snaps on saturday

How does your garden grow?


Quite frankly, I have no idea how it grows!! I am enjoying my first full year in the new house, watching the seasons turn, and it has been full of surprises.

I had a shiny-happy moment when I saw these daffodils the other day, because I had know idea bulbs were planted there. When I moved into the house in the summer, these had already been spent and cut down.

These are near the landing for the front door. Since I park in the garage, I enter my house through the door between the garage and the den. I hadn't paid much attention to what was happening near the front entry way. What a treat! It's been nice having so many peeks into spring this past week.

mail call

A couple of treats came the mail this past week.

Goodies from TheBon!
She called them BirthMas presents (Birthday/Christmas). Hey, any day is a good day for goodies :-)


Fantastically orange measuring cups, to match my fantastically orange kitchen.

That girl has got my number, I tell ya'. She also knit me a big stack of orange and brown dishcloths as a housewarming gift.

Also in the package, a handblown glass ornament made by a local student/artisan. And for MyFavoriteKid, and his grand collections, a geode and a cluster of amethyst crystals. What is special about rocks, is that they were found at TheBon's Nanie's when they were clearing things out after her passing. Super special gift. Really, click that Nanie link back there and read the eulogy. It is beautiful.
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Also, some yarn just sort of strangely found its way into my mailbox this week, too.

Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, color cw-935 Salmon Berry Red

Not that I need more yarn right now, that's for sure...especially before going to Stitches next weekend...lordy. But I am really feeling the itch to knit me a garment, and I would just LOVE IT if I could make something that is actually going to be IN SEASON when I finish it. As it stands, I think I will be finishing the scarves and felted slippers on my needles just in time for MayDay. Just dandy.

With this new pile of goodness, I am going to knit Juliet (the longer version), so I have a little short sleeved something-something to toss on over tank tops.


I bought a little extra yarn "just in case", but I am hoping that there is a skein left over to make ViolinJodie's Saturday Market Bag. I plan on making it with two shoulder straps instead of one though, like this one.
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I did actually finish knitting one of the two scarves I have been working on. It's the process of being shibori-ized, so I won't bother you with half-finished photos just yet.

I'm hoping there is one last cold snap before spring so I can actually wear the danged thing! It's been feeling like an early spring here all week (not that I'm complaining).

things around my house thursday, 7 of 52

Still touring the Wall O'Boxes, we are....

Things Around My House Thursday

Do you keep a little box of sentimental things from your sweetheart? I bet you do ;-)


This is my box full of trinkets related to TheMostImportantGuy. Newspaper clippings, movie stubs, matchbooks, love notes...you get the idea.



I grew up a tomboy and hated pink and purple, but here I am, a grown woman, with a Sleeping Beauty music box. I even know that Sleeping Beauty is Aurora aka Briar Rose, and that her hero is Prince Phillip. I didn't know that when I was seven, but there I was at thrity-seven knowing it when I bought it.

DisneyCheesy, I know.
Shut up.
To me, TheMIG is a Prince.
What else is there to say.


My fun today was taking out the box to photograph it, and then taking some time to go through its contents. One of my favorite things in the box is a birthday card, given to me by TheMIG in 2004. This was just a couple of months after we met.

It was a HORRIBLE day. I don't remember exactly what was going on, but I know I was at work, and I know that things were going very poorly. I am certain it was female poltical drama, as I supervised a bunch of gossipy girls that just loved to make my life miserable. Not one single person at work had remembered it was my birthday, and birthdays to me are hugely important. I don't care much for most holidays to be honest with you (oh---Happy Valentine's Day, btw---hahahaha), but for me, birthdays are important.

Anyhow, at some point during the early morning that day, I got in touch with TheMIG, either by phone or online. I admitted to being sad and miserable, and it not even feeling like it was my birthday at all.

Just a little while later he showed up at my work.

He took an extended lunch break and drove, I dunno, 45 minutes each way maybe (?) to bring me this card.



