Pain & Prettys

I had surgery yesterday. If you read my meme a little while ago, you'd know that I had jaw surgery about 12 years ago. They put 4 titanium screws in my jaw. About 5 years ago, one of the screws started making its way out of the bone and polked through the skin inside my mouth. Over the last five years it has pushed farther and farther to the point where it became wiggly - like a loose tooth. It had to be removed. So I went back to the surgeon who did my original surgery and with only local anesthetic, he cut the gum and pulled the screw out of my jaw bone. Without all the gory details, I'll only say that the local anesthetic didn't work and I felt everything. I have two stitches, a very swollen face and a screw. Here is the screw - it is about an inch long:


I was crashed on the couch feeling very sorry for myself, when a very obnoxious UPS guys banged on the door more than necessary. He delivered a package from my mom - good timing! She gifed me a collection of very beautiful vintage hankies.


I am loving these hankies. But now I have to decide what to do with them. I thought I could make something pretty, like a skirt for my daughter. I did just buy a serger a few days ago that I have yet to crack open. But I think I am going to use them. Yes, use the hankies as hankies are supposed to be used - to blow your nose. For many years now I have given up my addiction to paper towels and we only use rags. Hankies would be a next step, since we are also planning on cloth diapers and wipes for the new baby (hence the purchase of the serger). I just don't think I could ever go so far as to have cloth wipes for the bigger people instead of toilet paper. Maybe in the very crunchy future...but not now. And I promise not to offer a hankie to you - unless you really want to try....

PURPLE SOUP and other foood stories...

I never intended to make purple soup. It was an accident. I intended to make Corn Chowder - a typically "white" soup. I wanted to use up some of the vegetables that have been sitting around my fridge from the UBC - CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box that we get weekly. Corn, nugget potatoes, patty pans, and carrots. The carrots are to blame - they were purple carrots. Corn, potatoes and zucchinis are pretty "white", so why didn't I think about what would happen if I added carrots? I dye things. I should know this. Here is the soup:


It may look funny, but it tasted soooo good. Half a bottle of whipping cream will do that.

Another funny food story. My dear Miss B has never experienced conventional (i.e. non-organic) breakfast cereals. We don't eat much cereal in this house, but when we do it is of the granola type. But, being pregnant I craved rice crispy squares. So off we went to the conventional grocery store to buy Rice Crispies and marshmallows. We made the gooey delicious treats and ate them all (over a few days, mind you). There happened to be about a 1/4 of the box left (I like my squares really marshmallowy) so I decided to have them for breakfast yesterday. I surprised Miss B with the magical sounds of the "Snap Crackle Pop". She was amazed so I offered her a taste by putting a large spoon full in front of her mouth. She proceeded to BLOW all of the contents of the spoon on to the table and floor. I screamed - in shock and fury. What are you doing????? She looked at me with a confused face and said "But they are hot!". Oh. My. Goodness. Miss B took the sounds of the milk on the cereal as being a boiling sound - she really thought the cereal was piping hot! At that point we all cracked up. Only an organic family can have a situation like this...

Reasons

I realized today that it has been almost 2 months since I last posted. It seems like 2 days. I really don't remember the last three months. Why, you ask? I am pregnant and have been so incredibly sick. Not pukey. Just sea sick, all day. Tired. Cranky. Brain dead. I really don't remember what we did for the month of July. No memories at all. If I could just be a mother hen and sit on the couch all day I would be a happy camper. Supposedly this will all end in a week or so when the first trimester is over. Today is a really bad day, can you tell?

I haven't been knitting much. A bonnet here and there. Started some socks for Miss B. I am even too tired to knit. I never thought I'd say that.

I need to start spinning again. I have 4, 1.5 pound bags of grey corridale roving hanging out in my bedroom. They stared out as stinky fleeces from a farmer friend in the Okanagan. I sent them to the Island to be processed by a woman who has the proper machinery. We made our summer traveling go in the direction of the wool. Luckily, she saved the carding for when we arrived. We got to see the 19th centrury machine do it's thing. It was so beautiful to see the lumpy wool go in and come out in slinky roving. Here are some pictures:




I would love to do this job one day. Play with fibre all day long. Wash it, dry it, card it. So simple, but so satisfying. I didn't want to leave her workshop. It was so much fun. Thanks, Anna!

Other news - I got into Ravelry! I haven't waited that long, but that is probably because I signed up early. It seems like a great concept, but I need to explore it more. I have trouble posting here!

No back-to-school for us. We are homeschooling. Once I feel better I hope to get more of a routine going. More projects. More posting. More creativity. It is coming....