kmkat and her kneedles

It's two-fer Friday.

There is just way too much happening not to post today. None of it is earth-shaking, but hey, that's what blogs are for, right? Minutiae?

photo credit: j.edward ferguson via photopin cc

Thing 1. Smokey was scheduled for knee replacement surgery this coming Monday. But pre-op physical doc decided he needed a stress test first, and that appointment got screwed up. As a friend said upon hearing the news, "That's what [you guys] do, right? Reschedule surgeries?" 

Surgery will be later in February. Now to reschedule the stress test. Good news is I can attend Library Legislative Day in Madison, which I had previously had to bow out of. Bad news is Smokey has to endure more days of pain.

 

One of Smokey's vans, untouched since last summer (bad brakes).

Thing 2. Our driveway has not been plowed out properly this winter AT ALL because Da Yeep was laid up. My all-wheel-drive car has allowed us to get in and out while Smokey and Younger Son and Kiera The Teenage Helper worked on the Da Yeep. Younger and Elder Sons have both partially cleared it with our smaller snowblower at various times, but we have had a lot of snow since then.

Wednesday night I had to go to a meeting. The ruts where we drive are packed solid, but apparently I got off a little too much to one side into the soft snow. Car was jammed against a tree. By driving back and forth ~5 feet at a time (exactly as YS had last Sunday when he got my car stuck in another spot in the driveway), eventually I was able to get the car out and continue to my meeting. I dreaded seeing what I had done to the passenger side door.

On the way my side view mirror on the passenger side suddenly started flapping in the breeze and flew off. I went back but couldn't find it in the dark. Happily, it was only the actual reflective mirror; the enclosure is almost perfectly intact.

Also happily, there is NO damage to the passenger door at all. The only casualty was the mirror and a tiny sapling that got broken off; the real tree, a pine ~6" in diameter, is unhurt.

 

Thing 3. After my meeting I went to knit at a friend's house. Called Smokey to tell him about getting stuck. He and Younger Son had pretty much gotten Da Yeep, our plowing vehicle, back to working order last weekend. He did the last little thing(s) and went out to plow so I would be able to drive in safely. 

The snow in the ruts was so hard he had to make multiple passes, shaving off a little each time with the plow blade. On the third pass he got stuck. Or one of the back wheels fell off, we're not sure. (Seriously.)

Da Yeep was stuck at the entrance to our driveway. I left my car on the lane and waded through the snow to the house when I got home. I cannot tell you how glad I was for my Nantucket Bagg, which converts from a tote bag to a backpack in about 2 seconds. It is so much easier to balance with empty hands.

 

photo credit: Anonymous9000 via photopin cc

Thing 4. The next day (yesterday) Smokey went for the aforementioned stress test. I went along for the opportunity to knit in the car and in the waiting room and, more importantly, to have lunch at our local Indian restaurant. We both had to walk the ~300 yards uphill through the snow to where my car was parked at the lane, not an easy task.

Much frustration re: stress test (=irony), but a lovely lunch nevertheless. New iPhone came in handy. Called Lennie The Super Mechanic to send a tow truck to retrieve Da Yeep and bring it to his shop. Came home, parked my car in the lane again, and waded through the snow -- downhill this time, whew! -- back to the house.

Tow truck came a few hours later and loaded up Da Yeep. After they were gone I rashly decided to drive my car down to the house so Smokey would not have to walk up the hill again. 

Guess what: I got stuck. Different place, other side of the driveway, bah humbug. Once again converted tote bag to backpack and stuggled down the hill, losing one brand-new fingerless mitt in the process.

Thing 4a. Today I emailed several friends who live nearby, asking for recommendation for a reliable snow plower. Got three so far -- yay, friends! Smokey has the list and numbers, will call.

Okay, that enough whining. Time for something fun!

Thing 5. I was on Twitter this morning and saw this.

Clicked over to Instagram and saw this:

The stars aligned! I have been on a yarn fast since 1/1/13 (bought exactly ONE skein of laceweight since then; was trying to make it to April so I could truly say I had not bought yarn for a year) but this was too good to pass up.

• Cotton/merino blend: pure wool is too warm for me >90% of the time.
• Red: I have been lamenting the lack of a red sweater in my wardrobe.
• Aran weight, #9 needles: a sweater should go relatively fast, even at my speed.
• And the price? Fabulous.