I already knew I adored him, but that moment sealed the deal. I felt very loved and understood, and it really did feel like he rode up on a white horse (okay, his little white car) to save the day.

Oh, and it made the gossip girls jealous.
Bonus. ;-)


The little box is pretty stuffed full now, and this winter, TheMIG gave me a new box. I love little boxes. This one is much cooler.


It's from BornLippy, and is a hand-crafted one of a kind treat.


It even has a guy on a white horse inside---teehee! (my favorite thing is the little bottle cap that says "sausage teapot" on it, though).

I cannot wait to fill this box up, too.

Going back up to the photo up top there at the beginning of the post, if you look to the right of the box, there is a little red book with handmade paper in it. This is a book of secrets.



When I met TheMIG, I found myself wanting to tell him things about myself that I had never said to anyone before, and things that I was too uncomfortable to say out loud. So I'd write them in this book, and I'd leave it out for him, and then he could pick it up and read it at his leisure.

*blush*

"c" is for...

...coconuts.


Thai young coconuts, to be specific.


Purchased by the case at the asian market, it works out to about $.78 each. It was this past December that I finally got over my fear of cracking them open by learning an easy technique.

I put the coconut on its side. Using an inexpensive (but heavy duty), butcher knife (under $15, also from the asian market), I scrape away at the top of the coconut, to remove the fibrous exterior.


Then I set the coconut back up on it's flat bottom, and give it a solid whack with the heel of the knife, at an angle, about an inch or two from the top.

Twist, plus a little leverage, and the "lid" pops right off.


I have been told this is the "girlie" way of opening a coconut. Most folks don't scrape off the excess fiber first, they just make five whacks around the top in the shape of a pentagon, and there you have it. Doing it that way scares me so much it is what kept me from ever trying to open one myself. So all hail the girlie way.

Now let me say this: I am not a huge fan of coconut. Sure, I like me a really good fat macaroon from time to time. Perhaps the occasional Almond Joy if it calls to me (which it often will) from the bottom of the Halloween bucket. But I don't like coconut in much of anything else.

Fresh coconut, however, is NOTHING like it's dessicated-in-the-bag-distant-cousin, though.

What do I do with all this coco goodness?

Well, the coconut water I use in smoothies, or if I am feeling really crafty, I ferment it into a kefir. Most the time I can't wait that long though, and I just stick a straw right into the coconut and drink it. If I am opening a whole case at once though (to make a recipe out of the coconut meat) then I put the coco-water into mason jars. It will keep for a couple of days. It also freezes well, as does the meat. It's not a bad idea when buying a case to just "go coco" and process them all at once. They take up too much space on the counter and don't hold up forever.

Interesting factoid: the water is very nutritious! It has ZERO fat (it is the "meat" that is fatty, but even then, it is a healthy source of fat. Coconut "milk" is not the same as the water...milk is a blend of the meat and the water together, typically). The water ends up being naturally filtered and sterile. Rumor has it, that it was even used as blood transfusions on battlefields during World War II when supplies were low. Coconut water is very similar to plasma! Drink up! It is good for you!!

After I deal with the water, I scrape out the insides, also known as the "meat", using an ice cream scoop. This is also great in smoothies (makes it rich and creamy), and it also fermentable with a kefir starter to become a vegan yogurt.

But my favorite thing to do with he meat is to make lemon pudding out of it.


Into a blender (or a food processor) goes:
2 cups coconut meat (about 4)
the scrapings of a vanilla bean (a good extract would do)
a few drops of a food-grade lemon essential oil (lemon extract would work, too)
2 T lemon juice
a pinch of salt
some sort of sweetener to taste (for me it's either agave syrup or liquid stevia, but honey would probably work just fine).

Puree and chill, or if you want to eat it right away, add in some ice cubes when you blend it. If it is too thick, you can thin it with water, or some of the coconut water.



I don't really taste the coconut in the finished product, just the lemon. I keep threatening to try this again soon with grapefruit oils and juices. I might even make one with fresh ginger. Yum! But I am so happy with the lemon, I just keep making it that way.

