Category Archives: out of doors

a glimpse.

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Much more to come once I recover from a weekend that involved 1600+ miles of driving, 13 pies, several sips of moonshine, and more love than I know how to describe. For now, a few photos — of Agnes, bound off (but sans pockets). I left her here because she was unfinished, but it was cool in the mountains, and I certainly would’ve worn her.

Also, a glimpse of early morning. A handful of wedding guests stayed in rental houses near the top of the mountain where the festivities occurred. I was the lone early riser, which meant that on Friday and Saturday morning I had a beautiful view, pieces of “test” pie, and my french press all to myself. I even managed to get some solid work done.

Today I have plans to unpack, cuddle with Boh, and recover from yesterday’s very long drive. Stay tuned for photos of all of the pie!

i feel the need, the need for speed.*

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Or handspun.

Maybe it’s the weather, but all I want to do is knit with squishy handspun. And I’m okay with that. A few days ago, inspired by Lisa’s latest, I cast on another seaman’s cap — for me! I think this is handspun from Pigeonroof Studios fiber, and it is lovely. (*If Top Gun pilots were knitters, this is how fast they’d be knitting. Maybe.) I’m knitting the medium size (co 96) on US 7 needles, and I’m really enjoying how the greens and browns and yellows are interacting. Cool, damp, and rainy again today, which means I’d love to have a handspun hat on my head very soon.

Boh’s (mis)adventures over the weekend meant that I never shared some photos from last week’s research trip here. All of these (including the seaman’s cap photo above) come from my iPhone — I’m consistently impressed with the quality of the camera, which makes it easier to snap pictures without feeling like a tourist. Like when you really like the new chairs in the library you used to study in. (Note: this library has been seriously renovated since I graduated.)

My pedicure from a family wedding a few weeks ago — which, let’s be honest, is the only time my toes are painted. I looked through all the color options, and settled on this shade of deep burgundy/red/brown, partly because I needed a dark color to hide my black-and-blue toenail (TMI?) and partly because of the name. Lots of nail colors have frilly names, but this one spoke to me: Mrs. O’Leary’s BBQ. Love.

Alright, time to get to work. It’s already a few minutes after 9. Boh is snoring, which means I should be reading…

working like a…

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…well, not like this dog:

To be fair, before he fell asleep on me like that, he did spend some time doing this:

While I did this:

This summer session of TAing is keeping me very busy, but I should be back to regular blogging after it concludes next week. I have been trying to dip my feet in the lake each evening after a full day on campus — and last night I may have woven in the ends of my stripey shawl. I attempted what I’ll call “half-assed blocking” — I soaked it, and then instead of clearing off a table, finding my blocking squares, and pinning it out, I just tried to stretch it a bit and then draped it over the towel bar on the shower door. More on that when it’s dry!

(Oh my goodness, I just hit return and then started to sign this post as if it was an email. Sigh.)

FO: rhinebeck cauldron part 2.

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This is the second half of my Rhinebeck/Cauldron experiment, 188 yards of squishy 2-ply (in 150 and 38 yard skeins). My initial plan was to make this into another eternity scarf, and while I’m not sure if I’m going to to follow that pattern exactly, I think this yarn still wants to become a big squishy ’round the neck sort of thing. I’ve got 400 or so yards total to work with, which gives me lots of options. What would you make with this? (Boh clearly has no opinion, as evidenced by these photos.)

Did you see the curry recipe Andrea posted last week? I made it on Sunday night, using tofu that I browned in butter instead of the seitan meatballs. Mine is a very different color (due, I think, to my use of a can of coconut milk instead of coconut flakes rehydrated in water), but I’m guessing it was the same level of deliciousness. Oh my. So good, so easy, so going into my kitchen recipe binder.

They are hard to see, but I’m pretty sure that this is a mother Merganser and a whole slew of ducklings. A few are riding on her back, and the commotion you see here is all the rest hurrying to keep up!

And here is Boh, happily lounging on the dock next to the picnic table. It is supposed to be HOT today, so I’m guessing we’ll find ourselves out by the lake this afternoon, though not until after we do a lot of work around the house. My parents brought a truck full of furniture yesterday — things from their basement and from my grandmother’s house (she just moved into a smaller apartment in an assisted living facility), and they’ll be here for a few days to work and play. We have plans to plant some containers full of herbs, replace the shower head, decide about a dehumidifier for the basement…things like that. I’ll have lots more lake house pictures soon!

research.

