Level 3.....
I have only one sample left to spin. Boom chakalakalaka boom chakalakalaka boom chakalakalaka boom!
While I'm really excited to be able to say this, it has been a very demanding year and I'm not sure how I'm going to feel.... I think I am going to miss all that work..... (what am I talking about... I still have level 4!!!)
Level 3 has certainly been a challenge. Level 1 was work and I learned lots, that's for sure, but it wasn't really all that strenuous. Level 2 was a bit more of a challenge but still it wasn't all that difficult. But Level 3?! Oh my, I have never had to do and redo and then do it some more. I've never had to say, this sample sucks! I do have to say to all the Level 3 students who are not finished their work yet and are reading this blog.... don't do what I did and leave the tpi questions till last.... get them done early and get them over with... it will make the rest of the book a whole lot easier and believe me it will make your spinning technique a whole lot better.
I can't believe I'm saying this but I am not looking forward to tomorrow at which time I will finish my homework... no indeed, I think I am going to feel a serious sense of loss. I will finish my last sample, I will do the write up, I will do my bibliography, and then I will pack up my books and send them off to my instructor.... after that I will wait with baited breath for the fateful day when I get my marks back.... (Oh my!!! i wish that butterfly in my belly would just lie down for a snooze!)
The last few weeks have been exhausting.... not physically but mentally as I tried to jump the hoops to remember the math and formulas I learned just over a year ago. Yesterday when I sat down to figure out the Bradford count, the TEX count and the NM count (well the NM was simple enough) I thought my head would explode with trying to keep it all straight. But I did it and when I was about half way through I thought..... hmmm, I think I could get into this..... weird!
Well, I'm off to analyse a 3 ply yarn and do some more math so that tomorrow when I get up in the morning I can try to duplicate it.
All's well that ends well!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Back To School
It is 7:43 a.m. We've had breakfast and now the Daughters are putting on make-up and Teapot is having his tea (me too). In about 20 minutes we will take some pictures to remember this day. Daughter #2 is heading off to high school today and it is her first day. She's worried about two things. She has to take shop (that industrial arts.... you know where you have to learn to saw, & hammer wood, and put small engines together). She is terrified. I'll be honest I'm a little worried too. She is not the most graceful gal on the planet and tends to get hurt in freakish accidents. She's worried she will cut off a finger with some of those power tools. I'm worried that she will be so nervous that she will cut off a finger too. The other thing she is worried about is monkey locking her locker.... evidently she has done this before but when she was in the elementary school end she had lots of help. Now that she is in the high school end she is worried that she will do this and get detention for being late to class. I keep thinking I should just buy her a regular lock with a key and then we don't have to worry about it. Either way we are going to have to cope with another year of assignments and studying.
Daughter #1 is an old hand at high school this year and doesn't appear to be nervous at all. She is looking forward to seeing her group of friends. (I just wish she would stop wearing those stupid shoes... they have a great ruddy crack in the bottom... I guess I will have to sneakily throw them in the garbage...). She does not have to do shop (industrial arts) this year which was the bane of her existence last year... this year she gets to choose her electives and I think she is feeling very grown up because she can determine her own choices.... (well, with a little help from Teapot and moi!) Meanwhile she has discovered the joys of science and is quite disappointed that her favorite teacher who taught her science last year is not going to be at the school this year. She will have to be prepared to learn from a new science teacher.
Teapot is embarking on his own new adventure. When he first started teaching, he was teaching grades 7 and 8. Then we moved here, and he started teaching high school. He had a few difficult years where it seemed like he was constantly changing curriculum so when the opportunity arose to teach in the elementary end of the school, he jumped at it and for the last 11 years he has taught a combination of 3, 4 and 5. This year, they asked him if he would be interested in teaching different grades.... so he is back to teaching 6 and 7. For the last few weeks, in the evenings, he has been learning the curriculum for these new-to-him grades. It has been long hours of working, and reading and some nights he works well past midnight.
