"Torque"-Up Your Workout!

Lets start with something warm & fuzzy. Here is a picture of my beautiful, sweet little horse. He's new, he's the first horse I've wanted since my angel (Negrita) died about 5 years ago. Neggy was my horse from the time I was 13 till age 31. This fella is my new guy, and the one I expect to last the rest of our lives together. He's 9 now, still a youngling and off the racetrack. He's an ex-racer! Beautiful story, you'll have to hear it later though. On to the story of my torture!



Now then, on to the reason for this post. As many of you may know, I have been out of employment for about a month now. I went through another layoff. Unemployment benefits wouldn't feed a small animal, and so I've been looking for a new job - but I want something new, something DIFFERENT! (Don't we all?) Well I think I have found it, and I'm going for it with both barrels loaded for bear (so to speak... no real guns or ammo were or ever will be involved in this analogy).

However, this job (which shall remain nameless at this present time) will require a great physical commitment from me. There is not a traditional office setting, there is a lot of outdoor work and hazardous conditions, and a LOT of strenuous physical labor. Perhaps this is not the best job for someone having my particular set of health problems, but it's a job I've always fantasized about having nonetheless and I am over the moon at the opportunity to finally achieve this goal.

So upon finding the LOCAL job opening, I applied for it and was subsequently called in for an interview. Apparently not a lot of women (in their words, none) have ever applied for the position. As soon as my initial interview was completed, I called my sister-in-law Kay and asked her for immediate help with a workout plan that would help me pass the physical part of the testing without looking too much like an ass. I need endurance & stretching help ASAP! Kay is the queen of the body builders, by the way, and is dreaming of becoming a personal trainer some day soon.

Luckily she let me come over right away & she put together a plan of action. Starting with cardio - ten minutes of activity (jumping rope) to get my heart pumping, then followed-up with several printed pages worth of stretches to be done without weights until after the test is completed next week. After I pass the test (hopefully) then I can start doing the stretches with weights for optimal results.

On paper, these stretches have the most delightful names! Frog Stretch, Ham Stretch (I love ham!), Snow Shovel, Tricep Dips, and Russian Twists. As you can see, several of these names are familiar from the pastry counter at your local bakery. I was in HEAVEN! No one knows you like family; Kay has really come through for me & combined my favorite activity (eating) with the Hell of working out, in order to make it easier for me to assimilate.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. Turns out "Tricep Dips" are not a tasty ice cream flavor, it's Lucifer's Favorite Scoop (those are her words). Russian Twists, those are named after the machine Tomas de Torquemada used in the Crusades... I'm sure of it. So when Kay tells you she'll "Torque-up" a workout for you, she's f-ing serious!!!!! RUUUUUN!

I'm so sore I can't even cry today. My tear ducts are still bruised from last night. Keep your fingers crossed. I promise I will let everyone know about the true nature of the job should I manage to score it. Until then, I don't want to let the cat out of the bag & put a hex on it or anything.

Carpe Crustulum!
(Seize the Cookie)
-Regan-

How to be Alone

This was just shared on one of my online forum groups. It transported me, it reminded me so beautifully why my life -works- now, and why my relationship works. I love my alone time. My husband just lets me "be" whenever I need it (which is most of the time). To all my friends out there who have a little of the hermit in them, you will understand this immediately. To my beloveds who haven't discovered the marvelous "Alone"... investigate it; it's beyond compare.

Comic Relief - Catherine Tate & David Tennant

Scot, this one is for you!

And btw - I hate, despise, and abhor the "new" doctor. He's not even growing on me like you said... in fact, not even the totally-hottest new companion makes up for the loathing I feel for him. :( Not even companion porn makes up for him. Although I -am- going to brave the next episode just to find out if his new companion manages to kill him. That would be a good episode.

Gingered Spam Salad, anyone?

So... this morning I had a great harvest of my little tiny Thai Hot Peppers. I've just got the one little plant but it's beautiful and it makes me very happy. Usually I pop one or two of these red hot babies into my pickle brine but I've got a metric goat-ton (considering how many we can actually consume) of them after this harvest and I was looking online for a good recipe to put them in.

Above is the plant in question. See the bell pepper peeking out behind it? Almost ready!

Nevermind that no one in my family can stomach eating something that hot. Minor details.

