Damn those binges

Remember a while back I posted a line that was something like: Any story that starts with "so I was binge eating pickled beets" can't have a good ending?

Yep, it happened again. Thank goodness they were store bought and not my home-canned ones. The homemade ones are so dark red they remind me of deoxygenated blood. I may have a chance of cleaning this mess up. Not sure how, but I got it on my back too. And in my hair.

Startitis

After reading the Yarn Harlot's recent blog post about her wicked case of startitis, I realized I'm coming down with it too. It's still that early infection feeling, where you know you just don't feel right, but no symptoms have come out yet. Well, I did spend a couple hours completely reorganizing my yarn stash, finally moving all the handspun into easily accessed drawers instead of bins. Boy, I have a lot of handspun yarn. Some is already tagged with a project in mind - the dark brown-grey natural bluefaced leicester is going to be a cardigan or open-faced sweater in some nubbly stitch pattern with perhaps a complex cable running down the front. The laceweight royal blue shetland is destined for a (you guessed it) Shetland lace shawl. Ever since I started knitting I've wanted to make one. I also really want to make a faerose shawl, but don't have enough handspun in one type for that too. Of course that's not saying I don't have enough wool I could spin up, but startitis won't wait for that kind of thing. I'm almost freaking out excited at the thought of starting some of these big projects after so many socks and hats. Of course, I have to finish the pair of x-mas gift socks I'm knitting right now. And I do need to find another travel knitting project for my next business trip. I always do socks or a scarf since I can tuck it in my bag and knit during the workday too. Size-wise the shetland shawl is tempting to bring, but even a simple lace pattern can be dangerous knit in a dark color in ever-changing situations. Maybe I could bring along a sleeve for the sweater, that's kind of like a sock, right?

I was at the Farmer's Market this morning buying heirloom apples to can Apple Smash this afternoon - an ultra chunky form of applesauce more akin to apple pie filling. There was a cold misty precipitation (I can't really call it rain), and I was snuggly happy wrapped in my handspun wool shawl. I love the water-repellent nature of wool and its ability to trap body heat yet still breathe. Well, I better get to peeling apples if I want to get this canning started.

Autumn in the air

I love the fall, it's my favorite season by far. Right now we're at the height of it here in the mountains. Blazing color on the trees, enough fallen leaves to shuffle through. What is it about walking through dead leaves that makes *everyone* shuffle and kick their feet? I remember in college the leaves would pile up half a foot or more on the walkway edges, and nearly everyone veered to the edge so they were walking through the leaves. I'd like to be somewhere that had a proportionally big enough pile of leaves to jump in like we did as kids. They just cut the grass outside, and the sweet smell of freshly cut grass is layering delightfully with the more earthy smell of dry leaves. I'm going back out before the smell fades.

PSA

Does that acronym make you think of cancer screening? It does for me, but in this case I'm talking about a Public Service Announcement we saw on the city bus. Stark, clear-cut, very sad. Hopefully it also tugs at the heartstrings of the intended audience.

Obama Rocks

We attended the last minute Obama Rally in Roanoke today. We got there about 2 hours before the doors opened to wait in line. Of course the gorgeous fall weather we've been enjoying flipped to cold drizzling rain this morning, a perfect example of Virginia's mercurial weather. It wasn't too terrible, but the dampness made knitting difficult. You can see my consternation as I try to work on my damp barack-sock.Speaking of socks, there were tons of peddlers out selling everything you could imagine with Obama on it, including tube socks. Tube socks?? This guy below was pretty funny, hawking both "wet and dry t-shirts". He was stopped by a bike cop for his license, and the guy had the balls to ask the cop if he wanted to buy a t-shirt.
After a while it was just too cold to do anything but wonder when we were going to get in and wish someone was selling hot coffee. My lips & nailbeds started tinging blue, but D. said this photo is nowhere near as pale and blue as I looked in real life. My toes were so cold and numb it actually felt good when D. stepped his full weight on them, since I think it forced the blood to flow. But it was all worth it once we were in the doors. The Secret Service was phenomenal getting everyone through security. I've never seen such fast and efficient screening - they unzipped, emptied, and restored every pocket of my purse; checked my phone and camera; and passed all the contents of my pockets in the time it took me to walk through the metal detector. TSA eat your heart out! We were deciding where to sit when we learned the floor was still open. We had floor seats for the Metallica show in the same venue and I knew how close you can get if you're willing to stand for a few hours. And we weren't disappointed! We were only 10 people (about 25 feet) away, directly in front of the podium. Close enough to notice when Obama walked out he seemed to have something in his mouth. After a minute he said he needed a sip of water, since he was "chewing some almonds" offstage and Jim Webb finished his introduction sooner than he expected. There were a number of small personal touches - mentions of specific local businesses that have closed, direct comments to audience members, and a funny moment where he chastised a girl who was up on her boyfriend's shoulders. It was awesome to hear the crowd respond to Obama, and amazing to think we were that close to a President of the United States.

