Tomorrow morning, I will be heading to the west coast for an archivists conference in San Francisco.  These work conferences are a time to mix business and pleasure - especially when events are planned in such a fun city.  I have a whole load of vegan/raw restaurants to sample, as well as some exhibits/shows I want to check out at museums and galleries.  I even found a yoga studio near my hotel that looks like a nice treat.  Meeting friends, touring… and oh yeah - by complete coincidence, I swear - my hotel is only a few blocks down from ArtFibers - on the same street even!  So, I have all of those things to look forward to on top of the titillating discussion about metadata, cataloging, preservation, and archival processing :) 

This is a photo from our (brief) November 2006 trip to SF, and I am looking forward to seeing the city through my (better) camera this time around…  and no, unfortunately my camera lens is not as big as that telescope up on Twin Peaks.    (Funny, I barely recognize myself with the long hair!)

California has made the family news lately too:  my brother-in-law got into graduate school, and he and my sister will be moving to the Monterey area next spring.  So, the bi-coastal thing may be happening more often in the coming years… something to look forward to!

Have a lovely weekend/week, all!  

My absolute favorite thing about summer is the garden harvest - whether the fruits and vegetables are from our garden, or a local farmers’ fields. Amazingly fresh and delicious. There is nothing quite as rewarding as picking a vegetable in the backyard and eating it soon afterward.

We are entering the high harvest season right now in Maryland. Each day, we have new things to pick in the garden. Today, we had our first large tomato - an heirloom “Cherokee” variety. Also had a half dozen cherry tomatoes and jalapeños, a zucchini and an okra. I could have picked a few more things, but as you can see, my hands we full! Tomorrow, we should have another tomato, an eggplant or two and a cucumber.

Last week, we harvested our first giant - an heirloom Amish squash, that is about the size of a basketball… maybe even bigger! Much like a pumpkin, this squash is yellow/orange inside and relatively easy to cut into pieces. We found a good recipe for pumpkin curry, and used it as a guideline for seasoning (we can’t get enough Indian in this house) - we wanted to try it on the grill.

Pumpkin Curry - modified for the grill

2/3 c oil
2 medium sized onions
1/2 t cumin seeds
3 1/2 cups diced pumpkin
1 t finely chopped ginger
1 t crushed garlic
1 diced jalapeno (you can sub red pepper)
1/2 t salt
1/4 c water (can spritz more if it is too dry)

Combine the seasonings with the oil in a bowl and add to the diced vegetables. If you have a grill skillet, it really adds to the flavor! Depending on the ripeness of your pumpkin, it can take a little while to cook. Check often with a fork until the pumpkin is tender enough to eat. Ours took about 20-25 minutes on the charcoal grill. You could easily adapt this back to indoor stove top cooking by adding more water to the recipe.

Serve over brown rice.

What are you enjoying this season? How is your garden growing?

Feeling an intense desire to start something new, I went through the stash last week and surveyed my options.  I reacquainted myself with some of the yarns, and I rediscovered something I already knew: I have a lot of options.  Too many.  So, I just kind of chose at random.  A yarn that has been the stash for over a year, but a new pattern that I picked up earlier in the summer…

I chose the lovely purple/red Peace Fleece that I got at the festival in 2007.  (The colorway is “Moldova Burgundy”, and while it does have a burgundy cast to it, I see it more as purple - perhaps it is more red in the sun?) For the pattern, I chose the  Crotona Coat, from the Berroco #281 collection.

I really like the asymmetry of this piece.  I haven’t picked up the buttons yet, which are a key element of the garment for me.  My heart is kind of set on wooden buttons to make this a more “rustic” piece.  It would sort of match the heathery wool…

I give you about 9 inches of seed stitch - knit exclusively this week during my Olympic viewing.  (Yes, I have been watching a lot of Olympic coverage…)  I decided to make the coat shorter than the pattern - probably skimming the hips.  I adjusted some of the pattern to work with this, but I think I may have a slightly more flared edition.  To avoid seaming seed stitch later, I am knitting the front panels and the back in one piece - 200+ stitches for the 40″ size.  Surprisingly, the seed stitch is going along quite well, and I haven’t felt that it is a slog at all.  In fact, it is quite relaxing - the rhythm of the stitches in and out.

…Now back to the Olympics and to endless seed stitch!

