Living in Tucson

 There are a lot of great things about living inTucson besides the nice spring and summer weather.  One of them is Bookman’s.  Bookman’s is an old favorite. It was the place to exchange things like books, music and a whole assortment of fun things. It was fully linked to the sustainability issue long before it became an issue.  It was a place I took the kids to exchange their books for new to them books. If they got an album that they did not like they could exchange it for something else.  I even pick up the odd arts and crafts supplies.  

For the last several years I have been using Bookman’s as a part of my house decluttering efforts.  I bring Bookman’s things like books, old jewelry, and other things.  In return I take store credit.  I pick up the occasional book, but mainly I get cool socks for the children’s clothing bank that I knit for.  The picture below is from the store credit I got from today’s trade. 

The other thing that is really special about Tucson is the yearly Gem and Mineral Showcase.  It takes place from late January to mid February.  It is one of the largest shows of this kind in the world.  Some of the shows are wholesale only. Others are open to the public.   We occasionally go to the public shows.  We get to see all kinds of all things lapidary. From raw rocks to highly facilitated gems.  

I occasionally get supplies for stitch markers and earrings. Sometimes jewelry findings.  Yesterday I got 5 charms to make one of a kind stitch markers for myself.  I pretty sure these won’t be at Joann’s or Michael’s anytime soon. I have even been know to buy some earrings. 

Now it’s time to go do some knitting.  

The Tucson Version

 Last night it started snowing at our house.  Since we live in the Sonoran desert. This is a rare occurrence. I stayed up past midnight to watch the snow and get pictures. 

This morning the Santa Catalina Mountains looked like this. I also put today’s date on the barbecue instead of building a snowman. I don’t think my hand would have liked that. I just finished what John started. It was a fantastic idea.  

Four hours later the Santa Catalina Mountains looked like this.   

The snow did not last long. We did however get 1/2 inch of rain and melted snow in our rain gauge.  Some of our plants are worse for wear, others our fine.  I tend not to baby my outdoor plants.  The need to be able to survive on their own in our beautiful desert climate.  

Water from melting snow ran off the roof for at least a couple of hours.  So the ground got a good soaking.   I stayed inside, except to take pictures.  

Another Outdoor Dining Spot

 We found another out door dining area with excellent food. It is the Tea room at Tohono Chul Park just west of Oracle, off Ina Road. Just follow the signs.   The portions are huge.  Most is locally sourced, some even grown on the ground of the park.  Don’t forget to visit the park after your meal.  

Also if you are looking for a scenic out door area for a wedding in Tucson be sure to check it out.  They have areas for small intimate gatherings to larger areas.  

The Next Challenge

My next Spinning and knitting challenge is to take these 2 tubs of lace and fingering weight yarns and reaping them to make a worsted weight yarn for charity hat and scarf knitting, and scarf weaving. There was a phase in my knitting where I actually thought I could find the perfect time to knit lace work.  After adding bits of lace to some projects I found that lace knitting was not fun and not for me.   To compound the problem well meaning friends gave me a lot of wool to knit with.  I just don’t knit with those weights of yarn.  

So the first part of the challenge will be to sort the yarn between super wash and non super wash wool.  The super wash wool will be plyed to make charity hats and scarfs.  The non super wash will be plyed to make woven scarfs.  The reason for this is that when a scarf is woven and washed there is a certain amount of shrinkage that goes along with the finishing process.  So I don’t have to worry that it will shrink. The shrinkage would be a major problem with hand knit hats and scarfs.  

The first photo is how the yarn will look like after it is replyed the second picture is the first stage of the challenge. Once this is finished I will move to odd balls of dk weight yarns. If you are a spinner and want to learn how to do this and just happen to live or visit the Tucson area just call Grandmas Spinning Wheel to schedule a class. I can schedule a class with anywhere from 1 to 5 students.  If your spinning group or guild would like to learn just contact me.   It is a great stash buster.  I even make art yarns with plying.

Beware While Driving - Staged Accidents

Please be aware that a new/old scam has hit the streets again.  This has happened to me twice this week. It happens every so often. The cars are usually full of passengers, all the seats are full. They like to dart from parking lots or side streets without regards to traffic conditions.   Usually a driver will cut you off and come to a dead stop even when the traffic ahead of them is moving.   These cars usually have rear end damage already. They seem to get really angry when I did not hit them as they had planned. Yes they did flip me off.  This is dangerous for the entire community.  

