Week 33 - Preserving the Harvest

After the blazing heat wave we’ve been in, it’s hard not to mention the break in the weather. With not so much as a drop of rain, a front came through on Saturday afternoon and the heat and humidity were gone. Yay! I opened the windows and got what felt like my first breath of fresh air in weeks. I didn’t sleep very well because of all the outside noise I was used to but a pair of ear plugs solved that problem for the next night. I can only hope the heat is over for good. I’m looking forward to fall – turtlenecks, cool air and pumpkins. Bring it on!

Otherwise it was a pretty normal week. I skipped Wednesday knitting in favor of sorting a huge amount of donated yarn at Anne’s. She’s recovering from surgery and I had some food for her so was planning a visit anyway. Sorting all the yarn was just an added bonus. There were 4 leaf bags and 3 big boxes, all destined for charity mittens. I left with a bag of feltable tapestry yarn and 7 skeins of some French yarn from the 50’s that’s so old it’s not on Ravelry. I’m not sure what I’ll do with that but the tapestry yarn will probably end up in felted bowls, which seem to be my current project of choice.

I decided to take Friday off just because I could. I’ve been looking for a long weekend so when Layton cancelled lunch, I grabbed this one. The intent was to do all my chores on Friday so I could head outside to do yard work as soon as the weather broke. I also bought some orange paint in hopes that I could start painting stray bits of furniture orange. Well, you know how that worked out.

Friday I did clean up the kitchen but, as usual, as soon as it was clean, I wanted to cook. I had some cukes my neighbor had given me so I started chopping and made sweet relish – something I had only done once before in the late 80’s. The good news is it tastes great and no high fructose corn syrup. It didn’t make as much as I’d hoped but hopefully will get me through the winter, when I eat less hamburgers and dogs than in the summer. As soon as I had the relish ingredients soaking, I started squeezing the grapes Lorri had given me for concord grape jam. The jam is delicious! So incredibly grapey - yum. By the time I was done with my canning, it was 8:30 so I was done for the day and went to bed early and read.

I had thought I’d have all day Saturday outside but the front didn’t come through until late in the day so I ran errands in the morning and then spent most of the afternoon reading The Passage and doing a few chores. On Sunday, I headed straight outside, not even stopping to read the paper. I used Andrea’s cordless hedge trimmer to trim the yew out front (that was long overdue) and then did some major pruning of the crab apple and cut the suckers. I stopped for lunch and then was back outside to cut out the out of control rose bush in the parking strip. By the time I was done with that, I was done. It was getting warm (not hot!) so I showered and sat down to finish The Passage, which was a fabulous book. I do love a post-apocalyptic story. Once my arms were no longer rubber, I finished my chores and put a load of wool into the washer to felt. When it was done, I delivered Donna's booties to her house, went to Lorri's to water (she's away so I'm watering her garden and containers ) and went home, calling it a nice week.

Here’s a recipe for something I made up last week that was quick and yummy. I was just using up leftovers but the result was so good, I’d totally make it again. I hope you like it. I call it…..

Southwest Casserole
2 cups pulled pork (cooked chicken would work too)
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can pork and beans (~15 oz)
1 cup frozen corn
shredded cheese
Jiffy corn muffin mix, prepared as directed

Mix the meat, tomatoes, beans and corn and put in a shallow baking pan. Layer on 1/2 inch of shredded cheese and top with the corn muffin mix. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (until cornbread is golden brown). Flip it upside down and you end up with a cornbread crust with all kinds of goodness on top. It's relatively healthy too. Enjoy!

Week 32 - Into The Passage

It was another busy week at work. Fiscal year end closed on Tuesday night but then it was time to do everything I’d put off during closing meetings and a special project for the vice chancellor that kept us all hopping. By the end of the day Friday, I was toast and so actually spent the end of the day stuffing envelopes just to kill the time with brainlessness.

At home, I was obsessed with my latest socks. I had started them last Saturday before my 3 hour stint at the fair and was really enjoying them. My MO for the week was to knit every possible minute – as soon as I got home every night, after breakfast in the morning, anytime I could. By the end of the week, I had almost finished the first sock, which was the fastest I’d ever knitted one, but my house was a wreck. Good thing I had nothing planned for the weekend.

Someone asked me in the elevator what I was doing for the weekend and I got a strange look for being so excited about having a plan free weekend. I guess I’m getting old but life has been so busy lately that having 2 solid days with no obligations sounded like heaven. It was also going to be blazing hot and humid so having a weekend inside sounded doubly good. I did a bit of shopping on the way home Friday and was happy to be going home.

I ran errands in town on Saturday morning, grilled a burger for lunch and then started on my to do list, which was huge. I interspersed my chores with knitting all day and had lots done when I headed to bed with a new book I’d picked up at the library that morning – The Passage by Justin Cronin, another post apocalyptic book (my fave genre.) Well, that was it for the knitting. I didn’t read much before I fell asleep but it was enough to get me hooked.

