that Monday morning feeling

Left: Lancelot and I at our local tea shop on Saturday
Top Center: Garth and Eric lounging in the sunroom
Top Right: Five days worth of breakfast goodness
Middle Center: The Sea Dragon Shawl is finished
Middle Right: Dog Blossom
Bottom Center: Lego Dried Flower kit, hanging on my home office door
Bottom Right: One of my #the100dayproject drawings

Life around here has been pretty damn good lately. I’ve made progress with projects, like finishing the Sea Dragon Shawl, and we’ve also done a fair amount around the house. I officially have enough house plants now that I’m going to see if I can’t get this place designated as a tropical rainforest. And I’m more than halfway through my third book of the year. Progress is a beautiful thing.

We are coming into a busy time of year at work but I find that exciting. Allegedly our new office space will be ready by the end of the semester. Allegedly. So I am cautiously optimistic about having my own space on campus again, and that means another space to decorate and make into “home away from home.” I definitely want to do that, but with a serious budget – meaning I don’t plan to spend a lot to do it.

In spite of work keeping me busy I do still enjoy it. The challenges are just a little different every day and I get to interact with a wide range of people from different cultures and backgrounds who are passionate about a whole host of subjects. It’s that exposure to people who have had experiences very far removed from my own that keep the job, and I would argue life, interesting.

I have to admit that I wasn’t sure if I had it in me to do #the100dayproject, but I seem to be sticking with it pretty well. Drawing is one of things I identified on my list of 23 Things to Do More Of in 2023 so it really is a perfect fit. I’m trying to get myself to be brave and try drawing different things, and hopefully in the process to get my internal critic to just STFU. Practice makes perfect and honestly all I’m really going for here is a comfort level that’s higher than where I am today.

making progress

Top: Eric likes to stretch
Middle Left: Dahlia scarf is finished
Middle Center: Pork chops with sweet potatoes and apples
Middle Right: Garth cheats
Bottom Left: Progress shot of the Sea Dragon Shawl
Bottom Center: I wanted to spruce up our bathroom so I got some wall decals
Bottom Right: A drawing for a new challenge I’ve started

Mostly today will be a goals update, because mostly I’m doing awesome. I’ve managed to not start any new knit/crochet projects and have been focusing my efforts this month on trying to finish things I had already started. Dahlia was one of those. My full list at the start of the month was:
* Cross stitch cat
* Sugar Stick knit cowl
* Sea Dragon knit shawl
* Cable It Up scarf
* Dahlia scarf
* Fingerless mitts
I managed to finish the last three items; the first three are still in progress. I am making a good dent in the Sea Dragon Shawl and the cross stitch cat. I have not touched the Sugar Stick cowl this month. It’s lovely, but it’s half black yarn and hence a bit difficult to see. I feel good about what I’ve gotten done though.

The drawing is for The 100 Day Project, a challenge to do something creative – dealer’s choice – every day for 100 days. Since I had identified drawing as something I want to do more of this year that seemed like a natural fit and a way to encourage myself even more. So far, so good.

As for my other goals, I finished a book this morning so my count for the year is up to two – making me half way to my goal of four. I completed 14 creative projects this month, well over my goal of at least five and that doesn’t even count the drawings. I officially completed a professional development certificate this month and am making good progress on another. And I’m working on finding/creating healthier meals for us.

The pork chops pictured above was last night’s attempt, and it came out amazing. I’ve decided to write up the recipe to share.

Cast Iron Pork Chops
Boneless pork chops
Sweet potatoes, about 2C peeled and chopped
2 apples, whatever kind you like, chopped
2/3C apple cider vinegar
1/3C brown sugar
1 Tbsp Garam Masala (plus some to season the chops)
1 tsp kosher salt (plus some to season the chops)
1 Tbsp oil (I used sunflower because that’s what I had)

Pre-heat oven to 375. Season the chops on one side with kosher salt and garam masala. Heat the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. When the oil starts to shimmer add the chops and brown on both sides. Mix the vinegar, brown sugar, 1 Tbsp garam masala, and 1 tsp salt. Once the chops are seared add the sweet potatoes and apples and pour the vinegar mix over everything. Bake in the oven for approximately 40 minutes or until the chops are cooked to your preference.

short weeks, long weekends, and good food

Last week I took one of my Mental Health Holidays on Friday. I like to schedule myself one Friday off every month just to have a day to myself. Often Lancelot and I will go do something fun that day, like visit the museum or go shopping, or we just relax. This time I took advantage of the day by getting all of the grocery shopping done, making a birthday gift for a friend, and then L and I went and had our combo Date Night and Valentine’s Day dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Left: Eric stretched out in my lap one morning
Top Center: L and I the night of our dinner out
Top Right: The beaded flower ornament for N’s birthday
Middle Center: Pizza Dim Sum
Middle Right: The Sea Dragon Shawl
Bottom Center: Garth pretending to be angelic
Bottom Right: Fingerless mitts, aka Frankenmitts, for my friend K