What's really weird, though, is that they are all really excited to go back to school. I think it is because the summer was not the best that we have had. Our camping vacation was too short and wet after a summer too hot to do anything. Also the Daughters have been missing out on the social aspect of school and seeing their friends every day. To be honest I'm really on the fence. I will miss sleeping in and the lazy days of summer... but I am also looking forward to long days with no distractions and getting lots of work done. The only thing that really bothers me is that both Daughters are now in high school and they seem to be growing away from me. They go off and turn their backs to me and giggle about who knows what (probably boys) but there are definitely secrets. If I wasn't so sure of them as well adjusted young ladies, I would be worried. But I'm not. Teapot and I did a good job bringing these two lovely, and smart young ladies up, so I know they will be alright.
And so it begins..... again!
Later:
Daughter #1 is an old hand at high school this year and doesn't appear to be nervous at all. She is looking forward to seeing her group of friends. (I just wish she would stop wearing those stupid shoes... they have a great ruddy crack in the bottom... I guess I will have to sneakily throw them in the garbage...). She does not have to do shop (industrial arts) this year which was the bane of her existence last year... this year she gets to choose her electives and I think she is feeling very grown up because she can determine her own choices.... (well, with a little help from Teapot and moi!) Meanwhile she has discovered the joys of science and is quite disappointed that her favorite teacher who taught her science last year is not going to be at the school this year. She will have to be prepared to learn from a new science teacher.
Teapot is embarking on his own new adventure. When he first started teaching, he was teaching grades 7 and 8. Then we moved here, and he started teaching high school. He had a few difficult years where it seemed like he was constantly changing curriculum so when the opportunity arose to teach in the elementary end of the school, he jumped at it and for the last 11 years he has taught a combination of 3, 4 and 5. This year, they asked him if he would be interested in teaching different grades.... so he is back to teaching 6 and 7. For the last few weeks, in the evenings, he has been learning the curriculum for these new-to-him grades. It has been long hours of working, and reading and some nights he works well past midnight.
What's really weird, though, is that they are all really excited to go back to school. I think it is because the summer was not the best that we have had. Our camping vacation was too short and wet after a summer too hot to do anything. Also the Daughters have been missing out on the social aspect of school and seeing their friends every day. To be honest I'm really on the fence. I will miss sleeping in and the lazy days of summer... but I am also looking forward to long days with no distractions and getting lots of work done. The only thing that really bothers me is that both Daughters are now in high school and they seem to be growing away from me. They go off and turn their backs to me and giggle about who knows what (probably boys) but there are definitely secrets. If I wasn't so sure of them as well adjusted young ladies, I would be worried. But I'm not. Teapot and I did a good job bringing these two lovely, and smart young ladies up, so I know they will be alright.
And so it begins..... again!
Later:
 | ||
| Good Lord! I'm the shortest! How did they grow up so fast? |
Monday, September 6, 2010
End Of Summer
Well, folks this is the last day of holidays before Teapot and the Daughters head back to school. The weather has definitely turned... there's lots of rain. The funny thing is that the grass is finally starting to grow and turn green.Yet, the trees are turning gold, and around my yard (which, for some reason is a little different from other areas in this valley) the leaves are actually falling off the trees. It's been a strange year for weather indeed. On our way to town the other day, I was amazed by the colour of the Fireweed. It has turned a brilliant red and gives the sides of the road beautiful depth as other bushes turn gold and melon. Many of the Pine trees have died again this year and so there are tons of brown trees in the forest as well. While most people are harvesting their gardens I am not... and I miss the harvest. I had great hopes that this would be the year that I would get the animals out of the garden and get the vegetables back in but that didn't happen and so now I have to wait till next year for the garden and shop at the grocery store for my veggies.
