easter

{Textures and colors from our walk this afternoon} We've had sunshine the last few days for at least part of each day with yesterday being mostly sunny all.day.long. I was surprised to wake up to rain this morning, not being someone who normally checks the weather report {with any regularity}. I guess the Easter Bunny didn't check the weather report either (either that or he was overly optimistic about how waterproof our plastic eggs were) because we lost more than a few jellybeans to water log. No one wanted the squished together jelly beans (or the chocolate eggs, for that matter) after they'd spent the night in a leaky plastic container outside. And who could resist an egg hunt outside when the weather has been so perfect?




On Friday, one of my children told one of my other children about the Easter Bunny. And each one of them spent time feeling sad {for different reasons} for a good part of that afternoon. (And one even into the evening.) I feel pretty good about my part in the matter, showing up and being present as best as I could. Explaining what I could in a way that I felt good about (the spirit of Easter and Springtime inspiring each of us to celebrate and enjoy this time of year...) I'd been thinking about this for a while now, preparing myself for what I would say but everything really is a dress rehearsal until you actually say those words out loud to your child for the first time. And I wanted it to be good and kind and gentle. And real. In it's own way.

It felt awkward at times this morning, the kids not knowing what to say about continuing the same rituals that had so obviously been altered just a few days before. It seemed they didn't know quite how to proceed at first and it took them just a bit to get in the groove. Once there, though, they seemed to enjoy themselves {as usual} and it looked like we could stumble along to find a newish way. I'm curious about the magic that I'm sure will linger.

We've been going to the farmers market regularly since it started last month-



And- I made a cheesecake {for Eva} for Easter. Imagine the cutest, sweetest puppy. Walking down the street, enjoying life and the smells and joys of a dog-filled day. That level of cuteness is exactly how delicious this cheesecake tasted.

galette inspiration

So I've made 3 galettes this week, inspired by the fruit still in my freezer, the fruit starting to show up at the farmers market, and the fruit picking season, which does not seem quite as distant as it once did. I used a new recipe for pate brisee with corn meal that I found on Martha Stewart when I went searching for how to cook rhubarb in a galette. I was struck by how different each galette turned out, depending on how long I left the dough (or did not) in the refrigerator and how dry (or moist) the dough was. The first was a rhubarb-raspberry galette that turned out picture perfect. The second was blueberry and had much drier crust and therefore didn't roll out nearly as well. (Still tasted good...) And the third was peach-strawberry-blueberry. It ended up being fantastic, but was a bit concerned during the cooking process because of all of the liquid. The dough was also a little soft, due in part to me not having time to refrigerate it at all. All were equally tasty, though, regardless of their form. I'm leaning toward a savory one next, with the extra dough currently in my refrigerator. I've got some extra greens lingering that would be perfect, I think.

Here are the galettes and some chocolate covered raspberries thrown in for good measure-





Also- two recent pictures {I liked} of Samuel, age 11 (with bedroom light behind him) and Eva, age 8.

knit knots

I'm writing this out on the patio, squinting to better see the computer screen, so that I can be-out-in and enjoy the lovely sunshine we are currently having...

I have been doing quite a bit of knitting- some satisfying, some knot-so-satisfying. I knit the Movie Star Scarf from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson for my sister {and forgot to get a photo. oh well.} (Finally, after over four months on the waiting list at the library!) I loved the first Last Minute Knitted Gifts and am finding the second one to be a lot of fun as well. (I'm trying to decide if I am going to buy this one {now} or knot.) Knitting the little loop to tuck the scarf into was thrilling- I love learning that sort of new (to me) knitting construction. It makes me want to make several more just for the thrill of that loop. (As an aside, I had made my sister a pair of fingerless gloves several years ago and she recently gave them back to me because they had stretched out quite a bit. Turns out the yarn I used had something in it silk? cotton? not sure...that gave a bit too much to be good for fingerless gloves. I ripped them out and re-used said yarn for this scarf. I blocked the scarf *severely* and you absolutely could not tell the yarn had been re-used. I'm hoping the yarn holds up better as a scarf than it did as gloves.)

I'm also currently knitting the Big Lace Scarf with a bulky cotton yarn (for Spring!) by Punta yarns in a whitish-creme color because I love my warmer creme scarf and wanted something in a similar color but a lighter weight for Spring. I'll try to remember to get a photo when I finish.

