So when it seems like winter just might never end (not this winter, but others, maybe or winter someplace else), runny nose & hat-head & earaches it is time for the patron saint of....well, earaches. I am not sure there is a patron of runny noses actually, & I am quite sure there is no one in the pantheon ministering specifically to sufferers of hat-head*.
I am speaking of course of Polycarp. Polycarp of Smyrna, not to be confused with Polycarp of Antioch. Don't you just love that there is more than one Polycarp? It gets better actually, there is also more than one Smyrna. For our Polycarp, though we are not all that interested in Smyrna, Georgia ; it is kind of strange that he is not patron saint of any Smyrna, though isn't it? Not Georgia, not Tennessee, not Delaware....& not the Smyrna he actually died in.
Polycarp wrote a lot about what he was doing while traveling...did I mention he traveled? Well he did. Thither & yon. At least one letter he wrote has survived (there seems to be some confusion, at least I was confused. There might be more than one letter, but maybe that was the other Polycarp), but letters about him can also be found. In his travels he observed that the church was interpreted in different ways in different parts of the world. It is Polycarp who said yes those eastern-types DO celebrate Easter on a different day & I think we can all live with that or something close enough that everyone DID live with it for quite some time.
He had lots of celebrity friends, John the Apostle among them. Oh, & Pope Anicetus of course. Pope Anicetus was the one who made the priests cut their hair, which is frankly the only reason I have ever heard of him. I am OBSESSED with the historical politics of hair, Cromwell & Samson & all that. Whenever I can work Leviticus 19:27 into conversation, I do it.
Where was I,? Oh right, Polycarp of Smyrna. In the end, he refused to burn incense or make an offering of any kind for the emperor (that whole Thou Shalt Have No G*d Before me thing) & so they burned him. But he would not burn. So they stabbed him to death & then burned the body. Where earaches (or dysentery, the only other patronage under his jurisdiction) come into this, I cannot quite figure.
//* in keeping with my usual attention to detail, I have since learned there kind of IS a patroness of hat-head: Catherine of Alexandria is in charge of milliners. Yes, I made a note & will get to her some year on her day, November 25th.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
When life gives you cowpies
I do not know what was up with Punxsutawney Phil, but six more weeks of winter starting two weeks ago would have made this the second week of winter. That's a round-a-bout way of saying we had not had winter. There was a hard freeze & then right back into the 80s day in, day out.
This is also the first winter I have had my greenhouse, all set up & ready to start seeds early, grow really long season tomatoes....& it is usually well over 100F in that space for at least part of the day. Even after winter arrived, this past weekend just like Phil predicted (the groundhog was RIGHT!), the greenhouse could get too toasty unless the door was open. All it takes is sun.
Finally this is the first winter we have had our very own cow. Most cows are not happy in the heat but ours seems to be different. When we burned the big pile of fallen branches etc she was very interested. During the night, it looked to me like she was standing in the coals, but I knew that was ridiculous. Then the next morning I found cow pies steaming over the last embers. Multiple piles. She is a Dexter, an irish cow, so we are thinking she was making her own peat.
So what would you do? Overheated greenhouse, empty heavy duty paper bags (there is some debate as to whether or not they constitute household recycling, lazy ass garbage pick-up bastards) & lots & lots of cowpies.
You guessed it, we are bagging our own fertilizer & cooking it ourselves. So far things go nicely thanks. Also now that the cold has come, those full bags sure help retain the heat overnight.
On another note, a friend of mine used to have a t-shirt of an obviously homeless man sitting on a flattened cardboard box on a city sidewalk, with his pack next to him & a lap full of lemons. The back said: unless life also gives you water, sugar, a pitcher to put it all in & something to mix it with, you are still f*cked.
This is also the first winter I have had my greenhouse, all set up & ready to start seeds early, grow really long season tomatoes....& it is usually well over 100F in that space for at least part of the day. Even after winter arrived, this past weekend just like Phil predicted (the groundhog was RIGHT!), the greenhouse could get too toasty unless the door was open. All it takes is sun.
Finally this is the first winter we have had our very own cow. Most cows are not happy in the heat but ours seems to be different. When we burned the big pile of fallen branches etc she was very interested. During the night, it looked to me like she was standing in the coals, but I knew that was ridiculous. Then the next morning I found cow pies steaming over the last embers. Multiple piles. She is a Dexter, an irish cow, so we are thinking she was making her own peat.
So what would you do? Overheated greenhouse, empty heavy duty paper bags (there is some debate as to whether or not they constitute household recycling, lazy ass garbage pick-up bastards) & lots & lots of cowpies.