The electrical shed, on which should be a new roof, will have to wait. I am still hoping that some fine weekend this Autumn, Teapot will get this project done. I am not sure the roof that is there will stand up to any big dumps of snow. The cedar shakes that are on there have rotted now to the point where you can see daylight in lots of places. I worry that the Hydro lady who comes to check the meter, will report us and we will have no choice but to replace the roof in the middle of a -40 degree cold snap. So I am hoping that Teapot will find the time somewhere, somehow and get that new roof on the shed before the snow falls.
 |
| Teapot thought I looked particularly studious in this picture. Basically I couldn't see the yarn to count tpi... thus the headlight and magnifying glasses. I guess I'm getting old! |
All the old timers around here are predicting a hard and early winter. I don't know how much I can trust the old guys, especially since people don't work in the woods like they used to. There are no trappers around here and the loggers have gone the way of the Dodo bird. But if it is a hard winter then I'm not looking forward to it. We've already had a hard frost.
I thought I would include here a little rant, so if you are not into rants then you may want to stop reading.....
I hate reading blogs where the husband is referred to as DH. I realize the DH stands for dear husband but every time I see DH I think, how rude!.... because I see DH as di-k head..... does anybody else get that out there in computer land? Or is it just me? I've been thinking about starting a protest group.... The Stop Calling Your Spouse DH Society.... I mean how many of us would want our husbands calling us the old bag..... (ha! I bet you thought I was going to say the old bat!!!) I mean there is BH for better half.... or OH for the other half, TBK might work if you are looking for something a little on the funny side, TBK for the big knob,.... there's TS for the spouse... and MH for my husband... DB for dear boy or DM for dear man.... DH just is mean.... If you love him call him something nice..... : )
I think that's the end of my rant....
Hmm maybe I should come up with something better for the Daughters...... any suggestions?
Well I'm off to spend the last day of summer vacation with the family..... maybe some laundry, maybe some helping Daughter with clothes... for school.... maybe a little spinning.... we'll see.
Tomorrow is the first time I will use our new tub... everyone else has used the new tub, but I've been saving the wonderful experience for the first day of school.... can't wait!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
How Close We Come
Teapot and I took the girls to town for a little shopping, yesterday... We didn't go far and we didn't buy clothes as we had planned. That will come later in September. We just got them their paper, binders, and pens and stuff. We had a lovely afternoon driving along in the fall sunshine. When we got to town though we noticed some pretty dark cloud rolling in over the mountains so we knew that the sun would be short lived. Of course, that was no deterrent from our shopping. After the girls were happy with their purchases we decided to pop into the grocery store for a barbeque chicken and some salads, that way neither Teapot nor I would have to cook when we got home. Little did we know that it would be really late when we finally got our supper. We left town around 5:15 p.m. and the drive home would take about fifty minutes. By now those ominous clouds were pretty much right overhead and we knew that they were carrying rain. We headed out of town chatting a gabbing and generally enjoying ourselves.
The road that takes us home from that particular community skirts the rocky mountains and takes a generally northward direction. It was just as we were coming up the hill that leads out of town that it started to rain. 25 minutes later we had passed through one of the most torrential rains that I have ever, in my life, driven through. The visibility was next to nothing and it was like someone had opened a tap and we were under it.
We slowed down on the road because there was so much water on the road that driving conditions were difficult at best. Meanwhile other vehicles were passing us as though we were Grandma and Grandpa Mose. Just as we were getting back to our own community I happened to look in a ditch on my side of the road. It was quite a deep ditch and there were no guard rails. There in the ditch was a beige coloured car with very little glass left in it, with dents all over it, and a man dangling out the passenger side window. Obviously there had been an accident.
Nobody else in the traffic ahead had even seen the car, let alone pulled over to help.... we were the last vehicle in a line of about 5 or 6 vehicles and I knew that nobody else had seen the results of the accident. Telling Teapot to pull over because I had just seen a car in the ditch, didn't take me long and Teapot pulled over and turned around to go back. We weren't sure what we were going to see. Teapot jumped out and disappeared over the edge of the bank and by the time I got to the edge of the road the man who had been dangling from the passenger side window wasn't there and I couldn't see Teapot for all the brush that was in the way, but I could hear voices. I called out to see if everyone was ok and if I needed to call 911.
Teapot yelled out that there were two people but they were walking and ok. I stayed where I was because by now the Daughters were wondering what was to be done.... I let them know that their dad had things under control and that it looked like nobody was seriously hurt.