I also finished the Oatmeal Pullover, which I enjoyed knitting but which I do not enjoy wearing. I even ripped out the bottom seven inches or so and re-knit it to get the sizing better. I am finding it is still not a flattering sweater for me. What I like is the neck line. I also changed the sleeves to long sleeves because 3/4 length drive me batty. I've thought about ripping it all out and re-knitting it at a tighter gauge because the pattern is really nice but am now leaning toward an entirely different sweater. It's the kind of thing where I keep looking at patterns for bulky yarn and nothing seems quite right. And yet I have the yarn. Or rather, will have the yarn {again}, after I rip this sweater out (that I bought the yarn for....) Oh well. I'm setting it aside a bit to reconsider its use. I've thought of knitting hats and mittens and blankets with the yarn as well but feel a little sad because I like the color quite a bit for a sweater.

Slice of Life Tuesday

{on Thursday}

This week's theme is Yellow. I'm obviously gaga for daffodils.

Bother. Yesterday was M, which I mistakenly missed. Too bad, too, because I had all kinds of M words, like Mad Men, which I am currently {thoroughly} enjoying. I woke up this morning to the realization that when I sat down to order the groceries, I had also intended to blog. I decided to wait on the grocery order, due to circumstances beyond my control and completely forgot about blogging in the meantime. I am currently waffling between a c'est la vie attitude and one that sounds more like Grrrrr...

Slice of Life Tuesday

It happens (that counts for an H word, don't you think? and i wasn't even trying for that one...) that I am going to take a photography-ish sort of online course starting in April that focuses on- is, in fact, called- the Slice of Life project. While the course doesn't start until April, the woman who teaches (Darrah Parker) the course has a Slice of Life Tuesday group on Flicker. This week the theme is Up Close and Personal. Here's the photo I uploaded to that group. {For fun.}



Eva (and I) working on a craft project together.

E is for Eva (pronounced Ava. as in Gabor. but with an E, nonetheless.)

knitting

While I did not finish Eva's skirt today, I did buy yarn for a new project, to be started once said skirt is finished-



I'll be trying this sweater featured on SouleMama. The pattern for the Oatmeal Pullover is found here. I will be using 5 skeins (maybe 4?) of Cascade Yarns 128 Chunky in color 9581. Although, I'll be honest here, I may be heading back to the yarn shop in the near future to exchange it for another color, because once I got it home, it turned out to be not quite what I had thought it was in the store. I thought it was more on the reddish side, when really, it is much closer to a warmish brown. The color chart doesn't do it justice either. We'll see how I feel about the color tomorrow morning. I'd love to see it in the sunlight just to be sure.

spring-ish

It's officially springtime. (Despite the snow predictions later this week. And yes, I know, it is still technically winter.) Still, after spending time outside today, I would say that as far as the seasonal continuum goes, the scales have tipped in the direction of spring. At least for the time being.

Two instances of spring in the air today-



The Columbine is just popping up in a few places.



And- Eva brought me not one, but two small vases of flowers.

knitting

I started a new knitting project for Eva- the kids' club skirt from Greetings From the Knit Cafe. (Here's an example. And another.) We went through some of the yarn in my stash and found some fun colors and textures and then took a trip to the yarn store and bought some *really* fancy yarns, complete with sequins and pink feathery textures. I'm also trying out a popcorn yarn with pinks and greens. Should be fun to knit up, although I was reminded last night how quickly the different skeins can become tangled. The sequin yarn in particular was trying my patience and I ended up having to cut it because the tangle seemed irreversible. Now that I'm onto those fancy yarns, I have them better organized while knitting. It is not, unfortunately, going to be a good traveling project. I'll have to find something else for that.



Sample of some of the yarns I'm using in the skirt. The sequins are knit with another "regular" yarn, in this case, the purple worsted weight by Malabrigo. {And check out the popcorn yarn in the upper right hand corner. It was the last skein. I feel lucky to have found it.}



Close-up so you can see the sequins. Can you tell we are very excited about the sequins?

I also recently finished mittens for myself. Rather than buying another skein to finish up the last little bit, I used some purple that Eva chose for her fingerless gloves. That purple is, by the way, going to be the main color in her skirt as well.

January 1, 2011

(Going to do National Blog Posting Month again {aka NaBloPoMo} because it was so much fun when I tried it before. (Of course, when I did it before, it was more of a stealth NaBloPoMo. I registered on the site but didn't acknowledge it here. Sometimes I am interested in stealth, sometimes I am not.) Plus it feels like it is better for me when I post vs when I don't post. Somehow, when I am committed to posting, my attitude about being able to find something to post about is much more on the positive side, as in- anything that comes up can be made into something at least remotely interesting enough to post about. When I am not committed to posting everyday, I definitely have some good posts and I am more selective. But- I can also fall prey to thinking that there is nothing interesting to post about, and that thinking can be debilitating. If I am in the right state of mind, it can even spiral into me not posting anything for long stretches. Longer stretches than I sometimes like.

