Post-Olympics Post

What an exciting time it has been.  Mind you, we didn't have much time to actually watch any events, but we caught up on the news every day.  I've always been proud to be Canadian, but my chest just busted these two weeks.  Mind you, I'm for everyone who makes a great effort regardless of where they are from.  On my part, I am of Austrian and German descent, DH has roots in the British Isles, I've taught students from all over the world...I consider the world a huge village (I know that's idealistic).

We've been quite busy in the greenhouse.  Most of my sharing for today is on my  (click on its title)Weed it and Reap garden/greenhouse blog.  Please visit me there.

On the way in from the greenhouse, I noticed my St. Francis (aka St. Francis of the Snow).  He is waiting patiently for spring, so I can keep him company in the garden.

For supper today, I made my most (one of my most) favorite soups in the world: 
Kale and Chickpea Soup
2 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 c. cubed sweet potatoes
1 large sweet red pepper, diced
1 box (900ml) sodium-reduced chicken broth, or homemade
3 c. water
1 -19 oz. tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
6 oz. Old Fashioned ham (I buy a thick slice at the deli), cubed
3+ cups well-washed finely cut fresh kale (or spinach)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp rubbed dried sage

Cook onion, garlic, pepper and sage in olive oil, till onion and garlic are soft.  Add all ingredients except kale.  Simmer about 15 min. till potatoes are tender.  Add kale and simmer 5-10 min. till kale is tender.  The original recipe calls for 1/2 tsp salt, but I pass on that because of the sodium content of the ham and the broth.

Oops, almost forgot:  Madli's shawl is finished, but I can't block it because of the stuff all over for renovations.  Angel 3 is almost finished on the tree skirt.  Finished one sock in Bamboo yarn, summer rain color.  Varnished Baseboards.  Will likely put the Linen cupboard together tomorrow so I can take the rest of the Living Room apart and use the spare bedroom again for storage.

Wordy Wednesday

Linda, I could still hug you for telling me about sizing pictures for posting. I couldn't have imagined posting 10 pictures the old way--I might have even given up blogging in frustration.

Und für meine deutsch-sprechenden Blogleser: es gab bei uns keinen Wirbelwind--keine Sorgen machen. Der Wirbelwind war ich--weil ich so viel rundherum gefahren bin wegen den neuen Küchenboden.

Yesterday, my weekly trip to the city was another busy one. Denturist--getting closer to a great fit on the new dentures. Orthotic Man-getting closer to a comfortable fit with the orthotics. I actually visited my LYS, Wool Revival, to get the yarn for my nephew's kilt hose. Also for several balls of yarn to swatch for the Honeycomb sweater that I will be re-designing for submission somewhere. I have downloaded the submission guidelines for some magazines and for Twist Collective. I'm also thinking about a theme for a book. I am a novice in the publishing department, so that idea may go nowhere, but you'll never know if you don't try.

Greenhouse update: These pictures show the lean-to greenhouse as it looked after the October 26, 2008 windstorm. We didn't get it finished before the greenhouse season began, so we worked without it.




























Now it is all finished. On Sunday morning it was calm, so two of the kids, Kubota Man Jr., and Daughter #2, came to help put the 2 layers of plastic on. Then some touch-ups and clean-up and here we are: I'm almost in the mood to start planting.














Daisy and Sparky are happy, too.






























Blue potatoes from the garden. They should be called purple potatoes. But the next picture tells you why they are "blue".














Blue mashed potatoes. It was sad, seeing the lovely purple water go down the drain. Next I will try doing oven fries in the hopes of preserving the color. I believe that the colors hold many of the nutrients in our food.














The Big Deck being washed. Notice the rails are stained, but the slats are not on yet. Sometimes I wish that I didn't always research my projects and just do them. I'm talking about building and staining the deck. We re-built the deck last year. I did my homework and found out that preserved wood needs to dry for one season before staining, since the preservative is pressure-inserted into the wood, and it is possible that it is still wet inside. I also learned that when you cut preserved wood, you have to treat the cut ends with end-cut preservative, a toxic green product, since the wood is not treated all the way through. So my rails, which are stained with semi-transparent stain, have some dark spots where I treated them after cutting. The floor is getting solid stain (supposed to last longer under traffic), so there the spots won't matter.

Back to the staining. I finished the building of the deck about this time last year, so the next season would be winter. So, the staining is happening now. Over the drying time, the wood tries to protect itself with a gray glaze which needs to be scrubbed off with special wood-prep products. This will help the floor finish last much longer, and protect the wood, since the glaze prevents the oils in the stain from penetrating well. This almost took longer to describe than to do. Notice the difference in the color between the washed and unwashed part.














Knitting report:
Honeycomb #3 is finished. Because of its natural white color, it wouldn't photograph well, so I used the gray tone on the camera to show off the details. The following picture, while not being clear on the details, shows the color of the yarn. The buttons are gold-colored. Honeycomb #4 (black)--one front and almost one sleeve finished.





























Nephew's kilt hose, have started the band at the top of the leg.
Knitalong Socks--almost finished clue 2 on one of the socks.
Have been swatching various yarns for my Honeycomb Sweater submission. Tried a cotton, a mohair-acrylic blend, a store-bought brand of alpaca yarn, sock yarn, and also the kilt hose yarn. None of them give me the beautiful stitch definition that the Alpaca Man's yarn does. The LYS owner thinks it's just the properties of that particular yarn.

Till next time:Having grandchildren is the best of all possible worlds. I don't have any responsibility for them--I just do all the fun stuff. (Mary Beth)