The recipe that came up over and over and OVER again was "Gingered Spam Salad".

Ok, so I'll just go ahead and be the first to admit it out loud: I like spam. I don't eat it often and I try to secret it into the cart when I do splurge on my guilty pleasure, but there is nothing so fine as a thinly sliced and crispy-fried spam sandwich with a fresh garden tomato in the summer. Mmmm! It's like a BLT but better because I have to sneak and eat it so no one will catch me. You know it's better if it's naughty!

I'm not so sure I want to try a Gingered Spam Salad, but because it was so persistent and because it somehow delights me that someone would "waste" good ingredients on spam, I'm going to include the recipe here for all to gawk at.

Gingered Spam Salad

1 can Spam, julienned.
1/4 c  Finely chopped ginger root
1 ea Small red onion, finely
     Chopped
1/2 ts Garlic powder
1/4 c  Freshly squeezed lime juice
     Zest of 1 lime
1/2 ts Oriental dried chili powder
1/4 c  Chopped cilantro leaves
8 ea Cherry tomatoes
     Thai bird peppers and
     Cilantro sprigs to garnish

Combine all ingredients in a sealed glass or plastic container to
marinate. Refrigerate at least two hours or preferably overnight.
Stir or shake occasionally to evenly coat.  One hour before serving,
stir in cilantro. Serve on a bed of torn salad greens of your choice.
Garnish with quartered cherry tomatoes, Thai bird peppers and
cilantro sprigs.

Also, if anyone would like some of my super-tasty (and extremely hot) Thai peppers, let me know. They're great if you wanna drop a couple into your pickle brine. They add a pop of color and it's fun to watch the consumers' eyes as their mouth lights-up like Disney World. For my gardening friends, these are heirloom seeds - you save the seeds the same way you do tomatoes - by fermenting them & saving the sinkers. Ask me if you have questions on the process!

Enjoy the pictures of this morning's harvest of Thai peppers and cherry tomatoes. Life is good in the garden today.

-R-

My garlic chives are blooming.  Aren't these the most beautiful little flowers?



Above are the little volunteer mushrooms growing under my rosemary bush.

Witness-Protection Keegan, Does it Again!

The kid found mustaches here in town - at the Sav-a-Lot down from Knit Happy, this time. He asked me for some quarters for a treat and I am powerless against his big blue eyes so I gave him all I had. I do not know how much these silly disguises cost, but it's probably around 50 cents. Please go and get your kids some! These have really earned their price over and over again. Plus, they are great fun to leave in special places for Mom & Dad to find (unexpectedly) later. Like, stuck to the light switch in the bathroom before 6am when your eyes don't really open until the adrenaline hits your system when you think you've just touched the biggest hairiest spider in all the world...

He's still laughing over that one.

He found the awesome hat below at Wal Mart, after insisting that he needed vampire teeth. I was pretty impressed. I think he needs a gangster hat now. It certainly seems like a unique look he's coming up with for himself.




Ooh! Look what we found on the door at Ross'! This is without a doubt the largest Praying Mantis I've ever seen in person. She was exquisite and fearsome and I am -SO- glad I had the camera with us. She was just watching us as intently as we were watching her, but she wasn't moving and we weren't messing with her. I hope she had a successful hunt... but what does something that large hunt for? Toddlers? Birds? She was literally the size of my forearm. You can see our reflections in the picture below the close-up and kind-of tell how large she was.





ETA: I did a search online, and couldn't find the exact species this is, but I was able to confirm that at this size, their prey IS birds! I can't believe it's true, but it is! I was even able to find the following picture on a bird watching forum - it's part of a series where the mantis just grabbed the hummingbird out of the air; hooked its chest and ate it! Keep your toddlers back, ladies - this predator is no joke!




And finally, an update on my Krokus. I've got another set of "ladybirds" done - that's what the first chart translates to. "Mariehons pa blade" means "Ladybirds on Leaves". For some reason I find that especially enchanting and romantic. I'm extremely happy with this shawl. It's delicate and vibrant, it's challenging and simple at the same time! It is definitely one of the most unique lace shawls I have ever fallen in love with and I am beyond happy to be knitting it. I can't wait to show my girls on knit night.

