Cattywampus

The after

Well I am over and through the surgery.  I have to say that all in all, it was a VERY unpleasant experience.  Not that I expected otherwise, but it's all still a little fresh to have much else to say about it.

According to the doc and other people who know people who have had this surgery I am doing really, really good - healing fast and acting more myself than is generally expected but from my point of view it feels tediously slow and painful.

I have a lot of pain in my face, of course, and I am still a bit swollen, and a random migraine to make it all that much more fun - and let me tell you, the tylenol I am allowed to take does not TOUCH the migraine - but other than that...I'm fine.

I go back to the doc tomorrow for a check up and whatever else it is they do, I'm not sure, and of course back to work on Monday.

I am still hoping to get to MDSW on Saturday, but right now my stamina runs out after about a 10 minute walk, so I will have to have vast improvements by the end of the day tomorrow to make me feel like it's a sane thing to do.

On the other hand, I'm considering throwing it all to the wind and going anyway.  I am grown woman, I know what the consequences will be, and if I decide I'm willing to go and have fun with my friends knowing full well I'll feel like total crap come monday because of it, well, then I think that's okay.

I think sometimes in life you have to burn the candle at both ends and just suck it up and deal with the consequences.  

No knitting to show...maybe next post.

Lots to tell...Sunday

We took the dogs on a nice long walk this morning, it was already hot.

These spots of sudden beauty in the city can really take your breath away because they are so rare, and that much more beautiful for being so rare.

I made gnocchi this morning.

(riced potatoes)

And we had gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce for lunch, which is way more high maintenance than I usually do for lunch, but the gnocchi were fresh, I had to make them!

It was MUCH easier and less time intensive than making pasta and they were SO much lighter and fluffier than store bought gnocchi.  And the bonus, I froze them so we have 4-5 meals of fresh gnocchi ready to go!

I finished my first spotcheck sock.

I like the inside out picture.

The fabric is a little stretched, I'm hoping it will loosen up when I wash them.

Either way, they'll be super warm & cozy.

We went to a Soap & Suds at a local soap place, Duross & Langel (LOVE their soap, btw).  There was a beer tasting & then there was soap made with the 'notes' of the beer.  

I would have actually liked to know more about the soap making process and less about the beer, but it was free & a fun way to spend an hour on a Sunday afternoon.

Tomorrow I am going in for my sinus surgery at 6:00 a.m., at least that's what time I have to be at the hospital.  I'm nervous and not at all looking forward to the recovery period, but hopefully it will help with my sinus troubles and it will have been worth it.  And hey, this time next week I will have gone to MDSW and THAT is something to look forward to!  (assuming I'm feeling well enough to go, that is)

I will be offline for a few days until I'm functional and no longer in a drug induced wacked out state, so I won't be responding to comments on this post, but I will sincerely appreciate any happy thoughts you send my way!

ooh, and one last thing - this cracked me up.

Lots to tell...Saturday

Yesterday, in the 90 degree weather, we drove up to New Hope, PA, realizing we might have made a mistake when we drove through Lambertville and realized it was the Shad Fest.

Yep.  A shad fest.  And no, I do not know what a Shad is, or why they require a festival, but I believe it's a fish of some sort.  We agreed with this sign.

Although granted, we didn't try it to make that judgement, so possibly it's our loss.

We walked through New Hope for a few hours, wandering in and out of stores and enjoying the scenery.

It was SUCH a pretty day.

Wouldn't that be amazing in a back yard?  It's a good thing I don't have one so I can't even be tempted.

I can't even think of a good caption for this one, it makes me think of Blade Runner for some reason.

I got a new mug to take to work.  Somehow I feel like if I drink out of a mug that makes me happy it will make showing up at work every day a little bit easier.

When we got back we went to Tria for a late afternoon drink.

It was just too nice to stay inside.  To be continued with Sunday.

Spring/one of the most gorgeous weekends ever

I had to work for a few hours Saturday, which turned out to be no big deal because I got to take Friday off for going in Saturday.  Friday it was in the low 70s and gorgeous.