We watched MSNBC when we got home, and they were playing clips from the Virginia Rally. When they pan back from the podium you can see us down on the right of the screen. You can see my red-clad arms raised, and D. standing next to me in his beige hat. Vroot! We were on freakin national TV. hehe. If we had any doubts about McCain, the banner at the bottom of the news show helped clinch it.

What goes around...

So there's some horrid both-ends illness decimating where I work. I don't know why I felt confident I wouldn't catch it. And I'm not entirely sure I did, but I woke up feverish and nauseous, oh wait it's nauseated isn't it? Someone else would have to be up to think I was nauseous today. Anyway, if things at work were normal I'd just suck it up and go in, figuring I could leave early if needed. But when people who never take a day off are missing several, and those that have returned look like the living dead, and I know my day is planned for a location that would be most inconvenient if I suddenly feel bad - well, I'm thinking of not going in at all. Plus if I really do have it I don't need to be spreading it around. Even though I don't feel *that* bad yet, I kind of think I will, since the idea of staying home didn't spark a list of chores (like laundry) I could get done too. We'll see...

Lovely Saturday

Saturday was one of those great days. The only way it could've been better was if it was longer and I'd had time to do more stuff. Perfect crisp autumn weather, with the leaves changing and fallen ones scattered over the ground. I went out to the garden for some fall planting, beet harvesting, and general enjoyment of playing in the dirt without being drenched in sweat like this summer. After we (my garden-buddy Lawre and me) were satisfied with the garden we walked the edge of the property sampling the apples from the 5 varieties of trees growing. I chose 2 apples I particularly liked and we started picking--a tart crisp green one like an original apple granny smiths were cultivated from, and a dark-skinned red that is just a straight apple, maybe somewhat like a Rome? I climbed one tree and was picking apples and handing them down to Lawre. I haven't climbed a tree since I was a kid, and it was just as much fun. Given my irrational fear of falling, I worried about clambering around and particularly about getting down, but the tree was so solid and the apple picking so fun it didn't bother me at all. I have a bushel basket of apples waiting for pies, cranberry-apple butter, or whatever else I decide on.

Next stop was the wine shop for its weekly wine tasting. I chatted with one of the employees I know while waiting for the crowd surrounding the tasting table to die down - not surprising since it was one of the favorite guest pourers from another town. Actually I browsed the Belgian beer section and picked up a recommended ale I haven't tried yet (Delirium Tremens), a classic Hefe (Hoegaarden), and Victory Brewery's octoberfest beer (I've liked everything I've had from them). After the wine tasting, I teetered next door for mega-grocery shopping. We had no food at all in the h0use, and I grabbed every item we normally eat, and when I got home we needed all of it except one thing. Not bad for no list.

The weather was so nice D and I went bike riding, which we haven't in quite a while. It was great fun and the smell of falling leaves was overpowering at some points. Then I passed through an area rich with the smell of jasmine. I looked around at the plants but didn't see any, yet the scent was unmistakable. Jasmine has become one of those smells that always seems to be associated with wonderful memories and hence opens a little window into my heart. I breathed in as deeply as possible when we pedaled back through that section.

Next was the company's fall picnic party "Pooptoberfest". If you know who I work for, you know why it's named that. They had good beer, great variety of food, and everyone's dogs running around. Katie was like a shadow to me, and I had a laugh walking back and forth and seeing her spin to keep right next to me, esp. since she's not "my" dog. We put a glowstick bracelet on Windy's collar so we had a chance of finding her in the dark as she ran around. I figured we'd go for a bit and get some food, then head home. But we were all having a good time and stayed until close to 10.

So, it seems like my ideal Saturdays involve being outdoors most of the day, a touch of alcohol, and chatting with friends. Yep, that pretty much describes my camping experiences too.

5 months down the drain

I was flying back from a conference and killing time in the airport shops. Across the crowded food court I saw a sign that said LUSH, and beelined over to the quirky trendy bath products store. They are known for their handmade natural soaps, and solid bars of shampoo and conditioner. I chatted with the girl there, who had green hair and cat ears on, and no, it's not a costume. She gave me samples of shampoo and conditioner for curly hair, and with my current aversion to overly chemically skin care, I figured I'd give it a try. So yesterday morning I broke a 5 month streak and ...wait for it... Shampooed my hair. First off, this is the most grotesque product I've ever tried to use - it's like they finely grated a solid bar of soap and mixed in a bit of emulsifier. Tiny nubs of still-solid soap in a chunky gloppy base, add in the pink color and it almost looked like liposuction in a cup. I can't believe I scooped it up and started rubbing it into my hair. But damn it felt good once on my scalp. I forgot how good a freshly shampooed head feels. But now I'm not sure what to do with myself. I don't know that I want to go back to no shampoo at all, but I don't want to get addicted to needing to shampoo my hair (I really believe the commercial products do that to you). I may go to the natural foods store and browse their shampoos for something gentle. Maybe I'll go back to LUSH and get the solid bar of shampoo, it'd be great for traveling too.