So I saw an ad on Ravelry that featured baseball team colored sock yarn. How could I resist getting some Mets yarn for some authentic Mets socks?





The yarn was dyed by an Etsy seller and is a 75% wool/25% nylon blend. I started a sock with it despite not having finished the 16A socks yet. I don't especially like the feel of the yarn, not after knitting with Shibui which is heavenly. I'm curious to see how the yarn will work up. Early indications appear to be spiraling, which of course means that the second sock will pool.



In other news, these brief glimpses of sunshine have been helping our garden.



These are the peppers in the foreground (not doing the greatest) with some spicy globe basil in between. In the back are the tomato plants with some regular basil in between.



The enormous plants on the left are the zucchinis, and to the right are the pickle cucumbers.


Last night while investigating the plants, we discovered this...

Our first harvest!!

To give you some size perspective, here is the cucumber compared to our butter dish...



And of course we ate it last night with our fried chicken. It was awesome!!!

I've got something better (maybe) for you soon. Here's my favorite comic in the mean time..

Air conditioning is a gift from heaven that allows us to sleep at night without feeling hot and sticky and sweaty. That is all.






















Ok, that's not all... Eddie Izzard at MSG in January!!! I just got my tickets, how about you?!

So yesterday I talked about water, today earth or soil... well sort of.



I gardened!! Our poor tomato plants are having some difficulties with mites and one helpful fix that Kevin read about online was to plant basil near the tomatoes. We were planning to plant some basil anyway, but hadn't gotten around to it (what with all the raining).



So since I'm just sitting around playing scramble and watching soaps, I went to the Home Depot and purchased some basil plants (two sweet and two spicy) and some mousetraps (ack! don't ask!!). When I got home with my purchases, I figured instead of making Kevin plant them after a long day of work, that I would do it. How hard could it be to dig a hole, right?



Now for some reason the tomato plants attract and foster a lot of mosquitoes (big, evil, thirsty ones) and with all the rain, it is even worse. I thought I planned well. I put on long pants, a long sleeved t-shirt, socks, and shoes. Not only was I protected from 'squitoes, but I wouldn't get any sunburn. I planted the basil and I even erected the cages around the tomatoes so they can grow big and wide.



As I was finishing up, I noticed that my ankle itched. I came inside and striped out of my protective layers and noticed that a damn mosquito bit me directly on my ankle bone, which is now huge and red and swollen (not too itchy thanks to a heap of cortisone 10). Then I go into the bathroom to wash the sweat off a little and look in the mirror, and I'll be damned. I have an enormous (about an inch long and quarter inch wide) swollen spot on my chin from another bite. I didn't even notice that one and it doesn't really itch (which I guess is good), just looks like some weird chin/skin disorder.



No more gardening for me. You'll just find me inside sitting in front of a fan watching the Golden Girls.



Hmmm... now I have to think up a post for tomorrow on air to keep this theme going....

As it seems we finally have a day (and maybe a string of days) without water falling from the sky, let's talk about water anyway. (Sorry, knitting is very slow right now.)



About six or so months ago, I found this product at Wegman's.

Celestial Seasonings Wild Berry Chill Zingers to Go


Yummy, delicious, and refreshing. I was drinking them mixed into my water when teaching, mixed into my water with meals, and mixed into my water when working out. If you check out the website, you'll see that there are no calories, just yummy flavors (and a little stevia for a slight sweetness). What I really love about the Zingers is that the flavor was strong and not sickeningly sweet.



But then Wegman's didn't have them anymore (and I never saw them in the crappy, terrible grocery stores in Yonkers). I found them online, but after I ordered I got an email that they were out of stock. I did manage to get a few from online, but that source seems dried up. And while Celestial Seasonings still has them on their website, I just can't find them. And this is a big deal because I HATE DRINKING WATER. I can't drink plain water and water with some lemon or lime juice is ok, but I don't want to drink it. These Zingers got me to enjoy water.



With only 5 little packets left, I headed back to Wegman's Thursday to assess my options. There are various types that add vitamins to your water in addition to flavoring (Emergen-C and One Day Women's) and even ones that add fiber (Benefiber... their commercials are on constantly). And then there are the standard Kool-Aid, ice-tea, and lemonade types.



I wanted something without aspartame (for various reasons), something that was preferably calorie free, and something that came in little to-go packets in a berry type flavor. The no aspartame eliminated most of the possibilities (Crystal Light, Snapple, Wyler's, Ocean Spray).



I ended up getting Emergen-C in raspberry, 4C Totally Light 2 Go in Wild Berry-Pomegranate and a mixed box with strawberry-kiwi, dragon fruit-acai, and something-citrus. I've tried them all over the past couple of days (expect the something-citrus which is why I can't remember what it is).

• Emergen-C... weak flavor, kind of fizzy, horrid after taste. I forced myself to drink it while working out. And I mean forced. It was not pleasant tasting on the tongue or the back of the mouth after swallowing, and the fizziness was making it worse. It recommended about 4-6oz of water, I used 12-13oz. It didn't completely dissolve and there was a sludge at the bottom of the glass. Yuck! Plus it made me burpy while working out... not good. I don't know that I can force myself to drink the OTHER 35 of them.