By the time Teapot and the two people climbed up out of the ditch several more cars had passed along and had stopped to see if I needed assistance.... among them was one of the local police guys who lives in our community. He walked down to them and met them coming up a much less steep way of getting out of the ditch. Apparently the fellow who was driving was driving his Auntie home from our community to the community where Teapot and I had just been shopping. The accident occurred because his vehicle hit a patch of water on the road and hydroplaned. They went over the edge of the embankment and rolled once and landed right side up in the ditch. Both were wearing seat belts and neither one was seriously hurt. The lady had multiple cuts and scrapes from broken glass and both were badly bruised but they were ok. When I had first seen the man dangling from the passenger side window he had been trying to get the insurance papers out of the glove compartment. The police took our names so that they could call us if they had any questions and then when we left the two people were being taken back to town by the police.
Teapot and I have come very close a few time to being at the scene of very bad accidents and it never ceases to stir me and make me grateful that I am alive. I know those two people in that accident yesterday are very lucky they are alive. The vehicle was completely destroyed. How they weren't killed is beyond me....
I am so glad it wasn't us.
There but for the grace of God go I.....
The road that takes us home from that particular community skirts the rocky mountains and takes a generally northward direction. It was just as we were coming up the hill that leads out of town that it started to rain. 25 minutes later we had passed through one of the most torrential rains that I have ever, in my life, driven through. The visibility was next to nothing and it was like someone had opened a tap and we were under it.
We slowed down on the road because there was so much water on the road that driving conditions were difficult at best. Meanwhile other vehicles were passing us as though we were Grandma and Grandpa Mose. Just as we were getting back to our own community I happened to look in a ditch on my side of the road. It was quite a deep ditch and there were no guard rails. There in the ditch was a beige coloured car with very little glass left in it, with dents all over it, and a man dangling out the passenger side window. Obviously there had been an accident.
Nobody else in the traffic ahead had even seen the car, let alone pulled over to help.... we were the last vehicle in a line of about 5 or 6 vehicles and I knew that nobody else had seen the results of the accident. Telling Teapot to pull over because I had just seen a car in the ditch, didn't take me long and Teapot pulled over and turned around to go back. We weren't sure what we were going to see. Teapot jumped out and disappeared over the edge of the bank and by the time I got to the edge of the road the man who had been dangling from the passenger side window wasn't there and I couldn't see Teapot for all the brush that was in the way, but I could hear voices. I called out to see if everyone was ok and if I needed to call 911.
Teapot yelled out that there were two people but they were walking and ok. I stayed where I was because by now the Daughters were wondering what was to be done.... I let them know that their dad had things under control and that it looked like nobody was seriously hurt.
By the time Teapot and the two people climbed up out of the ditch several more cars had passed along and had stopped to see if I needed assistance.... among them was one of the local police guys who lives in our community. He walked down to them and met them coming up a much less steep way of getting out of the ditch. Apparently the fellow who was driving was driving his Auntie home from our community to the community where Teapot and I had just been shopping. The accident occurred because his vehicle hit a patch of water on the road and hydroplaned. They went over the edge of the embankment and rolled once and landed right side up in the ditch. Both were wearing seat belts and neither one was seriously hurt. The lady had multiple cuts and scrapes from broken glass and both were badly bruised but they were ok. When I had first seen the man dangling from the passenger side window he had been trying to get the insurance papers out of the glove compartment. The police took our names so that they could call us if they had any questions and then when we left the two people were being taken back to town by the police.
Teapot and I have come very close a few time to being at the scene of very bad accidents and it never ceases to stir me and make me grateful that I am alive. I know those two people in that accident yesterday are very lucky they are alive. The vehicle was completely destroyed. How they weren't killed is beyond me....
I am so glad it wasn't us.
There but for the grace of God go I.....
Friday, September 3, 2010
Friday? How Did That Happen?!!
I was awoken by a phone call from Pops this morning... he wanted to let me know that there was someone looking for me and had not realized that I no longer had a land line phone line... she didn't know how to get in touch with me. What was strange was that during the conversation I let it slip that I thought today was Wednesday. There was a slight pause and then he informed me, in a rather astounded voice that today in actual fact was Friday!
