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January 26, 2009
Hack, Slash, Recycle.
So Nathan's never really gardened before. I've been subtly encouraging him to take an interest in it in the way of remarking loudly and often how lovely it would be to have a huge patch of mint somewhere, and by reading Beverly Nichols aloud.
He can't tell a Pieris japonica from a Malus sylvestris, but he has so far shown great enthusiasm for uprooting shrubbery, mowing and edging the lawn, and tearing down unsightly fences.
No, really. Remember that godawful fence? Here it is, once more. The xylosmas from hell are still there, and you can see the poor scraggly tree by the chimney, as well as part of the horrible juniper hedge.
Yeah, fear Destructo Man.
No more xylosma, no more fence. Rest in peace, sad scraggly tree that should not have been planted there, and GOOD RIDDANCE, junipers. Their carcasses will be gone when we get an empty yard waste bin.
But it gets better. So Nathan was gamely digging up xylosma stumps yesterday (he had to borrow an axe from Tom), when I mentioned that it would be cool if he built me a compost bin. "Well, go find me some plans for one on the Internets," he said. I did, and within a few hours he'd made me a compost bin out of the slats from the old fence.
It isn't the Taj Mahal, but I love it. We will make a gardener out of this man yet.
Posted by Kate at 3:14 PM
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January 24, 2009
smart smart smart
I fixed that thing. I am a genius. Film at eleven.
Posted by Kate at 9:04 PM | Comments (1)January 22, 2009
Oh, noes.
I've been sitting here ALL afternoon working on the Blanket of Doom, and just now I discovered this massive mistake. I can't even imagine what it might be. There's just this...snarl.
Do I frog 5" of knitting? It's about eight hours' worth of knitting. I will try to drop down and try to correct the rogue stitch first, but I'm knitting with two strands of alpaca in a slip-stitch pattern. Last time I tried dropping down to fix a mistake, I made an even bigger mess and wound up frogging.
These photos do not accurately convey the horribleness of this mistake.
You can see the wonky loops on the slip-stitch side of the fabric, just over my thumb.
And here, the badness is about three stitches to the right of where the new yarn has been joined.
This is for a wedding gift. It really ought to be perfect.
I need a drink.
Posted by Kate at 4:24 PM | Comments (4)January 21, 2009
Ciao, Bush! No, Seriously.
I'm so proud. And hung over. (Pardon me, we're calling today's headaches "Hope-overs".) I went down to the Empress to watch the inauguration yesterday morning, and about half of Vallejo wound up in my house afterward. It was awesome.
Today I watched clips of the coverage I missed while being a good drunken hostess. Damn. DAMN. I'm so proud.
Posted by Kate at 10:16 PM
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January 19, 2009
Ciao, Bush! Part Deux - The Attack of the Vigorous Crowbar
After some breakfast and a stimulating adult beverage, we got to work.
The project du jour was to sand and put a coat of primer on the newly revealed window box. Here's Nathan, fixing the loose bits of trim.
I got out the painting supplies, and Nathan said, out of nowhere, "I think I'll take down that third Xylosma." We were going to wait until next weekend, since we've filled up two yard waste bins and there's nowhere to put the debris. But who am I to stop a man with a saw?
So gloomy, so dark.
I finished the painting and brought Mr. Destructo a beer. I oohed and aaahed over the lovely afternoon light that was now shining in our yard. We discussed the nasty, rickety low fence and decided that eventually we should tear it down and move it over a foot and plant roses on the sunny side. More beer was consumed.
Suddenly, a determined glint in Nathan's eyes appeared, and he scuttled off into the garage. He reappeared with a hammer and a crowbar. "That fence is history," he announced. Before I had a chance to wrap my head around this revolutionary statement, he advanced on the fence, crowbar blazing.
And there was light.
Posted by Kate at 5:46 PM | Comments (6)January 18, 2009
Ciao, Bush!
I'm not sure I'm ready to do what they're asking me to do for International Shed Your Bush day, so we're going the other route.
Remember the giant Xylosmas obscuring the front of the house? This is the photo from the real estate listing. By the time we got our mitts on the house, the bushes were even taller. There was one shoot that reached all the way to the top of the eaves.
When Gen and Rosanne and Nate were here before Christmas, we put up the Christmas tree and realized that you couldn't see it from the street. Although it offended my artistic sensibilities, Nate and Nathan and I hacked down the middle xylosma. It was very satisfying work, and the street got a great view of the tree. That left one stubby plant in the middle, flanked by two awkward, asymmetrical shrubs of doom.
Here's what it looked like this morning.
And here's what it looked like after I went to town with manly cutting implements.
Better, right? You can actually see the planter box. And you can see the house number! Of course, it's such an ugly set of numbers that Nathan immediately got out the drill and removed them. Also, you can see clearly that the windows are HORRIBLE, and that the house desperately needs to be painted.
