I'm praying and knitting really fast (fast for me, I mean). Because it's a proven knitting theory that if you knit faster, the yarn will all work out. Plenty of knitting bloggers have said so, and I'm going to believe them.
See, this pattern takes 400-420 yards of yarn. I have 400. Of course, I didn't bother to check gauge, because the pattern says gauge isn't really an issue. Well, actually, what it says is "gauge isn't crucial but will affect your yardage."I'm going with "gauge isn't crucial" and knitting fast. That works.
I hope.
If I get too stressed out, I'll switch back to the Green Travelling Socks. Socks are always good for regaining your knitting confidence if it's been battered by the Gauge Gorgon...
I've actually gotten a few more rows on the Green socks. I'd been bringing them everywhere, and dang it all -- I'm knitting on those things. I want that bag empty and I want socks. Still - I have reservations about the colorway.
I'm not even sure why I bought it. I must have felt SOMETHING when I bought the yarn. Or was it just the compulsion to buy sock yarn? It's a new-ish Opal colorway, and maybe I couldn't find anything better in the collection. No. That can't be right...
Opal always has a colorway that I like. At least one. Usually several. Usually, MOST of them.
I've gotten compliments on these. Whether it's because I'm knitting socks or people really, really like the color - maybe I'm not seeing it. Maybe I'm jaded with the Plain Vanilla pattern; tired of it again.
But really? What can you do with this colorway? I could have tried Jaywalker, which is a common zig-zag pattern. But those are notoriously tight if you have "biker calves" like I do. So I didn't want to waste my time knitting something that I can't wear. And nobody else in my family would be able to wear them -- unless I knitted them for The Kid, in his size 11 feet... Maybe I should have done that.
That would've been great: the mile-long socks (and that's just the heel to toe)...
The Garden Giveth...
The salad I had for lunch the other day had our home-grown romaine in it.
Let me tell you about home-grown romaine...It's very different from even the organic romaine I've been buying. Of course, you can't see it for the avocado and radishes. But it's got a definitely different texture. It's chewy, kind of like kale. It's got substance where the organic romaine I've been buying seems to be getting more and more "iceberg," in terms of being somewhat insubstantial and watery tasting.
I mean, when I first started eating romaine, it was a really nice lettuce. I could definitely tell the difference from iceberg and even the spring mix I used to grow. Romaine kind of "held up" my salad.
But not lately. It seems like the romaine has transformed and it's not as filling - or nutritious - as it used to be.
This home-grown stuff reminds me a lot of kale. It reminds me in the way I have to slice it rather than it "cracking" -- like with the regular romaine, I can snap the leaves into fork-able chunks. This stuff, I had to kind of knife through. And I loved it. It was filling. It soaked up the dressing and made the avocado seem even creamier. And it has as much snap as the radishes.
Win-win and we'll be growing this again!
Speaking of Food...
This is my take on Nigella's "Pancetta Orzotti." So - I was up late one night, and I watch her specials (often over and over because of the way our TV service works) because they're only a half-hour and usually enough to send me off to dreamland.
This recipe caught my eye because it actually only takes about 15 minutes, and I love risotto. I just don't always have time to make it. Hubby can make it now, since I showed him how. But if he's pressed for time and I'm pressed for time? No risotto.
The best thing about risotto is leftover risotto for lunch or breakfast. If not, then dinner.
You can Google the real recipe. Here's what I did:
Bacon & Pea Orzotti
1 (12 oz) pkg. uncured bacon
2 1/2 c. frozen peas
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 box (1 lb) orzo pasta
4 c. + 1/2 c. of boiling water
1/2 stick butter (unsalted)
Ground pepper
Salt (lightly!!)
Penzey's Tuscan Sunset salt-free Italian Spice Blend
1 handful shredded Parm (fresh, not the crap in the green cardboard container!)
Chop the bacon into 1/4" (ish) pieces. Just slice it right across, and it slices better if it's half-frozen. Place it into a dutch oven or large pot. Saute over medium-high heat till crispy.
Drain off some of the bacon fat; just have about 2-3 tablespoons left. Turn heat down to medium-low. Dump the frozen peas in, right out of the bag. Stir them around to "glaze" them with the bacon fat, and then dump in the box of orzo, stirring to glaze the pasta.
Add the chopped garlic, Penzey's and pepper. Then pour 4 cups of BOILING water over all of this, and clamp a lid on it. Turn the heat to simmer, and set the timer for 10 minutes. In 10 minutes, check the pot. You MAY need to add a little more water; stir it around and see if it's getting toward al dente. Clamp the lid back on and let it simmer for another minute or so, to absorb the water. You want a little bit of "juice" in the pot.
Turn off the heat. Cut the butter into chunks and toss into the pan. Stir around to butter the peas, bacon and orzo. This will be slightly creamy, with the starchy water. Taste it - does it need salt? Add a bit. Remember, the bacon and Parm will add salt, too.
Add a handful of Parmesan, and stir it up. Serve. Yum.
I like to add a bit more Parm on top of mine. Yes, that's my thumb.
So instead of a 50-minute or so journey toward risotto, this took about 15-20 minutes, start to serving. This is definitely a keeper.
NOTES:
**You can use chopped ham with this. If you use ham, you might want to add 2 T. or so of olive oil as you saute the ham, just so it adds that "glaze" and taste of the hammy oil to the dish.
