I'm The Stuffing!

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm not making my turkey until tomorrow, so there's time for me to fix it up and make it look like this one ... I haven't made a lot of turkeys, but I do know that it's easy; I'm sure I could find what I need to brown it accordingly.

I learned how to e-mail myself photos from my phone last night (thanks Sweet Pea). This man rides my bus. I don't see him every day, but I see him often. He never smiles. I wonder what he's doing today.
I think this tree has a lot of potential. I'll have to take a real camera to work one of these days and take a good picture of it:

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that makes you look back and assess. We haven't had a great year, but we have a lot to be thankful for. I like the way this guy sums it up (I have no idea who he is): Everything's Amazing ... Nobody's Happy (thanks Aidan, for the link):

So I'll to try to focus on the amazing part more ... even though some days that's hard.

Sunday

Sundays can be a real drag these days, and yesterday was quite gray and gloomy weather-wise, but I went with Sue on a little field trip to Bella Lana which turned out to be just the ticket.

There was light:
And lots of color-some bright:
Some muted:

It came in all yarn weights and types of fiber:

And they even have a mascot:

We had lunch afterward at a pub and although the waitress started out a bit snarky (I think she was disappointed we weren't drinking), she was overcome by the yarn fumes from our purchases and ended up more than friendly; further proof that Sue is right and if everyone in the world would just knit all problems would be resolved ...

I won't show the purchase here as it may become a holiday gift ...

Nothing in Particular

P and I went to Hay Fever by Noel Coward at the U last night. They do a great job. I love the intimacy of the thrust stage at Rarig; it's so much like the old Guthrie. The fact that the actors are all about 20 years old is a little distracting, but the acting was great. The sets were wonderful too - especially the curtain rods :-)

Friday night was spent at The Yarnery for Knit Night. It was fun to see people and find out what kinds of projects they're working on. Kmkat was in town and able to join us which was great - thank goodness the store has a ramp!

I actually got some housecleaning done for Thanksgiving ... not to overdo, however, since it will only be us and Auntie on Friday (we're going for Chinese on Thursday - anyplace that is open and has handicapped access). I'm so thankful Auntie has the same philosophy as I have: A clean house is a sign of a life misspent.

The orange socks are nearing completion, the heel and gussets done on the first Franklin sock and I finished the second repeat of the first front on the cardigan. I'm trying to plan my travel knitting now ... I think I'll take the cardigan sleeves, the Poseidon sock, plain socks and maybe a scarf. I also have four books ready to go. And there'll be Christmas gifts. I wonder if there will be room for clothes?

Today The Fish Person and I will finally be going on our field trip to Bella Lana; we're combining it with her birthday celebration. They had such beautiful things at the Guild meeting last week, I can't wait to see the whole store. Maybe I'll remember to take the camera...

Is it Friday Yet?

It seems to be one of those weeks

::sigh::

Sunday and Monday we were still celebrating birthdays. I probably wouldn't have to eat for the rest of the month, even though Thanksgiving is in there somewhere.

Tuesday was Knitters' Guild; we had Double Ewe and Bella Lana come in to show their goods and give us ideas for holiday gifts. Because I need more yarn and more projects.

Last night was Book Club. The book was Appetite for Life - a biography of Julia Child. That woman was so energetic she wore me out! I could really only make it to about page 300. What an interesting person, though. Of course, we didn't really talk about the book. We did, however, rehash parts of the election, we discussed the dismal state of the economy, and I explained the history of my disdain for Norm Coleman.

The book did inspire me to look for her show on DVD so I can check it out.

Since Girl-child and P are going to a theater thing tonight (can't remember the details, but it's some PC Latin thing for a class she's taking), Boy-child and I will be dining at La Cucaracha. This in spite of the fact that I don't have to eat for the rest of the month. (They don't have a website - go figure! How do they stay in business?)

So that's what I've been doing and why I haven't been posting. I have not worked on the cardigan, but I am making great progress on a couple of socks and I made some mittens for the Ironic Baby.

