It could be worse.

Seriously:

http://news.yahoo.com/us-man-stung-scorpion-commercial-flight-180744819.html

A man got stung by a scorpion on an airline flight.  And I thought all I had to worry about when flying was security checks . . .

You know you've been to a fiber festival when . . .

• You come home with a pocket full of Cormo roving.
• You saw a bunny getting sheared (super cute!)
• A few skeins of Kauni that you've been dreaming of mysteriously fall into your shopping bag (yes, I paid for them).
• A knitting book you never knew you needed calls your name -- Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders.  
• Your mother in law picks out the kit she wants you to knit her for Christmas -- a beaded wire necklace.  It's pretty :-)

Midwest Folk and Fiber Festival is definitely a good time.  If you get a chance, you should go next year.

Three weeks, 2500 miles

It has been 3 weeks since K left for Afghanistan.  In that time, I have driven from Colorado to Illinois, from  Illinois to Detroit, from Detroit to Illinois, and run a million errands.  I have literally put 2500 miles on my car in the last 3 weeks.

It has also been an emotionally taxing few weeks.  First, K left (down).  Then I packed up the apartment (down) and drove back to IL and got to spend time with pets and friends (up).  Then I drove to Detroit for my best friend's graduation from her surgical residency (up).  Then, I found out my cat was sick (hopefully much better now -- next checkup Tuesday) (down), and one of K's ferrets has been diagnosed with lymphoma (down).

My kitty Lemur.

Our sick girl Sushi.  This is a normal sleeping position for a ferret.  I know.  They're weird.

Two other cats need to go to the vet this week (down), and I am waiting to hear if I got an apartment close to school for this year (up I hope, but I'll have to move again (urg)).  There is another big thing too, but that one needs to stay internet dark until September.

So today, I only had 90 miles of driving to do (MIL to airport), and have been enjoying my free time.  I am working on a Camp Loopy project right now, and it is nice and simple and pretty.

Daybreak, medium size.

It is the Daybreak shawl.  I'm knitting it in Loopy Solids color Tangerine, and Dream in Color Everlasting color Posy.  I'm on stripe 9 of 16, and it's slow going as it's getting bigger every row.  Still, it's nice relaxing knitting, and looks just the way I hoped it would.

Hopefully in the next two or so weeks life will settle down a notch or three.  In the meantime, I'm striping.

So I fell off the blogging wagon for a while.

It's been that kind of year.  Short version.  Got married in December, husband sent to Colorado Springs by the Army, I picked up an extra class of students at school, then I took a leave of absence for the fourth quarter, moved out to Colorado Springs, baked lots of bread, husband now in Afghanistan for the next year, and I'm back in IL.  Whew.  And I knitted.

And today I planted the veggie garden :-)  I'm not going to be living with my mother in law this year, but she did graciously allow me to take over chunks of her garden with vegetables.

A few comments on veggie shopping:

• Home Depot had 5 (FIVE) different kinds of basil today.  I only picked two, and may go back for the other three soon.  They smelled GOOD.  I got spicy and thai, but I think I need cinnamon basil too . . . 
• The hot peppers were all labelled this year, which will make them both less surprising and somehow less fun.  Last year my "hot pepper" was wonderful, and even though I bought the same kind, it feels less exciting with "serrano" on the pot.
• I have spaced the cucumber and squash farther away from each other this year.  My mother in law had requested that I try to prevent them from climbing the tree, but I think that's overly optimistic.  And there's something cheerful about cucumbers that could fall on your head at any time.
• I bought a tomato called "Mr. Stripey".  I love that Home Depot carries the heirloom kinds now.  And the name . . . "Mr. Stripey" :-)  *giggle*
• I almost bought the lemon tomatoes, but I figured lemon cucumbers were enough unexpectedly yellow vegetables.

Gardens make me happy in a way that having my husband halfway around the world does not.  Hug your family, and dream of vegetables.  I have a Camp Loopy project to work on.

Soup!

It has been REALLY cold here in IL lately.  Today it's up to a balmy 6F.  So, I have made soup.  Specifically, two kinds of soup.  Here are the recipes, for when I want to replicate them later, or if you have a need for good soup where you live.

Lamb-Cous Cous Soup

2 lbs lamb
3 cups dry pearl couscous
1 bunch of celery, chopped fine
6 carrots, chopped fine
1 large onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 sq inch of fresh ginger, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic
12C homemade lamb stock
1 can tomato paste
some olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

I sauteed the garlic, onions, and fresh ginger in the olive oil.  Then I added the lamb and cilantro, and browned the lamb.  I added everything else at that point, and simmered it for about an hour.  It makes a tasty lamb soup, where the couscous melts in your mouth.  It's good.

Frontier Lentil Soup

This one was made from a soup mix, but I modified it heavily.  This is what I added to the lentils and seasonings:
Spicy Italian turkey sausage
3 cloves garlic
1 sq inch fresh ginger, chopped fine
1 bunch of parsley
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 bunch of celery, chopped fine
6 carrots, chopped fine
12C beef stock (made with Penzey's Soup Base)
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes

I sauteed the onions, garlic, and ginger.  Then I browned the sausage.  Once that was done, I added the lentils, seasoning pack, and all other ingredients except the tomatoes.  I simmered it for one hour, then added the tomatoes and simmered it for another 20 min.  This makes a zesty lentil soup.  It has lots of texture and good flavor.  It's a good warming soup.

I hope you're keeping warm and have lots of good food to help.

Decisions for the new year

I am back from my honeymoon in CO.  It was gorgeous, and I'll post pictures soon.  It was a very good, but very intense few weeks.

Now I have some serious decisions to make.  Because K is active duty military and has been informed of his deployment date, it is possible/likely that it will be 18 months before we can spend more than 2 weeks at a time within 1000 miles of each other.  It might be 8 weeks total, but probably less.  The exception to that is if I make some drastic changes to my life.  I am unsure if this is a good idea or not.

I am alternating beating my head against a wall and knitting.  I made it as far as a heel on a new sock (airplanes are good for this).  I swear I'll get some pictures of that too, although it's not terribly exciting.  It's a plain stockinette sock, but it is a self striping yarn in my favorite colors.

I also started a new scarf with some blue heathered wool (on sale!) from a yarn store in Colorado Springs.  The store is called Knitter's Kove, and it seemed wonderful from my one visit.  The scarf has dropped stitches and reminds me of monster eyes.  This too would probably make more sense with pictures.

It's a new year, and there are some wonderful things and huge challenges on the horizon.  Once decisions get made, life has got to get easier.  Maybe I'll even be able to cope with knitting that isn't garter stitch.  Otherwise, I'll just start an afghan.