The Pizza Dim Sum came from an idea K shared with me, something she found on Facebook I think. I took a can of refrigerated biscuits and smooshed them kind of flat, put a few fresh mozzarella pearls, a cut up cherry tomato, and a bit of fresh torn basil inside, and then smooshed the top shut. I baked them on a cookie sheet at 375 for about 20 minutes. Incredibly easy and delicious. Lancelot did his with a little pizza sauce, the same cheese, and a little sliced pepperoni.

goals update

I am very pleased to report that I have finished the first book of the year and have made a decent dent in the second. My guess is that I’ll end up surpassing my goal of reading four this year, and that makes me very happy indeed. I have one more book in this trilogy to finish, two for another trilogy I had started last year, another full trilogy I have yet to start, plus a whole host of others just waiting their turn.

I’m also doing really well with the professional certificate goal. I haven’t heard back about the first course for this year, but my part should be done. I’m also now up to the point of turning in the 4th assignment (of 5 total) in the next course. And I spent a little time last week looking at what else is available on that platform and bookmarking possible options for my next course. I’m also guessing that I will well and truly surpass this goal.

And no new craft supplies, even though I continue to make things. I’m looking at what I have on hand with a critical eye and figuring out how to make the most of what’s there. This weekend I realized that I needed to shuffle the plants around again because some of them were outgrowing their space on the shelves, and the only way to really achieve that was to hang a few more. I had macramé cord and some metal rings and set about to make something. I ended up with two very basic, but very functional, plant hangers. Go me!

Overall I would say that I’m feeling very good about how my goals are going this year. I’m making excellent progress and that motivates me to make even more progress. It’s truly a win/win situation.

so there I was, hip deep in jars of jam, thinking I had seen the worst of it, when suddenly…

I spent some time this weekend straightening up and cleaning out both refrigerators, their attached freezers, the big deep freeze, and the pantry. There were some things that were, unfortunately, well past their primed and needed to be escorted off the premises. Not many things, but still. I also discovered some “lost treasures.” If Lancelot were here he would tell you that I am not allowed to buy any more butter, frozen vegetables, sausages, or jams/jellies. And for the love of all that is holy, don’t mention pickles.

But it needed to be done and I’m glad I did it. I feel very fortunate to have the problem of too much food in the house as opposed to not enough. We make a monthly donation to the local food bank as well as random donations throughout the year to other non-profit organizations that focus on food insecurity. It’s something I feel passionate about.

goals update

I feel like I’m doing quite well with my goals right now. My spending has been limited to food and some online course work, we’ve been trying to incorporate more fruits/veggies/whole grains into our diets, and I’ve completed 16 creative projects so far this month. I’m also about half-way through the book I’m reading. I’ve been taking it with me on the days I work on campus and reading while I eat my lunch.

Some of these tie in with my list of “23 things” as well, like finding healthier ways to eat and paying it forward. I’ve also really been trying to get creative with using the stuff I have on hand. We recycle glass, but have to do that separately because the city won’t collect it, so I’ve been trying to think about how I could use some of the various jars and bottles currently in the bin.

And I’m actively working on finishing another professional certificate, I’m almost done with the first one for this year. I’ve talked to my boss about buying a subscription to this service as my “professional development expense” for the year instead of sending me to a conference. I get a lot more out of this kind of experience.

Top Left: Eric has taken to settling down on my chest in the evening while I watch TV. He purrs so loud that Lancelot can hear him from his chair.
Top Right: It’s cold enough here that I’m breaking out the knit shawls
Middle Right: Blackberry Hoisin Pork Tenderloin, Stir Fry Noodles with Cabbage and Carrots, and a Blackberry, Pineapple, and Elderflower Mocktail
Lower Left: Cable it Up scarf I’m making for my friend W
Lower Center: Pippy has been singing to her ducky a lot lately
Lower Right: Pippy and Eric playing under the end of the bed. Pip was nibbling Eric’s tummy.

welcome to 2023

Eric did not enjoy his brief time wearing the dog’s holiday bandana…

We’ve been having a laid back holiday break. The guaranteed time off between Christmas and New Year’s is one of the best perks of working in higher ed as far as I’m concerned. I take time to stay up late, sleep in, and work on projects. We also got to spend some time with family and friends. We made our first full-on proper Christmas dinner. It’s been good.

Today I’m starting to return to a few of my “normal” things because work starts back up tomorrow. I wanted to take a minute to reflect on the year that was 2022, briefly.