I just turned the heel on this one:
I'm about to turn the heel on this one:
And two pair of mittens, because these things are easily lost:

The Hill

You know, I've walked past this countless times, but this week was the first time it dawned on me ... in this hill there should be a Hobbit Hole - not this ugly thing, but a round green door with a knob in the middle and lots of rooms inside with pantries full of food...
I do wonder - was it built during the cold war? Is it a fallout shelter? I'll have to try to find it from the inside one of these days.

Tonight was Drunken Knit Night and Merlin's was packed. I guess everyone likes to go have a beer on Friday night when it's chilly outside.

Happy first anniversary to Minneapolis' DKN.

Whimsical Art

No news is without a doubt good news for me these days ... so I'm borrowing from others to entertain you today.

Witness the Margarita Tsock from the Tsock Tsarina - how absolutely fabulous is this? Yes, it really is a salted (translate to beaded) rim with limes and a cactus on the leg!

And this site is unbelievable - some people get really creative when they play with their food (seriously, take a look at the other stuff on this blog, it will make you smile):
And the Telephonic Sheep by Jean-Luc Cornec posted on Book of Joe demonstrates a wonderful use for old phones - haven't seen that kind of phone for a long time: Part of an art installation at the Museum für Kommunikation Frankfurt in 2006.

Weird Monday

Who knew? There is a conservative answer to wikipedia - check out the entry for Liberal here. (They say those things about liberals as if it were a bad thing!) Thanks, Kate, for the tip.

In the meantime, it was a very weird Monday. Boy-child and I went to juvenile traffic court where he pleaded guilty and threw himself at the mercy of the court. It went well.

After coming home I thought I could quick get some leaves raked, bagged and over to the city compost drop off before it starts "precipitating" tomorrow.

The cat did not want to help:
I did find an example of maroon and gold in nature, which the University had a publicity thing for a while back:
It's in the middle there, somewhere.

What seems really odd to me is that that tree can produce so many leaves when we only just planted it when Girl-child was born.

Of course, that was 19 years ago this week. She was home for "cake" tonight, and some goofing off with her little brother.

Unusual choice of cake for a November birthday, but whatever the Birthday Girl wants ...She watched a schmaltzy romantic movie (can't remember which), washed her sheets because "they don't smell right after being washed at school," squeezed in a Target run and I then managed to meet some of her floor-mates at the dorm since I was hauling stuff up to her room with her.

And speaking of tacky movies, Boy-child talked me in to watching Shaun of the Dead last night. Wow. And I thought Mallrats was bad.

Actually, the zombies brought Sheepish Annie to mind, which made me giggle, but I still couln't watch the whole thing.

Still Waiting for the Fat Lady to Sing

Coleman's Lead Shrinks To 206 Votes

ST. PAUL (WCCO) ― The margin in Minnesota's unresolved Senate race has gotten tighter again in the latest figures reported to the secretary of state.Republican incumbent Norm Coleman's lead over Democrat Al Franken stands at 206 votes as of Monday afternoon. It had been 221 votes in tallies that are still considered unofficial.County canvassing boards are meeting to certify their results, a week ahead of the state canvassing board.The one-hundredth of 1 percent difference between the two candidates will trigger an automatic recount that won't start until next week.

What Now?

For those of us who have been obsessing and ranting about the election, there is the question now of what's next? What can I obsess about now? I think some of us will just have to wait and hope ... because I do feel very hopeful all of a sudden. (Nice photos, P)
This is girl-child after voting for the first time in a national election. How fun would that be, to vote for a winner the first time? I've only voted for the winner in the presidential race three times now - I hope she has better luck!

I'm very happy for her - and for all young people - because of the hope that the Obama presidency inspires. (Even though, imho, it will take two or three generations to recover from the W years.)

I think I'll start watching the first season of West Wing again. I don't see Rahm Emanuel as a Leo McGarry type, but perhaps that will make it more interesting to watch the new administration in action.

In the meantime, I'll continue to knit. I finished the back of the Must Have Cardigan: It's really quite nice and I love the color. After making Boy-child two orange hats and working on orange socks for Girl-child, I'm enjoying the green very much. A person can only take so much orange.