Comments on Ravelry seem to indicate that the yarn is splitty and may be closer to DK or worsted weight, but I can deal with that. Cara emailed me that she mailed the yarn today. Whee!

Friday!

Ten on Tuesday, the winter edition.

The view out my windshield on a Saturday earlier this winter.

Ten Things I Like About Winter.

1. The clothes. I much prefer layering to a t-shirt and shorts.
2. The food, Comfort food, like soups and roasted root vegies and crockpot meals. 
3. The view. A snowy winter is absolutely gorgeous in the north.
4. The snuggling opportunities. Who want to cuddle when it's 80˚?
5. The opportunities for knitting. While I knit year-round -- don't we all? -- there is so much more inspiration and incentive in winter. Madame DeFarge Knits is providing a LOT of inspiration lately.
6. The coziness. There is nothing quite like snuggling under an afghan to watch TV, perhaps with a fire in the fireplace, a cup of hot tea/cider next to me, a cat on my lap.
7. The snugglieness of kittehs. Ours became heat-seeking missiles right around December first. When the temp is below zero, Hannibal The Fluffball Of Doom likes to sleep on my head. Warmth!
8. The opportunity to make use of the all-wheel drive feature of my car.* Also the heated seats.
9. Did I mention the hand knits?
10. The feeling of hardiness we Northerners enjoy when the temp is below zero and the wind is blowing snow across the prairie.

* The AWD is not quite enough when, through driver error, the right front wheel finds itself in the ditch, a ditch IN TOWN and completely invisible because it is filled with snow. Not that I have any experience of this, you understand...

 

Monday.

I read another excellent book: Until Tuesday : a Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him by Luis Carlos Montalván. I think I probably requested it because it was about a dog, but it turned out to be about so much more. Nonfiction, it is about the author's Army tours in Iraq, his multiple injuries, his treatment by the VA hospital system during the Bush administration, his PTSD, and how his service dog saved him. Montalván's worldview and personality is so totally different from mine, but his eloquence and sincerity helped me understand how someone can be proud to be a soldier. 

And, of course, there is the dog. Tuesday is the beautiful golden retriever who daily saved Montalván from the effects of his PTSD.

From the book:

"The defining state of PTSD is not fear. That's a complete misunderstanding. The defingin state of PTSD is hypervigilance. Psychologists describe it as the flight-or-fight syndrome because PTSD is essentially the superarounsed state normal people enter when thay are suddenly in danger, the one whre the blood rushes to your head, your muscles coil, and your breathing slows. You are in survival mode, ready to fight or flee for your lifte. For ordinary people it only lasts a few seconds, but for combat-scarred veterans like me, hyperarounsal was a near-permanent state.

"...I felt exactly the same way. Most people walked down the street oblivious to the world around them. I could see it in their eyes, and I was both jealous of the mindless sense of security and appalled by the carelessness. I analyzed everybody I passed, watching the expression on their faces, their body language, the way they held their hands. I took note of the way they dressed and the places they looked. If a person glanced at me twice, I locked onto them as a potential threat, and I remembered that not just for a the five minutes but for days and weeks as well...

"...Most veterans like me don't suddenly think we're in combat or have visual flashbacks like movie scenes. I experienced the feeling of being there: the adrenaline the hyperarousal, the awareness of imminent danger. My mind jumped at every movement in an upstairs window, calculating the probabilities, while my eyes scanned doorways, parked cars, and garbage bins. Especially garbage bins. They were always overflowing with bottles and wrappers, the perfect place for an improvised bomb."

I highly recommend this book.

* * * * *

Younger Son was here this weekend. He and Smokey worked on Da Yeep on Saturday; it is possible that we may be able to plow the driveway. ::cheers!::

On Sunday Smokey and Kiera The Teenage Helper worked on sorting and packing model trains, so YS didn't have much to do. All on his own he decided to straight the mess that is the entryway.

Before.

 

After! Percy approves, and so do I!

 * * * * *

We like to give the dogs bones to chew on. One bone each, and they are good for hours days. On Friday Smokey decided to pick up the bones that were scattered around the living and dining rooms.

No wonder I kept stubbing my toes.

It's a Sunday in January and it is snowing. So, what's new with you?

