Rainfall Record

That weather bomb I showed a pic of on Monday the 4th yielded a rainfall record for the city of Eureka: 1.74 inches in 24 hours. The previous record was 0.83 inches in 1889. That's a whole lotta rain!

April Showers...and Mo

April showers bring May flowers... Wait... it IS May! So what is up with THIS...??

















It is really coming down out there right now. Here I am all snug in the house--early shift at work has me out of there by 3:30. The 6 AM alarm ain't so great, but the early departure is really nice.

Today, May 4th, is the 31st anniversary of the birth of my darling cat Mo (short for Mohandas K. Gandhi--I was a young, impressionable teen when I got Mo, and thought Gandhi was a Numero Uno Dude, so I named my cat after him. Rather misnamed, since Mo was all swaggery machismo with very little pacific about his personality. I still think MKG is a great man, though.) Mo was born in 1978, out of a white cat named Chaos, one of four kittens. I saw him and felt a bond immediately. I can't explain it; I just had a good feeling and begged both my parents and Chaos' person to let me have him. Sometimes it's like that with animals.

Mo had a big hiccup at age 2--he was running laps on the flat part of the roof at my folks' house, slipped and fell about 15 feet. He blew out his left knee and tore his diaphragm muscle about 75% loose from his chest wall. My parents, bless them, paid for expensive surgery and his vet Dr. Silver did a great job--Mo lived another 16 years after his accident, dying of kidney failure in 1996 at the age of 18. If you look closely at the picture, you can just barely see the midline scar of his surgery. He is about 10 years old here, in his characteristic roadkill pose that either says "It's too ****ing hot!" or "Here's my belly, notice me!!!"

Mo had one of those spirits that I truly hope I run into again in this lifetime. He was one of the mellowest, quirkiest cats I have ever known and he and I loved each other as only a cat and a cat lover can. I was definitely his person and I still feel priveleged. He was totally unfazed by other people, though and would work a house party of 20-30 people like a seasoned master.

"Hi. Welcome to my house."
"Thanks for sitting--I was looking for some lap."
"Tasty appetizers, yes? Don't mind if I do."

The January before he died, one of my roommates had a Superbowl party and Mo did his typical working of the room. Mo died on June 30th, 1996. The following January, another Superbowl party was in the works and one of my roommate's friends, who had attended the year before, asked "if that cat Mo was going to be there?", and when he was told that Mo had died he replied, "No point in having a party, then.". Mo was that cool of a cat.

So, Happy Birthday, Mo, wherever you are!!

Knitting Update

I know, I know--I just posted a bunch of knitting stuff in my last post. I can't help it. Knitting is really what I do these days. I was not able to knit much while I was in school and I am making up for lost time, I guess. It helps, too, to have my new knitting circle at NCK. I have learned more cute tricks in the last few weeks of going regularly on Thursdays than in the last 5 years--really useful stuff. These people are as passionate as myself about the craft and that is empowering to me. I don't feel like and obsessed weirdo; I am obsessed, yes, but not weird in that crowd.

I just spent an hour thrashing around in my garage, trying to organize my stuff. OK, today it is 'stuff'; some days it is 'junk, but not today. I got a fair way into putting my knitting mags into plastic bins, and in chronological order. This is how they used to be and I want them that way again so I can FIND things. I will be happier overall when I can finish those things I have the gear for, but that lie fallow because needed components are buried in a box in the garage or some random closet cranny.

Still, I am drowning in projects and it is time for an update to help keep me focused.
I wrote this current project update almost two months ago on March 8th:

1) Zarah is reknit and ready to block and sew except for the collar. I really needed a break, but I will pick it up to work on soon.
2) Jiada is still fallow.
3) I have started a small first quarter project and it is proceeding apace as my lunchtime/weekly knitting circle project.
4) Grant Avenue is still in a box--can't deal with it right now.
5) Hisdal Peony is untouched.
6) Da Vinci is untouched as well
7) New Shell was shunted aside in favor of other lace weight mohair silk projects:
8) the Belinda wrap which is at the halfway point
9) Clapotis, which is 60-70% done and a STASH yarn project to boot. Yay me!

So, here is how today compares to two months ago:
1) Zarah is blocked except for the collar. I am slowly sewing it together. The shoulders are done, and about 2/3 of the side seams, but a it is slow going to get a tidy seam.
2) The right front of Jiada is done and now part of the back, but went on the back burner.
3) My lunchtime smoke ring is done.
4) Grant Avenue is still moldering in a box.
5) The Hisdal Peony is started, but was set aside for the scarf contest project, due May 15th.
6) Da Vinci is still untouched
7) New Shell? Hah. What New Shell--shelved in favor of other things until firther notice and I am dropping it from this list.
8) The Belinda wrap is about 80-85% done, but it is a SLOG at this point and I only work on it at lunch at work.
9) Clapotis is DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I have finished 2 of 9 projects, and shelved one until further notice. I have also made real progress on four more. The speed of progress will pick up again on all of these, once my scarf is finished and turned in.

