Summer is Here

It was a very busy and productive day for me. Everyone is doing well, that helped me a great deal. A lot of knitting got done. One small project was finished. As soon as it was off the needles another one was started.  I did manage to walk 4 miles today. It is the first time since I hurt my knee that I have done more than 2.5 miles. I don't think I am up to five miles yet, but in a month or two that is my goal.

At knitting today I was able to pass on 2 bags of raw yarn for other knitters. That is 2 more bags out of the house. Well technically 1, since 1 has been in the car a few months waiting to meet up with Liz.

I did manage to get a lot of errands done today. Yes it was in the 106-107 range while I was running them. The most important thing to remember is that I was having fun and drinking iced tea and lime flavored water* while I was running around. I did manage to cash in a few birthday coupons while I was at it. If you have to ask there is a very nice set of summer ice teas at Tevanna, but I know it is a little pricey and I do have a lot of tea to drink. Then there is always yarn and fluff.

I have just started to do the laundry for the day. The car said it hit a high of 111, yes that is one hundred eleven degrees, as I was driving Eric home. It is finally into the 90's so my plan is to get a load or two done tonight. No, I will not be folding it tonight, that can wait for later.

Tomorrow I planing on writing the mystery pattern for the Knitting Guild Luncheon. Lets see if I can come up with a pattern that will challenge the new knitters along with those that have been knitting since so last century. I also plan on finishing up what I have to bring, i.e. the goodies.

After that is done some more knitting and finishing work, then tag, photograph and bag of at least a dozen objects. I suspect that the guys will want to lay low and not doing anything this weekend, because of the heat. Me on the other hand would love to get out of the house for a bit. I find the heat easier to deal with than the cold.

Now to the recipe you have all been waiting for.

Lime Flavored Water

1 very large glass filled with ice
the juice of 1/2 of a lime with the peels
water

Add ice to the glass. Squeeze the lime juice in along with the peels. Add water. Keep adding ice and water through the day. You should taste the lime flavor most of the day.

A Lazy Summer Day

Today started off very good. I got an hour of chores done before breakfast. Grocery shopping before lunch. Then it was nap time and not a whole lot got done after that. I started the tomatillo stew to late for use to eat it tonight, so we had quesadilla's and watermelon for dinner. At least I am ahead of the game for tomorrow, dinner is already cooked.

Eric had a great day at his summer program. He really enjoyed swimming and painting today. We had a slight leak with the pump tonight, but caught it before I had to do more than one load of laundry. I would also like to thank the great people of Johnson & Johnson, being tired tonight I put darks (red (Stuffed Elmo) and blue (New Pillow)) in with whites (a chuck and diapers) on a cold wash with a Stain Catcher. Everything came out the right color and the Nutren 1.0 did not even interfere with the Stain Catcher. Good job.

Well Eric is asleep and I want to try to catch up with some sleep.

A Lot of Knitting

The only real thing that happened today was knitting. I managed to finish 2 UFO's.  Ok, so that took all of 10 minutes. Sometimes i get so tired of a project that i put it down with only a few rows to go. I also added a lot of rows to 2 other UFO's. I really know I shouldn't have, but I cast on another project. What can I say. The yarn talked to me and said "me next and I want to be a summer bandana". So what's a girl to do but cast on another project.  

I did try shopping, I even had a gift certificate, but the styles were so not me that I gave up looking.  I could not even find a plain t-shirt in cotton. 

Well the house is quite so I am calling it a night before my iPod spell check and I get into it over grammar and spelling tonight. 

Does it have to be Monday?

I am happy to report that Teri is now a member of the working class. She has left her school days behind her. I hope that you will join John and myself in wishing her the best of luck in her new endeavor. From my point of view, the little girl who started in pre-school at age three and has never left the school environment in now working. Please join us in trying to figure out where all those years went. Also the modular blanket that I started for her in her 1L year of law school only has about 60 blocks to go before the boarder goes on. Did I mention that there were 42 rows per block?