1. Vex :: Hex.
2. Ghost :: Spirit. 
3. Detail :: Devil is in them.
4. Furthers :: No, farther.
5. Foxy :: Vixen.
6. Hybrid :: Prius.
7. Maximum :: Prime.
8. Wonderful :: Wonderful.
9. Munch :: SVU.
10. Organize :: I really should...

* * * * *

I just read Cookie's latest blog post, wherein she says, and I quote: "...we're not having much of a winter this year..."

That is what is happened in the far western part of the county. 

In the East and South and Midwest, the complete opposite is true. Cold, more cold, and still colder cold; snow, more snow, and then a little more.

I read somewhere recently that one is not supposed to blog about the weather. 

Oops.

* * * * *

Yesterday was the strip-quilting fundraiser for our new library. There were six of us participating, two teams of three. The instructor gave each team a pile of fabric strips, each individual strip 40" long and 2-1/2" wide, and all sewed together into a l-o-n-g strip.

1600" l-o-n-g.

The first person in the team took the two ends of the 1600" strip and started sewing them together along the long edge.

 

The helpful instructor was helpful.

 

There were quilts on display.

 

At the end of an hour, my team had created this.

 

Half an hour later, the other team -- which did not have the benefit of Super Jennie, who had made strip quilts before and ran that sewing machine at blinding speed -- produced this.

 

Thanks to y'all -- and a few others subjected to relentless arm-twisting and unmitigated begging -- I raised over $300 for the library. 

THANK YOU!

Links in the bleak midwinter.

photo credit: stevie.gill via photopin cc

How to knit cables.

Tournament of books. 

Special for nerd: movie quotes depicted in charts.

What that net neutrality court decision means (long read).

34 two-ingredient recipes.

Meryl Streep is such a good sport.

"Can I run? No."

And now... the llama.

Facebook will lose 80% of its users by 2017, according to disease model.

What goes around...comes around.

You have probably seen this, but you need to look at it again. And weep. Oh wait, there is more...

My brain is not weak. It is just full.

Baby burrito.

Images from the surface of Mars.

For the booklover in your life.

I want this RIGHT NOW. Not so much to knit, just to drape around my shoulders when I'm chilly.

How to dye long-gradient yarn using Kool-Aid.

Perfect wallpaper for your craft room. 

 

Knitting, reknitting, mending, frogging.

Toward the end of last year I made a pair of fingerless gloves for a friend from some llama yarn she had acquired.

Her dog chewed one.

I fixed it. 

The fixed one looks a little different than the first one, but once they are on the hands they look fine.

::whew::

A couple of years ago I knit a sweater for Ser Percival The Energetic.

It tended to slide down his body, as you can kinda-sorta see above, so he didn't wear it much.

Then Mischa The Rescued Dog got hold of it last fall and chewed up a section of the bottom ribbing. Percy's sweater was embarrassing for him to wear, so Younger Son brought it back to me to fix.

Poor Percy had to endure the brutally cold winter we have had with just his red sweatshirt. Cotton is NOT as warm as wool. I felt badly for the poor pup, but I had too many other knitted projects that were promised.

Until last weekend. I finished my cowl, finished mending the chewed-up fingerless gloves, and turned my needles to Percy's sweater.

First, using some matching sock yarn, I made an I-cord* drawstring for the neck and threaded it through the knitting.

This seemed to work to keep the sweater from slipping down his body. Success!

Tragically, I didn't take any before photos of the chewed-up sweater. What you see below are the after photos.

First, I threaded a US#1 circ through the row of undamaged stitches right about the raggediness. Misha had done a perfect job of chewing ONLY the blue ribbing but leaving the white stripe above it undamaged. What a smart dog!

Then I carefully unraveled the damaged section and machine-stitched the still-intact edges of the ribbing at either side.

Then it was a simple matter to pick up the stitches from the needle onto a US#7 -- what the original sweater was knit on -- and knit an inch of ribbing. After binding off, I sewed both ends of the new ribbing to the original. Close inspection shows that there is something weird about the ribbing in that one spot, but it is almost entirely on the underside of Percy's body**, so I don't think the pooch will have to be embarassed about any other dogs noticing the repair.

 

* Vicki blogged a few months ago about an I-cord maker she had acquired, and a light bulb went off over my head. Such a device would enable me to make the long I-cord for Percy's sweater in a few minutes! I put it on my Amazon wish list and eventually ordered it. Although it took Younger Son and I half an hour to figure out how to make it work, once we got it... we got it!