I seem to have lost a few days somewhere along the line. I'm not quite sure how that happened but perhaps I had my head buried too deeply in my homework. Either way here it is Friday and there are only three days left before the beginning of school. Daughters #1 and #2 are heading off with Teapot and me for a day of shopping in a nearby town for their back to school supplies this afternoon. We are still hoping to get away for a few days but it probably won't happen until a later weekend in September.
Back to school is always an issue at this time of the year. Teapot is trying to get his classroom sorted at school and the Daughters are going through their closets in an effort to update their clothing and styles. For me, it is a time of angst. I love the lazy-get-up-whenever-you-want mornings of summer but I also love the freedom of not having kids around in the day to distract me from the things I like to do.... not to mention there's less mess to clean up. I usually plan a day of dyeing when school starts up in the fall because it is like a joyful treat to help aid me in adjusting to the new schedule. School means getting up early and having breakfast on the table when the rest of my family comes down from showers and dressing. School means long drawn out days of no conversation while Teapot is at work. School means that lunches need to be made the night before. School means a different pace for our lives. In some ways it is good. For starters I don't lose days and suddenly realize it is Friday. But in some ways I long for the days when our little family can be lazy and relaxed and just be us.
So in three days time I will watch the Daughters head out the door to school with their Dad and I will get out my dye pot but it won't be without a sigh of loss.
An aside:
It has rained so much in the last week that the grass is starting to look green again. Too bad all of those farmers waiting for their oats and canola to ripen are not going to be pleased.
I seem to have lost a few days somewhere along the line. I'm not quite sure how that happened but perhaps I had my head buried too deeply in my homework. Either way here it is Friday and there are only three days left before the beginning of school. Daughters #1 and #2 are heading off with Teapot and me for a day of shopping in a nearby town for their back to school supplies this afternoon. We are still hoping to get away for a few days but it probably won't happen until a later weekend in September.
Back to school is always an issue at this time of the year. Teapot is trying to get his classroom sorted at school and the Daughters are going through their closets in an effort to update their clothing and styles. For me, it is a time of angst. I love the lazy-get-up-whenever-you-want mornings of summer but I also love the freedom of not having kids around in the day to distract me from the things I like to do.... not to mention there's less mess to clean up. I usually plan a day of dyeing when school starts up in the fall because it is like a joyful treat to help aid me in adjusting to the new schedule. School means getting up early and having breakfast on the table when the rest of my family comes down from showers and dressing. School means long drawn out days of no conversation while Teapot is at work. School means that lunches need to be made the night before. School means a different pace for our lives. In some ways it is good. For starters I don't lose days and suddenly realize it is Friday. But in some ways I long for the days when our little family can be lazy and relaxed and just be us.
So in three days time I will watch the Daughters head out the door to school with their Dad and I will get out my dye pot but it won't be without a sigh of loss.
An aside:
It has rained so much in the last week that the grass is starting to look green again. Too bad all of those farmers waiting for their oats and canola to ripen are not going to be pleased.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A Little Swiss Please
I love cheese... well, who doesn't?! It's one of the most divine foods on the face of the planet. There's something undeniably yummy about sinking your teeth into a slice of cheese.... I think this little fellow would be in agreement.... don't you think so?!
Teapot just made breakfast (which I really appreciate since that's my time for writing here). He made me a slice of toast with melted Swiss cheese and a fried egg on top. It was delicious. (Is your mouth watering yet?)
The problem is that cheese is loaded with calories and salt and a bunch of things that make it one of the worst diet foods ever. Any diet, including Weight Watchers, will tell you that pizza (loaded with cheese), lasagna (loaded with cheese), grilled cheese sandwiches (has cheese), potatoes au gratin (really loaded with cheese), anything au gratin (loaded with cheese) is like a million calories. Even crackers and cheese is not really good diet food..... the only place that I can find cheese as an ok diet food is if you use (bleeeckk!!!) Cheese Whiz on celery.... this combination, in my opinion, should be officially banned from the face of the planet!
