Where in the World is Sigrun?

I can't believe that it has been two weeks since my last post. Would it surprise you if I said that I had been really busy? And I forgot to take pictures of what kept me the most busy--will do that asap. But in the meantime, so my blogging friends won't think I forgot them, I will post other "food for thought".

These are our "All Red" potatoes. Since the blue ones lost much of their lovely purple color when I boiled them, I made oven fries with the pink ones, and they kept their pink color. Then I baked some in the microwave and made potato salad. That was an interesting combination. These strangely-colored potatoes taste like regular ones.
One thing keeping me busy. This is our old kitchen/dining room/laundry room floor. If you glance just below the cupboard at the kickboard you can still glimpse the nice ivory color that it used to be. But there was a reaction between the glue and the linoleum, in combination with light and over the 23 years it has yellowed badly. It has stood up well otherwise.
Preparation for the new vinyl. (Not me--hired help, but I had to supervise, and make lunch and coffee.)
Please don't call the "Messy House" ladies. We have had to"rearrange" a lot of our stuff, including the closets that will have the new floor, by moving it into other rooms. First: the spare bedroom...
And the Living Room. . .
And the front entrance hall...
Knittergran, you were right about renovations. Always surprises. We had no structural surprises, but since I have the house in a mess, and I wanted to paint this winter anyways (did you get the idea that I sometimes do things back-asswards--new floor first, paint next?) It's just that I've entertained the thought of some interesting sage or olive greens for the paint color, but I couldn't tell with just the floor sample piece how the colors will look. I can't make up my mind about the shade either, so here's the plan: Since I haven't painted for at least 15 years, I want to prime everything rather than just the patches. So I'm having several quarts of primer tinted the different shades. Then I'll try them all on different walls, then choose the color from that. It will cost me just 1 quart more than buying a gallon of primer, but there's no time wasted. Because they're all greens or green-grays they will all cover anyways.
But I still have about 1 week's outdoor work to do--so we will live with the mess a bit longer. Tomorrow's trip to the city will see us come home with primer, new baseboards, and crown mouldings, and all the hardware for the suspended ceiling for the new downstairs kitchen . . . (another story for another day).

Now for some other, more pleasant images (by the way, I have some lovely flowers posted on my garden blog). I have never still been watering flower pots so near the end of September. So here are a few juicy tidbits: That spiny green ball is the seed pod of my white "Datura" or "Angel's Trumpet".
These are my 4 whiskey barrels at the front of the deck. I love the silver plants: Licorice vine and Lotus vine. I will not be cleaning these barrels up in the fall, because if I do, the dogs will sleep in them, packing down and scattering the dirt. I leave them be until spring, the spikes will catch snow like tall hats, then the flocks of birds that we feed will sit on these for our enjoyment.
Salmon Martha Washington Geraniums with a blue/silver grass.
Celebrity Red Morn Petunias. My dear, late FIL always planted these, so I do too. They are sooo cheerful and perky.The Purple Ballerina Datura. It just keeps going and going and going.
Castor Bean (Ricinus) Plant. It doesn't get as big as it could when I plant it in a pot, particularly when I neglect to water regularly during a drought.
The seed pods of the Castor Bean Plant.
Till next time: It's my mom's 84th Birthday this weekend. She has Alzheimer's. This quote is from Chicken Soup for The Soul: Like Mother, Like Daughter.
My mom is a never ending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being, I may sometimes forget the words, but I always remember the tune. (Graycie Harmon)

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)

Wordless Wednesday: Goodbye Feathered Friends

A Whirlwind on the Road

This week has been a whirlwind. First of all, the temperature has been in the low 30's (Celsius)-that's over 86 degrees Fahrenheit. And often with hot winds. Good for drying hay and grain, not good for people, animals and other plants.

