Week 33 - Snubbed in Doniphan

It was another busy week but the best part was that the weather was gorgeous. The heat and humidity had finally broken so I could run around doing whatever without constantly breaking into a sweat. How glorious.

I got an email from King Arthur Flour on Monday that contained this recipe. I had to bake it. When I showed the recipe to Nora and said I’d be baking it that night, we immediately decided to make it a mini food day. I’d bring the cake and the salads I’d made Sunday and she would bring sandwich for a crowd. I had been considering going to the pool, which I usually don’t do on Mondays because it makes it super rushed before knitting, but decided against it in favor of making the cake before knitting and frosting it after. All went well until the frosting. The first ganache went together perfectly but the frosting ganache broke. I was tired at that point and not sure what to do, deciding to use it as is. It tasted fine but didn’t have the smooth glossiness it was supposed to. Oh well.

Our mini food day was a big hit, with the cake in the starring role. I ran errands Tuesday after work, got all the cats inside (a rarity) and went to bed early. It was a stormy night so I was awake on and off then was awakened yet again by Tot, my youngest cat, climbing the screen from the outside. I turned on the light and let her and Pixel in, sure that they’d been inside when I went to bed. Only after surveying the house twice did I find that the screen in the spare bedroom was up so when I’d opened the windows that morning before work, that one was wide open with no screen. That explained the flies that had been in the house when I got home and the bites I discovered all over my body as the day went on. Sheesh!

Wednesday was a long day. I was on campus by 7:15 for the staff appreciation breakfast, going to the early sitting so I could be on East Campus by 9:00 for a writing for the web seminar. It was interesting but was more focused on writing to attract students so not particularly applicable for the websites I maintain. Darla and I went to lunch at a little sandwich place she had found and I had a grilled meatloaf sandwich. Yum! The afternoon flew by and then I left early to go to The Help with Dodie. We had both read the book and so were looking forward to the movie, which did not disappoint. You should absolutely go to this movie and take Kleenex. It's wonderful and makes you thankful you don't live down south. Anyway, since we were down south at the mall theatre (chosen for the best start time), I went to Michael’s afterwards and hit pay dirt for my swap, finding all kinds of little fillers for my color swap box. What a nice end to a long but good day.

Thursday was going to be my only opportunity to swim for the week but I realized that after not swimming for 2 weeks, my knees felt better than they had in a LONG time. And since this would hopefully be the last session in the bad pool and we didn’t have class next week at all, I decided to skip the pool and look forward to another week with less pain. Hopefully after next week we’ll be back in the deep pool. So I went right home to dinner and a relaxing night of knitting. I had to capture Tokyo (aka Hitler Kitty) – the mama kitty who brings her kittens to my deck – so I could take her in for spaying on Friday morning. That went well and I put her in the garage overnight.

I dropped her before work and headed in. Friday was Goodwill’s 99 cent sale and I intended to hit it big buying 100% wool sweaters to felt. I had gone through the sweaters at one shop already this week and had gathered the ones I wanted together on the rack, which I picked up at lunch. I hit 2 more Goodwills on the way home and found lots of sweaters – 15 in total, including some beautiful fair isles and bright solids. This would give me plenty of felted wool for making bags and purses. Yay!

Saturday was another busy day. I was up with my alarm so I could be on the road to Doniphan for Brenda’s (Helen’s future daughter in law) bridal shower at 10:00. When I’d said I’d go, I had thought I’d drive with Helen but she was staying after to help with wedding things so I was stuck driving 200+ miles alone. Crap! I had to go (Helen and I were the only ones from the groom’s side) so decided to make a trip of it, planning to go to Hastings, which boasts 2 yarn shops and the Kool Aid Museum, afterwards and then take the scenic route back.

I was on the road just after 8:00 and arrived exactly at 10:00. I only knew Brenda but met her mom and was chatting while waiting for it to start. When Helen arrived, she sat with me but was promptly told she had to sit at the head table. Great. The only person I knew wasn't sitting with me. Oh well, I figured I can talk to anyone so just stayed put at my empty table. Shortly, I was joined by 2 mother daughter teams - daughters in their late 20's and mothers my age. I introduced myself but they didn't tell me who they were and promptly began talking amongst themselves, making no attempt to include me. And when I tried to interject, they gave me the cold shoulder. Then the girl sitting next to me turned her back to me and rested her head on her elbow, completely blocking me. Nice! At that point I decided to just give up and focused on Brenda opening gifts, which the people at my table and quite a few other guests seemed to pay no attention to at all. Luckily, the whole thing was over in an hour and 15 minutes but what's up with the snubbing?

I was dismayed to hear it was Kool Aid Days in Hastings, complete with a parade and various activities. So I bypassed the museum and headed right for The Plum Nelly, a spinning, beading, scrapbooking, quilting, yarn shop. The woman was nice and I got a few things for my swap but nothing for me. I headed across the street to Imagiknits, which was wonderful. It was 3 small store fronts and loaded with all kinds of unusual yarn. I found something for the swap, picked out some fun hand dyed yarn for me and talked to the owner for over an hour. It was such a surprise to find such a gem in Hastings, Nebraska. As I was leaving, I saw some life sized knitted green olives and seeing how small they were, mentioned that I had been looking for straight cable needles to knit thumbs. I was so excited when she said she had something in the back. She then pulled out a set of 3" knitting needles (size 2) that were listed as mini sock knitting needles. PERFECT! She sold them to me for $8 but I would have gladly paid $18. I can't wait to start some mittens so I can try these needles out. Everyone at knitting is going to be jealous. And now I have the info for the people that make them so I can request other sizes. P.S. They sell for $14.95 online.

I grabbed some fast food and headed east from Hastings for the long ride home. I went Highway 6, which parallels I-80 but further south and winds through small towns. I headed north at York so I could hit Starbuck's and another Goodwill, where I scored 8 more wool sweaters. I was home by 5:00. It was a long day but I salvaged some fun out of it. Yay me! Then I forced myself to mow. Having not done it in 2 weeks, it was so high that I had to mow the back twice in different directions. At least that wouldn't be lurking over me on Sunday. I had plenty of other chores to fill that day.

I started the day with breakfast on the deck in my jammies (the only neighbor who could see me was away for the weekend) and finished Jane Eyre, which was engaging and the first Bronte I'd read. I did a ton of laundry and hung it on the line then started felting sweaters. I even made a prototype change purse with a sweater I'da already felted. Not perfec but it's just my first one. All afternoon I was doing my usual chore here, chore there with lots of knitting in between when Lorri called about weeding at Hansen House. Since I seem to be unable to say no, I met her just before 7:00 and did over an hour before heading home to the supper of champions - cereal. Sugar Crisp to be specific. I did manage to pick up a bit before I went to bed but still have more to do before the cleaning lady comes on Wednesday. Good thing there's no swimming this week. I'm going to need all my evenings to make up for what I didn't get done this weekend. Oh well. Life goes on.