

 

Speaking of making it work:  Dan and I aquired a new-to-us lawnmower. It's one of those zero-turn models that I've always wanted.  Imagine my surprise the first time I climbed aboard when I couldn't make it go where I want to go! Jerky movements, my feet trying to control the speed, and going from really fast to backwards in a flash.  Someone should have filmed me for one of those "Most Funny" programs.  My brain had a very hard time using the different controls. The machine is controlled completely via hand and arm movement, where the old machine is driven like a car using your hands and feet. You would not believe how frustrating that first timeout was. In fact, I drove it back into the shed and got on the old machine to finish my mowing after only 20 minutes, but not before I had to shake out all the grass that blew down my shirt.  I have no Idea how that happened!

Given my experience last week, I surprised myself this week by deciding to give the new machine another try.  And, even more surprising, within 10 minutes I was driving, maybe not like a pro, but with a certain amount of confidence that I wasn't going to kill myself driving into a tree or fence.  I was thrilled and amazed.  My brain is a wonderful organ, and quite mystical don't you think?

Driving the newish mower was a challenge and now I've bonded with the darn thing.  It made mowing the slanty sides of the driveway easy...and that is saying something for a task that used to seriously scare me every time I mowed.  

 

Tomorrow I'm heading to the Gencon Writers Symposium in Indianapolis.  As it happens, about 60,000 gamers are also going to be in town.  Whee!  So many challenges there I'll let you think them up and let me know your thoughts in the comments.

 

Challenges are good.  If I have them, I am still living Living.  That is a good thing.

The adventure of a kefir-seeking woman continues

What's in that pretty jar?

Milk kefir, from a local source. It has been the object of my search of several months, almost under my nose. Craigslist to the rescue!

Now to see if my grocer still carries organic whole milk.

Of course, I'm adventuring when the high temperature is forecast to be 8 degrees F with nasty wind chills.

Stay tuned!

 

 

Justified!

Hours spent browsing Pinterest.....JUSTIFIED!

'Twas the night before Christmas and, well, I was not in my 'kerchief nor was Dan in his cap.  We were returning from dashing through the snow to G'Ma S's house where we enjoyed Christmas Eve festivities.  I knew I need to bring a dish to our next stop tomorrow morning, but what?  (Yes, I did leave my plans open until less than 24 hours before the event.  I worked well under pressure, this time.)  For inspiration, I pulled out my iPhone to check my Pinterest boards.  Hmmm, the mexi-corn dip looked good....so we decided to stop in Columbus at the Pick N'Save and get the ingredients.  Oh you may have guessed my problem.  Being Christmas Eve, the grocery store had closed about 25 minutes ago!  Oh boy.  

Never fear, KwikTrip and Walgreens were open in Columbus..........although I had to make a few modestly creative substitutions.  :D  

Here's the resulting recipe that has been tested twice and won the Clean Bowl award each time:

Corn/Veggie/Taco Dip

One 7 oz can of Niblets corn, drained

1/3 of a 16.5 oz jar of Tostitos Chunky Salsa (medium) - drained a bit in a fine strainer

4 green onions, sliced thinly - both green and white parts

1/3 cup (or so) of chopped green pepper.  I also used a combo of red and green in one version-either works.

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonaise

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 teaspoon taco seasoning (I used Bold Taco from Penzey's)

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate at least two hours; overnight is better.  Serve with Fritos Scoops or some other sturdy-type chip.  The Pinterest version used a can of hot Rotel and a can of green chiles---things just.not.available at a KwikTrip or Walgreens on Christmas Eve in Wisconsin.   I do know that this version will be a must-do-again for me.

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I also made one of the cute projects I've seen on Pinterest - a little Clementine candle.  Since the pin did not link to instructions, I Googled "Clementine candle" and found the original reference and instructions.  I was entertained.....and it burned for about an hour.  Fun. 

 

I'm looking forward to what the new year will bring.  Six months ago, I thought I had a good idea of my immediate and mid-term future.  Ha.  Double Ha!  Have plans, my dear, but be flexible.  And healthy.  Healthy will take you places.

Happy New Year!

 

 

Autumn, all ready?

Although each season has unique and welcome offerings, Autumn brings more to the table for me than the others.  The relief of cool nights, the changing greens to orange, red, and yellow then to browns, the wind as it whispers secrets or howls in the night as Halloween approaches---all these stimulate my senses and make this season my favorite.  For now.

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Stacey says it has been two months since I've posted and I don't doubt her.  Sometimes, especially lately, I don't have much that I want to share here, or can share, for truth's sake.  Then, frankly, just being out of the habit of posting contributed to my absence.  However, I am motivated to post about something important to me and to a very dear friend.  