But now it's not pitch black inside the house. Now I have to rip out the existing xylosma at the right, which will let a ton more light into the yard. Also, the difficult task of deciding what to plant is looming. Any suggestions, faithful readers?
Oh, and thank you SO MUCH Tom and Chris for the loan of the lawn mower!
Posted by Kate at 3:52 PM | Comments (5)January 17, 2009
Look, Maw, She Garnished!
I made the oil on Thursday, and it look me most of all day yesterday to make the pastry, marinate the lamb, prep all the filling, cook the filling, and form the pastries, but once these little bastards were out of the oven I remembered that the effort is SO worth it.
SO lamby, so lemony, spicy, cilantro-y, so delicious. And my pastry didn't suck! And there are a bunch in the freezer! Hooray!
Posted by Kate at 10:34 AM
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January 16, 2009
Why It's Handy To Be a Drunkard, Part 27
Cookie cutters are for chumps.
Posted by Kate at 6:58 PM
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January 15, 2009
Optional: Finely Grated Zest of One Bad Cat
Ever wonder to yourself, "Self, I wonder what a pound of Szechuan peppercorns looks like"? Well, wonder no further. (Cat included for scale)
The San Francisco Herb Company was the closest place to Nathan's office that sells these wondrous brown morsels, but they only sell things by the whole pound. If anybody wants some, please come over and I'll give them to you.
I'm making a blast from the past, Barbara Tropp's Lemon Chili Oil from the China Moon Cookbook. The siren song of Lemony Lamb-ony Turnovers, as we like to call them, was too great. They are a gigantic pain in the ass to make, what with the lemon oil and the pastry dough (always difficult for me), but they are the most delicious things in the world and I've been craving them for about 10 years or so.
Now the house is elegantly perfumed with chili, peppercorns, lemongrass, ginger, garlic and lemon peel. I am so hungry that I may start gnawing on the cats.
January 11, 2009
Fish 2.0 and the Pirate Hat of Doom
#18 - Knit pirate hat
I knit this bad boy for the infamous Seadogs Christmas party/gift exchange extravaganza. It was, as advertised, more fun than a barrel of monkeys. I came away with some excellent pirate beach towels, and Nathan has fabric for a Hawaiian shirt that someone's going to make for him.
I've been wanting to knit this hat for years, but was afraid of all that Fair Isle knitting. It took me about two days to knit, and it's not too bad. The tension isn't all beautiful and flat, but it is consistent.
I also knit another fish hat - this time with some Artyarns Ultramerino 8 that I've had in my stash for about 4 years. My god, it was amazing to knit with, and it made a great fish.
Now I get to knit something for ME ME ME ME. Right?
p.s. #65 - I got a new bra. It fits.
Posted by Kate at 11:08 AM | Comments (4)January 8, 2009
Progress Is Not My Middle Name
I haven't done many of the 1001 things yet. I am, as always, a slacker.
#18 - the We Call Them Pirates hat is almost done. The body took me a day to do, now I'm working on the lining. I fear that it will be too small for an adult's head once it's lined. I'll post pictures when it's done.
(Not on the list, but I made another dead fish hat. It is even more awesome than the first one, largely because it's made with Artyarns Ultramerino. Droooool.)
#28 - I knit a Saartje's Bootie on Sunday. If I knit the other one and got some cute buttons, I will have successfully knit one thing for a random baby.
#31 - Watched "The Lost Weekend". Not my favorite Oscar-winner.
#92 - *I* haven't done this yet, but Nathan got Adam Savage from Mythbusters to reply to one of his tweets. I am very envious.
ETA: Nathan is quite right, he spent a huge chunk of last weekend organizing the garage. It looks fabulous.
Posted by Kate at 10:53 AM | Comments (4)January 2, 2009
Oscar Challenge: The Lost Weekend
or "All About Enablers"
So the subtext is supposed to be that our intrepid drunken hero is a drunk because he's, like, gay and stuff. In the first scene, his brother is looking for his secret hidden alcoholic stash in the closet (GET IT, IN THE CLOSET), but there's not a subtle moment after that.
Seriously, in his worst moment of delirium, a bat flies in the window and eats the mouse crawling out the wall. And then Mrs. Reagan comes in and distracts him (Drinking is bad! Here, take this cigarette!), and all is happy and, er, gay.
Fine acting, decent plot, but it was a silly morality story minus the moral with a ridiculous deus ex machina. Three stars out of five, largely because Edith Head's clothes are always worth watching.
p.s. We are out of rye.
January 1, 2009
Why Am I Not Too Drunk To Knit?
Actual conversation:
Me: Is there anything more adorable than a kitten chewing on yarn? Even yarn that cost 23 dollars a skein?
Nathan: No, it's really adorable.
Me: (knit knit knit) Hey, my yarn is broken. And wet.
Kitten: Nom nom nom.
Posted by Kate at 2:00 AM | Comments (0)