I have such nice "blogdom" friends. I initially posted pictures of these Brittany Walnut knitting needles without any text attached. To tell the truth, I accidentally posted them. I had taken the pictures because I was selling them on Ebay. I still got three nice comments about them.  Anyway, I ended up selling this pair of needles for $45. I have two other pairs that I don't plan to sell, even though I also have no intention of ever using them. They're too special. I sure wish I had bought a complete set back when they were $8 a pair, but I didn't know that they would quit making them so quickly.

A Little Taste of Freedom Again

I'm not about to whine about how having an injured puppy can cramp your style since we're so happy he's doing so well, but....we hadn't been to the beach in over a month until yesterday. Rolly got his splint off last week and is doing really well. We still can't leave him though and have to watch that he doesn't get too rambunctious. So, we just took him to the beach with us.

Paige went along with us. (It's amazing what a bored college kid, home for the summer. will do for entertainment.) We had been telling her how good Taco Temple in Morro Bay is and had thought about taking her there, but we would have had to do take-out. Then I remembered that Tognazzini's Dockside Restaurant is doggie-friendly; plus they have delicious seafood too, so that's where we went. Paige and I had the Mariner's Salad, which is packed with bay shrimp, and Russ had a seafood burrito, which looked awesome with whole scallops in it and other delicious looking stuff.

 After a stop at Giovanni's Fish Market for some scallops to take home (Um, the fact that the scallops were from Canada didn't dissuade me from buying them) and some smoked salmon, we headed over to the Los Osos Farmer's Market  for more food purchases. Our favorite purchases this trip: Dark Nectar Roasting Company coffee and Joycup Peanut Butter Cups.

The Dark Nectar guy had about six different flavors of coffee for us to try. I liked everything I tried, but I thought McPhee's Grill Blend was a great name, so we went with that. Paige and I fell in love with the candy last year. It's soooo good, with flavors like: Espresso Sea Salt, Lemon Blueberry, and Olallieberry.

 I get kind of annoyed when Farmers' Markets say, "No dogs," and then people are walking around with their dogs, but we were a little guilty of it this time. Russ carried Rolly the whole time, but I'm pretty sure that wasn't exactly kosher either.

 Gidget was happy to see Rolly home again. She hates riding in the car, or we might have considered taking her along too.

 Did I have something about this being a knitting blog in my title? Well, I'm back to knitting, feverishly even. Last fall, I received the most fun, unexpected gift. It was a "care" package from my friend Julie. It was an endless array of wonderful stuff, but my favorite item was two skeins of yarn from Glinda the Good Wool. It's called Frost in the Vineyard, which is totally cool to me. I've been looking for a pattern that was worthy of this yarn, and, believe me, I mean looked and looked. I finally found the perfect pattern: Ysolda Teague's Scroll Lace Scarf. The pattern is easy although I haven't yet memorized it. I feel like a knitter again!

Nope, Still Not Bored

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 This picture doesn't do justice to how I spent my afternoon today. I made chimichangas with three of my favorite students/ex-students: the Arellano sisters. Several years ago, the oldest sister, Stephanie brought chimichangas to a potluck for our class one day and I've been in love with them ever since. I've described their chimichangas as melting in your mouth  It's not an understatement to say that I'm obsessed with them. I hinted...Ok, begged for the recipe, but the girls said that they were not at liberty to share it since it was their mom's secret recipe although they have often provided me with a good supply of them throughout the year.

 Well, this afternoon, they showed up with all of the fixings for....Chimichangas. Their mom gave her OK for me having a little awesome Mexican cuisine cooking lesson. I've eaten a lot of good Mexican food, but these chimichangas are the best. The recipe actually wasn't very complicated, but it did take some time. I don't think I'd be breaking any confidences by posting the recipe here, and it will help me remember how to make them.

