february?

Posted on March 8, 2016 by barefootrooster

Hi, friends. I’m still knitting on this striped wedding blanket for dear friends. At this rate, I’m hoping I’ll finish it in time for their second anniversary! The good news is that I think it is going to be gorgeous. The bad news is that I have no new pictures of it. I do, however, have some pictures of January and February.

I love it when this dog poses on the back of the couch like this.

I went to a conference. I ate this DELICIOUS Basque meal with a friend.

Dog cuddling.

Professor costume. (Hotel room action shot.)

An action shot of Boh’s ears.

The amazing-ness of the breakfast sandwich at one of my favorite spots in town.

New professor boots!

A sunshine-filled “winter” walk.

new year, new knitting.

Posted on January 5, 2016 by barefootrooster

I’ve finally begun a wedding present for dear friends who’ve been married…for two years. (In my defense, we’ve been communicating about colors and pattern for awhile now.) I love the yarn I’ve got — a lovely pile of Cascade 220 in a range of neutrals and warm tones that I’m sure you’ll see before long. This is the beginning.

Boh enjoys one of his Christmas presents. (Not from me.)

This is what happens when you start a knitting project while rewatching The Office…

This guy, making faces.

You can’t hear him sighing on that rug, but he was.

And here’s an awkward picture I snapped before heading out for a good long walk. My new vest matches my running shoes! Okay, back to course prep, which is pretty much all I’ve been doing. It just doesn’t photograph half as well as Boh does…

2 0 1 6.

Posted on January 1, 2016 by barefootrooster

Thanks for continuing to stop by, friends. Things have been busy, but very good. Instead of wasting time reading my apologies for not posting, want to see A LOT of pictures from November and December of 2015? Here you go — and here’s to 2016.

Soup, chicken salad, and iced tea at my favorite lunch spot.

More soup, more iced tea. (And prepping for class, which is a pretty accurate reflection of my life most days.)

Fall leaves on my driveway sometime in November.

This dog, being ridiculous.

Course prep outside at my favorite coffee shop.

Documenting a Friday professor costume. (I didn’t start off the semester wearing jeans, but by November, it was necessary. At least on Fridays…)

More soup, but this came from my kitchen. Sweet potato miso soup, I think.

Soup prep. Around mid-November, I started making a big pot of something on Saturday afternoons. Adjusting to professor-life has meant re-learning how to feed myself; sometimes there’s just not enough time in the day. (I’ve eaten more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this fall than I think I have since kindergarten…)

An afternoon walk with my favorite dog.

Holiday treats from a new and already dear friend.

Sweet, sweet dog.

Pesto pasta salad in my car — on the holiday road trip I took to my parents’ house.

An old and very warm blanket that was my grandmother’s. Check out that tag!

Southwestern butternut squash soup, simmering.

Late-night self portrait. Mid-December, maybe? (WordPress scrambled the order of these photos when I batch uploaded them, and I’m too lazy to put them back into chronological order.)

At least one of us is doing yoga…hoping to return to my practice in 2016.

Cozy.

Took a road trip to participate in an event organized by grad students on the other side of the state; saw this gorgeous heron on a walk through a beautiful garden.

Evening sky.

Those wrinkles!

Celebrating the end of the semester with another new faculty member: fancy lunch and cocktails in the middle of the day!

Oh, and look! I did do some knitting this fall. I made two of these eternity scarves out of some luxurious Lorna’s Laces (maybe it’s called Lion and Lamb?) silk/merino blend. One for a dear friend’s birthday, and another as a holiday present for my amazing faculty mentor. I love this pattern; knits up beautifully no matter the yarn, and it is so, so wearable. I’m already behind on some wedding blanket knitting; maybe I can get some of that on the needles before the semester starts up — in less than 2 weeks! Better get back to course prep and syllabus-writing. Happy New Year, friends. And happy knitting.

november?

Posted on November 1, 2015 by barefootrooster

Hello, friends! Thanks for the kind notes and comments you’ve left here over the last few months. Boh and I are doing well; just busy and tired from all that new professor life requires. I’m not totally ready to give up on this space — it has been so important to me for so long! (Really. I think I missed my 9th blogiversary — it would’ve been sometime in October.)

But I’m here, right now, to tell you that last night I felt the pull of my stash, and even though it was way too late at night, I found myself digging through bins and shelves of yarn to find something to knit with. I love that feeling, and I wanted to share it. I was too sleepy to wind any yarn or to get to the point where I’ve settled on a pattern, but YAY! My fingers want to knit something. (Maybe a Rikke hat out of bright variegated sock yarn? Maybe another eternity scarf in cozy, subtly kettle-dyed grey?)

Anyway, that feeling of needing to knit something is so great. And honestly, I haven’t had the feeling in awhile. I’m glad it’s back. Happy November, readers (if you’re still here!), from me and of course, from Boh.

school on monday.