We welcomed a niece to the family. We celebrated more birthdays and our second anniversary. We took two lovely road trips. I made a total of 179 projects. And we still (to the best of our knowledge) have not had COVID. It’s been a good year.

In terms of the goals I set for myself last year, I did really well. I was not able to lose weight and I bought a single skein of yarn, but I aced everything else. That makes me really proud.

My goals for next year:

1. No new craft supplies
2. Finish all of my kits
3. Read at least 4 books
4. Establish and maintain habits/routines for exercising
5. Complete at least 5 creative projects each month
6. No new clothes unless I need new underwear or bras
7. No new shoes
8. Lose 50lbs
9. Post on my blog at least once per week
10. Learn how to bake bread from scratch
11. Earn at least one professional certificate
12. Learn at least one new craft skill

Part of the weekly blog post will be an update on goals, to help keep me accountable. In the spirit of full transparency, I did stack the deck just a bit. Prior to the end of the year I purchased a few more craft supplies and some clothes. I also spent some time yesterday disassembling some old jewelry that I don’t wear anymore and salvaged most of it to reuse.

The “word” for next year is going to be FRUGAL.

We have plenty, we want for nothing really. Not saying that we’re wealthy by the financial standards set by many in this country, but we have enough to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, the lights on, and extra to do fun things periodically. By the standards of many places we are wealthy as kings, and that’s not lost on us.

Every month we make a donation to the local food bank. Throughout the year we make donations to other charities. I share my cookies whenever it makes sense, and we’ll continue to do that. Not spending money on things we really don’t need means we’ll be able to help others.

Top Left: Us on Christmas Day
Top Right: Eric the Red, the Most Interesting Cat in the World
Middle Right: Improv dinner – baked pork chops with onions, cranberries, and acorn squash in a whiskey mustard butter sauce
Lower Left: Beaded ornament I made for my friend, Dr. K
Lower Middle: Tiny star earrings I made myself
Lower Right: The finished Celtic Neck Warmer

letting it all flow

Fused glass vase

I haven’t been writing much lately because I haven’t been spending much time with the computer, and I can’t do this much typing in my phone. I might have mentioned this, can’t remember. Anyway, I’ve been doing the whole “living a life worth living” thing here lately and I have to say, I’m seriously enjoying it.

The finally completed Old Shale Cowl

I’ve been spending most of my free time during the week knitting and then on the weekends after errands and chores are done I’ll tinker with jewelry and sometimes Lego. It’s hard to both mess with the phone and knit at the same time so… Yeah. But I’m really enjoying myself and I still have not purchased any new yarn. I’m very excited about that and about my “making stuff” goals.

Blueberry Breakfast Casserole

One of my other goals is to try at least two new recipes every month and that’s been a huge success. So far we haven’t had anything that wasn’t good enough to tweak and try again. That blueberry thing was supposed to be something else, but I didn’t read the recipe quite carefully enough and then ran out of time to get it fixed, so I massively improvised. It’s a cross between a baked French Toast and bread pudding. It was entirely delicious. And fortunately I did write down the ingredients and quantities, so one of these days I’ll write up the recipe.

Puddle of Kitty

The other “excitement” we’ve had recently is finding out that Garth has asthma. He had been doing this dry cough thing at random times, but it didn’t seem to bother him. And then it did. So the vet did some x-rays and it really looks a whole lot like human asthma. Based on how much fun it was to do the x-rays she recommended we start treatment by giving him a steroid shot. The little buddy would not do well with pills. He seems to be better now, though only time will tell.

I’m a firm believer in Art Therapy, and what that means for me is finding ways to express myself creatively, knowing that the outlet helps me to feel centered and really it just recharges my batteries. I shared a picture of a jewelry set I had made on a social media platform and added the tag of “bipolar” to it. And then someone questioned if it was about bipolar, I’m guessing because neither the image or the actual text mention the disorder and I wasn’t talking directly about medications or side effects or how awful bipolar is or any of the other thousand things people tend to talk about.

I replied with basically what I’ve just said here; the creative outlet is how I recharge and so I definitely do see this as related to bipolar. And I stand by that. But it saddens me that there are trolls in every sub-group.

2 down, 10 to go

I didn’t necessarily plan it this way but hey, it’s the end of February! I am not too disappointed that I haven’t been posting super regularly because it’s been because I’ve been involved with doing other things, like life. And adulting. Generally I would say that “life” is much more enjoyable than “adulting,” but not always. But I digress.

Ignore the black lines

I managed to get back to the glass studio this past weekend and had a delightful time. That flower thing will be a “pretty” that sits in a frame on a table. It was fun to make, especially now that I’ve figured out how to work with the glass and work around my hands not wanting to cooperate all the time.

Dinner last night! Red lentils and chicken thighs

Lancelot and I have been cooking together, pretty much every night, and it’s wonderful. We’ve decided it’s probably time to start getting to work on my whole “lose 50lbs by the end of the year” thing so I’m opting for even more health recipes. Never a bad thing really.