Their  goal seems to be to get hit so they can soak you and your insurance company for everything that they can get.  They usually work with an  unscrupulous medical clinic and lawyer.  If this happens to you please call 911 or the emergency number in your area.  The only way to stop this scam is to get the lawyers  sanctioned  and the clinic operators charged. 

Be sure to take lots of pictures of both the car and all the people in the car.  Sometimes if there is not enough damage to the car or the people. In this case they rough up the people to make the injuries look worse and  crash the car again to make the damage worse.  If you have good pictures of both the cars and the people in the car, your insurance company will  handed the accident over for prosecution.

I avoided hitting both cars and with the grace of G’d I did not get rear ended.  Both the brick and I are fine. For those that do not know me well, I call my car the brick, because it looks a like brick and is as aerodynamic as a brick. 

Please drive defensively.   

I have been busy trying to put store throat and it’s aftermath behind me.  I have not caught up yet.  I still have a few patterns to type up and take pictures of. I also have a few designs in the process, yes I am taking good notes.

I am also getting a lot of Spinning and art yarn spinning done.  I am trying for a couple of skeins a week until my fiber stash is smaller.  So if you need art yarn for a project be sure to check out Grandmas Spinning Wheel in Tucson for some very 1 of a kind skeins.

I have a slew of knitting that needs the rows counted and added to Raverly too.

Well it’s time to call it a day.

Feeling Good

Dispite being up with Eric for most of the night, I got up early and completed the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona Walk to End Hunger. It felt good to be able yo raise money for such a great group.

I think Eric has mixed up night and day again which has made life a little on the tough side. We need to reset his clock. I am not as productive as I would like to be when I am on this strange nap cycle.

It has quited down so maybe I can grab a few hours of shut eye. Night all.

Good Things

John and I were on the same wave length yesterday. After work he called to see if he could bring home Salmon Sandwiches from Beyond Bread home for dinner. They were great as usual, Thanks to everyone at Beyond Bread in Tucson.

I finished my scarf last night. I wove in the ends and wove the hand dyed silk through as a design element. I can't wait to wear it next winter. Oh by the way it has 411 rows of knitting for the Ravely 1 million row challenge.

Meet Judith Knight in Person

My good friend Judith Knight has published a cookbook. For those of you who do not have the pleasure of knowing Judith in person, here is a chance to meet her and sample some of her baking. I always look forward to my monthly Old Pueblo Knitting Guild meetings because I know Judith has baked or cooked up some special treats for us. I would put Judith's skill sets as a baker right up there with an early mentor of mine Frances Kuyper - The Cake Lady. 

Did I mention that you can get a signed cookbook if you ask nicely. This would make a great gift for the baker, college grad or newlywed in your life. So here are the details. Please call the store for the time. 

Judith Knight,

 author of The Knights at the Round Table 

Life’s Funny Moments and Eclectic Recipes to Match!

Saturday, June 27 

11:00am to 3:00pm

For a Book Signing,

 Treat Tasting & Chat at Barnes and Noble Bookstore

Barnes and Noble Foothills Mall 

7325 N La Cholla Blvd., Suite100 

Tucson, AZ 85714 

(520) 742-6402

Judith Knight simplifies home cooking and entertaining with her delectable, easy to prepare recipes. Laced with humorous tales; recipes of all kinds, from appetizers through desserts; and helpful tips—this book is guaranteed to fill your home with love, laughter, and satisfied appetites.

If you are not able to attend the event but want a copy of Judith's book there is a link to Amazon.com on the side of my blog. 

Grandmas Summer Shawl

This is the first of 2  of my brand new patterns that were released yesterday. The name was chosen by Vicky the owner of Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. By a remarkable coincidence You can get this pattern and yarn exclusively at Grandmas Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. Stop buy to get the pattern and yarn. Join the group at the knitting table and start your project. Depending on when you stop by you just might find me knitting or spinning.

Grandmas Spinning Wheel
6455 East Tanque Verde
Tucson AZ 85715
(520) 290-3738

You can also find Grandmas Spinning Wheel on line.

The pattern is an advanced beginner one skein wonder. The yarn is Calbuco by Araucania.  Perfect for the slight chill in the air on summer evenings, with a very nice drape.  It is done in garter stitch. The only skills needed to knit this shawl are the ability to do yarn overs, knit into the front and back of the same stitch, and purl.