So. Coming out of what has turned out to be an especially hectic holiday season {for me}, I thought posting daily might be good therapy. And a good transition to the cool, clear, wide open month of January. {Or so it often seems after the lights and chaos and action of December.} This month's theme is January. We'll see what- if anything- I make of that.)

***



Magoo- unsure of the incense and candle smoke. {Brightening things up and clearing out the space for the New Year.}

This setup further inspired Eva to get out the rest of the candles. I love it when that happens. It reminds me to keep things moving.

shoemaker and the elves

We went and saw the Shoemaker and the Elves today with the Tears of Joy Theater in downtown Portland. The kids and I see quite a few plays and musicals and such during school performances during the week. Seeing one on a Sunday afternoon was fun. Next door, the Oregon Symphony was playing Handel's Messiah and the streets around the Oregon Performing Arts buildings were packed with people dressed up for the holidays. There was a festive air and I was in one of my moods where I really enjoy seeing what people have chosen, who they are out in the world. The man who chose the yellow running shoes, for instance, and the woman who chose the long purple coat. Who is going to the symphony? Who has chosen the puppet show? Many of the people at the puppet show were families with children, often small children, but there were quite a few people there without children as well.

So I'll be honest, one of the reasons I chose to take the kids to the this show on a Sunday was because it has become increasingly difficult to work with the Tears of Joy Theater people as far as getting tickets to their school performances for homeschoolers. There are a few organizations like the Northwest Children's Theater and the Oregon Ballet Theater who make it very easy. I can call them up and order three tickets to see any of their shows during the day when they have a school performance. Other venues, like Do Jump and the Oregon Children's Theater, are willing to sell tickets to homeschoolers for their school performances, but there is a minimum number of tickets we have to buy, usually ten. And others, like the Tears of Joy Theater, used to let us buy tickets in groups of ten but have become increasingly rigid on this point and will now {mostly} only sell to the very largest homeschool organizations like Village Home.

I buy a lot of my tickets to different shows from a fellow homeschooling mom, but even she, who often buys in large quantities, was not able to buy tickets from Tears of Joy this time around. (I know, because I specifically asked about Shoemaker...) So she stopped trying. And I wonder if the people at Tears of Joy understand that there is a whole section of the population out here who has basically given up on seeing productions from them, whose kids are not going to see their puppet shows? I chose to spend the extra money to see the Shoemaker and the Elves this time because it's the holidays and because I really love that story and {I'll be honest again} because Tears of Joy has a tendency toward moralizing in the stories they choose, in my opinion, and I didn't think there would be very much room for that in Shoemaker.

And I was right. In fact, it was one of the first things that Samuel mentioned when we left the theater. He had, apparently, been trying to figure out which moral angle they would take with this story and was relieved that they had decided to just stick with the good deed and the thrilling gratitude. So the kids and I talked about the show and morals and the characters. Samuel, I would say, enjoyed the show and the characters the most of the three of us. Eva and I were not quite as taken with the elves as Samuel was (mischief making elves who even Santa had to let go...). And I have to say, after hearing Samuel go on and on about how much he enjoyed them and remembering how much he had laughed aloud at their antics during the show, I was doubly happy I had gotten the tickets for us. We ended our afternoon out with hot chocolate, coffee and snowman sugar cookies.

hat knitting

I finished my hat! Here's a link to the pattern at Purl Bee. I modified it slightly by casting on 108 stitches and knitting at a gauge of 6 stitches/ inch (stocking stitch) rather than 4.75, with #3 needles for the ribbing (I did knit 1, purl 1 rib rather than knit 2, purl 2.) and #4 for the stockinette stitch part. I used roughly 1 1/4 skeins of Jojoland's sport weight cashmere, which, can I just say, has been fabulous to knit with. I think I might even have enough in the second skein to make a pair of matching fingerless gloves!



Here I am in the hat and here is the hat all laid out. It is *much* longer with the ribbing being 6 inches and the height of the rest of the hat being 7 inches.

match point

I've been on a bit of a Woody Allen kick for the last couple of months. Tonight I watched Match Point, after reading something about it being one of his top ten best movies and a big comeback for him after several let-downs in a row. I really enjoyed it. For a while I thought the subject matter was quite a bit different from some of the other movies of his that I have liked so much.