My mother arrived around 1 p.m., we started off the weekend by lunching at a delish Jewish deli and then going to jeweler's row.  My grandmother left me a ring with some small diamonds in it.  The diamonds were from my grandfather's retirement pin from Dupont.  The ring wasn't at all my style, so I wanted to do something with them so I would be able to wear them.  We had a recommendation from Jennygirl for a good shop to start with and the gentleman was most helpful, courteous, and did not once tell me that it would be cheaper to buy a piece with new diamonds in it than to get these set (which is the case, but it doesn't matter, that's not what this was about).

Sort of randomly last week I ran across an aquamarine that I had won at a silent action YEARS (10+) ago, I brought it with me just in case.  With my mother and DH helping me, we selected a necklace pendant with the aquamarine set in an east/west setting with the tiny diamonds in the bail.  It is a custom piece, so it will take about a month for me to get it back, but I am really pleased with the whole thing.  I know when I am wearing it I will feel like my grandparents are watching over me.  

We spent the rest of the day Friday wandering around the city enjoying the day, it was just gorgeous!  

Saturday after my work event we met and went to the Franklin Institute to see the Galileo exhibit.  I say, if you're a Galileo fan, go for it.  If not...bring a phone with internet capability so you can google everything.  The exhibit was good, but they expected a baseline of knowledge (much more so than one might acquire in HS history) about the Medici family, Galileo, their place in history in general, Italian history, and what ON EARTH all those fancy little machines really do.  

It was fun to walk through, but I have to say I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had really understood more about what I was seeing.

On the way back we stopped at the Comcast building.  They may be a monopoly preventing other internet providers from getting into the city, but they sure do have a cool building.

I think the fake people are absurdly cool.

The are walking across rafters (very high up) in the lobby.  I have no idea why, but it's really cool.

On the way home from there we stopped for gelato at Capogiro, I had lime cilantro.  OUT OF THIS WORLD.  OMG I love that place.

We wrapped up the night with dinner and a movie at home.  Sunday we started off right by going to Beau Monde for crepes, then spent the day knitting, making project bags (tutorial coming, I haven't forgotten!), and of course making pasta.

Over the course of the weekend we ate a lot of good food, not too much, a just right amount, walked 6 or 7 miles, knitted, sewed, and just had a lot of fun in general!

And I even managed to make some progress on my test knit for Anne.

I am 5" into the body...my surgery is next monday.  I have miles to go before I sleep...

And Duke, the best cable needle holder EVER.

The Pasta

It was touch and go there for a while, for one thing, metal bits kept coming out in the dough.  For another thing, we couldn't get the pasta maker to stop walking all over them place even with the clamp.  (any tips?)

After a while we had a system going on.  There is no way I'll be able to do this by myself, I will have to recruit DH next time.

DH documented for us.

Making pasta takes a lot of counter space, counter space which I do not currently have.  There was overflow.

The dining room table was completely covered by the end.

Was it worth it?

Homemade bread w/garlic & olive oil, homemade pasta, homemade proscuitto, tomato & cream sauce.  

I'm not sure if it was worth it, I have to assume the first time through anything is more complicated than subsequent times, so I'll let you know after the next go round.  Either way, it was pretty damn good.  (if I do say so myself)

Pasta!

I haven't had much knitting to report lately.  I have two of the sleeves now, one done completely correctly.  I have a few inches of the sweater body done, but as this is the kind of knitting I must sit down and pay attention to (and not have too much wine), it has been getting lost on the weekends and my weeknights have been too hectic.  I feel that I am a Bad Testknitter, and I hope Anne will forgive me for taking longer than I originally thought I would.

One of the things I have been busy doing that is NOT knitting, is taking a Handmade Pasta class.  That was tonight, and ooh boy was it fun!  It was mostly watching her demonstrate technique, though there were pieces for volunteers to help her do.  

The set up is in the Reading Terminal Market & is called La Cucina at the Market, she offers quite a few classes and I am definitely interested in taking more!

The set up is really cool, b/c the mirror allows to see everything she's doing from the top, so you can get a better feel for what's going on.

I (theoretically) learned how to make sweet potato gnocchi and fettucini, but I'm not positive I can reproduce it, but since we learned I am a cooking overachiever in the recent Pecan Cake incident, I am sure I will try.  The results?  Anybody's guess.

