a smaller life

really, there are no good excuses

I've been slacking. I've in over my head right now trying to get ready for Sock Summit, and I'm feeling it.

It started this last week; the Fourth of July weekend completely laid me out. Our neighbors were letting off fireworks at all hours starting Thursday evening through to... well, so far, last night, and while I cognitively know the difference between some redneck letting off a bunch of M-80s in his backyard and real gunfire, it would appear the rest of me isn't so clear. Maybe next year we can go camping, or something; I like the cooking out/ potato salad/ bonfire in the evening bit of things. Yeah- camping. In Canada. That sounds pretty boss. There's no Lee Greenwood in Canada, right? It seems like a sensible place; there's got to be a law against Lee Greenwood up there.

Outside of that, I'm frantically dyeing yarn, and scheduling vet appointments, and working with mechanics, and trying to run a home/ raise a kid/ participate in my marriage/ have friends. I can't wait til we get to the getting- in- the- van- and- getting- there part. I need some yoga, and a massage, and some deep breathing, already. I need to knit some socks and bake some brownies, I think. I'll schedule that in for the weekend.

Happy 4th, all.

in which there is baking

You know that scene in the movie Castaway when Tom Hanks finally succeeds in building a fire? You know the bit I mean- he's standing in front of his bonfire, arms in the air, head tilted skyward, shouting, "I HAVE MADE... FIRE!"

Yeah, I feel something like that right now.

Behold, my Brownies Of Ultimate Triumph.

Most of you are probably mightily unimpressed. Get over it. Who can't make brownies, you're thinking. You must not have been here for The Great Pie Disaster of 2000, or the Crepe Tragedy of 2004, or The Brick Breads of 2002, 2004, and 2009. I can cook- oh, can I cook- but I am deeply Baking Impaired.

I hate being told I can't do something. I also hate failure, which is just like being told I can't do something, especially when I've failed at a thing over and over and over. After a few days of being spoiled with on- hand, homemade goodies (thank you, Corrine!) I've gotten an itch. So tonight, I tried the training wheels of baking: brownies. I tried them in secret, while Sam was playing his video game (and was thus sure NOT to wander into the kitchen) and then baked them in my studio, just to be extrasneaky about it.

They came out looking all right, so I called Sam in to look them over.

He was justly nervous/ doubtful about the brownies.

So was Kiddo. (That's right, that's my baby in the Dropkick Murphys shirt!)

In the end, even Kiddo approved. (Eek, you can see my kitchen- in- the- works!)

Of course, this is the sign of approval that I was really hoping for.

So hooray for baking success! Next up... well. I don't know. What comes after brownies?

routines

I love working from home.

I love making my own coffee in my own kitchen, listening to my own radio play NPR all damned day long- unless I want to play the blues, in which case there is no one to complain. I love looking out on my backyard while I work. I love that even the most stressful moments of my week- yesterday's update, for example, which included an enormous quantity of Bugga!- can happen under circumstances that I can control.

I love my simple, hodgepodged, straight- from- the- fridge lunches; today, labneh and hummus on pita with lemon and olive oil, dried mango and some banana chips. Yum.

I'm falling into a routine now, finding what works best for me, when to wake up, where to fit my runs, when I can squeeze in an errand or three. I answer my phone whenever it rings, and I'm beginning to know my UPS guy by name.

I like this smaller life, which is both busy and quiet; I like knowing my neighborhood more intimately (at 9:30, Ms. So- and- So from across the way will sweep her stoop, every day, and there is a swan pond around the corner in a backyard I'd never noticed before!), and I like being present in this way.

Saturday (all lapses, on my part)

I spent Saturday at Gryphon's monthly spin in, which was lovely as ever. We occupied her house until the sun was setting, which I feel awful about- it was just such fun we didn't notice the time passing.

I'm still not sure how I could spend a full day surrounded by gorgeous, gifted women and their knitty/ crochety/ fibery goodness and only take TWO pictures as I was leaving. What was I thinking? I'll have to do better next time.

(Also, a confession: I only took this one because Corrine and Jess honked at me at the stoplight and pointed it out. How could I not think to photograph this sky? Look at those colors.)

the week so far has been...

My recently re- claimed backyard, which is too wet right now to be good for much but is still very exciting.

My weekly trip to Gryphon's house- oooh, and the spin- in on Saturday to look forward to!

Complete shuffleboard domination!

And of course, always this.

diversions

A simple list of things that have made me happy this week past:

I'm dying for a printed copy of The Dictionary Of American Regional English- how amazing is that? The linguist geek in me is too thrilled by this. There is a great blurb on this over at NPR.com.

Absinthe and maple bacon lollipops!

This Balsamic Strawberry Jam from Carma's Cafe sounds amaaaaaaazzziing. Mmmm.

This well- written rundown on the current doings of Batman makes me pretty happy, too. From my local comic shop- a mere bike- ride from my house!

I so want to present at least 5 of my friends with bottles of Return Of The Living Red wine. (T, I'm talking about you!) And while we're at it, Send More Cops is a completely wonderful zombie blog.

my weeklong absence

Last weekend I went to the workshop Jacey Boggs was holding in Spinster Yarns and Fibers, which I’d so been looking forward to. I’m so glad I went!

If you can find a spot in your area, get yourself into one of these workshops. The classes are worth it just to learn the techniques (I am so very much in love with supercoils!), but Jacey really is such a technician; the control she demonstrates is inspiring in its own right. 

Also, supercoils. They're ridiculous and funny and they make me think of superfriendly kawaii characters; if any yarn could have googly eyes and say, "Knit me!" this would be it. Naturally, I would fall helplessly in love with the one technique that can't ever be 100% balanced, but I also have a longstanding love for carefully used, energized singles.

We made batts at Spinster Yarns and Fibers for the class, which reminded me of how much I love drum carders- and how neglected mine is. I'm working on some corespun yarn for a supersoft winter cowl-  really, how many knitted accessories can one girl need? Apparently, there is no limit. The squishy, sparkly midnight blueness of my batt- which the lovely Kate carded for me herself- will be so lovely against my neck next fall.

In other news, we're getting the yard in order- it's all I've been able to think/ talk about all week, really, seeing as it has taken AN ENTIRE WEEK plus tomorrow to get that damned yard sussed. Wow. that will be a blog post itself- I'll have before and after pictures. The plan- isn't there always a plan?- is to get the yard steady to host a late- summer / early- fall outdoor spin- in or three; we have all this lovely land and we've never really done anything with it, but it's perfect for having people over. I'm thinking knitters, spinners, a fire, marshmallows, frosty beverages, something like that. Thoughts?

 

details, details

Caught up in life, in a good way. Posts this weekend.

Be well.

R.I.P., Koko.

Koko Taylor, 1928 - 2009.

(Photo courtesy of Marc Norberg.)