I haven't dyed Easter Eggs since I was a kid. I don't know why, I like eating hardboiled eggs, and I love the brightly colored Easter eggs, they are so cheerful. Last year, I picked up an egg dye kit, but didn't have time to make the eggs and color them, so this year, I saved the trip to the store to buy the dye tablets. ; ) I only made 8 eggs, since I can only eat so many hardboiled eggs. I made a pineapple upside down cake at the same time, so I let the eggs sit in the dye longer than I would have otherwise, and I'm glad I did - the eggs turned out really vibrantly colored!
Today, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments for and against Prop 8, the California State proposition to ban gay marriage. Tomorrow, they will hear the arguments about DOMA, the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Many of my friends are supporters of marriage equality, which I certainly appreciate. Some are wondering why it's such a big deal, this need for same sex marriage. Which I also appreciate.
I am SO excited to have finished this, it's the longest project I have undertaken yet! Frankly, I thought I would give up before it was actually done, so I'm extra thrilled that I finished it!
I actually bought the pattern for this suit in 2008, almost 5 years ago. I had only really been sewing for a year or so, and hadn't done much with regular commercial patterns at that point, and was looking for projects to increase my skills. I don't even know why, really, I picked this particular suit, except that I love outfits with matching hats. And the 50's suits were just so prim and proper, which is the exact opposite of me. Maybe I thought I could fool people?
Knitted with Lion Brand Homespun yarn. Oct 9 2012 - Jan 25, 2013. Knitted in pieces - front, back, sleeves, hood. Front and back were attached using 3 needle bindoff at shoulder seams; other seams were sewn. Hoody was added on using pick up and knit; cuff of hood was also done using pick up and knit.
The pictures aren't a very high quality; I took them quickly while getting ready to go to work the morning I finished it. I was late to work, but I did wear the hoody. It was super warm! :)
I think we all know how much I love my sous vide machine. I use it A LOT. It makes the best short ribs ever. Steaks are so effortless and always perfect. It even makes a superior burger. I've started cooking my beets in it, they turn out much better than roasted or steaming. And I've been using it to poach eggs, directly in their shells. But I wanted to step up, and start doing some of the recipe from the Modernist Cuisine books. For no particular reason, I decided on the Hollandaise sauce. Maybe because it can go on top of the poached eggs I already know how to make.
I am a HUGE fan of the Downton Abbey series, and was very eagerly waiting for the start of season 3 to come to the US. (Yes, I know it is available in the UK and can be streamed online, but I like the whole ritual of waiting for the new episodes to air here.) I do have to admit, I'm less excited about the changing costuming to reflect the 1920's, which is not my favorite clothing era; I really, really love the Edwardian era clothes, and the glamour and richness of the styles.
Stewart is no stranger to limping. He has, in his older years, been having issues with hyperkeratosis, where the pad material on his feet grows more than it should, and he gets corn-like growths on the sides of the pads. He's a sensitive boy, and they bother him, making him limp if he's walking on a hard surface. I dremel them down as I can, use Dr. Scholl's corn remover on them, and it's all just part of life for us.
I'm sure I've mentioned it, but my 4 and a half years in Tujunga was the longest I've lived in one place in my entire life. So you'd think I'd be pretty good at adapting to new surroundings. I am, for the most part, but other things escape me. Like remembering that my light switch is on the left side of the kitchen door. I still reach for the right side, ever single time. And sometimes I still turn left in the hall, intending to go in the bedroom, and ending up instead in the bathroom. But that is nothing compared to cooking in a new kitchen. I can't remember where ANYTHING is.
I drove up to the new house on San Leandro on Sunday, expecting to arrive a few hours before the moving truck to I could clean the kitchen and get ready to put my things away so I could get back to cooking. After eating fast food and convenience foods for several days while my kitchen was packed up, I had had enough of eating non-primally. Only the move didn't go as smoothly as planned; the rented moving truck broke down, and spent nearly three days stranded in Bakersfield until a new truck could be found.