A Wonderful Day

My Family gave me a wonderful present for Mothers Day. I got to take a weaving Class with Donna at Grandma's Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. I have wanted to learn how to weave on a Rigid Heddle Loom for the longest time. I think I caught weaving bug when I took an equally awesome class on free form weaving with Kathy Withers when she was still in Tucson. I was just learning to spin my own yarn at the time. My time was very limited. So weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom took a back seat. 

Today's class came with a loan of a loom for 1 week. What you are looking at is the first several inches of the scarf. Hopefully it will not be too long before I can get my own loom. I can see this as a real stash burning craft. Besides that it is fun and relaxing, with a rhythm of its own.

Look what else my wonderful husband got for me, and he said that he was going to the hardware store. Ladies we have to figure out which hardware store carries such beautiful roses.  If we do, I am sure that we could find everything we need there. They are so pretty. I feel totally relaxed and pampered.

The only questions that remains is whether I can get Eric to get a hair cut tomorrow as part of my Mothers Day present. 

This and That

I know it is going to be a bad body day when I find my self doing stretching in the middle of the night. I try to stretch things out so that I can go back to sleep. I also find that the more I hurt on any given day the less creative that I am. I think that maybe creativity and pain share some of the same gray matter. Normally this is not an issue, but I have 2 patterns to design, knit and write the pattern in about 2 months. I will try after dinner and hope that I can get an inch or two knit and written at the same time. Long gone are the days when I sit and knit something up and then try to go back and figure out what I had knit to write the pattern. I have a very big back log of those to write up.

I did get to go to the staff appreciation party for Eric's day program today. I got to cook the hot dogs. The lesson I learned from this is not to barbecue with a hot grill right next to where the young adults are. Next year I will pick a grill away from where everyone is eating and playing. I spent 2 hours trying to keep people away from the hot grill. After everyone had, had their share of hot dogs, I got people to squirt the hot coals with the water guns instead of me. After 45 minutes I could relax and the fire was out.

It might seem funny to most people, but the highlight of my day was when 3 cases of diapers, 7 cases of formula and 2 other boxes of Eric's supplies showed up this afternoon. Just knowing that I won't run out of the basics is so nice. I don't think it much matters when they get moved. As long as we have room to park the chair and stack the supplies all is good until the cleaning bug hits.

I am really excited about tomorrow. I get to take a weaving class with Donna at Grandma's Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. A big thank you goes out to John, Teri and Eric for such a great Mothers Day present. I am going to learn how to warp and weave on a rigid heddle loom. If any one has any thoughts on which brand is better please let me know. Also are plastic or metal gears better? What size is good for a knitter/spinner as an all around loom? It should also fold for easy storage.

Well it is time to go cook dinner.

El Cisne in Tucson Arizonia

John and I have found a lovely new locally owned Mexican restaurant here in Tucson.  It is called El Cisne. El Cisne is located at 4717 E Sunrise Drive on the North East corner of Sunrise and Swan in the Bel Air Plaza. Telephone number (520) 638-6160. We have eaten there several times.  I have tried something new almost every time we have gone. The prices are mid range. They are open for lunch and dinner. I have not tried their catering yet. This is an upscale casual restaurant with a very pleasant decor.

Tonight we both had the Enchiladas. John had the chicken and I had the beef. The beef enchilada had a nice smoky barbecue flavor, with very tender beef. It was served with rice and beans cooked to perfection along with some very fresh salad. The flavors worked very well together and I thought that I had hit the dinning jackpot of the evening until I tried John's chicken enchilada. Our original plan was to each order a different dish and share. Once I tasted the chicken enchilada, I knew John would not be sharing his. The chicken was tender with the seasoning just perfect. It seemed to melt in my mouth. I have not had an enchilada this good in over 20 years. Don't get me wrong the beef enchilada was fantastic, its just that the Chef managed to make the chicken enchilada even better.

We have also tried the Carne Con Chili/Beef Burrito both Red and Green with and with out beans. All versions were wonderful. The Topopo Salad which is a meal in itself.  In my experience you either get a great Topopo Salad or never order it again. El Cisne makes a wonderful Topopo Salad. The Carne Con Chili De Vaquero Sonora is a go to dish for John. The only desert that we have tried were the Sopaillas which were just perfect. They never seem to have a problem leaving the cheese off a dish or telling us that a dish can not be made dairy free.

Disclaimer: Since John and I don't eat dairy and I don't eat shellfish or pork you will not find those menu items covered here. That does not mean that I don't like them, I just don't eat them and can't review them. Also all the opinions here are my own. I was not asked to write this. We paid for all of our own meals, nothing was comped.