I didn’t knit a stitch on Sunday! I didn’t watch TV either. I did do most of my chores and a ton of cooking but all of that was interspersed with hours of reading. Read a bit, do some laundry, read some more, make some deviled eggs – you get the picture. I had hoped to load up all my old TV’s, printers and computers into the car for the free electronics recycling drop off at UNL Monday morning but it was so hot out (as hot as I’ve ever felt) that I skipped that and concentrated on cooking. By the end of the day, the fridge was full of healthy food, including stuff to bring to Monica’s cook out on Tuesday, my chores were done and I’d read 1/3 of a great book while staying cool. Call me old but that counts as a great weekend in my book. Now to make it through the rest of this heat wave – just 5 more days if the weather dude is right. Here’s hoping!

Week 31 - County Fair Time

Between fiscal year end at work and the county fair, it was a busy week.

I spent Monday night knitting at the library prepping my entries for the fair. I’d decided on six scrapbooking items (2 whole books, 3 2 page spreads and 1 single page) plus 6 knitting projects. This would be the first time this decade that I’d entered anything. Andrea was dropping my entries off because on Tuesday I was working with Lorri from 5:00-8:00 checking in 4H entries. Wednesday was our semi-annual water aerobics cookout at Anne’s, which was a lot of fun and emptied a big chunk of my freezer because I took all the hamburgers and hotdogs I’d bought for my ill fated 4th of July cookout.

Wednesday was judging day at the fair so I drove like a bat out of hell to get back to Wahoo before 9:00 so I could see how my stuff had done. I got the open class building at 8:58, just in time for a quick run through. I had won 10 blue ribbons, 2 reds (1 of those was on the most elaborate project I knitted!) and 1 best of lot on a 2 page spread of strawberry picking with Carolyn, Sharyn, Maruta and Aaron. Pretty cool.

The cookout was my last evening commitment for the week, which was a good thing because by Thursday the closing meetings were coming hot and heavy. I was updating numbers and prepping Mary’s handouts as fast as I could. I went to the pool on Thursday and then stopped at the market. I wasn’t as tired as I’d thought I’d be so figured I’d get that out of the way. Once I got home, I started a pair of baby booties for Katie’s (Charlie’s niece) shower on Sunday. I already had a crocheted afghan for the baby but felt like I needed something else.

Friday flew by and was punctuated by a nice lunch with Layton and Nora at Green Gateau, chosen specifically so I could bring back a piece of chocolate cake for Mary. Nora and I split one too so it was all good. I had a few more errands to run on Friday but couldn’t cope and so just headed straight home to another night of knitting. I then spent most of Saturday knitting, both at home and at the fair where I was manning the library table in the commericial building from 4:00-7:00. By the time I got home, it was almost 8:00 and the day was shot. I’d finished the booties and they were adorable and I’d started a new pair of socks – always fun.

Since I’d done nothing productive on Saturday, I got up Sunday and slammed through my chores. The shower was at 3:00 in Elkhorn but I had arranged to meet friends in Omaha at 11:30 for lunch and shopping. We went to Costco, which I’d never been to, and I found a few bargains but mostly they wow you with the huge sizes when in fact prices are cheaper if you shop the sales at your local market. After we split up, I did a few more errands and then headed to the shower. There were a lot of people there and Katie scored lots of nice stuff. I’d say my booties were the cutest, of course. After the shower, I grilled hot dogs for supper and then headed out in the blazing heat and humidity to mow. Despite spending most of my weekend sitting on my butt knitting, I still managed to get enough done so I’m not behind starting the new week. Life is good!

Week 30 - Closer to Perfect

What a nice week! I finally feel like I’m getting back on track. I was in a particularly boring meeting this week when someone stated a goal of getting “closer to perfect.” How perfect is that? Isn’t that something to strive for? I think so.

Nora was out all week and left me a stack of things to finish up for her. Between that, my normal work and starting prep for next week, which is fiscal year end closing meeting week and the busiest week of my work year, the days flew by. It was blazing hot again so I spent my lunches inside madly reading My Antonia, hoping I’d finish before book club on Thursday. It took a final cram session Wednesday night after knitting but I got it done and loved it. I guess it’s time I read more of Willa Cather’s work.

I did a big food shopping on Friday night and headed home for a productive weekend. In addition to my usual chores, I wanted to do a ton of cooking and it was my last chance to finish projects to enter in the fair. I got up and got busy on Saturday so had gotten most of my chores done before I sat down to finish my purple socks, which I started in January and have been “my fair socks” since I saw how perfect the first sock was. Andrea was coming over for a felting party on Sunday morning so I also wanted to finish the felted bowl I’d started with the yarn I bought last weekend. I stayed up until midnight to get them all done.