Chimichangas

• two chicken breasts
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 cloves garlic
• one white onion, chopped
• one bunch cilantro, chopped
• one bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 1-2 small cans tomato sauce
• 3-4 cups chicken broth
• one pkg. large flour tortillas (They use Guerreo brand)
• canolla oil, for frying

Poach the chicken in the chicken broth with two cloves garlic, one half chopped onion,  cilantro, and 1 tsp. salt. When chicken is cooked, shredded it, and place it in a bowl with one clove of the garlic, the rest of the chopped onion, chopped parsley, and enough tomato sauce to moisten well without being "goopy." Let the chicken mixture cool, and then place a thin line of chicken across the lower third of the burrito. Fold the bottom of the tortilla up over the chicken and form a tight tube, then pick up the bottom portion of the tortilla and roll the rest of it tightly into a tube. They usually let their chimichangas sit in the fridge over night to set, and then fry them in the morning. They're easier to work with that way.

 I've slowed down a little on my summer accomplishments, but I did finish Russ's socks yesterday. He seems to like them, and kept them on even though it's like 80 degree in the house. I bought Julie's bunny pattern last month, so I'm thinking that that will be my next project, but we'll just have to see. Maybe I'll throw caution to the wind, and start two projects at once.

Not Bored Yet!

I'm pretty sure that I've worked during the summer every summer since I've had kids, which means over twenty-one years. It's not like I've worked all summer, or full days, even, but I've worked! This summer I'm not working. I can't entirely take credit since I wasn't asked to teach a college class, but I didn't even try for a high school session, so I'll congratulate myself on that  bit of good sense. It's only been a week, and I have enjoyed every minute, even if some of those minutes have involved napping on the couch every afternoon.

 As usual, we have a ton of plums, which I don't know what to do with. I'm not interested in all of the work that canning would take, but I don't want all of those delicious plums to go to waste. We always give away a lot to the neighbors, and I usually try to do a few creative things with them. Since I'm pretty much obsessed with Pinterest, I figured that I could get some inspiration there, and I did! I found a recipe for spicy plum sauce from Local Kitchen, and several hours later had some plum sauce that was at least as good as any I've tried from the grocery store or at a Chinese restaurant.

Our first meal with my plum sauce was with pot stickers as an appetizer, but last night we branched out and had it on chicken. It took several hours and a lot of work to make about a quart's worth of plum sauce, but I think I may have to make a couple of more batches.

I've been plugging along with my socks too, and even though I'm a little nervous about running out of yarn, I think I may actually finish a knitting project, something I haven't done a lot of recently...er...this year.

 This is a bad picture of my current sock situation, but, as you can see, I'm very near the end. I've lost the label for this yarn although I think I may have bought it from The Loopy Ewe. If I end up short, I'll have to do a little more investigating. I usually only order from The Loopy Ewe, Webs, or LIttle Knits, so it shouldn't take too much detective work. I haven't been using a pattern, just cast on 64 stitches and started knitting. I've made a promise to myself that this is absolutely the last time, I improvise a pattern and not write down what I've done. I'm coming up on the toe, and I can't remember what I did on the first sock exactly. I don't deserve any sympathy, feel free to roll your eyes!

We're still in love with our little Rolly, even if we are bad beagle parents and were playing on the bed with him and let him fall...and break his leg. He has taken it in stride, but we were so very sad. Bot of us cried over him the night we got back from the vet. It's not a terrible break, but it is his upper femur, which was hard to splint, and we've pretty much had to be with him every minute to make sure he doesn't get it wet, etc.

 We're going on week three and are optimistic that he'll be fine eventually, although Rolly thinks that he's just fine now, and wants to run around and tussle with his "auntie" Gidget, who is always willing to oblige him. She even gets in his kennel with him to take naps.

It's been quite a challenge keeping his splint clean, although we've enployed the "plastic bag" bootie method so that he can potty in the backyard and hang out with kitty too.

A Little Progress

It's not a particularly exciting project, but I can actually post a little knitting progress, for a change this week. Paige has been very insistent that we go up to see her at U.C. Davis to let her meet our new puppy. How long of a trip is that, you might ask. Well, on a good day, it's four-and-a half hours. That was obviously a ridiculous idea because little Rolly is only six weeks old and certainly not house or car broken, but, of course, the reason I have a sock to post today is because I knit for nearly ten hours this weekend, going back and forth between home and Davis. It really did seem like a bad idea, but it turned out fine, and Paige and Rolly were so happy to meet each other. We ended up having a wonderful little "Davis" weekend.

