cordeliaknits

Mmmm...

Stir-fry!  Broccoli, asparagus, snap peas, sweet baby peppers and chicken...so tasty, and colorful too!

After my blah day yesterday, I couldn't even come up with something to cook (this was Tuesday's dinner), so I just heated up a can of Trader Joe's Chicken Chili for us, doctored with onions, sour cream and cheese, and then we had strawberry shortcake for dessert, which was leftover from Tuesday's dessert.

Can you believe that Les had never had real biscuits in her strawberry shortcake??  I was shocked...and so was she, when she tasted how good it was in comparison to those individual angel food cakes you get at the store!

Last night we went to the coffee shop for a change of pace and read our books in the comfy chairs.  It was lovely--almost like we had a real living room!  The only problem was, that much caffeine that late at night made it impossible for me to fall asleep...until 4am!  Ugh.

Today, Berkeley errands, including a library run (yay!).  Yes, I can certainly remember that not too long ago, I was so crazy busy every day that I would dream about having a day to just hang out at home and be blah.  But it's never as good in reality, especially when it is accompanied by multiple rejection letters.  argh!

blahhh

I'm having a blah day today.  Not as bad as the useless day I had last week, where I couldn't manage to do anything at all, but the kind of day where I need to make myself a to do list that includes such points as

-Shower

-Get dressed

-Eat lunch

just so I remember to do them!  I've already checked a few things off, though for lunch I had a few bites of tuna salad and a squirt of canned whipped cream, so I'm not sure if that should count for a whole check mark.

Les has the car today, so I am stuck.  I was planning to run a bunch of Berkeley errands today, but now I think my productivity will mostly be in the laundry arena, perhaps with a bit of sewing while listening to audio books thrown in for variety.

But, just so you know I do knit once in a while, here's a picture of my latest FO in action.  This is the cowl I made from Aquarella, ribbed with bobbles at each end.  One skein was just enough for a small, snug cowl, which is what I needed to keep my neck warm whilst riding on the Harley.

I took this picture in front of our neighbor's Winnebago before we left for the parade on Sunday.  I am in love with the colors in this yarn, and I think someday I want a whole sweater in a similar variegated teal/blue/green colorway.  It goes so well with black!

OK, now I can check off

-Blog

from my to do list and get to the other things.  <sigh>  wish I were in Wisconsin at Family Camp right now!

Yay!

You are Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman 90% Superman 75% Spider-Man 75% Supergirl 70% Green Lantern 70% The Flash 65% Robin 55% Iron Man 50% Catwoman 45% Hulk 30% Batman 20%

You are a beautiful princess with great strength of character.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

more pride pics

Just some more random pictures from the parade yesterday.

Enjoy!

Pride!

Can you guess what I got to do in the parade this morning?

I will give you a hint.  That golden bit of fluff at the bottom of the picture has nothing to do with a new novelty yarn.

It may be hard for some of you to figure out from this first picture...

Maybe a less blurry picture will help...

(hint: still not knitting-related)

How about this third picture, does that make things clear?

Obviously, I didn't have any fun at all...

It was boring, really. 

Actually, I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep.

Ha! 

As you can see, it was SO MUCH FUN being in the Dykes on Bikes contingent in the San Francisco Pride Parade!!  It was wonderful to be in the middle of that huge, thundering throng made up of hundreds of womyn on motorcycles, and the crowd was really appreciative!

And...I have to let you in on a secret.  It's much more fun to ride on the back, as you can see from this picture of me and my serious sweetie!

Les said she was focusing on her hand hurting from holding in the clutch, and staring at the wheels in front of her, while I got to enjoy myself, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd! 

Poor baby.

And what did I wear, you ask?

Well, just my normal, everyday biker-wear, really.

All the bikers wear tutus these days!

knitting and smoke

I had a really long post for you all written...and then I lost it when the spell check froze up.  So here are the highlights, cause I don't have the energy to replicate the whole thing!