I threw together a pan of lasagna and some brownies before Andrea arrived at 11:00. She brought a big bag to felt and I added my flowers and the bowl. I’m sure we looked odd standing over the machine, watching it agitate but it was fun to see how everything came out. We blocked all the felted stuff then had a nice lunch before Andrea left to get all her stuff done. I gave her most of the lasagna and brownies to share with Anne Marie, figuring I’d make the manicotti I’d cooked the pasta for. While I didn’t do anymore cooking, I did manage to do a few things done – blocked more knitting for the fair and laundry – but spent most of the rest of the day knitting. There are worst ways to spend a Sunday afternoon. Now to decide what to knit next. So many options!

Week 29 - What’s My Normal?

What’s My Normal?

Another hot summer week dawned and I was hoping for a normal week of water aerobics, knitting and getting stuff done. Other than Pie bringing a juvenile starling into the house, which required moving the wall unit to find it, all was looking good until Wednesday.

I was happily knitting with the water aerobics gang at Village Inn when the sky started getting dark. The windows we were facing were looking south, which meant I didn’t leave as early as I would have if I’d been looking north, where the sky was black and packed with clouds. I was just north of i-80 when the skies opened up, making for an interesting ride home. I drove like the wind through pounding rain, just happy that I had no hail to contend with. When I got to Wahoo, I had to dodge branches in the streets to get home where I found the electricity off. I didn’t realize that until I got out of the car thinking my garage door opener’s battery was dead, getting soaked in the process. So I got out the candles and waited ~20 minutes for the electricity to come back on. When it did, I looked down the stairs to see water everywhere!

We’d gotten 3.5 inches in an hour, which was more than my basement could handle. So I got out my squeegee and got busy in the laundry room and at the bottom of the stairs. With the magic of the dehumidifier and evaporation (plus I suspect some of it seeped out the way it came in), it was much better the next morning but I knew I still had a lot more to do.

This isn’t the first water I’ve had in the basement so most everything was in totes and baskets so shouldn’t be wet. But all it takes is an apron tie to be touching the floor to wick the water into a basket of linens (really, this is the fall I get back to selling on ebay!) plus every tote and basket would trap water underneath it. I had hoped to take Friday off to start slogging through everything but it was Nora’s last day before a week off so that didn’t work. I had to content myself with doing what I could until the weekend. Nancy stopped by on Friday night and it was good to catch up before her big trip to Japan.

I gathered wet linens, mopped and moved the dehumidifier every morning and night until Saturday morning, when I finally had time to devote to it. I spent all morning at it and got both the craft and ebay rooms sorted out. I left for a yarn run to Omaha with Andrea that afternoon feeling good about my progress. We were headed to Personal Threads to pick up some variegated orange yarn for some felted boxes I’ll be making to coralle some stuff on my shelves. We also hit Penzey’s, of course, and the supermarket. We got home at 5:30 and I promptly casted on a felted bowl with the other yarn I bought – only 1 skein so it could have been worse.
I finished the basement clean up on Sunday, organizing my ridiculous stash of yarn in the process, and spent most of the rest of the day untangling and winding a basket of yarn while talking on the phone and doing load after load of laundry. I finished the day using all the produce I’d bought last Monday after knitting – red sauce for lasagna and turkey dinner casserole used the mushrooms and I prepped cukes for potato salad. No money for the RNC this week but it was close.

This week has definitely made me wonder what “normal” is? Even with no plans on my agenda, it seems like every week there’s something going on that keeps me from achieving “normal.” Is it this summer? Is it my life in general? I’m beginning to wonder. But there’s nothing I can do but hope for normal and deal with whatever life brings me. And no matter what I’m faced with, life is still good! There are more storms forecast for this afternoon so I’ll just hope for a dry basement.

Week 28 - Operation: Stash Busting

In the knitting world, stash buster projects are ones that use up yarn you already have – your stash. This week I started knitting a neck warmer to combat the chill in my new office with yarn from my stash, which I got free in England from one of the designers who taught a workshop. Since I’ve recently bought enough yarn for years worth of knitting, my plan is to continue to knit with yarn I already own. But the stash busting isn’t stopping there.

Considering that it’s just me, the amount of food I have in my house is ridiculous! I have 2 freezers full of food and cabinets that are bursting. I buy produce as if I were feeding a family of 5 and end up composting a lot of it. Enough! (I know, that’s last year’s word but it still works) I am now expanding stash busting beyond my crafting. It’s time to stash bust with food.

In preparation for cooking food I already have, I defrosted the basement freezer and inventoried both. I now have a detailed list of the food I have (WAY too much!) and plan to eat from my freezer for the foreseeable future. With a bit of creativity, I’ll be eating free for a long time.