** I took some photos of the repaired sweater on Percy, but because of where the mended ribbing fell on his body, they all featured his little, er, pecker rather prominantly. You have been spared those photos.

Winter!

 

At the risk -- too late! too late! -- of offending everyone who is shivering right now, I must proclaim that I am loving this winter. 

I fully admit that my enjoyment is made possible by a number of factors, none of which can I take credit for:

• No need to battle the elements every morning to go to work or school.
• I am not the one responsible for snow removal.
• I am driving an all-wheel-drive car for the first time in nearly 16 years.
• Said car has heated seats ::grin::
• My husband has tweaked our heating system and supplemental heat within an inch of its life, and it now keeps the house warm (enough) even when the power company shuts off the interruptible power.
• I have an ever-increasing stock of hand-knit accessories to keep my extremities warm -- fingerless gloves, cowls, scarvs, hats, socks. Wait, I can take credit for that one.

Now, let us take stock of the warm woolies I have added to my wardrobe in recent months.

Hat and scarf, made last May because I knew I would need them.

I seem to have lost the scarf at some point in the past week. Crap.

Added recently, a cowl.

Pattern: Willow Cowl
Yarn: Toe Jam sock yarn (that's what the label says!), dyed by Rabbitch (~400 yds.) in Bruise. She has another skein for sale in her Etsy shop with a slightly different name: Stupid Friggin' Futon Frame. If you click over to her shop she tells how the yarn got its name.
Needle: US#5 circ.

When I was making the cowl for Kiera The Teenage Helper for Christmas, I knew there were some cowls in my future. This winter absolutely demands them. So far I have worn this first one with a solid royal blue sweater and a solid orangey-rust sweater. Perfect.

There is more knitting in that cowl than you might think.

 

For my hands, a pair of fingerless gloves to wear over my leather gloves when driving.

This is the first one, in progress. I am using the Striped Mitten pattern from Favorite Mittens. The cuff is the solid brown Cascade 220; there will be a fold-back cuff at the fingertips, too. They are mega-warm :-)

Ten on Tuesday, the breakfast edition.

My breakfast choices have narrowed considerably since I went gluten-free, so I am going to cover both old and current choices.

Ten Favorite Things To Eat For Breakfast.

1. (now, winter) Oatmeal with apple chunks. 1/2 cup regular oatmeal, 1 cup water, 2 rounded teaspoons of cinnamon sugar (I mix it up and keep a jar in the cupboard), dash of salt. Nuke for 2 minutes on High. Meanwhile, peel, core, and cut up an apple into bite-size chunks. Add to oatmeal when the microwave dings; nuke for another minute.
   
   
2. (now, summer) Same as above but substitute fresh blueberries for the apple. I adore blueberries, especially when they are in something cooked or baked.
   
   
3. (now) Udi's GF granola.
   
   
4. (now) Pancakes made with GF Bisquick, topped with butter and real maple syrup. Peppered bacon on the side. This has become a Sunday tradition in the past month or so.
   
   
5. (now) If we go out for breakfast, an omelet with everything -- sauteed vegies, cheese, diced ham. Or corned beef hash topped with an egg, over easy.
   
   
6. (recent past) I used to buy a banana on the way to the office every morning. That kept me going until lunchtime.
   
   
7. (before gf) Toasted bagel with cream cheese. Probably topped with cinnamon sugar.
   
   
8. (before gf) Toasted English muffin with lemon curd.
   
   
9. (before gf) Largish wheat tortilla spread thinly with peanut butter, a banana sliced lengthwise in the center, then rolled up. Yum!
   
   
10. (before gf) Same as previous but spread with peanut butter and jelly.
    

Frankly, I have to force myself to eat breakfast and I don't do it every day. I do have a large 4-short latte and a glass of Simply Juice oj every morning, though. And now, please excuse me. I just remembered Smokey bought me some fresh blueberries. I need to make some oatmeal STAT!

 

 

Sunday random.

1. Voice :: activated.
2. Counter :: sales.
3. Marked :: man.
4. Loving :: cuddle.
5. Coat :: fur.
6. Pounce :: cat.
7. Dehydrate :: tomatoes.
8. Desire :: in the elms.
9. Concern :: related.
10. Broth :: chicken.

