A birthday for the record books

Today is my birthday. I love having a birthday in July. As a kid, it always meant swimming parties and sleep overs under the stars.

As an adult it means margaritas with loved ones on a lovely patio somewhere.

But today, it means finding air conditioning. Because today is a record breaking day here in Seattle, quite literally. It's 4:20 pm and it's 102 at Sea Tac Airport. That may be not that bad to some people, but here in the Pacific Northwest where many (including yours truly) don't have air conditioning, well, it's f*%$&^% hot!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find a happy hour in a lovely air conditioned bar before meeting the hubby for my dinner date tonight.

Stay cool people. Stay cool.

Go Local Challenge: Go Green; Go Vote

I'm a guest blogger again this week over at Living Senses for the Go Local Challenge. Instead of writing about my local veggies, this week I decided to step onto the soapbox with another one of my favorite topics: voting.

If you live in Seattle, you are very lucky to have several green politicians in office, or running for office. But the thing about politics is that you have to do a little research to find out which candidates have the same values that you do, and a political agenda that you feels works best for your family and community.

The upcoming August 18 Primary Election is a very important one. There are several candidates running for Mayor, City Council and King County Executive. The top two vote getters will advance to the General Election in November. Many people say they don't vote in primaries, because they aren't important, but that's just not the case. Not to mention Seattle's green bag fee is also up for a vote.

If you need to learn more about the candidates, you can learn more here.

If you need to register to vote, you can do so here.

Whatever you do, get your green on and go vote!

About ready to throw up the white flag

Remember my first post about the new house? Remember how I mentioned there seemed to be a lot of spiders? I didn't want to spray any type of chemicals in my new house so we opted for another measure. We bought these Black & Decker things that you plug into the wall and they "emit" a high pitch noise that only spiders can hear. It's supposed to run them off. We've got them placed in the TV room, our bedroom and the kitchen.

It seems to be working. I think. Or so I thought. Now, I'm not so sure. I think the spiders may be mocking me.



I went to grab my favorite water bottle to refill it last night. I left it out on the counter to dry out from Tuesday's workout. I had just pulled off the top, which was just leaning on the rim, when I discovered it: there, in my favorite water bottle was a spider! One that had been in it long enough to spin a web. Seriously, these little buggers work quickly! As I started yelling (OK, swearing) the damn thing started crawling up the web as if to attack me. So I drowned the sucker. It was purely a defensive move.



If anyone has any other ideas on how to deal with spiders that don't contain lots of chemicals (although I'm willing to compromise here), I'm eager to hear them.

Go Local Challenge: Loads of lettuce

The garden is still coming along, however there is one star player: the lettuce. It's growing like weeds.

We've got red lettuce, butter lettuce, some other kind of lettuce and I can't think of the name right now and some chard thrown in for good measure.

What's one to do with this bounty? Make my favorite summer salad!

Chicken & Fruit summer salad:

- lots of greens

- a handful of your favorite veggies (I used carrots, local grown tomatoes as mine are about a week out, and there would have been our own grown radishes, but the hubby ate them before I could chop them up)

- fresh fruit (I used blueberries from a local farmer)

- grilled chicken, cooled a bit

- feta cheese

Throw in a yummy whole wheat roll and a glass of local wine and you've got a fabulous summer meal!

Baby project update

When you don't have the Internet to distract you, you seem to get a lot of other things accomplished. That's what I'm discovering as the days seem to tick by with no Internet luck at the new house. (Fingers crossed for Plan B which will hopefully be implemented in the next day or two!)

So, here's my recent FO:

The Eiji Jacket

Shibuki Knits in Malabrigo (it's really quite purple but the light make it look bluish)

Size 0-3 mo.

And next for the needles:

the Lovey Dovey Top from Spud & Chloe

Go Local Challenge: Jammin'

The plan started out simple enough. A friend and I were going to take advantage of my new big kitchen to do a little jamming. We planned. We researched. We emailed and dolled out tasks. We were just going to do three jams: raspberry, black berry and orange marmalade.

But when my dear friend showed up at my place after picking up the fruit, it quickly became obvious we were in for an adventure of sticky proportions! She bought: raspberries, black berries (enough for two batches each), oranges, plums, peaches, pluots and cherries.

So we quickly got to work. And we washed, stirred, chopped, pureed, boiled and stirred some more. The final product: 85 jars of delicious jams and marmalade of various shapes and sizes.

Turns out, when you plan a jammin' session with a friend who grew up on a working farm in rural Oregon, a day of jammin' means something else altogether. Next up, we plan more jammin' this fall with pizza and pasta sauces. I can't wait!

Knitting funk/unpacking mess

I haven't been knitting in what seems like eons. I've carted my projects around from room to room, trying not to think about the unpacking mess that is slowing driving me bonkers.

But that is about to change.


How you ask?


1. The hubby and I have decided we're sick of the mess and this weekend we're finishing up all the unpacking/organizing/cleaning/etc even if it kills us.

2. I've treated myself to some soft and lovely yarn. Because I deserve it.

This should do the trick!

Go Local Challenge: Guest Blogger

I'm the guest blogger over at Living Senses for this week of the Go Local Challenge. Check it out.

Not sure what the Go Local Challenge is? It's all about eating locally, trying new foods/recipes and supporting the farmers around you.

Join the fun and eat great this summer!

Some serious R & R

Are the boxes unpacked?
No.
Is that drawer in the kitchen still scary to open?
Oh yeah.
Am I still missing a box of shoes?
Pretty much.


But for now, that doesn’t really matter (well, the shoes yes, but I’m pulling a Scarlett O’Hara on that one and will deal with it later), we’re off on an impromptu trip to one of my happy places! We’re heading to my family’s place in Cascade for some much needed R & R for a long weekend. No relaxing could be done at the house until the last box was unpacked, so we’re avoiding it all by leaving town for a few days. I’ll be recharging my batteries on the deck, soaking up some sun, catching up on my reading, enjoying the company of my family and just watching life go by.


(Editor’s note: If you’re one of my many Idaho friends who I haven’t had a chance to call and tell you I’ll be in town, sorry about that. But you know where you can find me. And you know there’s always an extra seat on our porch and a cold beverage waiting for you if you stop by!)

A quick update: Surviving the move

I thought I’d share a few insights I’ve gathered in my vast 5-days of being a true homeowner:

• No matter how big the space seems when it’s empty, it’s never big enough when your stuff gets moved in, i.e. my new closet.
  
• After years of living on 4th or 5th floors of downtown apartment buildings, you forget how many spiders do get into your home.
  
• Career note to movers: if you don’t like lifting heavy objects, find a new job!
  
• In the past 4 days I’ve made more trips to the following stores than I truly care to admit: Sears, Home Depot, Fred Meyer.
  
• The hubby is amazed that I haven’t even touched a box in the craft room yet. Honestly, it’s a bit overwhelming and frightening (pic to come later on that one).
  
• Despite the boxes, the mess and the general unorganized chaos that is my home, our garden and back patio are in perfect working order. A sanctuary if you will. And trust me; it’s well needed and used.