Little odds and ends

Today I picked my first butternut squash. I've been waiting for it to get as big as the squashes I buy at the store, but today I just went ahead and picked it. I cut it up, and noticed right away it didn't look like I expected inside. I rationalised that it must be really not big enough, and tossed it in the oven.

A few minutes later, I thought some more. That really didn't look right. I went back outside and checked the tags on my plants. No wonder it didn't look like a squash inside. It's a golden zucchini! The other squash plant, the one that hasn't had a single fruit yet, is the butternut squash. I hurried and took the pan back out of the oven, and cut it up and roasted it with olive oil and garlic. I won't let the others get so big, now that I know they're zucchinis.



I don't pay much attention to Twitter, but I do have the Yarn Harlot's twits on my blog reader. They're fairly interesting/educational/entertaining. In a Twitter sort of way. Today she twitted:

I wish I could magic a dress for this wedding. I hate all my clothes.

It was like she stole it, right from my brain. I only have tonight and tomorrow night before I depart for a well-anticipated family wedding. This is enough time to be sure the laundry is done before I leave, but not enough to create or discover anything new and wedding-appropriate. If I'd had any sewing time in the last month, I might have actually magicked myself a new skirt, but all I've done is launder the fabric.

I do have my airplane knitting all picked out.

A little springtime

Thanks to springer.com, we have a little burst of colour in our office. This promotional gift arrived a few months ago and has been my job to tend. Johnny jump-ups are great in salads, but these are just for visual enjoyment

Terrible Tomato Tragedy!

Before heading out to the farmer's market this morning, I paused at our little garden to check the progress of the heirloom tomato plant from last week's market. Oh the horrors! The plant was nothing but a dying stem! I was forced to buy a new one this week, as well as a few herb plants and two other tomato plants, to compensate. The new tomato plants have now been protected from enthusiastic mowers by tomato cages, and I have high hopes for their progress and safety.

the yarn's in the bag

You can
halt your car
for an afternoon in Utopia
We shall
stop the wars
on those afternoons in Utopia
(Alphaville)

I'm sure it seems trivial, having a lazy Saturday to do as I please, but it's been a very intense spring. I've had the hardest classes yet, these past two quarters, all while work has been the equivalent of an exploding hornet's nest. Getting ready to go to Spain was huge, especially with trying to get my school out of the way in advance, and especially with the passport fiasco that finally resolved itself TWO DAYS before I departed. I know it's wrong to include going to Spain as a major stress-point, because it was lovely, but recall I was there with NINETEEN teenagers, and while I was thrilled to be there, it was no vacation.

So although my school work was not complete, I was able to take Saturday as a Day Off, and do nothing but whatever I wanted to. Really! I cannot express the bliss. The day started out with sending the 12 year old off to an amusement park, get this, with some one else's mother. ahhhhhhhhhh.

Then we went straight to the farmer's market, which was a little slice of bliss. Hot onion-cheese empanadas to snack on while browsing. Fresh salsa from handsome salsa-artists. Dill-cottage cheese bread. Handmade cheddar. Kettle corn. Soap handmade by a sixth-grade teacher who supplements her income every year by selling soaps at the market. I got an heirloom black plum tomato plant, which went straight into the ground at home. And everywhere I went, compliments galore on my stylish purse that was a mother's day gift from my 8-year-old daughter.

Next stop, yarn heaven. I had not one but TWO gift certificates, courtesy of mother's day and birthday, and they were burning a hole in my pocket. Look at those skeins, lined up so neatly in the bag there! I stocked up on Colour4Me, because it has been discontinued, and was at a very very good price. It looks perfect for some of my hat-and-mitten objectives. While it's not sensational yarn, it's good basic coloured yarn, and sometimes I can't find just good plain coloured yarn.

To round out my bargain shopping, I got two skeins of Andes handpaint, from the bargain bin, in lovely pastels. I'm not a fan of yarns that knit up blotchy, but I know I have some good uses for this yarn!

For lunch we dined just on fresh salsa with chips, and bread and cheese. For all that it was a simple meal, it was a little taste of heaven. But no, the fun wasn't over yet. My daughter and I walked to the bookstore for an author event. Shannon Hale, dressed in a Regency gown, spoke for nearly an hour, keeping us all in stitches. It was a little glimpse into the world of Pride and Prejudice fans, where ladies could admit that they've only watched the BBC P&P30 times.

We came away each with a new book, plus an extra copy for a college friend who has written a screenplay adaptation of Northanger Abbey.

You might think that would be all the fun I could stand in one day, but no, there was still a party that night. Catered fresh Mexican food, complete with the best guacamole out there, and 2 slices of flan, might have made it a perfect evening, but the dancing was fun, too. I relived my youthful days by repeating a familiar old ritual: I went and begged the DJ to play Safety Dance. At the moment, his ipod wasn't working. Back in my day, you had to hope the DJ had brought the record, now you just have to hope it's on his ipod! Late in the evening, when I was exhausted from all the dancing to disco and classic rock, he finally put on the Safety Dance. Once that had been danced, we were free to leave.

a rare sight!

The kids and I have been buying cacti at the farmer's market for 4 years now. This is our first big showy desert bloom!