On the home front it was one of those in pain most of the day, days. I find myself cranky and blue when I can't get the pain to go away no matter what I do. So it was a put on a smile day and carry on with my day. I did not get through my entire to do list, but a small dent is all I can hope for on days like today.

At a snails pace I did some laundry, errands and knitting. Eric and John also had a good day. Well the hiccups and hot flash are over so it is time to add 1 more load to the washer and go to bed. I am hoping for less pain tomorrow.

A Contrast in Opposites

This weekend was a contrast in opposites. Saturday Eric was a little under the weather and slept most of the day. John had a very restful day too. I spent the day working ( knitting) on Teri's blanket and managed to get 3 modular squares (41 rows per square) done and the 4th one of the day started. I am slowly but surely approaching 200 squares done which should be at about the half way mark if you consider the boarder in the knitting.

Today on the other hand was a very busy one. I spent the morning cleaning house and doing laundry. I stopped doing laundry for the afternoon when it hit 103. The official high at the airport was 107, but it got to a little over 108 at the house today. Instead of running errands this afternoon I tackled my yarn stash in the closet first. What surprised me the most was that I had very little yarn in the closet stash that I did not love. Only 6 or 7 skeins needed to be put in drawers. About 6 skeins I was willing to part with so I will be passing it on to Corina. I do have about 1 1/2 empty drawers but I think I will wait just a bit longer before I move more yarn in.  I then headed to the craft room and went through my knitting bags one by one to clean them out. I pulled a few skeins of what was I thinking and added them to Corina's bag. I also started a bag of smaller balls of yarn that I will use to teach a weaving class to part of Eric;s summer program friends. I found all kinds of knitting needles out of place and put them away too. I know that none of you are surprised that I found a stash of UFOs, some with only a few rows left to knit.

So very early tomorrow I will do my running and get the laundry started. My to do list is already made. When the heat of the day hits I will do more knitting. Hopefully finishing some UFOs in the process. I want to start some new projects, but I really need to get the projects that I have started finished. I think I will put on one more load of laundry tonight and call it a night.

Thursday

Well I just wanted to let everyone know that Eric made it to his day program today. He really seemed happy to see his friends. John and I took turns training his new advocate. With any luck we did a good job.

I on the other hand I am just tired enough to make a knitting mistake that I have not made for at least 8 years. Although unlike 8 years ago I did not have to frog the entire amount I knit. I only had to tink back 3/4 of a row. I know it is still early but I am calling it a night. Hopefully a good nights sleep is all I need to recharge.

Chicken Stew

My body has been playing catch up with sleep and rest most of the week. I am almost back to 80% of feeling my best. This cold has left Eric and I with a cough that will last another week or two. I am feeling well enough to be tired of frozen meals and take in. So with John being my prep chef, yes he got to peel and cut up all the vegetables for tonight's dinner. He did a wonderful job too.

Chicken Stew

2 large Chicken Breasts diced
1 medium onion peeled and diced
3 cups of celery  cleaned and cut into 1/2inch chunks
3 cups of carrots peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 medium Yukon gold potatoes scrubbed and cut into 1/2 cubes
8 ounces butternut squash cubed. it is OK to buy the pre-cut package
8 ounces mushrooms cleaned and sliced
A large splash of White Zinfield or any open white wine you have
1 teaspoon of dried Rosemary
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 1/4 quart Le Creuset soup pot with a cover

In the pot heat the olive oil up on a medium low temperature. Add the diced chicken breast with a little salt and pepper. Cook covered for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Add the Rosemary. Toss well and cook for another 15 minutes stirring every 5 minutes. The chicken should no longer be pink on the outside. This is the time to switch out the stirring spoon and put the dirty one straight in to the wash.  Add the diced onions and cook until translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook down. Added the Butternut Squash and Yukon Gold potatoes. Cover with the carrots and celery. Add the White Wine. Cover and bring to a low boil. Turn down the heat and cook for at least 1 hour. 2 to 3 hours would be ideal for the perfect flavor blending.

If you do not use wine in your house you may substitute water. The flavor will be slightly different.
Serves 6 as a main course.

So as you probably guessed this is dinner tonight.