Recouping

I am still exhausted from the trip to Los Angeles last week.  I went in for my mothers birthday. We had the party at a place called Dukes in Malibu. The view was spectacular so I guess it was wrong of me to expect great service too. They could not grasp the concept of sauce on the side or can we get a basket of bread. So I got my lunch as everyone else was finishing up with nothing to nibble on in the mean time. It is one place that I don't mind being so far away from.  If you like your sauces on the side I would recommend dinning in Tucson. Even the mom and pop places can get that one right.

I also saw a fantastic play at the Mark Tapper Forum. It was called the Tallest Tree in the Forest. There was quite a bit of history in it. I had never thought of the world from a black point of view before. It is very similar to the Jewish experience at the time with the exception that we were mostly white and could blend in better in some areas. Skin color was and still is a very decisive issue for many people. The issue of name calling is still here today. I guess we have not evolved as far as we like to think we have as a country. So anyway if you are in Los Angeles during its run please do try to see it. It would be well worth your time.

I have almost gotten caught up on laundry, paperwork and getting Teri's room ready for her visit. I de-fibered her room and put things away. John dusted and vacuumed twice. I washed all the linens and will make the bed tomorrow.

I think it will take a few more days to get my body back in sync. Big cities are nice for some things, but I love the pace of life in Tucson much better. Tucson does not tie my tummy up in knots. Although with my tummy tied in knots it was very hard to come close to over eating or for that matter eating at all.  So I came home a little lighter. We are not all packed in like sardines. Even out winter traffic is better.

Fruit Compote

It has been a while since I have shared a recipe. I have this cooking on the stove as we speak. This is a holiday favorite of mine. For those of you who indulge in a little too much matzo this time of year this recipe is the perfect cure.

Sheri's Fruit Compote

8 ounces of Dried White Peaches
8 ounces of Dried Apricots
8 ounces of Dried Pitted Prunes
2 Cinnamon Sticks
10 Whole Cloves
Water to cover

In a large pot, place all the dry ingredients. Cover with water. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Cover and simmer on a low heat until the fruit is soft and tender and the water becomes like syrup. The fruit should absorb most of the water. This will take about an hour. Be careful not to burn this. Check the water level every so often. You may add water as needed but don't drown the fruit, you will want this to have a heavy syrup.

What ever you do DO NOT ADD ANY SUGAR. The fruit will be sweet enough.

Cool in the pan and then transfer to a container and store in the refrigerator.

This should make enough to last a small family for all of Passover.

The Flight from He Double Toothpicks

I am on my way to visit my mom to help her celebrate her 75th birthday. It was a toss up wether to fly or drive.  About 10 minutes into the first leg, I was seriously regretting the decision not to drive. I do need to regress here for a minute.

I had the window seat which is usually not a bad seat.  A last minute boarder plopped her self in the middle seat. I am no skinny mini, but at least I fit in the airline seat with a little room to spare.  As the woman sat down not only did she fill her seat, but also half of each seat on either side. I was effectively pushed into the wall of the plane. This is not a comfortable way to spend over an hour of my life.  

If you think this was all, her companion in the seat right in front of me went into a diatribe of how he should high jack the plane before trying to get everyone around him to join in the speculation of where would this plane be lost.  This was followed by more trash talk. Thank goodness no one took his bait.  This leads me to the question of just where is an air Marshall when you need one?  

Then the PDA started. Yes over the airplane seat.  If I was a little bolder my comment would have been to get a room.  I got further smashed into the Planes wall. As I tried to regIn some of my seat space her companion then pushed his seat as far back as it would go. And started glaring at me. I am sure there are closets with more space than I had. Now I know how John feels on some flights. 

Every time I tried to knit or reclaim seat space I got rewarded with a swift jab to the ribs.  After we landed, I told her how rude she was, she became totally offended.  She could see nothing wrong with her behavior. 

Which leads to the question of manners. Do they need to be taught in school as their parents did not bother.  Rudeness does seem to be on the increase.  Can I put a sticker on the person as an award for extreme rudeness.  Maybe a likeness of a black lump of coal. After all we we reward  good behavior with gold stars. 

Then there is the question of what rights I have on an airplane in these post 9/11 days?  Do I have the right to the entire seat that I paid for. Can airlines require wide bodied passengers who easily fill 2 seats by their lonesome make them pay for 2 seats without being sued?  Where is the media on this issue?

Here is hoping that the rest of the trip goes better. 

90%

I am 90% ready to go visit my mom tomorrow.  I just have to find 1 more knitting project and get my glasses adjusted. Maybe even add a knitting and spinning magazine to the mix.  

I have made a stew for John and he packed up the left over spaghetti from this weekend.  I thought I had caught up on all the laundry until I walked into Eric's room tonight. I swear it was emptied this morning and it is half full again.  I asked him to take it easy on laundry while I was gone and he just laughed at me. 

I will be blogging from Los Angeles tomorrow night.  Well it is time to call it a night and to be very thankful that I did not blog about my thoughts from this morning. 

A Very Good Sunday

Today was a very productive day around here. Before lunch I finished 4 loads of laundry, 1 hat, the bills and a news letter. 

Eric and I went grocery shopping after lunch.  He is such a good helper, he carried the basket for me while I pushed his chair. 

After we got home hat number 2 for the day was finished and a 3rd hat was cast on. Since I knit 2 of the same exact hats, I will only show one hat.  The color combination of the day is blue and yellow. 

I am hoping for another great day tomorrow. I hope everyone has a great week.  

Well there was 1 hiccup today. Eric's button popped out at 10 pm requiring a new button and change of clothes and some bedding.  I should have know something was going to happen when the kangaroo bag needed to be changed earlier in the night due to an air leak. 

I am going to try to call it a night again. 

Saturday

Things are going pretty good around here now. Althought we all took naps at some point today.  We are all still recouping from Eric being sick earlier in the week.  I also got the finishing work done on some hats. They are also now tagged for charity. These are the hats I worked on while Eric was sick and I was too tired to knit any lace. I also finished 1 scarf.  I find it amazing on how many small projects that I can get done when I am not knitting a Bad Assed Knitter Pattern, that has already been tinkers twice. This is to read at least 2 months of knitting on the one shawl. 

Busy

I have been very busy over the past few days with Eric being sick. I have put down the lace work until I am less tired. So I have done a bit of charity knitting over the past several days. I completed 6 hats and 1 scarf, with 1 additional hat cast on tonight. I am almost finished with the brim.  

Eric is feeling better and we hope to get him back to day program tomorrow. Then I can do some cleaning and laundry. Not that I have not been doing laundry.  You know it is a never ending chore around here. 

I hope that I can convince my body to sleep more than 4 hours at a te tonight.  Although if I wake up I will start the laundry then do some picking up.