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Stacey is fund-raising right now for NMO, which is neuromyelitis optica (NMO or Devic’s Disease).  It "....is an uncommon disease syndrome of the central nervous system (CNS) that affects the optic nerves and spinal cord. Individuals with NMO develop optic neuritis, which causes pain in the eye and vision loss, and transverse myelitis, which causes weakness, numbness, and sometimes paralysis of the arms and legs, along with sensory disturbances and loss of bladder and bowel control." ~From The National Institute of Neurological Disorders"

Not many people know about this disease and it doesn't get as much funding or attention as it should.  Stacey's being challenged by NMO and we both want better and more research to find better treatments and a cure.  You can help find a cure by contributing to her fundraiser.  There are a lot of great prizes for knitters and non-knitters and for those folks living in East Texas.  This year, I donated a brand-new, never out of the package iPod Nano for one of the prizes.  It is cool.  Seriously.  Did you know you can fit that little thing into a watchband and be a very cool techie-nerd person.  Or just be cool by having one of the newest iPods out with cool watch faces.  Even Mickey Mouse.  I.am.not.kidding.  Make a contribution to NMO in Stacey's name and for every ten dollar contribution, you'll be entered to win one of many prizes, just tell her when you visit her blog to let her know you're helping to win the fight against NMO.  Go.  Contribute.  Win stuff.  Feel good.

Where are my tap shoes?!

Oh, so, what have I been up to?  Well, on Friday I work up early-ish (but later than a work day) in DC, took the Metro (Orange line to Red line) to Union Station, joined some work friends and we rode the Northeast Regional to Penn Station.  The forecast had threatened a damp (or downright wet) day but we were pleasantly greeted with a lovely day for walking in New York City.  We made our way north and found lunch at Pax Foods near Bryant Park.  The ice rink was icy and there were a lot of retail shopping opportunities in the park which we regretfully passed by.  We did make a stop at the Magnolia Bakery.    The bakery smelled wonderful but was packed and I had to go stand outside to maintain my sane demeanor.  K was intrepid though and stood in line for Red Velvet Rockette cupcakes. 

We reached our goal for the day in a few more blocks....Radio City Music Hall!  We had tickets for the first day of the Christmas Spectacular.  The pluses for going on the first day include reduced ticket prices, warmer weather (maybe), and reduced crowds on the sidewalks of NYC.  The minuses include not being able to see the Christmas windows at Macy's.  Another work friend and her niece met us in the theatre and we sat down to enjoy the experience.

I really enjoyed the show.  It was very professional, the costuming was incredible, and I'm a sucker for anything involving tap shoes after taking tap and ballet lessons for about eight of my formative years.  I don't perceive 3-D movies in the same was as most of the human population but even I enjoyed the sleigh ride through the streets and skies of NYC.  Makes me kind of wish I had come to NYC to be a Rockette rather than go on to higher schooling.  (I said "kind of," Mom..... <g>)  The show was over oh so quickly.  (The fastest 90 minutes, ever!)

We walked around a bit after the show and then had supper dinner at the 21 Club (pre-theatre menu!)  The five of us enjoyed a very nice meal and our server even brought a birthday candle to the table.  K had called the day before to let the restaurant know there was a birthday to celebrate (early).  

We had a nice but rapid walk back to Penn Station and enjoyed a nice, quiet trip back to DC.  And the next morning I flew back home to Wisconsin.  

My time in NYC was too packed this time to visit with Jessica although there was twittering (tweeting?) but I intend to take the train north again to visit with my NYC and surrounding area friends.  Maybe I can even try a food truck or four with the recommendation from those in the know.  :D

 

So, today is my 52nd birthday!  Yay!  DH and I celebrated early with some yummy home-cooked seafood and I'll celebrate again this Saturday with more family.  I'm looking forward to another very good year--- full of wonderful experiences, a loving husband, happy kitties, loving family and super friends, and a great job.*

 

 

 

 

*Not sugar-coating, just encouraging all the good to stay.....no reason to linger on anything but good. 

Lovely, too-short vacation

It was a marvelous vacation but so very short. The blue sky is Thursday's from the California high desert where we (me, DH, Mom, DB, & DB's DGF) spent a lovely day. We need more of those.  It was so nice to spend time together.

 AKA Dr. E's Rapid Decompression Course. Highly recommended. :D 

Back to the East coast soon after a short stop in the Midwest. Ahead this week: unpacking the moving van, work, and the start of a new chapter. Opportunity abounds. 

 Nephew #2's HS graduation was Wednesday evening.  Congratulations to our DN.  

Cathedral window quilt details!

