Sleep, what is sleep?

I think I got spoiled over the break. I could sleep in (at least a bit). I went to bed at a relatively decent hour, dozed for a bit. Then snapped awake and was wide awake when the spouse came to bed. She was up late because, well, she's often up late. She was also sewing on phoame's 12th Night outfit, who was over and talking with her for a lot of that. Pleasant as always to see P, and according to the spouse she's going to look fantastisch at 12th Night, even if she has to be sewn into the coathardie ...

I finished my book around 12:10 and went back to sleep fairly quickly at that point.

The annoying thing is being mostly awake when the alarm went off at 5. Oh well. Luckily since it's finals, all I have to do is watch students work on a group project (again) this morning, and this afternoon administer an exam ... whew.

Tags: randmoness
Current Mood: tired

With that title I could be heading in any direction. ;)  Instead I'm going to just gloat about my upgraded machine at work.  I have the most powerful machine in the office, it fairly screams with speed!  That's because I was running out of memory with the standard 4 gig of memory on a stand alone machine running AutoCad 2010 to manipulate building plans for a building that fills three city blocks.

Yeah, it's smokin'!

Current Mood: chipper

As 12th Night approaches, my thoughts have turned towards the upcoming Coronation we will have next weekend. The West Kingdom 12th Night is our largest indoor event, as most of our events are in a camping setting. Most people will get a hotel room, and wear their fanciest stuff if they are so inclined. Some folks who are not very active will probably choose this event to attend, so you will get to see some folks that you won't see any other time of the year only at this event. I think it's an ideal place to make rare-bird sightings. Some of us refer to it as 'the kingdom cocktail party'. I must say it is a nice event to hang out at a bar in your garb. In my youth I might get a bottle of tequila and sit near the drums in the casbah, other times I might sit through court, be on court, or help out at one of the art/guild tables. One time I just bought a snazzy new sword, and tormented Thorfinn about it.... pleasure can come from odd places. This time, my boy will miss 'sword day' and be off with a babysitter, so I can do other stuff with my wife and friends.

I have several requests for some sharpie work, so rejoice or mourn as you will.
I may just find a planter where I can quietly whittle on my latest ebony obsession.

Zachary was commenting on his latest video-game obsession at Lego.com: "storm-troopers are always awake in case there's trouble, apparently there's always trouble"
Yes, he really does insert the sarcastic use of the word 'apparently'.

Today we're off to the museum, to see the Cartier collection.