* * * * *

Now for the truly random...

• I cleaned up one of my email inboxes yesterday. It had over 600 messages; now it has 3. The rest all got filed appropriately or deleted. I feel very good about this.
• One of these days I need to do the same thing with my Gmail inbox, which has 341 messages. At least none of those are unread.
• It was 6 above on Friday. Today the snow was almost melting. I was too warm in my wool sweater.
• High on Wednesday is predicted to be several degrees below zero.
• On a somewhat related note, I am loving this winter. Lots of snow = a gorgeous sight, and ultra cold weather just means piling on the hand-knits. 
• I was discussing this winter with a colleague on a committee last week. We agreed that this is like winters used to be back in the Good Ol' Days.
• Yes, I occasionally find myself being one of those who refer to times past.
• But I still like a real winter. None of this wimpy stuff with not enough snow to keep the septic drain field from freezing, not enough cold weather to be able to wear wool.
• ...and it was uphill both ways.

* * * * *

From Neil Gaiman's blog:

My not being currently on Twitter meant that you did not have to endure any grumbles from me about Federal Express leaving packages at houses they were not addressed to, or, alternately, handing over packages to the US Mail service, who then stoutly maintain that the house I'm in does not actually exist and returned said packages to the sender.

I can sympathize. We ordered a new color laser printer/scanner/fax from Amazon on December 27. FedEx delivered it about January 2 or 3, but left the 70-pound box by the mailbox. Which is ~300 yards away from the house, up the hill and through the woods. I guess I can understand why the delivery person did not want to venture down our semi-plowed driveway, but anyway. Smokey found it a day or two later. This was all during one of our extended periods of below-zero weather. Guess what? The toner cartridges -- all four of them -- were damaged by the cold, so the printer prints really, really badly. 

I contacted Amazon and they will exchange it, but new ones are on back order, yada yada, so the whole process is going to drag on. I predict that at the end of that process, either 1, that item will no longer be avaiilable, or b, the price will have doubled to what it was from any other vendor on the planet.

The alternative is to keep the machine and order new toner cartridges. The three color ones are >$100 each, the black is merely $70. New toner cartridges would cost more the the entire machine.*

::grumble::

Speaking of FedEx, they also decided to leave another package from Amazon at the local post office, who said they sent me a notice -- which I never got.

::grumble x2::

* * * * *

Discussion of all the viewpoints is nice, but when an organization is supposed to stand for something, eventually we have to stop airing our individual viewpoints and decide where we take our stand.

And that is all I have to say about that.

* * * * *

Tomorrow I plan to blog about knitting. Remember knitting? It is a wonderful hobby that we all enjoy, and I have been doing a lot of it. Smallish projects, but still knitting and still enjoyable.

* * * * *

And now, because what good is a blog post without a photo, here is what I was doing at 6:30 tonight.

Percy's and my handknit sweaters were getting acquainted.

 

 

* Writing this made me realize I should recontact Amazon and see if I can get replacement toner cartridges instead of trying to exchange the entire thing. It also made me realize that if I had bought the machine locally (not even possible, and even if it were I would have paid ~4X what I did), I would be dealing with someone I know instead of someone in Cambodia or the Maldives or Tierra del Fuego or wherever Amazon's customer service center is located. Oh, well, first world problem, right?

If this is Saturday, it's time for links.

photo credit: photo.anger via photopin cc

Knitting jackpot.

A couple good ones from Erika.

Don't let your mind screw you over.

Birdie with a yellow bill / Hopped upon my windowsill / Cocked his shining eye and said / ...MY HEAD IS COLD!

H1N1 depicted in knitting.

Knitting poetry song.

"Finally, I went upstairs and set the laundry sink to a slow drip, an old pipe-saving trick anyone who ever grew up in subzero substandard housing will recognize."

So true.

Although I usually hate this saying, somehow it seems appropriate here.

Bill Murray is the most interesting man in the world.

"I don't read" is a relationship death knell, akin to "I loathe my mother" or "I enjoy upsetting kittens."

Gardens, knitting, and the Wall Street Journal.

If you are an avid reader like me, you always have about a dozen books lined up on the TBR pile. If not, here are some ideas for your next read.

"After reading 500 messages from men who apparently had just slapped their semi-erect penis on their keyboard a few times and pressed 'send,' my already flimsy grasp on reality was loosening."