Also, since I am a gemini, or maybe just because I'm me, I must do this RIGHT NOW.  I must go out and buy pasta making implements TOMORROW and I must try to make some this weekend!  This is partially because of an instant gratification problem and partially b/c I'm afraid if I don't try it immediately I'll forget stuff.

Here is a pick of the fettucini with a mushroom cream sauce.  YUM!

My mother is coming to visit tomorrow and we have a packed weekend planned (pasta making included), so I'm sure I'll have some interesting stories to tell at the end of the weekend.  I do have some pretty pictures of spring & some funny pics of the dogs in the park to share, I just haven't had the energy to edit them and get them in here.  Soon.

Screw up

I am test knitting this gorgeous highlander sweater for Anne.  And I am very excited.  I am trying to knit it within a fairly tight deadline, sometimes I can finish things pretty fast, but a textured sweater at 5st/in in 3 weeks is a pretty hefty demand given I don't have any 3 day weekends coming up.

But I'm game, I really enjoy working with Anne, being a part of the process, and it's a beautiful sweater, I am looking forward to owning it!  And just for Anne I am knitting my first ever adult sized sweater in pieces that will require seaming, THAT is how much I like working with her.  

So I have finished a sleeve of the sweater in the lovely Briar Rose Glory Days - here's a good shot of the colors.

Except much, much darker, it really looks like a mottled deep brown/black in real life.  

Here is my sleeve:

Can you see my screw up?  Ugh.  It kills me.  I was exhausted today after work but I REALLY wanted to finish this sleeve and THIS is what happens.  It figures.  I was too annoyed to make any decisions immediately though.  I decided to knit the rest of the sweater and then decide if I wanted to rip it out and redo it.

The good news?  My gauge is on target!  

Happy Monday.

A First

We are having guests over for dinner tonight and I already spent 3 hours cooking.  Sheesh.  It'll be worth it as most of the prep work is done and dessert is ready, but still.  I feel like I lost my saturday.

But I didn't sign on to whine.

I made my very first ever not from a box cake today!  I've had a block about cakes.  I had never made them not from a box and I like making things from scratch so it seemed like a cop out to make them from a box, so I just didn't make cake.  We have dinner parties and I make pot de creme or creme brulee or mousse or souffle or anything but cake. 

For some reason I decided this weekend I was going to make a cake.  I found a recipe here - Praline Pecan Cake - YUM.  Also, I don't like chocolate cake.  I like chocolate everything else, but not cake, so that was another challenge.  Then I tried to buy cake flour, which they don't sell in Philadelphia apparently.  DH went to the store yesterday and came home with pastry flour, which said it was good for cake, but then I realized it was whole wheat and that seemed suspicious, so we went to the other store and still nothing.  

It made me nervous.  I know what happens when you put more garlic into a dish, or extra cayenne, or more diced tomatoes, or use zucchini instead of broccoli.  But I have NO idea what happens when you start swapping out flours in cake baking!

But that was my only choice, so I went with it.  I made two cupcakes with the batter so we could try it and verify that it wasn't gross before serving it.  I made the cakes, held my breath while I turned them over and they fell right out of the pans.  I made the cream cheese icing.  I made the brandy syrup to brush on the cake.  I made the pralines to put on top of the cake...I am thinking maybe I could have just made a plain vanilla cake and that would have been okay too, but it's too late now.  And really, why start small?  

Then I put parchment paper under the cake so I didn't get icing on the plate.  Heaven only knows where I saw that, but it's a Bad Idea.  How are you supposed to center the cake on the plate while removing the paper????  mmmmmhmmmmmmmm????  That's what I thought!

DH was documenting b/c I was freaking out b/c I'd never iced a cake before, here is my cake adventure.

Ta-da!

okay.  it's not perfect, but I am pleased nonetheless.  it was hard work!  I blame the brandy syrup and pralined pecans for the extra hard work.  And as long as it tastes like the cupcakes it'll be darn good!

this is what icing the cake  looked like from Pixie's point of view.

awww, cute little thing.  such torture!