karen bower at Rock Red Shoes posted this pearl today.
she rocks. red shoes or not.

"You are not your bra-size, nor are you the width of your waist, nor are you the slenderness of your calves. You are not your hair color, your skin color, nor are you a shade of lipstick. Your shoe-size is of no consequence. You are not defined by the amount of attention you get from males, females, or any combination thereof. You are not the number of sit-ups you can do, nor are you the number of calories in a day. You are not your mustache. You are not the hair on your legs. You are not a little red dress. You are no amalgam of these things.

You are the content of your character. You are the ambitions that drive you. You are the goals that you set. You are the things that you laugh at and the words that you say. You are the thoughts you think and the things you wonder. You are beautiful and desirable not for the clique you attend, but for the spark of life within you that compels you to make your life a full and meaningful one. You are beautiful not for the shape of the vessel, but for the volume of the soul it carries." 

— Unknown

rubberband man

justin & timmy

i needed a rubber band today. i knew ken had some in his office. i looked up and there was justin's rubberband ball. he was so into rubber bands one year ashey gave him boxes FULL for christmas. i think it was his favorite gift. i don't remember any others, only the laugh we all shared. 

thanks for the picture, cristi. i sangged it from you .:)

actual knitting content

knitting up this sweater for girl-child. i am loving it! started ten days ago and i feel like i'm almost done! i know i'm not, but still. digging how easy the pattern is to follow. the yarn is so soft and i love the construction - top down, raglan sleeves and the cabled ribbing is so nice! i know i just spoke in a foreign language to my non-knitterly friends. my apologies. but for those who do understand, check out this amazingly easy pattern by amy swenson.

yarn is by elann, peruvian sierra aran. pattern is mr. greenjeans.

no winter lasts forever

 no spring skips its turn. 

walking outside today, my spirits were lifted by bits of spring i saw everywhere - birds  chirping happily in the trees, flowers pushing through the sun-warmed soil, blooming in spite of frosty temperatures and me with my baby-friend, both of us happy to be outside, playing in the sunshine. 

today marks a year, our first year without justin. everyone is asking how we're doing. ashley and i both agree - we are no more sad today than yesterday. one year doesn't hurt any more than 364 days. losing someone you love just hurts. every day. but today, noticing spring all around in the company of a small child whose whole world is filled with wonder made me hurt a little less.

 quote  by Hal Borland

hallmark holiday

my husband calls valentine's day a 'hallmark holiday'. i'm pretty sure he hates it, but he does love me, so this morning i was surprised with chocolates galore and sweet nothings found in cards stashed all over the house. for valentine's day. he did good. 

this is such a rare occurrence for him (ha!) that he requested public recognition for his deed.

so here you go, babe. thank you for the cards and the chocolates and the extra ten pounds i will most certainly gain from your generosity. i love you!

and a little history of valentine's day, just so you all know.

glad we don't celebrate valentine's day like the ancients did - i'd be slapped with bloodied goat strips! chocolates are a much better way to show your affections, don't you think?

my own recipe

eta: in thinking about this recipe, i decided it's really more of a pilaf, as the brown rice never creamed up like a good risotto rice would. so, for the instructions, i would cook the rice according to directions, seasoning the water with the turmeric. cook the vegetables in a little olive oil until tender, adding kale and beans last few minutes just to wilt the kale and warm the beans.

i can't wait to make this again.

olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
a few handfuls of baby carrots, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups brown rice
turmeric
water
salt & pepper

sauté onion and carrot until onion is cooked through, browning slightly. add garlic, cooking just a bit. you don't want to burn it. set the veggies aside in a separate dish to add back later. add rice to the pan and just enough water to barely cover the rice. cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. when water cooks down, add a little more. keep adding water until rice is tender. i did this for twenty minutes, then added more water and put a cover on the pan, reduced the heat to low and simmered for another fifteen minutes. i would probably add back the veggies before this last simmer. i cooked mine from the beginning and the carrots were mushy.

i season with salt and pepper at each step - first the cooking vegetables and again when i add the rice. the turmeric was a surprise. i was looking through my spices, smelling as i went and the turmeric spoke to me, adding great flavor and color.

when the rice was tender, i added a scootch more water, made a little well and cracked an egg on top. popped the lid back on and cooked till the whites were done but the yolk was still soft.

for my nanny family, i would add kale and white beans at the end. i think it would be great with any vegetables and the beans add protein. what a great meal! healthy, hearty and good.

i impressed myself. i don't cook like this. i find good recipes. and today? i guess i did just that.

eggcellent

it made me rediculously happy yesterday to find this little beauty waiting in one of the nesting boxes:

 next to a store-bought egg:

my two boys. rocky in the front and clyde in the back.

so you can see the size difference between my two roos:

 

 rocky is an old english bantam. he will always be this small.

as the chickens grew, the coop seemed to shrink! clyde found a new home with three hens, in toledo with my friend susan. i hear they're doing very well. now the coop is perfect for rocky and his girls.

the four remaining hens are doing great. no eggs today, but i'm hoping for more happiness soon.

stitches

i had the deep pleasure of going to stitches, midwest last week with a couple of great knitterly friends. i went on their website to see if my new favorite yarn, madelinetosh was hosting a booth. i sadly discovered they were not. but! webs was there with a huge lot of this gorgeous yarn. don't you just love the name? i came away with this little lovely in composition book grey. but really, i think of it more as storm clouds. it's very similar to my dear mmmalabrigo. now, what does it want to become?

indiana state fair

we had a great time at the fair last week. we arrived early to beat the heat and the crowds. though i didn't get to see everything, i did get to spend close to an hour in the poultry barn, talk cattle with a cute cowboy and got my fill of lemon shake-ups (my favorite).

we spent the first part of our visit checking out the antique tractors and visiting all the activities in pioneer village. there was primitive woodworking for the mister and fiber arts for me. we just kept giving girl-child cotton candy and she was happy. some things never change.

the day was too short but it was about all we could stand in the indiana heat. i forget how blasted hot it gets here in august. i think it's like childbirth that way - too painful to remember.

i'm seriously thinking of entering a project in next year's fair. think this lovely would win any ribbons?

i finished my modern quilt wrap.

if you missed it on facebook or ravelry, here it is for your viewing pleasure. i don't see how i'll ever knit anything so lovely again. even though it's simple garter stitch, the colors are so striking against each other it looks quite impressive. i can't believe it's done! finally! it would be fun to enter something in the fair and i can't think of a better project. stay tuned...