You guessed it, we are bagging our own fertilizer & cooking it ourselves. So far things go nicely thanks. Also now that the cold has come, those full bags sure help retain the heat overnight.
On another note, a friend of mine used to have a t-shirt of an obviously homeless man sitting on a flattened cardboard box on a city sidewalk, with his pack next to him & a lap full of lemons. The back said: unless life also gives you water, sugar, a pitcher to put it all in & something to mix it with, you are still f*cked.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Knit went wrong
As this is almost my first post of 2012, let me say happy new year & all that. 2011 ended pretty much the way they say the universe will end, things just kept getting faster & faster. Then as our first act of 2012 we bought a brand new home heating/air conditioning unit; the old unit died 72 hours before the first hard freeze of the season. If "bullet dodged" is the theme for the upcoming year, I can live with it.
It has taken a bit but we are now more or less where we were in mid-December in the house torn-up, chores to be done arena. & as an extra the utility closet that housed the old & houses the new air pusher thing-y (& the hot water heater) has now been cleaned & re-organized, new shelves & that was a bear of a job.
Which means I can finally get back to my regularly scheduled time wasters, especially now that the problem of why-the-pictures-won't-upload-anymore appears also to be resolved. Did I forget to mention that? I want to say mid-December I suddenly could no longer upload photos from the computer that has the MyBook that has all the photos. It is just as well I did not start loading photos to my laptop because right around the second week of January the hard drive died & a recovery was unlikely & then lo (or is it hark?) most of her came back to life. In the end, my laptop had a screw loose (apparently, that is a real thing) & points of contact were not making contact & when the she was opened up (to harvest her organs errrrmmmmmmm hard drive) to bring what I could to the not-yet-purchased replacement, it was clear there was a screw loose. Like I said 2012 is shaping up to be the Year of the Bullet Dodged.
I thought I would begin my new found & no doubt temporary return to a quiet life by doing a little more clearing...kinda. Specifically, last year I failed (FAILED) to make a red scarf for the Foster Care to Success gift baskets. I cannot send the completed scarf off until ?September? but I thought it would be good to get it on & off the needles, ready & waiting.
As it happens I have still failed because the scarf I made was too wide to be a scarf. Also it is a little mohair-y which they frown on. That wrong scarf went to C****** as I mentioned in an earlier post...I think. Anyhow, it went so fast that I cast on another, finished it & shipped it off to my mom.
Cast on as many stitches as you think a scarf should be wide. This will depend on your gauge using that yarn & whatever needles you find blah-blah-blah; I usually trust the yarn label for gauge/needle size & aim for nine inches or so wide (something went horribly wrong this time & I decided early on I didn't care).
Knit for seven (7) rows -- although I think the one in the picture was more like TEN rows
For the rest of the scarf, up to the last seven (7) rows -& I bet you can guess how those will go- repeat the following three rows:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Knit five (5) , purl to the last 5 stitches, knit five (5) -- & again, the one in the picture was more like first&last SEVEN stitches
Row 3: Knit
Pay some attention at the end if you want the side that begins with an all-knit rib to end with an all knit rib. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it.
I think it would be safe to say with adequate yarn in your carry-on you could start & finish this scarf on a flight to your holiday destination, so long as it included a stop-over &/or was a trans-Atlantic (or Pacific) flight. Or you could work on it during a Sunday marathon of House or Law&Order. Or a few weekends of early season football. What is adequate you ask? I used six skeins of Sensations Angel Hair & made a very wide, plenty long rectangle & had most of the last skein left over.
They say the best scarves are not more than 10 inches shorter than the wearer. I am 5'2" & I tend to prefer nothing longer than 4'6" & often shorter but you should decide for yourself. This thing alas while a good length was almost double a workable-scarf width. When folded over it is quite thick, too thick really to wear comfortably as a scarf. You can avoid this problem by accurately reading the needle size & gauge printed right there on the yarn label, a skill that was apparently beyond me.
So what to do, what to do. As it happens, for the red one, C****** liked it that wide but she also liked the idea I came up with, which was to lay the scarf (for at that point it is still a scarf) & then fold one corner to the other edge, making a right triangle. Then shoot maybe two inches worth of stitches in there to hold it, repeat at the other end & you have sort of kimono-looking shrug/shawl thing. My mother called it a shroooooog (all 'o's after the 2nd one are mine).
It is really really reversible. You can wear it inside out & upside down &, while fitting slightly differently (it all depends on how big your shoulders are really), it doesn't look wrong. I think if you made it long enough, you could even throw a button in the front & maybe with an I-cord loop & have something a bit more formal.