Tuesday was my regular do-everything-I-can-get-done-with-minimal-time-and-mileage-wasted day. Delivered the mower deck to the repair shop, got a body shop estimate on my new (2 yr old)Tundra Truck, my other baby--it got a boo boo. Had lunch at the restaurant where my real (26 year old) baby works. Nina and I had a lovely visit while she worked and waited on me. I love the look on her face when I leave her a $10 tip for a $9 order. Then to the Orthotic Insoles man, who needed to adjust my insole to relieve discomfort in my foot. He adjusted. I went to pick my sewing machine up from the repair shop, had to wait a while there, after 1 hour of browsing my foot was cramping and on fire--back for another adjustment.

Then to the Church supply store for altar candles--didn't have the right size for our candleholders. Then for groceries to Costco and to Sobeys (10% Tuesday), stop for mail, and go home. The non-perishables still aren't put away.

I am finally having a new kitchen floor put down--Armstrong Natural Fusion--a sheet flooring. When we built the house it was easy. The dealer brought us a sample book. It was love-at-first-sight. No problem choosing the pattern. This time, there were lots of nice patterns, but no "WOW" factor. So I went to Vegreville, 40 miles away, to visit a shop where our SIL knows the owner. I had been studying the sample magazine and had narrowed my choices. So I picked up 10 large-sized actual samples, thinking it would be easy. Well, not so. What looks nice and light on the table, looks dark on the floor. What looks great next to the carpet looks terrible next to the appliances. Since we're doing the main bathroom also (more economical than choosing separate patterns) it also has to look good there. Well, the grays looked blue, the beiges looked pink. I was totally P'd off. Kubota Man said to buy BEST quality, but all the patterns I liked were in the "Better" and "Good" qualities. But that shop didn't have all the samples in that I had pre-selected. So I made another trip in the afternoon with a devious plot. I went to his competitor, who had a full selection of patterns and borrowed all theirs. Went to Wal-mart. In exhaustion consoled myself with the purchase of the fall Vogue and Interweave Knits magazines. Brought the samples home, and couldn't make up my mind (had it narrowed down to 3, but realized that one potential one had not been brought home). Sooooo this morning I went there again, returned the rejected ones, picked up the missed one, came home, laid them out, made my choice, made lunch, went to Lamont (15 miles in the other direction) to visit Mom in the Nursing Home, took her to the ice cream store for a cone (33 degrees at this point), picked up a pizza, went back to Vegreville, returned the samples, signed the contract, parted with an almost- 50% deposit of $2000, thought about popping in on Daughter #2 who lives there, reconsidered that idea, came home, pigged out on more pizza than I needed, did a Sudoku, and am now relaxing at the computer.
When I arrived home, KM sheepishly asked if I could go to Fort Saskatchewan (35 miles away) tomorrow and pick up the mower deck, which is ready. Sure I will. The Tundra and I have grown an umbilical cord this week. My foot hurts. And I still can't wear the insole.

Honeycomb Sweater #3 (natural white) has the fronts and backs joined and the neck-button-buttonhole band done. One sleeve almost done. Honeycomb Sweater #4 (black)--about 1/2 of one front finished. My Mystery Socks by Nancy Bush, for the Ravelry sockdown have Clue 1 finished. It has an interesting braid right next to the needles, which isn't very visible in the photo.














These mushrooms grew inside our metal storage shed. The biggest one is almost 12" tall. Pretty.














Another glimpse of my babies. I can never capture in pictures how cute and cuddly and adorable they are, nor their incredible personalities. They are certainly 9 years old, possibly 10. That means they are really older than I am. I can't imagine not having them around.














Till next time: (not a Grandma quote this time, but a quip I saw at the ice cream store) Dogs have masters. Cats have support staff.

Fried Green Tomatoes; Happy/Sad; Bragging Rights

Something pretty. Gazanias and Verbenas. The Gazanias are so cheerful, they seem to smile.
Check out my Garden Blog to see more beautiful flowers.