That, and I wish I had about 5000 more yards of this yarn, it's very happy-making. I'm glad I had the foresight to get two skeins of it, I've got about 2200 yards total (I believe) so I should be able to make several smaller lace projects out of it if I'm careful.



Happy Knitting. Blessed be.
-Regan-

Out with the Old, In with the New!

I finished the "Green Blob", blocked it night before last and took my victory picture yesterday morning. To be exact, Keegan took the picture and he was half asleep and grumbly and then claimed to have no knowledge of it later that day. I think he may have a future in politics.

Of course you can't see the beads in the picture, but in PERSON it's sparkly and magnificent! And in honor of it blocking out and looking like a shawl and not a wrinkly green blob (oh, the magic of blocking!) I gave it a new name.

Dryads Dance in the Dewy Spring Canopy.



And then minutes after taking my victory picture, I CO for my next lace project. NOT because I'm addicted! If I were so inclined, I could quit knitting lace any time... Thank all the powers that I'm not so inclined.

This is Krokus (Crocus) and it's being knit on 100% bamboo 2/24 thread yarn and of course it's not going to be a difficult or confusing pattern at all. In fact, as you may have noticed from the picture, it's also got beaded nupps - which only add to the simplicity of the pattern. Ok, I'll stop being sarcastic now.

Do you see the little crocus flowers in the middle? ::SQUEE::



That's all for now, I'm going to go get ready for work and try to muddle through my day with this beautiful thing singing its siren song to me from the knitting bag.

I hope you all have something equally as delicious and happy-making on the needles. I'm in complete bliss right now! Of course it could only be better if I were wealthy enough to stay home and knit clean all day.

(my DH reads the blog...)

OMG, KNITTING!

I am getting ready to finish the baby cardigan I've been working on for the past week; the Helena for my boss' grandneice Holly to wear this fall. I've actually done the collar and the little ties in the front closure too but I don't have a picture handy of them yet.



I've also finished my Bottom-Up Birch! Below, is yesterday morning - stretched across my patio table so you can see what a nondescript lump lace looks like before the magic of blocking!



Below is my soak water after about 30 minutes of the project just sitting in it. If you're using this yarn, be careful washing it! It's a superwash, so the unwarned may toss it in with a load of laundry (I don't think I know people who would do something so terrible... right?) The yarn is Dream in Color's new Knitosophy in the "Laugh" colorway. It looks like opals to me, and while the colors are terribly busy, they are also bright and all my favorites so I should be able to wear this with a lot of my outfits to have some pop-colors. I can't wait for fall! Maybe I'll wear it to work today.



Below is it on me. Nevermind the hutch to my right that needs me to pick one of the four colors on it and repaint it! See how the lace pattern is actually visible now? The blocking faeries did a great job, as per usual.



I blocked it on my son Kieffer's bed yesterday morning. Before work. Yes, I woke him up, asked him to walk the dogs for me, then proceeded to pin out the shawl on his bed. Ha ha, I had to bribe him when he came back in and realized he'd been duped!



Also, I have no pictures, but I went to dance class last night and it was great. I went with a willing Kieffer, too! I'm really liking him at 14, I hope this doesn't change for the worse when he gets a little bit older. We've been to two dance classes so far (I've been to three, one without him because I didn't know how much fun they would be) and I think I have found the one that I want to join. It was a riot, and there were plenty of men to dance with. Of course, they were all old retired VFW men but I'm thinking after the fun night we had that's more of a plus too!

They have a website if you want to google them, they are the Nashville Dance Club at the VFW. Back room is for dancing and the front room is for drinking! What more could you ask for? Unlike a lot of other dance places, there are tons of men for practicing with! Dance lessons are Wednesdays (sorry, knit group) and they are $7 for non-members and $5 for members. This is ballroom-style dance stuff, so there is NO lower price anywhere in town! We are in the middle of a series of Swing lessons there now - I stepped-in on #3 beginner class and next month is intermediate.

If you just want to try out a free dance class, go this Saturday to Centennial Park, down by the locomotive (not the Parthenon, farther down) and they will have a live band and a free dance lesson sometime around 7pm. This week they will be doing the waltz. Next week they will be filming for the show "So you think you can dance"! Bring your a-game!

Next post: Garden update! (teaser: I've got tomatoes & peppers *squee*)