Oh! And if you stick it in the freezer, it makes a great frozen "ice cream". Just let it thaw for 5 minutes or so before you try to dig into it.

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"c" is also for....

.....cd's


This is a minor representation of my collection.
Very minor.
I have over 1200 of them.

Most of them have been in boxes since we moved last summer. Having no desire for the visual clutter of a wall o' cd's in this new home, I just sort of didn't deal with it.

I am now in the process of ripping them all onto that tiny little silver box on the left there. I can't even wrap my brain around the notion that all this music is going to fit in that little thing, but TheMostImportantGuy assures me that it will.

The project is sort of taking over my life right now....not to mention my dining room table.

this is post is strange because i am

I'm just in a mood. The closest I can come to describing it is, "dissatisfied."

examples:
* My house is a wreck, it is making me uncomfortable, but I don't feel like cleaning it.
* I would like to be knitting, but I'm not enthusiastic about anything on the needles right now.
* I'm tired of spending so much time alone, but I'm also sick of dealing with people.
* I'd like to write about the dancing of two weekends ago, like I have said so many times that I will, but apparently I have enough feelings about it, that I can't get it out.

I'm just sort of itchy funky not-comfortable-in-my-own-skin and nothing feels quite right, if ya' know what I mean.


possible contributors:
* I finally went to visit James, my convalescent home buddy that I volunteer visit. He is temporarily at another facility. It just so happens that it is the same place that used to visit his wife at while she was there dying. Come to find out, she died of a brain tumor. Guess what? It is also the same hospital the my dance teacher spent so much time at. She also died of a brain tumor. Needless to say, James and I both aren't really keen on the place.
* I came off the raw foods cleanse diet thing only to take up eating like crap with a vengeance, and it is making me feel horrible, both physically, and emotionally.
* I might not be able to participate in the performance in March with the bellydance troupe I co-direct, due to some scheduling conflicts and communication problems. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel watching them perform without me. It already doesn't feel so good just thinking about it.
* I'm being irresponsible about tending to several household matters (mostly of the paperwork kind) that need to be tended to.
* My life is. Way. Too. Scheduled. It does beat chaos, I do believe. But I feel like there isn't enough room for creativity and spontaneity.


I hope I'm not headed for funk.

Maybe I need to knit lace again?? Last time I did that, it made me feel much better. Like I could see the holes in the fabric I was creating, and it helped me to find quiet empty spaces in my brain.

Suggestions welcome.

pet peeve

It drives me insane that to open the packaging of newly purchased scissors, it requires scissors.

a peek inside

I behind on some posting I promised myself I would do.
Tomorrow I will (I will I will I will) post about the dance shows last weekend.
For now, here's some photos of the inside of the van...

From the front looking towards the back...galley on the left, bathroom on the right. Once you put down a little wooden platform and rearrange some cusions, the power sofa in the back converts into a queen sized bed.

From the couch facing forwards.

The little loo.

We took the van on a little jaunt today up into the Napa Valley for a picnic, the plan being to get a little bit more comfortable driving it. Next weekend will be the maiden-overnighter-voyage-test-run.

snaps on saturday

Shots from last night's show......

Heavyface


Their myspace page describes themselves as "Punk / Grunge / Healing & EasyListening" (hahahahaha!). Hmmm, well let me see....I could only audibly make out one line of their lyrics the whole set, and that would have been, "Who you calling a faggot, faggot?!?" In context of the music and the stage show, that was actually quite funny.

Their music was described to me as being "post-punk"...not what I would choose to listen to driving down the street, but I totally enjoyed their show. The singer was super fun to watch. He was sort of twitchy. MyFavoriteKid and I decided he looked like he had to pee.


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Scar Tissue



Everything I try to write about my boyfriend's band makes me sound like a friggin' drooling groupie, so I am going to spare you the gushing.



I will say, though, that they were impossible for me to photograph (I'm not using a fancy camera, obviously). The lighting was dim and TheMostImportantGuy was glowing in the dark. Not so compatible with the flash.