Well, as long as I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for the coffee to drip this morning, I thought I should make good use of this time to show the quilt.  (Keep in mind that I am writing this coffee-less.)  (ETA:  TypePad recognized my weakness and chose to eat my first post about the quilt this morning.  The beast.  I also hate their edit/format functions.   I'm afraid to change anything in this post for fear of losing it a second time. Yes, only half a cup later.)

Yes, I am adding "run vinegar through the coffee maker" to the list that all ready has "get Jeep battery checked" and "be thankful for your AAA-membership" on it.  (It was a later than usual night last night.  *blink*)

Here are the photos of the quilt from last Saturday.  In the photo from left to right are Maddy (not her "real" name but she answers to it), Millie, Sandy, and my mom, Dorothy.

 

Large, isn't it?!  It certainly covers a queen-size bed amply.    

More details:  

 

Sorry about the lighting in the latter photos, but I think you get the idea.  That is a whole lot of handstitching!!  In case anyone is clicking in from a search for cathedral windows, this quilt was purchased or won at an Amish quilt auction near Shawano and Bonduel (Wisconsin) that occurs twice a year.  A talented quilter produced this wonderfulness that now represents precious memories of a fun, chilly day in May with my mom and friends.  When I'm at POE, it will remind me of happy memories every day.  I like that strategy.  

Clever girl.  :D

Happy Friday!
 
 
 

Butter!

Diane asked about the Sunday butter project.  Here's an answer in photos.

One pint of fresh cream from Blue Marble Family Farm transformed into eight ounces of butter.  There is also a sprinkle of sea salt in there at the bowl stage.  The entire process took less than 45 minutes because I do everything a bit slower than the average bear and I had a load or two of laundry that required attention.  The cream became solid in 15 minutes of shaking (and photography) in the jar.  The rinsing and stirring took more time.   Would I do it again?  Probably.  Will I do it all the time.  No.  The butter is very tasty and melts more rapidly than the "store" butter on toast.  DH and I both thought it was mild and, well, tasted like butter.  It was delicious on freshly baked bread.   I enjoyed the process and I'm glad I now have a "muscle memory" of sorts for butter-making.

This post was my original inspiration.  There are also numerous other references to butter-making on the Internet.   There's a bit more narration about the process in my Flickr set.

Gabby Saturday

Does your bread-maker squeek?  My bread-maker, the one that plugs in, is squeeking this morning in an alarming manner.  I suppose I will see if the alarm is deserved if it produces bread by noon.  Yesterday, the mountain of laundry was scaled and even put away in proper places, I caught up with Heroes, and I finished the knitting of the beret. 
It is blocking today and from the perspective of the second photo, you may be able to guess my potential concern with the finished object.  However, we'll wait for the beret to dry before any modeled shots are produced.

One of the interesting things I was introduced to during deer hunting was Skype.  My eldest nephew, Micah, is attending university in Granada, Spain, this year and he gave us a live video tour of his apartment using Skype and his MacBook with the imbedded camera.  We didn't have a camera at our end but he could hear us all and we could see his apartment and his roommates.  Quite cool.  So, DN Hunter counseled me and I downloaded Skype, too.  You all probably knew this, but it is free computer to computer calls and (allegedly) low rates for computer to telephone calls.  The video component is the nicest part, especially when you haven't seen a loved one in a while.

As mentioned yesterday, Mom and I had time on Wednesday to visit a LYS, Yarns by Design.  I had a hefty discount certificate and some birthday money in my pocket, so what better place to visit! 
I was a happy shopper:  a slim 11" cherry boat shuttle by Schacht, bobbins for the shuttle, cherry-red glass buttons from Neenah Buttonworks (like cherry candy, my fav), a skein of Casbah (yum), two Handwoven Design Collections (#17 and #13), and Knitting On Top of the World.  Nicky Epstein's book has some gorgeous designs, including the one on the cover, and one or two that I can't fathom.  However, the best part of the book is her narrative on design inspiration. 

Some of you reading should be sure you are seated before you look at the next photo.

Yes, I cast on for Icarus last night after snooping around in Joan's, Nora's, and Cookie's blogs and ravelry spaces for tips. 

Now, off to search for a new Christmas Tree and replenish the kitty kibble.  Have a great Saturday!

Title needed

I was charmed to find this petunia blooming in a crack in the cement of our driveway yesterday evening. 

Last year, I grew petunias in the herb garden, several feet away from the petunia in the photo.  They must have gone to seed, the seed spread to this crevasse, and survived the recent horrible Wisconsin winter.  And it is blooming.  It makes me smile.  I'm also glad I'm not uptight about green stuff growing *in* the driveway, or this would have been "Round-up"-ed away.  What do you think this photo should be titled?