Thinking of reading Sarah Palin's book? No need, you can read all you need to know about it here.

Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

Many links from Chris.

 

Error message?

photo credit: stallio via photopin cc

Is anyone beside Jocelyn having trouble commenting? She gets an error message when she tries.

If you would, try to comment on this post and tell me what OS, browser, and version you are using. If you find you cannot comment, email me with as many details as possible -- your OS, browser, version, exactly what any error message says, anything else that may be relevant -- so I can report the problem to Typepad. My email is kmkienholz at gee mail dot cahm.

Service Getting it right is my business...

Publicity!

That's Younger Son in the the background.

Right there!

Photos cheerfully lifted from a website, which I am not going to identify, devoted to the industry his new company serves.

Ten on Tuesday, the grown-up edition.

I want to go on recond here: there is a very fine line between "things that make me feel grown up" and "things that make me feel old".

 

Ten Some Things That Make Me Feel Grown Up.

1. Ordering a salad topped with some kind of grilled protein, still warm
   
   
2. Eating really dark chocolate.
   
   
3. Ordering a beer or glass of wine with dinner.
   
   
4. Eating spicy food. And wondering if it couldn't use just a little more heat.
   
   
5. Drinking coffee every morning, especially drinking French roast.**
   
   
6. Buying furniture in an actual furniture store, not at Goodwill. Related: putting books on an actual bookshelf, not one made of bricks and boards.
   
   
7. Going on vacation after having worked long and hard at a job for months, not just weeks.
   
   
8. Clicking on the Yes, I am over 18 button on certain websites*.
   
   
9. Referring to Smokey as "my husband". It took years to get used to that.
   
   
10. Watching my language around the kids. I don't really have to do that so much anymore :-)
    
    
11. Signing up for Medicare. Well, not quite yet, but later this year.
    
    
12. ...and then there was the time a store manager told the pre-teens who were fooling around his store, Watch out for the old people! and he was referring to me. Grrr...

 

* No, not THAT kind of website.

** Did you notice that the first five items all had to do with food? I shudder to think what that means about me.

Reading on a Sunday.

1. Funk :: -delic.
2. Marketing :: survey.
3. Standards :: norms.
4. Best friend :: Pritch.
5. Search :: and find.
6. Pizza :: oven.
7. Jeans :: tight.
8. Singapore :: tropical.
9. Executive :: decision.
10. Find :: and go seek. Yeah, I know that's dumb, but it's what my mind came up with.

* * * * *

I am not currently reading the two books I want to talk about today. I finished one on Thursday night and the other Saturday afternoon. But they both stuck with me, so I want to talk about them briefly. I have been having rather a dull run with books lately, so it was nice to read two back-to-back that grabbed me.

This one, The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, is probably going to get some mixed reviews, and I can see the flaws in it, but I still found it fascinating. It is a bildungsroman, but unlike most coming-of-age novels, this one follows the characters until they have college-age children of their own. If you read the reviews on Amazon, you can get an idea of the plot and the themes. The one that struck me was the jealousy, the feeling of never having as good a life as your friend(s), and wishing you were in their family. I remember that as a child, although now of course I know that no family is as wonderful as I imagined others to be when I was 10. The author examines the some of the characters' feelings in depth, which rang true to me.

The other book, the one I finished yesterday, is The Dinner by Herman Koch. Once again, the Amazon reviews can tell you a lot about the novel. I found it fascinating -- started it at 9:30 Friday night and forced myself to put it down at 12:30 because I needed to go to sleep, however unwilling I was not to keep reading. It is dark, satirical, disturbing, a bit mysterious as snippets of information about the characters are slowly revealed. Set in the Netherlands and originally written in Dutch, it was translated to English in 2012.

As always, I have no idea where I got the recommendation to read these -- I request books from the library whenever someone mentions them favorably -- but if it was one of you, thanks! 

I almost forgot to do Saturday linksies.

photo credit: Kevin Krebs via photopin cc

Lightning deaths down in 2013.

Sophie gets her dragon.

Dr. Seuss tells it like it is.

Lots of links from Chris.

 

 

Recent outings.

Last Friday Elder Son and I went to the Maya exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St Paul. When he was in Chiapas as a volunteer teacher* he lived in an area populated by Maya, so he was eager to see the exhibit. 