(It was even a little too much of a thriller for me at one point and I went and looked for a spoiler. I have no problem watching a movie like that after I know what is going to happen. Even then, it usually still turns out to be a bit on the intense side for me. It's been a while, too, since I decided it was fine if I looked ahead in books, movies, what have you. Gave myself permission, at it were. It is supposed to be fun, after all. I feel like I have enough not-knowing in regular life without it taking over in the fiction I read and watch. Unless I want it to, that is.)

...but then, the ending {in particular} really brought home some of the meaning-of-life (and is there meaning to life?) questions that had been posed during the movie- if seemingly briefly- and included some extra introspection about luck that I especially enjoyed. It got me thinking again about the Luck Factor that I read earlier this year.

resolutions

No card-making-photos today. No time. Instead, here's a 2011 New Year's Resolution link, with some very interesting resolutions. I've actually made some of those resolutions myself at different times of my life, during different times of the year. I'm not even sure at this point how I feel about New Year's resolutions. Still, it's something to think about, with the New Year fast approaching...

knitting woes

I'm about 3/4 of the way done with a hat I have been working on (more hats = more head warmth = more health. or something like that.) and I ran out of yarn. Yikes. It definitely happens. I was surprised this time, though, because I thought I had enough. {grin} To be fair, I *did* change the gauge from the one in the pattern and that is most likely what did it. So- I was upset and in yarn-crisis-mode, calling around to yarn shops in the area because, of course, the Knitting Bee, where I had bought the original skein (and which is one of my two main yarn shops), was out. {It was gorgeous yarn, after all. And the holidays. Etcetera.}

I wasn't really freaking out, just, you know, a little louder than usual. Definitely dismayed. And that was clearly conveyed in both my phone conversations and in my self-talk as I mumbled around the kitchen about my hat.

While all of this was going on, Eva wandered into the kitchen and said in an incredibly nonchalant voice, "What's going on? Out of yarn?"

And then me, sadly, looking up, "Yes. For the hat I'm working on."

And then her, "Sorry." Sad face. She understands.

Then she wandered out of the kitchen and into the living room where Samuel was sitting and she said to him something like, "All of that over some yarn."

And Samuel chuckled and said, "Yeah, I know. Crazy, huh?"

And then Eva, "Yeah. Crazy."

And then me, chuckling in the kitchen. It was one of the few good moments between them this whole week and hey, if they can bond and feel good over my yarn woes, so much the better. I knew there had to be a fortunately in there somewhere. (Oh- and I found a place that had two more skeins in stock. And all I need is one. So we'll be going there tomorrow. And I'll get to check out a new yarn shop.)

this and that

Today I have nothing cohesive to write about. Lots of this and that going around. Chilled heads, wearing hats, drinking hot chocolate. We also went to see Tangled today which was very very cute. Very well done. Even if the mother issue was so familiar, so in line with one of our culture's biggest mother-fears. You know, that mothers mainly hold people back? That we are all frightened and un-trusting that our children will be able to handle themselves and so we step in and prevent them from living out their dreams? Yeah, that one. Anyway, they did a good job of making this mother-issue so over-the-top-enough that I think almost anyone would be hard pressed to think she had Rapunzel's best interests at heart.

We started reading Tom Sawyer. So far so good. Some of the language is archaic and some of it is just plain not said anymore, which makes for interesting discussions.

And it's that time of year when keeping well and keep warm seem to be synonymous. I take vitamin D religiously now and that seems to help quite a bit. I drink warm beverages and take warm baths. One of my migraine triggers this time of year is a cold head, so I wear a hat indoors much of the time.

Which also means I am knitting a new hat. Even though I also bought yarn for mittens. For myself. Eva wants new hand warmers too but she wants a different pattern, which makes it slightly more tedious than it would have been because I already know the gauge and size and pattern, etc of the other hand warmers really well. Oh well. I will learn the new ones soon enough and they will be purple with hearts, lots and lots of hearts.

I was also perusing this blog for holiday things to do around Portland in December and that got me thinking about the little walk around downtown Portland we didn't make last year because we were all sick- the gingerbread houses and the big tree in Pioneer Square. Hot chocolate. The new Santa village thingy in Macys. Although I'm told it's not the same as the old one. {What ever is?} That whole tour I had planned. And I was thinking of doing it this week and caught myself and thought is it too soon? But you know- as I go back and forth with myself right now as I am writing, real time self-introspection, if you will- this whole month has the potential to just fly by. Why not this week? And get in the holiday spirit.

And one more thing. I am actually considering putting up holiday lights this year, which is something I have never done. Something I never thought I would do. Would want to do. But I saw these lovely periwinkle colored lights on a few houses as I drove home tonight and I think I may have been sold. I also may want one of those reindeer whose head move. Or something. Although I don't know yet. I'll have to see how much they cost and then decide.