A few years ago I went to Barkerville, which is an historic townsite that has been preserved to function as a traditional gold mining community for tourists to visit. There is a great general store there, in which I love to browse around. They have everything from food, to Victorian style clothing, candies, toys, hunting stuff etc.... my favorite part of the store is the section where they keep the big wheels of cheese. It was there that I first tasted Asiago cheese..... oh God, it was orgasmic! Teapot and I would purchase a small amount of cheese each day (wrapped in wax paper), and as we were driving home, and while the Daughters were sucking on their candies from the candy shop, I would slice thin slices of Asiago cheese and feed them to Teapot or eat them myself on the way back to the campsite..... I'm not kidding, it was orgasmic! (And the Asiago that you get in the grocery store...yuck... doesn't even come close to the stuff you get in Barkerville. They hand pick each wheel...)
A friend introduced me to smoked Gouda... oh, it was divine.... I ended up turning this whole town on to it, when I insisted that the local grocer bring in smoked Gouda for Christmas. It is imperative that I try new cheeses.... it is also imperative that you don't eat too much blue cheese at one time... as Teapot found out one year when he went to a friend's house at Christmas and gorged on Blue cheese and red wine.... suffice it to say that he spent Christmas night in the bathroom! It is also imperative that you don't eat processed cheese.... it is like eating glue that has been formed into slices and coloured orange. (I can't see how anyone could possibly want to eat that stuff... euuuu...)!
Feta is great on salads.... even if they're not Greek salads.... add a few raisins and awesome!
Try a little Ricotta on the next pizza you make.... oh yum!
And a good block of Cheddar... to die for!
Try this on for size.... Get a slice of homemade bread. Spread butter over it. Then lightly sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese (and not that gross Kraft stuff) and then sprinkle it liberally with Greek spices. (You can make that with: sundried tomatoes finely chopped, dried onion, dehydrated green onion, basil, dried garlic, dehydrated red pepper, dehydrated celery leaves chopped finely, soy or cottonseed oil and a little bit of sugar. Spread it over a shallow pan and lightly roast in your oven... cover and store in a cool dry place.) Then put your bread in the oven (the toaster oven works best) and bake until it the bread is toasted around the corners. Oh it is sooo good... and if you let it dry out and cut it into cubes you can make your own croutons..... which is waaayyy better than the store bought cubes of dung!
But my favorite, all time, eat-fairly-often cheese, (when I can afford it), is good Swiss cheese. Oh yum, there's nothing like a good slice of Swiss to perk you up.... I wish I could grow cheese because I'd have a garden full. Holey cheese is Holy cheese. Absolutely!
I pretty much would pass over anything for a block of really good cheese (and I certainly would give up my socks!) I think the only thing that surpasses my love of cheese would be my wheel and wool.... ok, well maybe my family too. : )
So there you have it.... anyone for a little Swiss?
God! I'll never lose weight this way!
Teapot just made breakfast (which I really appreciate since that's my time for writing here). He made me a slice of toast with melted Swiss cheese and a fried egg on top. It was delicious. (Is your mouth watering yet?)
The problem is that cheese is loaded with calories and salt and a bunch of things that make it one of the worst diet foods ever. Any diet, including Weight Watchers, will tell you that pizza (loaded with cheese), lasagna (loaded with cheese), grilled cheese sandwiches (has cheese), potatoes au gratin (really loaded with cheese), anything au gratin (loaded with cheese) is like a million calories. Even crackers and cheese is not really good diet food..... the only place that I can find cheese as an ok diet food is if you use (bleeeckk!!!) Cheese Whiz on celery.... this combination, in my opinion, should be officially banned from the face of the planet!
A few years ago I went to Barkerville, which is an historic townsite that has been preserved to function as a traditional gold mining community for tourists to visit. There is a great general store there, in which I love to browse around. They have everything from food, to Victorian style clothing, candies, toys, hunting stuff etc.... my favorite part of the store is the section where they keep the big wheels of cheese. It was there that I first tasted Asiago cheese..... oh God, it was orgasmic! Teapot and I would purchase a small amount of cheese each day (wrapped in wax paper), and as we were driving home, and while the Daughters were sucking on their candies from the candy shop, I would slice thin slices of Asiago cheese and feed them to Teapot or eat them myself on the way back to the campsite..... I'm not kidding, it was orgasmic! (And the Asiago that you get in the grocery store...yuck... doesn't even come close to the stuff you get in Barkerville. They hand pick each wheel...)