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On Sunday, we went to the zoo to do research. (My friends and their children were so kind to indulge and accompany me.)

The penguins? Well, these guys were just for fun. (Side note: It has been years since I’ve been to a zoo, and I can’t remember the last time I went with little kids. Watching them was half the fun!)

After our research excursion, we stopped for lunch at a place that makes and bottles its own root beer, cream soda, and ginger ale. This ginger ale float was amazing.

I spent Monday morning traveling, and arrived back at the lake house after lunch. Time to focus on settling into a summer routine — which will most certainly include knitting! (I am so close to being done with my stripe study shawl.)

creation/destruction.

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On Tuesday afternoon, inspired by a recent clip from Jimmy Fallon’s late night show (where he and his guests built snowmen on the roof and then tackled them), several of us gathered in a local park with the same concept in mind. (The whole afternoon was my friend M.’s idea. Brilliant.) Here is my jackalope snowman. In this image, he has both arms, though I had to keep replacing his right arm because every time I turned around, Boh was gnawing on it.

When it came time for the destruction part, Boh was not helpful. My friends were able to jump on their snowmen. Boh, on the other hand, came to a full stop just in front of the jackalope, so I had to settle for pushing ours over. Here’s a shot of Boh in full retreat:

Nice to have a few action shots of my wurm hat. It’s the knit I grab the most — from handspun, and it has just the right amount of slouch.

I was absolutely unproductive yesterday, and this morning is looking like a wash. The upside? I might have found my next home. A HOUSE. On The Lake. Fingers crossed.

boh knows best.

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I left off yesterday by saying that I owed Boh a good, long walk. All this reading, writing, and grading has meant a slew of shorter-than-they-should-be walks for my favorite four-legged companion. I was thinking about it as something for him — but really, it was exactly what I needed, too. (Funny how that works.)

Late afternoon light.

Intrepid adventurers?

I love this tree.

The reservoir, late fall.

We needed that. (Way more restorative than the fancy coffee drink I splurged on yesterday as I headed home from campus.)

picking (eating) apples.

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My account of our epic Sunday continues.

What began as a quick stop at an apple orchard for an apple cider doughnut or two turned into an hour or so of frolicking amidst the apple trees, some apple picking, lots of apple eating, and of course, two courses of the aforementioned doughnuts. (Two to start, two before leaving. I have no pictures of this part. They were just too good (and warm!) not to eat immediately.

A corridor of mutsus.

Macouns, clearly.

Us, eating apples.

Sigh. Hello, autumn.

Um, I want that one.

the cheese trail.

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Yesterday was an epic Sunday. I went to an early morning yoga class, where my teacher mentioned that in addition to an artists’ open studio event happening in and around town all weekend, that the local cheesemakers’ association was also inviting folks to visit their farms and taste the different kinds of locally-made cheeses. That was enough to rearrange the day. We hopped into the car and headed to farm country.

The trees everywhere were golden and honey-hued, and oh, the light! Yesterday was a clear day, and everything just looked warm. You know?

We met some cows. I think this one down in front is named Gina. At least that’s what her ear tag says. We learned about how local farmers make gouda and jack-style cheeses, learned about different ways of aging rounds or blocks of cheese, and tasted a generous amount at the two farms we visited. We settled on what I think is a raw milk cheddar, and a hunk of (local) beer-soaked, wood-aged gouda.

Last night for dinner, we might have just eaten cheese, bread, pickles, and some leftover coleslaw. But that’s because the cheese trail was only the beginning. (I’m going to break Sunday’s adventures into two posts. Stay tuned!)

lakeside.

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We spent Saturday afternoon by the lake, on a blanket, reading. Looks cozy, but actually it got pretty windy, and after an hour or so we retreated indoors for nachos. I rewarded myself with a margarita. See, all this is relevant because in these pictures, even though you can’t see it, there is yarn in my bag. Malabrigo, to be exact. And it is destined to become another windschief hat. This one’s for the boy.

I cast on with my coffee this morning, before my 8 am yoga class. The colorway is verdeazul, and already I love the combination of the malabrigo worsted and twisted rib — so squishy! I’m planning to curl up with Boh and the boy this evening and knit some more ribbing. After all, it is fall break…