 It was the Davis Whole Earth Festival this weekend, which made us feel right at home since it reminded us of all it was lacking was the cannabis aroma that permeates many Humboldt County activities, but considering it's a college sanctioned festival, that makes sense. Paige carried Rolly around the whole time, and was pretty much mobbed much of the time, with innumerable people asking to see him.

After our jaunt around the Whole Earth Festival, we made a little stop at Let Them Eat Cake, which is a  wonderful little cupcake bakery. It has a kind of French atmosphere inside and the most delicious cupcakes. I had an "illegally blonde" cupcake and Paige had a "fleur de cel chocolate caramel" one. They were worth every calorie. Russ said he didn't want one, but we ignored his attempts at self control and bought him one anyone. It didn't last very long!

OK, so this picture was staged, but there isn't anything cuter than a worn out little beagle. Paige added the little stuffed toy for effect.

We ended our Saturday with a run along the Davis Avenue of Trees. Paige puppy-sat for us for about an hour, and we had a fun run, even though it was about 88 degree at six in the evening. We felt a little limited in our dining choices having Rolly along, but discovered that the Thai Nokon restaurant downtown didn't mind us having a puppy on the patio, so we had a great Thai meal of spicy duck, silver noodles and kum ka gai. Paige even came back to our hotel with us to spend the night so that she could spend a little more time with us...er, I mean Rolly, ha, ha.

Rolly was once again a perfect traveler on the way home, although he wasn't particularly excited about having a collar and leash on when we stopped for coffee at our half-way point.

Rolly

I hardly every get much knitting done this time of the year. With the end of the college semester coming up in three weeks and the high school finishing the first week in June,  I'm almost always struggling to find much free time at all this time of year. And now, I don't anticipate knitting even a little bit until summer vacation because we have a new little member of our family to totally distract me. His name is Rolly, in honor of the fat, little dalmation in 101 Dalmations, who was so hungry he "could eat an elephant." Our little Rolly isn't that fat, but he was the chubbiest in the litter.  We're all officially in love, well, except for Gidget, but she'll come around.

And yes, those of you who know us,  we were looking for a "Rowdy clone." Russ looked at some other breeds, but we just kept coming back to beagles. We also thought about rescuing a dog, but we do lots of other P.C. stuff, and we really wanted a puppy. I'd kind of forgotten how much work a puppy is, but we've had a fun couple of days getting to know him and probably spoiling him too much. That's OK, Rowdy was a well-behaved doggie (for a beagle), and we spoiled him.

Good For Me!

I shouldn't be as proud of these socks as I am, but I am. I had quite a bit of trouble getting started with them, and I'm almost surprised that I've finished them. I really like Spilly Jane's patterns, but this pattern is one of my favorites. I left off her skulls this time, but next time I'll add them back because they are kind of a neat addition to the pattern.

It's a pretty safe bet that I won't be wearing these socks anytime soon, considering that it was 72 degrees today, but I'll keep them lying around the living room for a while just to enjoy them.

Chipotle Carrot Hummus

I was considering entering a recipe contest tomorrow. The Haggin Oaks Farmers Market in Bakersfield is having a "carrot cook-off," and since I eat hummus almost everyday and love variations of it,  I thought of entering chipotle carrot hummus. I cheated and found a recipe for smokey carrot hummus from The Year in Food, which I altered a little, omitting the sesame seeds and adding cilantro and adding my favorite seasoning, Spicely Chili Ancho. The "smokey" flavor is supposed to come from roasting the carrots beforehand, but I don't think I let them roast quite long enough. The end result was really good though. You can just see it peaking out from under the avocado slices. I've decided not to enter it after all though since I'd rather sleep in. It still provided us with a nice dinner tonight. The scrambled eggs are made from a goose egg I bought at the farmer's market last weekend, and I bought the asparagus today. Yum!

Chipotle Carrot Hummus

four carrot, cut into chunks
two cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup cooked garbonzo beans
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. smokey Spanish paprika
1 tsp Chili Ancho
1 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cumin
2 Tbsp olive oil


Chop carrots and garlic in 2 tsp olive oil and roast for 20 minutes. Dump carrots  and garlic in food processor and whirl a couple of times. Then add the rest of your ingredients. You might need a little more olive oil to get the right consistency.