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Babyland





Great fun, as always, but what a night for MyFavoriteKid.

It was an all ages show, but MyFK was clearly the youngest in the crowd. When Babyland went on, MyFk couldn't see over all the tall folk, so I grabbed him a chair for him to stand on, and got him set up in front of the soundboard. At some point during the show, the singer made super duper direct eye contact with MyFK and waved to him to come up front. MyFK looked at me with a shy smile, and I told him to go for it, so he off he went. He stayed right up against the stage, just to the left of the bouncy-dancy-but-not-quite-a-mosh-pit people. And then MyFK started bouncing and dancing and not quite moshing. He had a blast.

Later on in the set, the singer announced to the audience that he was dedicating the next song to MyFK. It was great. The singer came down into the crowd and moshed around with him. After the gig, they got a chance to talk with each other and the singer gave MyFK three cd's.

MyFK saw it as his brush with fame, for sure. I think he'll be talking about it for awhile ;-)

yesterday and today

I have been tinkering around inside the van trying to get it travel ready. Like I said, it is sort of like furnishing a studio apartment or something. Last night I even referred to it as the "Mini Maison".

I am doing everything possible to pull from things from the house that I already have rather than going out and buying things for it. Lord knows, even after all of the purging and the moving last summer, I still have a few duplicates, especially in kitchenware. I don't feel bad about that. I'm a trained chef. It would be like parting with sock yarn or something, for you knitters you there. Sometimes you just have to surround yourself with your craft.

Of course there are things I am having to purchase that are specific to rv life, like electrical adapters, specific extension cords, toilet chemicals, yadda yadda. It's been fun, but a bit expensive, and a little overwhelming. Lots of new information I am having to learn, about charging systems and water systems and whatnot. It's a good new interest to have, but I have a bit of BrainDrain going on still. I read the manuals, and I feel like I am studying for a quiz or something. Actually, it is exactly like that. With a pre-test this weekend, a study group next weekend, and the final exam in March.

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I have been catching up on reading blogs. It is embarrassing how far behind I had gotten, especially about people I actually "know" (either in real life or in cyber) and care about. I think I might need to weed out my queue or something. Being over 200 posts behind all the time, even after playing catch up, is a pretty good sign that I am overextended.

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I got a little lost today clicking through on the internet, and ended up at the Knitted Landscape. I think I am going to need to do some sort of something like this for myself as I travel about in that van. Not so sure I should be knitting traveling 'shrooms to go along with a VAN, though....hahahaha. Hell, I'm not even sure about knitted flowers (peace, man).

But I will come up with something. Hmmm...maybe little creatures.

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* Tonight I am heading down to see TheMostImportantGuy's band play a gig (I just went to his MySpace page to get the link for you, and it describes the music as,"Electro Industrial Power Noise for your booty." Hahahaha).

Tonight it's an all ages/alcohol free show, so MyFavoriteKid is coming along, too. He really likes TheMIG's music but he's not usually permitted in clubs. Headlining the show is a band called Babyland that find thoroughly entertaining.

Here are some photos of the last time I saw them:

Not any punk rockin' dude can pull off a plain ol' pink t-shirt, let me tell ya'.

There are 2 guys in the band that play over pre-recorded backing tracks. The singer guy (above), if I recall, also played some keyboards....and then there is this drummer guy....

...who isn't playing a traditional drum kit.
It's more like trashcans and pipes and metal junk stuff.

Which he occasionally takes power tools to.

Like I said, highly entertaining.

Shut up. I know. Bad mommy, some of you are mumbling. But it's a great show. And hey, at least I enforce the earplug rule.

things around my house thursday, 6 of 52

Things Around My House Thursday


Back to showing you another box full of goodies from the Wall O' Boxes Altar.

This is the "me" box.



On the left, that's me and my dad at Christmas time. I am going to guess circa 1968, maybe? I think I look like I was just creeping up on 2 years old.

