Under The Influence

Dinner in the backyard in October. Good friends to eat and laugh with are the best reason to cook. Christine is in town to plan her sister's baby shower. Her Mom Becky is a fine floral designer and one of the most pleasant people we know. We had some wine and too much food. Both influenced us to become sleepy people.

I am knitting little pink things to shower the special little girl about to enter the world. Paul and Alexandra will be awesome parents. But, that baby will be so lucky to have an Aunt Christine. She will take her under her wing and create a magical relationship. Truly, one of my favorite people...

Time for Dinner

Where are my potstickers? At this point, I'd settle for some edamame!

Another Day, Another Bag

Binding off another bag. I need some employees for my sweatshop!

How to Know You Are A Californian

When we moved to California 15 years ago, I had never had a quesadilla. In the east we made a grilled cheese sandwich. The concept of filling tortillas with almost anything before eating, was foreign to me. I quickly adapted and incorporated simple fresh Mexican recipes into our menus.

Sushi was someplace I never planned to go. Now, it is my favorite eating out destination. Fresh and light food is abundant here in CA. The growing season is year round and the choices we have are a blessing. I love to cook and eat. The other motivation to eat well is the sheer volume of green grocers, farm markets, and Trader Joe's grocery stores. I know they are expanding all around the country. It is where I do the majority of my shopping.

So here is a picture of my dinner. Pot stickers and edamame. CA cuisine at your service!

Posting Postponed

I have been away from my laptop. I am here today to avoid work that has to be done. My car got hit in the parking lot of T.J's, so this morning we dropped it off for repair at the collision shop. It will take a whole week! It did not look like much of a bang, but it is a $2,000 insurance claim. Hit and run. Only inconvenient.

I will have my old truck to drive for the week. It has broken AC and needs some work done. Pray that the temperatures drop in SD to milder and breezy. The truck is back home while Brynn is in Africa. We met Brynn in LA for Breakfast and hugs on Saturday. I couldn't let her go to Africa without touching her. I had not seen her since early August. Ryan came along to see his beloved sister and get some of that touch time! Don and Ryan drove the truck home for a good cleaning and mechanical tune up. We will return it to her when she returns to LAX in November. I stayed at the airport until she went through check-in. No tears, just joy. She shot me an email from an internet cafe in Nairobi. All is well. Good people, good work, and experiences to last a lifetime. I am so happy for her.

Don's dear Mom is in the hospital as of Monday. She is so fragile. Thank God for John and Roxanne who are right beside her and Dad. What a week. They are in our thoughts and prayers.

I have a Facebook account now. Why? One more way to be connected to those we love that are far away. I was encouraged by my cousins to keep up with their lives. I don't quite get it, but networking quickly and briefly seems to be a goal. I prefer to express myself in the blog. Stay posted...

Walking Woolen Wounded

My shoulder is aching. My hand is weak and stiff. My neck could use a good rub. I need a massage and a muscle relaxant. Soon my fingers will be sore from sewing. It must be a week away from the craft show.

I have been warned by well-meaning friends to expect slow sales and few customers. I am prepared. I am trying to just meditate myself into enjoying this craft show as a marker in my time line. After November 9th I will put all of my energy into finding gainful employment. That means a job with health care benefits. If I had them, I'd go get myself a RX for my woolen wounds...

PS: I want to get health care from employment- not the government, thank you very much. Just in case you took my lament as a political comment.

What's On My Needles?

The Olivenhain Craft show is scheduled for November 8, 2008. From 9am until 4pm, I sit beneath the canopy finishing details and trying to sell my work to the public. Most artists (yes, I consider the creation of hand knits an art) have a difficult time promoting themselves. Pimping the product is a skill. I am proud of my pieces and some I even love to the point that I hate to let them go. The time put into the process is not always redeemable with cash.

My needles are full of triple strands of 100% wool, mixed with the odd novelty yarn for detail. I play with the colors, the shape and the size. After the knitting, I felt the bag in boiling water with rubber shoes in the washing machine. While still wet, but reduced in size by up to 50%, I stretch and form the shapeless blob into the bag I want it to become. Out on the dry, hot sun-drenched patio, the wool takes 1 -2 days to dry enough to finish.

The least favorite part comes next. Machine sewing a uniquely designed liner for each individual bag. It has to be sewn into place before the handles are stitched on and a closure is added. Viola. Done.

Then I do it again. Actually, there are four wet bags drying right now. Tomorrow I plan to get the machine and fabrics out for a marathon sewing party. Picking out the handles and closure is the final step and the equivalent of the final spritz of perfume before you leave for the party. Come to the craft show and see me. Come see my bags. But now I must get back to my needles and do it again...