The last couple of weeks have been a dizzying round of social engagements, leaving me with little time to get on line, and I’m ok with that. When last I’d checked in I’d stayed with a Stellerite and his family a couple of days, gone to visit cousins in Copper Center, and then spent Christmas with a cousin in Wasilla before being dropped off at the home of my SCA brother in Anchorage. I enjoyed a mellow time that first day back in Anchorage, and took it easy baking bread, checking mail, visiting with my SCA family, and getting over the sniffles I’d picked up at Christmas. The next day I went to a party with friends, and enjoyed meeting new people and designing a bit of knot-work for a guy who wanted a tattoo of a Thor’s hammer with the god’s head on the pommel, and the beard branching out into knotwork on the business end of the hammer. The next day involved a dinner date at a restaurant with several friends, followed by an evening with another good friend from highschool and his wife (I knew her through the SCA before they met). The following day (the 30th) I flew to Fairbanks, where the local SCA held a dance for me. Had a great time dancing with old friends and people I’d just met. Didn’t get to sleep that night till nearly 03:00 (I wasn’t sensible enough to make time for yoga before the dance, so did it afterwards). Got up early the next morning and met a friend of mine from Highschool for breakfast, and had a great time discussing the difference between his last job (teaching Mathmatics and doing research at a small liberal arts uni in the lower ’48) and his current job (teaching Mathmatics and doing research at UAF). Had just time after breakfast to look at mail (but not post anything) before some SCA friends called asking if I wanted to do lunch. After lunch met yet another friend for a cup of tea, and then enjoyed a few hours with my host before heading to a New Year’s Eve party, where I met a couple who will be moving to Sweden for a post-doc position soon. Looking forward to meeting up with them again at Drachenwald events. Finally got to sleep about 03:00 that night (yoga was, once again, done after the festivities of the evening) and got up early enough to catch a morning flight back to Anchorage. I got back on time to help clean my brother’s house for the bardic the next night, and then bake rolls for the tapas party that night. That party was fabulous—there are ever so many wonderful people in Oertha, and I got to see a fair few of them that night, and enjoyed conversations with all of them. Finally got to meet the fiancée of my “baby brother” (adopted as such in high school), and approve mightily of her influence on him. The next morning (the 2nd) I went to see Avatar with said baby brother and his lady. While the movie was lovely, I think I’d have enjoyed it (and other movies) more if it wasn’t necessary to endure a couple of hours of the bad guys stupid decisions before our heroes can overcome the obstacles and solve the problem. I got home from that on time to bake a braided bread loaf and some cinnamon-apple-pistachio rolls for the bardic that night. By a delightful coincidence Tania also baked a braided bread loaf for the evening. Her loaf was made with thick ropes of dough, braided in a straight line, and brushed with egg before baking. Mine was braided from thin ropes of dough, coiled into a braided mat, and brushed with butter before, during, and after baking. Very different looks and textures, and both really, really yummy. The bardic was lots of fun—many of the same folk as had attended the party the night before, and some who hadn’t. A reasonable amount of singing (though, as always, I’d have been happy with more), and plenty of laughter and good cheer. The following morning (yesterday) I slept in (for the first time in ages), went for a walk, and then packed my bags before returning to the home I’d stayed at my first couple of days in town. The kids there wanted a re-match of Settlers of Catan, so we played that, but not as late into the evening as on my first stop at their house, since vacation is over and they had to go to school during the day. Today I actually managed to get some uni work done—nearly five hours! It was nice. Then we went for a walk, played more Catan, and made some rice-krispy/cornflake treats. On a lark I separated out a bit of the butter-marshmallow molten mix and combined it with some of my muesli instead of the packaged cereal, and, to no one’s surprise, liked it *much* better. After the kids went to bed I had a few hours to just sit and chat with their folks before coming to the airport, where they have free internet access, so I get to update this journal. In a few short hours I’ll be back in Seattle, where I’ll be till Thursday morning, then I fly back to California, where I’ll attend 12th night before flying back to Milan the following Monday.

Two weeks was so not enough to see everyone I wanted to see, but I had much fun with those I did see, and I will just have to come back again for another visit one of these days...

Tags: progress report, sca, steller, travel plans
Current Mood: bouncy

Infrastructure is the third leg of my intended structure for 2010, co-equal to kindness and handicraft.

I have been realising the need to devote my resources to creating and acquiring the structures needed to have life here at Acorn Cottage continue to move in a direction of greater sustainability and eventual ease. One of the fun but "junk-food" activities I have been spending money on is textile stuff, not to excess, but not essential either. I have all the yarn I need right now, and all the fabric I will need for at least several years. I will be using my stash for any of these activities this year, and being very very thoughtful about where my money and time is spent.Aside from necessaries utilities and foodstuffs, it really needs to be for tools and materials; to build the things that will help in the future as well as now. The garden, and water, and the hens. Things like plumbing parts and concrete block to actually get the rainwater harvesting happening, and maybe another load of compost. There will be things that just require mental effort, things like contacting some of the tree crews to see if I can get some chipper waste for mulch, and getting my act together to sell my old car, if possible. And of course there is the physical work of the outdoor garden, and all the myriad indoor tasks to repair and improve Acorn Cottage.

Despite how it sounds like all work and no play; "the work of the world is as common as mud"* - and needs doing. And the doing of it satisfies like a healthy meal...

*from To be of use by Marge Piercy,
you can hear her reading this poem here

Although it is too late to officially sign up, I'm going to be canning along with Tigress in a Jam. She is sponsoring the Tigress Can Jam, a year long canning extravaganza-challenge. I'm thinking that more home canned food will be a great assistance in eating more locally, which is one of my stated goals for Acorn Cottage.  The can jam focus for the month of January is citrus; (while not local to PNW it is currently in season in the places where it grows, and as cheap as it ever gets. It is very very important to use organic citrus for foods, like marmalade, where you are eating the peel) my dear friend Rois and I will be getting together next week for "marmalade made easy".