A friend introduced me to smoked Gouda... oh, it was divine.... I ended up turning this whole town on to it, when I insisted that the local grocer bring in smoked Gouda for Christmas. It is imperative that I try new cheeses.... it is also imperative that you don't eat too much blue cheese at one time... as Teapot found out one year when he went to a friend's house at Christmas and gorged on Blue cheese and red wine.... suffice it to say that he spent Christmas night in the bathroom! It is also imperative that you don't eat processed cheese.... it is like eating glue that has been formed into slices and coloured orange. (I can't see how anyone could possibly want to eat that stuff... euuuu...)!
Feta is great on salads.... even if they're not Greek salads.... add a few raisins and awesome!
Try a little Ricotta on the next pizza you make.... oh yum!
And a good block of Cheddar... to die for!
Try this on for size.... Get a slice of homemade bread. Spread butter over it. Then lightly sprinkle it with Parmesan cheese (and not that gross Kraft stuff) and then sprinkle it liberally with Greek spices. (You can make that with: sundried tomatoes finely chopped, dried onion, dehydrated green onion, basil, dried garlic, dehydrated red pepper, dehydrated celery leaves chopped finely, soy or cottonseed oil and a little bit of sugar. Spread it over a shallow pan and lightly roast in your oven... cover and store in a cool dry place.) Then put your bread in the oven (the toaster oven works best) and bake until it the bread is toasted around the corners. Oh it is sooo good... and if you let it dry out and cut it into cubes you can make your own croutons..... which is waaayyy better than the store bought cubes of dung!
But my favorite, all time, eat-fairly-often cheese, (when I can afford it), is good Swiss cheese. Oh yum, there's nothing like a good slice of Swiss to perk you up.... I wish I could grow cheese because I'd have a garden full. Holey cheese is Holy cheese. Absolutely!
I pretty much would pass over anything for a block of really good cheese (and I certainly would give up my socks!) I think the only thing that surpasses my love of cheese would be my wheel and wool.... ok, well maybe my family too. : )
So there you have it.... anyone for a little Swiss?
God! I'll never lose weight this way!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Mea Culpa
A few months ago I sat down at this computer to read a few of my favorite blogs. I usually sit down and start at the top of the list to the left (do you see it?) and read through each one. That fateful morning when I hit on As The Whorl Spins I never expected to read something that would stick in my mind so much. It is a blog written and kept by my level 3 instructor and I have been following it since my first year of the Master Spinning program at Olds College. Her post called Mea Culpa (like mine.. yes I know it's plagiarism... but I am giving her credit) was all about how she had unwittingly purchased a sweater (because it was cold and she needed a sweater while traveling) and then discovered that her new sweater was full of ACRYLIC! Ordinarily this would not be much of a concern to the ordinary person.... but to those of us in the fibre world (you know.... the un-ordinary ones : ).... those of us who are fibre snobs.... gasp in horror at the thought of purchasing a non-natural fibre sweater. (All together now....gasp!)
It was not that she had purchased said acrylic sweater that so struck me and got me to thinking.... no it wasn't that at all, as a matter of a fact, I actually laughed a little. I have a closet full of acrylic.... and truth be told, nylon, and polyester.... etc, too. What got me was what she said about how Green Peace and other activists come into her community, (which happens to be a petroleum industry town) with their polyester fleeces and their Gor Tex jackets and their jeans laden with spandex and their other garments made with some form of petroleum product based fabric, and then proceed to protest against the very industry that supplies their clothes. I looked in my closet and gasped!