• 4C Wild Berry-Pomegranate... strong flavor, quite sweet, very tasty. I liked this quite a lot. The pomegranate is the dominate flavor. The sweetness was a lot more than the Zingers, but part of that could be because I was using about 4-5 oz less water than recommended (who owns 17oz glasses?!) I might try splitting the packet between two glasses next time.


• 4C Strawberry-Kiwi... yum, yum, yum!! Same deal as the pomegranate with being a bit sweeter than I'd like. But otherwise, great flavor and highly drinkable.


• 4C Dragon Fruit-Acai... also a big yum and the same issues as above!!

Terby tagged me. Rainy day meme…

What Is Your Current Obsession?
Playing scramble on Facebook. I wish I could stop, but I just play obsessively.

What Are You Wearing Today?
At the moment, I’m wearing spandex shorts, sports bra, and tank top. I’m going to exercise soon. Later, I’ll probably be wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

What's for dinner?
I’m meeting up with my knitting gals tonight, so that means Panera for dinner. Yay!!

What Would You Eat for Your Last Meal?
Something involving French fries, strawberries, hamburgers, avocados, and cheesecake.

What's the Last Thing You Bought?
Two bottles of wine—one white, one red. Oh wait... I paid for the sushi after that... so sushi was the last thing I bought.

What Are You Listening To Right Now?
The Golden Girls and the toaster oven ticking with my breakfast.

If you could go anywhere in the world in the next hour, where would you go?
Somewhere that is warm and sunny. Why is mother nature attempting to drown everyone living in the Northeast?!

Which language do you want to learn?
French or Italian. I took both in school and didn’t get very far.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
It is close to the city, we have a garden, and it’s close to work.

What is your favourite colour?
Blue.

What is your favourite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
I don’t know that I have a particular favorite piece. I love tank tops generally.

What were you doing ten years ago?
I was home from college for the summer. Was that the summer I worked as a telemarketer or as a one-on-one aid for a kid with Asperger’s?

Describe your personal style?
Casual, casual, casual.

If you had $300 right now what would you spend it on?
Clothes.

What are you going to do after this?
Exercise with Wii Active.

What inspires you?
Inspires me how?

What are your favourite films?
Dirty Dancing, Heathers, Clue, Secretary, Spaceballs

Whose work/designs are you inspired by?
I love Nora Gaughan.

Your favourite books?
Russo: Straight Man. (and all of his others).
Pike: A Season of Passage. (and many of his others).

Do You Collect Anything?
Dust? I really hate cleaning.

What makes you follow a blog?
Pretty projects, good writing, sometimes just feel some connection.

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today?
Hmmmm… considering I’ve only been out of bed a few hours, I’m hoping something better happens… but eating my homemade muffin was pretty enjoyable.

What's one thing you dream of doing?
Being interviewed by Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert or Keith Olbermann, or all three!!

Last week, I caught an episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown and he devoted the episode to parsnips. I didn't know much about parsnips except that Kevin made them for us once (roasted with several other root-type vegetables) and I couldn't remember if I liked them or not. Alton described them as sweet and they look like pale carrots, so why not try one of his recipes. Here is my attempt to make his Parsnip Muffins.



Step 1: Gather your ingredients. (Note: I forgot to gather the vegetable oil into this picture).



Step 2: Put almond slivers into the oven to toast. (Note: Alton suggests about 20 minutes.)



Step 3: Begin grating parsnips. (Note: Don't grate too fast or you might grate your thumb. Nobody wants bloody parsnips.)



Step 4: Admire 10 oz. of grated parsnips.



Step 5: Oh crap, the almonds!!!! (Note: Alton was wrong. 20 minutes in the oven burns almonds.)



Step 6: Weigh everything. (Note: Alton does all baking by weight.)



Step 7: Gather dry ingredients into one bowl. (Flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg.)



Step 8: Gather wet ingredients into a different bowl and whisk to combine. (Sugar, eggs, yogurt, oil.)



Step 9: Redo toasting of almonds for 5 minutes. (Yay! Perfect!!)



Step 10: Spray baking vessel.



Step 11: Add parsnips to the wet ingredients...



Step 12: And mix well.



Step 13: Add dry ingredients to wet...



Step 14: Fold briefly to combine, but don't overdo it!! (Note: Alton says never over mix; Alton says step away from the mixture, lumps are ok, clumps of flour are ok.)



Step 15: Spoon into muffin vessel.



Step 16: Sprinkle on the good almonds; bake in the oven until golden brown.



Step 17: Remove from oven and marvel at the poof-age and merger of muffins.



Step 18: Remove from pan. They may not be pretty, but they taste damn good!!!!

"Today is mah birfday. I haz cake."



How old do you think someone who "talks" like this is? 4? 8? 12 with braces and a lisp?



Best I can tell from the fact she's been knitting over 30 years is that she's probably in her 40s if not older. Why would you write like a child? Isn't it bad enough that young people today can't write in anything but text-speak, but now adults on the internet have to talk like morons?



Don't mean to sound curmudgeon, and I know the internet doesn't necessarily breed intelligence, but can we at least try????