Purling Oaks

End of August Sunday

Wow.  Sunday all ready!  This weekend passed in a flash.  ....and with no photos, either.  Must be the End of Summer slump.  The weather definitely has an autumn feel.  Windy but sunny.  The temperature right now is 64 degrees.  The low tonight is supposed to be 36 degrees.  (yikes!)  I'm glad I won't have to go to the airport at 4 am tomorrow (due to a dental appointment) and won't have to make the coat/no coat decision at that hour.

Garden/Kitchen:  More tomatoes and eggplants were harvested.  One eggplant plant was withering so I ripped it out of the garden in the hopes whatever happened to it won't spread to the other three.  The Italian heirloom (generic variety) are lovely meaty tomatoes. 

I made two types of tomato sauce today.  Regular tomato sauce that I'll freeze as soon as I post this entry and roasted tomato sauce from this recipe.  The roasted sauce turned out more like a bruchetta even though I used only 1/4 cup of EV olive oil.  It was in the oven for a good hour and I used about 1/4 cup fresh basil as well as some dried oregano and fresh parsley (see next paragraph).  Guess what I had for lunch on toasted fresh bread?  Yum.

We also are having salsa tonight.  We would have had it last night but the bag of cilantro turned into a bag of parsley in the rotter vegetable drawer and the Pig didn't have any cilantro....in August.  Wilson made a run into Madison today and brought back some cilantro so this evening's snacking plans are saved.

House:  The cool weather this weekend has turned my thoughts to preparing for winter.   Besides, Stacey is visiting soon and I'm having another domesticity attack.  I decided to look for room rugs this weekend.  I found one that I liked but will still be on the lookout for another three or four.  That is hard work people.  Nice enough for the house but not that nice since I have house not a museum.

The front yard landscaping/reclamation is finished and the grass is growing.  The yard actually looks like someone lives here.  Cool.  Saturday, I ordered 10 hosta plants (for 15 dollars!!) and a bunch of daylilies from Gilbert H. Wild and Son in a moment of weakness.  Oh, and three peonies, too. 

Knitting/Spinning:  None except for a row or five during the week on the Simple Yet Effective Shawl.  But I did read about knitting and thought about looking for the bag of Williamsro raw material. 

Other good stuff:  Enjoyed the first caramel apple of the season from Lapacek's Orchard.  Tried their new apple cider donuts, which do belong in the good stuff category.  This past week was Restaurant Week in D.C. and I enjoyed three dinners and one lunch at four nice restaurants and spending time with several of my co-workers and getting to know them a bit better.  Yes, I'm eating salads this coming week.

Happy Sunday.

Hey! Would you look at that!

Not having an idea of what to blog this morning, I turned to the photo library one year ago today.  Here's what I found. 

So I looked outside.  Then I looked at my screen and then looked outside again.  I picked up my camera, went out and here's about the same view today......

I was presented with happy evidence that we are much closer to real Spring then we were one year ago.   And, despite the threat of snow tomorrow, I am thinking *Spring* and not late Winter. 

One of the nice things about living in the country is that I can go outside like this:

Of course, I couldn't stay out for hours since it was a bit chilly.  However, there wasn't anybody calling cops about some crazy lady wandering around in her robe, either. 

Today, I'm planning on making a trip into Madison for some salmon and some heavy cream to experiment with butter-making.  Maybe the car will get a real wash as well.  I tweeked a muscle or something in my back yesterday (whine!) so I'm moving a bit gingerly and looking for my ice pack.  Maybe a stop at Walgreens for a replacement will be on my list if the cupboard/freezer search isn't fruitful.  Since I did no fibery/crafty stuff this week except for my 10 minutes of spinning (sigh), I will be diving back into the virtual project basket when I get back.

Happy Saturday!