Posted on August 21, 2015 by barefootrooster

When I was in college, “School on Monday” was one of the preferred cheers at the big football game that occurred the weekend before Thanksgiving, because we had the whole week off, while our opponents had to return to class for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before the holiday. I heard it in my head when I woke up this morning, only this time, I’m starting life as a professor on Monday. My syllabi are done, but I want to proofread them again before I make copies. And I need to plan out the actual Monday class meetings — one class is a seminar, and the other is a lecture. I’m nervous, of course, but also excited to be in the classroom again, and sort of ready to be done anticipating all of it. Next week I’m sure I’ll feel like I’ve been thrown into the deep end, but right now I feel sort of ready to jump, if that makes any sense. So I have no idea how regularly I’ll be posting here as I settle into a work routine. So here are a handful of pictures from our preparation for the semester. Hope you’re all well.

Popcorn.

Huge mushrooms on the quad.

This guy, posing.

And watching me from the couch. (He does this a lot, and I find it so funny. At the lakehouse, the couch was pushed up against the wall, so this wasn’t really an option.)

An orangey-rust flowy dress that makes me happy.

A peach-blueberry pie I made.

Patio furniture acquired! (Hooray for Craigslist, and for the young men who offered to deliver this to me because the table was about two inches too big to fit in my car.)

Tomato tart. Which was enjoyed before that peach blueberry pie.

Boh, with his new favorite toy, a plush bone he got from our new vet. Happy Friday, friends.

settling in.

Posted on August 11, 2015 by barefootrooster

I haven’t meant to not be posting; just so much going on. Here are a couple of snippets from the last week or so. As you can see, we’re starting to settle in.

My yellow table is back in the kitchen. The things you see on the table and on the walls come from at least 5 different people from all corners of my life, which is pretty cool. (Or at least I think so.)

This guy. That ear.

Smitten Kitchen sesame noodles.

Banana nut espresso muffins from Super Natural Cooking.

Me in my new home.

New chair, and my favorite little corner of my room.

Documenting that I wore blue, purple, and pink all at the same time. (Sort of an unusual color combination for me…)

Everything on this plate came from the farmers’ market last weekend. Everything!

we’re here!

Posted on July 31, 2015 by barefootrooster

We’re here! And there’s a big, lovely tree in this front yard, too.

I put down Boh’s favorite rug (which was on the lake house porch), and he immediately claimed a spot at the door.

He mostly stayed on my bed during my early unpacking, but as soon as I was able to acquire a new-to-us couch, he settled right in.

I am in love with the main room of this house — a big open space for living and dining and working. After five days of cleaning and unpacking, this room is starting to look like home. (Special thanks to my mom — she’s been here with me, and it wouldn’t look even half this good without her help!)

Had my first bowl of yogurt and granola–with peaches!–in the new house. Happy colors, happy dog, happy rooster.

saying goodbye.

Posted on July 19, 2015 by barefootrooster

A lovely lake sunset, from sometime last week. (After a good swim with a friend.)

Lounging on the Arts Quad, maybe for the last time.

A happy dog, on the couch we’re giving away.

A downy woodpecker — the one I like to think keeps coming back to the black walnut tree in my front yard, and sometimes taps on my porch windows. I stood under this tree and watched her for a solid 20 minutes yesterday morning. This sweet bird (and so many others) have kept me company here. (The yard was filled with birds yesterday–it’s like they knew that I’d packed my binoculars and bird books the night before.)

And this morning I took my mug of coffee down to the end of the dock.

I watched sailboats and swallows, and appreciated the morning calm.

This is the week that I say goodbye. And I’m excited about the next thing–a new home, new town, new job. But this place has been kind to me these last seven years, and I think it will be hard to leave. (Finishing up my summer grading this week, packing up the house, and driving south to my new home next weekend. Stay tuned!)

and it’s july.

Posted on July 11, 2015 by barefootrooster

I always forget how intense summer session courses can be. Three weeks of daily discussion sections have gone by in a flash, and it’s July. Yesterday I took my first swim in the lake. And Boh and I have two more weeks here in the lake house, and in our sweet small town, before we move on to our next adventure. Here are a few snippets from the last few weeks:

A porch pancake breakfast with friends who came to visit for the holiday weekend.

We had a dinner party! And a galette! (Tomato, corn, zucchini, scallions, and parmesan.)

Dick: The Game. (A Moby-Dick themed version of Cards Against Humanity. Yes, we are nerds, and proud of it.)

This face.

These falls.

These flowers, in between where I park my car and where our summer course was held. I’d turn the corner each morning and just breathe them in.

Packing. I started with the knitting books — I didn’t realize I have so many! The box pile is slowly growing, and the movers will be here in just under two weeks…

blueberry muffins and boh.

Posted on June 20, 2015 by barefootrooster

I can’t help myself. I take so many pictures of this sweet face.

Boh and I took a nice walk around campus at sunset.

On Thursday night I baked blueberry muffins.

Nerd fun arrived in the mail. (This is based on Cards Against Humanity — and a prototype of this that I saw on Twitter was called Cards Against the Humanities!) Looking forward to playing this with the rest of the staff of my summer course, perhaps during a lull in office hours? My summer teaching starts up on Monday.

Some impressive kite sailing on the lake, viewed from the park near my house.

Boh, napping under my desk during a conference call.

Morning sweetness.

And nighttime sleepiness. That’s been our week, friends. Quiet, and only sort of productive, but maybe just what we needed.

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barefoot rooster

cockadoodle-doo: one rooster's ramblings