It has taken a bit but we are now more or less where we were in mid-December in the house torn-up, chores to be done arena. & as an extra the utility closet that housed the old & houses the new air pusher thing-y (& the hot water heater) has now been cleaned & re-organized, new shelves & that was a bear of a job.
Which means I can finally get back to my regularly scheduled time wasters, especially now that the problem of why-the-pictures-won't-upload-anymore appears also to be resolved. Did I forget to mention that? I want to say mid-December I suddenly could no longer upload photos from the computer that has the MyBook that has all the photos. It is just as well I did not start loading photos to my laptop because right around the second week of January the hard drive died & a recovery was unlikely & then lo (or is it hark?) most of her came back to life. In the end, my laptop had a screw loose (apparently, that is a real thing) & points of contact were not making contact & when the she was opened up (to harvest her organs errrrmmmmmmm hard drive) to bring what I could to the not-yet-purchased replacement, it was clear there was a screw loose. Like I said 2012 is shaping up to be the Year of the Bullet Dodged.
I thought I would begin my new found & no doubt temporary return to a quiet life by doing a little more clearing...kinda. Specifically, last year I failed (FAILED) to make a red scarf for the Foster Care to Success gift baskets. I cannot send the completed scarf off until ?September? but I thought it would be good to get it on & off the needles, ready & waiting.
As it happens I have still failed because the scarf I made was too wide to be a scarf. Also it is a little mohair-y which they frown on. That wrong scarf went to C****** as I mentioned in an earlier post...I think. Anyhow, it went so fast that I cast on another, finished it & shipped it off to my mom.
Cast on as many stitches as you think a scarf should be wide. This will depend on your gauge using that yarn & whatever needles you find blah-blah-blah; I usually trust the yarn label for gauge/needle size & aim for nine inches or so wide (something went horribly wrong this time & I decided early on I didn't care). Knit for seven (7) rows -- although I think the one in the picture was more like TEN rows
For the rest of the scarf, up to the last seven (7) rows -& I bet you can guess how those will go- repeat the following three rows:
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: Knit five (5) , purl to the last 5 stitches, knit five (5) -- & again, the one in the picture was more like first&last SEVEN stitches
Row 3: Knit
Pay some attention at the end if you want the side that begins with an all-knit rib to end with an all knit rib. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry about it.
I think it would be safe to say with adequate yarn in your carry-on you could start & finish this scarf on a flight to your holiday destination, so long as it included a stop-over &/or was a trans-Atlantic (or Pacific) flight. Or you could work on it during a Sunday marathon of House or Law&Order. Or a few weekends of early season football. What is adequate you ask? I used six skeins of Sensations Angel Hair & made a very wide, plenty long rectangle & had most of the last skein left over.
They say the best scarves are not more than 10 inches shorter than the wearer. I am 5'2" & I tend to prefer nothing longer than 4'6" & often shorter but you should decide for yourself. This thing alas while a good length was almost double a workable-scarf width. When folded over it is quite thick, too thick really to wear comfortably as a scarf. You can avoid this problem by accurately reading the needle size & gauge printed right there on the yarn label, a skill that was apparently beyond me.
So what to do, what to do. As it happens, for the red one, C****** liked it that wide but she also liked the idea I came up with, which was to lay the scarf (for at that point it is still a scarf) & then fold one corner to the other edge, making a right triangle. Then shoot maybe two inches worth of stitches in there to hold it, repeat at the other end & you have sort of kimono-looking shrug/shawl thing. My mother called it a shroooooog (all 'o's after the 2nd one are mine).
It is really really reversible. You can wear it inside out & upside down &, while fitting slightly differently (it all depends on how big your shoulders are really), it doesn't look wrong. I think if you made it long enough, you could even throw a button in the front & maybe with an I-cord loop & have something a bit more formal.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Two yogurt makers: Part III
Not even a year ago I got Gertie my first new yogurt maker, well ever, since my first yogurt maker was in fact a hand-me-down from my Mom. Last November, Gertie went to live with my Mom.
It is not that I didn't love Gertie, I did, mostly. But it was one of those relationships that happened so fast. There was an empty place in my life where a really really old yogurt maker had been & things were fine until one day, a new cow arrived & then I was up to my eyeballs in milk & that is when I realized my old yogurt maker was just too old.
Gertie was a beauty (& still is, I didn't just dump her; she has actually gone on to live with my Mom--yes, all my life's a circle). She was the first yogurt maker I ever met who could handle a full two quarts. She was enchanting & we were very happy...at first.
