Life Balance I Hardly Knew Ye...

Holy cow have I been busy. Work has been monopolizing most of my time; I'm putting in 11 and 12-hour days and it's just crazy. But one giant project (organizing a bike ride for 32 plus support from here to Vegas) is almost ready, and then there are just a couple of big meetings to plan and pull off. By mid-October while I wouldn't go so far as to say things will be slow, they should be a little less crazed. Perhaps 9-hour days. Woohoo!

In spite of the madness I've been pretty productive. I'm making good progress on Girasole:

I'd be even farther along except after finishing 3 charts I decided the fabric was too loose so I ripped it all out and started over with smaller needles. It's much nicer now.

Here's a closer view:

I just started the 5th chart and I absolutely love this pattern! The repeats are short so they're easy to memorize and the knitting just speeds along. Well...now that there are nearly 650 stitches in each round maybe it doesn't quite speed, but it's going smoothly.

I'm not sure what will come next after Girasole but it might involve this:


Another thing I'm looking forward to is doing a little reading. I read the Chronicles of Prydain as a kid and loved them. Crazy Aunt Purl mentioned them a while ago, and she inspired me so I found some used copies on line. The last one arrived on Friday so I'm ready to get started. One thing I recall clearly is how the hands of the 3 enchantresses were very soft from the lanolin in the wool they spun. I've always remembered that and think about it almost every time I spin.


On the front of things that are actually happening rather than in the planning:

There has been some decent cooking around here:

Brian made pumpkin ravioli using pumpkins from the garden.

I made a deep dish pizza with eggplant, tomatoes and a bunch of other good things. Brian added a little pizazz to it by grating lemon zest and squeezing a little lemon juice over the whole thing. Ever tried that? You should.

I also played lemming and followed the crowd acting on the theory that anything roasted with olive oil, salt and a little garlic is a good thing. This is kale - cooked to a delicate crunch - and it was absolutely fab!

Dog Days

Miele has decided she loves us all very much and can't get close enough.

She likes to get close to my feet:

This is Miguel's usual spot and he's not so damned pleased that she has taken it over.

She likes to be close when I'm reading blogs:


And she especially loves to be close to Trouble.

Trouble isn't exactly thrilled about it; she's a Beagle who likes her personal space, but she's pretty tolerant:

Poor Beagle!

Miele is also enjoying a few firsts. Last week she and Trouble went hiking with us at Quicksilver.

And we've started to bring her to dog parks.

She's a little overwhelmed by the doggie crowds but gains a little confidence by the end of the visit. Today she mustered up the courage to play with a chihuahua puppy about 1/5 her size. Brave, brave Miele.

Today on Okra...


This was a garden experiment that turned out kind of cool. Who knew Okra was red?