I am also happy to report that this month I completed no fewer than 13 creative projects, and that makes me very happy indeed.

an interesting thing happened on the way to the symposium…

It’s odd, well maybe not, but I think it is. I’ve essentially quit Facebook. I still have an account but I don’t have the app on my phone, it doesn’t come up on my work computer at all, and I just don’t check it anymore. Once in a great while Lancelot will tell me about something, usually dealing with our new niece or with a close friend, and I’ll go out there just to see that single thing. But that’s it.

I’ve realized that this has freed up a remarkable about of time for other things. Like knitting. Like watching shows I enjoy. Like talking to my husband.

I am still posting photos on Instagram, and I keep up with a few people that way. But I’ve decided that I’d really rather talk to the people I care about and spend less time just randomly on the internet.

The one real downside to that is I’m spending less time with my personal laptop turned on and so less time reading blogs, and less time writing here. These are trade-offs I supposed.

I feel like an update is in order, so here goes…

I am still knitting and making progress, which is good. We’ve been working on trying new recipes and it’s been more like once a week as opposed to every other week. And I’m still working on various Lego kits that continue to arrive. I think today I’m going to make some tulips and sunflowers. The next “big” kit is a typewriter.

One of our favorite meals for Meatless Monday is Tofu and Black Bean nachos

starting off proper

One of the goals I had set for last year was to explore vegetarian cooking and try to incorporate that into our lifestyle. I actually found that I really enjoy it. We have not switched to an entirely vegetarian diet, but we do make a point of having at least one meatless meal every week. And because it’s catchy (and I think something they did during WWII?) we go with Meatless Mondays. Tonight’s dinner will be an delish vegetarian chili made in the Instant Pot. It’s tasty, healthy, and really quite filling.

Now where is that recipe for BBQ squirrel?

On Saturday Lancelot helped me with a project that’s really needed to be done, and especially not since I’m going to be trying to expand my recipe horizons. That mess spread all over the table was the contents of my recipe box, my mother’s recipe box, and my grandmother’s recipe box. It was hard to find anything because there were duplicates, cards with very sketchy info, and names that didn’t always make sense to us. So instead of filing things in alphabetical order we decided to group them by type, like “Appetizer” or “Drink” or “Breakfast.” It’s in much better shape now and should actually be useful. And yes, there is actually a recipe for BBQ squirrel. My mom said it was pretty tasty.

Aronia cowl made with Sweet Georgia Yarns Tough Love Sock in “Tapestry”

The cowl is gorgeous. I was a little concerned about doing lace with yarn that has so much color, but I think it looks amazing. I’ll be wearing it later this week. Right now I’m focusing my attention on getting the big mohair piece done. I’m envisioning a wide, long shoulder wrap type piece that will have three large buttons and multiple ways to fasten them. Yes, this is kind of a riff on Rectangulum but I have high hopes that it’s going to be amazing.

confessions of a coffee junkie

There was a time when I would go through the coffee shop drive through every day on my way to work and get a mocha. Sometimes I would also go to the coffee shop on campus in the afternoon and get another mocha. I had a $200/month coffee habit and thought nothing of it. I didn’t have the equipment to make what I wanted, or any knowledge of how to make it, so I happily forked out a sizeable amount of money to have someone else do it for me.

My daily habit finally came to a halt when my finances dried up some and there wasn’t near as much money in my budget for frivolous things like fancy coffee. But I didn’t want to give it up entirely. I mean honestly, coffee is like the nectar of the gods, I was not about to cut that out of the picture entirely.

I started experimenting with what I had on hand which amounted to pretty standard ground coffee from the grocery store, a traditional drip-style coffee pot, and various coffee creamer type things. Since I prefer cold coffee I tried different ways of chilling it, sweetening it, how much dairy stuff to add… You get the picture. But all of this in the name of saving some money, a noble cause indeed.

And then I realized something. By not having fancy coffee shop coffee every day it became an actual treat when I did have it.

I’ve continued to experiment and my current coffee routine involves making a large batch of cold brewed coffee using a Rumble Jar. I almost always use a flavored ground coffee and sweeten the whole batch with Splenda. I add 4C of unsweetened coconut milk and mix it all in a 2 gallon container. When I prepare the coffee to drink I typically add a shot of half & half.

These days I limit myself to the fancy coffee only once a week. But I try to really make it count. I’ve been getting different drinks to try to branch out a bit, and I have a new way of counting this in my budget. Coffee is actually much more expensive than when I was getting it every day, but only one drink a week is easier to absorb. It also makes it easier to tip the baristas. I always plan to spend $10 on my drink, so any change I get goes right into the tip jar.