Weather report

Those little icicles on the bird feeders have formed during the past hour and a half.   DH is on his way to the east coast this afternoon, so I'm sending out "safe travel" vibes to escort him.  Yesterday was also an overcast and chilly day.....a complete contrast to most of Friday.  Friday, for me, was a lovely weather day.  By noon, the sun was shining and the temperature was in the high 50s.  I was on the road quite a bit of the day (Oshkosh-Brookfield-Home), so I opened the Jeep's sunroof, cracked-open the side windows, cranked the tunes and had one of the best days, mood-wise.  It was a day to save for savoring when life is more demanding and a reminder of simple joys that will (help) keep me sane.  And it is just so simple--sun, good music, a bit of a breeze and I'm able to put aside some of my personal world's worries for a few hours.  The songs that were played on the radio Friday were some of my all-time favorite driving tunes.  Thanks to the music programmer!

Saturday included this view, although Black Dot was really supervising from behind me: 

I am pretty happy with my spinning progress yesterday.  I'm spinning some Polworth fiber from a Wisconsin Sheep and Wool vendor (no label and no memory, although I could find them by location in the vendor's shed).  As of this photo, there is just under half of the fiber in singles on the bobbin.  I think it will end up as a two-ply.
The color is "Autumn Oaks."  I will probably have to do some sleuthing to find the vendor, depending on how much yarn I end up with.  I think I would like a vest from this yarn.

I plan to spin again this afternoon--as soon as I light the woodstove.  DH set up the wood so all I'll have to do is light a match.  Life is good.

Breakfast goodness

Yesterday's breakfast looked and tasted so good, I decided to share it. 

I'm nuts, truly, but the strawberries and the hot (instant) oatmeal really were yummy.  Besides, the sun was shining yesterday and that makes everything better in the winter.  I'm "goofing off" this morning and I'll be driving into Madison soon for a massage and some shopping.  Unfortunately, the sun isn't shining today.  Here's what I see out in the back yard right now.....

I do like the way the snow paints the big oak tree in the woods.  The snow on the birdfeeder shows how much snow has fallen since last night.  I'm not too cheerful about putting on my boots today but I know that March will be here very soon and Spring won't be far behind.  There's green grass under some of that snow.  I know.  I saw it yesterday!

This may look like twenty-five pounds of feline cuteness but White Dot (left) and Black Dot were actually struggling for control of the top of the chair this morning, a favored sleeping spot.  They can't wait for Spring to arrive either.  The grooming brush tells me Spring is on the way, though. 

Happy Saturday!

Pink flower memory

I was standing on a nice sandy beach with the Pacific Ocean at my back when I took this photo last April.  Sun shining, warm but not hot temperature, breeze, walking the beach.  Nice memory.  This April I'm going to be in San Francisco for the RSA Conference.  Probably not as warm as San Diego, I believe.  Carrie K. and I are hoping to meet up.....anyone else?  I would love to say hello in person, if you would.

The wind has started up all ready for the Wind Chill Advisory that is posted for late tonight through tomorrow morning.  How did I know that the wind's up...... because I'm still home sick.  DH is also home sick with the flu.  Fun, eh?  I'm fine on the couch but once I start walking around, I'm toast.  Oh well.  At least the cats are enjoying having some humans to watch during the day.  We're under scrutiny since we are not acting along what the cats consider to be the normal, cat-approved, schedule.

On another more personal note, if you are inclined, please send good thoughts or prayers for my Uncle Theodore.  He had his first chemo session yesterday to combat recently diagnosed lung cancer that has spread to his liver.  I spoke with him this afternoon and his logical, practical, engineering background is still in force but even he said he's not thinking as clearly as he is used to.  He's the great guy in the white shirt in the back row.
 

New ice and the start of year three

This morning's new icicles.