"This is where I was, Mom."

 

   
The stelae in the exhibit were casts of the originals. The Maya kings
loved to raise stelae with pictographs and stuff.

 

Younger Son's comment when I showed him this photo: "Really? The Maya had projectors?"

 

 

Elder Son said he often saw women dressed in similar garments.

 

Yarn! Must photograph the yarn!

 
This hand-brocaded fabric was lovely, but my photos suck. No flash photography allowed. 

 

A few things I learned about the Maya:

• They had a base-20 numbering system. Andrew pointed out that they didn't wear shoes, so base-20 instead of base-10 makes sense.
• The civilization comprised isolated city-states. There were no navigable rivers and settlements were separated by steep mountains, so each was isolated.
• The carved stelae commemorate battles and various kings' conquests of other city-states, but no written record remains of day-to-day life.
• The paucity of written records is due to the first Christian missionary to minister to the Maya. He burned all but four of their books because, clearly, they were the devil's work.
• The Maya civilization appears to have crumbled because of severe drought and overpopulation, exacerbated by their deforestation of the hillsides to grow corn to feed that population.
• They could only store one season's worth of corn because of the damp climate during half the year, hence, loss of one year's crop was devastating. Continued losses = time to leave their great cities and go somewhere else where there was rain.
  
• Learning the history of the Maya is important to the indigenous people of the region because until now, they had no history. History, as taught in the schools, started with the Spanish conquest of Central and South America. Before that, there was nothing of importance.
• As interesting as the history was, the part of the exhibit that attracted my attention was the textile section.

We ate dinner at Cossetta's in St Paul, then I went to knit with my buddies at Starbuck's on Grand while ES went to find a bookstore.

The youngest member of the knitting group.

* * * * *

This week's adventure occurred on Wednesday, when Smokey and I drove into Minneapolis to attend the grand opening open house at Younger Son's new employer.

There was yummy food and an open bar and did I mention the cherry cheesecake? 

 

This is one of their server racks. I think. Okay, I have no idea what this is.

 

This may look like an ordinary tile floor, but It Is Special. It is an anti-static floor -- who knew?
-- and the chair has special metal wheels to prevent static buildup and has a couple copper grounding straps besides. Apparently, static is a bigger no-no around electronics than I thought.

 

 

 

* * * * *

But we are not done yet. We left the open house to go to a concert at the Cedar Cultural Center.

The venue was only a couple doors down the street -- literally, two doors away -- from  the storefront/apartment building that blew up on New Year's Day.

All that remained was a pile of rubble and a lot of ice.

 

The concert was delightful. We heard Zoe Keating, who has been one of my favorite artists for several years since I first heard her music on Radio Lab. I encourage you to click on the player at the link and listen to her latest album.

Once again, no flash photography, so sucky photo.

 

* Or, as he puts it, hea was a Volunteer Teacher In The Zapatista Army Of Liberation.

A cold weather tip from Wisconsin.

From today's email.

Enchiladas.

 

Remember the cookbook I got for Christmas? Here is the essential enchilada recipe from it that I have been making for nearly 40 years. It is probably Elder Son's favorite thing that I make, second only perhaps to pumpkin pie.

 

 

It was eye-opening for me to read the original recipe because I have modified it significantly over the years. Here is my current version (the stuff in parentheses is optional). Remember, this recipe is versatile. Feel free to modify it as you choose.

 

My Enchiladas

Sauce:
¼ c oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ c flour
1 - 10-oz can beef consommé OR 1 cup beef stock
1 - 15-oz can tomato sauce OR 1 - 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
1 - 10 oz can Old El Paso mild green enchilada sauce
2 T red wine OR ¼ - ½ c Jack Daniels
1 t ground cumin
¼ t liquid smoke
(¼ t cayenne pepper OR ½ t ground chipotle pepper)

Filling:
1 - 16-oz can Old El Paso refried beans
1 - 4-oz can Old El Paso green chilies, chopped
(Optional: finely chopped or grated onion, green pepper, carrot, zucchini, any other vegetable; lightly sautéed, just enough to wilt)
~8 - 8-inch flour tortillas
1 lb Cojack (half Colby, half Monterey jack) cheese, grated

Heat oil in 3-qt heavy-bottomed saucepan. Saute chopped onion until not quite soft; add garlic and continue to cook until onion is soft. Add flour and stir to make a roux; continue cooking for ~1 minute until fragance is no longer of raw flour. (If you plan to freeze the sauce, do NOT make a roux. Follow the instructions in the original recipe to whisk the flour into the cool stock, then whisk into simmering sauce. Roux-thickened sauces tend to separate if frozen.)