The North Deck is stained. Only 500+ more sq. ft. to go. The can says 72 hours till the stain is fully cured. Then we'll put everything back and start on the next deck.














I took the swing sets down today. That makes me so sad, because every time I take something down or pack up or get rid of stuff, it reminds me that the kids and grandkids are grown. I'm still hoping for some more grandchildren from our youngest two children, but the oldest grandkids aren't settled enough for me to wish for great-grands from them. You will hear this lament over and over.














That was our supper the other day. Fresh cucumbers, cabbage (green and red) tons of tomatoes, and loads of apples.















Braggin' time: Check out the scale reading on this Tomato: 22.2 ounces.















There were 3 tomatoes in all that were 16 oz. or over. Some of these slices were just about 5" across. They came from Supersteak and Ultra Boy plants.














And now for the "Fried Green Tomatoes"

These are easy to make. Cut about 1/4 " slices of green tomatoes. Put flour, salt and pepper in a brown paper bag or plastic bag. Shake the tomato slices to lightly coat. Melt butter or margarine in a skillet. When hot, fry the tomatoes on both sides Until they are brown and crunchy. Make sure they are cooked through or they will taste puckery. When the second side is done, sprinkle a few drops (about 1/4 tsp.) of maple syrup on each slice.

The green tomato season is when we go off our carefully planned weight-loss program, and use as much margarine as it takes to get the green tomato slices brown and crunchy.

Knitting: Honeycomb #3 (natural white)--the back and one front completed. The other front will be done tonight, and, if I'm lucky, the button/buttonhole/neckband will also be done. I just love that pattern. I plan on knitting 3 more for Alpaca Man, all different colors and sizes, then I will modify the pattern and submit it somewhere.

Till next time: A grandma is old on the outside and young on the inside.
(John Wright, age 7 1/2)

Hit the Deck!!!

Read through this blog post patiently. There are big gaps because there was a power- out in the middle of my post. When I started again the unsaved part had to be reloaded, then manipulating the pictures gave big gaps in the work. I don't have time to figure it out right now--have to get to my "screwing". Read patiently, skip the gaps, and there is a comment section after a long, long gap. I may try to play with it later ( or not),

Yesterday it was time to hit the deck. I had the camera set on some setting that gave me the best resolution for the Honeycomb sweater. Forgot to reset it. Pictures have only grey and green. Kind of interesting.
Since I'm starting on the North deck, everything had to be moved to the big deck to the east.













Notice the unfinished rails--the slats are missing. They were stained and stored last fall.















Those hanging baskets under the deck should be bright red.


















Step one: Wash the wood. I only had to sand the rails. Too bad that you have to let pressure treated wood dry for one season before staining/painting. Since I built the rails about this time last year, I couldn't stain them any more.
Last year I bought a deck wash that was caustic. This year they have a "greener" product, but I'm using up the old stuff.



Nice white floor boards, and rails stained.

We had another good rain last night, so I have to wait till the wood is dry before staining the floor. Funny thing, the deck wash container says that you can let the wood partially dry and start staining if you are using Latex stain (completely dry for oil base stain). Yet the Latex stain can says the floor needs to be dry. I'm erring on the side of caution and waiting for the floor to dry. It's not like I haven't got anything to do in the meantime.





This is my yarn for the September mystery sock knitalong which the Ravelry Sock Knitters Anonymous Group
is having. There will be a monthly sock to knitalong, but only September will be a mystery, the pattern by Nancy Bush.









Today I will just be screwing around. That means I will mount the deck rail slats on the north side, since the floor is too wet to paint. Then I will go to the Nursing Home, and I think I will take Mom out to the Ice Cream Parlor for a treat.
Till next time: I can remember comparing my grandmother's veined, knotted, brown-splotched hands with my own--of which I was inordinately proud. So little time ago, yet now, here I am with my grandmother's hands. (Pam Brown)

Wordless Wednesday