The scarf contest is a Northcoast Knittery deal and I HAD to do it--they made me an offere I couldn't refuse. The deal is I got to choose any yarn in the shop up to $100 and could knit any scarf I wanted with it. They get to keep the finished scarf, but I can enter it in the County Fair if I'd like to. How could I say no? All I put in is time. Plus, the winner of the contest gets a $50 gift certificate, so I had to take a crack. I have seen two of the other entries and they are pretty slick, so I have stiff competion. There is one other knitter ( four of us, total), so I am not sure how likely it is that I'll win, but it still means I get to make a pattern I was itching to do. Besides, I am not hurting for scarves right now, so I get to knit it for free and then not have it cluttering things up. I am doing Nicky Epstein's 2-in-1 floral scarf from 'Knitting Never Felt Better'--it's the cover project. I am doing it in ruby red rather than the salmon color shown, and plan to lightly embellish it with some embroidery and maybe some beads, as well.

On that note, I am going to knnit a few more flowers and start putting the scarf together for felting. The sooner it is done, the sooner I can finish the other things I want to do.

W.I.P. it good!!

OK, the post-title is a shameless DEVO paraphrase, but it fits the theme. Also, my dear husband checked out a Devo DVD from the library for me, knowing my admiration for the Beautiful Mutants. What a guy! That got me thinking in a Devo kind of way.

But I digress. The actual meaning of W.I.P. is "Work in Progress". This refers to things planned and on one's needles. For those of you who don't/can't see my Ravelry pages, I currently have 6 WIP's. Actually 8, but I was so embarrassed seeing all that unfinished, nagging STUFF that I sent two projects in to hibernation. Sheesh. (And just so she knows: K, your smoke ring is actually done, blocked and ready to mail. I have had such a short attention span, I haven't gotten my act together to package and mail it. {Yeah, yeah, Rabbit. Whatever, Dude.})

Aaaanyway, I keep starting things and not finishing other things. What can I say? I have been distracted. March was busy--I was panic-knitting to keep calm during Mom's health scare. Things there are at least temporarily under control. She comes home from the Nursing Home soon. This will make her happy, but then again, how well will she be able to look after herself? Time will tell.

Earlier this week, I had a Bad Tuesday in that I woke with an intractable migraine, stayed home from work and tried to sleep it off. That evening, I was snacking on a date and, lo!, one of my tooth veneers split in two and came off. I heard the 'crack!' and KNEW it was not good. Well, I love my dentist, Dr. Singleton. He got me in the next morning at 9 AM, so I only went around in public looking like an extra from 'Deliverance' for an hour. The temporary looks quite good and I was pleasantly surprised that the lab that makes the porcelain crowns was literally across the parking lot. They gave my teeth the once-over and Kim, the manufacturer assured me that he was more than happy to redo the crown gratis if I was not happy with it and even bring me in to check it before cementing. Not bad service for a small geographic area. This made me happy most of all because I miss the awesome Dr. John Shaffer in Hayward who did my teeth before. He did a really great job, but I feel like I am in good hands here, too. Big relief.

So, the flush knitting period of March has tapered. I have been going outside more often, although it is raining at the moment and supposed to all weekend. Not good weather for Spring hiking, but a good time to get some things done at home. I entered a scarf contest at Northcoast Knittery that must be done by May 16th, and since I am going out of town the 15th, I need it earlier than that. It's about 60-70% done. I really need to get some things off the slate, but I am putting the time-constrained scarf first. I have finally done some serious organization in the garage, but it is slow going. Mostly non-yarn-stash items so I can actually get to my stash in the first place. Slow going.

Still, I have promised Hubby to go out and mingle with real people this weekend, so I plan to make good. In fact, I think I'll go out now and get some sushi for dinner...

Trillium Spring

It's a two post day--I've stored up, and I want to get these things up on the blog, so...

Last Monday, April 20th, was a gorgeous day. Days like that are uncommon in HumCo--at least this close to the coast. We get a lot of rain and grey in the Fall, Winter and early Spring and Summer is all fog and grey. It's all that wet that makes the redwoods big and the wildflowers bloom. Monday was and exception. Yes, yes--it was also 4-20, which is significant to some in the Emerald Triangle. Not to me: my thing this time of year is trilliums. the Western trillium (Trillium ovatum), which is also sometimes called the 'wake robin', is a lovely flower and it is peaking at this time of year. One place to see them blooming is Sequoia Park here in town; the park is not ten minutes from my house by car. When it rains, the trails are all mud. On dry days, though it is a lovely spot. Monday was bright, sunny and a clear 66 degrees F. My hubby and I took about and hour walk the park and this is what we saw...