She's right. I'm as much at fault as anyone. And here I am ranting about environmental concerns and it never even occurred to me that I am as much a culprit as the fellow living in a city with an eight cylinder, gas guzzling truck traveling back and forth to work when he could be using the bus.... I'm every bit as bad at the fellow using a two stroke engine motorcycle... I am a polluter just as bad as anyone else. Mea Culpa! Yeah... you bet!
I thought long and hard about this.
I think there are reasonable uses of petrolium products, some that in this modern world are very hard to get away from. (The medical world is one of those areas.) I don't think we can live with the kind of blossoming populations without some mass produced items. Clothing is one of them. Let me tell you I certainly was appreciative of my polar fleece last week when I was camping! But we can be thoughtful of what we purchase. Instead of buying the inexpensive sweater that we know is the next best thing to being plastic, why not take a harder look at who we are, and what we want for this world we share, and buy something that was made from renewable resources like wool, or cotton or silk. Even linen is a better choice... though harder to find. One or two items in the closet that have petroleum in them is not terrible but for me the perfect closet would be the one that is mostly wool, cotton, silk....and linen with only one or two items of those petroleum based fibres.
That doesn't mean we have to go out and start slaughtering seals for our winter boots (oh now there's a bone of contention for an expatriate Newfy!) Nor do we have to go looking to the Innuit for Cariboo hides for our outerwear.
I think what I am saying is that we just need to be a little more thoughtful about our usership of those products that hurt the earth and make living on this planet a little more precarious.
It will take me a while to rid myself of this dastardly evidence of my blatant use of petroleum. I am not rich enough to have the luxury of going through my closet and throwing out the things that offend me.... but as I replace old clothing I am going to think long and hard about what I need and look at those natural fibres a little harder... yes they may be more difficult to care for but in the end... we all benefit.
Mea Culpa?..... we all are....
It was not that she had purchased said acrylic sweater that so struck me and got me to thinking.... no it wasn't that at all, as a matter of a fact, I actually laughed a little. I have a closet full of acrylic.... and truth be told, nylon, and polyester.... etc, too. What got me was what she said about how Green Peace and other activists come into her community, (which happens to be a petroleum industry town) with their polyester fleeces and their Gor Tex jackets and their jeans laden with spandex and their other garments made with some form of petroleum product based fabric, and then proceed to protest against the very industry that supplies their clothes. I looked in my closet and gasped!
She's right. I'm as much at fault as anyone. And here I am ranting about environmental concerns and it never even occurred to me that I am as much a culprit as the fellow living in a city with an eight cylinder, gas guzzling truck traveling back and forth to work when he could be using the bus.... I'm every bit as bad at the fellow using a two stroke engine motorcycle... I am a polluter just as bad as anyone else. Mea Culpa! Yeah... you bet!
I thought long and hard about this.
I think there are reasonable uses of petrolium products, some that in this modern world are very hard to get away from. (The medical world is one of those areas.) I don't think we can live with the kind of blossoming populations without some mass produced items. Clothing is one of them. Let me tell you I certainly was appreciative of my polar fleece last week when I was camping! But we can be thoughtful of what we purchase. Instead of buying the inexpensive sweater that we know is the next best thing to being plastic, why not take a harder look at who we are, and what we want for this world we share, and buy something that was made from renewable resources like wool, or cotton or silk. Even linen is a better choice... though harder to find. One or two items in the closet that have petroleum in them is not terrible but for me the perfect closet would be the one that is mostly wool, cotton, silk....and linen with only one or two items of those petroleum based fibres.
That doesn't mean we have to go out and start slaughtering seals for our winter boots (oh now there's a bone of contention for an expatriate Newfy!) Nor do we have to go looking to the Innuit for Cariboo hides for our outerwear.
I think what I am saying is that we just need to be a little more thoughtful about our usership of those products that hurt the earth and make living on this planet a little more precarious.
It will take me a while to rid myself of this dastardly evidence of my blatant use of petroleum. I am not rich enough to have the luxury of going through my closet and throwing out the things that offend me.... but as I replace old clothing I am going to think long and hard about what I need and look at those natural fibres a little harder... yes they may be more difficult to care for but in the end... we all benefit.
Mea Culpa?..... we all are....
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)