But Gertie had some flaws. She has a curved lid, making it very hard to find a place for her in a rather full kitchen cabinet. I have lost track of how many times the top slid off when I was moving here & it was just a matter of time before it cracked. Also, Gertie came with only one canister for making the yogurt itself. I tried to get more but it just was not possible. Finally, that canister was not the best design anyone ever thought up; in order to get it out of the yogurt maker itself, I usually ended up flipped the lid off. Even with my small strong fingers, I had trouble getting a good enough grip.
Then I saw May (that's right, my new yogurt maker is called May. Her full name is Yogourmet, but I call her May). May has a flat top, it is possible to buy extra canisters (I bought three), but more than that, May works on a different heating idea. Inside May, the canister rests in a water bath, making a nice even heat throughout. No more much cooked milk at the bottom & runny sludge at the top. Because of the water it is possible to make yogurt from irregular sized batches of milk (which is how they come out of the cow; I am still stunned by people who think she has a spigot & a scale).
I hope to be happy with May for many many years. But I am also glad the others have all gone to good homes. Recycling & all that.
It is not that I didn't love Gertie, I did, mostly. But it was one of those relationships that happened so fast. There was an empty place in my life where a really really old yogurt maker had been & things were fine until one day, a new cow arrived & then I was up to my eyeballs in milk & that is when I realized my old yogurt maker was just too old.
Gertie was a beauty (& still is, I didn't just dump her; she has actually gone on to live with my Mom--yes, all my life's a circle). She was the first yogurt maker I ever met who could handle a full two quarts. She was enchanting & we were very happy...at first.
But Gertie had some flaws. She has a curved lid, making it very hard to find a place for her in a rather full kitchen cabinet. I have lost track of how many times the top slid off when I was moving here & it was just a matter of time before it cracked. Also, Gertie came with only one canister for making the yogurt itself. I tried to get more but it just was not possible. Finally, that canister was not the best design anyone ever thought up; in order to get it out of the yogurt maker itself, I usually ended up flipped the lid off. Even with my small strong fingers, I had trouble getting a good enough grip.
Then I saw May (that's right, my new yogurt maker is called May. Her full name is Yogourmet, but I call her May). May has a flat top, it is possible to buy extra canisters (I bought three), but more than that, May works on a different heating idea. Inside May, the canister rests in a water bath, making a nice even heat throughout. No more much cooked milk at the bottom & runny sludge at the top. Because of the water it is possible to make yogurt from irregular sized batches of milk (which is how they come out of the cow; I am still stunned by people who think she has a spigot & a scale).
I hope to be happy with May for many many years. But I am also glad the others have all gone to good homes. Recycling & all that.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Not even a whimper
So my laptop is still dead, the computer in the tvroom is still sketchy & you would think with all of this not-on-line time I would get so much more done but I think I am actually accomplishing less. This year did not start with a bang.
I did manage to baste & quilt a quilt top from last year but then it sat & still sits unbound & unfinished. The binding is stitched but not pressed. I seem to be stalled an arm's length from the finish line.
I started a scarf for the Red Scarf Project, finished it too even though I had missed the collection deadline by about a week & a half & would of had to keep it safe & clean for another ten months except it turns out it was too wide & too hairy (they frown on mohair-y-ness because people say it ?itches?). Not having a computer to check & treble check the guidelines was a problem. In happier news, C****** liked it & took it home last week & the pattern I sort of doodled out is easier enough that I have already made another (not in red, not for the Red Scarf Project, but whatever).
I finished the February book club book Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. It went fast, didn't make much of an impression or so I thought until I found myself really wanting cake. Enough to bake one.
I missed another month of Block Lotto, tried again to drop out of the Quilt Block Swap & generally just kept my head above water chore&household-wise.
It seems in the absence of dumping my brain out onto a page I get rather clogged. This week-end I think it might be laptop buying time.
I did manage to baste & quilt a quilt top from last year but then it sat & still sits unbound & unfinished. The binding is stitched but not pressed. I seem to be stalled an arm's length from the finish line.
I started a scarf for the Red Scarf Project, finished it too even though I had missed the collection deadline by about a week & a half & would of had to keep it safe & clean for another ten months except it turns out it was too wide & too hairy (they frown on mohair-y-ness because people say it ?itches?). Not having a computer to check & treble check the guidelines was a problem. In happier news, C****** liked it & took it home last week & the pattern I sort of doodled out is easier enough that I have already made another (not in red, not for the Red Scarf Project, but whatever).
I finished the February book club book Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. It went fast, didn't make much of an impression or so I thought until I found myself really wanting cake. Enough to bake one.
I missed another month of Block Lotto, tried again to drop out of the Quilt Block Swap & generally just kept my head above water chore&household-wise.
It seems in the absence of dumping my brain out onto a page I get rather clogged. This week-end I think it might be laptop buying time.
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