This last week there was no meal specifically planned for this Dark Days Challenge, I didn't think that another photo of hens eggs and omelet would be really entertaining or useful. I am however, truly grateful for the unexpected almost daily single egg. Until the girls ramp up to "full production" none of the eggs leave my little homestead.

The only homegrown food right now here is herbs. My winter greens were pretty much destroyed by the cold snap earlier this winter. If that was my only source of vegetables, I'd be sunk; what I learned is that I need to come up with a more sheltered solution for next year. The kale will eventually grow some new leaves, the chard is not so lucky. I may take a trip to the farmers market that is open in the winter every other week, but that will entail most of a day to get there and back on transit.

This next week I intend to do something with the small butternut squash that my neighbor Kris gave me, I'm thinking about baked with some local onion and ground pork sausage from the local market, and sage from my garden. And I am working my way through the contents of my freezer, finding packaged goodies that while they aren't exactly local, do meet the other criteria. This last week I found a whole frozen organic chicken, (that had been a gift from visitors last year), and turned it into four meals: roasted dark meat, brined and roasted white meat put aside for two separate meals, and the bones-n-bits made soup, which became two more meals.

SOLE is a real challenge without financial and transport resources, not impossible, but really difficult. To balance between the necessity of the coinpurse and the desire of the mind/body for healthy food. One thing that I have found useful is this "shoppers guide to pesticides" which lists which fruits and vegetable are the most or least likely to be contaminated. With this information, I can avoid poisoning myself, and plan which foods are the most important to source organically or produce here at home. I've already planted two apple trees, a persimmon, a plum and a pear. There are two tiny fig trees in pots. It will take years before I see much fruit from any of them, but it is a start. I hope to eventually add soft fruits (berries) as well, once I can find a way to protect them from the wild squirrels and crows that abound here. And this is the time of year for planning out the vegetable garden-to-come for 2010...

While I'd like to eat all organic all the time, unless I grow everything myself that isn't possible. It would be a lot easier if I could safely eat a high-carbohydrate diet, and it will become a bit easier as I become a better gardener year by year, (though what can be grown in a small city yard, by one person who is also working four jobs, is, of necessity, somewhat limited by circumstances)

We have spent the last three days just wallowing in food.  Cooking, eating, serving, sharing.  Here are a couple of highlights.

Yesterday we had Jack and Lyn over for dinner.  I provided the cheese course (natch) and Lyn and I cooked the main course together, she brought a cranberry pie for dessert.  It was all amazing good.

The cheese course was just fantastic, if I do say so myself.  We stopped at WF on Friday and I pawed through their cheese case poking and prodding to find things that would be ready to serve the next day.  We had their pasteurized version of Selles sur Cher (a goat disk that's rolled in ash), Epoisse (a washed rind cheese that's frequently at it's peak around the winter holidays), and Blue d'Auverne (cow's milk double cream blue).  They didn't have any inspiring blue's, but blue is Timothy's favorite so I chose the best option in the case.  I was hoping for a Persille du Beaujolais, but no luck.  These three cheeses were accommpanied by Carr's whole wheat crackers, preserved walnuts made by Harvest Song, some Bee People Meadow Maple honey, and a perfectly ripe comice pear.  It was almost sensual.

The main course was; scallops with chestnuts and oranges, creamy chestnut risotto, and smashed brussel sprouts.  The first two dishes were really, really good; but I felt the brussel sprouts were missing something.

Dessert was cranberry pie, which isn't what it sounds like.  It's really almost a buckle with cranberries, similar to a cobbler but you pour a cake batter on top of the fruit and cook it until it's brown and bubbling.  Extremely tasty, so much so that I got the recipe.

Tonight we're having braised ox tail (Marcella Hazan) with a pear tart (Alton Brown's) for dessert.  The ox tail is almost done and the house is filled with a savory cloud of yummyness.  Can't wait to try it.  Cheap meal but it's supposed to be a really flavorful cut of meat, and I have been wanting to try it for a long, long time.  We found it over at the huge international market when we were picking up the scallops yesterday.