**I will experiment with using shrimp. I think it would work with shrimp, but obviously, you don't want to saute the shrimp that long -- you'll be chewing on a rubber tire. Maybe shrimp AND a bit of bacon? Hmmmmmmmmm.
**Change up the seasonings. You knew I was going with Penzey's, right? Try Sunny Paris or if you want heat, Arizona.
Young Living New Product...
So I'm working on cleaning out a building because we HAVE A PRIEST!! We announced it this past Sunday, so I can tell you. She's legit and we can't wait! She starts August 1st. Anyway, you have no place to shower. And then when I walk at noon, there's no place to shower.
I've got these: Seedlings (our baby line) baby wipes. I figured that if you could use it on a baby's butt, I could use it as a "freshener" after a walk or after you've cleaned out a whole room to make space for the priest's office.
There's 72 wipes in a package. Botanicals and essential oils are tender on your skin AND on baby's tushie. The wipes are nice and thick, so if you are changing a baby? No "wipe failure" while you're cleaning up a mucky butt.
There's no chlorine, alcohol, parabens, phtalates, mineral oil, sulfates, animal-derived ingredients, synthetic fragrances, or synthetic dyes or colorants.
Lavender, marigold, witch hazel, coriander, aloe vera, bergamot, Ylang Ylang and geranium...smells lovely!
I wiped my face and arms down after tackling a huge pile of brush outside and moving stuff around inside. I think I'm taking these to the Joliet Prison when I go there next week to clean up and take some photographs to document the reconstruction of the prison into a new museum.
Interested in cleaning your baby's bum in a natural way? Interested in having another way to freshen yourself conveniently without harsh chemicals? Leave a comment here and we'll chat!
Families Belong Together...
In the midst of the heat wave, I was out photographing at a local Families Belong Together march. It was held in a more-or-less traditionally conservative area. But we march there because we want to normalize protest and prove that everyone does indeed have a voice. As one of the speakers said, "Protest is patriotic." We need to speak up when we see injustice. We need to contact our legislators. We need to be vocal at town meetings and such.
And we need to vote. In EVERY election. They all count.
Lest you think that the community was all "white-bread" liberals, aged hippies and entitled folk, there was a bit of diversity in both the crowds and the speakers. We had a Palestinian woman who's been here for FORTY years... And still, today she's told "go back where you came from." Wait. What? She's a citizen of this country. Oh, yeah. She's brown.
That apparently is the thing. The racists are out in full voice. But they're not going to win. This isn't what we aspire to be.
Unfortunately, this is what we ARE right now. Wait - you think we're not a racist country, right? Well. What's on the news is that we are. No, not the "fake news." Those people would have you believe that everyone that's "not you" is out to get you. That, kids, is called "paranoia." And they feed people this swill. And people suck it up.
Maybe they're afraid of their place in the world. Maybe things are changing, in their minds, at "warp speed" and they can't keep up. They're uncomfortable with the changes happening so they're lashing out and letting their inner beast loose.And that - seriously - is what people all over the world see. The idiots in the red hats, white golf shirts, khakis and brandishing tiki torches.
Welcome to America - version "ick."
I don't know about you, but my family came here. My great-grandpa came over because the Russians were invading Poland. Again. He figured he didn't stand much of a chance as a farmer who'd be conscripted to fight. So he came here. He wanted a better life. He worked in mills and factories his entire working life. He was a laborer and happy to be here. Hubby's family has much the same story. As do a whole bunch of us in this country. Because unless you're descended from the Native Americans, or First Nations or whatever the proper name is? You're NOT a "pure-blooded" American.
None of us are. We are all immigrants. Some of us are closer to our immigrant roots, but all in all, we are a country made up of immigrants.
Feeding the hatred of "the other" is the LEAST Christian thing you can do. And that brings me to the next thing: Firstly, we are not now, nor have we ever been, a nation founded on the Christian religion. Check out this link about the Treaty of Tripoli. It was signed in 1796, and so far, the Current Occupant hasn't reneged on this treaty.
Though I wouldn't be surprised...
Though he's not all that smart, so he probably hasn't had anyone tell him about it yet...
The second President of the United States, John Adams, signed it. Now that's a Founding Father.
Read your history. Or you're destined to repeat it. As you can see, we are repeating an ugly portion of our history.
We are shutting our borders; we are denying asylum, a legal process that has to happen in the country you're going to. Not the one you're in.
I mean, think about it: If I'm seeking asylum in Canada, why would I seek it in Minnesota? I'd want to LEAVE Minnesota to go to Canada and then beg them to take me in, because I'm in fear of my life, or I'm being persecuted. It's a legal procedure.
This whole thing about the families being ripped apart is so not what we're about. It's so not why this country was created. But it's so where we're at. Kids being held ransom for a stupid wall.
The toddler-in-chief is effectively stomping his foot.
And Congress has no inclination to stop him. They're busy dismantling everything they can, in terms of the EPA, social safety nets, those regulations which ensure us a modicum of safety and security, and gleefully handing us over to corporatocracies, which, thanks to Citizens United, are now "people." CU and Mitt Romney... For many of us, activism doesn't come easily. For some of us, we think, "Wait, haven't we done this before?"
Yeah. We have. And it looks like we're going to keep doing it.
Instead of my usual Random Picture at the end, I'm leaving you with a few more shots of the protest. Yes, we were trolled online and a guy in a truck was harassing some of the marchers. But they trouped on and kept their heads (and their signs) high.
We have the right to protest. You have the right to counter-protest. You don't have the right to be a jerk. 
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