Last Saturday, Les and I went for our weekly short motorcycle trip, up to a regional park in Oakland.  It was a beautiful day, at the tail end of the awful heat wave we had last week.

I've been knitting from the stash, so I brought out this lace weight wool that I dyed myself last year with Celeste.  I couldn't find a pattern that inspired me, so I decided to do a simple garter stitch triangle and add a fancy edging at the end.

Here you can see my short-lived red hair.  I had some red hair dye in the toiletry stash, and no money to buy anything else, so I went red!  I got tired of it pretty quickly though.  I think maybe my days of drastic hair color changes might be over.  Maybe I'm just meant to be a blond!  I went back to blond a few days ago, and I feel much more like myself.

I worked on my knitting while we enjoyed sitting in the woods and looking at the beautiful view.  Now, of course, there is only smoke and haze to look at, as the fires around the Bay Area continue to burn.  The local news is full of warnings for anyone with breathing issues, old people, kids, etc. should avoid any outdoor exercise.  Ugh.  Hopefully it clears up a bit, cause this weekend is Pride, and we will be outside a lot!

I've also been doing a lot of social knitting lately, seeking out knitting groups and new neighbors to knit with.  On Tuesday night, I went to the EBLGBTSNB at Knit One One Studio and made this cowl with my one small skein of Malabrigo Aquarella.  It's got bobbles at each end and a simple 2x2 rib.  I think it will be a good thing to keep my neck warm on the bike.

I have one more knitting project that I've started, but no pics of it yet.  I've also been doing some art journaling, working on my cross stitch, and reading LOTS of books!

good good books!

Just popping in to mention the two good books I just finished.  I think Celeste and Auntie Knickers will especially like them, so get online, you two, and request them from your libraries!

This morning I finished The Sugar Queen, by Sarah Addison Allen.  It was a wonderful story that had equal measures of romance, magic and silliness, and just a bit of mystery in it.  Better than chick lit, less trashy than some of the paranormal stuff I read, and a fun, quick read!  I'm going to request her other book right away (Garden Spells)!

It took me three days to read The Sugar Queen, but only because I was simultaneously listening to a great audio book while sewing.  I finished it yesterday.  Normally, I just listen to books in the afternoon before Les gets home, but last night I made her wait for dinner until I had finished the last disc, because it was so good I couldn't bear to turn it off!

The book is called The Virgin of Small Plains, by Nancy Pickard, and it is a mystery, though not part of a series, and not a cozy.  It's about a small town in Kansas, buried secrets, lost love, and miracles...what could be better?  The audio book version was great--good reader--and it held my interest all the way through ten discs.  I'm sad it's over, because now all I have to listen to is some chick lit.  The audio book section at the library is not as extensive as it could be.  Perhaps I'll have to do some searching and requesting in that area too!

OK, back soon with a knitting update.  Now it's time to run some errands!

A few of my Favorite Things

in no particular order...

1) The Library!  I love going to the library and picking out a whole bunch of books.  Such possibilities!  I especially like to go to the new books section and look at any books with interesting titles.  I always end up bringing a bunch of new books home.  I was in Berkeley the other day, so I stopped in at the big central library and left an hour later with all the books I could carry!

Here's my stack, minus the two audio books I got, which I like to listen to while I do my counted cross stitch.

I've already finished Dyer Consequences (a knitting mystery), and I'm just about done with The Fortune Quilt (chick lit with a psychic quilter as a supporting character).

I got Tales of the City, because I recently finished Maupin's newest book, Michael Tolliver Lives, and it was so good that it made me want to read the whole series again from the beginning!

2) Cooking!  Don't get me wrong, I love it when someone cooks for me, like Gayle's many wonderful meals while we lived together, and when Les makes me breakfast in bed on Saturdays, but I also really enjoy cooking dinner every night.