I appear to be zoned out on a breakfast of lollypop from my Christmas stocking, and my dad was showing me how to use this toy train that I got. The "railroad ties" were little metal do-dads of varying lengths, so that they made differing musical pitches. You'd slide the ties in at different intervals, and viola! The train plays a song as it goes around the track.

This photo always gives me warm fuzzies about my dad. Also, every time I look at it I am sort of blown away at how I could manage sit like that, all twisted up with froggy legs.


The photo on the right actually has a date written on the back: May 8th, 1971. I am 4 years old then in that one, and getting ready to go to a tap dance performance. It seems to me there is some wild story from that day about my mom getting a traffic ticket, or my needing to switch cars or something so that I wouldn't be late for the show. If I ever get the details (or hellooooo mom & dad, I know you are reading, would it kill you to comment? LOL), then I will add it here as an edit.


The four quartz crystals are something I used to use quite often when I was doing a lot of ritual type stuff. One was used to mark each of the four directions when I would cast a circle.


Lastly, the red button says, "I am Loved," and was given to me by my friend Karyn when I was about 24. I think. Sounds about right.

i just cant do it

I know I said I'd post about dancing, but I just cannot get it together today to sit and type it up.

I'm a wee bit excited about the van. It's been consuming most of my brainwaves for the past few days. Getting it ready to roll is proving to be sort of like furnishing a studio apartment or something. It has sucked up much of my time and attention.

I service guy from the dealership come over on Tuesday and he spent a couple of hours with me walking around learning how to use the thing without blowing it up (hooray for that). It's got all sorts of gizmos that I need to learn how to keep running smoothly.

I'm going to start slowly with the traveling. Break it, and myself, in gradually. The trainer guy that came out to do the walk-thru told me I was smart for doing it that way, and he cannot believe how many people get an RV and then jump in it and drive off for a vacation right then and there. He said that sure as shit they call from Nebraska or something and they have no idea what they are doing, and then he's stuck trying to break it all down over the phone.

This weekend I'm going to take it for a daytrip through wine country, and then next weekend TheMostImportantGuy and I will take it out for an overnighter in an RV park just outside of San Francisco. That will be a great test run. I'm sure most of that trip will be making lists of things that I forgot. At least if something goes really wrong, we're only an hour from home.

I am sure I will get some other daytrippy use out of it again before March (hey! maybe I'll take it Stitches and it can be the KnitMobile??), but at the end of March I am taking MyFavoriteKid out during his spring break for a run down the central coast. I want to take him to see Solvang. He's never been there, and I haven't been there in ages myself!

When I was a little kid, maybe 7 or so (?), my parents took me to Solvan, and when we wandered into a toyshop, I was allowed to buy one thing. I bought a little book for kids about how to knit. One of the things I made were egg cozies (to keep soft boiled eggs warm) and I gave them to my grandparents. I'm not sure whatever happened to that book, but my grandmother is turning 90 this year, and she just told my mom the other day that she still uses the egg cozies. Hahahaha. We are going to visit her out in the Boston area in April for her birthday (not in the van, we're flying for this one). I'm actually kind of excited about having a chance to see my first knitting.

I will catch up with the dance post soon...I promise...and I will show you pics of the interior of the van soon, too. You won't believe it. It's like a little house or something. And now that I'm putting my own things in it, it is beginning to feel like a little home.

Nighty-night :-)

birthday presents from self and others (mystery revealed)

I think I have finally recovered from the weekend run of dance shows. Now maybe I can actually make a post that is more than just a photo! I absolutely do want to write something up about how the shows went. I started doing that for this post, but it kept getting longer and longer and more rambling. I think I will save that for tomorrow. Clearly it needs editing.

Besides, I want to talk about other things.
Yesterday was my birthday! I am now 41. Lordy!

I got some great gifts. MyFavoriteKid gave me (with help from his dad) a gift card for Rasputin's Music. It's a locally owned music store that sells used cd's. That is one great gift, I tell ya'. Kid knows me.