Current Mood: chipper

Yesterday evening, I was home, and not really motivated to get out of the house for the various new year’s stuff. I had several parties I could have attended, but I just couldn’t summon up any motivation. I was thinking of staying home and cleaning the garage. I guess it’s that time of year when the dark of the season seems to oppress me. I don’t let very many people bully me, but I am very grateful that a friend called and bullied me into going out.

Today, I am auditing a Jennifer Aniston marathon while cleaning the house….It’s funny that I can get through her whole cinematic career while getting my house clean, and without spending a dime at a theatre. It actually makes me feel pennywise and productive. Damned Lifetime Channel. I think I will officially become a middle-aged woman by the time Stacey and the boy return from Arizona tomorrow. If she was gone for another week, I’d probably become a lesbian. Damned Lifetime Channel.

Last year, instead of resolutions, I came up with a list of fifty-four aspirations* for 2009, tasks and fun both large and small. How did my list fare over the twelvemonth?

... about 18.5% were successfully completed. #15 was superseded by my discovery of the self-timer function on my camera, which has vastly improved my photography. I did fairly well at #24 and #32, but not well enough to consider them a success. And #40 is a no-go, the worm bin bag experiment wasn't a good thing for my pet worms, and they are back in a worm box, and much happier. Most of the things on the list are still things I'd like to have happen.

There were a few unplanned accomplishments in 2009. The mushroom swap was a lot of fun, and perhaps may inspire a local swap among my crafty pals. I went to see Tyr in concert, and discovered that "head-banging" actually means men with long hair tossing their hair in circles. The North Umpqua rafting trip was entirely unexpected, and really a high-point of the year in many ways. And looking through the pictures for the year, there was a lot of knitting, including accidentally participating in the Sock Summit Guinness Book "Knit-In"...

*Last years list:

1. sew the living room curtains
2. replace the carpet in the bedrooms with the Tundra flooring
3. put together a "book of 2008", with text and pictures
   
4. paint the living room walls grey-blue
5. sort out the SCA closet
6. hook up the printer
7. get the bathroom fan electric sorted out
8. fix the screwy hinges on the linen cupboard
9. go to the beach
10. paint the kitchen walls stone color
11. add front and back wood to the pantry shelves
12. repair missing sheetrock in the laundry area
13. insulate and cover holes in ceiling
14. small wall shelf below spices for kitchen constant staples
15. learn to use tripod for photos
16. set up a small dedicated photo space
17. build a light box
18. shoplight for the workroom
19. stump/stakehorse for workroom
20. sewing table setup in small bedroom
21. paint my bedroom grey
22. finish blue quilt top
23. knit the mini poncho
24. drink more water
25. paint shower-edge trim and install
26. do my taxes before April, (like in February)
27. set up better/easier tracking system for commissions
28. move chooks to south side of backyard
29. plant asparagus
30. re-do raised beds
31. get wood chips for pathways
32. make myself some new clothes
33. keep a food diary
34. paint bathroom walls lavender
35. go dancing
36. have a tea party every month
37. build an outdoor cooking spot
38. visit the Art Museum
39. see about teaching a community education class
40. sew a new worm bag
41. buy and plant another fruit tree
42. develop an edible landscape design plan
43. make progress on the water storage system
44. paint doorknocker antique black
45. build a salad table
46. grow a winter greens garden
47. porch roof for shade and enclosure
48. sew a raincoat
49. spend a day poking around in the antique stores in Sellwood
50. frame the Fillmore West poster
51. set up a vent fan for soldering
52. start a garden record book
53. look into building a modern "hay box"
54. experiment with printmaking

Greetings,

Now that we are in the correct year, it is time for me to make plans on how to get from 12th Night to the airport for my flight back to Milan. My flight departs from SFO at 07:35 Monday 11 January (which means I should be at the airport by ~05:00, I think). Is there anyone whose home is reasonably convenient to that airport who would be willing to take me home with them after the event and give me some floor space to sleep that night and then either get me to the airport in the morning, or can direct me to reliable public transport that would get me there on time?

Failing that, is there anyone who would be willing to give me a lift from 12th Night directly to SFO? I can always just sleep on the floor of the airport.

Thanks!

Tags: travel plans
Current Mood: hopeful