vacation

Well I am off to New York for a month of learning and inspiration. I probably wont have to much to report here but if I have some thoughts to share I will. Hopefully I will be able to make a lot of headway on my skirt during that time so I can at least show you a completed panel. But then again I am not sure how much time I will really have to just knit. 

Today was pretty productive. Managed to clean the entire apartment (even the places that don't normally get cleaned). I cant remember the last time I saw this place looking so sparkling. I had one of those moments when you realize just how much of an influence your mother is on you. She always drove me crazy with house cleaning before vacations. I didnt understand the need to come home to a clean house. Now that I am on my own I thoroughly understand it. I couldnt even imagine coming home next month to my apt looking the way it did a few hours ago. Well maybe that will turn into motivation to keep it clean more regularly. Maybe. We will see. 

Thats all for now. Have a wonderful weekend!

pie

It's already 4 in the afternoon and all I can say of my day is that I made a pie. Well, it is in the oven cooking....

It's a sweet potato pie in a whole wheat crust. I have been frantically trying to find a good pie crust recipe (or maybe just acquiring enough practice). I think this one will taste good but it was a real pain to get into the dish. The sweet potatoes are from my farm share and oh are they tasty. I can't wait for it to come out of the oven and cool down so I can try it. 

I leave for New York tomorrow so now I have to spend some time cleaning up the apartment and packing my suitcase. These are chores I only like to partake in when I have grueling homework staring me in the face, which, thank g-d, I dont have at the moment. So I have to muster the desire to put my computer down and get off the couch in some other way I suppose. I would much rather just pick up my knitting and continue to gaze out the wind to the forest in my backyard, all covered in the white of our first snow. 

First snows and hearty soups

The semester is finally over and there is a full six weeks to enjoy of no papers, tests or homework. So what did I do with my free time? All those things I have been dreaming about doing the last four months. My day started by making necklaces with a good friend of mine. Ribbon and Beads. Im pretty pleased with how it turned out and cant wake to make a few more. Then I came home and made a big pot of veggie soup. I subscribed to a local winter farm share this year. Its my first time and I am loving it. Yea, the choice of veggies is pretty limited, but they are all so good and make for wonderful soups or roasted with fish. The plan for tomorrow is Sweet Potato Pie, assuming I can get over the hurdle of making crust from scratch. 

Its not really the first snow cause we got about the same amount last week but it feels like the first snow, maybe its just the first snow I have really been out in. But none the less, it is snowing out right now and it is SO beautiful. I love the first snow. All white and so special it might be holy. I love the way the fresh snow crunches beneath your feet and leaves the whole world left in the feeling of tranquility. I am getting ready to spend the winter indoors (stocked up on tea, blankets on the couch, new set of candles and a freezer stocked with yummy homemade foods dying to thaw and be consumed. 

As far as the knitting scene is presently concerned, its coming. I am officially on my second big block in the back of skirt (maybe 1/5 finished). at this point im hoping to be able to wear it by next winter, but others have higher hopes for it. My socks are still not complete.  I think that this winter chill might bring about the motivation to put a toe on the second one though. 

And with that I think that I will go curl up in my bed under my many quilts and relish in the fact that I dont have to wake up tomorrow until 3pm if I dont want to. :)