Odds and Ends

Yesterday finally felt like Fall in Charlotte. Paul and I had some errands to run and in general just drove around and went shopping-- with the roof down on the car to enjoy the crisp air.

We first took the birds for their grooming (nails and beaks) to Parrot U which is a great little store in Pineville that is actually filing to be non-profit. They take in birds that people don't want or can't handle anymore due to change in circumstances, etc. and they adopt them out to new homes. It's like the pound for birds except it's in a small little store. Birds are everywhere in the shop looking for new homes and since we've been going there several have been adopted. The folks that work there are wonderful and they are very experienced in bird handling, working hard with each bird to try to correct bad social habits (maybe we can take Clementine for some training) and make them more comfortable with new people. In addition, they offer about 6 or 7 free classes to the public on topics such as bird handling, behaviour and nutrition. We love what they are doing and so try to purchase most of our supplies and services from them.

We also went to the mall to cruise around Barnes and Noble and bought a few magazines -- Spin-Off for me, which has all kinds of new patterns on spinning and knitting socks and hats and it has all kinds of helpful tips and new tricks for the handspinners out there.

We also got a fitness magazine with some good workout routines and a book to read together before bed. We read the last few books of the Harry Potter series together and really enjoyed it so got another action/adventure/magical book called "The Onion Girl."

One other thing we did was stop by CVS to scan two of the patterns I used to sew my wedding dress. Friday night I was busy rounding up all my pictures and drawings and bits and pieces to work on my scrapbook today. I am sadly still working on 2004, a big year of events, and currently have invitation and wedding dress making on my next list to do for pages. We scanned in the pattern envelopes and had them printed as pictures to include in the album.

We finished off our errands by going to Trader Joe's -- a must for the grocery essentials. And then finished the day by having spaghetti while watching an old movie, "Around the World in 80 Days."

Paul's Courgettes Provencal

Paul's making us his version of Courgettes Provencal over rice for dinner tonight - to all my fellow Americans that is code for a zucchini, tomatoes and onion sauce. This healthy dinner is to help us continue onward towards better fitness and is a tasty alternative to stir fry (let's not talk about the deliciously unhealthy Italian food we had last night at a local restaurant).

This is how Paul makes Courgettes Provencal:



Slice 2 zucchinis and saute in a few tablespoons of grapeseed oil until lightly browned.
Slice about 1/2 of a large onion and add to the pan.
Add 1 14oz can of diced tomatos.
Sprinkle with italian seasoning and parsely and add some garlic if you choose.

Sometimes we add some plain tomato sauce, paste or marinara sauce for some extra flare, but we kept it simple tonight and let the flavor of the herbs sing their song. Serve over rice or pasta and you have a healthy, tasty dinner. If you'd like to add some protein chicken would probably be good.

The Maple Tree

Since we've been in our apartment there's been an old plastic plant pot in the grass outside our patio. It looked abandoned as it wasn't really in anyone's "yard" and the plant that was living in the pot had long been deceased. The workers who have been renovating the complex carefully stepped around the pot, set up their ladders to either side of it and managed to go about installing siding with it in the exact same spot, 2 feet from the apartment wall.

One day a while back I was surprised to find among the weeds growing in the pot, a maple seedling about 6 inches tall. I waited another week or so to see if anyone might claim it and finally decided that since it seemed to have been abandoned for the past 6 weeks it was finders keepers.

I had some leftover potting soil from Big Red and went to work pulling out all the dead plant material surrounding the maple tree. Surprisingly, the tree was rooted below the dead plant roots and so all I had to do was pull the dead plant off the top and add more potting soil. The roots of the maple were hardly disturbed and now he thrives on our patio along with big red. We'll see if he drops all his leaves soon like all the grownups.

Treadmills, Dumbells and Dingbats

We decided that we both needed to get started on taking our fitness more seriously awhile back. The key phrase is "get started" but a year into this new frame of mind and we were no more fit than we were when we started. Our fitness routine was once around the block once a month or so, give or take.

Since we've been in Charlotte, though, we've done much better. We've been to the plush fitness center at our apartment complex about 2 to 3 times a week for the past two weeks. It's a great start for us!