In an effort to curtail the over purchase of fresh food, I’ve come up with an ingenious plan to stop this. I’ve made a deal with myself. If I buy produce and do not use it within a week, I have to take the amount of money I spent for said produce and donate it to something that goes against everything I believe in – the RNC. Yes, you read that right – the Republican National Committee. Not only would they get the money but I’d have to give it anonymously so they wouldn’t get me on their mailing lists, which would just be too much to bear! This makes it a double whammy – supporting the RNC and not getting a tax deduction. Ingenious, n’est-ce pas?

Other than my stash busting work on the weekend, it was a pretty normal week. Knitting Monday and Wednesday and the pool Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was fun though. Anne was adopting a campus kitten that Husker Cats had trapped at the museum. I was going to meet her at her house to go with her to pick up Lucy but Anne called just before 5:00 to say her bike had broken down and she was at the zoo. So I headed there, threw her bike in the back of the Fit (everything fits in my Fit!) and we went to get the kitten. She is gorgeous! I took some pics of Anne and Lucy and headed home to start my weekend. What a nice start to a productive weekend.

Now another hot summer week is here. But I’m headed into it with the laundry caught up, the lawn mowed, the refrigerator cleaned out and a plan for using stuff up. Life is good!

Week 27 - Jumped the Gun

It was a typical week at the start but would end with my 3rd annual 4th of July cookout so I was busy making lists – chores to do, food to buy, people who were coming – the usual. I was also in the final throes of returns from my painting project so was trying to fit in final stops for that. By mid week, the lists were huge.

That’s when I took a look at my calendar, saw that no one on the reporting team was taking Friday off and started thinking about a four day weekend. I had burned 2 weeks of vacation on my England trip and so had been a vacation time miser all year. When I ran a report to see what I had used, it was only a ½ day to leave for Wichita and 1 day to help Helen out after her surgery. No wonder I was feeling toasted! Then and there, I decided to take Friday off and take some of the pressure off my cook out prep.

Despite having no idea how many people were coming (I’d given people until Friday to let me know), I shopped on the way home on Thursday, hitting the sales at 2 supermarkets and finally doing my Menard’s returns. I was headed home to 2.5 days of cookout prep and a day afterwards to recoup. Now if the weather would just hold! They were predicting rain for the 4th and 5th.

I was outside by 9:30 on Friday, to tackle the yard chores. I cleared up the driveway and the yard (I still had empty pots and yard tools scattered around and there were lots of weedy spots) and then started pruning my cherry tree. Before I knew it, I was cutting down all the weed trees in the vegetable garden, which was LONG overdue (one mulberry actually had berries!) When I was done with that, I mowed the lawn, after which I was dripping with sweat and exhausted. I went inside, took a shower and despite having enough hamburgers in the freezer for an army, went to Burger King to pick up a late lunch. My body was a noodle and I sat in my chair knitting and watching True Blood for the rest of the day. I never did get anything else done but went to bed feeling good about my progress.

Saturday was inside chore day. Susan was coming from Kansas for the weekend so I had to tackle the spare room, which had been a dumping ground during the whole painting ordeal and so was a mess. I also had to neatize the entire house. I got busy and had a productive day, ending with everything ready for Sunday but for a few last minute things. I was feeling good about everything and looking forward to the cookout.

I woke up Sunday to black skies and pouring rain. The weather forecast looked bleak. To quote Channel 6’s forecast, “Independence Day 2010 is a washout.” It was supposed to rain all day and then turn to thunderstorms for the evening. It was decision time. I checked 3 different online forecasts and they were all in agreement so I made the decision to cancel. My little house just could not accommodate having 25 people, half of them kids, inside. So I started making phone calls early, figuring it’d give people time to make alternate plans. I was bummed but felt like I had no alternative. In an attempt to salvage something from the day, I headed to the basement and reorganized the laundry room, which had gotten some water in it with the rain and so needed attention. That accomplished, I settled in to a rainy day of watching DVD’s and waiting for Susan to arrive.

Then the weather turned. By mid afternoon it had already stopped raining. I checked the radar and it looked like the front that was causing the problems was already passed. The drear kept up but by dinner time, the clouds were clearing and by 7:00 the sun was shining. I was feeling like SH*T! By the time it was clear the fireworks would happen and I cancelled for nothing, it was after 7:00 and too late to pull it off. I beat myself up all evening. Susan and I still grilled burgers and went down to the fireworks, where we met up with the Harts and Andrea, who were some of my uninvited guests. I was SO embarrassed! I know just how the Chancellor felt that time he cancelled school based on a snowfall forecast that never materialized. The only thing I can take away from this is that I should have waited longer before cancelling. Now I just have to decide what to do with all the food – reschedule (there’s not much to do at my house without the fireworks as a draw) or give it away. !$&#*&!#*