We started out at the entrance--a nifty concrete pool and waterfall that incorporates an old redwood stump:














The light caught this orb weaver spider web perfectly:















My guy taking pictures of me taking pictures of him under the trees:



















A largish patch of trilliums under the trees:















Another dense patch of blooms:















Trilliums start out white and then gradually pinken and finally turn purple before they fade. Here are some closeups:



































































































We also made a stop to the turtle pond--a bit of algaw growth, but the turtles were taking a sunbath:















Nifty leaf filtered light on the water:















Looking straight up at the crowns of the redwoods--150 to 200 feet up, at least:















Thimbleberry flowers:















A waterfall in a grotto next to the path:




















The sun filters through the trunks as we come to the end of our walk:




















It's definitely days like this, experiences like this that make me happy I am here!

Mangelwurzel

Mangelwurzel. What a weird word. I had never seen it before meeting this odd veggie. I bought this great big log of a beet on April 14th at the Arcata co-op for $2.49. The description on the card had this picture and said this:

"Mangel Beets

From Wild Rose Farm, Blue Lake CA
These huge beets run between15 and 25lb, and at
$2.49/each, they provide about the most sustenance
for your dollar you’ll find anywhere! Mangel beets
(or more properly Mangelwurzel) come from Germany,
and were developed to feed livestock during the long
winters. They make great eating and are delicious in any
of your favorite beet recipes. They are also used in England
for sport – Mangelwurzel hurling competitions are an
annual occurrence in some small towns!"

OK. These things are the size of Presto logs, are pig and cow food and people fling them for fun. Plus, they are only $2.49. Not per pound, mind you--for the whole beet! How could I resist?? I chose the smallest of the three available--still huge, mind you--and paid for it. I got my beet log home and commenced to look up recipes on the internet. (where I found the facsimile of the store card--neato!). Well, there aren't a lot of recipes for mangelwurzel--just seed ads and livestock information. I guess bossy the cow food that gets flung about doesn't sound so appealing to most other people. Someone suggested boiling them, but I prefer my normal beets roasted, so I ran with that thought. I trussed my Beetlog up in foil and tossed it into the oven:















I wrapped it in foil and roasted it at 400 degrees F. for 4 hours. This is a picture of what it looked like post-roasting, plus a cross section.





























The next day I peeled it and cut it into chunks, which I used to make a salad as follows:

Mangel Beet Salad

Mangel beet cut into 1.5 inch chunks, about 2 cups
2 dozen oil cured black olives, pitted and chopped
1/2 an orange, peel and pith cut away, cut into sections
2 cups mixed spring greens
4 green onions chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 small bunch of chives chopped
cheese for garnish (grated parmesan or some other good quality firm cheese)

for the dressing, I used my avocado orange vinaigrette (i.e., I actually made this recipe up--yay, me!). This uses an avocado that is super ripe, but not dead--very very soft. Cut out any brown spots. Good for that forgotten avocado you don't want to waste.

Avocado dressing:
1/2 really ripe, super soft avocado
juice of 1/2 an orange
1 generous tsp. dijon mustard
1/4-1/3 cup really good virgin extra olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

mix salt with orange juice to dissolve. Add mustard and mix well. Scoop out avocado and mash then mix into juice. I use a latte whisk and mix the bejeezus out everything. Add olive oil and pepper and use the whisk to emulsify a bit. You could do this in a mini cuisinart, if you were so inclined.

Pour dressing over salad, toss, serve topped with grated cheese.















Pretty colors!
It was tasty stuff. The mangels tasted good--sweet, and rather like a cross between a beet and a yam. Would I cook with them again? Yes. This is good, because I have half of one left in the fridge.

For more info on mangelwurzel, wikipedia has the goods: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangelwurzel

I leave you now with an extreme closeup of Gabriel, who has made it to age 25 (He hatched in April 1984, and I randomly designated 4/15--tax day--as his birthday. What a tough old bird, he is!!

Stupid Taxes and a Hippie Lawn

It's been a while since I posted, but I need to do something to calm down after doing my taxes. If anyone out there can explain to me how declaring student loan interest paid can cause my
California state taxes to actually go from a refund to money owed, I'd sure be grateful. More specifically, before declaring the money I paid in student loan interest, Turbotax said I was owed a refund of $67. After entering the interest, I OWED $203. WTF?? I owed the Feds, too, but less with the student loan stuff. It's all so arcane. Stupid taxes.

In another world, we have had enough nice weather that I have had a chance to assess the yard. I had my first run in with the overgrown lawn on March 31st. What do you get in Humboldt County winters? An out of control lawn, that's what. When it rains, the grass grows, and it rains a LOT here. Lately it seemed like it always rained on weekends which, of course, is when I had time to mow. We only have a push mower--very green, but not so useful for an out of control lawn. On a recent trip south I copped my mom's weed whacker, knowing she wouldn't need it while out of commision. I was making progress, but then I ran out of string. Crap. I, therefore, resorted to the push mower. I did OK, but ran out of metaphorical gas on the lawn corners. The result? A faux-hawk lawn. Or maybe more of a tonsured lawn.

Before half-assed but difficult mowing and after:




























Still, one of the trilliums I got at the Arcata Farmer's Market last summer is blooming. Pretty!

If you saw the lawn two weeks later, we are back to square one, and me out of weed whacker string. Still, Happy Spring, everyone! Everyone, that is, except the tax people...