I have been thinking a lot about the blog lately, but my silence around here shows that I have not followed through with action.  The past few weeks have been a challenge:  I got pretty sick and had a lot of questions about what was going on and what the future held… luckily, with the help of a good and experienced doctor and her solid treatment plan, I am back on the road to health. 

My road to health involves a lot of medicine (fortunately, most of them are vitamins and herbs), daily doses of yoga (which I was uncomfortable doing for two weeks, but now I am back!), amazing fresh foods (with no additives - sugar, dairy, gluten be gone!), quality time with family and friends (Stacey was in town! Quick trip to PA to see family! Jenna is coming tonight!), and copious amounts Olympic television coverage.  That last ingredient is very important - if for nothing else than the inspiration factor.  You could say I am kind of addicted to the Olympics… I have to force myself to turn it off in order to sleep… so much so that Kris and I are already planning our getaway for Vancouver, British Columbia in 2010 to see the Winter Games!

My knitting has faltered a bit:  I had three false starts.  Grand plans for new garments, and for some reason, things just weren’t flowing, and all of them ended up getting ripped.  I even got 2 inches into a circular project before I noticed that it was twisted.  Perfect for a moebius, not-so-perfect for a pullover.  (I blame Michael Phelps and the gymnasts for this mistake.  I couldn’t peel my eyes away from the TV.) Sooo, nothing much to show.  I did start a new project last night while watching the men’s synchonized diving.  So far so good on that one. 

I have had quite the introspective temperament lately, and I feel the need to embark on a journey of sorts - some sort of personal expression.  I am feeling the push in two ways:  yoga and writing.  I began to research yoga teacher training more seriously.  I think that my short sickness made me value my yoga even more.  There are several good programs in my area, I just need to choose the one that is right for me.  As for the writing, I have been feeling a push in this direction for many months.  This blog has served as a creative outlet for my writing and photography for over four years.  As I continue to write for the blog, should I also pursue other outlets?  How far should I / can I take this?  What is the next step?  Just a little of my internal dialogue for you.  

If you read this far, thank you.  I realize that this post is a little disjointed.  I felt that a week of blog silence needed to be broken… and since my knitting and weaving are not getting anywhere, you get this stream-of-consciousness with some photos thrown in for good measure. 

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Photo 1:  The featured asana, Upavistha Konasana (Wide-Angle Seated Forward Bend), in September’s issue of Yoga Journal.  It’s a great one for the spine and leg muscles. 

Photo 2:  Summer rainstorm on the way home from family visit in Pennsylvania on Sunday.  It rained like crazy for three minutes, and then the sun returned.

Photo 3:  Beautiful blue dragonfly in my parents’ flower garden. 

I forced myself to finish these two socks so at least I could have a pair… albeit, not a matching pair.

1/2  Noro Silk Garden socks  - 1/2 of Laila’s Socks

The lovely Noro Silk Garden sock yarn was purchased before the yarn was even on the market - I lucked out at an NYC yarn shop.  The sock is a 4 x 1  ribbed pattern because I wanted something simple.  I started the Laila’s sock back in April, and just now finished sock one.  Of course, now that it is done, I am completely loving and admiring it, but I have zero desire to cast on for sock two anytime soon.  *sigh*

I am hoping that the sock love will roll back around in time for Socktoberfest… but the thought even crossed my mind that Socktoberfest may have reached expiration. With the amazing amount of KALs and Ravelry, it doesn’t seem like there is room for this sort of thing anymore. And that is okay with me.  I would even venture to say that that takes some of the pressure off… but it also means that these socks may not get mates until the year 2012.  I am not making any final decision here… just throwing it out there.  So, if you strongly object, let me know.  If you agree, let me know too.

~

My sister’s wedding is about 11 weeks away, set for October 18th. (Remember their engagement story?) Quantifying it this way makes me realize that I had better hurry up and get my bridesmaid dress… but it also means that my parents’ home is becoming wedding central.  When I went over last weekend, mom and I worked on ribbons for the wedding favors, and she showed me the lovely wreaths that she finished to decorate the church windows.  Sarah’s colors are autumnal, reflecting the season, and mom’s wreaths turned out so beautiful.  She made a total of six using a twig base and synthetic leaves, fruits, and berries.  I brought over some herbs from my garden to add to the wreaths.

Addressing and mailing invitations… planning center pieces for the reception… oh yeah, and I still need to get my dress and Kris needs to get fitted for his tuxedo.

I can’t believe how fast this year has flown by…