Now when my mom and dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said, "A day off. I need a babysitter for something."
Mom said, "No, really."
I said, "Yes, really. I want the day free on Saturday the 23rd so I can go to a big yarn convention."
She said, "Well, that doesn't seem like much of a gift. I'd do that for you anyhow."
I said, "Yeah, well...it does seem like much to me, because I can't go and enjoy myself if I bring him. But if it makes you feel better, toss in ten bucks for yarn."

So I got a card from my parents with ten bucks for yarn, go figure....and yay!...I get to go to Stitches without torturing MyFavoriteKid (or without HIM torturing ME, I guess).
Best. Gift. Ever.


I also got some really wonderful cards from family, plus some fantastic emails and online birthday links from FriendsInBlogland. It was awesome.

I actually started getting presents last Thursday. KarenThe(blogless)DancingLurker, gave me box Set Number 2 of Fred Astaire movies. This is a great thing, as it rounds out my collection (Karen had given me Set 1 as a housewarming gift). Also one great gift. Heaven. I'm in heaven. And me heart beats so that.....
nevermind.

TheMostImportantGuy also gave me his gift early. Friday. He knows that I have an obsession with blank books, so he gave me this:


We had seen this one night in a stationary store window in downtown Berkeley. Do take a closer look.



The book is made out of ELEPHANT POO.
And I love it. So shut up.
(someone told me it was worse than being given a vacuum cleaner for your anniversary, but this book is proof of love, my dearies).

Then of course, there was the gift I got for myself (the surprise y'all have been waiting for):



I am now the proud owner of a new van! A camper van. A miniature RV van. Like it has a stove, a fridge, a toilet and shower, sort of van. You can stand up and walk around in it, van. Told ya' it was big and needed a little bit of justification. This baby is worthy of a blog entry all it's own, for sure. I will do that Friday. But for now, all I will say is:

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!

I should mention that it was the big joke around here that for my birthday I bought myself a conversion van and that my beloved gave me poo. Beside that just being outright hilarious, we agreed that this is much better than my having to say, "My boyfriend didn't give me shit for my birthday."


As for birthday cake, I didn't get to have that exactly. Being that I'm still doing this whole raw foods cleanse thing, I couldn't have a traditional cake, so I asked MyFK and TheMIG to take me to my favorite Thai restaurant for dinner (I had the Papaya Salad) and then we moved on to Cafe Gratitude for dessert.

I reallllly wanted to go to Cafe Gratitude for dessert because besides being a Raw Foods Restaurant, when it is your birthday, they bring out your dessert with a candle, they pop on the Beatles happy birthday song, and then I think ever y single employee stops whatever they are doing and they dance around like a bunch of crazies singing.



I love it. Just love it.


I ordered the "I am Innocent" (um yeah, right) Banana Split. Totally vegan and totally Raw. Hazelnut vanilla ice cream with raw chocolate and caramel sauces, topped with pecans. YUMM. With treats like that, who needs a sheet cake from the supermarket.


It was a good time, it was.

a poem for imbolg/st brigid's day

Two days late, but it was a busy weekend for me.
I still want to participate, as I have in prior years.
(click here for more info)

I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading—treading—till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through—

And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum—
Kept beating—beating—till I thought
My Mind was going numb

And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space—began to toll,

As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race
Wrecked, solitary, here—

And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down—
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing—then—

Number 280, by Emily Dickinson

end of run

empty dressing room

"b" is for....

...bones.



As a dance teacher that focuses on the principals of ideokinesis, I am always thinking about the bones.



As a dancer/performer, am I often intrigued by having my movement initiate from the bones (in fact, the current piece I am performing with Dandelion, "Spinal Fluid," is all about moving from the bones).



And, just a little tidbit, as an "above the knee amputee", I have less bones than I started out with. (I'm not exactly sure how many less, but I believe it to be 30-1/2).

what is abc along? click here

All images from "The Architecture and Design of Man and Woman: The Marvel of the Human Body, Revealed" Alexander Tsiaras, text by Barry Werth

my costume for this weekend's performances

all white, various textures

For more info about the shows, click here.