Tucson Festival of Books

I left the guys at home and went to the Tucson Festival of Books.  It was a very nice day with lots of walking and a bag full of freebies. Apples seemed to be the giveaway of the day and I enjoyed 2 while I was walking around.  

I was good and did not buy books. Some looked really good but I have a back log to get through first. I also saw some Native American weaving and figured out how I could I could speed up my weaving.  It was just one of those aha moments. 

As I write this, I am sitting outside Old Main where my dad took classes when he was a student at the UofA. They are in the middle of restoring the building so when they are done it will look a lot like it did when dad was here. 

Well I still have to walk over to the Tyndel garage where the car is parked.  I better get moving before I don't want to move. I still have more laundry waiting for me at home. 

Monday in the Blender

Today was my day off that wasn't.  My plan for the day was a little laundry, shopping and lots of spinning with no cleaning. My goal was to spin 2 full skeins and get them plied.  Well you can just see where this went. After shopping where I saved $77.00 with coupons and specials. That was my retail therapy for the day. I did 6 loads of laundry and caught up on folding from the weekend. I did cleaning that required me to change out of my nice outfit into grungy clothes and out of those when I finished cleaning. Yes it was that messy. No you don't get to find out what got that messy in the first place.

As for spinning I pulled out some 15.5 micron extra fine merino wool from Grandma's Spinning Wheel here in Tucson. Pictures will follow later. It was like butter in my hands. I wished that I had more then 45 minutes for spinning on my wheel today. By the way if you happen across some extra fine merino wool I would recommend that you try spinning it at least once. I know that it is pricey, but for a rare treat, it is worth it.

Well I have been up since 3 this morning and I am really hoping that Eric falls asleep before 11 or 12 tonight. So I am going to do something much quieter than typing.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wii Fit can be a funny game at times. It has been 3 months since I lasted played. Well first it called me dad. Second it said I had lost 3 pounds and needed to set a new goal. So I figured 1 pound a month down was not a bad goal. Then it was off for 30 minutes of exercise with warning signs flashing saying that this move or that was an advanced move. I did not break myself and plan on trying again tomorrow.

Then it was off to knitting followed by  lots of errands. It was one of those busy days when I did not get lunch until 4pm. As per John I was my own fault. Don't tell him, but he was 100% right. A glass of tea does not constitute lunch. I also managed to work on a lot of charity projects, getting things ready to leave the house.

I worked on a lot of different knitting and spinning projects today. A little bit of progress on a lot of projects as I see it. As usual not a lot got finished, that usually goes in spurts.

Oh, a quick reminder please leave a can or two of food by your mail box tomorrow for the Mother's Day Food Drive sponsored by the great people at the USPS. Going into summer is the worst time for the food bank. Demand increases do to children not getting their meals at school. We are also a seasonal town with lots of layoffs in the summer months as tourism declines. If you don't live in Tucson and don't mind a little heat ( its a dry heat, we promise not to tell you when the humidity dips below 10%), this is the perfect time of year to come. The rates go down and there are still a lot of things to do in and around Tucson.

Well I have a very busy day tomorrow. So enjoy your day, I know I will.

Summer Time

Summer time in Tucson never fails to surprise me. There is always the really crazy driving and the tempers tend to flare as the heat goes up. But what surprised me the most today was that I boiled some yarn and had most of it hanging in the garage to dry by 1 pm. At 7 pm it was still damp even though it hit 107 at our house today.

I have been walking on a very regular basis since I got back from L.A., some days are better than others. Being sore and achy does not lend it self to me wanting to walk. I am hoping that it will help in the long run. My hope is that the walking will help lessen the pain. I will let you know how that goes.

My summer in Tucson tip of the day is to park in the shade when ever and where ever possible. Even if that means parking at the back of the parking lot and walking farther in the heat. Your car will be much cooler and you will be able to touch the steering wheel.

Mona's Danish Bakery

My friend Marge and I revisited Mona's Danish Bakery for lunch today. We had sandwiches for lunch and they were very good. Marge had the hot Turkey sandwich and she said it was made to perfection "with real turkey" not the compressed turkey most places use. She also said that she would order the hot turkey sandwich next time we go there.  I had the cold Roast Beef sandwich with out the cheese. It had just the right amount of horseradish and mayonnaise on a Danish hard roll. This was very much like the sandwiches that Teri and I indulged in when I dropped her off at the University of East Angelia in Norwich.