Even Fairy has some new exercise equipment on her jungle gym!

Tonight, I was talking on the phone with one of my friends from back home and decided to be slick and try to maintain the conversation while on the treadmill. Folks, don't try that at home. Not only could my poor friend not understand a word I was saying because of my breathing issues, but I found it really more difficult to coordinate than I thought (no wonder they say don't talk on your cell phone while driving). I apologetically ended the conversation and then left my phone in the water bottle holder. Paul now has to wait on me hand and foot (exaggerating slightly) because I over exerted my legs sprinting back to the gym to get my phone. Was it worth it? Lesson re-learned: there is a time and place for cell phones!

Third Bird Clarification

Oh dear! I've been leading everyone into the impression that we have adopted a third bird named Marvin Dexter. To clarify, we have merely been visiting a bird named Marvin Dexter. I admit that we were seriously contemplating bringing Marvin into the family and so tentatively gave him the last name of Teague. But after much discussion (and disappointment), adopting Marvin is not the most practical thing to do because of the amount of time I spend on the road. Also, with Paul hopefully soon to be working, our attention would be thinly spread.

Marvin has many admirers when we are there, and he is already talking at just 4 months old, so he is bound to find a loving home where he'll get loads of attention.

Quick Carding Session

This morning, if you had stepped out our front door, might have made you hesitate before saying, "Ah, first day of Fall." My first thought when bringing my drum carder out on our patio was, "Yikes, it's hot and humid for 8:00 in the morning." Nevertheless, I ran out of spinnable wool yesterday and so carding in the humidity was a must if I was going to enjoy any spinning this evening.

My drum carder is something I'm pretty happy about. It's not fancy like the type the high-flyers use (I refer here to the BMW or Mercedes of drum carders like the Patrick Green or the Fricke which cost a small fortune). It is homemade from the sweat of my own back and definitely looks it! I'll have to show pictures of it in the process of being constructed another time when I can find the pictures.

This is how it works for those of you not familiar with drum carding:

1) Tease out a few locks of wool (see bottom picture for a visual of "locks") so that the feeder tray is visible through the wool that you're feeding in. If you feed in big clumps the carder will jam or you'll get big lumps in your final product.

2) As you are feeding wool in to the front, small drum, turn handle to draw the wool from the front drum to the back drum. Keep doing this until your batt is the thickness you want.

3) Peel batt off large drum carefully. This would be the time to use a "knuckle-saving batt picker" if you have one. I think this is a Fricke patented item, but a skewer or knitting needle works great too.

The finished batt!

The bottom basket here is the Stansborough fleece locks, cleaned but not carded. The top basket is carded Stansborough that I prepared on my carder.

Last Day of Summer

Today is an equinox, I discovered. A new friend at work is having a last day of summer/birthday party today and Paul and I are going-- our first real social event in Charlotte. I looked up soltice, thinking that this last day of summer might be a soltice. But, lo, it is an equinox. There are two soltices and two equinoxes a year, alternating to divide up the seasons. Summer Soltice is the start of summer, in June, and the equinox usually is around the 22nd of September, bringing in the fall. Just a little trivia: On the equinox dates in March and September, night and day are the same length of time.

To bring in the last day of summer, Paul and I had a fun, summery dessert last night. English trifle (Paul misses certain dishes from his homeland) without the pound cake-- we had to make due with what we had.

Our version includes:

• 1/2 can of Ambrosia custard (we buy it from http://www.englishteastore.com/ which has imported English foods)
• about 1/2 cup of heavy cream
• about 1/2 cup of fresh berries

Just layer the custard, cream and berries in a fancy glass and there you go!

On the spinning front, I finished the remnants of Tanglewood Fibers for Trish and will be sending that off, and have resumed spinning the 6 pounds of Stansborough fleece I bought from New Zealand last year (no, I didn't get to go there personally). It has taken me a year of spinning (between spinning for Trish) and I have not even finished half of the fleece to make a Lord of the Rings cloak.

I have about 3 pounds of light grey and three pounds of dark grey. The idea is spin very fine yarn of each and weave them together to form the very intricate pattern. So far I have only spun about 2/3 of the dark fleece.