Last night, I decided I needed to use up some leftover beef we had (stew beef) from when we grilled kebabs the other night.  I didn't want to buy a bunch of ingredients, but I hadn't planned a recipe for this beef when I went to the store last week...what to do?

I decided to try to use what we already had and just make something up, so I browned the beef and then simmered it with a jar of tomatillo salsa and a chopped onion.  Then, I warmed up some corn tortillas, topped with the beef and salsa mix, cheese, cilantro, and avocado.  We had some Mexican rice on the side, and voila!  It was yummy and easy and fun to make a whole meal out of stuff from the fridge!

3) My Corner!  I like to sit here in the afternoon, after I've been somewhat productive, and before I start making dinner, and cross stitch while I listen to an audio book. Last night, I also did this (with headphones) while Les was watching her favorite show--my least favorite--Judge Judy!

As you can see, we are melding our accessories...my log cabin pillow with her Harley blanket!  This is the couch in the trailer, which I am not a big fan of.  It's not deep enough or cushy enough for my liking, though Les added a thick piece of foam under the cushion for me, which was a big improvement.  We would love to replace it with a few recliners, but it's hard to find chairs that will fit through the trailer door!

4) Possibilities!  I went to a knitting night the other night and finished the shrug I was working on, so now I have nothing to knit!  This means I have to find a pattern or some inspiration ASAP, because I have another knitting night to go to tonight!

Oh, the possibilities!  Since I can't buy any new yarn, I have to choose from the small amount of stash yarn that I brought to the trailer with me.  This is mostly single skeins of Malabrigo, some different lace weights, or a bunch of single colors of O-Wool, which is a cotton-wool blend, worsted weight.

Of course, I don't have a lot of any of these yarns in the same color, so my options are stripes or small projects.  I'm searching Ravelry until I get inspired, but I only have a few hours until knitting night!

where is Deacon?

Deacon can be found for much of the day (when he is not lounging on the bed, which has become his primary domain) at one of several windows waiting and making funny chirping sounds.

This is because we have bird feeders up all around the trailer, including several clear ones that are attached to the windows.

Because the windows are tinted, the birds can't see Deacon, but he can certainly see them, and they provide endless entertainment and excitement for him.

Here are a few of our frequent guests.  They are fun to watch, even for humans, and sometimes there are four or five at a time at this feeder, especially since we started using the good birdseed!

So, for everyone who was concerned about how Deacon would adjust to life in a small trailer with two dogs, you can rest easy.  He is eating, drinking, using his litter box, and having fun talking to birds all day.

He has taken over the bedroom, and the dogs are no longer allowed in there, and Deacon seems to know it.  He sleeps with us every night, and cuddles with me in the morning after Les goes to work.  Occasionally Asha tries to intimidate him if he gets too close to the dog food bag, but he is holding his own.

We're just one big happy family!

crochet in color

You knew I wouldn't be content just crocheting plain granny squares for long, right?  Of course not.  Since I have The Happy Hooker: Stitch and Bitch Crochet, I decided to try some projects in it.

Here's my first attempt at the skull potholder, using Lily Sugar 'n' Cream cotton (on sale for just $1 a ball at Michael's this week!). 

I gather that the color showing through is fairly inevitable in this two-color crochet, but since this was my first attempt, it's probably much worse than it needs to be. 

Even though this is supposed to be a potholder, it turned into more of a dishcloth, so I'm using it at the sink, and moving on to perfect my technique!

Here is my second attempt, and this time I embroidered it so it looks like a sugar skull!  I am quite pleased with this.  Using a lighter color for the background minimizes the annoyance of the color showing through the white, and outlining the skull's features in a chain stitch makes it look more finished, I think.

The idea for the sugar skull embroidery came from a crocheter on Ravelry, spookygrrrly! Here's a link to her project pageon Ravelry (you have to be a member to see it, though).

I am doing another one of these, with a pink background, and then I'll sew them together so that it will make a nice thick potholder!