Thursday, August 2, 2012

Stop Mocking Me

It's been a bit too long since I've updated, so I figured it was time to fix that. It's not so much that I haven't had anything to talk about (I can babble about nothing with the best of them), but rather that the things going one aren't all that huge, I've had no related pictures and I've been rather busy doing housewife-y type stuff (or being in the pool) and that doesn't really mesh with being able to type up a blog post.

First off, an adorable Gidgie:

Gidget

Gidget (and Bitty) have their post-extraction check up this weekend so hopefully that will all be good news. Happy-doodle gets to go in with them so she can get her teeth cleaned as she now has the stinkiest mouth in our herd. Hopefully that will just be a cleaning, no extractions needed.

Next: our garden. Meh. We've only had marginal success here and I don't think there will be much improvement because things are so darn hot. My squash and zucchini have decided to die gracelessly (the zucchini without doing anything, the squash after putting off lots and lots of blooms - all male), my tomatoes are alive and kicking but only one Marglobe is doing anything (happily, that "anything" is growing a tomato), my peppers are pretty but unproductive (though we did get one jalapeño) and my butterbeans have finally lost the battle against the grasshoppers.

I Hate You

I hate the grasshoppers. They keep perching on windows and I am convinced it is because they are mocking me. "We just ate your tender butterbean leaves and they were delicious. Muahahaha!" Evil, stupid things. Many have drown in our pool and I can't find it within myself to be sad. Drown butterflies? They make me sad and guilty. Drowned grasshoppers? I want to do a little dance.

On the plus side with the garden (the grasshoppers have no plus side), the okra seems pretty happy. We've gotten slightly less than a dozen okra from it and it is doing its best to give us two more in a few days (the blooms are just buds right now). The grasshoppers have attempted to munch on them some but don't seem to like them.

We have managed to get enough okra to fry some up, but we got them from my parents' garden so I don't think it really counts.

Fried Okra

They were really good though. I'd say I've officially learned how to fry okra without cornmeal. Millet flour works great (and tastes pretty much the same)! Thumbs up!

And speaking of frying, no picture but I did learn a new way of cooking venison - frying it! Dan gave me some cookbooks for my birthday (no, I actually wanted them, they weren't a hint about my cooking or the equivalent of giving me an iron or anything like that) and there was a recipe for batter-fried venison which turned out to be so tasty. They were kind of like steak fingers but better since I'm not a huge fan of steak fingers but I really liked these. It's good to have another way to cook venison since my dad keeps us fairly well stocked in it. (I did recently learn that you can actually buy venison, but I'm not exactly sure where. I don't think my grocery store carries it though they tend to carry lots of not-so-typical products.)

Oh, in other news: tea! I'm one step closer to my New Year's resolution to buy from some new tea vendors! My tea pantry was getting pretty thin - I was down to 68 teas, which might sound like a lot, but manages not to be when I'm more used to having 100+ teas - so I placed two orders, one with American Tea Room and the other with Le Palais des Thés. Neither order has arrived yet (since I just ordered them yesterday) but I'm looking forward to it! That plus some stuff I picked up at the grocery store today and I'm at a much more comfortable 86 teas in my pantry. Whew. I was worried for a bit.

Speaking of being worried, last week I came to the realization that I didn't have enough yarn for the top I was knitting. I had enough for the pattern as written, but I needed to top a bit bigger than the pattern and that left me with enough yarn to make basically a crop top. So I hunted down a second ball of yarn through Ravelry, ripped back my almost 5" of stockinette and started alternating the yarns. (For the non-knitters, since the yarn is hand dyed, I have to alternate between the two since the two balls are slightly different from each other. That way there won't be a noticeable line when I switch to the second ball.) So now I've got about two and a half inches done with another foot or so to go.

Tank Top

I'm hoping it will be done in the next couple of weeks but we shall see. Fortunately, my lovely HiyaHiya needles make the stockinette portion go so easily and fast. I'm still in love with them!

I think that's about it as far as recent news. (Which is good cause who really wants to read this much?) Oh, one little thing - tomorrow is our anniversary. Ten years! Yes, ten! I can't believe Dan and I will have been married for a decade. I'm too young to have been married that long! But I'm totally pleased that he's put up with me that long!

In celebration, I give you Cocoa belly.

Cocoa Belly

4 comments:

  1. I love your kitties, yes i do!!

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  2. Everything looks lovely...
    Oh, I haven't made fried okra in a long time. I'll have to change that. Our garden is about an acre, it's done well this year. Our okra has been huge!

    Your cats are so adorable. I haven't had a cat in over nine years. I sure miss them. My twelve-yeur old cat, Veba, passed away when I was pregnant with my daughter. She was something else, when my daughter was active Veba would come and stare at my stomach and start meowing. It was so cute! What is it with cats squeezing into small places? Veba would do the same thing. :) My cat Veba could have been Cocoa's twin!

    It's great that you're still liking your Hiya Hiya needles. It looks like I won't be getting to test drive them for a few weeks. I plan on going to Lovely Yarns, the first day of school.

    I love the colors the yarn chosen for your top, those colors are so lovely! Have you ever dyed your own yarn? I have but with natural dyes that are around our home' mulberry, herbs, rose, etc.,

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    1. I haven't ever dyed my own yarn (yet?). The closest I've come is to overdye a too-bright red yarn with tea to tone it down (which worked great)! But I tend to be very messy with things like paint, dye, ink and anything that stains, so I've been rather reluctant to start a new hobby that will most likely result in many things unintentionally changing color!

      I think things are just too hot here for most gardens, now. Even my parents - who have a much longer and more successful history of gardening behind them - haven't had much luck. Well, other than their okra which, let's be honest, is one of the most important plants. Hehe!

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