I would also like to say that the iced tea was wonderful and brewed to perfection. The lemons were cut fresh and when the bowl was empty the next lemon was sliced. Little things like fresh brewed tea and firm lemons say a lot of good things about the staff at Mona's.

The Bakery is a full service bakery, with a  whole line of pastries, cookies, cakes and bread.  Marge said the small fresh fruit tart was very good and a must have again. They have a breakfast, lunch menu and kids menu. The soup is freshly made and changes daily.

Mona's Danish Bakery is located at 4777 E Sunrise Drive Suite 113. It is at the NE corner of Swan and Sunrise. The hours are Monday through Saturday from 7 am to 5 pm. There is take out and casual seating available. You place your order at the counter and they bring it out to your table.

The opinions expressed here are my own and I paid for lunch. I did not ask if I could blog about the wonderful food at Mona's Danish Bakery but since the food was so wonderful I wanted to share my experience with everyone. If asked by the owner I will take down this blog. My hope is that you will try the wonderful food here and bring friends back with you.

Spinning

I have added yet another craft to the long list of crafts I already do. Recently I went to the Withers Ranch where I was fortunate enough to have the very wonderful Kathy Withers teach me to spin. Others have tried over the years but Kathy is a darn good teacher.  This is a picture of the first skein that I spun all by myself.  I know its not much but at least it does look like yarn.

Below is a picture of my progression from right to left of the yarn I have spun over the last 2 weeks. I was even brave enough to ply yarn today but had a slight mishap and the yarn broke in the middle, thus I have 2 skeins instead of 1 skein. Yes I did manage to ply about 370 inches of yarn. I think it 370 sound more impressive the the amount would in yards so I am sticking to it.

This is an unsolicited plug for Kathy's ranch and her classes. Kathy has not asked me to do this and I am not getting paid for this. But I feel there is some stuff that you need to know about Kathy and her ranch.

First of all her company is called Unique Designs by Kathy.  Her e-mail is jmarckathy@aol.com her web site link is http://www.uniquedesignsbykathy.com/6928.html ; there you will find her class schedule,a few of Kathy's one of a kind creations and patterns, store hours, ranch tours, home grown fiber and Kathy's yarn. This is where she will be when she is a various shows., if you can't make it to Tucson any time soon.

Kathy will also be at

Stitches West February 17-20, 2011 Santa Clara, CA Booth 14                              

4th Avenue Spring Street Fair April 1-3, 2011

Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta May 26-29, 2011

Pasadena Bead and Design Show July 28-31, 2011 in the Santa Monica Room

Stitches Midwest August 25-28, 2011 Illinois                                                                                              Patagonia Fall Arts Festival October 7-9, 2011

It is also time to Mark Your calendars for the Tucson Spring Shearing Festival on April 9th from 9 am to 3 pm. It will be at the ranch located at The Withers’ Ranch 4010 W Palo Seco in Tucson. the phone number is
(520) 572-3758/401-6117.

I hope to see you there and that you get a chance to take one of Kathy's classes. If not at least you can check out her on line shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/uniquedesignsbykathy



At a Loss

Right now I am at kind of a loss about a lot of things. It had started Saturday and by now I am sure the whole world knows about what has happened outside my Safeway in Tucson. I had planed to go to the event but chores got in the way of me being there at 10 am.

I still have at least 1 person I know, whom is still in ICU and still facing more surgeries. My Safeway is still closed and the other stores around me are nice they are definitely not my Safeway. I worry about friends who work or have small business in that mall and how they are faring. It is my sincere hope that this one random act of craziness will not hurt their business in the long term.

Aside from the Safeway there is a Coldstone Creamery, China Phoenix ( a personal note here, this is one of my favorites and the dim sum is something to write home about) a locally owned franchises of La Salsa and Honey Baked Ham. A local favorite called Beyond Bread , 2 banks, a dry cleaners, pet store, nail salon, a pharmacy and a few other small business.

Life will not be quite the same but I am hoping that all those who were injured make a speedy recovery and can get back to some semblance of normal. My thought and prayers go out to the families who have lost loved ones. I my heart I have to believe that they are all now with Gd.

I have to move past this one random act of craziness and move forward, but I find it hard to do with what seems like the whole worlds media attention focused on my little corner of the world. Well it is time to go put Eric to bed. May peace be with you this week.