Add remaining sauce ingredients.  Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat while you (have a beer and) assemble the rest of the enchiladas, about 10 - 20 minutes. Stir frequently, being sure to scrape any flour off the bottom of the pan -- it tends to stick a bit.

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray.

Lay out the tortillas on the counter. On each one, spread ~2 T refried beans in a line down the center. (Use the entire can unless you like having 2 T of leftover refried beans in your fridge.) Spread the chopped green chilies over the beans; if you really, really like green chilies, use 2 cans. (Spread the sauted vegetable over the beans and chilies.) Top with a small handful of grated cheese.

Spread a couple ladles-ful of sauce onto the bottom of the greased pan. Roll up the filled tortillas and arrange tightly in pan. (They should fill the pan. If not, make more next time.) Pour remaining sauce over all, being careful to cover all the tortilla edges. Top with remaining cheese.

Bake in preheated oven ~20 minutes, until sauce is bubbly and cheese is slightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

 

   

I use Old El Paso brand mainly because it is what I have always used. You can use whatever brand pleases you. 

This post is dedicated to Julie, who was intrigued by the thought of an enchildad recipe that included Jack Daniels.

Ten on Tuesday, greatest hits of 2013 edition.

I totally suck at following rules. I tend to look at rules as mere suggestions, things that one could follow but which are not at all imperative. Hence, my far-more-than-ten favorite moments of 2013.

Ten Many, Many Favorite Moments From 2013

• Yarnover! where I learned to knit top-down set-in sleeves.
  
  
• A week after hip replacement: getting up from the bed, getting halfway to the bathroom, realizing I had just forgotten the walker, and continuing to walk. Mein Fuhrer, I can walk!
  
  
• When Smokey, Younger Son, and Scotty the Teenage Helper removed my 37-yo washer and dryer and installed the new ones.
  
  
• Catching Misha The Skittish when she escaped from the car at a friend's house.
  
  
• When Smokey and Younger Son went out to rent a carpet steamer and returned home (wearing Cheshire Cat grins, both of them) with a 15-yo-but-new-to-me Volvo station wagon with AWD, heated seats, and every bell and whistle known to the Swedish car maker in 1998.
  
  
• When Younger Son got his new job.
  
  
• When I blogged about the cabled hat for Elder Son's friend, Ali, and Erika offered me her copy of the pattern.
  
  
• When Smokey and Younger Son cleared out a garage stall and I got to park my car indoors (after 10+ years of outdoor parking).
  
  
• Having Kiera The Teenage Helper plant daffodil bulbs in my little dooryard garden. Flowers in the spring, tra la!
  
  
• Watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. Once again, many moments, but overall a fascinating viewing experience. 
  
  
• Finishing my TappanZee sweater.
  
  
• Knitting the Red Quadrant. This was many, many moments, but they are all favorites.
  
  
• Discovering Rachel's recipe for chicken soup on Twitter. My latest variation on it: adding lentils in the last hour = substantial soup that is -- ta da! -- gluten free.
  
  
• Coming up with the design for the latest Red Scarf. A stash-buster and, to me, a great design.
  
  
• Having Younger Son and Ser Percival The Energetic come every weekend in the second half of the year.
  
  
• When Younger Son confided he was getting me an iPhone for Christmas.
  
  
• When Elder Son called to say he had gotten a residency interview at his #1 pick, a hospital and clinic in Duluth. If he ends up there he will be <100 miles from home, closer than he has been since 2003.
  
  
• Sitting at the dinner table last Sunday night with Smokey and both boy--, er, young men and thinking, This is fabulous! We are all having such a good time with each other. This particular kind of good time can only happen with those we have spent 20+ years with.
  
  
• Trying out the fabulous new Mexican restaurant in a not-too-distant village.
  
  
• When Younger Son brought me a humungous external hard drive and did the migration for me.
  
  
• Visiting my BFF Kathy in Park Rapids.
  
  
• Perhaps most favorite of all: retirement!