Yesterday, we had some rain and I would swear the thermometer showed 50 degrees F! There was all sorts of snow melting occurring and the potential for flooding was real.  DH and I discovered a smashed rain drain (how did that happen?!!) that received needed repair and another place where the gutter helmet installers didn't clean out the leaves (as promised) so another drain was partially plugged but now is free-flowing.  So, it looks like all are now in working order and I can scale back my wet basement anxiety.  O.o

I am now two days into my third year of blogging.  Looking back, I was working on my first pair of "real" socks and I can happily say I've produced a few more pairs since then.  I can also happily say that I've added even more people that I count as friends since then.  I seem to lack words today to describe what you all mean to me, but it is all good.  Thanks for the past two years and I'm looking forward to the next one. 

To maintain that this *is* still a blog that has some knitting content, here's proof of my knitting on Christmas Eve, courtesy of my DBIL Paul.

New Year Resolutions Goals will be the subject of a future post.

No, not Murphy's Monday

Photo taken last night.  See me waving?  Yeah, DH was freezing while taking the photos for our Christmas mailing.  Okay, our "between Christmas and New Year's" mailing, assuming I make it to the print shop today.  Murphy is attempting to make my day but I'm calm.  Really.  See, I can post while waiting 20 minutes for the printer cartridges to align.  Any longer and they better be making baby cartridges, but I'm calm.  :D 

I'm not too sure how much snow we had because it continues to drift....probably 13 to 15 inches over the past couple of days.  Definitely a White Christmas this year! 

Okay, the printer cartridges appear to be finished, so I'll keep working on my to-do list.  Happy Monday!!

Happy Saturday

Here's a bit of Friday's Blue Sky, captured before it was hidden by more cloudy weather.  We think about 8 inches of snow fell by noon yesterday.  The sun was nice and bright for an hour or three then we were back to clouds.  More snow is expected this weekend. 

DH and I are off this morning to my maternal side's traditional lutefisk and lefse celebration.  Don't worry, there are also venison meatballs and the other seasonal goodness.  This meal is certainly a nice food example of my Norwegian and American Indian ancestry, although the venison meatballs didn't get added to the mix until my dad married into the family but I won't tell that story since I need to hurry up and I'm starting to get off topic.

Happy Saturday and Happy Hanukkah and Happy Lutefisk & Lefse Day.  :D

Checking out the white cold stuff....

It is certainly going to be a white Christmas!  (Well, unless we get a major heat wave....anything's possible.)  We are due to get 4 to 5 inches of snow this evening and I'm told we are expected about twice that on Thursday or Friday.  DH and I have our "office" Christmas dinner tomorrow night out in Middleton, so I'm hopeful roads and weather will cooperate.

Here's tonight's view of three of four cats checking out the snow in the lights of the blazing Christmas tree.  Fuzzle must be out learning to snowshoe, Cookie.  She thought that was a good thing to learn.  (Less snow to touch her fur, she said)

Two more days!

Saturday's update

The travel home from Philadelphia yesterday was uneventful* outside of having an excellent salad from one of the in-terminal food providers...Salad Express or something like that.  I had a Turkey Club Salad and it was amazingly good.  No slimy greens, just nice romaine with diced turkey, a sprinkle of bacon bits (real), a little cheese, some decent tomato chunks and some ranch dressing on the side.  Remarkable.

The little exposure I had to Philadelphia was all positive.  The people I met were very nice, the weather, although ranging from sun to lots of rain, didn't get into the snow or ice stuff, and the hotel was decent as well as convenient to my work location.  Next time, I hope I'll have time and a car to explore the city.

It was a bit of a shock to arrive back to 12 degree F temperatures and the huge piles of snow at home from the plowing.  Our yard looks like it did last January!  I can take the hint from Mother Nature that holiday decorations need to be moved near the top of this weekend's list of to-do's.

*Well, there was this one incident where a co-worker tracked me down at my gate in the airport.  He was peering at everyone sitting at my gate while I was sitting across the corridor from the gate and able to observe his actions.  He eventually found me.  Very weird.  Fortunately, my flight was called to board and I avoided the need to call Nora for advice or bail. :D

Happy Saturday!