Fighting Second Sock Syndrome

I've been fighting "SSS," and I think I may just win. The weather has been in the 70s this week and is supposed to be about the same next week, so I really doubt I'll be wearing these socks any time soon, but I'm happy to be near the completion of a project after so many false starts this winter. I even started a little bunny too. Of course, I had envisioned sending him to one of the new babies in our extended family in time for Easter, but that was just plain silly. Bunnies don't have to be seasonal anyway.

Of course, I've been shirking my grading obligations in my pursuit of knitting success. I often say that I "never take my laundry to school," making the point that work constantly overlaps on my personal life, but my personal life rarely overlaps onto my work life. Still, those papers won't grade themselves. I guess I'd better let the completion of my sock wait another night!

Spring Break

Good Friday is like the "Sunday Afternoon" of Spring Break to me, besides it religious significance. I've had a wonderful break, but I'm starting to feel that little bit of angst connected with the fact that I have school work to do that I will probably postpone until Sunday night. Oh well, it's been fun while it lasted. Russ and I started the week by spending a day on the coast on Saturday. We went to our favorite spots mostly, including a walk near a beach called Pirate's Cove. When I was a kid, it was known as a nude beach, but now that there's easy access to it, I think those days are gone, if they ever existed to begin with. Some rather obnoxious-sounding twenty something men on the trail asked us if we knew where the nude beach was. I told them that it was just a legend. They were very sad to hear that and had to use the F-word a little more excessively than before as they turned around to go back to the parking lot.

Monday, we went on a hike we've been meaning to go on for years. It's called the Rock Fort Ranch Trail, and it's a popular place for rock climbing. We just hiked. In over two hours, we only saw one person. My cell phone worked though, so I didn't feel too isolated.

 I hadn't anticipated how strenuous the trail was going to be. It was a nice wide trail, but steep most of the way, so steep that it was kind of slow going, even going back down.

 I was thinking that this footprint was a vulture's, but we saw a big turkey later, so that solved the mystery. We also saw some bobcat tracks, which was kind of neat, but it made me wish that maybe we'd brought along some pepper spray in case we ran into some of its larger relatives.

I managed to watch several Netflix movies too. One of them was Bottle Shock, which is about how wine from the Napa Valley beat out French wines in a competition during the 1970s, and ended up helping to start the Napa Valley wine boom. It wasn't a very well-acted movie, even Bill Pullman, who I usually love just didn't seem that good to me. But, it did get me more interested in Napa Vallley wine, and it is the reason that somehow Russ and I left Trader Joe's on Tuesday with a $44 bottle of Grgich Hill Estate Cabernet. We've never come close to paying that much for wine, but I'll say it was worth it, although I'm thinking we better go back to our normal $10 dollar bottles for quite a while.

I did manage to do a little bit of knitting this week too. I even actually finished a sock.  L'amour et la Morte is one of my favorite patterns, even though I'm not really a skull fan, so I just did the heart part for these. Now, if I can just complete the second one, even though I won't be wearing these until next year.

There's Always Something

    Our beloved beagle Rowdy, died a couple of weeks ago.  He was only eight,  but we called him "the Old Man." He had pancreatitis and almost died a couple of years ago, but he's been healthy and happy most of the time since then. On the other hand, we weren't that shocked when the vet said that he had it again and that his kidneys were failing, but we were so sad.. .He was Kai's dog, and they were a perfect match for each other.  I don't really want to write about it too much, but since I've used this blog to record milestones, I wanted to at least mention Rowdy's passing. He was an incredible dog!

I told Russ that I was even going to miss saying the name "Rowdy." Kai chose it because it was the boy's dog in Summer of the Monkeys, a book by Wilson Rawls, the author of Where the Red Fern Grows, two books we all loved. I do still get to use it a little though. The picture above is of Rowdy Jr., Rowdy's son. A good friend owns him, and we're dog sitting him this week. It's been nice having a Rowdy "Look-a-Like" around, especially for his sister Gidget, who's keeps looking for Old Rowdy everywhere.