And on that note- it's time to go to bed. Time to read. Time to drink another Emergen-C and some more Kombucha, gear myself up for taking care and keeping warm. Extra vitamin C. Hot tea. Astragalus. That sort of thing. And try and finish my hat, for winter's sake. It seems like it goes by so quickly, but really, it's winter here until June. Or at least that's when I stopped wearing my winter hat last year. So as usual, I really do have all the time in the world.

tut tut...

I was a huge Facts of Life fan at one point in my life. And while there are a few scenes that I remember fondly from that show, there is one scene in particular that has stuck in my head all these years and that continues to come up over and over for me still, particularly when I am reminding myself not to worry.

The scene I am remembering was with Tootie, during a time when she was being punished for something or other. (It seems like this was a common occurrence for Tootie on the show.) On this particular occasion, she was required to write something 100 times or more, something along those lines, on the blackboards in a classroom. At some point during the punishment, the camera came into the room- I can't remember if it was followed by a teacher or not. Eventually, a teacher did come into the room, though, and told her that what she was writing on the board wouldn't work as her punishment. Tootie had decided to write double quotation marks (as in " ") over and over again underneath *each word* in the first sentence rather than writing out the sentence word for word, over and over, line after line. And she thought she was being quite clever, too, because while she wrote, she sang the song, "Tut tut Tootie, don't cry. Tut tut Tootie, goodbye."

I love that. Tootie, in her roller skates, skating back and forth across the classroom, writing double quotation marks and singing that song "Tut tut, Tootie...". (To be honest, the last word isn't necessarily goodbye. I sing it alternately with my my at the end, depending, and have been doing so for years. Just now I tried to verify it on Google but sadly it did not show up. Nor on YouTube, as it were.)

I was reminded of this song again this evening when I told Eva I was going to take a break from cutting out Christmas trees because my finger was getting sore and she rolled her eyes at me and said, "Tut tut." I chuckled. Oh Tootie, you have made your mark on this world and it has stuck. I have no doubt that Eva's "Tut tut" came from my singing Tootie's song around my kids for all these years. Of course, the meaning has altered slightly, over the years, morphing to suit our family's needs, depending on the situation and nuance required, but that is, after all, what all language does anyway.

Just for fun, I decided to go over to Netflix to see if they have the Facts of Life {on instant watch or otherwise} and put it in my queue. It seems like it might be a fun thing to watch with my kids. They can finally see Tootie in her roller skating glory singing the "Tut tut" song they have come to associate with me. I'm fairly certain of what their response will be. A little eye rolling, a groan and a definite, "Tut tut..."

pumpkin thoughts revisited

I went with the pumpkin cheesecake. It was delish. (I'm happy to say it also turned out.) And- I'm also happy to say, I'm happy I made it. It was definitely the right decision {even if I did break my mixer while trying to whip up the cream cheese}.

more pumpkin

I just read through my pumpkin post discussing what type of desserts there will be on Thanksgiving. And while I like my practical side because it is so much a part of who I am. I like where it gets me. How thoughtful it can be. How it can take care of everything. Sometimes- sometimes- it leaves just a little bit to be desired in the choose-what-you-really-want category. I don't want to say it's lackluster. That seems a bit harsh. Let's put it this way. It's not exactly the part of me that chose to go ahead and buy the cashmere yarn today. But! it is the part of me that chose the neutral color. So- the idea is that when I put the two sides together, something lovely can come out of their agreement. When one side or the other goes crazy alone, it can feel more than slightly off balance. Not exactly what I want.

After thinking about it a bit more (Thankfully, both sides like to over-think things. {Ahem.} Or is it think-things-through?) I feel like I'm actually leaning more toward the pumpkin chocolate tart or the spicy pumpkin bundt cake. Or cheesecake. I've been thinking about cheesecake a lot lately but am still not {quite} convinced about pumpkin cheesecake. Plus, I need to buy a springform pan for that recipe. Although, the bundt cake needs a pan, too... Ah. So many recipes. This could be another reason my practical side sometimes steps in. It can be oh-so-much-easier to make choices from my practical side. And then? Then it's all taken care of. Decision made.

Right now, though, I'm going to think a little bit more about pumpkin recipes and if I still can't find one I am absolutely thrilled with (and choose from that place), I will go ahead and make the squares. Which, by the way, I am sure will be tasty in their own right. Not really lackluster, as I said, just not as exciting as I would like either. So there you go.