I took Girl-child shopping today - she has given in to the fact that she needs boots for the winter. I think the snow yesterday and today inspired her. I was always a boot person, so I hope that she sees the light while shod in the fab pair we found at DSW today. We got her jeans too; the general public will no longer know what color underwear she has on when she's walking around campus...

Boy-child visited two schools in the past two weeks and has decided to stick with the current one 'till the end of the year with the hope that he'll get into the better of the two recently visited for next fall; the lesser of the two will be the back-up. He has calmed down a lot over the past month, and I am very grateful for that.

I went to see author Monica Ferris* today at a local yarn shop. She is quite a charming woman. She read from her new book, Thai Die, which is not out quite yet. I picked up Sins and Needles for the trip to Chile, as well as a basic hat, mittens and scarves book for Girl-child to have for reference. I'm so sorry I didn't take my camera, because Ms Ferris had on a wonderful hat which she purchased at a store in Muncie that caters to African-American church-going women, in the spirit of Crowns. Since she's local, I'm hoping I'll have another opportunity to see her; hopefully with camera in hand.

*Thanks kmkat, for pointing out that the Monica Ferris website has hat pictures!

Dirty Laundry

Well, well, well...



So they didn't want to spill the beans before the election ... what would have happened if Lehman Brothers hadn't declared bankruptcy in September?

November 5, 2008

Summer in November

Yesterday and today have been beyond beautiful weather-wise and I have been fortunate enough to have been outside to enjoy it a bit.

My mother's nursing home is in a not-so-good part of town that used to be a wonderful part of town. Here are details from a couple of the mansions on her block - the first one is for sale if you're interested:

After visiting her on Sunday I felt a need to decompress, so I went to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

I love the place - it's close enough to my mother's that I think I'll make it a regular stop. The greenhouse is particularly spectacular in the winter, but always enjoyable.

I had an unusual request for pictures to be possibly used on KnittaPlease so I had some fun with that. I hope the pictures prove useful to her, but if they don't, I'll have fun trying it again.

These were taken on campus:

And these at the Obama office where I volunteered after work today:

My most unusual conversation on the phone during my volunteer stint was with a man who said he can't vote because he's a three time felon. Well! I wondered how he could be home answering the phone if he's a three-timer, but I guess he could be on probation. Or he could be pulling my leg.

These past two days are why I love this time of year:

And this from Tom, on the other side of the world:

An election is coming. Universal peace is declared and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry. ~T.S.Eliot

(That reminds me, I have to fill up my car tomorrow before gas doubles in price!)

Leaves, Socks and The Campaign

The Dreaded Black Socks are done. This is what they looked like when they had only the toes to be fused: In a fit of industriousness I decided to rake before knitting - I got over 20 bags worth done - bagged and taken to the city compost drop-off. This is part of the first car-full before bagging:
So I'm over 1/2 done. Who knew a postage-stamp sized lawn could end up with so many leaves? (One of those trees above has not lost any leaves yet).My true goal this weekend was to make the Ironic Baby some red, white and blue mittens, but alas, I have no outline or measurements of his little hands (hint, hint). I really don't remember what the size of 2 year old hands is like. I did manage to make a hat for him which I will call The Election Day Hat, although I believe it is going to be too warm on Tuesday to wear it. I will send it off to school with Boy-child on Monday anyway, with the hope that I get a cute picture with Ironic Baby wearing the hat (hint, hint). I tried a new technique and it's quite different from anything else I've made. It was also very quick so the mittens will be a breeze. Also, don't forget, I need the outline of the father's foot as well as the baby's hand since there is an algorithm for calculating the baby's growth rate based on the dad's foot size ...

I now have only three pairs of socks on the needles; one pair only needs a mate, one is in hibernation (I think I'll take it with to Chile) and one will be coming out of hibernation. There is also an orange hat and the cardigan. This will all be done when I am watching election returns and beyond, I guess, since I got suckered in to volunteering for the Obama campaign on Monday night.